June

Tom went happily back to school on Monday.  On Monday evening, Matt got a call from Bob saying that Pat had taken a turn for the worse.  Matt went over to support them both, he got back around 10.30, neither he nor Bob thought she had much longer left.  Bob had put a call in with the GPs and Pat had been given some medication to relax her as she had got a little agitated.  Early Tuesday morning, I woke to the landline phone ringing (around 2am) took me a while to realise what it was, but once I did I woke up Matt and we went downstairs to see if there was a voicemail - there was, it was Bob, Pat had passed away.  Matt immediately got dressed and headed round.  I stayed at home, but there was no way that I would get back to sleep so I ended up watching 'Who do you think you are' on the iPlayer for the rest of the morning until Tom got up for school.  I told Tom when he came in at the usual time, he was fine about it.  We were completely honest with him from the moment Pat's condition was diagnosed to Monday night when he went to bed and I told him we didn't think she had long left.  I think that helped, it was no surprise to him and he had seen her and knew she was severely ill and wouldn't recover.  He was more worried for Bob, Matt and me than himself - but that's our Tom, always looking after others.

Once Tom had gone to school, I headed over to Settle.  Jude had just arrived when I got there.  I went in to see Pat, she looked so at peace, it was actually really good to see her like that as the last time I had seen her, she was anything but at peace. We stayed in Settle until Pat had been collected by the undertakers, we then took Bob out for lunch at Feizor - just to give him a change in scenery and then we headed home. It was a very long day.

Class 50 "Indomitable"

The following two weeks were a little strange, with lots of emotions and things to sort out.  Matt found out that Martin was in the UK - he was visiting his Dad as his Dad has lung cancer and isn't doing well. 

11th June was the KWVR summer Diesel Gala, so Tom and I hopped on the train from Ribblehead to Keighley to enjoy a day watching and riding on diesel locomotives of varying vintages - the oldest was from 1944, the newest less than 10 years old.

Immaculate Class 33

We nipped up and down the line a number of times, stopping at most of the stations to get photos and fill our stomachs. We found ourselves in Haworth for lunch, so popped into a nice cafe next to the station, and both ordered chicken tikka from the specials board. "It's quite hot" warned the waitress. "That's fine" we casually replied, and subsequently managed to force down something more akin to a vindaloo. Our lips were burning and our ears turned bright red. Tom reckoned (probably correctly) that it was the hottest thing he'd ever eaten. Fair play to him for eating most of it. We each downed a bottle of water at the end of the next ride.

Overall, it was a fun day, although these events always tend to attract a fair number of real cranks. It was very attended though, which must have been good for the KWVR. Heritage railways have had a tough couple of years. My favourite loco on the day was the Class 50, and Tom's was (predictably) the Class 37.

A nice day out with the lad.

The week following Pat's death, Matt took Tom out of school and they headed down to Trowbridge for the day.  They got the first train out of Lancaster (5.15am) and got to Trowbridge just after 10am, they spent the day with Martin and Ben (who is now 20!)  Unfortunately Tom had really bad hayfever, he even resorted to wearing a mask to try to stop the pollen getting him - to little effect - so they had to spend quite a bit of time inside in various cafes to give him a break. Tom came home hating Wiltshire, but both of them were glad to have seen him again.  They are coming over again in December, and have requested a couple of days up with us, so that will be twice in a year, which is fab.

Oh nearly forgot to mention Hunslet the bear - it is a long story but Matt follows this train bear on Twitter and on the way home Matt and Tom went past his station: Soho Depot, Matt had told them and they got Hunslet out to wave at them as they passed.  If you look carefully you can see a giant bear dressed in high vis waving in the photo below...Matt and Tom were made up!

On Friday17th June we said goodbye to Pat.  It was small but perfect for her - with minimal fuss.  It took place in Skipton Crematorium, she was in a wicker coffin, Matt did a little eulogy, there was some of her favourite music and a reading from the bible.  It didn't last long, but would have been what she wanted.  

