#300GoodDeeds - Day Eight - A Snow Day!

Today was a Snow Day: all the schools in town were closed, and everything had a lovely white, Christmassy look about it! We commented to each other that people always look happier in the snow, probably because they either love snow or it makes them feel a bit hysterical! Children love Snow Days - where school is closed and they don't have to suffer through lessons (!), but I think teachers love them more!

Anyway, I'll stop pondering on snow things now, and share our eight good deeds for the 8th December:

1. Getting Mum and Dad away on their Culture Trip. This might sound easy but, trust me, it wasn't! We managed to get them to the Railway Station this morning by driving slowly along un-gritted roads, only to find that the Road Replacement vehicle couldn't run, because the road had been closed at Helmsdale! Cue waiting for the bus for forty-five minutes (it was late) only to be told they couldn't get on without having pre-booked. SIGH. We dashed home, booked them on the next bus and, three hours after our first Public Transport Failure they were heading down to enjoy a Christmassy weekend in Inverness.

   

   The minibus (Road Replacement transport) that couldn't run.

2. Snow Days are tricky for drivers, so one of our good deeds was stopping to let someone get onto the road - it's nice to think that we played a small part in getting them to where they needed to be!
3. We dashed into the Co-Op for some fish fingers (fish finger sandwiches are a MUST when the parents are away) and, on the way out, an old lady dropped a potato from her trolley and we hurried over to help her.
4. Also at the Co-Op, we entered a raffle raising funds for a local community organisation. Community is always important and, at this time of year, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved or provide support.
5. Orlando missed a walk yesterday because it would have been dangerous for him and us to have been out in the high winds. But that did mean that he needed two decent walks today. We each have to walk him once, but an opportunity for a good deed arose when one of us headed off for a second walk so that no one had to walk him on their own.

   

   Orlando loves the snow!

6. Everyone's buying Christmas gifts now, and there are parcels coming thick and fast! Today we took in a parcel for our next-door-but-one neighbours so that they wouldn't have to head out to the Royal Mail office to collect it.
7. Every year we send out a photograph of our family for friends and family in their Christmas Cards, giving them the opportunity to see what we've been up to in the year. Today we headed down to get them printed, which was a nice surprise to tell Mum when she called to say that they had reached Inverness safely.
8. Takeaways are another MUST for when the parents are away (see No.3) and this evening it was a pizza from the fabulous local pizzeria. Always nice to support local businesses (see also No.7!!) but also to give a nice tip to say thanks. Tips are quite divisive with some people, but it's just a way of saying Thank You and it's always nice to give people a helping hand at this time of the year.

  - J. x