Social weekend

Barbondale

Saturday morning saw us down at the school with Craven Wanderers again.  Tom lost himself during the first half of the match, but after a talking to by Matt he did really well in the second half.  Why oh why can't he try hard without the talking to?  Oh hum!!!!!

We had lunch at Inglesport and then headed over to Barbondale to do the magic chocolate tree walk down to the pub for a drink and back again.  However, there were 4 lively young bulls in one of the fields we had to cross and we decided against it.  Luckily we were able to get to the chocolate tree though, where Tom found some smarties.

Dressed for blackberrying

We decided to hang out at the beck at Barbon instead, throwing stones, damming, splashing in the water etc etc.  We got back around 3 and then prepared for what was probably the last BBQ of the year with the Bickerstaffs.  We didn't take any photos as we were all having fun, but the boys got on well, as did the adults, and we managed to sit outside until about 7.30pm.

Sunday we headed to Austwick in the morning to do some blackberrying.  At first we were worried that we had missed the boat as all the bushes had spent berries on them, but then we found some healthy bushes and we were away, we managed 3lbs in the end and did the longer walk to Elaine's in Feizor for lunch and were very happily surprised to come across a herd of Galloway Belties - including some rather cute looking calves.  We then dropped Matt off and headed to Clapham Park, where we met up with Alice and Charlie.  The boys played football all afternoon whilst Alice and I nattered.

Galloway beltie

A good social weekend.

Charlie Bucket

What a charlie!

On Tuesday all the children had to dress up as a character from a Roald Dahl book to celebrate his 100th birthday.  Luckily Tom chose Charlie Bucket and I knew Janine had a spare vintage jumper so with that, gel in the hair so it would go sideways and a Mummy made golden ticket he went to school.  I was quite pleased with the result.  Oh, how I hate fancy dress!

Red Squirrels and a Bike Ride

Posing for the camera

So we were back to the old routine this weekend, which meant Saturday morning football.  Now, we were all a bit worried about what would happen to the team this year as there were only about 4 in Tom's age group and the younger ones wouldn't be able to play with them this year.  Not a problem, Finn had decided that he wanted to join, and as he joined, Fred of course joined and then Matthew decided to give it a go too.  On top of that the coach had managed to find a couple of Kirkby Lonsdale families with children who wanted to give it a go.  Now there are about 15 players in his age group.  Some of the new children are brilliant too, Lucas doesn't look so amazing anymore as others are as good.  Tom didn't get swamped by the new people either and looked good enough, trying at least to tackle and get the ball.  It was nice to have the other parents to talk too as well.

We weren't sure what to do in the afternoon, Matt had a light bulb moment and suggested we go looking for red squirrels at Snaizeholme, near to Hawes.  Wow!  I was expecting to maybe glimpse one after looking very hard for a very long time.  Not so.  We saw loads of them, and not only that - they were as tame as anything and came up to sniff around us.  We couldn't believe our eyes, as a result red squirrels are now Tom's favourite animal!  They were very beautiful creatures darting in and out around the trees in the forest.  It was a very pleasant hour we spent watching them.

Close up

Sunday was another nice day.  We decided to go on a bike ride from Halton to Glasson Dock and back.  It wasn't a good start - we forgot that Tom's bike's seat was at its lowest height from the pump track and Matt's seat was loose and we didn't have an allen key!  Not to worry though, we were on a bike route, we found better prepared people on the route and were soon sorted - note to selves, make sure we have allen keys with us in the future!  We have done the ride before, my memory was that it was quite a long trek, but obviously both Tom and I have got a bit fitter since as it didn't seem that long at all (and that was with my brake pads rubbing on my front wheel, slowing me down!).  It was a 16 mile ride all together, a perfect tonic for Matt who was suffering from a hangover after a big night out with the cricket crowd.  We had lunch at a good greasy spoon in Glasson Dock, which was full of cyclists.  It took us no time at all to cycle back to the car.  My legs were hurting and felt as if they were made from rubber, but it was good to be out on the bikes again, it has been a while.

Return to School

Tom through the years

Wednesday Tom went back to school - boo hoo!  He was happy though.  We took the customary photo to prove he has grown in the last year.  As soon as he arrived he went to see his friends and dumped us!  Oh well.  All the children in his class have grown so much over the holidays - no denying they are getting older!

London

Dining in style

So on Friday we went on our last mini holiday of the summer - this time a trip to London to see Michael, Sarah and little Millie.

