Quiet Weekend

French tart

Saturday: Matt went to play cricket in Ambleside, we went with him as far as Sizergh Barn, had lunch and then Matt went on to his match and Tom and I did the farm walk.  Mistake.  HUGE MISTAKE I had a big attack of hay fever and spent the rest of the day feeling rubbish.  I drove home and we had a quiet afternoon.

Obeying the Sergeant Major

Sunday:  it was 1940s weekend in Ingleton this weekend, so we spent the day in the village.  Tom did 2 parades with the cubs - the first one was a remembrance parade at 10am and the second the big parade with all the vintage cars etc.  Matt and I sort of dressed up - as much as we could anyway.  It worked as a 'French Tart' came up to him and told him what a lovely pert bum he has!

We had a lovely day - watched some dancing, sat in the square with a drink and just enjoyed being in the sunshine and a busy village.  Such a shame the village is normally quiet - it looks good with people in it.

Hayfever

I have written to our Drs about Tom's hay fever as it is causing him issues - which are only going to get worse as he gets older.  He is on drugs for it - but he still gets all the symptoms.  I've learnt now that if you want to get something done at the Drs - write to Dr Morgan and she sorts it.  I wrote to her and within a week I had received an appointment letter to see an Allergy Consultant.  We all went for the appointment - we saw a lovely Dr who took everything very seriously and had a lovely manner with us and with Tom.  Tom was able to explain himself quite well and I explained about my hay fever etc.  They took some bloods to work out what he is allergic to (couldn't do skin prick test as you need to be off anti-histamines for an extended period before being tested) apparently they just test for grass / tree these days, not specific like I had.  She's given Tom a new load of medicines to try out and will see him again next year and will keep seeing him until they can find a way of alleviating it for him.  Oh and they still do the desensitisation injections - but you have to have 4 over 4 weeks and we would have to travel to Manchester for them - so hoping we won't have to go down that route....

Baseball

So the last weekend in July took us to London to see the Boston Red Sox play the New York Yankees.  We got Tom from school and headed straight to Lancaster to park the car and head to Nami Sushi for tea.  We had conveyor belt sushi - not as much fun as it is in Japan because it is so expensive, but hey it was tasty.  Guess who had the most?

Unfortunately the trains were up the spout with the one which should have been before us being behind us - so we lost our train reservations.  At one stage it looked like 1 of us would have to stand the whole way - but we managed to get seats near each other at Preston.

Waiting for the game

The rest of the journey was uneventful.  We arrived to Ilford and were surprised at how cool it was - Lancaster was significantly warmer when we left.  We hadn't brought jumpers with us - so were a little concerned.

Max picked us up and we had a very pleasant evening drinking and chatting with Max and Helen who are great hosts.

We had a quiet morning before heading a park - wow it was hot today, and when I say hot, I mean super hot - it was going to be a sweaty day.  Helen and co took us down to Brick Lane where we had tickets to go to a brewery which had been taken over by the baseball people with lots of activities, food, drink etc etc.  We tucked into some wings (me) a dog (Tom) and pizza (Matt), had a drink and then took part in a batting activity.  Matt did ok as did Tom.  Actually Tom was the youngest to have a go by quite some way, so he won some match cards and got a pat on the head.  It was extremely hot - so much so that as soon as you finished a drink you needed another - they had free water stations to stop people from dehydrating!

A £13 beer!

We did some shopping (everything was mega expensive so we didn't buy much) and then headed back to Brick Lane where we had an ice cream from a rather lovely shop.  We wondered back to Liverpool Street and got the train to Stratford - we thought we would head to the Westfield shopping mall where we thought air conditioning might be able to cool us down.  Humm.... there were so many people in the mall that the air conditioning was having a hard time.  Oh hum, we stopped there for a 3 o'clock doughnut and another drink before heading to the Olympic Stadium for the big game.

They had gone to town on the stadium - everything was branded New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or just USA.  All the food stalls were American (no fish and chips!), the beer was American (shame), the snacks American and the prices extra-ordinary.  Of course it was very very very hot, so the stalls were doing a roaring trade.  (Oh, observation from this trip to London, the city has gone pretty much cashless - came across many occasions where we couldn't use cash to buy things - this is not good for me as I run on cash, but I have never come across places that don't take cash before)

The biggest flags we've ever seen

We found our seats - right at the back of the stadium - so we got big drinks each time.  I drank 2 litres of pop whilst Matt drank 3 pints of lager - that was just to quench our thirst!  Had macaroni cheese for tea which was very good.

