When our daughter Florence was born it snowed on the day she was to come out of Calderdale Maternity Unit and it was so beautiful we decided to give her the middle name Snow.
Jamie and Florence
That was about four weeks ago and today it snowed again and Calderdale has been transformed into a winter wonderland. So we decided to go to the park and make a Snowman as Florence needs to learn these skills early if she’s going to have such a middle name.
Percival and Stoodley Pike
Our Snowman is called Percival and we make him each year, he’s a seasonal guest in our family. A previous year he wanted to climb a tree and this year he wanted to play on the swings. And why not? Snowmen are allowed to play on the swings aren’t they! So we set about compacting the snow. A little tip here, snow only sticks together if it is a little damp, if you are having trouble with your snow sticking together mix a little water with it in a clean bucket.
This was all going very well, Claire, myself and newborn Florence sticking the snow together surrounded by chisels ready to shape Percival and a bucket filled with a scarf, carrot and coal to dress him. Until that is it started to snow.
“Jamie, it’s snowing, Florence needs to go inside.” Said Claire
“She’ll be fine!” I assured her, “It’s only a bit of snow” I said as the snow started to fall harder and harder.
“No, she is only four weeks old, it is starting to snow and she needs to go inside! You finish Percival.”
And that was that. Suddenly what was a very cute scene of a family making a snowman on a swing together in a winter wonderland was quickly transformed into sad scene of a man alone in a playground surrounded by chisels during an on coming snow storm. But I decided to finish what we had started.
Percival enjoying the park
Percival gradually came to life, it is amazing the difference a carrot can make. It was time to get some photos. So I got the generator and my studio lights to do the chap justice. And he looked great sat there on his swing. But then Percival was not content with just sitting on a swing; he wanted to swing on a swing! So I started to give him a push. What transpired was a ginger bearded man pushing a snowman on a swing and then running in front and taking photos of him, then running back and pushing him a little more. By this stage I had drawn a crowd and folks were taking photos of this mad local and it seemed to cause some amusement. Percival was not phased, he is used to being the centre of attention.
At that Claire and Florence came back out to say hello to Percival. Together we played in the park again and this time it was extra cute because we were joined by our seasonal visitor.
whoooooosh!
weeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
Percival the snowman
See you next year Percival!
