Holidays, snooker, industry and scarecrows...

Saturday 29th April

Foul throw!

In the morning Tom had a football match against Grassington at home and did very well.  After a shower at home and a well deserved lunch in the village, we took him to Grannie and Grandpa's.  They had requested a sleep over so they could watch the snooker with him - it was the final of the World Championship.  They had noticed on an earlier visit that Tom had been thoroughly absorbed by it.

It was good timing as Matt and I had a job to do - book our summer holiday.  After much discussion on where to go, we had decided on Malaysia.  We spent the afternoon planning where in Malaysia to visit, work out a schedule and then look into international flights.  By the end of the afternoon we had flights booked and had a skeleton itinerary of where to go.  Hurray.  We celebrated by having dinner in Platos in Kirkby, a grown up 3 course dinner none the less, and very nice it was too.

Sunday 30st April

Hoffman Lime Kiln

So, we picked up a happy Tom in the morning - he had had a good night watching the snooker with Grannie and Grandpa and had apparently really got into it.  He likes the maths behind it and already knows the names of the main players.  Apparently he was completely engrossed.

Beautiful 1925 Bentley

Today we decided to do some exploring of the Settle area.  We had discovered that there was a good Hoffman Kiln in Langcliffe (just north of Settle) and thought we would see if we could find it.  Well, how we have gone 4 years without being here is a bit of a mystery.  An amazing place, reminded us a bit of Telford - being an old industrial site with an incline plane and 3 different types of kiln.  The main one, the Hoffman Kiln was amazing, pretty much intact and absolutely massive.  It's a good job that iPhones have a torch built in as we needed them.  The whole area was well managed, with interpretive boards at every stage explaining what we could see.  Seems strange that it isn't signposted off the road?  Anyway, we spent much longer than we thought there.  Played hide and seek with Tom in the Hoffman Kiln, which went wrong because he couldn't find me and got upset but it was so big that I didn't realise!  He's still not the best at hide and seek bless him.  Oh hum.

Owl chicks

Next stop was Feizor and Elaine's for lunch  - where a beautiful 1925 Bentley turned up before doing the Oxenber Wood walk.  We did it hoping to see lots and lots of bluebells - the place is famous for it, but unfortunately they weren't quite out yet, although there were plenty of primroses and lots of other meadow flowers.  The best thing though was coming across a nest of owls.  There were in a hollow in a tree at eye's height.  3 of them all cuddled up, looking very fluffy, not making a noise but awake, alert but very still, obviously waiting for mum to come back with some food.  A sight you don't see very often and it very much made our day.

Monday 1st May
Today was the main day of the Wray Scarecrow Festival - the scarecrows are out, there was a fun fair and festival field with displays, food, crafts etc etc.  It is always a good day and this year we went with the Ellershaws, which made it even better.  We did a scout around all the scarecrows - the theme this year was Traditional Tales, but somehow Donald Trump did appear quite a bit.  It is always fun seeing all the scarecrows, the whole village get behind it so there is pretty much a scarecrow in every property.  We had a drink and the children a play in the cafe and then headed to the fun fair.  I told Tom he could have a go on two things.  He chose the penalty shoot out and rather tame roller coaster, I was quite surprised as there were some better rides and he has got braver recently.

Caitlin, Tom and Lottie

Caitlin decided on the rather more interesting ride which went up and down, she loved it.  As we were watching her, we noticed one of Tom's class mates, Lucy in the queue with her Dad.  Tom went over to say hi.  Lucy's Dad immediately asked him if he wanted to go with Lucy.  Tom said yes, Lucy's Dad was mighty relieved, lifted Tom over the gates into the queue and then escaped!  Tom pimped a free ride.  Andy, Lucy's Dad would not take any money from us.  Did Tom enjoy it? Oh yes, he loved it.  He and Lucy were giggling for the whole time.  Funny how much braver you become with a friend around...

Lucy and Tom

We had a late lunch - paella for me and a sweet pancake for Tom and then stopped to watch some displays.  The Ellershaws then had to leave and I got a text message from Liz asking if we wanted to join them in the pub and that Annabel had a surprise for Tom?  We don't need to be asked twice to go to the pub so we finished off and headed back home.  We found the Holmans in the Wheatsheaf garden in the sunshine, so the kids played whilst we drank.  We then decided we couldn't possibly cook dinner, so we stayed and had tea there too before staggering home.  It was a good day.