There was plenty of entertainment on the pitch - we saw everyone's backs as we were at the back of the pitch - so we saw the back of Tom Walker, the back of Meghan and Harry, the back of the US army as they brought on the massive flags and the back of the Kingdom Choir who sang the national anthems (the best rendition of God Save the Queen I have ever heard).

Then the match began.  This was an extraordinary match in that it was full of home runs - way way more than any - maybe because it was a smaller pitch than normal, or maybe because both teams were fired up.  The first innings took almost an hour - there are 9 innings to a game - it was going to be a long one.  It was a sell out - so 66,000 in attendance - you can imagine the heat!  It was fun to watch - although to be honest I prefer the chants, baton beating and balloon releases  of the Japanese matches.  There was plenty to keep us interested though.  In the end we had to leave before it would end as it had got very late and Max and Helen were staying up to drive us home.  The end result was: 17:13 to the Yankees.  We were supporting the Red Sox - but never mind.

We got back to Ilford, had a couple of drinks before going to bed.  Sunday we had another lazy morning.  Anna and Phil visited for a very lovely brunch that Max made: Huevos Ranchas. After brunch we left and made our way to Euston again to get the train home.

It was a very lovely weekend with lovely people - shame we weren't able to spend more time with Max, Helen, Izzy and Aster.  Aster starts school in September - how does that work?!  Izzy is off to America for a massive international Guide/Scout Camp in a couple of weeks - how cool is that?

June

5th June

Bowling...

trying hard

Tom had his first cricket match at Sedgwick.  Once again the Ingleton under 11s is made up of mainly younger children - we only have one person who is 11, one who is 12, Tom and Charlie who are 10 and then the rest are 8!  It is a handicap, but it doesn't bother the boys and they put up a good fight.  That was, until they came up against a Cumbria team member who was a fast bowler and didn't take any prisoners.  He got his eye in and got 4 wickets in 4 balls - the two facing him: Tom and Charlie - they didn't know what had hit them!  You don't get 'out' in Under 11's - you loose 5 runs (each team starts with 200 runs) and you stay in for 4 overs.   To be fair the boys didn't give up even though they knew they were beaten.

8th June

A small, intimate affair

giant alien thingy

Today we headed to Manchester for the night as we were going to see Muse at the Etihad Stadium.  Once again it was a cold and rainy day.  First stop though was the airport pub so Tom could do some plane spotting.  It wasn't as good as last time because the runway we were at was only for landing, not for taking off!  Oh hum, he still enjoyed it though and the food there is good.  We also checked out the Runway Visitors Centre where there is a good vantage point, a cafe, a shop and some displays.  Might come here next time.  We then headed to Karen's (Adam was away in Mexico).  We had time for a bit of a chit chat, before leaving Tom behind (dynamics between the girls have changed.  It used to be that Tom would play with Leia and the two would ignore Rosa.  But now Leia is at high school - she is way too mature for Tom, so he now plays with Rosa (7).  I wonder what will happen when Tom is at High School?!)

We headed on the tram to the Etihad Stadium and met up with Jo and Mark for a pint before finding our seats.  It was freezing - so cold that drinking a pint made us too cold to contemplate another - this is June!  Anyway it didn't rain and Muse put on a stinking show - Matt Bellamy didn't miss a note, the staging was fantastic and the set list amazing.  It went quickly and was a fab night out.

9th June
We rushed back on Sunday morning to Kirkby Lonsdale as our friends from Japan were over.  Not for a good reason - Wendy's Dad died in a tragic caving accident last weekend.  She posted on FB that her Dad had died in a cave at the same time as CRO posting that they had been involved in an attempted rescue in a cave that ended in a fatality.  We put two and two together and realised it was her Dad they were talking about.  Such a shame, we met him - infant he came to ours for tea last time Wendy came to visit.  He was a very pleasant chap.

