Southport

Not an everyday sight outside our house!

Minion Tom!

We had a nice busy weekend this weekend.  Saturday Matt headed off to Malham for a translators walk, whilst Tom and I stayed in Ingleton as it was the Ingleton Gala which is always worth hanging around for.  Tom had the opportunity to be on the Craven Wanderers float but with his broken arm and the number of children due to be on the float, it wasn't going to work.  He didn't complain and helped me guard the car park during the procession instead.  When the Craven Wanderers float came past, he was spotted and lots of sweets got sent his way (It was the Craven Wanderers coach's son's jaw that broke Tom's arm - so there was guilt involved, even though it was a freak accident!)

We watched the parade and then followed them into the field.  We then hung around for a good hour or two, watching the entertainment, eating lunch and playing games.  Tom won some Minion glasses which he was overjoyed with.

Lancashire Hot Pots in Full Flow

We then came home and got ourselves ready to head to Southport where we were meeting up with Debbie, Adam and Luke ready to watch the Lancashire Hot Pots.  We had a ball.  It was fab to see Adam again (we had seen Debbie and Luke recently but not Adam).  We checked into The Bold Hotel which was a recently renovated Art Deco building and very very cool.  It had the tallest bed we have ever seen and a spa bath - happy days.  We got changed and then met up with Debbie, Adam and Luke - we all got on immediately.  We headed down for tea at the local Wetherspoons which was ok for Wetherspoons, although I made a huge mistake in buying 2 different half pints of cider as they were having a cider festival - they were both revolting!  I should know better, if you are in a Wetherspoons, expect Wetherspoons quality!  We only just made the theatre in time to see the entrance of the Hot Pots.  They were all dressed up in 80s garb as their latest album is 'Nowt like the 80s'.

Getting his cast signed

The show was brilliant as always, if they weren't musicians they would be stand up comedians as their rapport with the audience is fantastic - lots of jokes, lots of banter and therefore lots of giggles for us.  They managed to keep the show 'clean' with there being children in the audience, but there was plenty of innuendo to keep us all happy and to embarrass the kids when they are old enough to understand.  We were able to drink in the theatre, and the bottled cider, although Welsh, was ok, so I got stuck in and really enjoyed myself.  There was dancing in the aisles, a conga around the seats, Adam was their 'John' for the evening - calling out and joining in with the banter.  Everyone tried to point me out as the token 'southerner' in the audience, but luckily they weren't looking our way when trying to find someone.  Poor Tom was desperately tired, but managed to keep going and enjoy himself.

Thumbs up

After the show, as is traditional, the band came to the bar for a chat with their fans.  Tom was desperate to get his cast signed by them, and they were all very happy to do so.  Billy the bass guitarist even gave him his plectrum which Tom was overjoyed about.  Tom was completely made up.  Debbie and Adam had a good chat with the band too and we took loads of photos.  It really was a fantastic night, we didn't get to bed until about midnight!

A row of friends

 Can't say we had the best night's sleep - but that was all of our own making.  I could still feel the cider in my system for most of the morning.  We got up, had another bath and then met up with the others and headed to Wetherspoons again for breakfast - which was ok.  We then went to catch some pokemon with the new Pokemon Go game - Luke is a gaming nerd, and this is the new 'thing' in the gaming world.  Tom was happy to tag along so we did so too.

We then said our goodbyes and headed over to the pub where we were going to meet up with Bob.  We were half an hour early so decided to walk to the end of the jetty and back. They no longer have the electric tram on it (it was too heavy for the structure) but have a 'petit train' instead which was enough to keep Tom's interest.  It was pretty windy which was actually just what we needed to blow the cobwebs out and generate an appetite ready for lunch at 12.

We bumped into Bob just outside the pub and found ourselves a table.  The food isn't of the best quality here, I went for the carvery and was pleasantly surprised - think Matt was a little jealous - as his was nondescript!

