Sun & seaside

Another very busy weekend (aren't they always!)  It didn't start too well.  I asked Tom what he wanted to do on Friday and he said cycling in Morecambe.  So I swore blindly whilst loading the car with my and his bikes and drove to Morecambe.  We parked up and cycled to the stone jetty for lunch.  Tom did really well, we both really enjoyed ourselves racing along the prom.  We parked up at the Stone Jetty and he was given his choice of lunch for being such a good boy on the bike.  He had a sausage sandwich whilst I had a jacket potato.  This is where the mood changed, Tom was very very very slow at eating his sandwich - it took an hour of constant nagging before he finished it.  

We finally got back on our bikes and cycled back towards the car.  It was all going well until we saw Eric, then Tom got it in his head that he couldn't pedal past him - something about not being able to pedal past a bush next to him????!!! From that point on it was hard work getting him to pedal - he whinged and whinged and whinged.  To be fair it was cold and a little windy but as I kept telling him - he would be warmer if he cycled than not.  In the end he completely gave up!  He sat on his bike and cried.  He wouldn't come off his bike and he wouldn't cycle.  I gave him time out to sort himself out, but that didn't work.  We were both getting cold.  In the end I had to prise him off his bike, then walk with his and my bikes, down the prom, leave them against a bench, walk back, pick him up (he was also refusing to walk!) carry him past the bikes, sit him on a bench further down the prom, walk back to the bikes move them further along the prom past Tom who was still crying and so on - much fun was had as you can imagine.  

In the end a little old lady with a dog and a walking stick took pity on me, ditched her stick, and wheeled Tom's bike whilst I wheeled my bike and carried Tom back to the car.  Thank goodness for kind people, but how embarrassing - she must have been 85 plus!  As  you can imagine he was in disgrace for the rest of the day.  I thought he might fall asleep on the way home as he had cried so much, but no - so he wasn't tired.   I think he was cold, but if he had kept pedalling he would have been ok, I tried to explain to him many many times that was what he needed to do, but he just wouldn't have it.  Oh hum, he was suitably contrite back at home, didn't ask for the telly and sat and did jigsaws by himself all afternoon.  We then went out for a curry in Kirkby Lonsdale, didn't start too well - restaurant not open when we arrived and slow service, but it turned out the staff come from the other side of Keighly (over 70 miles away!) and got stuck in traffic.  They apologised and were quite pleasant, so we will try them again sometime.

Throwing stones in Dent

Saturday dawned beautiful - clear blue sky.  Tom had been told to be on his best behaviour and was in good cheer in the morning.  We asked him what he wanted to do - he said he wanted to go to the Dales, so we decided to explore Barbondale.  This is one of Matt's most favourite places in the world so it was a real test for Tom - would he like it?  We hoped so.  We needn't have worried, he had a fab time, as did we.  We had a kick around near the river and then went for a walk along the river back towards Barbon.  Think we did about 3 miles in the end.  It was a really good walk - not too steep and the walk was fenced in, meaning Tom could kick a football along it.

A model's pose

We found out that if we continued down the path we would have ended up at a pub in Barbon (something to do next time we have a nice day).  It really was beautiful, I could have walked for ever, however, we had a small boy with us who was in good cheer but would need feeding before too long, so we turned round and headed back to the car.  Oh AND we met a lovely old couple with a lovely old labrador which Tom stroked!!!!!  We then went to Dent and had lunch at the Sun Inn, which included pudding (of course) and then a play in the playground and a walk around the village which included a period of throwing stones in the river before heading back home.  Tom fell asleep in the car, he had played hard.

