Anyway back to these holidays... Sunday morning Tom went swimming with Annabel and came back streaming and feeling rubbish. Straight to Covid test - he was clear. The plan was for him to go to cricket with Matt in the afternoon as Ingleton were playing Sedgwick and we knew a couple of his friends might be there, but he wasn't having it - he felt ill and wanted to stay at home so Matt went by himself. Tom had a two hour bath and then watched a James Bond. He seemed better - but not 100% (how many times have I said that this year?!)
Monday our plan was to have brunch and a walk with the Fosters (well Anne and Lauren anyway!) we met up at the Knight's Table at 10am to find that it didn't open until 11am! So we went for a mini walk down to Stainforth Force (how have I never been there before?!) before heading back up at 11 for some bacon butties / beans on toast. We then headed up the hill to Smearsett Scar. The kids just legged it up there, Matt and Anne did fine and I huffed and puffed after them (Covid lbs and hayfever isolation means I have lost some fitness!) Oh hum, it was a lovely morning / afternoon - didn't get back to our cars until around 2pm. Was good to have a natter and Anne is brilliant at nattering.
Tuesday, can't remember what we did in the morning, but in the afternoon we headed up to Ribblehead for a walk with the Raddas. They are always great company and Katie and Jon such great storytellers that we find ourselves giggling the whole way round. We just happened to walk past the Station Inn so stopped off for a pint and then headed back to their cottage. The sun was still out and the men were wanting more beers, so we sat out in their garden drinking and nattering for the evening until the midges got so bad that we had to leave. Was a really really lovely afternoon.
Wednesday morning, Tom and I went for a bike ride - up to Kingsdale, across the waterfalls walk and down Oddies Lane back to Ingleton - was a lovely morning for it and now I have the electric bike so so much easier. I actually like to go for a bike ride these days. We stopped for a cider refresher at the top of the falls before heading home (didn't taste quite as good as I remember them!)
At home in the afternoon Tom couldn't think of anything to do, so, we carried on with his bedroom. We opened up the other side of his wardrobe and went through all his books / toys etc.
Once again it took forever, created clouds of dust but it needed doing and we ended up with another bin liner of goodies for the jumble sales. In the evening Matt was playing a friendly match of cricket against Aysgarth. Tom went along to watch, as did I. Ingleton only had 9 men, I said it was a shame Tom wasn't 13 as then he would be able to play for them, however, as it was a friendly, normal rules don't apply and they were desperate (one of the players had his wife and Dad playing for Ingleton) so he was told to go and get his kit.
He did and he got to bat, field and bowl! He did ok too, luckily the bowlers on the other team were quite slow so he was able to bat ok - scored some runs. He bowled ok too and his team mates (late teenagers and 20 year olds) all got behind him: "come on Tom lad" etc etc and were very complimentary. None of them had seen him play before so didn't know what to expect, think they were pleasantly surprised. Matt was so proud, Tom was mega proud too - he was really cocky when he got back home, but unsurprisingly so, he was in a team where most of his team mates were at least double his age and he held his own! Maybe he might be able to play for the second team next year (although he does need to bulk up a bit first!)
Thursday Tom and I went into Settle in the morning to do some shopping and have lunch. Then we had a quiet afternoon in the rain before I took him over to Meadow Falls - as he was having a sleep over with Annabel. Matt and I were down for our hot air balloon ride in the morning - it is a 6am start. However, the weather had turned, it looked very much as if the balloon ride wouldn't happen, however, he and Annabel were excited for the sleepover so it went ahead anyway. Matt and I did some last minute phoning around to find a place for dinner out in a pub, no luck, but on the way home I drove past La Cascada, we called them, they had room! So, we had a very pleasant evening in La Cascada eating way too much and drinking way too much! We staggered home, happy!
Friday, spent the morning cleaning and catching up on computer work until Tom came home after a morning at the campsite and a session swimming in the pool.
Saturday the weather was awful and we had booked for a outside house clean: our house got really really dirty when Tom Brown was building his - with lots of trucks belching out their fumes onto our walls. After sorting out our windows, doors and woodwork, we needed to get the paintwork done so after a little bit of FB help we found someone who could help us. Unfortunately it rained all day for him - so he was soaking - but he was happy and refused to come in to shelter from the rain or use the toilet etc. Anyway, after 6 hours the house was looking amazing. He did the patio as well, which was black. The difference was amazing - almost too bright to be outside in the sunshine near it now!
Sunday was another miserable day - we went to Goat Gap for lunch and watched a film in the afternoon.
