Easter Holidays

The Easter holidays are finally with us - phew!  We have all had colds, been working too hard and are ALL in need of a break.  

The plan is to try to switch off and relax, and maybe even get out and a bit fitter.

Friday night I started to feel unwell - funny throat, phlegm, tossing and turning at night etc, headache in the morning.  I was sure I was coming down with something.  Typical!  Tested for Covid, negative - phew.  We decided to head out for the day, I wanted sea air, so we went to Bolton-le-Sands and Archers Cafe for lunch and then walked north along the shore, across fields and back along the canal.  It was so nice to discover a new walk, it was a nice day - not a hint of a breeze so I didn't really get any sea air but it was good for the soul and I felt so much better afterwards, if a little tired.   Came home, had a bath and collapsed.

Sunday I was feeling much better - phew!  After a leisurely breakfast we decided to go on a bike ride, the first family bike ride of the year.  We got all our gear out and headed out on a route to Clapham Station, then Clapham and back again.  11.5 miles all together with a fair amount of elevation.  It took just over an hour which was pretty good.  It was Tom's first time on his bike in ages.  It took a little while for us to work out a rhythm which worked and then we were good.  What gets me is that Tom doesn't even get slightly out of breath, HOW?!  I really enjoy going for bike rides now, my e-bike makes it all so wonderful.  I keep up with the boys and enjoy the ride, makes such a difference. 

Monday we packed up ready for our couple of days in Cumbria.  It took us half a day to get ready - always so much to remember, plus I decided to make tea and take it with us so that took some time too.  We had all the left overs in the fridge fried up for lunch and then headed out.  Our plan was to drive to Penrith - go food shopping and then head over to our lodge in time for 4pm check in time. However as we we entered Kirkby I just thought I would check had packed his walking boots as the plan was to go for a mountain walk if the weather allows.  Blank face!  Oops!  So, Tom and I went to Booths in Kirkby whilst Matt went back for his boots (words were spoken!). 

After that little hiccup we headed off, by-passed Penrith and went straight to the lodge.  We got there almost bang on check in time.  Yay.  Checked in, unpacked and headed straight to the hot tub - now he have done quite a few of these hot tub places before and normally the hot tub is set to 40 which is ok, but not mega hot, you can stay in for ages and not get overly hot.  This place is different, the heat stung your skin as you stepped in and after 15 minutes we were all very red and sweating.  Fantastic.  We all stayed in a little too long, when we got out we were all a bit floppy and had to lie down to recover!  Matt and I had headaches too (may have had a celebratory alcoholic beverage beforehand).

Anyway, a lie down, then tea, a game of wingspan and we headed back in again.  Came out floppy again, lay down again and went to bed around 11pm

Tuesday - woke up late to a grey rainy day!  Oh hum, we had a feeling this might happen which is why we booked a hot tub lodge.  It wasn't chucking it down, so after a lazy lie in, breakfast and hot tub dip  (we have learnt our lesson and took soft drinks with us to drink whilst in it) we headed out to the coast to Silloth.  Matt had been there once on his motorbike.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  Most English seaside towns are a bit miserable.  This one wasn't.  There was an obvious sense of civic pride with all the seafront buildings newly painted and a huge pristine village green.  We went for a wander.  It was very very windy.  Somehow we found ourselves at the local amusements - once again the building was immaculate - inside and out.  I have never seen a cleaner amusements ever.  We changed up £3 into 2ps and away we went.  We did well, probably took about an hour to spend it all - they had the usual 2p shove halfpenny machines, but also 2p one arm bandits and 2p betting machines all of which were ace and very clean?!  We then headed into town for lunch and found ourselves at the very lovely looking Mrs Wilson's Coffee House - all very nicely done - named after an award winning opera singer from the 1940s.  Tom went for a banana and white chocolate crepe whilst Matt and I were a little more sensible and had quiche and loaded chips.  All very lovely, if a bit naughty.  We then went in search for the motorcycle museum which was closed, carried on and found one of those sell everything shops, and what a shop!  It looked small from the outside but was big.  It sold seaside stuff, kitchenware, DIY stuff, arts and crafts, food, alcohol, rodent killers, lama slippers, the most fantastic sweets, broken biscuits, lightbulbs - well everything!  I asked if there was anything they didn't sell - the answer was confetti - they were asked for some last week and were upset they didn't have it!  We bought an eclectic array of things.