Afterwards we headed back to Skipton via some awful traffic to The Folly for lunch.  There were only 8 of us - Elizabeth came back down and Ben - Bob's nephew travelled over from Stourmarket  and then Bob, the three of us and Jude and Craig.  Heard some great stories of antics that Bob got up to in Oxford when visiting Pat and then having to 'break' back into his college without the porters finding out - it involved climbing lampposts, jumping onto rooves etc etc, he never got caught, so was obviously good at it!  He said he would show us where it all took place if we wanted.

The rest of June was sort of lost in hayfever and exams.  Tom's hayfever got really really bad just as his exams took place - just typical!  He was a sorry sight - came home, straight into the bath but still he streamed and streamed.  Then trying to revise, it is just horrible for him and there is nothing we can do to help - he is on pills 4 times a day, 2 different nasal sprays and 2 types of eye drops.  Luckily he hasn't developed a cough yet - as that is when we need to properly worry.  Oh and exams are a serious business at QES, he had to go into the old gym where tables were laid out in exam style, he was allocated a seat for each exam which he had to find and sit at, he had to have a clear pencil case and a clear bottle of water etc.  I guess it is so they are used to proper exam style early on.  Each exam was only 45 mins, but he had 14 of them (I think!)

He has also been playing cricket - not the best time for him to be outside.  He has been playing for QES, but (as always seems to the case) no-one in his year is into cricket so their team is very weak - Tom literally had to go round his friends one day begging people to play for them.  Of course they get beaten by every school, because most of the QES team have never played cricket before, some of them don't even know the rules - it is so frustrating!  The year above him is full of county players as is the year below him, it is just his year where there are no decent players!

On the 30th June the Year 6s were invited to QES in the evening for their induction.  Tom plays in a steel pan band at school and his band was asked to perform at the event.  We went along early to pick him up, hoping to see him play and we did.  It was better than we thought it would be, chilled out music - perfect for a summer's evening.  Click on the video link at the bottom of this post.  They did well.  We also got an email today from the Head Mistress, there is a Year 8 Awards Ceremony next week and we are invited because Tom has two awards!  He will also be playing in the band too - so that was good news.

Oh and at my last weigh in with Slimming World - I had lost over 1.5 stones, not bad hey?!

AND it has finally happened, Tom is now taller than me - eurghhhhh! 

Half Term

So we didn't stray far for half term, we wanted to stay in the area to support Bob and Pat.  

On Monday we went to see Pat and Bob.  Poor Pat had declined considerably, she was barely able to communicate with us, all her words were so mumbled that it was extremely hard to understand what she was trying to say.

On Tuesday it was sunny, not too hot and hayfever not bad, so we decided to head out for a bike ride that I have been wanting to do for ages to Elaine's at Feizor.   

It was a beautiful bike ride, the countryside was at its best, we stuck to all the small roads and enjoyed the view and dodging the sheep.  Once we got to Austwick, we decided to via the lanes to Feizor - Tom and Matt decided to ride through the ford (I went over the bridge).  Tom made it, Matt didn't, he had wet feet for the rest of the day!!!!!  We got to the cafe in good time and got an outside table.  Baked beans on toast for me (pretty much all I can order these days) Tom had a huge bowl of crumble with custard whilst Matt was on cheese scones.  We then headed up the hill to the top for the good view of Pen-y-Ghent and then round to Wharfe and back through Austwick, then to Clapham - a quick stop by the river for a refresh and then up the Clapham Old Road to Ingleton.  It was 21 miles in total but a lovely ride with my favourite people.

Sunday we went to see Pat.  She had declined again considerably.  She was unable to speak at all - she was just groaning and she couldn't move at all by herself.  It was very sad to see her like that.  We ended up sending Tom to the lounge to watch Dad's Army on the telly whilst Matt and I sat with her and spoke to her about our week.   

