December

The beginning of December saw the end of the second lockdown.  We are in Tier 2, meaning that all shops, bars and restaurants are open, but you can only go with people who you live with.  We can meet up outside with up to 6 people.  We could also stay overnight in accommodation, once again, as long as it is only with people we live with.  Yay.  This meant that we could, at last have our nights away at the Den.  We got in touch with Katie and Jon and booked ourselves in.  We were ridiculously excited.  Just to be somewhere else - and the fact that this was third time lucky.  

The Den at night

We were slightly worried earlier, as it snowed quite hard on Wednesday night.  The hills were covered in snow and of course the road to Ribblehead is always the first to close.  Luckily, the snow did melt in the lower slopes, meaning we could get up there in the Civic, we took the sledges with us just in case we could find some good runs.

We picked Tom up from school, quickly packed the car and headed the 7 miles up the road to Gauber, unpacked and relaxed.  There was a fire burning for us, which was lovely.  The Den itself was very cosy.  It is tiny but the use of space so clever, that it feels bigger.  Matt and I even had a kingsize bed.

I had made a stew at home in the slow cooker, so we plugged that in, opened a bottle or two and snuggled down on the sofas for a lovely, warm, evening in, drinking lots, eating plenty and, well, relaxing.  Pure bliss.         

We had a fabulous night's sleep. Bacon sarnies for breakfast and then we headed to Snaizeholme to see the squirrels.  We went with Katie and co - they are a family of 3 and as we are allowed to be together as a 6 it made sense to do it together - they weren't sure where to go and (of course) we are all starved of social interaction.  

Wowzers, the squirrels put on a brilliant display.  There must have been a dozen or so of them, and they were happy to play around us.  The scene was amazing too - bright blue sky, snow on the hills and gently steaming trees and meadows.  We must have spent a good 1.5 hours up there just watching all the squirrels darting about.  Matt was very happy as he got some great shots. Katie and co were enchanted by them - think they will go back.   

Tuffty!

Hawes 

We then split up - we headed to Hawes, whilst Katie and co went home.  I had some chocolates to deliver to Chapel Gallery, so we stopped off at Wensleydale Creamery for lunch (I was good and just had soup) and then we went into the town.  It was completely deserted.  Eerily so.  We dropped off the choccies, did a little bit of shopping on our favourite stores and then headed back home.  

We wanted an hour or so in front of the fire again.  We then headed out to the Station Inn for dinner.  Felt very decadent and very safe. Tables were very far apart, the foot was good old comfort food for walkers - so it was a lamb shank for me and bacon wrapped cumberland sausage for Matt.  We walked home with happy bellies admiring the stars above even though it was a little cold!

Sunday we went for a walk with Katie and co around their house, and then headed to Thorns for another ramble - such an interesting place.  As I was looking in a barn, suddenly there was a movement and a flutter...a huge barn owl flew over my head.  Wowzers.  Unfortunately, Matt didn't have his camera ready.  We ate our sandwiches and then headed over the road to clamber on some limestone pavements before returning to the Den and heading the long way home.  Was a lovely weekend - so glad we finally got to do it.

The next week, I had my head down getting orders done.  With the threat of isolation always above our heads, it was imperative that I got as much done as possible as quickly as possible just in case.  I basically worked every single minute I could.  I didn't actually advertise myself that much this year as I didn't want to get too many orders, but somehow I still managed to get quite a few - lots of new customers (people wanting to support local business which was great).  Also, of course I needed to keep Gingerbugs stocked and they were selling a lot of my chocolate.  Also, on Monday we got our tree and the decs down from the loft, put the Christmas music on and got the house ready for Christmas.

The Beck at Austwick

English Prize

At the weekend, I broke off.  Tom came home from school on the Friday very excited as he had been 1 of 2 children chosen in his English class to get an effort prize.  He was delighted, as were we as English isn't his favourite / strongest subject and the fact he got recognised out of 30 means that he must be putting himself out there which is good to know.

On the Saturday we did the long walk around Feizor which was nice.  On Sunday I think we had a day of chores and Tom watched Polar Express - his favourite Christmas film which he has to watch every year.  A good beginning to the Christmas season.  Oh and we finished putting up all the Christmas decorations.

Tom had 4 days left at school and he managed all of them.  We got his school report which was very bizarre and took a while to interpret.  First of all were effort grades which were all fab - improved from last term.  Then attainment grades which averaged out as G/Fs?!!!!  We were completely confused, but it turns out that these are the grades he would attain right now if he was to take his GCSEs today.  What is the point of that?  Do we really need to know that?!  Anyway, once we had worked out that that was what we were looking at, we ignored it!  He got chosen to enjoy a Christmas film with popcorn rather than double Chemistry on the Thursday as one of 30 who had got top effort grades.  Not bad considering he is in a year group of 256.  We were very happy with him and for him.

