Fun in the Snow!

Readers have been sending us more of their fantastic snowy Ely photos...

Whether you love the white stuff or loathe it, you'd have to agree that the city looks beautiful in the snow! Kelly Sterling took these amazing pictures.

 And Alice Daly shows just how atmospheric Ely Cathedral can be.

 Children (and grown-ups!) have had lots of fun playing in the snow!

Sian Hornby's son, Samuel

Nancy's daughter, Juno, making a snow angel!

Nancy Welch and Cadel

Alice Daly's daughter, Chloe

 Cherry Hill is the perfect place for sledging!

 

Megan Stephenson's children, Anna and Ted

Kelly Sterling's children, Katie and Charlie

Weeeeeeeee!

But it was just a bit too cold for some!

Only 5 months till Summer!

Hannah Lazarus' daughter, Maria

Share your snowy pictures with us by emailing hannahlazarus at hotmail dot co dot uk, and let us know what you've been doing in the snow by commenting below.

Snowy day in Ely - 14 January 2013

Laura's children built a snowman

Lorraine's daughter made a snow angel

What do your children enjoy about snow?

Haunting Halloween Hints

What do you do for halloween?

I live in a small, child friendly cul-de-sac and my neighbours are great at halloween. Last year there were cobwebs and witches, pumpkins and spiders adorning nearly every porch. OTT? Well, maybe, but maybe not. I found it to be a sign of 'neighbourliness', an indication that we are in this together, between us we can make this fun, your kids are welcome to knock on my door - I liked it!

For me, with a three month, old this neighbourhood enthusiasm was a sign I should get prepared for visitors! I had no sweets in the house so I quickly knocked up some chocolate butterfly cakes, only instead of making a butterfly shape, I turned them into witches hats. OK, so they weren't great - I did have to explain what they were supposed to be - but everyone was impressed with my efforts none the less.

This year I have a 15 month old. I need to make a little more effort. I am going to carve a pumpkin for the first time in my adult life! I've been asking seasoned mums for hints - a pumpkin carving kit was recommended by each of them, so I have been onto a well known internet site and purchased this.

I have been searching for hints, and found some great images of brilliant carvings

But mine is probably more likely to look a bit like this

I have bought two - a practice one and another one. 

Then of course there are the treats! I feel I need to live up to my reputation of making nice cakes, but I also want to better my previous efforts... I have decided on pumpkin muffins (well, can't let all that pumpkin go to waste now can we!) which I am going to ice with white icing, and then paint on a spider  using black writing icing. Ambitious? For me maybe, but I can do a practice run on these too. I am thinking we could have visitors on Saturday night, though with the school holidays being a week later than usual this could mean that the majority of folks come on the actual day.

I'll let you know how it goes!

So what are you doing?

Any more halloween expert parents got some tips to share to help the rest of prepare?

Please comment below - or if you have your own blog and want to link in your creations before or after the big day, please use the linky below to share with us all