Back to the Home School routine

So, Tom was supposed to go back to school on Monday, but with the government wanting every secondary school to do mass testing, they gave everyone an extra day off to give themselves time to set it up before 2 weeks of home schooling during which time everyone would be tested .  Then on Monday evening Boris announced that all schools were closing until at least February half term - so we are back to home schooling full-time - oh joy!

Anyway, we had Monday off.  Tom and I enjoyed a last long lie-in, leisurely breakfast and then had a nice day playing games, going for a walk, playing music and generally enjoying each other's company.

Then came Tuesday and straight into the stress of home schooling, oh joy!  First lesson was French, there was a video on the system.  It wouldn't play on Tom's computer.  It wouldn't play on Matt's computer.  Luckily there was actually a teacher responding to messages...it took an hour for him to put it up in a format where we could play it.  Great - so we were already an hour behind.  Next lesson was PD - we went round and round in circles trying to find which lesson to do.  Eventually found one dated 6th Jan so did that.  Then noticed messages from Tom's class mates saying they had done a different one!  The teacher (who is also Tom's form teacher) didn't respond to any messages, we still don't know if we have done the right one?  Next was History - we found a lesson, with a video.  The video was on youtube.  Youtube wouldn't work on Tom's new computer.  I don't have the school's system on my computer, so he emailed the link over, however, somehow he converted it to a jpeg so I couldn't use it.  He then had to read the link out but read it incorrectly so it took about 30 mins to get the link to work so he could watch it.    Then we had to print out a worksheet - Tom's computer wouldn't recognise either printer in the house.  So then he had to email me the worksheet and I had to print it out.  So we were now 2 hours behind the schedule!  Next was geography which was (luckily) well explained and easy to follow with no links / videos / print outs.  Phew.  Next was English which was an audio presentation from the head of Year 7 who is also an English teacher (not Tom's English teacher - but he seems to have lost most of his teachers now - as French and History was also run by teachers he didn't know!).  It worked and we understood what was needed and it wasn't too much.  Lastly he had Theatre Studies which once again used a youtube video so once again we went round the houses trying to view it.  By the end of the day we were both frazzled and we were two lessons behind.  We went for a walk around the village and then went back to it to try to catch up.

The rest of the week followed pretty much the same.  We managed to iron out some technical hiccups - found a lead to get the printers to work (why do you need a lead to connect a wireless printer to a laptop?!) installed a different browser which will play youtube videos and got to grips with Tom's computer (it is Windows but we are used to Apples, meaning we find it difficult to work out how to do some functions).  

Art was a classic.  It was a 1 hour lesson.  We had to watch a youtube video and then recreate what we saw.  We needed crayons and watercolours.  We have neither.  I had to call around some friends, find someone with some spare, go and collect them.  By the time I did that, the hour's lesson had been and gone.  We started it during PE - which we can get away with not doing.  It took us 2.5 hours.  When we finally finished it, we went back on the system to see lots of messages from pupils saying they didn't have the materials, and to find that the activity had been deleted!  WHAT!  So we did all that for nothing!  I made Tom take a photo and send it to his teacher - we certainly deserved brownie points for that!

We probably spent an extra 6 hours catching up on lessons that we either couldn't do in the time or couldn't do due to a technical hitch.  Why they can't do live lessons is beyond me.  Then the teacher manages the time and you view videos etc via the teacher not your computer.  AND you can ask questions of the teacher if you don't understand something and get some feedback.  Tom cried 3 days out of 4.  I felt like crying 4 days out of 4!  We got through it - just!  It wasn't a case of the school only having 12 hours to arrange the on-line learning, the plan had always been for Year 7 to do two weeks worth of home schooling on the return to school in January.  We will see how it pans out...

AND that is why we don't home school normally!  Oh, and I forgot to mention, I had a cake to get out and chocolates to make - just to add to the stress!  How people do it with multiple children is beyond me!