Afterwards, we thought we should walk off our lunch so went in search of the lighthouse on the sea front.  We walked to it (quite underwhelming) but the sea was angry and it was very windy - to our favour until we turned around and walked back...wowzers, it was sooooo windy, it was a work out to move at all!  We battled against it and saw a RNLI shop in the distance and headed to that, walked in to two lovely ladies who made us feel very welcome as we recovered.  Ended up spending quite a bit there! We then somehow found ourselves back in the sell everything shop, bought even more goodies, before returning to the van and heading back to the lodge via the coast road.  Did a quick detour into Maryport and found an aquarium and indoor climbing centre - think we maybe back to to play there as the weather does look terrible for the week.  We then headed home via Bassenthwaite and drove past a beautiful looking set of railway carriages that have been turned into a cafe - suddenly we remembered that Katie and co had been there and said how fantastic it was, so we think we will head back to visit that too.  

We got back, had a dip, recovered, had tea, a game of Wingspan, another dip, recovered and bed!

Wednesday - after looking at the weather for Wednesday on Tuesday night (rain, wind, grey) we planned ahead.  So we booked breakfast at Bassenthwaite Lake Station in the Orient Express coaches, then we decided to head back to Maryport to go to the aquarium and then we booked a session at the clip and climb (Tom loves his climbing).  So a full day to enjoy despite the weather.  We had to get up early: 8.30 and headed to Bassenthwaite.  All was going well until the last road which was closed and we ended up being massively diverted (we are talking 10 to 15 minutes) trying to work out how to get to where we needed to go - not helped by the fact that I can't read a map on the go anymore, especially without glasses!  

We got there about 10 minutes late, but it was fine, they weren't inundated.  It was very lovely, deep blue navy carriages big chairs and pleasant service.  I went all posh and had eggs benedict - very very lovely too - proper carved ham and posh grainy mustard.  The boys went for bacon / sausage butties.  When we were ready to leave the heavens opened - it chucked it down and guess what...our coats were in the van!  We hung around hoping it would ease.  It didn't!  We got soaked in the 20 seconds it took us to get back to the van - oh hum, just as well the van has heated seats!

We headed over to Maryport and went to the aquarium.  It wasn't huge and there weren't any star attraction fish, but to be fair, they packed a fair bit in, and we all enjoyed it.  Our tickets included a free 14 hole round of mini golf and when we came out of the aquarium it was sunny so we decided to take the plunge and do it and hope the weather was good to us.  We were lucky, the weather was good and we had fun - the course was quite inventive too.  

Matt, of course won big time: he got 29, I got 50 (not helped by me scoring 10 at the last hole which was a simple putt which I just couldn't get - Matt and Tom both got a hole in one for that one which shows how rubbish I was!) and Tom 57, so I didn't come last!  We then snuck into the aquarium cafe for a little bite to eat (I certainly wasn't that hungry after my mammoth breakfast!)  

Then back to the van and we all got changed for click and climb.  We had all booked on (knowing that Matt and I would probably be the only adults doing it)  I was a little trepidacious having never been climbing before and also I'm not exactly slim and fit at the moment, however, decided it was a good thing to do something out of my comfort zone.  We had a briefing and were let loose on the various walls.  Think the average age of the kids doing it was about 10 - all lovely and slender, all their parents were watching.  Oh hum, guess we are the only 'fun' parents then.  I was a little scared, chose a wall got attached to it by a guy who then told me it was the hardest one - typical!  I moved to another, which apparently was easy, but I found it hard.  I also was worried about the auto belay taking my weight and what to do when at the top.  

 the wall I had was out of view from most people so I had a play and discovered it did take my weight but I was slightly out of control coming down.  I tried a 'typical' climbing wall and did ok - I got to the top, let go and then spun out of control and hit my back on the grips.  

