A touch of winter

I usually define winter as December, January and February.  I think it defined it's own beginning this year, and it definitely arrived a few days before December!

It snowed a little bit on Friday while we were out with the waggy-tailed one.

It snowed a bit more overnight, and on Saturday morning we were hesitating about whether to attempt the trip to Edinburgh (we did).

On Sunday we woke up to a very white world.  And it's just kept getting whiter.  Big C has taken the Landrover to work every day this week just to be able to get out of the road that we live in.  It isn't far to the main road, and that is passable with care. 

In the meantime I have been pretty much stuck.  My car is snug as a bug in the garage.  Big C's car is in front of the garage with a thick coat of about 2 feet of snow all around it.  I cleared the snow off so that it wouldn't freeze in place for weeks on end, but then it snowed again so I think that's a losing battle.  Even if he could move his car, I think it would take a while to dig out a track from the garage to the road.

On foot isn't very viable either.  I can get out.  In fact once Little C is in bed and Big C is at home most evenings I have ventured out into the cold with the waggy-tailed one, who by the way seems to bounce over the snow without even noticing it.  Little C is a different matter.  By the time you've wrapped him up in his arctic snow gear (which takes a good 10 minutes), you get out into the snow and it's up to his middle.  He falls over immediately.  Face first.  He doesn't like it very much.  And he's wrapped up with so many layers that he can't stand up again, so just moans in despair.  Next thing you hear is "up, up". 

I'm almost 6 months pregnant.  I can't trek for long through 2 foot of snow or icy tyre tracks while carrying a 16 month old toddler.  We made it to Toddlers in the village hall, but the heating wasn't working, so we soon trekked back again.  Other than that we've pretty much stayed in and admired from the inside, watching pathetically while everybody else shovels out their front paths and driveways - another thing it's difficult to do while pregnant and with a toddler in tow, not least because I have only two coats that will go around my large stomach at the moment!

Anyway, I brought in some icicles for Little C to play with, which he did enjoy.  I feel bad though, he's brought me his hat, mittens and wellies a couple of times today in a vague request for some fresh air.  I'll try him in the snow again tomorrow.  In the meantime I think I'll just have to hope that this doesn't last too much longer.  I love the snow, but being stuck is a bit of a pain!