Ryu, Ryoki and Tom

Anyway she is an only child, so came over to sort out the funeral, say her goodbyes etc.  She came with her two sons (one a bit older and one a bit younger than Tom) and husband.  Her Dad lived in Bradley (just the other side of Skipton) so we suggested that if she needed to get away from it all and the boys wanted a play to meet up.  Sunday was the only day she could do, so we got up early in Manchester and headed back to spend the afternoon with them.  We did a walk around Kirkby Lonsdale, visited the new very good ice cream parlour for massive ice creams and then headed up to Ribblehead for a walk to blow the cobwebs.  We had a really lovely time with them and Tom and the boys got on fine.  Wendy only speaks to her boys in English so they are more than able to understand everything, but they refuse to speak in English so reply in Japanese.  It didn't seem to bother Tom - he realised he could speak to them in English and they would understand and they more than likely spoke back to him in English when we weren't there to hear them!

16th June

Is this a red squirrel?

...or is this one?

Wanting to get out in this awful weather - we decided to pay a visit to our red squirrel friends in Snaizeholme.  It (of course) was raining, so we togged up in our waterproofs and headed over.  Initially it didn't look good - we couldn't find any and we were being eaten alive by midges so headed back to the car.  On the way we came across one red squirrel who was happy to play with us - he was good value too - spent a good 10 minutes scampering around, so we left happy.

18th June
Today was the North Craven Primary Schools Cross Country event.  Tom wanted to do it, so we took him along - to Settle again.  It was pretty scary as most of the runners in Year 5 and Year 6 were club runners - there were only 3 from Ingleton Year 5 (at this point most pupils have stopped volunteering for sporting events unless they really want to do it!).  I was worried Tom would be down the field as how is he expected to compete against those who do it week in week out in the fells, doing races most weekends?  Matt told me he would be fine.  I just hoped he wouldn't come last.  They started off and Tom was in the middle of the field as they went out of sight.  When they came back into sight, I couldn't believe it - Tom was in 9th place - he was easy to spot as Ingleton is the only school in red and Lucas and Finn the other 2 were in 2nd and 3rd - ahead of him.   He kept up his pace and finished in 9th - out of 35 - we were very proud and to be fair Finn and Lucas both went up to him to congratulate him.  I wonder how well he would do if he did do training?  Something to consider if he wants but it would mean he would have to give something else up.  Anyway Ingleton Year 5 boys came 4th - only needed one more point to come joint 3rd - not a bad show!

23rd June

Olden days on the railway

Sunday saw us having a day at the Hatherthwaite Railway.  We were going there because we had free tickets which we won in a raffle.  However, when we dug the tickets out - they were out of date!  Oh hum!!!  We had already arranged with Rebecca that we would have her for the day - so we went ahead anyway.  As usual we were attacked with an onslaught of train chat. For the whole day.  It didn't stop.  I don't think Tom or Rebecca took a breath!  We had a lovely lunch at the station - really good, interesting menu for a small attraction then took the train to Lakeside.  Hung around there for a while, had an ice cream and then headed back again.  All the while Tom and Rebecca were chatting train and having 'train wars' (Rebecca is a steam fan and Tom a diesel fan).  All good humoured and meant that Matt and I didn't have to entertain at all - in fact they entertained us!

Train nuts!

24th June
The Ingleton Under 11s had another cricket match at Netherfield.  They did much much better here.  No-one g

ot out which was a first.  They ended up loosing by 3 runs.  Once again they came up against a Cumbria player - this time a batsman who was last one in and smacked 4s and 6s from our bowlers.  Once again, not their fault - just a way superior player who we couldn't touch.  Only 3 runs, one of the Dad's couldn't look he was so nervous.  It was a good display and once again our team was much younger than theirs so they did really well.

27th June

Eye on the ball... 

...whomp!

Thursday saw us back in Settle for a school rounders tournament - it only made sense for Tom to be in the Year 5/6 team considering he plays with me at the lady's practise every Tuesday.  The Ingleton team had a good team spirit - but were a little lacking in skill.  Tom was trying too hard to slog the ball and missed it every time in the first game.  He made up for it with throwing and catching though and after a couple of games was happily hitting the ball too.  We didn't think Ingleton did that well but they ended up second so obviously didn't give them their dues!  Oh and during the match we met up with Bob and some old neighbours from Shrewsbury who were staying for the night.