We were lucky enough to get cheap tickets for the way down so ended up in First Class - very posh!  Nice wide seats, free alcohol AND we got served our tea.  They didn't have a children's menu - so Tom had a full adult's portion!  Chick pea curry for me, chicken and chorizo stew for Matt and pasta with salmon for Tom.  Tom's of course was the biggest!

On arrival in Euston, we got the 68 bus straight to Michael's street in Herne Hill.  It took an hour, but it always takes an hour to get anywhere in London.  The journey may have been slow, but there was plenty to look at - other buses, shops, tube stations etc etc.  Tom kept up a running commentary.

We got to Michael's around 9.30pm, so Tom went straight to bed whilst we stayed up and had wine and chatted.

Able seamen

Saturday we had an easy relaxing day.  After a late breakfast (bread from the local German Artisan Bakery) and a play in the garden with the paddling pool out, we headed out for a look around the local area - Herne Hill is a gentrified, yummy mummy sort of place (just next door to Dulwich).  We ended up in Dulwich Park where we hired a pedalo and collected blackberries from the banks for a while, then a play in the park where we met up with Millie (she was having an afternoon nap) until it started to rain.

Tom straddling the meridian

We then headed back to Michael's house for a play before tea.  As it was our 12th wedding anniversary, Michael and Sarah offered to babysit for us, so we headed to a rather lovely local Japanese restaurant for very posh nosh.  What a bonus - we didn't expect that, but we leaped at the chance and found ourselves in a very busy restaurant where we had a couple of Japanese starters, some Chinese mains and chocolate fondant pudding with umeshu plum compote.  All very very very delicious - a great night out.

Sunday we had a day out.  We met up with Sarah's sister in Greenwich, bought some delicacies from the local market and ate them in the park (Tom chose sushi and inhaled it at an astonishing rate!).  We then went up to the observatory to enjoy the view, whilst Millie played in the park.  After a lot of investigation, Matt found the line between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres and Tom had his photo taken straddling the two.

We then headed into the Maritime Museum for a quick look around.  Wow!  It was great.  Our first stop was a huge big map of the world.  I think we spent a good hour just running around it - we did country location with Tom and then he spent quite a bit of time 'swimming' in the oceans.  We also found a children's play area with lots and lots of activities which Tom and Millie enjoyed.

Nice spot to park your super-yacht

We then got a Thames Clipper along the Thames to the South Bank.  They are very very nifty boats - speeding along much faster than I thought.  Just as we went under Tower Bridge, it opened up to let through a tall boat - how cool is that? We also breezed past a Russian Billionaire's super-yacht, which had been moored next to HMS Belfast.

At the South Bank we headed to The Tate for tea and a bun, and in Tom and Millie's case - dinner.  Then a train and a quick walk back to Michael's house - a good, fun filled day out - Tom certainly got his fill of transport.

Sand pit in a museum!

Monday morning Matt went to see a customer in Gerrards Cross whilst Tom and I went to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.  We had a fab time, he was the oldest child there (I guess London schools went back today).  He got to play with the toys on show whilst I reminisced about my old toys.  We found a Draughts set, I explained the rules to Tom and we were away.  He understood pretty much straight away and was hooked.  We were playing it for over an hour.


We then looked around the rest of the museum, there was a sandpit, a model railway, hobby horses etc etc.  Matt caught up with us at lunchtime and had happily discovered a Japanese restaurant directly opposite the museum, so we headed to there.  We had another scrumptious lunch and then headed to West India Quay to the Museum of London Docklands, which neither of us had heard of and was huge and very interesting (if you don't have a 7 year old with a limited attention span with you).  Certainly one to revisit at some time.

Diver Tom

We then headed back to Michael's.  As both Michael and Sarah had been working, I offered to make tea and made some sweet potato and lentil patties as per a favourite recipe of theirs - it was very tasty - another to add to our repertoire.

Tuesday - we decided to have breakfast in a bakery in Dulwich Village with all the yummy mummies and then we packed up and got the 68 back to Euston Station.  After a lovely fast food lunch at Leon (a new London based health fast food chain) we got the train back home.

A good break with good friends.

Leeds

Fun with food!

Thursday, Matt wanted to spend his Miller and Carter voucher he got for his birthday, so we headed to Leeds on the train for the day.

We got the late train out so first stop was Miller and Carter, where we enjoyed a two course meal each. Calamari and BBQ chicken wings for starters, steak for mains for both Matt and me, and fish and chips for Tom, and then Tom had a chocolate brownie for dessert.  It was all very delicious - a good birthday present.

