Underwater photos

Jumping in!

Bubbles

Today we had a quiet day around the village.  We decided to head to Stacksteads to go swimming so I could take my new camera which is waterproof with me to try to take some photos.  We got there to find that the Electricity Board are doing works nearby and the pool didn't have any electricity!  Poo!!!  However, they had only just turned it off, so we decided to go for a dip and see how long it would take to cool down.  I've had this camera since Christmas, but as public swimming pools don't let you take photos, I haven't had a chance to use it under water until today.

Smiling face

Wow it is difficult to take a good photo under water!  My main problem is trying to stay down under the water.  I would dip down, then Tom jump in, but in the time it took Tom to jump, I would be floating up again!  Also there is a time delay of a couple of seconds between pushing the shutter button and it taking the photo, so you have to think ahead, plus I was never that sure what Tom would do.  All this together made it a bit difficult, but here are the best photos from the day.

There were two other boys there - a 10 year old and a 7 year old.  They made friends with Tom and they played together for ages.  If it hadn't been that the water was getting colder and colder and I was covered in goose bumps I think he would have stayed for hours.  I convinced him to leave but he wasn't happy with me about it.  He had been in the pool for an hour and a half so I think that was fair.  Oh hum, he forgave me in the end.

We went for lunch at Ireby (Tom of course had a smoked salmon sandwich and a cake) and then did some shopping at Kirkby before returning home.  For once we had tea at home this Friday - I figured that it was a bit extreme to go out again, considering we've been out for the last 3 nights in a row!

Diving for sinkers

Devon

Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast, packed the car and were off on our way to Devon by 9am. We had a good journey in that we didn't get held up at all anywhere.  We stopped at Gloucester services for lunch & swapped drivers and carried on.  We got to Crapstone at 3.20, so we did make very good time.  We were treated to roast duck, roast potatoes and loads of veggies, followed by crumble - very lovely.

'We have these plants at school!'

Monday, we all headed to the Eden Project, mainly as Tom has been doing rainforests at school and we thought that he would enjoy seeing a real one.  It was absolutely crowded with half term crowds which meant that it was a bit of a bum fight everywhere we went.  It was also a cold and rainy day, so I'm guessing more people went there to get out of the weather.

Family photo

Anyhow, we explored the rainforest, I certainly enjoyed it.  We went on a trail around the biome which took us from South America, to Africa and Far East Asia - with species from each area.  We were hoping it would be lovely and warm in the biome, but it wasn't really, it was mild but not cold.  We found lots of interesting things: bananas, pineapples, sugarcane & native houses for each area.  We climbed up to a viewing area to see the canopy.  Unfortunately the top viewing area was closed as was the waterfall area - all because they are building a new walkway with rope bridges etc, will be great when finished, but in the meantime it meant we had to double back on ourselves.  We stopped for a baobab smoothie (I didn't like it but the others did) before heading out to the link building and the crowds for lunch.

Bananas

I was sent to join the huge queue for the pasty stall to get Tom a cheese pasty (sort of authentic as we were in Cornwall?) whilst the others were more sensible and went for food where the queues were shorter.  We then headed into the Mediterranean Biome which was positively chilly.  We found some great citrus trees, lots of tomatoes (urghhhhhh), aubergines as well as cacti.

Then to The Core to look at some experiments, turn a handle on a Heath Robinson type invention and have tea and bun.  By now it was 4pm, so we headed back to the car and Devon.  Unfortunately nearly everyone else was too and it took an extra-ordinary amount of time to get home.  We were all pretty tired, so we quickly got tea on the go and then collapsed on the sofa.

It really was warm!

Tuesday we left Mum and Dad at home to recover from the Eden Project and headed into Plymouth.  We dropped the car off at the park and ride and got the bus to the train station and had a train day out to Dawlish.  I wasn't expecting much from the day - just a day out with the boys, but I actually had a lovely day - helped by the fact it was a lovely, warm, sunny day (well it was after lunch anyway!)  We got to Dawlish, had a little walk along the front, found a lovely cove where we hunted for fossils for a while (Dawlish marks the end of the Jurassic Coast), we then explored the town.  We spent a while in the amusement arcades playing 2p games (the boys did a bit better than me - Matt even managed to win a Meerkat statue thing!).  We then found ourselves a nice cafe for lunch, Jack Sprats, where we had imaginative, home cooked food - way way better than anything we were expecting.

