after the big freeze

Who'd have thought it? After weeks were the temperature barely managed to get up to -9C, it has rallied and we are now basking in a balmy +4C. The lethal ice has melted away, and everything is becoming one big slushfest as the snow starts to melt.

This has bought with it a whole load of new issues for a fraught Mummy to deal with. We can now walk the dog, and the soft layer of ice on the snow is brilliant for the newly invented game of crunch walking - who can get the biggest crunch when walking on the snow. However, the amount of mud, slush, filthy water and general gunge that now accompanies us whenever we step foot outside is making me loath to venture out much.

The boys, now used to daily sledding and snowball fights, are wanting to go out as much as possible. So the mud fest outside is rapidly appearing inside. I'm already nostalgic for the cold snap - at least the snow makes everything look pristine.