Monday - we met up with Liz and Annabel and had a day out with them to Yorkshire Wildlife Oasis. A cute little zoo near Milnthorpe. This is another one that has had bad press in the past - but has new owners and is turning things round. Annabel really wanted to see the meerkats - they put on a good display.
There was also a Fossa which I had never heard off (biggest mammal in Madagascar - part of the mongoose family), two snow leopards and plenty of other smaller creatures. We had a good time. We left in time to find lunch somewhere nice. First (lovely looking) pub was closed for a funeral, second place was closed on Mondays, so we headed to Arnside where we knew that there would be a couple of options - well acutualy there was only one option as the cafe I know and like was closed and new management taking it over. So we went to the pub which we have never gone to before. They were stretched to the max so service wasn't great, but the food came eventually and it was as described and we ate up (once I could get hold of some cutlery!).
We then left the kids to go for a paddle in the sea whilst we went to get some drinks. We got back to the beach to find both Tom and Annabel up to their necks in the sea (is that a paddle?!) We couldn't quite believe our eyes! Made us laugh, but they were fully clothed and we didn't have any spare dry clothes for them! Oh hum, we got them hot chocolates each and made them strip and wear our jumpers! What numptys! Also that meant the day was over as we couldn't do anything else as they were freezing!
Tuesday - time for Matt's birthday present which was a day out at Yorkshire Wildlife Park which is near Doncaster. Takes a while to get over there, so I booked tickets for 11.30am. We left at 8am and got there around 10ish. We waited half an hour and then headed in, they accepted us. Now this is a park we've not heard about until we discovered that they have 8 polar bears and as Matt has a 'thing' for them we had to visit. The zoo was amazing, it felt like it had just been built this year, everything looked brand new, the enclosures were huge. They had most of the big animals you expect: giraffes, lions, tigers, rhinos etc as well as many creatures we hadn't ever heard of eg Geladas (monkeys from Ethiopia if you were wondering?!) We followed the path in, stopping to watch anything that was out. It was pretty busy at the start - a little bit too busy for my liking, but soon everyone spread out and it felt fine.
We had a sit down, tea and a bun break and then discovered that one set of polar bears were quite near so we headed off to see them. We weren't disappointed, it was a family group: mum and her 3 cubs: Tala, Indie and Yuma. They were in the pool swimming and then they came out one by one. They were mesmerising to watch - such huge creatures and they seem to have a great sense of play and fun. One (Yuma) had a ball and obviously loved playing with it - diving on to it in their pool and then taking it over an obstacle course. Mum and the other two hung out with each other. It was like watching a regular family having fun together, they were obviously happy. We managed to pull ourselves away from them and headed round the rest of the zoo - we saw rhinos, lions, kangaroos etc. Our tummies started to complain, so we headed to one of the cafes for lunch and a welcome sit down.
The afternoon was spent mainly watching polar bears. We found the other enormous enclosure which is home to 4 male polar bears. They put on a great display for us: plodding slowly towards us, having a play with each other (they only fight when short of food), hanging out in a cave, just slowly taking in life. They were all magnificent specimens and once again quite mesmerising. When we finished with them, we went back to see the family. Only Yuma was out, he had his ball and was playing happily by himself. He would climb out of his pool, throw his ball into the pool and then dive in after it. He was clearly having a great time and we so loved watching him. We finally said our goodbyes, went for an ice cream and sit down before heading to see the other bears again and finish up the remaining tracks and animals we hadn't yet seen before leaving at 5pm. A quick look around the shop before heading into their 'Darwin' themed restaurant for dinner. We got back to the van around 7pm and headed to a car park we had found on 'Park4night' App to stay overnight. When we arrived, we were both worried that it might be a bit dodgy, but it turned out absolutely fine, it was a car park which was access for a forest.
We went for a walk in the forest on Wednesday morning, ended up playing on a swing for a while and just enjoyed taking in the atmosphere of the forest which was obviously very old wondering what the trees had seen in their long lives. We then headed back to Ingleton via Keelham Farm Shop to pick up some food and Helifield Station for a quick lunch. It had been a great break - felt like we had been away longer. We will certainly revisit the Wildlife Park again.
Thursday, as we are now converted bird watchers, we thought it would be good to revisit RSPB's Leighton Moss, although our knowledge of wetland birds isn't the greatest. We made a day of it, and visited all the hides. Typical the best one was the last one (the Eric Morecambe Hide). We saw Avocets, Grey Herons, Spoonbills, Green, Red and Red Spotted Shanks. We came away happy.