Sunday was a miserable day.  We headed into Kendal to take Tom swimming.  It didn't start well, after looking at the website we thought we could turn up any time, but on arriving just after 10am we found out that they run hourly sessions on a Sunday on the hour, and the learner pool was full.  We thought we would sit in the cafe and wait for the next session, no joy, the cafe was closed.  So, we went into Kendal and did some shopping.  We were too early - most shops weren't open yet!  Not great!  We ended up having a drink in the Booth's cafe and then tried again.  Success, the shops were open.  We then got to the pool for a 12 start, we were the first in, and the pool was pretty empty.  Phew!  It wasn't a great start in the pool, Tom started whinging as soon as we got there, he clung to me and was acting really scared.  In the end I gave him a talking too, it seemed to work, suddenly he started to relax and enjoy himself.  In fact he had a ball.  He swam all over the place, splashed us and himself, jumped in - yes JUMPED IN again and again and again and even asked me to pour water from a watering can all over him.  It was a complete success - we were very proud of him.  Once we were done, we went in search of lunch and ended up at Kitridding Farm for cheese scones.  Tom almost fell asleep in the car on the way back, but not quite.  This wasn't good as in the afternoon Auntie Jude arrived.  We could all tell he was tired but he would not admit it, he was in full fidget mode, wouldn't listen to us etc etc.  We ended up putting him in his bed, but he cried and cried and cried.  His stamina was amazing, there was no way he was going to let up.  I went to lie down with him, he still wouldn't relent.  In the end Matt did a deal with him, come out and be good, or straight back to his room.  He came out and was good.

The Tower and lovely sky

Monday morning Tom and I took Jude for a tour of the area including Kirkby Lonsdale (no Church cat Bob this time unfortunately) and Ingleton including Neptis for lunch (this is becoming a regular tour for visitors staying with us)  We returned home and then all piled in the car for Blackpool.  It is the illuminations at the moment - they end on 5th November.  It is really busy this week as it is darker earlier now the clocks have gone back.  We parked up and went to explore the North Pier.  It was full of tacky shops and amusements (didn't disappoint), we even saw that someone had written a huge Tom in the sand below us (added bonus) and then had a drink in the bar at the end.  The bar was pumping out some really loud cheesy music.  Tom liked it and started bouncing on me.  In the end we did a full dance routine. he loved it.  So nice as normally he tells me to stop if I even hint at a dance!  Matt got it on video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7RhvF_F7c8&feature=plcp

Pirates

Daleks

We then headed off to the lights.  We were a little early, we thought they came on at 5.00, but it was 5.15.  Once they came on they were great.  I was a little worried what Tom's reaction would be as recently he has been saying that he doesn't like lights, but he was mesmerised by it.  "Lots of lights" "Too many colours to count" "Blue, green, white, red, yellow - 29 colours!"  There was definitely lots to see.  In the end he walked 3.25 miles along the prom looking at them.  There were big lights with moving parts, nursery rhymes, haunted lights, daleks, Basil Brush, Noddy, Postman Pat, Romans, Egyptians, pirate ship, big rocket, and a huge display about recycling.  It was fabulous and Tom was really engaged by them.  On top of all that the illuminations were next to the tram line, so there was a lot of tram spotting going on.  Some of the trams were illuminated themselves, one was illuminated as a steam train (really really good) and two as boats - one which was very noisy: tooting and honking its way along the tracks.

A good time was had by all

We finally got to the end of the lights and went in search of a chippy.  We found the biggest chippy we had ever seen.  Queued not long and got served very very quickly.  Fish and chips for Matt and me and scampi and chips for Jude and a bit of everything for Tom all served with bread and butter.  Tom demolished his portion and ate half of the bread and butter.  He had his first chip butty - it went down very very well.  Think I may have started something bad!!!!!

We then got a tram back to the pier.  We had to wait ages and then were crammed on, but Tom didn't mind.  He was so well behaved for the whole trip, Matt and I were really proud of him.  We carried him back the last couple of minutes to the car and then headed home.  He stayed in good cheer for most of the trip before nodding off.  He went straight to bed when we got back, Matt, Jude and I weren't far behind

'Little Miss Vera' comes to stay

Don't know what to say!

The weekend started early this week: Denzil, Lucy and Meg the dog came to stay with us.  Denzil is one of Matt's friends from Bridgnorth Jelly - he's into doing super marathons and was doing one this weekend in Ennerdale.  They had decided to make a holiday out of it - especially as they have a recently acquired campervan that they wanted to try out.  They arrived Thursday afternoon.  Denzil is the guy that got Matt into Shite shirts, they thought they would hit the local pub in them!  Denzil even brought some fab white platform shoes with him.  What a pair they looked.  The look went down well in the pub, someone even came up to Denzil and asked him if he was in a boy band!

We had a good evening with them, Tom even managed to stroke Meg the dog (we were amazed) but then reverted to type when she came rushing in from the garden.  Oh well.

