Sunshine & snow!

 

Weather wise it's been a real week of extremes, with glorious sunshine at the start of the week and then some of the heaviest snowfalls in South East memory at the end - must be Britain!

It's also been a week of ups and downs with this lurgy that's been going around. Poor Abi had to take Monday and Tuesday off school, begging to go back through a combination of boredom and fear that she would miss out on the Year 7 sports tour, only to have the tour cancelled due to the number of kids off ill and the impending weather warnings. It does seem a bit unfair, the boys have been on a couple of trips away and this was the only one planned for the girls and they've missed out. At least going back to an all girls school that won't happen I guess.

Both girls couldn't wait to get out into the snow, making the most of it while it was still pristine. On Thursday evening despite a day of beautiful sunshine the clouds started to come in and then the snow began to fall, not stopping until late Friday night by which point we had about 8 inches in places. The school made a valiant effort to open on Friday although after everyone had struggled to get in, they then announced that the catering staff hadn't made it so they would close at lunchtime - at least for us its only a walk around the corner!

The kids therefore spent all of Friday morning building snowmen at school, coming home only to ask to go back out in it again. Given we have this sort of snow so rarely we certainly weren't going to stop them, even if Izzy's snow gear shows just how much she's grown since last year's ski trip! The country has gone to pot with the snow, with people getting stuck all over the place, Basingstoke becoming almost impassable with people sleeping in their cars and abandoned vehicles stranded all over the place - you'd think it had been 8 feet of snow rather than 8 inches!

Of course someone had to catch Abi's cold and it had to be me. At least I didn't get the full on fever - just the headache, sore throat and painful chesty cough. I've been dosed up on ibuprofen and willing it to go away since Tuesday - it's the last thing I want now that I have some time off.

This week has been lovely despite feeling under the weather. I had to go into London for work (new work not old) on Wednesday, but other than that I've been enjoying a much slower pace of life. On Tuesday I met Simon and Audrey for an impromptu walk at Westonbirt and on Thursday I finally made it to Welford Park to see the snowdrop gardens with a friend. I was a bit disappointed at the latter - not much better than the swathes of flowers we have in our woods - but at least we went before they all got squished by the snow. I presume they'll pop back up given they bloom at this time of the year - bit of a design fault otherwise. I also had a yoga retreat yesterday which we all managed to get to despite the snow - a perfect way to spend a snowy Saturday - wrapped up in a beautiful warm studio eating healthy but lovely food while practising lots of yoga. Couldn't have been a better way to spend the day.

This week I have a trip to Mum and Dad's on Tuesday / Wednesday to look forward to, followed by my leaving party in London on Thursday evening.  I'm also going to book myself a massage and a trip to Oxford, plus some other little bits a pieces - I am planning on making the most of the next 4 weeks before the world speeds up again - what a treat!

Happy boy in the sunshine!