I got all my orders finished and most of my orders collected which meant I could sort of relax, the kitchen was in a state, but the main thing was that the orders were finished and packed.  On the Friday we all enjoyed a lie in and then had a useful day doing chores.  I packed up fudge which was left over from orders to take to Gingerbugs.  It wasn't the nicest of days, but Matt and Tom managed to fit a short walk in to get some fresh air.

Tom and Florrie tree climbing

On Saturday, we finally got to see the Alpacas.  This was also third time lucky - due to Tom being isolated and Florrie being isolated for the last two dates that were arranged.  First of all we met up at Whinlatter Forest for a walk.  Was lovely, through a forest up to a peak from which we looked over Keswick and Derwent Water.  Was a bit of a slog though, especially as we were talking and walking up hill at the same time.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great - we had shower after shower of heavy rain, meaning we were all soaked and cold, but it didn't really matter - we were all glad of the company and being out somewhere.  

Inca the Alpaca

After the walk we headed to Lingholm Estate where we met up with the Alpacas.  After a quick talk we were let into their field with some food.  Wowzers, as soon as they saw us they came hurtling towards us at full pace - we all thought we were going to be bowled over, but they all stopped in time and stuck their noses into our bowls to chomp away on their food.  They were all males, and all very social, very calm, gentle and quite comical.  We came away wanting to have one as a pet.  They basically looked like big sheep whose necks had been pulled.  They allowed us to pet them and Tom and Florrie managed to get some selfies.  It was good fun.  Shame they were all bedraggled from the rain, I would like to see them fluffy.

Alpaca selfie

We went looking for a mulled wine to warm up - but being two families we had to stay outside and it was cold and wet outside.  The cafe at the Alpacas was licensed but they didn't do mulled wine, so we decided to call it a day and head home, if we found a pub doing mulled wine we would have to eat a substantial meal which we didn't want - the pains of tiers!  (At least we are in tier 2 and have some freedoms).  We decided to call it a day and headed home for hot showers and mulled wine.

Sunday we had a quiet day.  Tom and Matt went out for a quick bike ride, whilst I went for a walk.  

So, towards the end of the week, the government changed their minds about Christmas.  They had promised a 5 day window where people could meet up (max of 3 households) regardless of where they were in the country.  However, incidences of Coronavirus have risen massively in the South-East, meaning that a new tier 4 has been introduced (basically the same as lockdown v2) and people who live in tier 4 told not to move.  Christmas is now for one day only meaning that people (hopefully) won't travel too far.  Just as well we had arranged not to meet up with anyone - everyone I know around here with family outside of the local area has decided not to travel - I think pretty much any sensible person would have decided it wasn't worth it - especially as the vaccine is being rolled out - a couple more months and we will be able to meet up safely - might as well wait.  Let's hope not too many people travel here to second homes from the South-East and spread their variant to us, our infection rate is the lowest its been for a while at the moment.

Monday we had a useful day.  I got up at 6am and drove to Sainsburys in Kendal for the Xmas shop.  This year, for the first year ever, I forgot to book a delivery slot.  With the announcement that the extended Christmas meet up period had been cancelled, I figured that more people will need to go to the supermarket to pick up food that they thought they wouldn't need.  The earlier I got to the store, the better it would be.  Anyway, I had the most pleasant supermarket experience I could hope for.  There were more workers than customers, everyone seemed in a good mood.  I didn't have to do the Covid dance to get my stuff from the shelves and everything was fully stocked. 

When I finished I thought I would hop across to Aldi to restock my cake ingredients.  It was a different story there.  The shop was rammed and there was a queue to get in.  I took one look and decided to leave it - I won't need anymore cake ingredients for a while.  I did a bit more Christmas shopping in the retail park before heading home.  I got home around 10am and everything was done.  Great stuff.  Turns out it was a good decision as the French closed their border to us on Monday due to the Covid infection rates in the south-east and as a result some food items have been hard to get hold of.  Phew!

Big fat pig!

On Tuesday we had a non rainy day so went out for a walk on the Bowland Fells.  It was going to be a short circular walk, but somehow it got extended and it was pretty slow going as the land was sooooo boggy.  We got ourselves to the top of Clougha Pike and were rewarded by wonderful views of Morecambe Bay down below us - we could even see Blackpool Tower.  We sat and ate our sandwiches (we went to Seasons to get them Tom had chosen the biggest one he could find - a Yorkshire pudding wrap with a Christmas dinner in it - the big fat pig!)  We then headed into the bog to get home.  We were all exhausted when we finished - basically we spent 6 miles pulling our feet out of muddy bogs, not the easiest walk, but we felt good afterwards (even if we had leaden legs!)

View from Clougha Pike

Wednesday was a miserable, rainy day, so we had a day of chores.  Laundry, vacuuming, washing floors, cleaning the kitchen etc etc.  The house looked a lot better afterwards.  I feel I can relax now.

Christmas Eve, we had a nice quiet morning, then the boys went out for a bike ride (was very cold and windy - they did good) and I went for a short walk and seemed to bump into loads so turned out to be quite social.  Was a beautiful day - bright sunshine and blue skies - very very cold though!

