Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr, beautiful here this morning, but cold. Don't really mind at this point in the winter, as it's the first blast of cold we've had and lets us know we do indeed still have seasons, that we've not been going through one long extended autumn.
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| View from woodland walk across the winter garden |
Took the grandbabes to Harlow Carr yesterday, we set off in blisteringly cold weather, noticing halfway there that it had turned into a blizzard. Izzi and Ava were mega-excited and so on we ploughed, in fact we were driving behind a snow plough gritting the roads for some of the way... yay the penny has finally dropped in the UK that we can deal with a covering of snow without it becoming a national emergency. Good for you Harrogate council.
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| Tracks in the snow |
When we arrived, we were practically the only people in the garden. Only a couple of other families were crazy enough to brave the snow, but we were all so glad we did. We headed straight for the maze with Isabella making zigzag tracks in the snow down the hill.
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| Can't catch me in the maze |
The children were happy to be messing around in the snow and didn't need any other amusement, but we did have a pretend cuppa at the outdoor Bettys, which was of course shut.
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| Anyone for tea? |
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| Home time |
Bettys' glorious Valentine window beckoned as we made our way back to the car, so we rushed inside to warm up. Bowls of tomato soup and chips were ordered with steaming hot chocolate. Not flavours you'd immediately put together I know, but big fat chip butties definitely hit the spot on days like this.
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| Izzi in front of Bettys Valentine window |
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| Valentines display |
Harrogate looked magical in the snow as we drove home, the trees festooned with fairy lights, each tree bedecked with it's own colour of green, blue, red or silver.
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| Django watches as Ava sets a record score |
Just enough time when we got back for Izzi and Ava to have a game of bagatelle, with the kitties looking on and doing their best to join in.
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| Arlo thinks he can do better! |
There were two very tired girls for Nicky to collect, off to bed in anticipation of Isabella's birthday today.
Lovely pictures!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely winter story! I follow your blog every day, and think it is just wonderful - with great pictures as well! Greetings from Hilde in Norway
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you Hilde. I hope your life is going well and that we'll meet again soon x
DeleteLovely! We also had pretty snow here in Gloucestershire...greatly enjoyed by our labrador (9 yrs old, going on 1 year old)and hubby (60 years, going on 6)...snow just brings out the child in all of us, not so? Smashing excuse for hot choc and mulled wine. Happiness. Sue.
ReplyDeleteCan I join you for the mulled wine - just what we need here in Wales. Arrived earlier and it's so hard to warm up the house - wood stove blazing + central heating and hot water bottles in the beds. My face is glowing in front of the fire, but my back is still frozen - roll on tomorrow when hopefully all will feel cosier.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures and lovely grand children too. I am looking forward to meeting you when my girlfriend and I join you for the Lakes tour in May. Mmm, wonder what the weather will be like then? Eileen
ReplyDeleteApril and May are usually the best months in the UK, tantalising promise which sadly most years isn't fulfilled! But whatever the weather, I'm sure we'll have a great time, there are always lots of lovely people on our tours :D
DeleteOh, what a blast from the past! My parents bought us a bagatelle board which was identical to that one when we were young; it got so much use that the pin at top-left is now bent over, and we lost the 'launcher' (various ingenious ball-propelling methods have been used over the years). I know it so well, I bet I could tell you the scores for many of the locations...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely memory. :)