Old Wives Tales

On Friday night, the snow in Leeds came down good and heavy, we had been predicted rain for Saturday so not wanting to miss the best snow we had had in years, my friend and I both of us about to hit our fifties, decided to go midnight sledging. All the time I was waiting for someone to stop me, I could hear the voices of my mother and other grown ups, in my head saying 'You get to bed now! This is ridiculous, you'll catch your death of cold' After half an hour of sledging on perfect snow, my own inner grown up began to return, I had to admit I was cold, wet and tired and the snow was coming down so hard it coated our heads and faces. We went home.
Saturday morning I woke at 7.30 to find the rain hadn't come, the snow was still there looking absolutely beautiful in the sunshine. Despite tiredness and aching legs from the night before, I felt obliged to go out again  to give Rosie and Oliver the chance to experience the sort of snow that only comes to Leeds, once every five years or so. Surprisingly the youth of Leeds are not early risers, even when there is snow to be played in and once again we had the hill to ourselves until at least half past ten.
Wanting to share it with you, I have recorded this video clip on my phone. If it looks bumpy that is because it  was.

Sunday however was when all the Old Wives in my head reared up and said 'I told you so.' I felt awful, sore throat, headache, fever, tiredness. I know you can't catch a cold from being out in the cold and wet but it was very suspicious. Possibly the cold and wet and unusually amounts of exercise (all that walking up hill) had lowered my immune system letting the cold virus flood in. It meant that yesterday I was good for little apart from watching Andy Murray lose at tennis and trying to read a book I couldn't get into.

You will be pleased to know that I am feeling much livelier today and that this morning's walk on the valley resulted in the retrieval of two missing gloves. I was especially pleased to find Rosie's as I had borrowed it without asking last week, believing correctly that it was warmer than mine, only to drop the blessed thing in the garden.