We are now all set for our quiet Christmas

Merry Christmas Bike Ride

November

Back to what we have been up to..

So, on the Tuesday after half term, Tom went back to school and enjoyed 4 normal days of learning.  On the Saturday lockdown 2 started: a month of all hospitality, non-essential shops etc closed.  We weren't allowed in other people's gardens, but we could meet up 1:1 to go for a walk.  This I did a couple of times until Christmas orders got too much.  

On Thursday I had a very rare night out.  Janine, myself and Steph met up at the Wheatsheaf for tea.  It was just wonderful, having a girlie chat about not much, munching on pub chips and burger and a drink.  A delicious treat I haven't experienced since before March.  The barman at the Wheatsheaf really didn't want us there and was very passive aggressive, trying to get us to move, but all of us were revelling in being out that we ignored him and waited until 9.50 until we left.  It was a wonderful night out - much needed.

At the weekend we made a point of being outside and walking as Tom had been stuck inside for 2 weeks, so on Saturday we drove to Kingsdale and walked up to Gragareth.  It was a long old slog through bogs, made worse by the fact I had new hiking boots on which gave me a blister and the usual pins and needles in my feet - all my hiking boots give me pins and needles - I think because my feet are so wide.  Anyway we got to the top and were rewarded with magnificent views across the countryside towards Kirkby Lonsdale.  A good stiff walk.

On Sunday we went for a shorter, easier walk along the Greta which was lovely, we managed to bump into the Woollys too which was fab - shared a pack of Cherry Bakewell biscuits which were a revelation to us!  When we got back from the walk we got an email from school saying that Tom would have to isolate for another 2 weeks (see earlier blog post) We weren't happy, Tom only had 6 days of freedom, so he spent 4 out of 5 weeks stuck inside - not good.

Chicken Korma

Up until 20th November was spent attempting to home school Tom and watching films (we got through the whole Roger Moore collection of James Bond) and making dinners - Tom has found my curry cook book which is a step by step book and teaches you how to make curries from scratch - grinding up spices etc - it is a great revelation - for him making lovely food from scratch and for us - eating lovely food not cooked by me.  Oh and he spent an afternoon making a cauldron of bolognaise for lasagna and school dinners.  Fantastic.

Lasagna production line

Tom was brilliant during his isolation, never grumped, just got on with it and tried his best (mostly) with the school work we could find.  He went back to school on Friday 20th November, he was very very excited, so much so that we was dancing around the house as a crab (?!) all of Thursday afternoon.  His bag was packed mega early and, well he was just very very excited. Couldn't be a moment too early - he was visibly grey from lack of fresh air on Thursday - not a good look and not good for his health.  

We took him to school in the car - we figured 2 isolations close to each other was enough for a while.  Whilst we can't control who gets Covid at school, we can control how he goes to school (if someone on the bus tests positive, the whole bus has to isolate, regardless of the fact you could be sat a good 10 metres away from the person with Covid - this has happened to Sierra twice).  So from now on we will be dropping him off and picking him up - this, of course significantly eats into our working day, but it is worth it, knowing we won't get the dreaded email for the bus trip.

On Friday, once Tom was home, I made him get dressed and we went out for a Storrs Common walk.  It was raining, it was windy but Tom was grey and needed some fresh air.  We got home, he had colour in his cheeks - very good to see.

Saturday, the plan was to have a nice long walk.  We headed to Settle and did the Victoria Cave walk - which is quite a stiff walk but very beautiful: the crags of Attermire Scar are very jagged and interesting.  We were lucky in that the sun came out and shone on the landscape.  A beautiful afternoon.

Buzzard

Sunday we headed up the Hawes road and did a walk around Great Doak Cave.  A short but steep walk with lots of interest.  Last time we went up there we came across a lost sheep, no such adventures this time.

Tom then managed a full week at school (well sort of - he had a hospital appointment about his hayfever on the Wednesday so he missed 2.5 lessons because of that)  He saw two Drs who are going to monitor him as closely as they can next year (although depends on Covid etc), they will change his medication again but if it still doesn't work, then they will look at desensitisation jabs to see if that helps him.  They take 3 years to work - so we really need to get it started soon.

Saturday, we did the Ingleton quarry walk and then Tom made us a green hara masala curry - which was chicken in a mint and coriander sauce, very refreshing and tasty.  

On Sunday, Matt and Tom went for a bike ride up to Broadrake via Oddies Lane, whilst I went for a run.  Took me an age - a combination of extra weight and less fitness due to also being stuck in because of Tom's isolations.  Always the way, the first thing to go is always my running and now I am 10 minutes slower than I was a couple of years ago.  It is going to take ages to get back to that level - if I ever do!

Tom came back and made a lemon drizzle cake (he really does have the cooking bug at the moment!).  A great weekend.

Unimpressed with school

So, Tom managed 4 days at school and then at the weekend (luckily late on Sunday) we got the email of doom and were told that a classmate of Tom's had tested positive for Covid and that he couldn't go back to school until Friday 20th November.  BUGGER!  A number of FB messages later and we narrow it down to someone in his English class - not that it matters who it is, but it means that most of his form are still at school, Tom is 1 in 5 who isn't in class for general classes, I think this makes it worse as the work goes on without him and the teacher won't remember who was off isolating when they are working out report grades etc. 

