Sure enough, we woke to a white world this morning, covered with about four or five inches of the most lovely snow.    We decided to go out and clear our lane before a vehicle compacted the snow and with the help of our neighbour, had soon cleared and gritted the lethal bend which usually separates us from the rest of the world.  We left the rest of the hill intact.

 

 

We walked up to take a look at the "top road", often cleared by a local farmer, but today, looking as white and unsullied as everywhere else.

 

 

It was a delight to be out in the fresh air,  in the quiet, still village where no-one but us seemed to be about.

 

 

We didn't feel like going inside and wanted to play, so we grabbed our sledge and walked over to see if our small friends fancied coming out with us.

 

 

Of course they did!  We pulled them on our sledge over to the field on the other side of the village, where everyone goes in weather like this.  It was a magical atmosphere there - almost all businesses had closed today, virtually no-one was inclined to take heroic action to go very far and so everyone was out to play.  Mums, Dads, teenagers, small children - all having fun in the snow together.  Most had plastic or wooden sledges, but some were improvising on plastic sheets, one family all sat on a lilo from last summer and one boy came down the hill sitting in a washbasket!

 

 

But after a couple of hours, one of us was feeling cold and tired.  Leaving big sister with her friends and her Daddy, who had decided to bunk off work for an hour or two (the joys of internet mean that no-one really got the day off, it seems!), we pulled the sledge back home with one tired three year old laid out flat, all of us having had great fun in the snow.

 

 

The last time it snowed like this, was 1990, when we had help clearing that bend in the lane from a small boy wrapped up warm.  He turned 25 today!!  Happy Birthday, Edward!!