Rain and Trains

Tom sorting the post...

Saturday - we had the Scout's jumble sale.  We made sure that we were seen to be at the jumble in the morning helping out.  Tom did some baking too. The afternoon was supposed to be cricket - but it got rained off.  In the meantime Lynne got in touch to see if Tom wanted to spend the afternoon with Matt.  He jumped at the chance, so he headed off and I finished off a cake and then did some housework - getting the ground floor into some sort of order.  Matt then arrived having spent the afternoon in the pub as his cricket match was cancelled.

We then had tea out at the tapas before heading to Lynne's to pick up Tom.  Think we were only there 1.5 hours which was pretty good going (always made to stay and drink when you go round Lynne's!)

Small engine

Sunday we once again didn't really know what to do with ourselves.  It was another grey and miserable day.  We ended up going to Preston - had lunch in the nice cafe I found when we dropped Anita off and then headed to the Ribble Steam Railway for a couple of jerky trips up and down a 3 mile bit of line around the docks of Preston (docks - who knew there were docks in Preston - I didn't!)

And that was the end of a very quiet half term!

Half Term

We had a quiet first weekend of the half term - Tom was sheltering from pollen for most of it.  As he is learning the James Bond theme on the guitar, we thought we would introduce him to the films.  We watched Goldfinger and Thunderball - he is hooked.  Not sure he understands them fully and we had forgotten just how sexist they are (had to explain that it is not normal behaviour to slap women on the bum etc) but on the whole they are good fun.  He loved the gadgets - especially the Aston Martin with the revolving number plates.  I'm with him - the Q Division bit is always the best.

Monday we had the pleasure of the company of the Ellershaws for a board game afternoon.  They wanted to learn Ticket to Ride and they had brought Pandemic for us to learn.  In between it all we had a bbq.  Anyway, it was a lovely atmosphere, the girls as always were very well behaved meaning it was a very pleasant day.

Tuesday we had a day with Charlie.  The boys in Tom's class seem to have split into groups now.  Finn, Lucas and Matthew are in one group, Harrison is sort of on his own - but is moving to Scotland during the summer and then there are Tom and Charlie.  They aren't natural buddies - but are happy to hang out with each other.  Because Alice and Pete work full time he goes to the childminder after school meaning he can't come round the house.  So, we booked in a day with him so Tom had some friend time during the holidays.  Alice also said it was ok for Charlie to go out around the village without me - so we planned a morning, where they could do what they wanted and an afternoon at the pool.  I gave them various times when they had to come back and check in with me (all of which they observed).  Charlie is obviously obsessed with sweets and spent all his pocket money at the sweet shop.  Tom didn't - he's not fussed at all by treats.

We had our usual sulking session after swimming.  Tom sometimes gets himself into a sulk and then can't get out of it.  I call it 'onlychilditis'.  Being an only child he doesn't have to negotiate, share or be at the bad end of a decision at home, meaning the only time he gets this is when he is with a friend.  Recently when we have been out with friends, he has got into a sulk at some point about something ridiculous.  Today when he got out of the pool I asked him to eat something as he was looking tired.  I had given Charlie some money to buy snacks, expecting him to do a Tom and buy something and bring me the change.  Oh no, Charlie was at the shop for ages - turns out he was working out the best way to spend all the money - ie get as many sweets as possible.  I said he would have to share them with Tom which he was happy to do.  Tom refused and I mean REFUSED to eat any of Charlie's sweets!  How many children do you know stubbornly refuse to eat sweets when they are offered - oh yes that will ONLY be Tom then.  I eventually managed to get him to eat 1 sweet!  So I told Charlie to take the rest to his brother when he got home.  Anyway, apart from that it was a good day and the children had some freedom which went well. Believe it or not once back from the pool they went over to the field for cricket - turns out that Charlie went to the newsagents again and bought more sweets!  Tom bought a chocolate bar for Matt and said it was a present for working so hard for the family - bless him!

