Christmas

Right then, this is going to be a long blog!

So on the 23rd Mum and Dad finally made it up here.  In fact they arrived much earlier than we expected around 10.30 - we had only just finished breakfast and got dressed.  We had lunch at home and then decided to take a risk with the weather and go for a walk around Kirkby Lonsdale.  Tom got his bike out and went the 'long way' with Matt and Dad, whilst Mum hobbled with me along the short way.  We met in the churchyard and then headed to a cafe for Tea and a bun.  We were lucky in the end with the weather, only catching a short drizzle.

Christmas Eve
It was yet again another horrible day.  We decided to go to the Lakeland Motor Museum - we have been there before but it is interesting and undercover and we thought Mum and Dad would enjoy it.  We did all have a good time, Tom taught Mum and Dad about the TT, and we all enjoyed the old cars. We had lunch at the Cafe there - which was very very very good and then had a look round the Bluebird exhibition.

We came home, had dinner and then bed.  Matt had an interesting conversation with Tom:

M: What day is it tomorrow?
T: Tuesday
M: Yes, but what day is it?
T: Holiday
M: Yes, but which holiday?
T: Windermere Day
M: What?  No! Who is visiting you tomorrow?
T: Granma and Pop Pop
M: Yes, but Granma and Pop Pop are here already, who is visiting you tonight and leaving you presents if you've been a good boy?
T: Father Christmas
M: Yes, so what day is it tomorrow?
T: Tuesday...Christmas Day
M: Yahoo - time for bed!

Christmas Day

Henry the dog

So Father Christmas did visit Tom last night and there was a full stocking by his bed when he woke up.  Did he have a look?  No.  We could hear he was awake as he was coughing and moving around in his bed, but he didn't touch the stocking.  We had to go in and tell him it was OK for him to have a look, in the end he came into bed with us and unpacked it.  He must have been the only 3 year old in the country who didn't jump out of bed to investigate his stocking!

We eventually got up and then got dinner ready.  That meant looking at the beef and working out what to do with it.  We had got a 3 rib of beef.  It was ENORMOUS - so much so that when we weighed it on our scales the scales were overloaded - it was big.  I put Matt in charge of it.  I did the veggies so did a lot of peeling etc.  It was getting on for 10 by the time we were finished and could have breakfast and then time to investigate the presents.  Luckily we didn't have a small child demanding to unwrap everything, I think he was quite content having his grandparents and stocking toys to play with.

Around 11 we were ready.  Guess what - Tom had more than double the number of presents of anyone else, so it took him quite a while to get through them all, whilst I was in charge of writing down what was from who - think I just about got it all right.  No-one was ill today - a nice change as quite often a Branch Family Christmas was plagued by illness (never me though!)  Matt took it upon himself to right this and managed somehow to fall down the stairs whilst handing out presents.  The banisters held him, but one of his toes crumpled up and he felt distinct discomfort.  Apparently he had broken that toe in Japan and was pretty sure he had done it again.  It did come up in a good looking bruise - both back and front, but fortunately he wasn't in pain just discomfort so we carried on.

New trains

He did very well, Grand Central Train Station from Granma and Pop Pop which was a huge success, remote control train for his train set, a night time projector and various other things from Grannie and Grandpa, a remote controlled quad bike from Simon & co, a doggie soft toy/pillow from Vera (a huge hit - surprising considering he doesn't like dogs)  and then loads of other things from various people.  Thanks to everyone.

I did well - an iPad Mini from Matt and some fake Japanese food from Tom (winner of the most surprising novelty items).  I think Mum and Dad got some presents - but I didn't really see (something to do with a huge pile of paper in front of me)

We then had play time whilst dinner cooked and then dinner.  All I can say is that Matt did a superb job with the beef - it was lovely and rare.

Note to selves for future: 3 rib of beef - 220 degrees for 25 minutes, then 1.45 hours at 140.  It was perfect - melt in the mouth and perfectly seasoned.  It stayed hot for the 45 mins it took me to cook the veggies as well.  A perfect dinner.  Oh and goose fat for roasties does work - the roasties were good too.

We then spent after dinner relaxing - watched the Ice Age Mammoth Christmas which was pretty lame, but Tom needed to calm down.  He actually hit a wall around 4pm and got very very tired.  In the end he had an early bath and bed.  He was in bed for 6.15 - very early for him - it was a very exciting day for him and we were really pleased how well he took it, it was exciting but he didn't go manic.

First tattoo (a train tattoo of course)

We had a late supper - a HUGE cheese board courtesy of Pat and Bob.  It included half a huge brie which was very gooey and lovely, a huge chunk of Stilton, another huge chunk of posh Cheddar and a chunk of Hafod (Welsh?).  I supplied lots of biscuits and we did our best to make a dent.  It was certainly all good stuff, but when we had finished it looked a poor effort, we are going to have lots of cheesy dinners in the near future (heaven for me then! - thanks Pat and Bob)

Oh and today we worked out that at 1414 days old today was the first day in Tom's life that he didn't go out - not bad hey.  It was only because the weather was soooooo bad and there are no easy walks to do here that it happened.




Boxing Day
We had a lazy morning today.  We heard Tom coughing at 6am, but he didn't call out for us.  At 9am I thought I should go in and get Tom.  I went in, he was still asleep.  Ridiculous, he had been asleep for over 14 hours - oh well, I'm not complaining.

Today we had to say goodbye to Granma and Pop Pop as they were heading on their two day journey back home.  They stayed until lunch (usual Boxing Day leftovers).  We then said our goodbyes and decided to brave the weather and go out.  We went to Kirkby Lonsdale to do some recycling and to see if Booths was open and if so buy another ham as their Christmas ham was very very good.  No joy, it was closed.  Oh hum, as it was still lashing down with rain, we gave up, came home and watched Totoro.  Tom then had some beans on toast whilst we sat with him and went to bed and we had another cheesy supper - this time we over did it and neither of us slept particularly well - ooops!