We were thrown into on-line learning, the school uses TEAMS for their on-line learning which is basically a database of resources.  They don't have live lesson streaming (not sure why - it would mean less queries coming their way if so!)  It is a nightmare system to navigate, mainly because every department uses it differently, files are all over the place, links don't work, there are hidden channels, worksheets that you can't download, basically a mess.  How an 11 year old is supposed to find their work and then do it unaided is beyond me.  Because he is isolating at home and wanting to do his work in the kitchen, I can't do any chocolate work.  Not great with Christmas coming up, but it does mean that I can dedicate my time  to helping him keep up.  It was the most frustrating week ever.  The worse subject by a long way was Maths, then all the sciences and then French.  Some, geography (naturally) were very well organised and a dream to do.  No subjects have asked for any work to be submitted and marked which I find extra-ordinary.  Tom has filled in worksheets for Maths, but once again no answer sheets - how on earth is he expected to know if he has understood correctly, or are they expecting me to work out all the answers as well?  He is missing 6 maths lessons, which is not good considering they were just beginning to learn algebra!  In an email to Matt, Tom's old headmistress said that we should expect excellent on-line resources, and we would be well within our rights to moan to them... Then on Thursday we get a letter from the headteacher basically saying to stop moaning about home schooling, all the work is available, you aren't doing it properly.  A red rag to a bull...the work wasn't there, so I spent Saturday whilst the boys were watching James Bond taking screen shots of the Teams system to prove that the work wasn't available and where it was available, impossible to find.  I ended up with a 15 page letter, showing proof that the info they said was available wasn't available and trying to explain to them how difficult it is to navigate.

It made me feel better if nothing else - I had a lot of pent up frustration in me!

Despite the on-line resources being rubbish, Tom has yet again been brilliant, doing all his work as well as he could (although he is a stickler for having his breaks at exactly the same time as at school regardless of whether he has finished what he is doing or not).  He has looked a bit sad though, it isn't fair on him, not able to have any fresh air, get some exercise etc.  The school are very quick to send reams of children home, for example, for 1 positive case, 120 children in Tom's year got sent home (at Settle College - they only send home children who were within a 2m radius of the positive case).  How can two schools read and implement the regulations set out by the Dept of Education so differently?  Also at Settle they have live lessons and teachers who phone to check up on pupils, we've been told that is too much work for the teachers at Tom's school?  How?  The teachers wouldn't get oodles of emails and messages asking what work to do if they could log in and see the lessons in action.  Also regardless of how big a school is, the class is still the same size.  So a form tutor in Settle will have 30 pupils to check up on, the same number as a form tutor at Tom's school.  Needless to say we aren't that impressed with the school at the moment!

I sent the email on Sunday, just before 9am on Monday I got a phone call from one of the Assistant Head Teachers, who firstly gave me a lecture saying I didn't understand how much work the teachers were doing and that it was extra stress on them every time children get sent home.  I knew I would probably get a lecture, so I was ready for it.  I didn't rant in the letter (as much as I wanted to) and I didn't mention any teachers names either and I kept the tone very neutral as I knew they wouldn't take me seriously if I didn't.  Once she got that out of her system, she relented to agree that the provision for the sciences and French could be improved, but wouldn't agree that Maths was awful, apparently it is ok to have black screens, where you have to hit 'back' to load, hidden channels with hidden files, presentations that make no sense and worksheets that you can't read or download.  Because the work was in the system, we should be able to find it...these children are 11 years old!  She said that every teacher has in class shown the children where the files are - how you can expect an 11 year old to remember the location of files for 11 plus subjects is beyond me?!  I kept the conversation positive, but inside I was boiling.

Anyway, I've said my piece and probably made a name for myself!  Funny later in the day we get a one line letter from the Head of Year 7 saying how well Tom has done in his first half term at school...a coincidence?  I don't think so.  However, Tom was very happy to see it.

Cooking and James Bond...

So half term is going to be a little different this year.

Saturday was a miserable day - it rained all day, so we really didn't miss out on much.  We spent the morning doing chores and were just wondering what to do in the afternoon when one of Tom's new school friends phoned him...he plays cricket and has a model railway....they were on the phone for 4.5 hours and only finished because it was tea time and we had ordered pizza from the local restaurant.  Wowzers, I have no idea what they were talking about but there was lots of giggling and model railway videos happening.  He was very happy so why interfere.

Sunday was a nice day - we saw it from the house and garden!  Once we knew about the isolation, we bought a box set of Roger Moore James Bond films - it is what Tom is in to at the moment.  So after a morning of faffing, we watched Live and Let Die - the voodoo one, which was fun.  The Roger Moore ones are almost like cartoons - not too violent and not too sexy/ist for Tom.  He loves them.  After that he was on Yorkshire Pudding duty as we were having roast ham - they were as good (and big) as always.  He stayed up for Top Gear this evening - one of his favourite programmes - wasn't as funny as usual, but still Tom was transfixed.