On Friday Matt decided to take the day off. We decided to go in to Kirkby Lonsdale - so Tom could have a ride on his bike and so we could get copies of our passport certified for the Estate Agents.  One of these went really well, the other was a no starter.  Because we are buying the house from an internet estate agent we don't physically see them, they need copies of our passports and a utility bill as proof of who we are.  We need to get someone to certify these copies saying that they are true copies of this document.  I was told to try either a Post Office, Bank, Estate Agent or Doctors to do this.  Post Office: "no" we don't have authority to do that, Bank: "no" we aren't allowed to verify anything, Estate Agents "no" we can't do that because of possible money laundering??????, Doctors, "no" because we have never had a Dr's appointment and therefore they don't know us!  What next, I phoned the Estate Agent we are dealing with back, we will now have to go to a solicitors.  She said she couldn't understand it as no-one else she has dealt with has had such trouble.

On the plus side Tom had a good bike ride, he found himself a really good track in the church yard and went round and round and round and we found a lovely ginger cat to play with, apparently he spends most of his time in the church yard, he was a very beautiful and solid cat.

Here's a link to a video of the cat and Tom biking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhAK9YD6Occ&feature=plcp

We then had lunch in our favourite tea rooms and then back home before heading off again to drop Matt off at Oxenholme, he was heading off to Edinburgh for a translator's workshop and meet up, so I arranged for Vera to come up.  We hadn't seen each other for ages.  I managed to persuade Vera to come up by train rather than drive but as she lives in Watford she was unable to get a through train and ended up on a journey with two changes instead.  Matt and I cruelly discussed this - both of us predicted that something would go wrong along the way.  Guess what - it did - at the first change.  She had to change trains at Milton Keynes to go to Crewe.  She did get a train to Crewe, but the wrong one, meaning she was an hour late arriving with us.  Not a disaster, just typical Vera!

Anyway she arrived at the station, absolutely loaded with bags, Tom gave her a huge hug which was fab and then we made our way home.  Tom went straight to bed and then the two of us had dinner and sat up chatting and catching up until midnight - very late for me, early for her.

Me, Church Cat Bob and Tom

Saturday we looked at the weather and decided to head East into the Dales.   So first stop was Kirkby Lonsdale where we did the same route as yesterday - including many circuits of the church yard and another encounter with the ginger cat (we've christened him 'Church Cat Bob').  We also bumped into Judith from the nursery (made me look popular) before heading off to Ingleton and Neptis for lunch.  Tom was made very welcome as usual by Rachel, and Vera had her first ever cheese scone.  We then showed her our new house before jumping back in the car and heading to Settle the scenic way - ie via Horton in Ribblesdale.  Tom fell asleep so we waited for him to get his kip in the Booths car park.  I then introduced Booths to Vera.  Vera always makes me laugh because whenever she comes to visit me she always asks if there is any food I would like her to bring me (I don't know what she thinks we can't get outside of London)   Anyway she took one look and was amazed - her words "it's better than Waitrose" she's now said that she will send us a food list when we are heading south.

* Oh and Vera we looked the most southerly Booths is in Knutsford - still a bit of a trek for you I'm afraid*

Vera and Tom at Tarn Hows

Tarn Hows

Sunday dawned gorgeous - deep blue skies.  We headed west towards the Lake District.  After a lot of humming and harring we decided to go to Tarn Hows.  We are so glad as it was absolutely beautiful.  We headed to Newby Bridge (at the bottom of Windermere) and then up the west coast of Windermere to Hawkshead - a beautfiul road winding its way around the hills and through dappled tree lined roads. All the trees are turning so there was a rainbow of colours.  Couldn't ask for more.  Got to Tarn Hows and were rewarded by the most beautiful scenery.  The walk round the lake (or Tarn) was only 2 miles, so we decided to do it.  Everyone did really well - it was an easy walk - Tom could do it on his bike if he wanted.  It was completely still, there wasn't even a sniff of a ripple in the water meaning there were the most amazing reflections going on.  Both Vera and I were staggered by the beauty of the place (Tom just liked being outside and running around).  We even saw some Galloway Belty cows.  We took our time walking around, however, before too long our tummies were rumbling so we sped up and finished so we could find some lunch (no lunch here but plenty of picnic spots).  We headed off to Hawkshead and had lunch before continuing on our way up the mere to Ambleside and then around and back down to Kendal in time to collect Matt from his train at 4.09.  Note to self - must go to Tarn Hows again with a picnic it really was a stunningly beautiful place.

