I've got a Snow Day!

All the local schools are shut because of the snow and the icy roads so, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I'VE GOT A SNOW DAY!!!!
The day dawned cold and crisp, with a clear blue sky and lots of crisp, crunchy snow - glorious!The snow had stopped at around 3am (apparently!) by which time it was so cold that it froze the surface layer. It also meant that, despite the sterling work of the gritter lorries, Himself (sensibly) chose to work from home again (yippee!) and Last-Born's school was shut for the day.

Yesterday evening we'd had to take the netting off the top of the fruit cage - the first time in the 7 years we've lived here, so I ventured outside to check everything - okay, it was just an excuse to go out...!

Back garden, looking to the left, at about 8.30am.

Back garden, looking to the right and still in shade at about 8.30am

I don't think my solar lantern will be much use tonight!

Cornus with icicle.

The front of the house at about 9am - with only animal prints to mark the snow...foxes, cats and the badger.

The front island - pristine and beautiful about 9.00am

The Japanese Garden looking very wintery!

Ceefer cat walks on water!

He ventured onto the frozen surface of the bottom pond.....

went a bit further out...... and fell through the ice! By the time I'd stopped laughing he'd scrambled back onto dry land and gone off in a huff!

I decided that it was time to indulge my inner 8 year and make a snow angel - I was hopeless!

The snow was so frozen that I couldn't make any indentations and the rude comments from Last-Born only serve to make me laugh more....!

The world's worst snow angel maker!

So I got Last-Born and her friends to make them - they were just as bad as me, only louder!

So they built a snowman instead - he's only partly done here, but I was getting chilly...!

then they tried sledging down the front drive....

but 3 on the sledge didn't work - 1 did though!

and they proved to be very acurate with snowballs!

The girls have since been joined by some of the boys from school - so I've come in out of the way.... the boys are an even better shot than the girls are!

They'll come in eventually - when they're cold or hungry or it's too dark to play any more. I'll feed them all hot chocolate and listen to their loud tales of who cheated at snowballs, who got snow down their backs and who did the best sledge ride ......... and I'll smile and be happy and have that warm, fuzzy feeling we parents know so well.

What a wonderful day!