Oops, don't think I did that properly.  I tried again, used my feet more to push off at the top and did better - phew!  By then my arms were shaking, so I watched Matt and Tom a bit before having a go on some other walls.  Some were ok, some were impossible (for me - especially the ones without proper hand grips).  I think they are really made for kids, but I am really pleased I gave it a go and got over my initial fear!  Matt and Tom, of course just leaped up them all.  I was very pleased when they called time as my arms were killing me!  We came out, went for a little walk in the harbour and then headed home to the hot tub to relieve our aching muscles. 

Thursday - hummm, we didn't cover ourselves in glory today!  So, the weather was supposed to be nice today and we were going to climb a mountain.  But it was windy, with forecast of showers, so we decided against that.  Next option: a bike ride...Matt's knee was hurting after banging it at climbing yesterday, so he went for a lap of the lodge park to check it out, he thought we would be ok.  So we headed out to Greystoke - where there is a forest of trails - we figured we wouldn't get too wet if we were in a forest.  We headed out, wowzers it was cold.  Matt was struggling with the hills.  We got to Greystoke ok, it had a pub and shop and was about half way round.  We decided to carry on, but then it was a huge hill out of Greystoke, Matt struggled and had to walk with his bike.  

Humm, he carried on, but when we got to a village called Berrier, he was in pain and didn't want to go any further.  It was freezing cold, windy and beginning to sleet.  We had to leave him behind and then Tom and I cycled as fast as we could back to the lodge park - easier said than done with freezing wind and sleet.  Bless Tom, cold wind has never been his idea of fun, but he knew he had to keep going so he did.  Not sure how long it took us to get back, but it was a fair chunk of time.  We literally dumped our bikes, got in the van and headed back to Matt.  We found him in Berrier, sheltering behind a wall.  He couldn't move he was so cold.  We both had to help him to the van and put him on the headed passenger seat, whilst we struggled to get his bike in the van - it didn't want to fit, but eventually through sheer determination and by moving everything in the van around we finally got it in and headed back to the lodge.  There we got his clothes off, put him to bed with blankets and a woolly hat on and put the heating up to max to get him to thaw out.  He came back to 'normal' Matt surprisingly quickly, but it was a little scary for a bit. 

With hindsight, what we should have done was get Matt and Tom to cycle / walk back to Greystoke where there was a pub where they could warm up.  Then I could have cycled at turbo speed back to the lodge to pick up the van and then picked up Tom from the pub, took him back and then returned for Matt.  Isn't hindsight a great thing?  Basically we need to not go cycling when one of us is injured, we don't know the route and the weather looks cold.  Something to remember for next time!

We had lunch in the lodge, we all had showers, a game of Wingspan and then we were all ready for a dip in the hot tub which was just lovely.  Then a chilled afternoon, tea and a bit earlier to bed than we have been managing to recover from the ordeal!

Catch - up

 So, I have got horribly behind again - it is the fault of Lily Pad.  I just seem to be so busy at the moment, it has become a full time job, which means I really don't have time for anything else during the week.  By the time I finish, clean the kitchen, make tea etc etc I'm pretty much done in and find it very difficult to do much other than collapse in front of the telly!

Anyway, highlights of the past half term:

23rd February was Jungleskog's birthday.  His first birthday.  He has become such an important member of the family, it is hard to remember life before he came to stay with us.  He is Tom's constant companion, and (of course) has a full character, which we all feed into.  Even Granma and Pop Pop joined in last time they were here!  Anyway, he got a proper cake to celebrate a year in our residence! 

Weekend of 26th February - Tom Whitehead came to stay.  Sleep overs have started again, Tom has been invited to a couple so we have returned them. First up was his friend Tom who lives near Kendal and who also supports West Brom?!  Who would have thought it - he is known as West From Tom in our house, turns out our Tom is known as the same in his household too!  It is so nice to see that Tom has started to make connections and his own friends.  

We knew he wouldn't keep his Ingleton friends as it was quite clear that they just weren't his 'tribe'.  Anyway Tom came for the night.  He was very lovely, so nice to hear laughter in the house.   27th February, we had to take Tom home by 10am for a football match, so we dropped him off and then carried on to Buttermere in the Lake District.  I didn't know it at all, but it is one of Matt's favourites.  We had lunch in Keswick and then carried on to Buttermere.  It isn't a huge lake, we walked a circuit of it and very pleasant it was too - especially as the weather was so good - lovely and bright and blue.