We then did a little bit of shopping - mainly window shopping, I found an indoor market with a big wool shop and 2 ribbon shops, so will keep that in mind for next time if I need any purchases.  (Also found the original M and S penny bazaar in it too).  

We also visited the Corn Exchange for the first time - a beautiful building which seemed to be hosting an NFL promo (American Football) complete with cheerleaders with huge cleavages - Matt was very happy!  Tom had a go at throwing a football through a hole and succeeded twice - much to his delight - see video here: 

After a quick stop at the Lego store and Primark, the boys went to a pub which has a terrace that overlooks the train station - a perfect compromise: Tom is able to watch trains, and Matt gets to drink.  I did a little more shopping (including getting our tea from Wasabi, as is tradition with a trip to Leeds) and then we got the train home.

Not an exciting day, but a nice, relaxed family day.

A pub with a view.

Leia and Rosa come to stay

Leia, Gromit, Wallace, Rosa & Tom

On Tuesday Karen drove up with Leia and Rosa.  We spent the morning getting in some groceries and tidying up in time for them arriving for lunch.  The idea was to take them to the outdoor pool, but it was very overcast.  However, Leia and Rosa are tough cookies and were very excited about the idea of swimming outside and wanted to go, so we packed up lots of towels and headed over.  We were surprised to find the pool quite busy.  The kids jumped straight in and had a great time.  So much so that before we knew it the whistle blew and it was time to get out.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in the park, before heading home for a Japanese curry dinner which they all ate up.

Matt went out to the first meeting of the new Whisky club which has been formed by the Old Post Office, so Karen and I stayed in for a natter.  The kids, tired out from swimming and playing went to bed without too much fuss and were asleep quickly.

Wednesday dawned grey and rainy so I decided to take them up to Wensleydale Creamery as they haven't been there to date.  I know that they had updated their visitor experience, but I wasn't expecting by how much - there was a whole new building with loads more interactive displays for the children to play with.  I think we ended up there for over an hour which was great.  Then, of course the tasting room before heading home.

Big Cow!

Even though it was raining, the children wanted to go swimming again, so we had a quick lunch and then headed out to the swimming pool.  Unfortunately, the life guard didn't turn up!  We were just about to give up when a mum turned up who just happens to be a swimming teacher and life guard, so she offered to be the life guard for the session and saved the day.

As Karen was starting work the next day, they left straight after the swimming.  It had been a good visit.

Cool in Yorkshire

Pendragon Castle

So I think I slipped into a coma last night!  I don't remember turning the light off, and Matt says I was deep asleep in seconds.  Guess I needed it!

It dawned nice and sunny this morning - not hot though, which was nice.  We decided to have a day out in the countryside.  After a bit of deliberating, we headed out on the Garsdale to Kirkby Stephen road to the remains of Pendragon Castle.

Now this was a turn up for the books.  It is on private land, but you are allowed to enter and explore, AND there are no fences and no signs telling you to keep off.  This meant that we went clambering mad.  Unfortunately lots of farm animals have been there, making some of the clambering a bit smelly and slimy but it was good.

Kings of the castle

We then went for a walk up a hill searching for waterfalls on the map.  We didn't find them!  We did get wet in the boggy hillside though, so decided to call it a day and head back down.  It was now time for lunch so we decided to try out the local pub, the Moorcock Inn.  We were very very pleasantly surprised.  The service was very good and although the menu wasn't huge or particularly interesting, we discovered when we got our food it was all made from scratch, including Tom's chicken bites - we were impressed and will be back.

Next stop was Hawes, as we received a request from Michael for some Wensleydale cheese when we visit later in the week.  We did a quick once around Elijah Allen's as well and seemed to end up spending quite a bit on interesting deli type purchases.  Hawes was absolutely rammed, we thought maybe there was an event on, but think it was just full of day trippers from the city - mostly on motorbikes.  The creamery was really busy too, so we had a drink first, hoping the queue would go down, it didn't!  We stood in line and believe it or not a Japanese family queued behind us (they work at the Nissan factory in Washington).  Matt did his usual party trick and got the required reaction - well you wouldn't expect to meet a fluent Japanese speaker in Hawes would you?

Local resident

We headed back home via Dent, Deepdale and Kingsdale to enjoy the hills in the sun.  We then did some gardening - i.e. chopping some bushes back and pulling weeds out of the soil) before having a small tea.  A quiet, relaxing and enjoyable day.