This half term incorporated a 2 day bank holiday for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee (70 years).  Obviously as we are both self employed and Tom on half term, it didn't really affect us, but I did put up some bunting as I felt I had to do something.  

On the Thursday we went on another bike ride - this time to Ribblehead, via Oddies Lane, and once again a lovely ride out.  We got to the viaduct - I had a thing about having a photo of me with a bike underneath it.  On the way back, we came across an ice-cream van, luckily I had some money on me, so I bought one each for the boys and then we headed on our way  back.  As we did, we noticed a bridleway heading off towards Twistleton and decided to head along it.   Oh my, the route took us through some deep bogs, so much so that our bike wheels disappeared into it from time to time.  It was a hard slog (even with an e-bike) and it steadily went up hill too!  I don't know how the boys did it?!  When we got to the top, we then had to cycle over limestone and then down the limestone onto the waterfalls trail.  That's not something I am particularly great at - going down at a steep angle on sheer limestone...as we got to the waterfalls trail, I whimped out, my leggings got stuck on the saddle and I was left completely stuck not able to forwards or backwards.  People were giggling at me, and the boys didn't see and raced off down the track - oh hum....eventually I managed to dismount, walk it down and then carry on - I didn't look back!  We then carried on back to Oddies lane and back home.  Another good mini adventure.

On Saturday there was to be a village picnic on the cricket field, but it rained, so it got changed to the Community Centre, which was ok, but Alice and her band were playing which meant that you couldn't chat as they were so loud. 

Of course the sun came out, but it was too late.  Anyway, we caught up with some friends, but after an hour or so, we decided to call it a day.  We then jumped into the van and headed up to the Howgills as we had planned a night away.  We were returning to our special place we found last year which overlooks the railway but is way off the beaten track - very much in the middle of nowhere and down some very narrow lanes.  We got there and we had the place to ourselves - yay!  The sun was out as well, which was a bonus.  We got ourselves settled in and had a very pleasant night out.  One thing though, the pump on the water tank failed meaning we couldn't get any water out of the tap - a bit of a problem when you are counting on it for cooking!  Luckily Matt knew that there was an escape valve, so we were able to collect saucepans of water by sending Tom under the van to collect it.

On 5th June Tom had his first cricket match for the senior Ingleton 2nd team with Matt over at Coniston.  A beautiful ground and a lovely sunny day, they had a good day too.  It was the perfect match for a youngster to make his league debut - beautiful surroundings, excellent tea, good bowling (3 wickets for me, 2 for Tom), and we won by 9 wickets, so Tom didn't have to face any bowling, although he'd have been fine.

The rest of April and May

On 21st April, Matt and I celebrated 20 years of knowing each other.  Not sure how that happened? It's gone quickly but then when we look back at everything we've done, we realised it has been quite a while.  In celebration I joined Slimming World!  This has a been a long time coming...I had my NHS health check during which they took my bloods.  I then got called in, my cholesterol is too high and they want to put me on statins.  I don't want to pill pop, so asked if there was another way and they said to go on a 3 month diet with no fat, no alcohol etc.  They think I have familial cholesterol - ie my genes are working against me, but after being on a fat free diet for 3 months they will take my bloods again and be able to see if there has been any significant change and therefore whether it is familial or diet.  Also I have been in touch with Lou and Debbie from uni in the last couple of weeks (Debbie got diagnosed with Breast cancer recently)  Both are size 18 now and thinking it is ok - normal for middle age etc. I don't want to go down that route, and to be honest my clothes have been getting tighter and tighter.  So...deep breath and diet here we come.  I've done Slimming World before so know it works.  My best cake customer (ironically) is the local SW Consultant so I booked in with her.  I turned up and got all the paperwork - it has changed considerably since last time I did it, which is good as it is now easier to integrate with family life than before.  I just needed a couple of hours to read it all, get the right food in and start.  I've decided to stick to it rigidly for 3 months in the hope that I loose quickly, get the right results at the Drs and can start enjoying food again.  I would rather do it for 3 months than 6!  I went for the full meeting the first time, it is still not my thing - the group chat is still cringeworthy and a waste of time, so I will just go for the weekly weigh in.  I just need someone to weigh me every week to keep me on track.