Then a play in the park, more train spotting and then Tom requested ice cream???!  Tom never requests ice-cream.  We found a parlour which had about 40 different flavours: Tom went for mango madness, Matt rum and raisin and I went for rhubarb and custard.  Tom's was the best - full of fruit, and for the first time ever he ate it all on his own without giving it to us to finish off!!!!!! We then went for another walk along the sea wall.  Get this - it was soooooo hot that we all ended up in short sleeves.  The train track here is right on the sea wall, so we were able to wave at the drivers as they went past.  On the whole, they were all friendly and we got a wave and a toot back.

At 3pm we through we should start heading back home, so got the train back to Plymouth and then back up to Crapstone, where we dropped Tom off, had showers, got changed and then headed back dow to Plymouth and Royal William Yard where we went to Serco for a date night dinner - very nice it was too.

Misty Dartmoor

The River Meavy near Shaugh Bridge

Wednesday, Mum and Dad decided to have Tom to themselves, so Matt and I decided to do a walk nearby around Shaugh Bridge.  Was a nice walk - a bit like Ingleton waterfalls walk, but fewer waterfalls and no mountains.  There was a view point at the top, however the Dartmoor mist had descended and we couldn't see a thing!  Oh hum.  We headed back to the car and had a very quick lunch at the Dartmoor Diner.  We were back in Crapstone for 1.30 - Mum had said that they wouldn't be having a long day out as they were still tired from Monday.  They didn't get back until 4.30!!!!!!  This meant that I could at last sort out my music on my computer - one of those niggling things I never seem to get round to, but has been annoying me more and more, especially as I listen to music whilst running.

Boys working together

Stop!!!!!!

As soon as Mum and Dad got back Tom demanded that Pop Pop got out his trains in the garden (he had been promised yesterday - something he would never forget!) Poor Pop Pop didn't even get to take his shoes off, and headed straight out into the garden with some trains.  Tom was delighted and loved being able to control and watch the trains go up and down.

Jack Rabbit

We went to the Jack Rabbit for tea and then back home for bed.

Thursday we said our goodbyes to Granma and Pop Pop - it went very very fast (as usual) we were very well looked after and Tom was genuinely sorry to be leaving.  Oh well, its only 6 or so weeks before we see them again.  We headed out at 9.30 but didn't get home until 5.15pm - the West Midlands was at fault - there had been an accident and a closed lane which meant a huge queue - of course there was no accident and no closed lane as we went past but all boards were saying to the contrary meaning that lanes were merging and traffic building up - oh joy.  Think I didn't get out of 1st gear for over an hour!

The Milky Way over Crapstone

We got home, unpacked and then went to the Masons Arms for tea - had a very lovely coconut and lime curry.

Then home and bed.  Thanks Mum and Dad for a lovely stay.

School's out for half term

Curious cow

So Tom finished school for half term holiday on Friday - but first he had a party at Lucas' house, he was being picked up straight from school which meant that Matt and I were free until 6.30pm when he was being returned.  What else to do but go to the Old Post Office to celebrate - so we did!

He came home around 7pm very happy, and went straight to bed.

Saturday morning was Craven football where his team were playing against a team from Kendal.  It was a friendly and was mainly for the practise than anything else.  The team did well, winning 5-0, Tom was in the second team who put up a good fight (can't remember the final score - but it was pretty equal)

Walk leader Tom

Tom, unfortunately didn't  play his best, once again he danced around and waited for others to do the work for him, he scored 3 goals, which was great, but he didn't create any chances, just waited for the chances to come to him, whilst the other members were trying really hard - especially Lexi and Caitlin who worked their socks off.  It was disappointing, he still hasn't 'got' the concept of teamwork and team spirit.  We are wondering how to explain it to him...

Anyway, we got home, Tom had a shower and opened up a parcel addressed to him, it was a pack of walks for children around the Yorkshire Dales from Jude - written so that children can easily follow, understand and lead them.  Tom suggested we go to Malham, so we did and he was the leader for the whole walk - didn't get us lost at all.  It was a good walk, so to celebrate, we went to the pub for a pint.