Friday, a grey and drizzly morning. Tom and I spent the morning cooking as we had weekend visitors. Tom made a lasagna whilst I made bbq ribs. Tom did a fantastic job - he made the bolognaise sauce with out any help except with quantities of spices and herbs. Normally I have to ask him to re-chop veggies as he does them too big, but not this time and he did the onions all by himself (albeit in swimming googles). I helped him with the cheese sauce - only to speed up the process, not because he couldn't do it himself.
The afternoon saw Tom out on Twistleton climbing with the climbing club whilst I got the house ready for our guests: scrubbing the bathrooms, kitchen, vacuuming everywhere, getting rid of the worse of the cobwebs etc. Our problem is that we don't tidy / clean up for ourselves, but will do for guests, but recently (of course) we haven't had many guests, meaning the house does tend to get a bit neglected.
The evening was spent in the village square: Alice was doing a free gig so Janine and I went up to listen to her, Tom met me there so we had pizzas from Elaine for tea. Apparently a 10 inch pizza wasn't enough for Tom so he had a huge nutella and banana crepe too - the boy is creeping upwards again! Was a really nice atmosphere in the square, people were dancing on the road which must have seemed a bit bizarre to those visitors who were driving through the village for the first time and having to dodge dancers of all ages, shapes and sizes. Matt in the meantime was at the Old Post Office with his Friday evening pals.
Saturday, the Komorovskis arrived. The morning was spent stripping beds and doing laundry. We weren't too sure who to expect as both me and Matt had received different info from Karen and Adam. It was just Rosa and Karen and Teddy the dog, Leia and Adam were coming tomorrow for various reasons too complicated to explain here. Originally I had booked swimming for the kiddies on both days of their visit, but a lack of life guards meant that Saturday's session got cancelled, so instead of that we decided to do the quarry walk which includes stepping stones that Rosa would enjoy and Teddy could have a good swim in the river.
It all went well, although Teddy (who is a Fox Red Labrador) went a bit mad pulling on the lead, he tripped Matt and Karen. Unfortunately he was too strong for Tom and really a bit too strong for Karen, me and Matt, he has such immense strength when on the lead. Thing is he is lovely in the house, didn't chew anything, didn't destroy anything, was gentle and kind (although a bit looney) but on the lead he is a nightmare. Karen took him off the lead where she could (ie when there were no sheep in a field) and he was fine, coming back when called, but on the lead he tugged, tugged, tugged. Think Karen was pleased when we got home, she said that he was the worse ever today - probably because he is an inner city dog, this was his first experience of the great countryside. Anyway, we had a lovely evening. Rosa and Tom decided to sleep in the van, so we had an uninterrupted night.
Sunday, Adam and Leia arrived on the train. Matt went to pick them up. Matt was playing cricket today at home, so Adam went across to watch him whilst we hung out at home. Then Rosa, Tom and Leia went swimming with Karen and I spectating. So at home Tom and Rosa hung out together (Rosa is 9 but Leia is 14 and a full card carrying teenager (according to her parents - she was fine with us but apparently she is normally a nightmare!) in the pool, however, the tables turned and Tom and Leia were buddies and Rosa played by herself. Tom and Leia used to be really good friends (even sleeping together in the same bed) until Leia went to High School and suddenly she didn't want anything to do with him. It is funny how these dynamics play out. The cricket didn't take too long so we all managed to have tea together and another sociable evening before bed.
Monday, the Komorovskis left for home about 10, we then tidied up and rearranged the house back to normal. I put together a big box of chocolates and medals for Gingerbugs and took them round before making a lemon tart and all of us heading round to the Wilkinsons for tea. We had raclette - which was fun, a bit like a fondue, but grilling rather than boiling which is a bit safer all round. Between us all we got through a LOT of cheese and a LOT of wine (poor Matt was on driving duty so missed out - was fab wine too). Was a really good evening - our friendship has come to be over lockdown so this was our first time in their house (oh my - it was immaculate and straight out of a magazine!) but the conversation didn't falter and we had a very good night.
Tuesday, we decided to head to Scotland a day early - ie Wednesday but I still hadn't done the school shop with Tom, so we were up early to get to Kendal before it got busy. Bought school shoes, trainers, football boots (oh - he is size 8 now!!!!!), stationery etc in a mad dash so we were home in time for lunch and a cricket session on the field for Tom. I then spent the afternoon attempting to put together all the bits and pieces we would need for Scotland. Felt like a manic week!
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