Bob was in good humour as always.  He was a little thinner, a little gruffer and a little deafer, but other than that was great, we had plenty to talk about.  After lunch he took us for a walk around the lake and gardens.

Great Great Uncle Bob

I started off walking slowly, but he keep overtaking me.  He might be skinny and old, but he is a fast walker - he impressed us both.  He thought the idea of me running was hilarious and tried to get me to show him how I was doing, but not a chance!  He also commissioned a tea cosy from me - hum what should I make him - I'm thinking something beachy...

Anyway a good day was had by all, but we were all shattered!  We headed home and managed to find a way back which didn't take us through Preston (we ended up going through Preston on the way over - the place gives me the heebie jeebies and also it takes FOR EVER to get through!)  Tom slept pretty much the whole way home.

A good weekend.

Broken arm!

On Wednesday afternoon I took a call from Ms Middleton, she said that Tom had been involved in an accident at playtime and he wouldn't stop crying - he had been play fighting with some of the boys from the class below (a bit more boisterous than the boys in his class) and another boy had ran straight into them, sending them flying.  Tom's arm landed on another boy's jaw.  Although they are used to his crying a lot for minor injuries, she thought something really was up this time.  Matt went up to see him (he always cries more for me than him).  He came home a sorry sight, he was still crying and saying his arm hurt a lot and to be fair it was swollen.  We asked him if he wanted to see a Dr and he said yes.  I called the surgery and they said to take him straight to A&E in Lancaster so off we went.

They were advertising a 2 hour wait, not great, but do-able.  Tom was able to ask all questions asked of him by the receptionist and soon we were seen by a triage children's nurse who asked more questions, filled out a card and then sent us back to the waiting room.  The waiting room seemed to be full of school boys with various injuries - including one who had been hit in the head with a golf ball!  Someone asked us if we were from Ingleton - she knew us, we had no idea who she was?!  

Getting plastered!

We got seen by a lovely Romanian Dr who asked Tom lots of questions and prodded and poked him - he thought it was broken and sent us to x-ray.  Bad news, his humerus was broken, and he thought that he might be admitted as it was in an awkward place - oh joy, not the news we wanted to hear - I really didn't want to spend another night in hospital!  We then had to wait, wait, wait for an orthopaedic Dr to come to see him.  They never turned up!  A nurse did see us to the plaster room and started setting Tom's arm.  He was still in a lot of pain, and refused to have his arm manipulated into a right angle, so between some gas and air and a children's nurse distracting him with lots of questions, we got there.  He was put in a temporary cast - half bandage and half cast (to give room for swelling).  Then it was put in a triangular bandage.  The nurse then gave us an appointment to return tomorrow to see the Dr and get a new, lighter cast put on.  We finally left the hospital over four hours after arriving (humph - not quite the 2 hours they were advertising!)  We missed school open day today too - which was a shame.

On Thursday afternoon we got Tom out of school early to get him to hospital for in time for his 3.30 appointment - not sure why we bothered, as they were running very very late, so we had to wait, wait, wait, wait to see the Dr.  When we finally got to see him, we were less than impressed!  I think he stayed in the room less than 2 minutes.  He was very gruff and disappeared before we could ask him any questions.  He said that A&E shouldn't have told us he would be put in a new cast as the cast is the least important thing, it is the position that is important.  He then got rid of the triangular bandage and put him in a pink sling and then disappeared.  The nurse told us that he had to sleep in the sling and then we were sent on our way after making an appointment to see the Dr again in 3 weeks time in Kendal.  

Sling 2

Much better!

When we got home, we discovered that we couldn't get the sling off over his head, which meant we couldn't get his top off.  I could cut it off, but it was 3 weeks before we were to see the Dr again, we couldn't cut a shirt a day!  We finally forced the sling off, but it took both me and Matt to do it and caused Tom a lot of pain, surely that couldn't be right?!  We both were depressed by it all.  If we needed to move his arm so he was in pain twice a day to dress him, his bone wasn't going to mend was it?  I spoke to two nurses I know - they gave various bits of advice, one who used to be an A&E nurse was shocked that he was still in the temporary cast and that the sling was so badly put on.  

