Early Christmas pressie

Santa came early with a rather nice gift of Ellen and Megan, who will be enjoying Canadian delights with us this Christmas.  And then, as if to grant their wishes, a whole pile of snow arrived.  Ever since we arrived people have been at pains to tell us how unseasonable the weather is, so perhaps it's just the season of unseasonability.

When your jet-lagged Goddaughter is knocking on your bedroom door before 6am it's time to put her to work.  First on grinding coffee for your morning cappuccino...

...and then with some babysitting.

We were out in the snow quite early.

Ellen was mighty pleased she'd purchased some snow boots before the trip.

Pete was mighty pleased I'd purchased the waterproof cover for his backpack.

Not our snowman, but we found it.

We popped into Hannah's office to thaw out, and the face of youth and innocence endorsed the oil giant.

Today I hoped they might be serving Ferrero Rocher ice cream.

But no.  "Excellente" none the less.