Everything is beautiful

Today's snow turned the village into a Bruegel painting. The primary school was closed, as was the local comp. The village fields were full of children, making snowmen, sledging, snowboarding and even skiing. Huge snow balls like the statues from Easter Island littered the hillside. The land echoed to the sound of excited shrieks and laughter. And that was just the adults. 'It's like Hampstead Heath up there,' said Mrs Pelly Sheepwash (but without the lewd goings on). We were tucking into warm pancakes and Nutella in her kitchen after a brisk walk. Mr Grigg, sadly, missed it all after braving the snow early this morning to the train station for a conference in London. It is now a blizzard outside and he has just rung from the Hole in the Wall outside Waterloo about to catch the next train. Let's hope he makes it home safely.

I, meanwhile, managed to forgo the delights of the Death Star and soaked up the bluey, pinky air on an early morning walk with the dogs, before catching Mr and Mrs Loggins up on a tour of Dorset's highest hill.

Celebrity Farmer's brother, Jonathon Bell (named after the go-ahead farmer on Trumpton - a go-ahead farmer is Jonathon Bell, who works his farm and he works it well) has announced he has opened up 21 pistes but no ski lift.

This is Jonathon's song:
Driving along in a farmer's truck
A pig or a hen
A calf or the men
A bale or sack
All go into the back
You can even spread muck from a farmer's truck
An I-can-do-anything farmer's truck.

While everyone I have spoken to loves this weather, animals still need feeding, farmers still need to work. It was a joy, then, to see Mamma Mia's husband walking with his trusty spaniel by his side. A retired farmer, he smiled and said quietly: 'I've been waiting for this for 20 years. To be able to go out in the snow and enjoy it and not be working.'

The last I saw of him, he walked off into a blizzard. He could be gone for some time.




That's about it,
love Maddie x