Knaresborough Viaduct

Wednesday we were at a spare end.  Decided in the end to go to Clitheroe for the day - had a walk around the castle, lunch in a very old fashioned tea rooms (very good food though) and then headed back.  Tom went for the night at Pat and Bob's.  This was so Matt and I could do the 3 Peaks, but the weather forecast was awful so we decided against it and instead headed to Knaresborough for the night.  We walked around the town, had a beer or two and found ourselves in a restaurant where there was an early bird menu: 3 courses for £18.  Wow!  The food was good, and although the portions weren't ridiculous, once we stood up we were both in pain.  The pain stayed with us for the rest of the evening, so we went back to our room at the pub, lay on the bed and groaned!  Not the most romantic of nights away!

Collapsed bull

Thursday started grey and then turned wet.  Very wet.  We made the right decision not to do the 3 Peaks.  Instead we headed to Harrogate where we found a very interesting antiques shop - Matt bought a cricket bat (of course)  We then wondered around Harrogate but it was rainy, grey and the centre seemed to be full of the usual dull, boring shops.  We gave up and came home.

Friday, Karen and the girls were supposed to be coming to stay.  We went out first thing to do a food shop and then returned to do some cooking and baking.  They didn't come - Karen got a sickness bug that morning and was feeling dreadful.  It was a shame.  We carried on with the cooking - we had started so we finished.  We then spent the afternoon down at the pool with the Bickerstaffs.  We had another period of sulkiness (Seth told Tom he couldn't go on his inflatable, which lead to tears and then refusal to accept an apology and then sulks 'I want to go home now' ) but he got over it remarkably quickly and enjoyed the rest of his session in the pool.  It was full of kids from school, so really there was no reason to not enjoy!

Quiet weeks

Well we have had quite a lot of quiet days recently.  Tom's hay fever has 'got' him, as a result he has got a stinking cold, then Matt got a cold and with rubbish weather to boot, plus weekend conference and cricket fixtures for Matt, we haven't really done much recently!

We managed to get the car fixed - they had to replace all the front sensors on the car as they were all faulty, must have cost a bit - very glad it was still under warranty.

I have continued with rounders but not played any matches yet as every time we are scheduled it has either been raining or the other team haven't been able to get enough players together.  I'm getting better though - hitting it more consistently and further.  I have even learnt a new stroke (who knew there were stroke names for rounders?!)

We met up with Jude and Craig one Sunday for steak at Parbold and then went for a walk along a canal.  I have tried to keep my fitness going so I can redo the 3 peaks - but with cake orders it is hard fitting it in.

Eye on the ball...

Player of the tournament

Tom took part in a school's cricket tournament in Settle, the Ingleton team did really well, coming second.  There were some really good cricket players in Year 6 - such a shame they don't go to the cricket club in the village - they would make the matches way more competitive.  Oh hum, problem was that there were no parents watching their kids and us telling them when they picked them up how good they were just fell on deaf ears.  Anyway, they came second after loosing their last match by 3 runs which was a shame.  Tom got 'player of the tournament' award.  He had a chance to shine by showing his eagerness for the game which was picked up on.

Then it was half term.

Easy Week

Tom's team came second

I didn't have any cake bookings for this week - yay!!!!  I spent 2 days sorting out the kitchen and garage and putting in an equipment order and then I relaxed.  Phew.  I was going to treat myself to a day in Leeds, but because I had been to Preston I didn't really feel the need, plus the car was having work done to it meaning Matt would have taken me to and fro on the bike (and it was raining most of the week!)

Thursday was my birthday.  Not a remarkable day - had lots of lovely presents in the morning - thank you everyone.  Matt took me out for lunch and then he headed to Sheffield for a translators conference.  I returned home and spent the rest of the afternoon turning the car alarm off - what a pain.  Meant I couldn't relax!  Oh hum.  The afternoon was spent in 2 coats, bobble hat, scarf and glove watching a regional footie tournament at school - Tom's team came second which was great - he actually did really well with assists etc (he was playing mid field which I think is his best position)

In the evening the car alarm was still going off, so I called the AA out.  Janine then turned up with a bottle of wine so we had a lovely natter in the kitchen waiting for the AA man to turn up.  He eventually did so an hour after I was told to expect him.  It wasn't an AA man - but a local pick up truck from Morecambe.  Of course, since I called the alarm hadn't gone off so he decided to leave it and told me to call again if it went off again.  Oh joy.  Didn't sleep that night worrying about it going off!