Thursday
It was still gloomy today but we decided to go out.  I got some Lakeland vouchers for Christmas from Pat and Bob, so we thought we would go along and see if they had a good sale on.  They did have a sale, but unfortunately nothing I wanted was in it, so I decided to wait until there is something I really need for spending it.  We headed down to Bowness for a spot of lunch and then decided to revisit Tarn Howes as it had stopped raining.  This we did and enjoyed a very pleasant walk around the Tarn (apart from the two times Tom fell over and cried!)

Friday

Biggest layout ever

Today Auntie Jude and Craig came to visit.  It was another revolting day - at this rate we are all going to disappear under water. They made it in time for lunch so we had Christmas soup and cheese board - we have now made a dent and the brie is getting better and better - it is in fondue stage:  almost impossible to keep on a biscuit!

After lunch we did presents.  Tom was delighted to receive a tractor and trailer from Auntie Jude (he's been wanting one for a while - it is always the first thing he plays with at playgroups) and some more track pieces from Craig.  Now Craig is Tom's favourite train set play buddy.  Craig went away from here last time knowing exactly which pieces we were missing, did his research and came up with 2 T junctions and 2 wiggily woggily pieces - perfect.  It was still raining so the boys set to making the biggest train layout we have ever seen.  It kept them busy for quite a while and they did a great job as you can see in the pictures.

Then dinner - roast beef Japanese stew - very yummy.  Then Tom went to bed and we slouched on the sofas.

Saturday
It was still raining!  We had a very lazy morning.  Tom was up at 8, and at 9 he went in to see Auntie Jude and Craig.  I was sure they would be awake - oops, they weren't!  Oh well, I think 9am is fair game in a house with a 3 year old, most households would have to start around 6 or 7.  We all finally got up around 10am and had a cooked brunch (bascially everything in the fridge that could be eaten for breakfast was cooked and served up).

We then went into Kirkby Lonsdale for the usual walk, except we couldn't do it as the River Lune was way way way up, so much so that a part of the main path was almost flooded and the new path was completely flooded (a shame as they have only just laid it)  We then headed to Emily's for a drink, then it was goodbye to Auntie Jude and Craig (Tom wasn't too happy) and we headed off to Ingleton to look for range cookers (the owners of the house we are buying are taking the cooker with them) and see if there was a sale at Daleswear.  We didn't do too well at Daleswear, but I got some info on range cookers and found a cookshop tucked behind the appliance shop which sells all the good bakeware.  They did have a sale on so I got some cookie cutters for next Christmas for very little which was good - but could be quite dangerous once we move there.

We then had a very late lunch at Neptis, came home did some playing and then Tom had supper, bath and bed.  We had Christmas soup later on and went to bed.

Sunday
Nothing much to report from today.  Matt went back to work and Tom and I went out for a couple of hours doing a number of chores.

We are off to Manchester on Tuesday to see Adam, Karen, Leia and Rosa, so will probably have something to report back after that.

Where's Granma and Pop Pop?

So Mum and Dad were supposed to come up to us today by train.  However, it has been raining steadily in the UK for the last couple of days.  The result: this morning the train line was flooded between Exeter and Tiverton and there was signal failure in Plymouth.  Great!

Dressed for all seasons at the museum

I called Mum and Dad to let them know, they called the relevant people and were told that even if they were to drive to Tiverton the likelihood was that they would have to stand all the way to Birmingham New Street.  Now both Mum and Dad have heart problems and Mum has a bad knee - there is no way they could stand for that long.  So, they are coming by car.  They can't do the journey in one day, so they have driven up to Stafford and will be with us tomorrow lunchtime.  They will then have to leave on Boxing Day as mum has to be back for a Friday morning for an appointment at hospital.  So a 5 day stay has now been shortened to 2 days.  I hate the rain and the rail system!  It's such a long way to come for 2 days, such a shame.

It was a revolting day today and now Mum and Dad weren't coming we wondered what to do.  We decided on going to the Dock Museum in Barrow.  It was quite good: it was free and there were plenty of models of boats and things for children to do.  There was also a cinema room - we had trouble with Tom to start with here, but we did manage to get him to sit and watch and ENJOY the film - it was about the railway in Barrow which was a help - anyway it looks like we are beginning to crack the cinema thing.  We then had a very good and cheap lunch (for a museum anyway) before heading back.  We decided to go home via the coastal route - not sure why - we couldn't see anything.  

Tom wasn't very well behaved today - he was saying no to everything we suggested, sulking a lot and generally whingy.  He fell asleep in the car on the way home about 10 minutes after we started of = he's tired.  So he went to bed early today.  Let's hope he's in a better mood tomorrow when Granma and Pop Pop finally make it up here.

Getting ready for school

On Monday Mrs Colledge, the Head Mistress of Ingleton School and also the pre-school teacher came to visit us at home along with Mrs Jeffries - her Teaching Assistant.  This is a new thing that schools are doing - they come to visit your child at home so they can get to know them better in their home environment - that's their excuse anyway, what they are really doing is checking out the parents - working out which social group we belong to, if we will be trouble, if Tom will be trouble etc.  You may think I'm being cynical, but I asked Michelle who is a Primary School teacher if this was the case.  She started to give me the official line, but when I told her to tell me the truth she said yes, they are basically snooping on you to work out your circumstances.  So the house was cleaned and tidied, some select toys were on show, the wood burner was on (door closed) and we were working on a jigsaw together when they turned up (it is a little bit farcical isn't it?).

Anyway I think the visit went well.  They did ask us about what jobs we had, personal circumstances etc, but they did also ask questions about Tom and they did interact a little with him, but mainly it was about us.  I wonder what paperwork they fill in when they get back?

Tuesday morning Tom had a settling in session at pre-school.  I went with him.  They were doing lots of Christmas craft activities and a number of parents had been invited to come along and play with their children.  Some of the parents came up to me, especially those of boys as there are 16 girls and 4 boys in Tom's class, and said hello.  They all seemed very friendly.  Tom being Tom decided he didn't want to join in the craft acitivies so I didn't really get a chance to talk to them, he wanted to play vehicles and only vehicles.  The mums were then invited for mince pies and a chat whilst the children had storytime. Tom wouldn't let me leave him for storytime, he gave me that look which I knew meant that if I went against his wishes he would cry - he had me in his grasp - storytime is the only formal part of the day and the children have to sit and listen.  Tom wasn't interested and messed about, but I couldn't do anything about it as it would have resulted in commotion during quiet time - humpfh!  After that it was snack time and Tom was distracted enough for me to leave him, but by that time all the mums were leaving so I still didn't get to talk to them.  Oh well, Mrs Colledge said that they are a nice bunch - I'll have to take her word for it.

