Lucia is convinced that Christmas comes when it snows, when the 25th December rolled around last month she was slightly dubious that it was actually Christmas day due to the lack of snow so I’m sure you can guess what type of conversation we had on a Sunday two weeks ago when we woke up to a blanket of snow!

Having finally convinced her that it wasn’t Christmas, all other plans for the day were set aside so we could get on with the business of playing. I am exceptionally lucky to live in the countryside with a garden that backs onto the most perfect sledging hill. A few years ago people are skiing on it. Having put on at least three layers of clothing, made my coffee and popped it in a thermos we dragged the bright red sledge out of the shed and off we went. Lucia is five and the last time it snowed enough to sledge  was the month before she was born so this was the first time she had really experienced snow, she loved it, it was also the puppy’s first snow experience and she had her very smart Barbour coat to keep her warm. Livia (the puppy) she enjoyed it for a bit, chased a few snowballs and then started climbing my leg to be picked up. In fairness as a mini dachshund pup she is very low to the ground so her tummy was cold as were her little paws so I relented and carried her.

Of course sledging down a hill is fantastic fun, the trudging back up again grows tiresome quickly but Lucia was super and persevered longer than I would have. She also proved very useful to the other children sledging as her extra weight in the sledge made it go faster. We retired home after about half an hour when Lu said her feet were getting cold and when I got her undressed a pile of snow tumbled out of both boots so she wasn’t joking. Hot chocolate, open fires and our traditional Sunday breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup and bacon satisfied all concerned and by the time the evening was drawing in the snow had all but gone.