Tom the snow angel

Playing in the drifts

The weekend arrived.  Yay.  We had snow on the ground - double yay!  We have to walk from home at the moment, but that wasn't a problem, we decided to head up Fell Lane (the start of the Ingleborough path) and then headed across the fields on the Slaterber walk,  The snow had drifted here - it was really deep so Tom was very happy jumping around into the snow and making angels etc and throwing snowballs at me.  It was a really nice walk - very cold, but lovely and good to get some different scenery.  We saw quite a few people out on the Ingleborough track, apparently the police were out at Ribblehead trying to persuade people to go home.  

Covid rates here do seem very high at the moment, however, unusually we don't know anyone who has it at the moment - whilst all through Sept - Dec we were always aware and knew those who had it.  I think maybe the infections have moved away from the school populations to other cohorts who we don't know so well.  

Sunday was a horrible horrible day, plenty of rain, grey, miserable.  We went for a walk around the village in the rain and then cosied up on the sofas and watched 'From Russia with Love' - continuing Tom's James Bond education.  

Then we had teas on knees because Sumo has started again.  We have 2 weeks of teas on knees watching the big fellas colliding - a favourite thing to do in our house.

Our favourite tree

New Year

30th December - we are off on our little mini break to Masham - still North Yorkshire - so the same Covid regulations as Ingleton, but far enough away from Ingleton to feel different.  Our main Christmas present to each other this year was a mini break in a cabin with a hot tub (I've had some fixation about hot tubs recently.  I tried to rent one for home but was too late, everyone I tried was fully booked up).  Anyway, we were hoping that it would actually go ahead first time (unlike everything else this year), however, infection rates have been rising significantly over the last month - especially in the south east and it felt like the country was on the cusp of another lockdown.  The government were due to announce changes to the tier system today.  We were currently in tier 2.  We looked up the regulations for tier 3.  Holiday accommodation has to shut, however, if you are in your accommodation when the tiers change, you can stay to the end of your booking.  So, we made our way over, booked in, hooked up to the wifi and discovered that the tiers were changing at midnight - we were going into tier 3.  This also  means that all cafes, pubs and restaurants are closed but everything else is pretty much the same.  Talk about getting in by the skin of our teeth.  We are here now so we might as well enjoy it.

Our accommodation is lovely, a much bigger cabin than we were expecting, 3 big bedrooms huge kitchen lounge area and a MUCH bigger hot tub than we thought we would have.  We quickly got unpacked, plugged in our stew and rice cooker, unpacked - properly unpacked which is unusual for us.  Had tea, played Uno and then went for a dip in the hot tub - it was lovely.  It was freezing outside but the tub was lovely and warm and the skies clear so we could watch the stars and planets.  We were in the tub for over an hour!

31st December, another wonderful and crispy cold and clear day.  

Inside the Cathedral

Statue in Ripon Cathedral

Beautiful window

After breakfast and a soak in the hot tub watching all types of birdies flitting around, we went into Ripon for the day - was a really lovely day.  Never been to Ripon before - it is a city as it has a cathedral - but only 17.000 population so very small.  Had a really lovely atmosphere to it.  

Nearly everyone we passed said hello to us, the architecture was lovely on the eye, and the weather amazing so it was looking its best.  First stop was the cathedral which was big and welcoming.  Went inside for a wander and didn't feel as uncomfortable as I normally do in religious buildings.  It was huge and empty,  which meant we could wander around without getting in anyone's way.  Then we went for a walk alongside the canal - it was half frozen, frost was standing upwards on the fencing and, well, it was a pleasant stroll.  Got back to the town and found an independent sandwich shop open so got a take away and sat by the cathedral to eat it.  We then went for a walk around the town, ended up buying a feeding station for the birds at home, and a number of feeders to hang on it.  A Christmas present for our birds at home.  

Standing up frost

Then to Sainsburys to buy some more food - we had prepared to cook some meals, but were hoping to go to a pub or two for some dinners or lunches.

When we got back to the cabin we decided to put some of the birdie feeders out as we have trees and bushes by the hot tub and saw so many birdies this morning,   We did that and then had another dip in our hot tub to revive our aching limbs - all very lovely.  Then some quiet time which involved watching Paddington which we all love.