After snack time it was playtime.  Out of a huge shed came a huge amount of cars, trikes, bikes (including some kiddimotos), tractors etc.  Tom was in his element so I hung around so he could have a play.  Mrs Colledge was very good, coming up to speak to me, explain the reasons why she does certain things and putting me at ease.  I also saw her in Head Teacher mode telling an older child off for a minor misdemeanour which was good.

Finally the bikes were collected in and we said our goodbyes.  I'm sure Tom will have a good time there, I might have trouble leaving him there to start with, but once he's settled in, I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy it.  Also one of the boys, Fred also goes to Smile and they recognised each other and chatted to each other which is good.  When Mrs Colledge visited us she said that the boys in the class weren't boisterous boys, she was right, I met them all and they were all nice, calm boys with good manners etc.  I didn't see any boisterous behaviour from them at all - the girls on the other hand had some characters amongst them.  Some were very very bright as well.

Anyway, I'm sort of looking forward to him starting there.  I'm going to throw myself into school life as well in an attempt to meet people and get me and Tom some local friends.  Hopefully it won't be too long before we have moved to the village as well which will make everything much easier.

Very Busy Weekend

This weekend we headed back down to Telford for the first time since we moved.  It was the NCT Christmas Party on Sunday, after 2 offers of a bed for the night, we decided to make a weekend of it and go down on Saturday so we could see as many people as possible.

First stop was to see Rose, Martin and Abi in Stafford.  Usually when we go to see Abi, both she and Tom have an attack of shyness, taking quite a while to get over it.  Not today, Tom was at home almost immediately - he and Abi were running all over the place and having fun.  Fantastic, because that gave me a chance to cuddle baby Oliver, who was on good form and happy to be with me and jiggled etc.  He was full of smiles and get this - started rolling that day (he's only 4 months old!)  We passed a lovely 2 hours and were sad to go - but we had a schedule and so we said our goodbyes.

Iron Man

Next stop was Telford, where I dropped Matt off at Denzil's (down a seriously bumpy track - Matt wasn't impressed as we had just washed the car and it got really dirty again)  Then I headed to Lawley and popped in to see Jake and baby Thomas.  Tom and Jake played together very nicely which was fab, but baby Thomas wasn't at all happy and would not be cuddled by me, it was Mum or screaming so Mum took over.  Oh well, we managed a good chat and as I said the boys played nicely together.

Last stop of the day was with Sammie, Sophie and Jen.  They were waiting for us and had lasagne and garlic bread waiting which was good.  After a 'talking to' Tom managed an OK portion, but there was loads of distraction.  Sammie has a dog, which has always been a problem in the past, but today, he went up and stroked her - a real break through (although 15 minutes later he was crying because Misty looked at him!)  Sarah, Ruby and Jacob came round to say hi as well, so it was quite high energy.  It was late by the time the children went to bed.  Jen and Sophie went to sleep really quickly, but Tom didn't.  I think he had too much excitement.  I went up at 8.30 and he was still wide awake.  It didn't matter too much as he was lying in bed not making any noise, I think he was too hyped up by the events of the day to relax.  When I checked on him at 9.30 he was asleep - phew!

Sammie and I had a relaxed evening chatting and sprawled out on the sofa, putting the world to rights.  Me on Port and Sammie on Baileys, didn't get to bed until after 11pm.  Does that make us lightweights or hard core (not sure anymore - what's the benchmark for 39 year olds?)

Didn't have a very good sleep - not Tom's fault, not the Port's fault, just me.  I always find it hard to sleep in a strange place with Tom in the room - I wake up every time he moves, although he is just moving in his sleep - really need to get over it.  Oh well, we got up, had breakfast.  Tom then played on the Wii whilst I packed the car.  He has never played on the Wii before, he picked it up really quickly and was a complete demon on it.  He was a swordfighter and didn't take any prisoners.  Sammie and I were both impressed and a little shocked at his concentration and accuracy at winning against his competitors.

Before we knew it we were off.  We collected Matt and then headed to see Suzanna and Nate and Brandon.  Helen, Jake and Thomas turned up too (Thomas was in a better mood and allowed me to cuddle him which was nice).  Tom didn't play very well here, he wouldn't play with Nate at all - saying he wasn't his friend.  It was quite sad, but maybe it was because Jake was there - dynamics between 3 are quite different to dynamics with 2.  He clung for the whole time, whilst Jake and Nate played with each other.  He did try Nate's Iron Man helmet on after a lot of persuading which was the only break through of the visit.  Sorry Suzanna.

A good haul

Next stop was Eastwood Drive to see the Gouges.  We lost Tom immediately.  He was straight into Hannah's bedroom playing with the girls.  We saw him from time to time, but he was more than happy to play with Hannah and Becca.  Meant I got a relaxing sit down with Rose and Paul.  George and Marg also came round which was great, and Rose made us bacon rolls which were very very welcome.  It was really good to see everyone.  Our house looked pretty much the same except the fence has been painted and mended (way overdue).

At 2.30 we got to Oakengates for the Christmas party.  We were slightly worried that Tom may have 'burned out' at the Gouges, but it wasn't to be, Tom partied hard for the whole time he was there.  In fact I have never seen him party so hard ever, he really enjoyed himself, it was a pleasure to see.  One bit of bad news was that Mae couldn't come, she had a sickness bug so was left at home with Phil, such a disappointment, but although Tom's bottom lip came out for a moment, he then saw Olly whizzing past and decided that was a good game and joined in.

