Snow! Snow! Snow!

At last, the weather forecast was accurate;  snow was expected and snow we had.  Mainly expected in the South with the North getting barely a mention and the island not at all, but who's complaining!  It began snowing at 7.50 this morning, but it didn't settle.  The children went off to school and a normal day lay ahead.

At 9 O'clock, I took the dogs in the field.  There was a slight sprinkling on the ground, but mercifully the roads were still clear so I decided to go to the butcher which is about 7 miles away.

I was surprised to find that it was hardly snowing at all when I arrived.  I did my jobs and drove home.  The nearer I got the more it snowed and the whiter everywhere looked.  The snow was starting to settle on the road, which is always a worry and I was glad to turn down our little lane and get home.  It was definitely coming down now.

During the morning a gritting lorry drove up the road, having decided that the weather meant business after all and we weren't going to escape it this time.  The temperature was dropping and I put on an extra jumper and drank lots of tea.  I finished mum's birthday present and waited for the schools to ring to say they were closing and sending the children home.  They didn't.  I kept looking anxiously out of the window.  The snow was getting heavier and deeper, but still they didn't ring.

Eventually, after checking my mobile was working and picking up the phone to check for the dialling tone several times, the Headmistress from H2's school rang to ask me to fetch him as they were closing the school.  By this time the snow was too thick for me to risk driving, as my little car is pretty useless in snow and wet mud, so I walked and took his wellies with me.  He was thrilled to be coming home early and even more thrilled to be walking in it.  We arrived home with very rosy cheeks and frozen fingers, but H2 was desperate to go out and play in it.  After making sure he was so well wrapped up he could hardly breathe, I followed him into the garden.

He made a very odd looking snowman that Puppy took great delight in chewing and digging up.

I received a text message from the senior school, saying the pupils would be sent home at 1.15, after lunch, which was cutting it a bit fine as the snow was lying thickly and still coming down in a blizzard.  An hour later, I was getting a bit worried.  By 2.45 I was getting really worried.  The journey from school takes half an hour on a good day, but with the snow I estimated an hour, so when almost two hours had gone by, I thought something must have happened and tried very hard to keep calm and not let awful images enter my head.  Standing by the window hoping to see them walk down the lane, I saw a 4x4 truck pull up outside the cottage and H1 got out.  I was outside before he had even opened the gate!  Was he OK? Where was Pea?  

He said Pea was on her way in another 4x4 as the bus had got stuck on a hill, along with other cars, and the children had been sitting in the bus for an hour.  The driver, who we all know and is lovely, was seriously considering getting quad bikes to ferry them all home, but on reflection, he thought this would be a bit dangerous, so he rang round for men with 4x4 trucks to come and rescue them!  So they arrived home safe, frozen but none the worse for the experience!

Once all my brood were in and safe, I could enjoy the beauty outside.  We spent ages just staring and marvelling at the snow drifts by the outbuildings and how the blizzard made it impossible to see the mountains or fields further away.  The sheep seem to be coping pretty well and are head down, burrowing through the snow in search of the grass underneath.  And still it snowed.

The children were well fed, warm and comfy and safe in our cosy nest.

It is dark now, but still snowing!  I love the total silence snow brings.  All sounds are muffled and only the faint pattering of snow falling on snow can be heard.  I saw a pair of bull finches in the hedge outside and a flock of lapwings flew over the garden.  In the field several Redwings were flying about and doing their thing. I love how the birds take on stronger colours in the snow and you see things you could easily miss on a sunny day.  

I don't know if all this will still be here when we wake in the morning, but it has been beautiful to watch.  I had a snowball fight with H2, albeit a pathetic one on my part.  I am a bit too girly to really throw myself into such things and kept exclaiming that I wasn't ready when he successfully landed one on me, but we had fun and H2 knows what I'm like!  The dogs had great fun, especially Puppy, who has never seen snow before.  He tore round the garden and shoved his nose deep into it and ate great mouth fulls of it. Then collapsed into a happy heap by the fire and slept for ages.

Isn't it strange that snow can make such a difference to a day!

Keep warm, stay happy and love your life. xxx