Another view

And another

A big Tom hug

A Galloway Belty (incase you were wondering)

Monday we had to put the car in for its service, so I swapped it for a manual red Colt and then had our day out (and if you are wandering - I didn't stall it once, I was very proud!)  First stop was Greenlands for Tom's Enjoy-a-ball.  He did really well.  I stuffed him with a Kinder Egg that Vera got him directly before he started and it worked - he lasted the whole lesson, only having one very very minor wobble.  That is obviously the way to go.  We then went in the farm shop and saw a Cartmel sticky toffee pudding, Vera wanted to buy one, but I suddenly thought why don't we go there and buy one locally - so that's what we did.  Cartmel was a lovely sleepy little village - a very villagey village - little village square, a river housing the biggest, noisiest ducks I have ever seen, winding streets. Unfortunately some places were closed on Mondays but we found ourselves a lovely pub with good food and service for lunch and then we went to the sticky toffee pudding shop for a pudding (we saved a whole 75p buying it here - not withstanding petrol of course)  We then took the little windy roads hugging Morecambe bay back to Carnforth to pick up the car.  It was a really nice ride, Arnside in particular looked very pleasant and worthy of a return trip.

Anyway we got the car back and headed home for Japanese curry and rice.

Tuesday we took Vera back to Oxenholme.  It was a shame to see her go - I haven't laughed so much in ages.  We just slotted right back into being the 'Nik and Vera' who lived in Treetops - just that there was a little boy as well.  Tom absolutely adored her and certainly latched on to her sense of humour.  He called her 'Little Miss Vera' and 'That naughty lady' I think he has got her sussed!  It was a fab long weekend and as she said we shouldn't leave it another year before we meet again.  In fact I promised to try to meet up with her when we are in London in November.

Development

Tom has been developing away recently - other than cycling.

We have entered the 'Why Phase' - so have ridiculous conversations for example why is a train called a train?

He has also started arguing, just for arguments sake.  It's not Saturday, no want to have breakfast, no want to wear clothes etc etc.  This can be quite trying as you can imagine.

We also have 'are we nearly there yet?' in the car for EVERY destination

He stands up for himself if someone dares call him the wrong name - ie not Tom.   This can be quite fun as Vera found out - she came up with lots of names for him for example 'Sweetie Pie' - to which she got: 'I'm not a pie, I'm a boy!'

He's certainly maturing - he's not a toddler anymore and gets more and more fun with each day.

Another sunny weekend

Tom and a cockerel

Well we have been lucky.  We had another sunny weekend and this time we had someone to enjoy it with us - Michael - one of Matt's friends came up on Friday night.  He and Matt were hoping to do some proper walking and they were rewarded with sunshine so off they went and climbed Whernside - the highest point in the Yorkshire Dales.  This meant that Tom and I had each others company again.  I was going to take him for a bike ride at Ribblehead just down the road from where I dropped Michael and Matt off, but when we got there it was packed - I would have had to walk with Tom and his very heavy bike a long way before we could start cycling so I decided not to stop so followed the road and ended up on a very pleasant drive to Hawes.  We had been there once before, but it was mid tourist season and quite packed.  This weekend it was empty so we had a pleasant look around.  We also found a big play park for Tom which kept him happy.  Next stop was lunch - we found a greasy spoon full of bikers (of the motored and non motored variety) this is always a good sign, and it was good (ie cheap, filling and quick)

Riding towards the viaduct

We finished off looking round the town, including a stationery steam train in a car park, and a look around the National Park centre before heading off back to Ribblehead for another go at parking.  We were successful this time.  Tom did a really good job riding under the bridge - it was very lumpy and bumpy and full of pot holes as well as being very uneven.  He took it in his stride - he's definitely getting braver.

And through to the other side

We then drove the very scenic route through Dentdale to Dent to meet up with Michael and Matt.  We got there half an hour too early so played in the park for a while before heading to the pub where we found 2 tired and happy men.  They had just bought a pint each so we stayed and watched them attempt to play darts and then took the scenic route back.

Made a huge amount of pasta for dinner and decided to make some garlic bread with some pizza dough I had left over from earlier in the week.  I wandered whether to put the garlic butter on the dough and then put it in the oven or vice versa.  We decided to put it in naked - a mistake the pizza dough blew up into a huge ball and went very crispy.  A lesson learnt.

