There's snow on them thar hills!!

Hi Everyone, An extra episode for you all. We have had a right mixture of weather the last couple of days. Forgive me for writing about the weather but I have lived in the UK for most of my life!!

Friday was very windy but warm and it was a little daunting lying in bed that night and listening to the gusts of wind. Saturday started off warm and Ash and I went out to breakfast. A real treat for both of us (pancakes I'm afraid) - but the temperature dropped early afternoon from about 15C to 3C. Then it rained, sleeted and snowed!

Sarah and Matt arrived as the first flurries began and Joe ran round and round the car shouting "snow, snow" at the top of his voice, then as Ben was released from his car seat he joined him in both noise and motion. We ought to be able to capture all that energy for future use!! It could solve the energy crisis at a stroke!

This morning I awoke to brilliant sunshine as you can see from the 2 photos. The snow here at sea level had disappeared and the nearby Port Hills were covered in snow. By midday most of that had disappeared in the warmth of the sun, but there is still some of the white stuff on the higher peaks as you can see from the 2nd photo (I hope). The mountains, being that much higher have kept their snowy covering and the top picture is along the beach to Kaikoura, where I went swimming with dolphins on my first visit. The mountains are very close to the sea there and you can just about see the snow over the glare of the sun and sea. It is about 3 hours away by car.

The dog walkers were out in force (all 6 of them) by the time I finished my walk. The sea was glassy flat and calm but there were still a couple of intrepid surfers out there trying to catch a good wave. Hope you are enjoying a good summer, those of you in the Northern hemisphere - your longest and our shortest days soon. Much love Carol xx