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as it was snowing outside I thought a couple might come in useful.’
    I laughed. ‘Oh that’s not fair.’ I dragged myself off the bed and started searching in the cupboard for a pair of his thermal long johns to steal. ‘Aren’t you going to be voted ‘Best Dad in the World’? I can’t compete with that.’
    By the time we were dressed and downstairs, the kids had finished their first snowball fight, Sam had been hit in the face twice and had had a big handful of snow forced down his back, Charlie hadn’t even had to duck. Sam, irritated and frustrated at his own lack of aim had given up, leaving Charlie trying to use one of the new sledges on flat ground, much to her annoyance it wasn’t going well.
    Over a huge breakfast of hash browns, beans, bacon, sausages and Sam’s favourite, fried bread, we decided that we were all going to trudge out to the big hill behind the house and test the sledges.
    Charlie stared out of the window, the snow was still falling. ‘It’s really deep.’ She looked a little hopeful. ‘We have to start school the day after tomorrow.’
    â€˜It’s not that deep,’ Geoff said, ‘it’s only about seven or eight inches and the roads will be clear.’
    I laughed at her expression of woe. ‘This really isn’t that bad love.’ I began to clear the plates away. ‘You’ve just never seen more than a couple of centimetres of snow before. I’m sure your dad has seen it much deeper, coming from Cumbria.’
    Geoff nodded. ‘I remember walking down a lane and after the plough had been through the snow at the side of the road was up to my waist.’
    Both kids looked at him and rolled their eyes. ‘Yeah right!’ Charlie got up and went to put her wellies on. ‘Come on Sam, let’s get out before they start on the old days .’ Both went out muttering about the parental lies that they had to put up with.
    â€˜Do you remember that day we were visiting my mum and the car got stuck halfway up that hill in the snow?’ Geoff laughed.
    â€˜Yes I do.’ I poked him in the arm. ‘That was when I got out to push and you drove off and left me, I had to run to catch up.’
    â€˜I didn’t dare stop, I’d have got stuck again.’ He put on a wounded look. ‘I was only going slowly, I thought you’d be able to jump in.’
    I waved a knife at him. ‘I did jump in, but as soon as both feet were in the car, I found myself hanging on to the open door, couldn’t hold on and fell out again.’
    â€˜I had to stop the car and pull you out of that snow drift that you were bum-first in. We couldn’t get the car going again and had to abandon it and walk to my mum’s.’
    â€˜Well if your mum didn’t live halfway up bloody Stainmore we wouldn’t have had any problem.’ I looked out at the snow. ‘It’s amazing that this is the deepest snow the kids have ever seen.’
    Geoff took the plates out of my hand and dumped them on the table. ‘Come on, leave them, let’s go sledging before it all melts.’
    Four hours later we arrived back home. The kids, soaked to the skin, were shivering uncontrollably. They had given up walking and were perched on their sledges forcing Geoff to drag Sam and me to drag Charlie. I couldn’t feel my feet and the wild excitement about the snow had dulled to the usual moaning and griping.
    â€˜I can’t feel my legs.’ Charlie staggered upright and kicking her boots off at the door fell into the lounge.
    â€˜Don’t stand too near the fire,’ Geoff warned, ‘as you warm up it’s going to really hurt.’
    Charlie looked at him dubiously. ‘Why?’
    Geoff just winked at her. ‘Trust me, it’s going to hurt.’
    I chivvied both children upstairs. ‘Come on out of those wet clothes, who wants the first bath?’
    Charlie was