 27th February, we had to take Tom home by 10am for a football match, so we dropped him off and then carried on to Buttermere in the Lake District.  I didn't know it at all, but it is one of Matt's favourites.  We had lunch in Keswick and then carried on to Buttermere.  It isn't a huge lake, we walked a circuit of it and very pleasant it was too - especially as the weather was so good - lovely and bright and blue.

 of 5th / 6th March.  Tom spent Saturday with Annabel so Matt and I got out and did the Slatenber walk.  On the Sunday we headed over to Morecambe to do a walk with the Raddas.  As we headed over, I got a message from Liz saying that Annabel had just tested positive for Covid!  Tom said he was fine, I let the Raddas know, they were still up for a meet up so we went ahead.  We had lunch outside at the Beach cafe and then found the Raddas having their sandwiches in the car park behind us.  We then walked towards Heysham with them.  

It was a beautiful day - bright sunshine and so a lovely afternoon was had.  It always works well, a meet up with them: Rebecca and Tom pair off immediately, then Katie and Matt pair off as they are both in to their photography and always on the look out for the perfect photo.  Jon and I then pair off - he is so funny, born in the wrong decade, he is the most analogue person I know, he loves old technology and actively collects it.  He has a twin tub washing machine which he adores, drives very old cars (Austin Allegro is the best/ most embarrassing depending on your point of view!) and he tells his stories so well.  The afternoon went by very quickly! 

8th March we had Tom's school speed dating event.  We call it Parent's Evening, although officially it is called Parent and Child Review or something like that - I forget!  Anyway it all went well.  Tom seems to please his teachers - he works hard, takes part in class well and seems to work hard.  Some teachers were brilliant - loved his History teacher who had a brilliantly dry sense of humour, his Geography teacher was impressed with our map in the background (we did it in the lounge) so we got brownie points for that (he was your typical geography teacher - I'm sure he had elbow pads on his jacket!) I thought his Physics teacher was going to burst into tears - she was so gushing about him.  His Theatre Studies teacher was also very complimentary telling us what a comedian he is (sense of timing etc rather than class clown).  Only 2 weak teachers: his English teacher (who is also his head of year) who didn't seem to know him at all and certainly couldn't tell us how he was doing in English - luckily he only has her for 1 out of 3 lessons a week, so I got in touch with his other English teacher later to get a handle on how he is doing - sort of an important subject!  The other teacher we wanted to see was Music as Tom is quite anxious about his Music lessons, the behaviour in them is so bad that very little gets done and the teacher just 'screams' all the time!  He didn't turn up, so we never got to ask him about it.  We have written to him about it and just got non committal teacher speak back.  Tom is in the same class of people for his Art lessons, but the Art teacher has acted on the bad behaviour, one member of the class being made to sit outside someone's office instead of attending the lesson for 3 weeks and then a senior member of staff spot checking on them once he returned to the lesson to check everything was under control.  The music teacher, it seems, hasn't tried to tackle the bad behaviour at all.  No wonder he didn't turn up for his appointment!  Oh hum.  Just as well music isn't important to Tom.

11th March we headed to Harrogate straight after school, found ourselves a Japanese restaurant to eat in before heading to the Convention Centre to see Tim Peake.  This was Tom's birthday present from us.  He was really good, spoke very eloquently about the training he did and then about being in the ISS.  He didn't get too technical and kept it fun and interesting.  Interesting facts: the rocket they travelled on, travelled at 10x the speed of a bullet at 9 million horse power!  It was a really good evening, very inspirational, left you thinking that anyone could become an astronaut.  He didn't do particularly well at school, but was driven by the opportunity of adventure instead.

12th March we went up to Ribblehead to watch a steam train cross the viaduct.

13th March, Tom met up with Tom to go to the cinema in Lancaster.  In a perfect world, he would have gone by train from Bentham, but of course it was a Sunday and the train timetable and bus timetable didn't work out, so I had to drive him there, hang around for 3 hours and then pick him up!  Oh hum.  At least he is able to arrange these things now. 

