Childminder and days off? To say something to her?

Check the contract it's normally written that childminder sickness is not charged....then ask for a refund.
If I take a child to nursery the parent pays the whole day anyway so if the child doesn't go they stay with me at no extra charge....I'd have told you the car was in for service and expected back in time. Snow and ice....I'd make a decision once I can see how roads have warmed up in the morning if I felt it was not a risk worth taking I'd offer a child to stay with me or you take.
Personally I don't take children as an infill for private nurseries.

I'm a Childminder. Re sickness the usual standard is that if child is off ill you pay full fees, if Childminder is off ill you get a refund (usually taken off next invoice), but different Childminders have different policies check your contract as it should be in there, or she will have a fees policy.

Childminders are great because they offer flexibility that nurseries don't - I've looked after children before we'll past their finishing time when a nursery would be closed, in an emergency as well as planned to help out parents. However the down side is when they're off ill or if something happens. Re the car, there's nothing she could have done about that, possibly she could have booked in at the weekend but its not unreasonable of her to have expected the car to be ready when the garage said it would be. Re the snow - Childminders are expected to risk assess adverse weather (its a requirement) and they have to think about the walking abilities of everyone with them, if there she any steep areas on their route etc. No one here can say whether she made a reasonable call or not, you'd need to look at her risk assessment- it doesn't need to be written so she might need to explain it to you.

I would have a face to face chat and explain that your Mum is finding it tricky and you feel that she should know.

Just saying, I don't understand how a childminder can be expected to be sending photos and updates all day long ( or at all) when they should be looking after the children. You need eyes in the back of your head to do that job, I'd be quite upset if thought my child's carer was on the phone rather than looking after the child.
I work in a school and we are not allowed to have our phones out when we are with the children, for very good reasons.

I would just put her in the nursery full-time.

This is why I chose I nursery over a childminder.

You would have signed a contract when you first started using her and she should have outlined all her policies for sick days etc so you need to check that and then reference it to have your money refunded

She should absolutely be either refunding or deducting from your next invoice the times she isn't open and offering the service, this should be in your contract. It does seem she's quite unreliable but some is unavoidable with a childminder as it's just one person. If it's not working for you I'd maybe have a chat or look for someone else, it will vary depending on their commitments etc as to how often they close.

How many children does she have and where does she have them?
Unusual to split day like that - doe she have to take all the children when she drops yours off? At lunchtime/naptime? Prob not ideal.

Was the snow bad enough that it was impractical to load all the children and drive? Not sure i'd want my child beinging driven around in snow to drop another at nursery

Have a look at your policies that you would have signed and see what it says about illnesses or should she not be able to work what the protocol is.

I have a childminder and if she's sick or cannot have my daughter then I don't pay. If my child is sick I will have to pay.

I don't get photographs every day but she uses an app where I know when she's had a wee, poo eaten, had milk, slept ect.

It doesn't sound like she's very reliable and although your little one likes her if you are not at ease then I would look elsewhere you'll know what kind of childminder your looking for now you have had experience. But check the policy as you may need to give at least 4-8 weeks notice of leaving.

Also this

Can you ask her to credit her illness and unavailable hours onto your next bill so you can pay her less in advance and also for any snow days?

eg I think there have been 7 mornings where you haven’t had DD these we the 1,2,3, 5, 7, 12 and 16 th can you please credit these on the next bill.

when the nursery phones bite their hand off!

Hi, some of this is unavoidable. Some, like this "This morning she text an hour before my baby’s start time telling me the snow was too bad and she wouldn’t risk going out in it" I would have said " great I'll drop baby at x and granny will collect at y" - she didn't say she can't look after her, just she didn't want to go out. (Stilll not ideal but your mum wouldn't lose the whole morning.

You need to have a chat with her and let her know she will need to refund going forward if she is not available. This is standard for a self employed childminder, she is not a nanny so you don't have to pay her sick pay. Hoping this will make her more reliable OP!

Are there any other nurseries you could ask?