Matt and I were put in charge of Musical Statues, I tried my best but was rubbish.  I thought I was being fair and told Jessica she was the first one out, her bottom lip came out, and she cried, and cried and cried and cried.  I felt absolutely awful.  I had taken a prize for the winner, luckily Michelle (being a Primary School teacher and therefore more worldly wise in the world of children) had bought some consolation prizes for me.  I gave one to Jessica - she carried on crying.  I was the wicked witch.  I carried on with the game to its end, everyone else thankfully went out happily.  Jessica was still crying. I collected up the remaining consolation prizes and gave them to her as a prize for the best dress.  She continued to cry.  I went away, I don't think I was helping.  Note to self: never offer to do games at a party - just offer extra food!!!!

We had a good spread of food as always, chilli and jackets for the adults and the usual party food for the kids, then Santa's sack was found and presents distributed and then quiet time watching The Snowman before heading home.  It was a brilliant party.  Tom danced for half of it, he had some very cool dance moves which I've not seen him do before.  He made me dance with him for ages - I was out of breath.

Anyway it was a fabulous weekend - thanks to everyone.  We thought Tom would fall asleep as soon as we were on our way home, but it took him a while to calm down and relax, he did then fall asleep and stayed asleep for the rest of the journey and was happy to go straight to bed on our arrival home.

Sorry about lack of photos - we had such a good time we forgot to take any!

The tree

We had a quiet weekend this weekend, just as well as next weekend is going to be manic as we are visiting Telford and trying to fit in as many people as possible in the two days.

The tree with chief decorator

So on Saturday we had a useful day. We went to our local farm shop to order our Christmas meat (Beef rib), then to Ingleton to get Tom his pre-school uniform (a red fleece with Ingleton School's crest on it) and then into High Bentham for a look around as we haven't been there yet.  Discovered a good range of shops including 2 hardware stores, a butchers and a bakers.  One of the hardware stores sells cake drums as well which is good.  We had lunch there, it was a freezing cold day so when I saw beef stew and dumplings on the menu for £5 Tom and I jumped at the chance, very good it was too.  When we moved we dumped the old Christmas tree - we never liked it.  This year we decided to buy a proper one, so we headed out to a seller and bought one we thought would fit in our lounge ok.  The afternoon was then spent listening to Christmas music and decorating the tree.  Tom did a good job and was very excited.

Sunday dawned bright so we decided to head out to the Lakes.  First stop was The World of Beatrix Pottter Attraction (free to all local residents this month).  I wouldn't say it was a huge success.  It started with a cinema presentation which Tom didn't like, he kept asking to leave the dark room.  It didn't really get much better - he was grumpy and agitated for the rest of the museum and didn't really take an interest (just as well we didn't pay to enter).  He liked the garden outside but didn't really like the models or exhibitions at all.  Oh well, they were doing half price afternoon tea for 2 in the cafe, so we had that for lunch so all was not lost.

We then got the car ferry, Mallard, across Windermere and drove to Tarn Hows so we could show Matt the walk we did with 'Naughty Miss Vera'  It was lovely.  The colours weren't as good as before, but the sky was clear and the scenery looked so beautiful.  Tom walked round happily.  We even saw some Herdys - hurray - no orange one though!  We then headed into Hawkshead for a drink and a quick look around before driving back home with a very tired Tom in the back.  

View of Tarn Hows

New Parents' Evening at Ingleton School

I would just like to say how very proud we were of Tom yesterday.  At 6.30 Ingleton School were holding a parents' evening for pre-schoolers who will start at the school in January.  We got invited too as Tom will start doing a session a week in January - in an attempt to start getting him used to a school environment in the village we will be living in.

Obviously we don't have any family or friends here yet, so had a choice: one of us go, or take Tom so both of us could attend.  I asked if it would be OK to bring Tom with us, I was told it would be OK (although I could hear a little reluctance in the Head Mistress's voice when talking to her about it).  We gave Tom a good talking to before going and also said he could have some chocolate if he was good and quiet during the meeting.  He was the only child in attendance (which is what we thought would be the case) but he was as good as his word and was quiet during the whole session, he fidgeted, but he didn't cause anyone any nuisance, must have been difficult as the session took place in the pre-school room so there were lots of toys, books and distractions.

Hopefully he impressed the teachers.  He's going back to the school on Friday morning for a 30 minute trial session to give him a chance to see pre-school in action and then we have a home visit early January before he starts the following week.

Boys day out

Monday, Bob, Tom and Matt decided to have a boys day out to Windsor.  Here's a picture of Tom 'sleeping on the train'.  I believe they had a good time, including watching fast trains from the platform in Slough again.

'Sleeping' on the train

I had a 'me' day.  Spent 1.5 hours browsing in a book shop, ate sushi for lunch, found a fabulous Winter Wonderland full of beer kellers, mulled wine and every type of Wurst you can think of in Hyde Park (must take Tom there next year), a good browse around Whole Foods in Kensington High Street and just generally enjoyed my own company for a couple of hours.  Very selfish, but needed, so thank you boys.

Tuesday we came back home on the train.  Don't think we will drive to London again, the journey was so easy.

Science Museum Sunday

Watching the skating at the Natural History Museum

Sunday dawned clear and cold again.  After many debates about what to do we ended back in Central London and South Kensington to visit the Science Museum (haven't been there for a number of years). First stop was the skating rink at The Natural Science Museum for a look (laugh) and then to the museum.  We headed upstairs first and looked at flight section with lots of flying machines. 

Next stop was an area called Launch Pad, it was advertised as an area for hands on play for 8-14 year olds.  We thought we would just pop our heads in, but Tom got into the spirit of the place straight away and wasn't phased by the amount of people there or by the fact most of the children there were older than him.  There was one big sorting machine which allowed you to scoop up and transport little beads around an apparatus, it needed a team of about 6 children to keep it going.  Tom decided the wheel scoop was his job and kept it moving for quite a while.  In fact, in the end we had to drag him off it by telling him it was lunchtime.  However, we had to promise him that we would return as a bribe.  This we did, so he had another stint at the sorting machine, then he had a play on the other exhibits: making a bridge, having a go on a spinning wheel, trying to get a ping pong ball to bounce through hoops, etc.