19th March, another friend, Ben came to stay the night.  So another night for me and Matt in the kitchen, whilst they had the lounge for snooker and a film.  They had fun though and that's what counts. On the Sunday, they went off for a mess about in the village.  Tom took Ben to the river and both of them ended up IN the river!  Great!  Both Tom and Ben had colds.  They came back absolutely freezing.  I had to chuck them both in the shower to warm up!  Ben was ok with it but that evening Tom turned grey and his cold took a turn for the worse.  Took him 2 weeks to get rid of it!  I'm glad that he had a great time with his friend, just wish he had thought that maybe it wasn't a great idea if he had a cold already!

25th March Tom had his Scout Night Hike.  He had been wanting to do it, but with his cold, it was looking dodgy.  A week of enforced 8pm sleeps and no after school actives and he finally turned a corner so he could do it.  I stupidly offered to help and was put to work in the kitchen.  Actually I wasn't put to work in the kitchen, everything had been done when I turned up, even though I turned up when I was told, and really there was nothing for me to do - think I served about 8 mugs of tea.  Just as well that Liz was helping out as well.  We ended up doing a jigsaw to pass the time.  They were out for 3.5 hours, following a map, working on tasks at check points etc.  It was very well organised, a bit too over organised if you ask me.  The kids all had to do kit checks, go through health and safety briefings etc.  It was only 5 miles, it was great weather, they were all in teams with adults who knew the route.  They even had a whole Mountain Rescue team out just in case?  A case of too many helpers, but Tom enjoyed it and that's what matters.

26th March it was Mother's Day, the clocks went forward and it was also Bob's birthday.  After a bit of a lie in, we headed to Settle to meet up with Jude and Craig to take Pat and Bob to the Talbot Arms.  It was a good afternoon, everyone was on good form, so conversation flowed freely.  Food was good, it wasn't too crowded and the sun shined.  What else do you need? 

Half Term

Sunday was a slow day.  Tom and Matt were tired after their busy day on Saturday. We had a day of tidying, laundry, went to Goat Gap for lunch, watched a film (Johnny English Reborn - really quite good) and had a game of Wingspan.

Monday I took Tom to Kendal on the bus.  Mainly to give him the opportunity to do the same by himself / with friends in the future.  It is very expensive.  First of all we have to drive to Kirkby Lonsdale and then it is £8.60 for me and £6 for Tom for a 30 minute journey.  It only costs £1 for him to go to Lancaster!!!!!  Anyway, most of his new friends live in / near Kendal so we think that is going to be where they hang out.  I made him do everything - find the bus stops, ask for his ticket, work out timings etc etc.  He said he didn't know where the bus station was, but once we got there he suddenly remembered.  We had a good shopping session.  I bought lots of bits and bobs for work that I've been needing for a while, Tom got some books with his book token, put his birthday cash in the bank using his paying in book for the first time ever, and he bought a set of lego. We then had a quiet night in.  Matt was playing badminton, so Tom and I played Wingspan - he got the Raven right at the start and got a massive 94 points - way more than either me or Matt have managed!!!!  I spent the rest of the night sulking!

Tuesday we headed to Archers for lunch and then (of course) to Hest Bank to watch trains.  What else? 

Wednesday we took Tom to Pat and Bob's for a 2 night visit including lunch with Auntie Jude at Parboiled.  We took full advantage and decided to head to Leeds for the night.  

We had to drive as we were in the middle of a run of storms which was cancelling trains.  After parking at the park and ride and busing it in, we dropped our bags off at our favourite adult only hotel (The Quebecs) and hit the city.  Last time I went to Leeds was with Janine in February 2020!  We had a small lunch at Bao Boy - one of our favourites and then we went shopping.  We did quite a bit of shopping (for us anyway) I guess because we didn't have a plan, we just wondered and found 'stuff' we needed - including a new all singing all dancing apple watch for Matt.  We had a good look around the indoor market too - have only rushed through it in the past - it is enormous and sells just about anything and everything.  Would love to shop at the fishmongers and butchers - their stuff looks amazing.  Went to Bravissimo and stocked up on new bras which was ace - my old ones were only just holding together after 2 years of lockdown.