Sunday we took it easy in the morning and ended up in Grange Over Sands for lunch in a tea room and then a walk / cycle on the promenade before heading back to Oxenholme to send Michael on his way back to London.

Sunny Weekend

On Friday we got good news - he have had an offer accepted on a house in Ingleton.  We had been pushing to get the price down and managed to shave £12,500 off.  We thought the vendors were being really stubborn, but then a friend of Matt's found out that the original asking price for this house was £400,000 so we have in fact managed to get it for £87,500 under that.  We now think we have done good.  Here's a link to the house: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25245433.html.  Now comes the hard work - trying to arrange a mortgage and get all the paperwork done...

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At last we had a decent weekend - the sun shone on both days, so we put it to good use and had an outside weekend.  Saturday we headed into the Lake District.  I had been planning for some time to go to Windermere which just happens to the location for the HQ of Lakeland (oh - that's why it's called Lakeland!!!) and therefore their biggest shop.  A voucher for £5 off had come through the door earlier in the week so I thought I would see if I could spend it.

It certainly was a huge store and I could easily spend A LOT of money in it, but I needed to spend £30 to get my £5 off and as I'm not earning at the moment, I couldn't really justify it.  However, I would be very happy to receive Lakeland vouchers in the future to spend there.  They also have a cafe, soft play area for children and wifi, music and headphone area for the men - well thought out so women can have time to themselves to shop, shop, shop - shame we found the play area at the end of our time there, but will keep that in mind for future visits.

View from Brockhole

We then headed off to Brockhole, the Lakeland Visitor Centre for a day out.  Didn't really know what to expect but plenty of people had recommended it to us.  It didn't start off well.  We headed to the adventure play area - full of slides, nets, climbing frames, zip wire, swings etc etc.  Tom had his 'wussie' head on and refused to play on anything - it is really hard when he gets like that: he says no to everything and moans and whinges about everything.  We managed to get him to have a couple of goes on some apparatus, but then gave up and headed to the cafe for lunch hoping that would sort him out.

Tom concentrating!

He did cheer up and ate up.  Matt went to fetch him his bike and fishing net and we explored the gardens.  Tom did really well on his bike - getting up some speed on the down hill bits, he also did quite a bit of fishing (mainly stones and leaves) in the lake.  When we got to the adventure play area again there was no stopping him - he tried pretty much everything and enjoyed himself.  Phew.  So in the end a good day.  The plan for the day was to end up in a restaurant in Ambleside, but Tom played so hard in the afternoon we didn't think he would have the stamina to have dinner in a good mood too, we were right, after about 10 minutes in the car on the way home he was fast asleep and remained so for a good hour.  We went to the Snooty Fox in Kirkby Lonsdale for dinner instead and had a really good slap up meal - so much so that we couldn't finish two adult meals between the 3 of us!

Sunday dawned an even brighter day.  We decided that today we would ALL go for a bike ride.  Tom tends to go slow on his bike because he is always waiting for us - our running skills aren't the best!  We have a bike carrier for the car, but it is very precarious and a right pain to put on and use.  A lot of swearing occurs whilst wrestling with it which is why we have been putting it off.  So, it was with a heavy heart that we got it out and attached it to the car, and then got out our bikes, dusted off the mould, pumped up the tyres heaved them onto the rack and set on our way (took over an hour!)  We headed off to Bull Beck just outside Caton - a car park near to a disussed railway path which is also a cycle path.

Tom was an absolute star and cycled really really well - when you consider how small his wheels are.  He has to pedal manically to keep up with us hardly pedalling at all.  I'm not sure how long he will have this bike for - he definitely needs bigger wheels.  We cycled to Crook O Lune which is another car park with a greasy spoon cafe serving bacon butties, sausage butties and burgers (which Tom demanded and ate up) We continued on down the cycle path across the river and then up an incline and down a hill,  as the terrain was getting harder, we decided to turn round and head back to the car.  This we did.  Tom kept going really well until about 400m from the end when he flagged, but the promise of a banana and a chocolate biscuit got him back.  All in all he did 3.8 miles - no mean feat when you've only just learnt to ride a bike and your bike wheels are tiny.  We were very proud.  As it was still very sunny we then hunted down a pub to have a drink and then headed home.  Once we got home we still couldn't bring ourselves to go inside so we went hunting for blackberries again - poor Tom had to climb the hill at the back of the house with us.  He did it with good humour though, didn't complain once.  He went to bed very very tired.