Friday morning, we had to dress him in an oversized T-shirt, with his arm inside as there was no way we could get a T-shirt on him properly, even with cutting the sleeve!  We got on the phone to our local surgery asap and got a 11.15 appointment to see the nurse.  Matt took him, the nurse said that the care we received yesterday was unacceptable and that we should phone the department and demand they sort it out.  In the meantime she got us a prescription for a better sling to put him in.  We called the hospital, but no-one answered, so we went out for lunch to try to cheer ourselves up.  Once back, Matt tried again, got through first time and spoke to a helpful Sister Monica who told us to come back, she had a better sling that would suit him better.  We picked Tom up from school again (poor thing had only been back an hour!) and took him in.  We got seen to 5 mins after arriving and got given a much better sling.  I had taken a school shirt with me with a cut sleeve to see if we could get it on - we could, it is a 3 person job, but we managed it fine.  We were all relieved.  He still has to sleep with it on, but it is way more comfortable for him, and it means he can wear clothes on his top half.  Such a shame we didn't see Sister Monica yesterday!  Anyway, we drove home a happy family. Tom was in high spirits, he attacked his dinner with gusto, using chopsticks to pick up the hard things.  He went to bed a happy boy.  

It's going to be hard avoiding sports for the summer holidays, he had football camp for the first week, swimming lessons and membership for the outdoor pool, but all of that is out now.  Oh hum, maybe we will finally get some weight put on him over the summer as he won't be active.  At least he broke his left arm - could have been worse!

School Report

Tom got his school report today.  He has done well - not 100% sure of his SATS results as it isn't made clear - but he certainly passed them and exceeded in Maths.  His effort in literacy has got better as has his behaviour.  We are very proud of him.  Some favourite lines from it: 'he plays fair and is a friend to many'  and 'he oozes positivity'.  Can't ask for better than that.

Sleepover

Caitlin, Tom and a mammoth

This weekend was quite busy.

Friday night I went out for a drink and dinner with Sal, Jo and Liz from school.  I hadn't been out with them before so was slightly nervous, but wow, did we have a good time.  Alcohol flowed, conversation didn't dry up at all.  We had a quick appetiser at The Old Post Office, then tea at La Cascada and then back to The Old Post Office until closing time.  I then got physically dragged to The Bottom Club where some young lads bought us some drinks as it was past 11pm.  I got given a pint of cider and black!  I haven't drunk that since I was 20 something.  In fact we all got given 'student' drinks - and spent the rest of the night laughing about things we did as students / 20 somethings whilst the young lads looked on at us (we - well I was a good 20 years older than them!)

Yawning lion

Considering the amount I drank I think I did very well on Saturday!  Tom and I got the bus to Settle to do some birthday shopping for Matt.  I was still very much over the limit so not willing to drive anywhere!  Matt's cricket was rained off, so he drove to Settle to catch up with us - we then went to Feizor for lunch - sausage and egg butty for me to try to soak up the excess alcohol.  Somehow we left with another Highland Cow?!  Percy is now making himself at home in the kitchen.

Snotty orang utan

At 5pm, we had a visitor - Caitlin.  She was coming over for a sleep over in return for the one Tom had with her during half term.  Now, I am not a natural when it comes to having friends round for a play - mainly because other children have different boundaries to those we have set with Tom, which means that they are hard to control!  We've had horrendous eaters round, children that are happy to destroy our property, that don't stop when asked to etc etc.  Don't get me wrong, most of the children are delightful, but they get really giddy when visiting other people's houses so lots of bad behaviour comes out.  Caitlin is the exception to the rule though.  She didn't get giddy, ate up her (pre-ordered) lasagna very well and then she and Tom spread out on a sofa watching Jungle Book - we didn't have to intervene at all - in fact it was relaxing having her around.  They went to bed very nicely (and once Tom stopped talking they went to sleep).  They stayed in their room in the morning until 8.30 and then were well behaved even though they were both tired (they didn't go to sleep until 10pm). 