Roller skating...

Friday I decided to head into Windermere to do a spot of shopping at Lakeland.  I got new 8 inch and 7 inch tins and some other bits and pieces (thanks for the voucher M&D).  The car alarm flat lined all the way in and all the way back again which was a pain, because I got stuck in a traffic jam and having an alarm flat lining all that time was quite annoying. Oh hum.  As it seemed to be the front sensor which was constantly going off, I decided to back the car into every parking space including at home and the alarm didn't go off again - phew!  Booked it into the garage for next week too.

Tom had cricket in the evening and then he went to bed and the girls arrived for curry.  Had a really good evening full of belly laughs - Janine being the instigator of most of them, which included her 'attempting' to roller skate around the kitchen.  Think it was a good release for many people there.  In fact Sarah said her sides were aching the next day from so much laughing which is good.

Saturday we were up early again - another footie tournament, but this time it was with Craven Wanderers.  They mixed up the teams so each team had different ages of players (the older ones only allowed to score one goal each and had to pass it to younger players etc).  It was a really good event, lovely atmosphere, but it may have put Tom off footie for a while.  At one point he dissolved into tears saying he thought he had broken his foot and then again later on he just suddenly started crying and said his leg had 'gone'.  Funnily enough as soon as he found out there were no more games he was fine and kicking the ball all over the place.  Hummmm, I think Tom just wants to play football with his friends.  He really isn't a match player at all.  He was the youngest in his team, looked lost and was very intimidated by the bigger and older players.  (Ages went up to 13 - but some of the 13 year olds looked about 16!).  We will see if he returns to Craven (I would be quite happy if he didn't, but it isn't my decision to make).  Once the tournament was over, there was a coaches vs Dads match - which was pretty brutal.  Matt was up for it and would have taken part if he was here.  I was very glad he wasn't here and now he is banned from ever putting his name down for it.  It was great to watch as a spectator, but it was very physical - played by bulky young blokes - Matt would have got broken in no time!

Lazy brunch in the garden

We had a easy afternoon - went to Goat Gap for lunch, did some thank you shopping for the coaches, and then went to the Footie Award night in the evening.  This is normally a pro-longed, excruciating evening with lots of long speeches which no-one listens to, kids are out of control and parents drunk. I wasn't looking forward to going along by myself.  They changed the format - hurray!  It was much shorter and everyone was very happy about it.  It was also a nice warm evening so most of the boys went down to the community field to play football whilst the parents socialised.  Tom didn't, he had had enough of football, so he stayed and did dancing with the DJ and Jack and Sierra (never seen him willingly do that before?!).  It was a very pleasant evening, time flew and before we knew it we were home and in bed.  

Sunday, we had a very lazy morning - didn't get up til 10am.  Then Tom went to the Co-op to buy some brunch ingredients which we ate outside in the sunshine.  We then picked up Matt from Clapham, came home, did a quick walk around Storrs Common and had tea.  A very pleasant 'nothing' day which we all needed.

Oh and Sumo started today - so it is 'teas on knees' for the next 2 weeks - yay!!!!!

3 Peaks?!

So this half term is only 4 weeks long!  Must be the shortest half term ever (apart from those who have exams!)

The first weekend was a bank holiday too.  Anita came up for the weekend - we were planning to do the 3 peaks together, she wanted to do it as training for the National 3 Peaks she is doing in July.  I had done quite a bit of training: done each of the 3 peaks individually and a 2 peaks walk so I knew the route and was sure I could do it.  This week I did a quick lap of Oxenber Woods (to see the bluebells and a 5km run to make sure my legs were ready)  I kept sending Anita photos of me doing it with stats on elevation and time taken etc to give her an idea - living in Wokingham doesn't help - she has no hills anywhere near her to practise on.

At the top of Pen y gent

I picked her up from the station and drove her to Ingleton.  We then drove to Ribblehead so she could see all the mountains and get an idea of what she was letting herself in for.   We then went to the OPO for a quick drink (they opened the new room at the back - The Armoury which is as described - full of metal work and a great addition to the enterprise).