Then back home for dinner, then we packed, before heading to bed.

Football Tournament

Medal winner Tom!

On Thursday we took Tom to an after school football tournament at Settle.  There were 8 teams made up of year 3 and 4 players.  They were split into 2 groups so played 3 matches each and then there were play offs for each position.

Tom's team did really well - they won each match easily in the group stages, and then had to play the winners of the other group to see who won over all.  Unfortunately the winners of the other group were Settle, and we knew they were good (they thrashed us last week during a friendly).  However, after a good talking to by one of the Craven coaches, they played really really well.  It was an equal match, so much so that it went into golden goal time.


Unfortunately Settle scored - it was a cracking goal, one that couldn't be saved, so Ingleton came second overall, but they all played so hard that we were proud of them all.  They got given silver medals and were pretty excited about the whole thing.

The Ingleton teams

We went to Pat and Bob's afterwards for tea and to warm up - we were freezing.  In fact, when we got home we were still cold, so cracked open a mulled wine - it worked, although it meant we were good for nothing for the rest of the day!

Podding & Walking

Night sky over Meadow Falls

We have been looking forward to Friday night for a while as we were due to go podding - sleepover night in the Pods at Meadow Falls campsite - the campsite run by the Holman's (their daughter, Annabel is in Tom's class).  It didn't start well as Tom was sick in bed on Wednesday, meaning he had to take Thursday and Friday off.   Luckily he wasn't ill with it - I think he drank too much water in the swimming pool!  Anyway, he wasn't quite himself on Thursday - mainly because he was missing school and feeling sorry for himself, but he was fine on Friday and went on a trainspotting adventure with Matt for the day.

I stayed behind, finished off some cake stuff and then packed for our night of podding.  You would think we were going away for a week, the amount of stuff we had, but I guess when you have to include bedding etc, it is always bulky.

The girlies

We arrived at the campsite first, (well we didn't need to pick Tom up from school) and got settled in the pod - they provide a futon, fridge, kettle, curtains and heater and there are electric points, meaning that really it is very comfortable.  Once sorted, Tom hooked up with Annabel and Owen (her older brother) and they were gone playing.  About an hour later everyone else turned up (The Ellershaws, Cronshaws and Dawsons), that was it - all the children were playing, so the adults went to the Holman's very comfortable cabin and cracked open the fizz, wine, beer etc.   It was a very very sociable night.

Lovely clear evening

Children eating on the deck

The kids played and played and played until their tea was ready (hot dogs followed by smores) and then went off playing again whilst we had our tea (curry, chilli, rice, jacket potatoes followed by banoffee pie) All the food was amazing and I ate for England - more than I have ate since before the op.  Once we had finished up, the smaller children were getting tired, so we headed down to the pods, lit a fire pit  and drank and continued eating whilst the smaller children went to bed and the older ones continued playing (they were mining and finding fossils by torchlight!).

Autumn colours in Barbon

Unfortunately at this point my tummy went into overdrive!  I felt more and more unwell, until in the end I went to the toilet block to try to do something about it.  Nothing happened, but I knew I was going to be ill, so I went back to the fire pit and told Matt about my predicament.  We decided it would be better for me to go home than to stay, so I headed back.  I didn't make it in time and ended up leaving a little present just outside Rob's yard!  Oh well, better out than in.  I think it was a case of too much rich food: the curry was full of cream, the banoffee pie full of caramel and it overloaded my system which is used to lots of veggies and small amounts of protein!  Oh well, I got home and had a very restless night tossing and turning in bed.


Matt and Tom, however, had a great night in the pod, the kids slept until 8am, had breakfast and then packed up and came home.  Tom then, of course, had Craven Wanderers.  Considering he was down on sleep he did really really well.  We didn't have much planned for the rest of the day, assuming we would all be down on sleep, so stayed in and watched a video.  Tom, of course, didn't show any signs of tiredness, however, both Matt and I were glad of a quiet afternoon.

Anyway, excepting my tummy we had a ball, we have all agreed to do it again when it is warmer - but pay next time - Liz provided everything free of charge.