Silverback gorilla

We went to Blackpool Zoo for the day as we had vouchers for it.  It was a lot bigger than we expected and had pretty much every animal going including an elephant.  Both children were well behaved, but very different.  Tom wanted to look and watch the animals, whilst Caitlin was more interested in ticking off what she had seen on a list.  Anyway, the time went extremely quickly whilst we saw giraffes, tigers, lions, oragutans, gorillas, deer, zebras, kangaroos, wallabies etc etc - so much so that we had to scoot round the last bit in an attempt to get back home at a reasonable time - it was a school night after all.  We had a bit of a eventful trip back as Caitlin got travel sick - but she was so calm about it and once out she was fine.  We dropped her off at Grandma Jan's where we had a chat before returning home ourselves, as we had a grumpy boy on our hands.  A quick tea of smoked salmon and cheese and biscuits and Tom went to bed telling us how awake he was - he was asleep within minutes.

Giant anteater

So, a success, it was nice to spend the day with a girlie.  

Back to the 40s

Commando Tom

 On Friday I finished work early and headed to Lancaster to pick up Vera from the train station (she made the right train - hurray) and drove back in time to pick up Tom from school.  Vera was coming up as it was 1940s weekend - when the whole village goes back in time and is patrolled by men and women in 1940s military uniform and tanks drive through the village, a spitfire appears in the car park etc etc.  I thought Vera would enjoy it.

We started the weekend off by having platters in The Old Post Office.  They had a special French platter this week - including a piping hot bowl of tartiflette - very very naughty but deliciously gorgeous.  Both Matt and Vera ordered it and I dipped in - yumsk!  Matt (the owner of The Old Post Office) was dressed up as Rene from Allo Allo and there was a Bren gun on the bar and a German helmet.  Of course!  Anyway it was a good atmosphere and the food as always was great.

Private Vera

Saturday Matt was playing cricket, so Tom, Vera and I headed into the village.  We wandered around the stalls, had lunch at Inglesport and then went to the church to watch Dad's Army - the film.  It was disappointing - some of the characters had different traits to the sitcom - for example we met Elizabeth who had a talking part, and there were lots of love interests etc.  Not enough 'stupid boy' or 'they don't like it up them' if you ask me.  By the time it was over, it had begun to rain so we headed home and spent a while sorting out how to put Tom's new goal up (Vera's present for him - very popular - so much so that I have been forced to play football with him pretty much every evening since).    We had our usual mushroom pasta that we have to have every time Matt is playing football whilst watching Dad's Army the sitcom.  We all agreed the sitcom was much better.

Aslan the Leonberger

Sunday is the main day of the 1940s weekend, we got to the village in time to see the parades, Winston Churchill inspecting the troops with a fantastic Sargent Major, a George Formby impersonator who was really good, the Ovaltinies (pupils from school) etc etc.  There was a lovely atmosphere in the village and plenty of people turned out which was great.  The finale came at 2pm when some parachutists flew down to the community field - I've never seen the field so busy, we bumped into loads of people we knew whilst we sat and ate our cricket club burgers.

Parachutist landing

As the weather had cheered up we decided to take Vera for a ride through the Dales.  She had only come for the weekend, I was hoping to spend a couple of days with her showing her some more lovely parts of the Dales & Lakes, but it wasn't to be.  Anyway, I think she enjoyed the ride.

The Sergeant Major

We got home to a roast dinner which we all enjoyed.

Monday, by the time we had delivered Tom to school, it was time to pack up the car and take Vera back to Lancaster.  It was a shame (she had only come up for 2 days because she didn't want to over stay her welcome - but she did the opposite - didn't stay long enough!).  Anyway, thanks for coming we all enjoyed having you.

400m

Ace swimmer

At swimming this week, it was badges week - it only happens once a year.