On the Saturday we did a walk to Fairy Steps near Beetham - it is a walk Tom and I did many years ago but Matt had never been.  We had lunch at Beetham Nursery which is always good (even though I am sort of stuck with jacket potatoes and beans now!) Was a good walk, great views, nice atmosphere between us all.  Cricket season has now started again, so Matt disappears for one day each weekend - mainly Sundays.  Tom tends to find a friend to hang out with and I do house work etc.

On Monday Pat was no better, in fact much worse, Bob called for an ambulance and they took her to hospital.

Tuesday we went to Bradford directly after school as we finally got to see the Lion King.  We had booked for the week after Tom's SATS in Year 6 for a treat.  Obviously it got postponed due to Covid, rescheduled for today.  First of all though was a visit to The Kashmir for a curry - which was as delicious as we remembered, although their prices have gone up considerably which was a surprise.  Matt had to go looking for a cash machine as we didn't have enough cash on us!

So I knew I had tried to get good tickets for the show, but didn't realise how good - we were the second row back and on the aisle, so it was a completely different experience to when we saw it in London - we could see every facial expression and lots of actors came straight past us on the way to the stage. The huge elephant brushed past Matt - he  had a stroke and was very excited.  Mainly I couldn't keep my eyes off the amazing costumes this time and was busy looking at them rather than following the story although I know the story so well that it didn't really matter.  It was a good night, we all enjoyed it.

As the week progressed we got news about Pat.  It wasn't good, in fact it was pretty dire.  She has bowel cancer and it is terminal.  They did a scan and found that the cancer had progressed to her liver, pancreas and other organs.  There is nothing they can do for her as it is so well spread.  It wasn't a surprise to us to find out she was ill - I think we all knew something was up in addition to Parkinsons we just didn't know what.  In a way it explains quite a bit - her toilet habits had got quite extreme with the numbers of time she would go, she wasn't eating much, her mental health was beginning to come under question too with her unable to follow anything like a series on the telly, thinking she was cutting some toast when it was missing and so on.  Luckily she isn't in pain, and can return home but they gave us an estimate of 2 months.  Bob and Matt were both relieved that she can come home - hospital is always a horrible place to be.  Matt spent a lot of time over at his Dad's helping to sort out the downstairs bedroom for her.  The NHS have provided a hospital bed and other equipment for her plus care visits 4 times a day and Marie Curie are providing night nurses a couple of times a week to help Bob out. (Apparently there is no MacMillan provision around here).

29th April Tom was at a sleep over with Seth for his birthday.  It was such a lovely evening that Matt and I went for a walk to Big Stone to see the view of the 3 Peaks - one of the best views of the 3 Peaks and it was gorgeous.

4th May I drove over to Wigan to meet up with Debbie.  She had her operation last week and I wanted to see her.  Luckily they found the cancer very early (well Adam her hubby found the lump - well done him) and were able to get it all out without too invasive an operation.  She seemed fine, very very chatty.  I took her out for lunch at a local pub before heading back in time for when Tom got back from school as Matt was in Settle helping out again.

6th May Pat was returned home and installed in her new bedroom.  It was the first time I saw her since she turned yellow and I was shocked at how yellow she was. She looked frail but was very happy to be home - can't say I blame her!  Poor Bob was exhausted, we very much need to make sure he is ok and keeps well now.  We will go round to see them as often as we can.  I'm making dinners for them - I figure Bob will have his hands full without worrying about making nutritious food for them both and it makes me feel better knowing he has at least one good meal a day.  Carers coming 4 times a day helps, but it is an awkward and physical job getting Pat to and fro the toilet and she still wants to go a lot although she very rarely produces anything.

