I'M dreaming of a white Christmas - but hoping it stays a dream!

The first three pictures in this week's Nostalgia show why.

The first is cute. Two-year-old Freddie Forbes is experiencing snow for the first time and discovering you can throw it, build a snowman and generally have a lot of fun.

The second, submitted by Bill Stainton of Cleator Moor, shows the inspiring beauty of snow in our Lake District. It is truly gorgeous.

Then there is the reality! Roads are icy, slippery with packed snow and unpleasant at worst and dangerous at most.

We have seen it with the recent bitterly cold and snowy days that ended in Cumbria being declared a major incident.

We did not experience it quite as badly on the coast but snow does fall here as the photo of the beacon and the Whitehaven harbour show.

I was watching the television news one night and there was a picture of Ambleside. It is a pretty town anyway, but, covered in snow it was simply outstanding.

The news cut from that to a car, its wheels spinning as it tried to get traction in the snowy mess. Drivers were stranded for hours on end and local towns and villages opened halls and homes in order to keep those drivers warm and fed where at all possible.

I have lived in the Southern Hemisphere for more than 50 of my 73 years, but you would never know that from the Christmas cards I have sent.

No matter the country, our Christmas cards depicted snow and robins and holly -none of which were ever part of our daily lives.

We sang about chestnuts roasting on an open fire. We dreamed about a white Christmas and we ate huge turkey roast dinners in blazing sunshine.

But now that I am here, I have discovered that, apart from the first excitement of the moment, I am not a fan.

Egremont has the right idea with the snow machine they used at a switch on of their Christmas lights.

The large crowd could enjoy all the romance of Bing Crosby's White Christmas as flakes swirled gently in the air before disappearing. No roads. No cold. I'm dreaming of a snow machine for Christmas, providing all the beauty and none of the danger.