Monday, another miserable day.  Tom spent the morning on the phone to Rebecca talking trains, we watched The Man with the Golden Gun in the afternoon and then he spent the evening on the phone to Florrie.  I got on to Environmental Health to find out if I can make cakes / chocolates with an isolating child in the house.  They called back, the bottom line is that they don't know!  However, they were happy for me to continue making cakes / choccies as long as I keep to all Covid rules and Tom doesn't develop any symptoms, but to inform any customers of the situation, so they can make any decision.  Seemed sensible enough.  They said that it is thought it isn't transmitted through food, but it can be via packaging.  It is all still a bit like the blind leading the blind really.  Oh and Tom was dumpling man today - to fill out our Ham soup,  very good they were too.

Tuesday another grey, miserable, rainy day.  We aren't really missing out on much this week by staying in.  Today we had a cooking and James Bond day.  The morning was spent preparing Butter Chicken.  Tom was the chef today, it took him over an hour to prep it all - he made it completely from scratch - no jars or pastes, everything came from the spice cupboard.  It smelt wonderful as he put the marinating chicken in the fridge.  After that we weighed out the fruit ready for the Christmas cake.  This year it is being soaked in whisky.  

  

 

After lunch we sat down to watch the next Roger Moore - this time it was 'The Spy Who Loved Me' - must say I didn't remember much of this one, the villain wasn't scary enough and James just shot him - no nasty ending for him which was disappointing.  However, loads of gadgets which is always a bonus.  Then a quick walk to the village in the rain and wind to get some cream and coriander for the curry before a game of Ticket to Ride (Matt won) and then Tom finished off the curry.  It was absolutely delicious.  I'm not sure what he thought of it as it was very different to any Butter Chicken he has had in a restaurant, but Matt and I really enjoyed it - so many layers of flavour, so aromatic.  As he was cooking it he said he would like to do more cooking - I don't need to be told that twice...  Bake Off is tonight - Japanese Week...

   
Wednesday, was an apple processing day.  Relations between us and our neighbour have got (slightly) better during the year - mainly because we see each other and no-one else!  Anyway, Tom came round to ask if we would like some apples - I of course, couldn't help myself and said yes.  He came with a huge box full of them.  Immediately Tom said apple crumble and I said apple chutney.  So we spent the morning making our treats.  I flooded the house with the smell of vinegar which Matt really enjoyed (he hates anything vinegar!) but it was worth it as a couple of hours later I had 8 jars of apple chutney.  It's a shame it is only me in the house that likes it - think I will probably end up giving most of it away, but still it is satisfying to make it myself.  The afternoon was spent with 007 and For Your Eyes Only, which I vaguely remembered.   All good, quite enjoying these days at the moment, nothing better than snuggling up with your nearest and dearest watching a corny film whilst you hear the rain drum on the windows.

Thursday we heard that Year 6 at Ingleton Primary have gone into isolation - their teacher Ms Middleton has Covid and is quite ill which is very sad, especially as she probably got it off one of the kids.  This means of course that Florrie now has plenty of free time so she and Tom ended up having a video lego session together in the morning whilst Matt headed to Settle to deliver Pat's birthday presents and have a very socially distanced chat.  In the afternoon, Tom made a gammon and onion quiche and we watched Octopussy, which was fun - I enjoyed all the Indian locations as I have been to most, also Q had a starring role in the action!  The plot was quite hard to follow though - we all got confused at one point.  

Friday, Tom spent the morning making a lamb rib stew which then cooked gently in the slow cooker for the rest of the day.  The afternoon was spent watching the last of the Roger Moore films: A View to a Kill which was fun - a better villain and lots of way out there gadgets and those wonderful words "Pay attention 007!".  Late morning it finally stopped raining.  Matt went to do the waterfalls walk to stretch his legs and I did a short walk in the evening as it got dark.  Was nice to be in the fresh air again.  Oh and I delivered a chocolate cake in Bentham - thought it prudent to deliver my cakes whilst Tom in isolation.

The Roger Moore Collection

Our favourite film: The Man with the Golden Gun - unanimous

Our favourite character: Q (Tom and me), Jaws (Matt)

Favourite baddie: Scaramanger - unanimous

Favourite gadget: Underwater Lotus in The Spy who Loved me (Tom) the crocodile boat in Octopussy (Matt) the watch with the dymo label printer in The Spy Who Loved (Me)

Saturday morning we realised that Tom hadn't actually done any of his homework yet, luckily he didn't have much, so I got him started on that, Matt did some work and I went to deliver a birthday present and ended up having a long chat with Alice, whilst stood in the wind and rain.  The afternoon was spent watching Queen of the Elephants a documentary about a family of elephants in Africa - a nice change to James Bond - although more upsetting with a baby elephant death which got us all going.  Boris is addressing the nation again this evening - looks like another lock down is upon us.