I'm a bridge

Working the sorting machine

We then made our way down to the ground floor where we found Puffing Billy and The Rocket in the train exhibit.  We carried on to 'the purple room' where we found something called a pattern pod which was aimed at pre-schoolers and included an interactive virtual pond with goldfish swimming in it.  We were shown that if we slapped it, we could make ripples and if we held our hands out the fish would swim to us.  This fascinated Tom and he was delighted every time a fish swam towards him "I caught a fish", "I've got two, TWO fish" etc.

Eventually we were all tired, so decided to call it a day and head home.  Another good day out.

Transport Museum

On Friday we packed our bags and drove to Lancaster.  Settled the car into the station car park and then had a look around the town.  OK it is a city, but the town centre really is just that, a town centre, not much to it, although found two really good looking butchers and a fishmongers so we will be back if only to use them.  Matt and Tom went off to get their hair cut (both of them were looking quite untidy in the hair department) whilst I had a snoop around - this was my first time in the town.

Once the boys were done, we went for an early lunch in a rather dodgy town centre pub (sticky floors, toilets with no locks etc) where we got surprisingly good service and good value nosh.

We then headed back to the station and got our pendolino to London Useless (that's what Tom calls Euston - I think it rather appropriate).  The journey was very quick and smooth, it takes 2.5 hours to get to London as it only stops at 3 stations on the way.  There was enough to keep Tom occupied for the time as he was quite happy to sit looking through the window and chat.  Fab.  Bob came to meet us at Euston and then we flogged our way through London to East Sheen.

Oompus the Omnibus

On Saturday we headed to Covent Garden and the London Transport Museum.  We had thought that this might be a good idea and Bob and Pat also suggested it, so away we went.  Yes, it was a good idea, we had a brilliant day out there.  At first we were a little shocked at the price - £13.50 each, but in the end we decided it was worth it.  The museum was absolutely packed with things to do - many of which were aimed at pre-schoolers, but plenty to keep adults happy too.  I could quite easily have killed the best part of a day there on my own.

Riding on the front of a steam engine

The museum took you through transport through the ages.  The first vehicle was an Omnibus (horse driven carriage).  We know these already as Tom has an old book of vehicles which includes one called Oompus - Tom laughs every time we reach Oompus because it is such a funny name.  We were able to clamber aboard it which was good.

Driving a bus

Next stop was a floor with a steam train and the first diesel trains.  Tom made a beeline for the steam train (of course), we sneakily stood him right on the front of the engine for this photo.  We also found a modern London bus on this floor which Tom had a go on.  He looks quite at home in the driver's seat don't you think?
Next, we headed out of the museum proper to the cafe for some lunch.  Unusually the museum food was of good quality and cheap with good service.  Will happily eat there again.

The next section of the museum was dedicated to underground trains.  We had quite a bit of fun here, clambering on old carriages and getting to play with driver simulators - of both old trains and new trains.  Surprisingly the museum wasn't completely crowded (you would think it would be on a Saturday) so we all got a chance to have a go on the simulators.  (I didn't do too well, the emergency brake had to be automatically applied as I went through a red signal - something to do with being distracted by a small  boy shouting at me!)

Driving the underground

The Youngs riding the 1st electric underground train

Needless to say, Tom had the best time, in fact, he spent most of his time there mega excited, so much so that he forgot to go to the toilet and had an accident.  Shame. Both Matt and I said that we wouldn't be surprised if he had an accident as he was so excited, we should have acted on our instinct and not trusted him.  Oh well, it meant that we had to use the special parent and child toilet (we thought we had been transported back to Japan as it was a room with a large toilet and a mini toilet and plenty of space for changing clothes and a small and large basin - big thumbs up from us)

We finished off the rest of the museum which was dedicated to buses: trolley buses, routemasters and the latest bus, which had been chopped so just the driver's cab and the seats immediately above it were present.  Children were invited to clamber and sit in the driver's seat here as well, so Tom did.  We took a video of this, we will load it up here later this week.

Anyway, it was a very good outing and I would quite happily go back there again.  We went back to East Sheen via bus, train and bus giving Tom as much opportunity as possible to ride on the double deckers which he enjoyed.

It was a tired but happy boy that arrived back.

Now, when Pat and Bob knew we were going to be down this weekend they offered us tickets to see Fascinating Aida at the theatre in Richmond.  We happily accepted.  They also suggested that we would want to have dinner out as well.  So a proper night out.  We left Tom with them around 5.00, he didn't even blink, in fact he was excited to be left with them and from all accounts was well behaved and ate dinner and went to bed nicely.  We had a nice dinner in a local cafe and then headed to the theatre.  We had a great night out - Fascinating Aida were very funny indeed and the 2 hour performance sped by.  We treated ourselves to drinks at the bar before the performance and during the interval.  G&T for me and 2 x half pints of red wine for Matt (since when is half a pint a measure for wine?).  Result of this was that we got some chips to eat on the way home to help soak up the alcohol, haven't done that for a long while.

In all a very good day, we fell into bed exhausted but happy.

Castle and Trains

On Friday, Matt decided to have a half day, so Tom and I had a useful morning tidying up, cleaning etc and then we headed out.  We decided to explore Ambleside - there is a huge garden centre there which we got lost in.  Lots of toys for Tom to play with there and a massive, MASSIVE Christmas display, I'ld be quite interested to see what it is like out of Christmas season.  We then went to Grasmere - mainly to look around the Herdy Shop.  This is a new brand based on a local breed of Sheep - the Herdwick which are very cute, they have charming faces and overly baggy bodies.  We have always liked Herdwicks since we first saw them up here and are really pleased there is now a brand dedicated to them.  It is a quality brand too.  Have a look at their latest video and shop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28mB950rXLU Herdy Film - vey charming
http://www.herdy.co.uk The Herdy shop

Relaxing in the Big Hall

We then returned to Ambleside and had an Italian before heading home.

On Saturday Matt had a half day translator's meeting in Darlington.  We had a choice, let Matt take the car and us be stranded in Lupton for the day or go with Matt in the car and have a play whilst he was at his translator's do.  We opted for the second option.

It wasn't a very nice day - initially we thought it would be misty in the morning and then clear up, but the mist was too dense and the sun never got through which meant it was very cold, very damp and very dreary for the whole day.