We then returned home for a quiet night in before our walk on Saturday.  I was also waiting for a cake to be collected.  It was for a party taking place on Saturday - normally when people collect cakes, they come before 6pm - 9.45pm the lady finally turned up.  I gave her strict instructions on how to drive as it was a cake with a model stood on top...guess what she broke the model.  She said she drove at 20 miles an hour (the fact she called me from Bentham 10 minutes after leaving here makes me disbelieve that - it would have taken me longer!).  The model had fallen off and an arm broken off.  By now I was in my pyjamas and I couldn't do anything about it.  I was livid!  I couldn't sleep, not anxious about the 3 peaks but angry about the cake!  We now had to get round and finished in time for me to get to the venue before the party to fix it.  That was never the deal - to have a time schedule upon us.

Top of Whernside

Anyway the day dawned beautiful - blue skies, no clouds, not hot, not cold and not too windy.  Yay.  Matt and Tom dropped us off at Horton at 6.20am and we headed up Pen-y-gent.  I went slowly but Anita went even slower.  I am officially fitter than someone!  Hurray!  It didn't matter - it wasn't about doing it fast, but just doing it and it had been 12 years since we had seen each other so we had plenty to talk about.   We got to the top, had a rest and then headed down out of the wind and along the flat to Ribblehead.  We dropped into Katie's for drinks, a wee and some suncream and then headed out up Whernside.  Anita struggled a bit here - it is a long slog up and it can look like it is everlasting (especially if you haven't done it before) but she slogged on, with plenty of rests etc we got to the top - we got a great view as it was still clear.  Then the short sharp path down to the Hill Inn.  We got to the Hill Inn at 3pm.  Anita was struggling and the view of Ingleborough looming over us was intimidating.  PLUS now we had a time limit  - she had to get up and over it in 3 hours.  She didn't think she could do it.  I didn't think she could do it - I think I could just about do it.  We called it a day and had a drink at the pub and told Matt to come and get us.  If we hadn't had the deadline looming over us we would have done it - Anita would have stubbornly got up it - don't think she would have enjoyed it though.

Ivelet Bridge

Anyway, it was disappointing for both of us and now I am determined to do it again as otherwise all the training would be a waste.  We left Anita running a hot bath to stop her legs seizing up and Matt took me over to Bentham so I could go and fix the cake.  Not only had she broken it but she had put the broken bits on the top of the cake - meaning she dented it - there was nothing I could do about that!.  I fixed it in 10 mins, all the while I was mumbling under my breath - not a happy bunny!

Got home to find a refreshed Anita, I put pre-made lasagnas in the oven and we had a pleasant evening eating and drinking - without any guilt as we had still walked 18 miles which is a fair distance (although I hadn't got out of breath at all so figure it wasn't really a fat burning exercise - normally when I walk up the 3 peaks, I am bright red and dripping with sweat with all my clothes tied around my waist - so I guess I push myself pretty hard.  I didn't take off my jumper or coat and was wearing a buff the whole time too.)

Swaledale barns

Sunday, as it was Bank Holiday weekend there were no trains from Lancaster.  Matt had a cricket match on, so Tom and I took her to Preston to catch one there.  No traffic in Preston - what a lovely surprise.  Once we had dropped her off, we went into the city for lunch and found a really lovely olde style cafe full of iron railings, olde worlde adverts, and a huge menu so we found ourselves a cubby and settled in.  We then did some shopping: sandals, wellies and jeans for the boy and some £1 purchases for me.  We then returned home so that Tom could watch the snooker - he's got addicted, but means that he is happy whilst I get things done.

Guess who wasn't with us

Monday, we got a call from Katie asking if Tom would like to accompany her and Rebecca to a steam gala at Shiloden Railway Museum.  Didn't get the whole sentence out and he was hopping and jumping and shouting yes, Yes, YESSSSSSS!  My alternatives of spending the day with us didn't tempt him at all.  So, we got up, dressed and breakfasted in no time at all to get us up to Ribblehead in time.  Matt and I then carried on to Muker for a very pleasant 6 mile walk around a Dale which was very pleasant.  Included a very old packhorse bridge, lots of sheep, lovely views, and a spot of house hunting.  It started to rain just as we got back to Muker, so we dived into a pub and had lunch before returning home.   A very pleasant day - must explore that area a bit more.