   

   

So yes lockdown is upon us - from Thursday onwards but doesn't include schools which is where most of the infections are taking place and then being spread into the community (well that seems the case in this village anyway) - so don't quite see the logic.  Also they haven't included a travel ban - surely if you stop most from travelling then the virus will mostly stop travelling?  Anyhow, we have until Thursday to enjoy a last meal / drink out (whilst being sensible of course - haven't been to an establishment for ages) and to use local shops.  However, Tom is still in isolation and the weather is still grim so Sunday was spent inside again.  Once again Tom wanted to do the cooking and Matt suggested Lasagna - a family favourite...he's made bolognaise and cheese sauce in the past so it wasn't difficult, but it was lengthy - took him 3.5 hours - but he stuck at it, only needing intervention from me on how much of everything to use and to lift heavy pans.  I had got out 2 packs of mince from Cornvale for him to process.  He made 2 x lasagnas and then had enough bolognaise sauce left over for a family spaghetti bolognaise and 2 portions for school lunches.  Not a bad haul.  The afternoon was spent watching Gold Finger (our tribute to Sean Connery who died yesterday, Honor Blackman also died earlier this year) and playing games whilst Matt went to the pub with some friends.   He came home needing lasagna, it was in the oven waiting and my oh my it was delicious, tasted just like mine.  We polished off the whole thing, naughty but oh so nice.  Then showers and Top Gear.  Tom has home school tomorrow - not exactly sure how that will work, but I guess we will find out...

Half Term Interrupted!

So Tom broke up for half term on Thursday and we celebrated that he had managed it all without having to self-isolate.  So so many have had to do so, so much learning time lost by so many children - you do wonder what the overall effect is going to be on their education.  

Teaching is all a bit random at the moment. Teachers can't get within 2 meters of the children, so they can't help them in the classroom.  No practicals, teachers can't touch paper handled by pupils which makes marking impossible, homework is marked by viewing across the classroom (eg Tom had to draw a bar chart of something for physics.  I asked him how the teacher marked it - apparently at registration they had to show it as their name was read out - basically all the teacher could check was that they had done it, not if they had done it right or not - I'm taking it upon myself to do this for him - he had done it wrong, so I made him do it again!)  There have been tests - but the children have to mark them themselves, Tom did a geography test and was marked down 2 points by a fellow pupil but on looking at it he had got them all right?!  He does quizzes on the computer - but once again it is a bit random eg.  "What sea separates Europe and Africa?"  He wrote the Mediterranean Sea - he got it wrong because he should have just written Mediterranean.  Same again for the Ocean separating Europe and America - he wrote Atlantic Ocean, he should have just written Atlantic.  In that quiz he to a low mark but got pretty much everything right - just not exactly how the computer programme wanted it written.  So it is all a bit random.  

For food studies (or whatever it is called now), he had to make a salad.  They had to do it at home and then send in a photo.  I found this really hard.  His idea of a salad was lettuce, cooked carrots, raspberries, pineapple and 200ml of apple juice????!!!!!  It is almost as if he has never had a salad before.  Should I let him go ahead with it or should I guide him to make a salad which is actually a salad?  In the end he made one but kept the carrots raw and without the apple juice and uploaded the photo alongside loads of photos of professional looking 'proper' salads.  

We got some effort grades through on his last week - all were good.  Guess which subject he got the lowest grade for...yep...food studies.  This tells me that I probably should have intervened more?!  Oh hum, he has room to improve I guess.  The annoying thing is that his kitchen skills are probably better than most but the teachers will never know will they because they won't actually see the kids in a kitchen with their own eyes!

Anyway, we were celebrating no self-isolation which was great - he was going to spend a day with some Alpacas on Saturday with Florrie (her birthday treat) and then we had booked The Den at Gauber bunk barn for a couple of nights - just to get away.

On Friday we headed north of Sedbergh to go for a walk to Courtley Spout - a rather lovely waterfall.  We were half way up it when I got a message from a friend asking if we had got the dreaded email re self-isolation?  Matt fired up his email on his phone - yep - we had got the message of doom.  Some one in close contact with Tom (ie in the same class as him for something) has tested positive and he needs to self-isolate until Tuesday 3rd November.  Bugger!  Neither me nor Matt need to isolate - just Tom, so we can go out for provisions / walks etc, but not him. 

Luckily the path we were on was deserted - think we only saw about 2 other people on our path the whole time.  We decided that as we were there and as it was deserted, we would carry on with the walk so we did. It was a steep walk, with great views, good for the soul - especially as we knew we wouldn't be able to get out again for the next week and a bit.

We then came home and here we will stay until next Tuesday.

October

 

The first weekend in October started badly with it being cold and rainy.  During lockdown we started a lego project - remaking all the lego sets that Tom has received over the years.  We were very close to finishing, so we decided to get it all out and finish it off. 

It took the whole day but we got there.  We then got all the lego models out from the various places we have been squirrelling them away to and took some pics.  Didn't look much - but it has taken us hours and hours.  A great way to waste many hours.  Tom is pleased because he prefers making his own fantasy models rather than the kits so he didn't take much time to destroy them and start building his own models again.

