The White Stuff

Well, we waited and we waited and three came along at once! Three inches of snow that is or thereabouts! There was great excitement as the snow kept falling on Saturday, not enough for any recreational activities until about 8pm, guess what, there was a knock at the door, and a snowy rosy cheeked child asking if Maisie wanted to come sledging! They went off and sledged down the road, mad, I stayed with the dog in front of the fire. 

Up early for a dog walk though on Sunday, unusually Maisie is keen to join me and t’dog. It was so lovely in the early morning light. The dog wasn't that impressed unfortunately. 

After breakfast, Maisie was out the door and down the road to meet up with mates for sledging in the daylight. At a rather more leisurely pace Leanne and I followed. The dog was hiding in a bedroom, fearful we might drag him out again. Walking through the village, it felt fairly paganistic  as various villagers, their children and thin bits of plastic (sledges) were being drawn towards the same hill.

We were greeted with the shrieks and/or wails of delighted and/or slightly injured, wet children sliding down the hill at various speeds of fast, whilst dogs ran around between them unsure who to chase or what to do. We spotted Maisie and her mates, four of them appeared to be on the same sledge attempting to slide down in a big lump.

There were a few hardy parents having a go, and there were parents resolutely stood behind the gate. After watching for a while, I thought how bad can it be. I traipsed up the hill, hard enough in itself, it was much steeper than anticipated. I foolishly went to the top before looking back. What faced me was a very huge downward view with only one way to get down with my pride intact. 

On the sledge I get, and set off - at great speed which didn’t seem to be altered whether I had my feet up or not. All I was aware of was Maisie’s friends shouting “put your feet up you’ll go faster” as if it was a desirable thing. I arrive at the bottom, still with the sledge firmly wedged to my bottom, not really designed for the wider bodied middle aged figure. In addition to the awareness that I’d shrieked like a girl for the entire slide, I was covered in snow from attempting to slow myself down. Fortunately I had left some snow on the hill for other sledgers. I got back to Leanne and Maisie who was in charge of photography. Maisie said - “Mum, you’ll have to do it again, I missed it!”

So, please take my word for it, I did slide down the hill honest! I’ll do it again ...next year!

Back home for a hot chocolate and the fire, from now on I’m sticking with the dog’s idea of how to deal with the snow.