Here's a clip of Tom on his bike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcQKf2xEtOI&feature=plcp

Back to the old days...

This weekend I was away again - hasn't ever happened since Tom was born and then twice in one month.  This time it was for our 20 year reunion for University, how on earth did that happen?  I was a little worried about going - not knowing who was going to be there, if any one had changed, if we would have anything in common to talk about etc etc.  However, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go.

We gave Tom plenty of warning about what was going to happen at the weekend - he even told nursery that he was having a boys weekend with Daddy, including a cycle ride and lunch in a pub so I thought all would be ok.  Nope!  About 2.30 on Saturday morning he cried, I went in and he was sick on me.  Oh joy!  Could it be coincidence that the two times I've left Tom he's been sick the day before or is it really bad timing?

So, at 10.30 I left for Wigan on the train feeling a little guilty.  Debbie was waiting for me - she was giving me a lift to Derby (takes a ridiculous amount of time to get there from here by train)  We were staying at Lisa's for the weekend (Debbie's old housemate) - she never really left Derby and has now settled down just outside Derby with her family, when we arrived Lou was already there.  The old 3-some reunited without any family - was the first time in many many years.  We got ready (usual worry about what to wear - just like being at University again!)  and then headed into town.  Luckily Lisa knew where the pub we were meeting was as I couldn't remember it, in fact I could hardly remember where any of the pubs were.

We walked in and found the guys - Mark, Jason, James, Gary, Mel and Clive of all people, we all said that we didn't expect to see Clive as he had disappeared off the face of the earth quite a while ago.  (Turns out that Mark had to phone his mum to find out where he was)  It was a bit of a shock and quite scary to see everyone there, but with a drink in hand I relaxed and got chatting, first was Jason who I had seen the most recently - in Rotoroa in New Zealand only 11 years ago!  Had a good chat and then continued on.  Turns out that everyone was the same, hardly anyone had changed, a couple had 'filled out' a little (probably a description you could use for me as well) but everyone was the same old person they were 17 years ago.

We ended up having a good time, did a mini pub crawl (lots of places had closed down so not all the old haunts (recession hasn't been good to Derby unfortunately)).  Everyone was having to pace themselves (cheeky diet cokes were being drunk by most in between beers) and food was consumed to help mop up the alcohol, but we all did well including 2 shots of sambucca each (as horrible now as it was then).  Nearly everyone has children and all had interesting stories to tell about work, romance, travel etc.  It really wasn't long enough to properly catch up I didn't even get to speak to some people. I don't think I was able to relate to anyone what I've been up to in the last 17 years.  Everyone was surprised to hear I was living in Cumbria though AND that I was a mum - I wasn't the mum type at all at Uni - to be fair sometimes I'm still surprised myself that I'm a mum.

We did do a mass photo session, but I didn't take any as my phone doesn't have a flash.  I have asked for some pics to be sent to me - I'll put them up here when or if they ever come.

We left Derby around midnight (the guys went on to a club somewhere I think) and to bed around 1am - I had to share a double with Lou (last time I did that I was violently ill in The Gambia).  I couldn't sleep as I started to think about all the things I have done since I left Derby - the jobs: Encounter, Guardian, Compass etc, all the travelling I've done: India, Nepal x 3, Australia, NZ etc etc etc, and everything else: meeting Matt, getting married, having Tom etc.  I've certainly packed it in in the last 17 years, and I think I have changed, but Saturday night was as if none of that had happened and we were our 21 year old selves on a usual night out at Uni. It was very strange, I couldn't get my head round it, so I forfeited the one night I was guaranteed a good sleep - oh well.

Sunday we had breakfast and said our goodbyes.  Lou disappeared off first and then Debbie, Adam, Luke and I went back to Wigan.  I got dropped off at Primark and did a huge shop for Tom (he's growing out of all of his clothes again!) had lunch and got the train back to Oxenholme where Tom and Matt were waiting for me.

The boys didn't have a particularly good weekend - Tom wasn't at his best - having an upset stomach - but they muddled through and were pleased to see me as I was them.