My luck's changing. While cleaning the bedroom yesterday I came across a wrapped up box of Thortons chocolates that I didn't use at Christmas and had forgot about. And very nice they were too - no, I didn't eat all of them, I don't like the coffee ones for a start, but I may have put the box where others can't see.

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So according to the news, Britain is due for some more freak weather. They’ve forecast high winds, torrential rain and then frost. No mention what-so-ever of snow. Bloody typical. The last time we had snow that was worth mentioning around here was in 1987. Good grief, twenty years ago.

Eldest was a babe in arms back then and I was worried sick the coalman wouldn’t be able to make his weekly delivery, the fire being the only form of heating. Our road was completely cut off and Himself couldn’t get to work. So as well as worrying that we’d freeze to death, I worried about the drop in wages too. If he didn’t work, he didn’t get paid. Ah, the good only days.

I remember taking the spaniel we had at the time - Bramble, the first dog we owned as a couple, for a walk on the village green. He disappeared in the snow drifts, it was that deep. You'd just see his head popping up and down occasionally. His ears heavy with the snow that had stuck to them.

When we were kids we loved snow days – you could guarantee that the school coach wouldn’t turn up, the good thing about living on top of a hill. Everyone would hang around till 8.45am and then shoot off home. We were meant to wait until 9.00am, but we never did – the coach might have made an appearance by then.

We’d all meet up down the fields – a motley crew carrying sledges, tea trays and plastic sacks (you could tell whose dad was a farmer). Not the plastic sort of sledges you get nowadays, these where heavy wooden things – not that many people had them. After all it was easy staying on a wooden sledge. The real skill and expertise was staying upright on a metal tea tray. The plastic bags were good too, unless you went over a rock or stone, then it hurt like hell because you had a numb bum.

You had to abandon ship before you got to the bottom of the field – or else brave the thorn brushes and the bramble patch. Many a child received a war wound from that bramble patch when they falled to disembark in time.

We’d eventually go home, soaked to the skin and freezing cold. No matter how many pairs of stocks you put on under your wellies, your feet would be like blocks of ice and they hurt like hell when they started to warm up again.

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I went into town on Saturday to buy Himself a 'V' shaped pillow to support his shoulder and arm - while I was there I came across some children’s hot water bottles with animal covers, Himself got a Koala Bear. It was just the right size to put on his shoulder, to help with the pain.

Of course the spoil sport won’t let me take a picture. I thought I could have used it as one of my funny ones in the Christmas Competition. Mind you, the Koala Bear might count as cute and I’d be disqualified then.

I'm now waiting for the moment he drops off to sleep.

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After deciding which photos to enter in the competition, I had a fiddle with some of the remaining ones - yes, fiddling again. I got an interesting result when I changed this one to drawing.






And I didn't change this one at all, I got the effect by pointing the camera towards the sun.