Tom had a choice of either 400m or 800m.  After he had done 42 lengths of the pool (400m) he decided he had enough in him to do 800m.  Unfortunately though soon after he got kicked in the head a number of times whilst doing back stroke, and he began to cry!

Jill pulled him out of the pool and that was that - fair enough, you need to either weather the bumps or get out!  He actually did 550m, but he got his 400m badge.

A big enough achievement, we were all happy.

Football Fun Day

Today, after school, Tom took part in a football fun day at Settle College.  Six intrepid pupils from Tom's class took part: Tom, Finn, Lucas, Matthew, Lexi and Leah for 4 five-a-side matches.  Now we know they have improved a lot over the last year and that they all play football together at lunchtime at school, but we didn't know just how good they would be.

Now this being a fun day, scores weren't officially noted, but believe me, the parents were making mental notes (how can a football match be non competitive???!!!!)  So, here are the results:

Ingleton 4-0 Horton
Ingleton 2-0 Giggleswick
Ingleton 3-1 Hellifield
Ingleton 3-1 Settle

Winners
(even if officially there weren't any scores!)

Yes, they won every single match, not by fluke, but by playing as a team.  They all played so well, staying in formation, passing to each other, having team chats, some amazing skills came out and we even saw Tom do a sliding tackle!  Put it this way - they were better than England last night - they would have given Iceland a good run for their money!  Talk about great team spirit, the celebrations after the goals were brill too with all the team involved.  Sort of felt sorry for Matthew the goalie and Leah the defender as they didn't get much of a look in.  Tom played mid-field and managed a goal in the Horton game.

Everyone was very proud of them, not least their teacher Ms Middleton who I don't think could believe her eyes.  She put the pressure on them for Settle as they HAD to beat them and they did so convincingly.

Anyway considering it was a damp, cold, rainy afternoon, it was a brilliant trip out, we all came away with huge smiles, well done Ingleton Year 2s, shame the Craven Wanderers coaches didn't see it!

Boys' Day Out

I'm in the newspaper!

This week, Matt was looking at back copies of the Craven Herald for some train vouchers when he exclaimed that I was in the paper!  I went over to look and found a piece about Lily Pad Bakery reopening after recovery from an operation. Matt was very perplexed as he thought someone had submitted it on my behalf.  Not true.  When I was recovering and bored, I went on the Craven Herald website to find out how to submit a story and found that you just write it in a contact form and submit it.  This I did but really didn't expect it to make the paper as it was blatant business marketing.  I did look through the papers when they came to see if I had made it but as I didn't hold out any hope, I missed it.  Anyway, now I know the local paper must be desperate for stories - so I might submit some more if I can think of a 'hook'.

This is a naked cake

Thursday I had my bone scan at the hospital.  I was the first patient of the day (8.40 am) so was straight in.  I got the usual - oh you are very young for this sort of scan etc etc - I guess I am now classified as an 'old woman' when it comes to medical stuff!  For once I got good news and left the hospital with a smile on my face.  My spine is pretty much where it should be for a female my age and my hips are better than they should be. The nurse told me to carry on doing what I am doing and I should be fine.  Obviously because I have no hormones and won't be having HRT I will go into a downwards slope with my bone density, but it should be a significant number of years before anything might happen and hopefully it shouldn't happen at all if I carry on as I am with weight bearing activity.

Friday I did my first naked wedding cake, and my first delivery to Hipping Hall - a very posh venue close to Ingleton, so I had to make sure it looked good.  Wondering what a naked wedding cake is - one without any icing - here's a pic of the finished cake set up at the venue.  Took me an hour to finish it off there, I had to do it in full view of all the wedding guests and staff as it was set up in the reception area, but I managed to not get too nervous and it behaved itself - phew.  Have already got a lovely email from the bride to say she loved it, so that's good.  This could be my next story: 'Lily Pad Bakery delighted to announce supply of new trendy Naked Wedding Cakes'...

