Snow, so no go

Just when I was anticipating walking and swimming in glorious warm sunny weather, the snow arrives.  Last year I commented on the early snowfall on 20th/21st December - this year it's arrived even earlier, a winter visitor I could well have done without.  Today I was due to fly out from Gatwick to Tenerife.  After yesterday's snow, Gatwick was closed but looked set to re-open in time for my lunchtime flight today.  Fresh snow overnight put paid to that and my trip has been canceled.  What a disappointment.

To add to the disappointment, I've just come in from trying to build an igloo with absolutely no success at all!  The snow is very dry and powdery.  I suppose I could add water just like you do when building a sandcastle ... but it's not like I've even got a playmate to help me build it.  (Are you feeling sorry for me yet?)

In other news, I've bought a new camera to replace the old one after it developed an intermittent fault.  I asked a photographer friend for a recommendation and he made some suggestions.  In the end I went for a Canon Powershot SX30 with its super optical zoom.  Very nice too.  Sadly I won't be able to bring you pictorial delights of a trip to Mount Teide National Park - we'll both have to satisfy ourselves with others' photo-memories. 

If you're curious about the cartoon - this week I was sorting through some old photos and I came across my mother's autograph book.  I think it dates back to 1940 as there are a few cartoons in there signed like this one, 'C. Macpherson 40'.  I don't know who the cartoonist is, or how he fits into Mum's life, but he appears to have been extremely talented.  If memory serves correctly, Mum trained as a carpenter in the WAAF.  I also seem to recall she worked as a waitress in Croydon at some point before she became a mother, and I think the later entries (eg Donald Pleasance) relate to that post-war, pre-maternity period.