Given that middle daughter was off in the wilds this weekend, on a school residential weekend, it was always going to snow. Which raised various issues when it came to meeting her coach.
i) Snowy Belper hills do not equate to pleasant driving
ii) Heavy bag to bring back
iii) The coach is bound to be late and it will be a cold and boring wait
All of the above easily solved by walking down with a sledge and Proust. Proust to be read during the wait, sledge to sit on while reading, also ideal for towing back luggage.
Naturally, having employed an unprecedented level of forethought and ingenuity, the coach was early, leading not so much to waiting as sprinting. Toting poor Proust around Belper and through snow was, ultimately, quite superfluous.
Extremely remote reading. 
Following last night’s ‘high-voltage underground incident’ (eye witness reports ‘plume of smoke…’) we experienced a power outage, predicted to last three hours. 
Stream. Trees. Rocks. All the elements for extremity. By the time we were done, one child was down courtesy of rocks/tree roots. Two children in the drink, resulting in one skinned knee, wet clothes and a few tears. One mother careering down hillside (involuntarily) on behind. Midge bites.