Saturday
Yes, Saturday was one of our occasional boys’ days out on trains. One of the locomotives on Tom's model railway is a Class 37, which are still being used for passenger trains on the Cumbrian Coast Line, and he fancied having a ride on the real thing.

The original plan was to get Northern Rail rover tickets and head all the way up from Barrow to Carlisle, and then visit one of our favourite eateries, but I managed to lose the newspaper tokens at some point, so the day had to be changed.

Small boy, big engine

So, Nik dropped us off at Carnforth, where we got one of the usual dull diesel trains over to Barrow, although the ride along the edge of Morecambe Bay is very pretty in places. Barrow, however, isn't. In fact, that can be few towns in Britain that look so deprived and poverty-stricken. Two steps out of the station building told me that. We had a quick mid-morning tea and a bun, before heading over to get our "proper" train up to St. Bees. For the most part, it's a very pleasant journey, with the Irish Sea on one side and the Lake District mountains on the other. The only blot on the landscape is the enormous reprocessing plant at Sellafield, but even that is beautiful in a strangely industrial way. We spent our 20 minutes at St. Bees station eating our picnics, before getting another Class 37 back down the coast to Ravenglass, where we were planning to take a miniature steam train up the valley into Eskdale. Unfortunately, we missed it by seconds, meaning that we had an hour to kill before the next one, which we spent drinking tea, eating cake and playing in a little playground.

As time was tight, we only had enough time to go half way up the Eskdale Railway, and we nearly didn't make it back, as the return train was almost completely full. We then had a look round a little museum that tells the history of little railway, before we got our final Class 37 back to Barrow.

Eskdale resident

The driver took a bit of a shine to Tom, and let him sit on the driver’s seat in the cab, which was very kind of him. He then decided he would show off a bit, and absolutely raised the roof with engine noise as he took his train back towards Carlisle. It was pretty deafening, but it seems that he may have overdone it, as I read that it broke down two stops up the line from Barrow, stranding all the passengers for over 2 hours. He may be more circumspect in future.

Here's a video of one of the other Class 37s making a similar din at Ravenglass: https://youtu.be/ZIoq_Isf6io
We had about 40 minutes before our train back to Carnforth, which we had to spend listening to raucous seagulls and watching a couple of local residents who were paralytically drunk on the platform. One of them actually fell over unconscious, and required the help of paramedics, who didn't look the least bit surprised by what was happening. I must say, I'm in no hurry to get back to Barrow. Strange place.

Driver Tom

We then got a boring Northern train back around Morecambe Bay, where Mummy met us and took us for a rare (for us) Chinese in Bolton-le-Sands. The food and service were good, but something disagreed with me in a big way (I think I know what), and I spent most of the following day in bed unable to keep any food inside me.

Still, it didn't spoil our day out, and Tom was excellent company. I wonder where we'll go for our next train day.





Sunday

Nice hills, bad clouds!

Matt wasn't feeling well today - the Chinese from yesterday didn't agree with him, although it did agree with Tom and me - we were fine.  Don't think Matt even managed to get out of his pyjamas today - so it must have been bad!

Rose Hips?

Tom went for his usual cricket practise this morning - there were only 3 of them: Tom, Harry and Freya.  Tom and Harry were in high spirits and not listening to Mac - oh joy.  I didn't feel like I could leave Mac to it with them like it, so stayed for the whole session.  Tom and I then went to Inglesport for lunch whilst Matt tried to eat soup at home.

Daisy

I asked Tom what he wanted to do in the afternoon and he said he wanted to go for a walk around Oxenber Woods, so we went to Austwick and did so.  There were lots of nice flowers out on the walk - although no bluebells: there was absolutely no sign whatsoever of any of the 1,000s of bluebells which were out only 4 weeks ago.  We finished off, got back to the car and then the rain came down, so we timed it perfectly.  We got back in time to see the end of a football match which was good.  Tom and I then had salmon for tea whilst Matt had a bath.  Then another football match and bed for Tom.  Not the most exciting of days, but good enough.