We had discovered that there was a large Tesco in Catterick Garrison just outside of Richmond, on Tuesday I visited the local Tesco here, and whilst it was quite poor I did notice that they were doing a deal where you took your Tesco vouchers in and they doubled them up for you.  Matt had just received some vouchers in the post, so we took them in and managed a £100 shop where we paid just £30.  We came out feeling very pleased with ourselves.

Tom and a Castle

Matt subsequently got the bus to Darlington whilst Tom and I had lunch and then headed into Richmond - a nice Dales market town which has a castle right in the centre, so we decided to explore it.  Now, I'm not sure what was wrong with Tom today, as soon as we got to the castle he started to cry and kept saying he wanted to go back to the car.  He said that it was too steamy for him.  He wouldn't even consider chocolate as a bribe.  I had visions of a terrible afternoon as Matt wouldn't be back until 6pm and this was 1pm!  I took him inside to see an exhibition but he continued to cry - saying it was too steep (it was on the second floor).  He was happy enough looking round the shop and eventually when I asked if he wanted to see the castle he said yes.  Phew!  I then had to use the chocolate bribe to get him to walk round it. Eventually he relaxed and did enjoy it, in fact we spent over 2.5 hours there and I managed to get him to climb right to the top of the tower, so it was a success, but I still don't really know why he was so miserable at the beginning.

Banking

As a reward for good behaviour we stopped at a tea room for tea and a bun and then went for a look around the town.  It's the sort of place that has lots of interesting shops - ie no chain shops, and plenty of Aladdin's Cave type shops which gave us plenty of time to browse in the warmth.  We then had a hunt for a pub to have dinner in whilst waiting for Matt to return (he had pigged out at lunchtime in Darlington and didn't need proper feeding) This was quite problematic, as nearly every pub I looked at through the window seemed to be full of lads drinking - I understand why, cold Saturday afternoon but I couldn't really take Tom with me into an environment like that.  I was beginning to get desperate, but luckily the last pub I looked into (it would be the last one wouldn't it!) was empty, with a very friendly bar lady so we gratefully made ourselves at home and tucked into a huge plate of Cumberland sausage, mash, veg and Yorkshire pudding - yummmmmy.  During this time Matt arrived from Darlington so we finished up and headed home.  Tom slept for the whole journey and went straight to bed on arrival.

Tom and Daisy

Sunday we had thought about going to Keighly with our Dales pass and the steam train there, but Tom had had a long day on Saturday so we decided to stay closer to home.  Matt discovered in the morning that our local steam train - Lakeside and Haverthwaite railway were doing cheap trips for residents - only £4 return for the 3 of us, although it was a diesel day today.  Too good to miss so we went.  They also did a 2 course home cooked dinner for £5 so we had that as well - a bargain trip out.  We are really liking all these resident only prices for the Winter, means we will be out and about on every sunny day we get.

Good Swimmer

Today we went to a local caravan park for an offer I found in a local circular.  Swimming for a family of 4 plus pizzas afterwards for £10.  It was too good to miss even though we are a family of 3.  It took a while to get Tom going as the water was a little cold but after a while he started to attempt swimming and by the end of the session was doing lengths of the pool (about 20 meters). He improved significantly in his technique, he still tends to sink as he is swimming and sort of ends up swimming vertically rather than horizontally, but he is getting there.  We were very proud.

Only thing was this time he would not jump in, but last time we were in Kendal we couldn't stop him jumping in.  Oh well, the swimming was so good we couldn't complain.

Busy weekend

The Princess Elizabeth in Carlisle

Another busy weekend - they are the best after all.  We discovered two good things this week.  If you are a resident of the Dales (where we are isn't officially the Dales, but the postcode is good enough!) you can buy a special railcard so that you can travel anywhere on the Settle - Carlisle line for £7 in November to February.  This includes the line all the way to Leeds and also down to Morecambe.  Normally the fare to Carlisle is £22.50 so it is a great saving.  So Saturday saw us driving down to Settle and we got the train to Carlisle.  It is a very scenic journey, which includes 17 viaducts including the famous Ribblehead Viaduct which takes you across the Dales and the Eden Valley.  It was a 1.5 hr trip, but it went very quickly.  Tom was well behaved looking out the window. although we did have some ridiculous conversations about moving tunnels!  We got to Carlisle and saw countless spotters on one of the platforms.  Intrigued, we hung around and about 20 mins later a stream train arrived - The Princess Elizabeth which looked very beautiful and was full of more spotters (sorry enthusiasts).  It had come from Birmingham International and was due to go down to Settle on its return journey.  (Cost for a trip Settle to Carlisle on a steam train is around £65!)  Anyway a great bonus to see a steam train there.

We headed out to Carlisle, round the very good looking Citadel to the city centre.  It was HORRIBLE, full to bursting with Christmas shoppers (we had forgotten that we are well into the lead up to Christmas now).  Panic over took us and we quickly needed to get out of the crowds and find somewhere for lunch.  We found a Frankie and Benny's and dived in.  Matt managed to get a digital voucher on his phone so we had a pizza and a plate of pasta and drinks for not very much at all.  We then did some research and found that there was a park not far away and decided to go there, there was no way either of us would survive the shops.  So we found ourselves in Bitts Park which was really good - had a well thought out playground and a musical trail with lots of xylophones to play which kept all of us occupied for a while.

We then headed back towards the station where I found a very well stocked cake shop with all the bits and pieces I've been needing for the last couple of weeks - phew.  Next door to the cake shop was a cafe with a model railway in it (these are shops located in the railway arches).  Perfect somewhere for the boys to hang out whilst I shop.  Well, it would have been perfect if it hadn't been closing.  Oh well, next time we come to Carlisle we know what to do, head straight for the railway arches, the boys can eat and drink and watch the model railway and I can look round the cake shop in peace - everyone will be happy.

This was the only crocodile we could find

We got the train back to Settle and watched the sun set over the Eden Valley.  Tom had a quiet period where he snuggled into me, but he didn't fall asleep.  He was pretty well behaved though and kept us entertained.  A very good day out and ridiculously cheap - think we will do this a couple more times between now and February.