8th May we went for drive across the Dales so I could see the Druid's Temple - something I've always wanted to explore.  We found a cafe for lunch before hand and then went for a walk.  The Druid's Temple was very close the the cafe so we made a longer walk of it.  A really interesting place and I'm glad we went - even though it was quite a way to go.  

9th May - my birthday.  I had a lovely day, lots of lovely presents - thank you everyone.  I went for a walk with Anne in the morning which included brunch half way round and spent the rest of the day enjoying visits from friends.

11th May - me, Steph and Janine decided to try out clubercise (aerobics with neon lights) in Bentham to get some exercise.  Was fun, we were all rubbish, but that was to be expected and half the fun, fumbuling around trying to mimic the teacher and getting our limbs to do what was needed!  Certainly got a sweat up!  12th May I got my half stone certificate from SW - not bad for 3 weeks, especially as I had a slow start (took me a while to get all the right food in).

14th May Tom and I spent the day in Morecambe as I had a wedding cake to deliver and Matt went to Manchester to see an old Canadian friend from his Japan days.  

The following week we managed to get a good balance of being at home and visiting Settle.  We managed to both go over twice to give Bob some down time.  (He's happier leaving Pat if both me and Matt are with her).  He has a night nurse 3 times a week but the rest of the week he is on his own and some nights she has him up 4-6 times a night which is difficult to manage on!  

Unfortunately she is finding it harder and harder to speak meaning that conversations can sometimes be a bit confusing, but we do our best and I try to find things to talk to her about.  Tom and school seems to be a favourite topic so I tend to focus on that.  Tom has recently joined a steel pan band at school which surprised us all.   He's also doing a lot of colouring in of pictures to decorate her room which she likes.  I've bought her some new nighties to wear as she seems to be in them more often than not - and it is always nice to have new clothes.  She seems to think it is Christmas at the moment, so the new nighties tie in with that, she seemed to like my choice of style too which is good. 

In other news Tom had his first under 13s cricket game against Carnforth which Ingleton won by 8 wickets - quite a result for them.  Tom scored 17 including a 6 and two 4s which was good.  The following day he had another game but this time for the Ingleton Second team in a friendly against Hawes.  He and Matt were in the same team!  They lost by 6 wickets.  Tom scored 10 including two 4s and Matt scored 1!  They both got a wicket each - so Tom is now officially better than his Dad at cricket - ha ha!

The rest of Easter

The second week of the Easter holidays passed in a bit of a blur.  The weather was pretty terrible, very grey, very wet!  Bullet points of the week:

Saturday 9th April - Tom and Matt went to Leeds on a train day out.  I still couldn't move that far as my legs were still very tender from the chill blains I got last week.  They indulged themselves with a Thai lunch and did no shopping at all - got bored and came home early armed with sushi from Wasabi so they were very welcome.  Janine came over for a chat which was nice as I couldn't move far - and was having to wear very light summer trousers which weren't great in the cold! 

Sunday 10th April - my chill blains were better, so we decided to head to Dent to Matt's new favourite cafe - Tom wanted to experience it.  Matt had a chicken parmo which he was very happy with (if you don't know them - they are the culinary delight of Teeside - look them up!)  I had a falafel wrap and Tom had a pie.  We then went for a walk along the river at Dent which was lovely - just what my legs could cope with!

The early part of the week was taken up by cricket training.  Tom had a last training session with South Lakes.  I took him, in the rain.  It hammered down for the whole time.  The kids were drowned, the trainers were drowned.  I sat in the car in the warmth doing paperwork.  As usual the kids didn't seem to mind.  The next day he had an Ingleton training session which was drier.