We had a late tea and then went back into the hot tub for half an hour.  Then back to the cabin for a mammoth game of 'Wonders of the World' where we actually got through all the cards for the first time ever.  Then, back into the hot tub in time for midnight. We all had a glass of fizz and counted down to 2021 and star gazed.  A very quiet new year, but it was always going to be so.  Was nice to be in the hot tub.  

Tom then went straight to bed, exhausted, Matt and I stayed up for an hour or so, watching Jools Holland and then headed to bed. I wonder what 2021 will bring - surely it should end better than this year?

Good things about 2020:

+ Cornvale - we are eating much better than ever before.  In fact I haven't bought any meat from a supermarket since about May.  Not only is their meat really good, it is all from local farms, as is their fruit / veg / sauces etc etc where possible.  So not only does it taste good, but it is helping local businesses.  PLUS you can ask them for anything and they will do their best to provide it for you - so we have managed to have some sukiyaki with thinly sliced beef, hand of pork etc.  They also come up with cuts of meat that I've never heard of eg porchetta which was the best ever roast we have ever had and I don't like fennel! Plus they do free delivery to us.  Down side is I am a bit fatter for it!

+ Tom's friendship with Florrie!  We knew they liked 'annoying' each other in the playground at primary school, but didn't realise just how close they were until lockdown and 1-3 hour regular video calls.  She was a godsend, because by Year 6 it was obvious that Tom wasn't ever going to be a long-term friend of any of the boys in his year - during lockdown not one of them got in touch with him - although to be fair he didn't get in touch with them either.  His chats with Florrie always put him in a good mood, which of course rubbed off on us.  As a result we have become good friends with Nicky and Paul, her parents.  We knew Nicky from school as she was a TA there, but only to nod to.  Found out we have very similar views on parenting which is good (we have discovered that your style of parenting can have a huge effect on friendships).  Anyway, it is a good thing.  Florrie is off to Settle College in September, but I don't think that will have too much of an effect.

+ Birds.  We have become bird spotters during lockdown.  After remembering that Tom had a camera trap we set it up during lockdown and started putting down lots of seed / crumbs / left overs to attract birds.  We then had to get ourselves a book of birds so we could identify them.  It has been a project all 3 of us have enjoyed.  In fact we bought a whole load of new feeders as a New Years' present for us.  Can't wait to get them home.

+ Lockdown has confirmed that as a family of 3 we bumble along quite well.  We might not be the funniest people in the world, but we do love each other, enjoy each other's company and are able to get along.  Very much helped by the surroundings we live in.

+ Lockdown has forced us to slow down our lives considerably.  We were used to dashing around like maniacs, trying to fit in so much stuff.  School, after school clubs, sports, friends, adventures, visiting friends around the country etc etc.  All of that has gone out of the window and we have spent more time than ever in the house - before lockdown we barely spent any time in the house except to work and sleep.  It isn't so bad being stuck at home.  We are incredibly lucky in that we live in a lovely part of the country, although we could do with a bigger garden, trying to keep fit in such a small garden is hard especially during isolations when you can't leave the house!

+ Tom has had as good a start to QES as we could have hoped for.  He has lots of new friends, comes home happy each day and has been praised by the school for great effort.  We can't ask for more than that in the current circumstances (no idea what the standard of teaching is though?!).

1st January

The River Ure at West Tanfield

We had a leisurely start to the day, breakfast followed by a dip in the hot tub, lunch and then we went for a walk around the local area.  There is a wetland nature reserve not far from the cabin, so we headed over there and watched the geese flitting about.  Then we went into the local village, West Tanfield, which was very lovely.  Found a ruined tower, a river to walk along and some horses to speak to.  Also found a pop  up take away pizza place which operates on Fridays and Saturdays, so took their details with the view to using them on Saturday.  We then walked back to the cabin and...yes, you got it we went for a dip.  Then an afternoon on the couch watching Big Hero Six (one of our favourites) before tea and another dip in the hot tub in the evening - star gazing.