The Sunday was a much nicer day and we arranged to meet up with the Raddas again for a walk down at Jenny Brown's Point.  Somewhere we haven't been to before.  It is on Morecambe Bay - and was a lovely walk.  Great views, lovely weather, good company.  We had some coastal walk, forest walk, not much uphill (always good).  We got caught in a freak shower storm, but enjoyed the rainbow it caused.  Anyway another good walk.

So, I thought the blog had stopped working, but it turns out a setting had changed itself.  Matt managed to find it and changed it back, and suddenly everything clicked back in to place.  Phew!  However, the page seems determined to keep changing the setting, so we will see how long we are able to keep going...

Now, of course  I need to catch up on previous weeks, looks like we got up to the end of September, so here is my blog for October:

The second weekend in October we decided to have some proper exercise.  We packed the bikes on the back of the car and drove over to Keld where we cycled the new Swale Trail bike track from Keld to Gunnerside.  We weren't sure what to expect - wowzers it was hard work!  The beginning of the trail was steep, bendy and gravely.  I took my bike for a walk - there was no way I would be able to cycle up it.  The boys, of course were fine, but even Tom was stopping and starting.  I have been putting the idea of an e-bike to the boys if they want me to keep up with them - this was proof that I need one! Eventually we got to a bit where it levelled out a bit and I was able to get on and cycle.  

A video of the ride is here: https://youtu.be/vT1FtblgAsE

It was a beautiful ride, in Swaledale which is one of the most beautiful and unspoilt of the dales.  The river Swale at the bottom of the dale, green fields around, dry stone walls and lots of stone barns.  We had a picnic at the top of a hill taking in the scenery and then carried on to Gunnerside - bombing down a tarmac road at the end which was fun.  At Gunnerside we found a pub with a garden, so we took a table and had a drink each before heading back the same way.  I was proud of myself at the start as it was a steady hill out of Gunnerside to the top of the track and I managed most of it without walking.  We carried on back to our picnic spot, by which time I was spent and we had the worse of the gravelly uphill track to go, so I took my bike for a walk and then free wheeled down the other side.

It was a grand track, apparently the other half of it (Gunnerside to Reeth) is a little easier so we might try that out.  I need to get a bit fitter I think!  (I blame Cornvale and all the lovely meat they deliver to us for making me fatter!)

Last weekend we went for a greasy spoon lunch at Hellifield Station and then a short walk around Hellifield to see the Highland Coos.  It wasn't a particularly long or hard walk, but interesting - we found a rather lovely looking holiday let - saw plenty of highlanders and the odd train.  

Blog isn't working

Hi all, I haven't written much recently and as you can see blog posts have recently become scruffy. Not sure what has happened but I seem unable to put photos in, or any sort of formatting - can't even put a return into a document. This might be the end of the blog I'm afraid. I have looked on the internet to try to work out what has happened but with no luck. I am actually getting quite upset about it all as this site documents the first 11 years of Tom's life and although it was a pain to write sometimes, it is great to look back on. I can't believe this is the end, but I think it is. I just hope the site doesn't suddenly disappear!

In the meantime, here's a last photo of Tom taken today in the sunshine. He's having to self isolate because of a classmate having tested positive for corona, so all our planned half term activities are cancelled and we have ordered in a box set of Roger Moore James Bond films which he seems to be in to at the moment. We will fill the days with watching those, cooking (there is a Christmas cake to bake and some apple chutney to make with some apples we got given) and domino runs - yes he is still into domino runs in a big way, they get bigger and more complicated every day.

Update

I was feeling better by Saturday. It was a nice day, so Matt suggested a walk over in Crummack Dale to explore the bits we found last time. I was a little worried as the walk was around 7 miles - but I was pleasantly surprised at how I was able to deal with the exercise and the walk itself. It was so peaceful, scenic, unspoilt that it lifted the soul and I felt even better after it. When we got back, Tom had to do homework - my my he is getting a lot of homework already - with a good 7-10 pieces a week. I'm not sure I had that amount to start with?! 

Sunday - we met up with Katie and co at Hest Bank and we showed them the short walk between The Shore Cafe and Archers Cafe. It was a gloriously lovely day. Bright blue skies, and hot. We were all wearing the wrong clothes. Had a ice cream at Archers and walked back again. It wasn’t a long session, but we were all happy to be out in the sunshine and socialising - how much longer will we be able to do this? Covid is coming….this week Year 10 was sent home. One of Tom’s form, Isaac's brother has picked up the virus - they live in Ingleton, 3 boys and Mum alone. They are isolating at home. I went and left them a care package. Can’t be fun stuck in a house together for so long. On Saturday Tom and Matt went on a Diesel and Ale Day on the Keighly and Worth Valley Railway. They had a good day, whilst I stayed at home and cleaned the house. We all seem to be sneezing and coughing a lot so I thought a thorough clean of the house would be a good idea (it hasn’t made any difference to the sneezes and coughs but the house is nicer as a result). 