On Thursday 14th April Tom managed his first trip by himself to Lancaster.  We've been trying to sort this for a while.  The best way for him to get to Lancaster is by train, but of course there aren't that many services.  Being a boy he isn't interested in shopping so the only reason to go is to see a film and trying to match train times with film times is pretty difficult, however, eventually the timings all worked.  The plan was for him and Annabel to go together first, but she was on holiday in Egypt so instead he asked Sierra and she said yes.  I was so pleased for him.  Just as well I had walked Tom through where everything was in Lancaster as he said that Sierra didn't have a clue and also I heard her say to him 'I don't like trains they are freaky' as they walked over the bridge to the right platform (this after Sierra asked why they were walking over the bridge?!)  Tom took it in his stride but was obviously surprised that someone would call a train freaky!  They went to see the latest HP Fantastic Beasts film.  For Tom it was all about the trip but for Sierra it was all about the film.  They had a good time and Tom wasn't as cocky as I expected when he got back.  Finally he's got proper independence although of course we have to drive him to / from Bentham to catch the train.

On Friday Sheafstock started in Ingleton.  Wendy and Ryu Uchimura came over for the night.  Wendy is one of Matt's translator friends who is originally from Bradley (just outside of Skipton) but has lived in Japan for the last 25 years.  She decided to come back with her family.  She has two boys: Ryu who is 15 and Ruyoki who is 11.  Ryu came with her and Ruyoki and her hubby are coming over next year once Ruyoki has finished Elementary school.  Although she speaks in English to her boys they are very reluctant to speak English, but of course are now entering the English school system.  

So so difficult for Ryu who has entered in Year 10 - so he gets to do 1.5 terms this school year and then it is his GCSE year.  I was wondering if he would be more willing to speak English - but no - he still refuses to speak it - you do wonder how he will do in his GCSEs - I'm sure academically he is there, but his English language needs to get better or he will fail.   Wendy was hoping he would get into the Grammar school in Skipton but they wouldn't take him because his English wasn't good enough, so he's at Skipton Academy instead which doesn't have a great reputation and of course Wendy has no idea how everything works.  They were supposed to come over earlier but of course the pandemic ruined everything!  Apparently after his first day at Skipton Academy he asked Wendy what he had to do to transfer to the Grammar school - apparently the first time he has shown any wish to work hard.  I'll be interested to see how long it takes for Ryu to start speaking English confidently...  Anyway they came over for the night.  I took them to Sheafstock, it was quite obvious that Tom and Ryu weren't going to hang out as they are quite different - Ryu being that bit older and a bit of a geek whilst of course Tom is sporty.  They both like trains, but because Ryu can't speak English there really isn't much chance of interaction.

On the Saturday we took Wendy and Ryu to Morecambe for the day.  We had a really nice day out there with them.  We showed them Eric, took a long walk along the prom, lunch outside at the Stone Jetty and then a walk back along the shop fronts.  Wowzers I discovered then that Wendy is a proper shopper - she bought so many things.  They went back home on the train, and we returned home.  We spent the evening at Sheafstock.  Tom disappeared with his friends almost immediately and that was it - he ended up sleeping over at Annabel's house.  We stayed for the whole night, the whole village seemed to be out, so plenty of people to talk to and catch up with, was a good night.  

Sunday we were invited to the Ellershaws for pizza before heading to Sheafstock for the last night.  Was lovely at the Ellershaws, saw more people that we hadn't seen for 2 years, so more catching up.  We enjoyed Sheafstock again, but were a little tired and ragged around the edges so left early to go to bed early.  We clearly can't hack 3 nights in a row, was nice to have Sheafstock back though!

Tom then went back to school.  On the Wednesday Matt went for a trip around the Dales on his motorbike and called in at home to see his Mum and Dad.  He came back concernedsaying his Mum was yellow.  He spoke to his Dad about it on his return, he had also noticed it but apparently Pat was in denial about it.  He said he was going to keep an eye on her and maybe book her an appointment at the Drs if she didn't look any better in a couple of days.

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.