2nd January

We forfeited our morning dip this morning and instead, made up a picnic and headed to Studley Royal (the part of Fountains Abbey which is open to non NT members).  There is a herd of deer here and we went looking for them.  In the snow.  Oh yes, it started to snow and when I mean snow I meant big fat flakes raining down on us.  

Snowy bobbles

Cyril (part of)

Was really nice, cold but nice.  It snowed enough that Tom and I could have a bit of a snowball fight.  We covered most of the park but didn't see any deer.  Oh well, we found a nice spot to have our sandwiches where a seagull came to join us.  We named him Cyril and fed him and his mates from our lunch.  It was fun.  We then headed back to the car and back to the cabin, where we had yet another dip in the hot tub. The film this afternoon was Robin Hood Prince of Theives which Tom really enjoyed.  Then our pizza was delivered, we packed up what we could and then spent a good hour in the hot tub in the evening star gazing.  Now that's a past time I could get used to: star gazing in a hot tub - such a civilised way to do it.

3rd January

We had to be out of the cabin by 9am, so we were up at 8am, packed the car, had a quick breakfast and headed on our way.  The plan was to go to the Druid's Temple, but it was chucking it down with rain and misty.  Not great for exploring the outdoors, especially when you have to pay for parking, so we decided to give it a miss and go straight home.  We were home by 10.30am!  We experienced every sort of weather on the way home: rain, sleet, snow, ice and in Ingleton, sunshine.  We unpacked, put up our new birdie dining station and put the washing machine on before wondering what to eat for lunch.  Then a short walk before collapsing on the sofas.  It's a hard life being in a hot tub all the time - means you feel floppy all the time!

Anyway, it was a good break, if not a little weird being holiday makers in a tier 3 area.  However, we probably interacted with fewer people whilst at the cabin than we would when in Ingleton.  It did feel good to be back home though.

The bit in-between

So Boxing Day came and went and on reflection today (31st December) no-one can remember what we got up to!  Obviously a great day!  I have a feeling it was a horrible day weather wise and I know we had cold cuts and cheese for lunch and fruit salad for tea, but apart from that we just can't remember what we got up to.  I'm assuming Tom had a long bath with one of his new bath bombs and Matt and I got happy drinking wine.  Think we may have watched a documentary about baby reindeers in Scotland, but apart from that we really can't remember what we did!

Herdy!

27th was another grey and miserable day. Assuming we had been stuck inside all day on Boxing day, I decided that Tom and I would go for a walk, whilst Matt decided he was going to have a day of work.  Tom and I went for a walk around the village for fresh air more than anything else. Came across some friendly Herdies which is always a bonus.  Then a light lunch and then the afternoon was spent watching Croccodile Dundee.  After that we played Ticket to Ride (Tom won) and Monopoly (Tom won)!  Humpfh!  Tea was flash fried beef with garlic butter - delicious.  Tom then spent 2 ¾ hours on the phone with his best friend from QES so Matt and I had a quiet evening.

28th was a beautiful day - blue sky, frost and snow on the hillsides.  

Lauren and Tom silhouettes

We had arranged to meet up with the Fosters for a walk which was good.  We met up after lunch in Clapham and did a circuit around the Norber Erratics.  It was the most wonderful day - deep blue skies, great company and beautiful scenery, we were all on a high.  We had Christmas cake and hot punch at the summit.  Got back to Clapham just as the sun went down.  

At the top of Long Scar

A lovely day.

29th - we had arranged to meet up with the Raddas for a walk around Ribblehead with them.  The weather wasn't as beautiful as the day before, but we still enjoyed it and of course, it was good to socialise.  Tom felt lightheaded this morning - not sure what that is about - but he always has gammy ears, so decided to start oiling them in an attempt to get some wax dislodged.  I took him for a walk around the village and that seemed to perk him up, he was fine walking around Ribblehead but he felt funny again when he went to bed.  Very strange.