On Sunday we drove to Hornby and did a walk alongside the river Lune. All very lovely except we encountered a field full of huge cows and ended up leg it over a fence and walk alongside a steep embankment to avoid them.

 

Quiet week whilst we suffer / recover from colds

We decided to have a quiet weekend, Tom was still recovering from his cold and I wasn't feeling 100%.  It was the last day of the Staycation Express so Matt and Tom headed to Blea Moor to see it, whilst I stayed at home.  Sunday saw us staying at home (Tom had homework to do) and we had a full roast dinner with Tom's yorkshires for tea - to try to make us all feel better.  

Monday - I had Tom's cold!  I was streaming, full of snot and feeling quite sorry for myself.  Typical that I had a cake going out on Tuesday.  It took me an age to do it, luckily I had all day and had done most of the  decorations.  This was not good.  I had other orders for the weekend too oh hum, I would have to struggle on.  The week was mainly spent having hot baths, blowing my nose, washing my hands hundreds of times and doing things slowly.  It was a horrible cold!

Wednesday Tom was supposed to be taking part in the selection process for South Lakes District Cricket team, we told them he had a cold, they told us not to go, just to be on the safe side.  He would get the opportunity again once they start training. 

Thursday - Tom came home from school with a French Certificate for good participation during class.  Only 2 pupils got one, so he was very pleased with himself, as was Grannie!

Snaizeholme and sneezes

Saturday we weren't sure what to do.  We didn't want to do anything too strenuous as we knew Tom would be tired from school and had a full week stretching ahead of him.  I suddenly had the idea to go to Snaizeholme to visit the red squirrels.  We weren't disappointed.  We saw loads, in fact I think we spent over an hour down by the holiday let just watching them scampering from place to place, red squirrels never sit still making photography so difficult, but it was fun trying to get some good shots / video and certainly a pleasure just to sit back and watch them busy around us.  A good visit. 

We then decided to go to Hawes as we were so close for lunch.  We headed to the creamery, there was a queue, but when we agreed to eat outside we got served pretty quickly, and it wasn't too cold.  We then went for a walk around the town.  I decided to hunt out the Chapel Gallery who got in touch with me prior to Covid about stocking my chocolates.  I found it, had a look around (all decent stuff) and spoke with the owner who was still keen for me to work with her, so I left it that I would build up some stock and then get back in touch.  Should have asked about who her 'average' customer is to get an idea of what to make - oh hum, I'll get some stock together and then see what she says.

Sunday we had a morning of cricket training.  It was a beautiful morning, so all the parents were out sunning themselves.  The kids were amusing themselves nicely and we were chatting.  Then Tom announced he had a sore throat - but he hadn't drunk anything after charging around all morning, so we put it down as being a dry throat.  It didn't go away though...

Monday morning and Tom woke up in a complete state!  He was streaming and clearly not at all well.  He was also crying.  Crying because he felt unwell and crying because he didn't want to miss school and crying because he knew he couldn't go to school.  There was no way we could send him in, so we wiped up his tears and sent him back to bed.  We had a quiet day, watched a film on the sofa, lots of cuddles, and he got brighter as the day went on.  We, of course were then in a position of what do we do about school.  I had taken Tom's temperature throughout the day - it was normal.  He didn't have a cough and could taste things, so none of the classic symptoms of Covid.  Matt phoned the school and they said if it is a snotty cold, that is fine, send him back when well enough.  I made Tom a chicken curry for tea which cheered him up further.  He was in bed around 7pm.

Tom came bouncing into our bedroom at 7am this morning.  He was well enough to go to school and very much wanted to go.  We figured if he was happy enough to go to let him.  We checked his temperature - normal, so he got dressed, had breakfast and went along to the bus stop.  Different today as the whole school were at school today for the first time.  I had some cakes to do to keep me busy, but I was still a bit emotional.  My problem is that I didn't enjoy Secondary school so am worried / scared for him, but of course he isn't me, he is himself.  Also, schools have changed a lot in 30 years, so my concerns probably aren't all that relevant anymore.  Doesn't stop me from worrying though!  Tom came bouncing in at 3.15, he had had a good day (had snotted his way through 2 packs of tissues) but apart from that he had a good day and had actually been to a lesson.

As the week went on, he settled in fine.  He has already made new friends, and talks lots about Isaac and Jack so that meeting with them put him in good stead.  He doesn't talk about any of the Ingleton boys, just the Ingleton girls and other boys in his class, this is a good sign.   He is spreading his wings, we hope it continues.  

Oh and we found a solution to the lunchtime problem.  Someone suggested getting a wide necked flask so he could take hot food with him.  Genius.  Matt got on to Amazon, bought one in.  I made a huge caldron of curry.  We gave him curry and rice for lunch, with a whole load of snacks for break time.  Bingo, he came home very happy with not a crumb left.  He was very happy.  That is what I need to do now, make huge caldrons of stews etc and then freeze lunchtime portions for him to take to school.  Phew!