We then had a lazy afternoon in the hotel before heading out for tea. We went to Bundobust - he had to. We sat outside in their heated couryard, was very lovely.  As we got our meal, suddenly I saw a familiar profile - could it be Janine?  Surely not!  I said to Matt it looked like Janine, he was also in denial - then she turned around - it was her?!!!!!!  What were the chances?  She was meeting with a friend that she hadn't seen for years and years, so we left them to it, but we couldn't quite believe it.  We on purpose didn't eat large, so we went for a walk around the city centre looking for a pudding and found a crepe store open and so indulged.  We were back at the hotel for 9pm - a bit early some might say, but the hotel is lovely, the bed huge and well, it is just nice to relax for a while with no chores / work hanging over you.  So relaxing.

Thursday we did a bit more shopping and then headed back to the car and home.  Felt like we had been away more than 24 hours.

Friday we packed up for 2 nights away, headed to Pat and Bobs to pick up Tom and then drove over to York.  Tom's Christmas present this year was a 2 night stay in a train carriage hotel.  It was right in the middle of those storms we were having - so it was wild and windy on the trip over.  We found the hotel and got settled in our room.  We had about 2/3rds of a railway carriage to ourselves, in it was a huge and comfy kind sized bed and a single one for Tom.  We also had a shower, toilet and basin, but mainly we had windows which were looking straight out onto the mainline, we were just meters away from it, so the carriage shook as trains passed.  This satisfied the boys very much!  Only problem was that the carriages were old - the windows weren't particularly well fitted and well...it was freezing in them!  If the sun was out it wasn't too bad, but as soon as the sun went down it was so cold that we huddled under our bed clothes for warmth.  Just as well the beds were lovely and comfy and had huge thick duvets on them.  

The hotel itself was run by a Greek family.  There was a restaurant attached where most of the food was Greek which was fab because I can't remember ever visiting a Greek restaurant.  Also the hotel was in the middle of no-where and as the weather was so horrible, the thought of leaving to find somewhere else to eat and drink was too much.  Also we got to eat in restaurant car train cubicles which was all part of the experience, so we stayed and ate in.  The food to be fair was pretty good and the wine pretty reasonable too.  However, in the middle of the night Tom suddenly said "I'm going to be sick" and brought up his Spagehetti Carbonara - almost intact.  

It was proper carbonara - so very rich and I think that mixed with lemonade (something he doesn't normally have) it was just too much for his system.  We cleared it up as much as we could, luckily he missed most of his bed!  Typical, he is never ill - in fact we couldn't remember last time he was sick - probably 3 or 4 years ago!

Saturday we had tickets to go to the National Railway Museum.  We weren't due there until 1pm, so we had a lazy morning, watching trains and playing Wingspan.  We then headed into York.  It was heaving, so much so that it wasn't pleasant at all.   We needed somewhere for lunch and ended up in M&S cafe - just seemed easier than trying to find space in a cafe.  We then headed to the museum...in the snow.  Oh yes, it was snowing - big fat flakes and it was settling!  We had a good look around, I tried to understand exactly how a steam engine works - think I have a better if not perfect understanding now.  Was disappointed at the model railway (we have been spoiled by Japanese railway museums!) and enjoyed looking at the posh royal carriages and learning about the railways through the ages (always love a bit of social history!)

We headed home in the snow via the park and ride and then as it was still freezing cold, decided to stay for tea at the hotel again.  We had a chill in our rooms (another game of Wingspan of course) and then had tea in the restaurant car - no Carbonara for Tom this time, he was on as plain food as we could find for him: homemade meatballs which were very nice and didn't have any 'effect' on him!

We went back to our room afterwards, it was freezing, so we all went to bed, just to keep warm.  I actually got to read a book, something I haven't done in ages.  Then at 10pm an employee of the hotel comes by to say that the gas heating had failed and that they were getting us all electric heaters.  Fantastic news.  They delivered the heaters - they were much better than the radiators, they certainly took the chill off the room and made it much more pleasant.

Sunday we had a lazy morning and then headed back home.  It was a really quirky hotel, the boys certainly enjoyed it and to be fair I did too.  If it hadn't been so stormy, it wouldn't have been so cold.  Certainly one to try again in the summer.  They have a lovely outdoor area, could see a very pleasant time to be had in the sunshine outside watching the trains.