With the Bickerstaffs

Sunday, we didn't have much planned.  The morning was foul: grey and rainy so Tom and I sat down to do a Cauliflower Card design.  Believe it or not we managed it without too much stress and it looked ok - a result as doing craft with Tom normally ends with me loosing patience with him!  After lunch in Country Harvest (yes we are middle aged!) we headed out to Barbon Beck with the Bickerstaffs for the walk past the magic chocolate tree back to Barbon village - a pint in the pub and back again.  It was a lovely afternoon, the kids were all good, it was nice to spend some time with them all.  Seth immediately concluded that it was Matt that loaded the magic chocolate tree with chocolate (he's the youngest of the three!), Tom and Jack didn't think about it, they were just happy to get some chocolate.    Anyway, it was a lovely autumn walk in the woods with lovely people.

Last Class

Tom did really well at swimming this week.  Although he is not at the top of his class by any stretch of the imagination, Jill decided to put him up a class!  This now means his swimming lesson is 7.45 to 8.15 and it is the last class she teaches, so he is in with 11 year olds!

On asking why she put him up, she said that he is a good listener???!!!!!!!  First time ANY teacher has said that to us!!!!!!!

Match Day & Sculptures

Craven Wanderers Under 8s

Tom under a chrome-plated camel's pelvis

So Tom had his first football match for Craven on Saturday.  The under 8s have some storming players which means that Tom wasn't playing for the first team to start with - which was a good thing as it meant he was with his buddies in the second team playing against Embsay.  We didn't keep score for some reason, but they all played really well and we think they won.  Tom got to play in the first team against Skipton Reds for the second half and did really well.  All in all a good team performance.  Caitlin got man of the match - well deserved, she's only just started and she had a steel look of determination in her eyes and got stuck in.

Once Tom was back and showered, we went to Silverdale for the afternoon.  We had a rather nice lunch in The Royal Pub and then headed to the RSPB place for a walk and to spot some birds.  They did a children's trail about the Bearded Tit, which Tom happily completed.  We went to some hides and watched birds.  Neither of us know much about birds, but we did see some white Egrets, ducks, swans, herons, some Bearded Tits and many more.  It was a lovely afternoon.

A giant sad-looking clown

Sunday we headed to Wakefield to go to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for the Yorkshire Translators meet up.  It was a big old place and quite interesting, although I don't understand art on the whole.  Even with reading the plaques explaining the art, I still didn't 'get' most of them!  Not a problem, nearly everyone else was the same and by the end we were talking in good 'art speak' trying to explain what we were seeing.  It was a scenic park, the weather was good and company good too.   Our favourite sculpture was that of Kaws - a giant who was hunched up and looking very sad.  I think he had been naughty and was feeling remorseful.  We all wanted to give him a big hug and make him happy again.

We finished quite early, so decided to head into Bradford for curry at The Kashmir - as good and cheap as always.  Then home and bed.

Beavers Camp

Beavers and guardians

Saturday was a very exciting day.  BEAVERS SLEEP OVER!

First though was football training!  Tom did very very very well with his training today.  He was put in the second team and really really shone - we were so proud: he tackled, he attacked, he passed, fantastic team work.

Interesting head gear at the Folk Weekend

We brought him home, showered him and then delivered him to the park to meet up with the Beavers for their sleep over.  This was a 23 hour camp, lots of games in the morning which Tom missed, then navigation walk in the afternoon, camp fire & dinner in the evening, followed by a film and then sleeping in tents in the scout hut for the night.



Matt and I were on walking duty.  I can't say I was looking forward to it as I'm not great with other people's children, so I was very surprised to really enjoy myself.  The sleepover was with the Settle Beavers Colony as well.  The Ingleton and Settle Beavers got on really well, as if they were already best friends and the children were fun and interesting to be with.  The afternoon flew by.  We didn't actually walk far, the children had to navigate their way around the village which they did fine.  We ended up in the village square where there were a number of Morris Dancing Troops doing their stuff (it was Folk Weekend in the village) so we stopped and watched them for a while.