Usual photo at Ribblehead

Christmas

Our Christmas started on Christmas Eve, evening when the Bickerstaffs came round for a door step chat.  They came with a wagon draped in lights.  On it were a camping stove and a pan of mulled wine and a speaker playing Christmas music.  So, they had their mulled wine and we had ours, we kept 2 metres apart and we had a lot of Christmas cheer.  A great start to Christmas!

The Bickerstaffs and their mulled wine waggon.  The start of Christmas.

Christmas day dawned bright and frosty.  We had told Tom he could come in our room at 8.30 but he came in at 8.00, saying..."I'm not coming in - but you have to look outside"  he drew back the curtains to the most amazing sunrise.  We were glad he had woken us up as it only lasted about 5 minutes.   

He then came to our bedroom with his stocking - for the first time ever he had unpacked it by himself.  However, he hadn't opened the present from Santa - he felt he needed our permission for that.  It was a hornbill soft toy, just as he had asked.  He seemed happy with the contents.

We went downstairs for our breakfast - smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and homemade bread as usual and very lovey too - the only day of the year we have it which makes it extra special.

Before

After

As it was such a lovely day and we didn't have any guests or visitors, we decided to go for a walk after breakfast - to enjoy the blue skies and crispy frost, so got dressed in our outdoor clothes and headed out.  There were quite a few dog walkers around - everyone stopped for a chat.  Bumped into the Holmans who were shocked that Tom hadn't got to open his presents yet!  Poor boy!!!!

We got back, had showers, then prepped all the food.  3 rib of beef as usual, even though there were only the 3 of us - once again we only have this on Christmas day and the usual timings were perfect, For reference:

220 DEGREES FOR 25 MINS

140 DEGREES FOR 1.5 HRS

TAKE OUT OF THE OVEN 45 MINUTES BEFORE EATING

We had red cabbage which Tom and I made two days ago, roasties, parsnips, carrots, kale, yorkies and gravy.  Tom made the yorkies of course - I don't go near them these days, other than to pour them into the tin.  

We then made our way into the lounge for present opening.  Seemed we had as many presents as usual this year even though we didn't have any visitors!  We all did well, but the boy did extremely well and was a happy boy: posh snooker cues, cook books, chefs hats, a drone, a lap top, loads of clothes, his favourite African music (I don't know why, but Tom LOVES African music - especially Tuareg Rock which comes from the Sahel)

 Matt and I did well too - thank you to everyone who sent us gifts.

Yorkies!

We then were back in the kitchen finishing off Christmas dinner ready for 2pm.  It was good, the Yorkies of course were magnificent as usual, the beef good and the best item I thought were the parsnips which were out of this world - we got them from Cornvale - they were the best parsnips I have ever eaten - need to get some more from them.

The afternoon was spent zooming with family.  First up was the Branches at 3pm where everything went smoothly, think we lasted about an hour - when Mum and Dad had to leave to get their 2kg of venison sorted.  We then had a zoom booked with Jude, Craig and Bob and Pat, but for some reason it didn't work first time and then when Matt sent out another reference Bob was unable to receive it, meaning that they didn't make it on.  Oh well, I'm guessing something had to go wrong at some stage!  Everyone seemed happy enough, was nice to actually see Mum and Dad - haven't seen them in over a year!

We then had Christmas pudding and lounged on the sofa watching telly and went to bed with groaning tummies!

Sorry didn't take many photos except of dinner!

Ingleton on Christmas Day

Oh - as Tom was getting ready for bed on Christmas Day evening, he asked Matt why he came into his bedroom last night with a torch?!!!!!!  Matt said he was checking on the mammoths (they were all lined up and had a notice on them saying 'Receiving Mammoths').  This sort of logic does work in our household - we don't feel that the mammoths can be trusted with such an important job, so we were checking on them.  However, we are wondering if that was his way of telling us that he knows it is us?!  Oh hum, we will see what happens next year?  He didn't say anything after that - but he isn't the kind of child to nag or push things, and anyway why jeopardise getting your stocking every year?!