Sunday dawned clear but cold.  We decided we would go to South Lakes Wildlife Park - a zoo near to Ulverston where it is free, yes FREE to enter during winter months. How could we not visit?  We were expecting a small, average facility so were very pleasantly surprised to find it was a very well run zoo with nicely thought out enclosures. 

Riding a Rhino

It wasn't huge, but it had plenty to look at.  No elephants but pretty much everything else: tigers, lions, rhinos, hippos, about 6 giraffes (my favourite and they didn't disappoint - they were very tall), bears, penguins, kangaroos, lots of birds, monkeys etc.  We didn't find a reptile house, but you never know we may have missed it.  The bird enclosure was really good - had lots of ducks, swans, cranes etc, but also flamingos, and a couple of emus, all walking around with you.  The emus freaked out Tom - understandable though, they do look scary especially when they tower above you like they do to Tom.  The bird enclosure included an indoor area which housed some parrots, monkeys, kangaroos and a pond within which was a huge constrictor snake.  There was no fence between us and the pond, we only noticed the snake after we saw a notice saying 'beware of the snake' we thought it was a joke at first until I heard an exclamation from Matt when he saw a snake's head appearing from the pond!

We spent a good couple of hours in the zoo.  Apart from the Emus, Tom enjoyed it all.  There was even a little train for him to travel on - what more can a little boy need?

Lioness

We decided to leave when the heavens opened, and we had rumbling tummies (the food at the zoo looked very very average - however, we did find an indoor picnic area so next time we go we will take a picnic).

We headed to Ulverston and Booths where there was a cafe for lunch.  All in all a good day, can't believe it is free - we made a donation as we thought it was so good.  We will definitely return before they bring back the entrance fee again in March - when it costs £13.50 per person.

Another Sunny Day

Autumn colours

Sunday dawned beautiful - another deep blue cloudless sky.  We decided to head back to Barbondale and do the walk we discovered a couple of weeks ago.  We parked up in the usual place, had a game of football, threw some stones in the river, claimed Tom island for Tom with a flag and then headed off on our walk.

Tom did well and walked quite happily with us, with only one minor hiccough.  It took 1.5 hours to walk the 2.4 miles, so we won't break any records, but it was a lovely walk along the river, mostly downhill, to Barbon village, where there was a pub with a fire burning brightly in the grate making us feel very welcome.

Two-hat Tom

One glance at the menu and we decided to eat a proper dinner.  A sandwich was £8.00 and main course £9.00 - it was a no brainer.  Between the three of us, we shared a trio of sausages & mash, a big plate of Sunday roast (pork with crackling) and the inevitable portion of onion rings. Whilst consuming our dinners we realised that we probably wouldn't be able to coerce Tom back to the car on foot - the walk would be mainly uphill and away from a road, so if he played up there would be no choice other than to pick him up and carry him.  Matt therefore decided to walk back himself and drive the car back to us.  It took him 30 minutes to get there - which says a lot about the difference in speed between Tom and him.
I (Matt) should point out that while I marched at great speed back to the car (going shin-deep into a muddy puddle at one point), Nik & Tom killed time by polishing off a portion of apple crumble and custard.

We then headed to Sedbergh for a little walk round to familiarise ourselves. Good news: the butcher's hasn't closed, so I really need to go along one day to see if the display of meat is as good as we remember from 3 years ago.  I also found a hardware shop which looked like it might sell cake cards - it was closed so we will have to go back soon.

Barbon - typical Dales village

Tom fell asleep on the way home, but woke up as soon as we got back so we had a lazy afternoon before having a snack for dinner and bed.

My First Craft Fair

The Cake Table

I have been busy baking and inventing over the last couple of weeks as I had agreed to run a stall at the Smile Nursery Christmas Fair this weekend.  I didn't really want to do a fair as they are well known amongst the cake community as being very hard work for very little reward, however, I still haven't received one order so I am desperate to get myself known in the local community.  The nursery were running their own cake stall so there was no point me doing so, I therefore had to come up with ideas of different things to do to to showcase my skills.

First I made some cake toppers for Christmas cakes - I have found that most people make their own Christmas cakes these years but most hate decorating them so I made some decorations to go on top: Father Christmas, Snowmen, Rudolph, Penguins, Teddy Bear, Choir Boys etc.  Then I had what I thought was a good idea - making chocolate tiffin in the shape of a Christmas pudding.  I got in some silicone moulds and made 3 types: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate ones.  They are very very naughty - but who doesn't love a piece of tiffin and most people hate Christmas pudding.

Biscuit Table

My next idea came my way during a trip to Booth's in Settle where I bought some walnut whips - I turned 3 of these into Christmas figures: Father Christmas, a Choir Boy and an Angel.  I have also been experimenting with Gingerbread and made a big house and a kit for making it which I took along with some gingerbread biscuits and a last minute thought - some miniature gingerbread houses.  I also made some stained glass biscuits - biscuits with a hole in the middle filled with a melted boiled sweet - very pretty.  I was sure girls would want these.

Collection of Cake Toppers

I also took a couple of Christmas cakes - proper size and miniature size just in case someone wanted to buy a Christmas cake.  I also made some cupcakes - chocolate ones with snowflakes on top and some apple streusel ones for those who don't like mega sweet things.

Gingerbread House

Last but by no means least I made some orange peel Christmas tree decorations - for those who like a natural Christmas.

I got to the nursery an hour before opening time to set up.  The nursery provided me with some tables and it took me a good hour to get the tables set up.  I had a problem in that I didn't know what size table  I was going to get, so therefore didn't know how much stuff to take but it fitted well.  The only problem was that the tables were very short so all my wares were at the right height for toddlers to be able to destroy.  I had to bite my tongue and smile sweetly every time a toddler came up and grabbed at something - there was nothing I could do - my fault for not bringing my own proper height table.

Stained glass window biscuit

This was the first Christmas fair that the nursery had held, so they didn't know what to expect.  They have a location problem, in that they are located in a hamlet - so not many locals to come along and they have limited parking for those wanting to visit.  I wasn't expecting many to come, but plenty did.  I wouldn't say it was mega busy, but there were people milling around the whole time it was open.  I didn't do great business, the most popular things were gingerbread men and women.

