What is being described as a “shock weather front” seems to have sent the rest of the country into complete panic stations.  What on earth is going on?  In Chorley and Leyland, we awoke to cold conditions, certainly, and then a brief sprinkling of fine, dust-like particles of ice that gave the impression snow might be on the way and then….well, nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining!   But just because parts of the country have experienced slightly more snowfall (nothing yet even remotely like the 10 inches predicted), why do I hear on Radio Two’s 9am news a so-called “horticultural expert” telling us not to leave our houses!!  The best thing we can do today is stay indoors as going out could cause more harm than good in our gardens was the message – what does this man, Jamie Butterworth, think he is talking about? And how dare Radio Two edit him in order to scaremonger the outdoor types among us into changing our plans for today by staying in.

There is no denying it is cold outside.  Is it really wise though to suggest that we let Winter prevent us from being active?  At Avant, we have held events to actively encourage families out of their homes, to get interested and involved in wildlife and nature and to put down technology in favour of such outdoor, health-bringing activities.  Just wear extra layers.

Gardening has been proven to provides all sorts of mental and physical health benefits.  But you don’t have to absorb yourself in some major replanting scheme out in the garden in the snow (should it ever arrive) to reap those benefits.  Keen gardeners could use today as a chance to pot on and prick out, ready for the season ahead.  Even the most amateur gardener could use today to create that windowsill garden full of tasty leaves for summer salads or start off their seeds in preparation for planting out when the weather takes a turn for the better, all from the comfort of their kitchen drainer.

So just to prove it’s not as grim up north, here are the highlights of our week that maybe we can take some comfort from:

Why not take a leaf out of this little fella’s book and keep active?!