Snow day

Richard and Nik got to Birkenhead safely last night, before any snowfall. Just as well, because by this morning both the major cross-Pennine routes between here and the north-west were closed.
Meanwhile Eben and I awoke to plenty of fluffy white stuff. To my surprise, he wasn't campaigning to rush outside at first light. Instead, we had some toast and hot chocolate, and then went out into the back garden, well wrapped-up. Eben made a plump snowman (the giant snowball here was the starting-point). I made a few token contributions, but really it was his creation. Then we had a lively snowball fight. After all that, he was happy to come back inside.
Ruth had been planning to pick Eben up around mid-morning. But no public transport was running, and their street was as treacherous for cars as ours was - they're both on hills.  So Eben and I watched a bit of TV, he did a short drum practice and then I taught him to play Mah Jongg.  Eben thrives on a flow of new things to attract  his attention, and ideally he needs them to be challenging.  Mah Jongg ticked all those boxes, and we had a good trial-run game. By that time, Ruth and Josh had managed to drive down their street and we arranged to walk down and meet them on the nearest main road.
Back at home, I've started to dismantle the Christmas decorations... resisting the urge to collapse into bed for a nap. The Christmas/New Year holiday has been busy, and - all being well - the next few days will be an opportunity for a bit of a breather.