However, I did get an order for some more walnut whip decorations.  Most important though were the people who took my card and looked through my portfolio saying - "Oh, I've got a 50th birthday coming up" etc etc.  I did get lots of people complimenting my work which is always lovely to hear.

I did come home with a lot of stock though - can you believe it I only sold 1 tiffin????!!!!!  I'm now trying to find an outlet for them and no-one bought a stained glass window biscuit which really surprised me - I think they look very pretty - maybe I didn't present them well enough?  The spare cupcakes went to Playgroup with me on Monday - the rest won't go off.

Walnut Whip Decorations

I got 3 orders for the Gingerbread House kit from a mum who I know at playgroup on Tuesday who went to the fair on Saturday but was having to look after a toddler in destruction mode so didn't order anything on the day.  So all was not lost, all I need is one order for a birthday cake which is then seen and eaten by many at a party then hopefully I'll be on my way.  We will see...

Needless to say I was very tired and aching on Saturday night - sitting and standing at a miniature table did my legs and back in.

Chocolate enrobed tiffin Christmas Puddings

Ha-har

Oh, I totted up what I made - £72 which is better than I thought - that doesn't include the £30 order I got on Tuesday.

Notes for next time:
+ Use a proper height table - ie get a wall papering table
+ Work out how to display biscuits properly
+ Have a proper table cloth (blue/green/with frogs?)
+ Have portfolio showing work other than that on the table
+ Have lots of £5s to hand
+ Rudolph and Santa cookies in a jar
+ Gingerbread Sleighs

Beautiful Day

Monday was a very very beautiful day.  So much so that Matt decided to take the day off - fantastic.

First of all we went to Greenlands as Tom's Enjoy-a-Ball started up again today and I knew that Matt would enjoy watching him do it.  I was right and Tom did really well, only having one little clingy moment.  Unfortunately it was all football based today, so no tennis or rounders, but it was good fun - Matt got so absorbed that he forgot to take photos - rare for him.

Car boat 'Mallard' on Windermere

Me and Tom

We then headed down to Lakeside for a snack and got the boat on Windermere to Bowness.  We had found out at the weekend that local residents get 50% off the regular price out of season, so it cost £10 for all 3 of us for a 2 hour cruise, can't complain at that.

Solem (tired) boy

As I said, it was the most fabulous day - deep blue sky and great sunlight.  The mountains were covered in snow, "looks like sugar" there wasn't a whisper of a breeze it was glorious.  We wrapped up warm and sat outside drinking up the view and looking at the very lovely houses and hotels on the shore.  We docked at Bowness and had a little walk around - somehow we managed to do quite a bit of shopping - a new winter's coat for Matt and a new pair of lined trousers for me.  We then had tea and bun before catching the last boat back to Lakeside, once again opting to sit outside and admire the sunset and view (we were the only ones outside - not sure why)

We got home with a very tired Tom, so he had dinner and went to bed.  A glorious day - as you can see from the photos.

Sunset over Windermere

Busy Weekend

We had a very very busy weekend.  On Friday evening Grandpa and Grannie came to see us.  They were supposed to be in New York celebrating Pat's 70th birthday, but Hurricane Sandy had put paid to that - instead they were spending a couple of days in the North.  Tom was on very good form when they arrived and treated them to a game of shop.  We then headed out to The Strickland Arms, a gastro pub near to Sizergh Castle for dinner.  The food was really good, Tom ate from our plates and did really well.  He was in entertainment mode, he was making up stories, singing songs and generally in a very good mood.  When pudding came out, there was a lull in conversation during which Tom shouted at the top of his voice "BLOODY HELL!" no-one else had said it, we all looked at each other in disbelief and then all dissolved into laughter - his timing was fabulous.

We didn't get home until after 8pm - Tom went straight to bed.

The children have their second sleep over - in the lounge this time

On Saturday we went out for the day.  As it was a horrible rainy day we decided to go to the Lakeland Motor Museum.  It was a fantastic place, absolutely rammed full of vehicles of all kinds.  If we didn't have a 3 year old with us, we could have spent many hours there, but we were forced to go round it quickly.  Tom did enjoy it though, he just doesn't have the concentration span that we do.  There was also a exhibition about Donald Campbell with some replica Thunderbirds which was quite interesting.

Maggie, Tom and Jenny

Once we were done, we headed off to a pub for lunch and then headed back home as the Watsons were visiting today.  They arrived around 3.30.  Jenny who's almost 3 was snoozy and shy on arrival but Tamsin and Maggie made themselves at home and before too long there was some serious track building going on downstairs.  Tom made a beeline for Cameron who was on good form - Tom called him 'funny man'.  The children had a good time and then had dinner and bed so we could do the same.

We decided to try out a sleepover with Tom this time, so Maggie and Tamsin slept in Tom's room with Tom.  It worked and it didn't take as long for them to go to sleep as we thought - no stern words were needed to get them to sleep and they stayed asleep until 6.45 which in my book is a success.  

King of the Castle

Throwing stones from 'Tom Island'

Sunday dawned bright and sunny so after some bacon sarnies we headed off for the usual Kirkby Lonsdale circuit.  We were hoping for an apperance from Church Cat Bob, but no joy today again which was a shame.  We ended up at Emily's for tea and a bun before saying goodbye to the Watson's as Cameron needed to catch a flight down to London at 3.  We then headed off to Barbon for another play and then Dent for lunch before driving home.  Tom fell asleep in the car on the way home and stayed asleep for 1hr 20mins which is longer than he's done for quite a while.

Video taken in Barbondale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1ZtIhS9YIQ&feature=plcp

At 6pm we had arranged to meet up with Pat and Bob again at The Plough.  They had been zooming around the region and seen quite a bit and found some good eateries which we've put on our list of places to visit.  Tom again was on good form, entertaining us and eating well.  We had a photo session in the pub got some good ones - especially of Bob and Tom - the photos speak for themselves!

Concentrating

Gurning boys!