Week 13

Spirit of the Lakes thudding through Hest Bank

So, another busy week for me: I had a cake go out on Tuesday and many Champion Dad gingerbread medals to make.  Tom had a good week: he was on fractions with Maths - which he breezed through and his main English task was to rewrite a picture book story that Mrs Clements read to them on video.  He was very inspired and did a great job. In fact I will put copy and paste it below - think you should be impressed - I certainly was.  I think the standard of literacy work Tom has to do is way above anything I had to do at Primary school.

Fish and chips in the car

On Friday we drove to Hest  Bank to see some 37s go past (Tom's favourite engines).  I'm not a train spotter but needed a change of scenery and we decided to go for some fish and chips on the prom afterwards.  We couldn't find any - oh no!  However, the 37s had headed to Morecambe Station, so we headed there, they went on the platform to look, I stayed in the car and looked online for fish and chips - found one where you could order on line with a 15 min wait (Atkinsons for future reference).  Perfect, we did so, drove over and I was impressed to find face masks and a very efficient system.  (Way more professional than the chippy in Ingleton).  We drove back to the prom, found a bench, and it started to rain, so we had fish and chips in the car - how much more British can you get?!  Was very good fish and chips though - we would happily go back.

Lovely clean Nansen

Saturday - a lovely day.  We washed the Polar Bear (he was beginning to smell and look a little grey).  Then Tom and I headed over to Meadow Falls for a socially distanced birthday party for Annabel (running round the empty campsite) whilst Matt went for a bike ride. The kids had a great time in the campsite - 4 of them playing hide and seek, lots of energy used up.  We then went for a walk up to Edith's wood, OMG what a mistake the meadow fields killed me, Tom and Liz.  We all felt pants, walked straight back and then back home.  We spent the rest of the day inside recovering.

Air ambulance leaving the car park

Sunday wasn't a very nice day weather wise, neither me nor Tom wanted to go outside, so we stayed in.  Morning excitement was an Air Ambulance flying just above the house as a cyclist came off his bike just outside - was in a bad way.  The afternoon was spent watching Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince and not much else.  We felt much better by the end of the day, ready for another week - Tom's last week at IPS.

As promised, Tom's story (100% his own work - no input from me at all):

The Promise

I was alone in the city. It was the worst place you can imagine to live in and tower blocks scarred the sky. I lived with hardly anything. My parents were mean to me, I had hardly known what money was. My bed was a crumpled mattress with a thin sheet, that was the type that was used for a cot, and 1 tiny pillow, that I had since I was a baby. I was living in the tallest tower block in the city and lived next to lift shaft so I heard the clatter of the lift as it shuddered to the stop opposite my room. It needed fixing, it had screeching brakes, and sometimes woke me up I the middle of the night. All the people in the city were mean and cruel like the city itself. Nothing was to be seen. I have never known what happiness is and probably won’t. Nothing was out there. Nothing was right. Nobody would make a change. Whenever I went out I got elbowed and shoved and came back with nothing but myself. Something needed to be done. And fast.

One night when I was being pushed and shoved, I escaped down an alley next to my tower and saw an old lady. She was trudging along and was carrying and bag, that seemed to be bulging. I thought of food and money. I sneaked up behind her and grabbed a hold of the bag, but the little old lady hung on with unsurprised force. She said “As long as you plant them I’ll let go,” what did she mean?

“Alright, I promise” I grunted. She relased her grip immediately and I dashed off back up the alley to my block. 

When got to my room I ripped open the bag and saw nothing but………. Acorns. I forgot about money and food and held them tight. I made a promise to myself about them. It was not to let go out of my sight. That night I slept on them and woke early ready for the exciting day ahead. I got up went down the lift to the ground floor. Jumping out of the lift, I rushed outside to the stinking air. I rushed around the city, like a cheetah spotting an antelope and chasing after it. 

I went down to the railway tracks, tram lines and roads. And planted. Just planted. I pushed everything out of the way. The bag never seemed to empty it was as full as it was when I stole it from that little old lady. The leather it was made from looked old and frail. That night I went to bed late. It was around midnight when I finally pulled the old sheet up over me and went to sleep dreaming about what would happen. 

The next day, I got up and looked out the grimy window and saw no change about the city I rushed down the stairs two at a time. Frantically, I rushed out to the city and……. Nothing. I was ashamed at myself. The old lady had tricked me. I said to myself,” calm down, wait till tomorrow.” And wait till tomorrow I did. I stayed at the window all day and watched and waited. It was about 5 pm when I started to get sleepy and I slumped on the floor, because I had stood up all day.  I went to my bed a fell asleep and didn’t wake up till the morning.

In the morning, I woke up to sunlight. Sunlight? There was never sunlight in the city. My grimy window wasn’t grimy anymore. Looking out, there was green shoots raising out of the ground. TREES! I couldn’t belive that my whole plan worked. Thank goodness for the old lady. Rushing down the stairs, I saw people smiling and laughing with each other. The people were touching the leaves. It was like looking at one huge banana shaped smile. I pushed my way through the crowd, on my way to another sorry looking city. I left behind the green and the beautiful and moved into the hard and ugly. I left behind the happiness and joyful. I enjoyed the green. 

I pushed on through the next city and planted. Just planted. The people there were as mean and as ugly as my city before the trees. People were staring at me in disgust, and were muttering under their breath. It looked like I wasn’t welcome there. It didn’t matter because I only stayed for a couple of hours, and then moved on.

One night when I was in a city a young thief fought me for my sack of acorns. I said the same words the old lady had said to me, knowing what the answer was going to be. The answer was of course yes, I let my grip loosen on the bag and I knew that my planting was to go on.  

I looked at the thief. It was basically me but a lot younger when the plants weren’t in my city. He was a sad looking boy, with dark grey hair and walnut coloured eyes. He sprinted off into the dark night.