Returning Beaver

We were relieved of our duties when we got back to the scout hut and I was quite sorry to say goodbye, as I was enjoying myself.  Tom wasn't bothered to see us go though.  He was right in his element.

The deal was that we could leave them in the scout hut, but had to remain nearby just in case we were needed, so although Matt and I had an evening to ourselves, we had to stay in the village.  We ended up doing a pub crawl as it was Folk Weekend.  We started off with burgers and a couple of pints in the Marton Arms and then walked back to the village, had a round in the Wheatsheaf with the Bickerstaffs and then a night cap in The Old Post Office.

Sunday morning, we headed down to the scout hut for 9am pickup.  Everyone was buzzing, they had had a great time (apparently all asleep by 11pm).  Tom chose to sleep in a tent with a Beaver from Settle and a boy from Bentham - very proud that he didn't cling to people he knew.  He was a very happy bunny.

Beautiful morning at Ribblehead

Now, we didn't plan much for Sunday as we figured Tom would be tired.  It was a lovely day so in the morning we headed up to Ribblehead and did the Ribblehead walk.  We then had lunch in Inglesport. Matt then headed out on his bike, whilst Tom and I stayed at home and watched a film.  We didn't need to have a quiet day, Tom was fine, didn't show any signs of tiredness at all!  In fact he came home much cheerier than he's been for a while.  It was nice to have the old happy Tom back, we had been missing him.

Train Weekend

An immaculate Class 40 at Bury

We were supposed to be meeting up with friends from Telford on Saturday, but it got cancelled at the last minute.  This meant that Tom could go to Craven Wanderers practice which he was happy about. It is much better this year because Finn, Matthew, Fred and Caitlin are doing it this year.  I guess someone has to be the path layer with theses things.  After a soak to get the mud off we had lunch at Bernies and then a quiet afternoon. The Ellershaws had lent us a copy of Zootropolis, which we watched while slumped on the sofas. It was a good film, with a lot of nice touches - especially the sloths.

Tom and a Class 37 (his favourite) at Bury Bolton Street.

On Sunday, Tom, Grandpa and I headed down to the East Lancashire Railway for their annual diesel gala. They were running a very frequent service, with all the trains being pulled by vintage diesel locomotives, including some that had been polished to within an inch of their lives - they looked magnificent. We parked at Rawtenstall and caught the first train of the day down to Bury Bolton Street, the main station on the line, where there was plenty going on and plenty of stalls where one could spend one's hard earned pocket money. Tom spent a whole £20 on an OO gauge Stobart Rail low loader, to add to his ever increasing collection of Stobart vehicles. None of us realised, however, that it was a display model rather than an ordinary toy, and it was screwed to a base plate with 4 weird screws with triangular heads that required me to buy a set of specialist screwdriver heads from an online store in China, which arrived 2 weeks later - all's well that ends well though.

Tom, Grandpa and a Class 50 at Heywood

We had a basic lunch on the platform at Bury station, washed down with nice beer and many lungfuls of white smoke from a Class 50 that was clearly in need of a service.
Still, we managed two full trips up and down the line, behind a variety of locomotives, many of which did look and sound magnificent, especially the two old green Class 40s they had running. They are clearly well loved and pampered engines.
I must say, it seems a very well-run heritage railway - quite a long line, nice stations, friendly staff (volunteers) and lots of things to enjoy. I have a feeling we'll be back for another visit before too long.

You can see a video of the day here: https://youtu.be/xu58pVgWE8c

Cross Country

Cross Country Tom

Now that Tom is in KS2, after-school activities get a bit more interesting.  This week he got a chance to compete in the Cross Country.  It was an inter-school event held at Ingleton (we have the largest fields of any local school).  Pupils had to be in the top 6 of their gender and year group to make the next round.  Plenty did get through, but Tom wasn't one of them.  Not because he wasn't fast enough, but because he isn't bullish enough to make his way to the front of a crowd.

The Ingleton gang

He did really well, sprinted the whole course, but there were too many other boys in front of him - never mind, maybe next year - we will have to drill him on how to start in front!  However, he did contribute to his year group coming 1st - so well done him.  Finn, Lucas and Lexi got through to the next round - not bad considering there were 9 schools taking part.