Penrith

Penrith from the Beacon

Saturday we packed our bags and headed the scenic route to Penrith, where Matt had booked a B&B.   We had planned to go into the Lake District again for a walk, but Storm Hannah was above us, meaning it was grey, rainy and windy - we decided walking wouldn't be much fun.  We haven't actually stopped in Penrith - only going through it in the past, but believed it would be a good town to spend a day, it has a population of 15,000 but punches way above its weight as it is the main service town to a massive area of the Lakes.  We found ourselves a free car park and headed to the town.  Lots of nice independent shops including delis and old persons' clothing shops (you know what I mean - big industrial bras, and shapeless nighties etc - you wonder how they manage to keep going) also yarn shop, sewing shop, a HUGE Yorkshire Trading Company which is always good fun to browse, outdoor shops etc etc the high street kept us busy.  We found ourselves in a place called the Narrow Bar Cafe for lunch which was excellent - I had an avocado, chorizo, halloumi, pickled red onion and spicy chilli jam sandwich with sweet potato chips - wow a flavour sensation - every mouthful was amazing!

Long Meg and ....

We then relocated the car, parking near the B&B before heading up to the Beacon - a view point above Penrith.  Suffered a bit of 'Box Hill Syndrome' - ie not great walking uphill when you have a full stomach - but I made it.  Was a good view across the Eden Valley towards the Lake District.    We walked back down and checked into our B&B, lovely host and spotless.  We had some down time and then headed out back into town to a craft bar for some beer.  We then decided to head to a Thai restaurant for tea, but when we got there it was empty so we changed our plans and went to an Indian (set in an old cinema).  There were plenty of people there, so many, that it took over an hour to get any food.  The food was really good, but it took so long that the evening was a little spoiled.  Oh hum, we returned back and enjoyed a lazy evening.

... some of her daughters

Sunday dawned much brighter - we donned our walking clothes, enjoyed smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast and then headed to Little Salkeld where we started a walk to Long Meg and her daughters (stone circle) and then along the Eden River and back in a circle.  Lovely walk of 5.5 miles - enough to stretch my legs out ready for the 3 peaks next weekend.  Even found some amazing caves half way along the river - very Famous Five, we looked for treasure but couldn't find any!  We even walked alongside the Settle Carlisle railway for a bit and saw a train.  What more could you want?!  

Once back at the car, we headed to Tebay for lunch (a bit of cake each - we weren't that hungry) and then on to Waddecar Scout Activity Centre to pick up Tom.  We had to sit through a St George's Day parade first.  Everyone looked quite tired but happy.  It was chaos, but Tom assured us that he had everything!  He didn't!  Luckily I went into his dorm and claimed loads of items of clothing on the floor that he had left but even having done that he has left his trainers behind (same old problem of not looking after his belongings - I asked him twice if he had packed them and he assured me he had, we got home and they weren't there!  They are his main out of school shoes, so I was cross with him - mainly because I had asked him and had trusted his answer - I hate that I can't trust him!)

Lacy's Caves

We had an interesting trip home too - an old couple in a vintage car decided to hog a narrow road, forcing us into the bank and in a bush!  We didn't clash, but then when they started up again and tried to get past us they scraped the side of our car and the two cars got completely wedged into each other.  In the end about 5 of us had to bounce our car out of the way of the other car so it could reverse and let us pass.  The man driving it was above 70, completely deaf and seemed to have no road sense at all - his wife said that the fact we were pointing into the hedge was proof we weren't driving properly - we were  in the hedge because they forced us into it - otherwise we would have had a head on collision!!!!!  Their car was unscathed!  Not sure he should have been driving at all?!  Oh hum - not a great end to the holidays!

Cubs' parade

Tom fell asleep in the car just as we got to Ingleton!  We had to wake him up, he had a shower and felt much better, then an early tea and then early to bed.

Easter Holidays - Week 2

So the Easter weekend drew to a close and the weather decided to break too.  Tuesday was ok - but not as hot as the bank holiday - needed a jumper today.

Cherry blossoms in Dollar

Matt had arranged himself a mini break on his motorbike up to Dollar for a night at the Blezards, so he headed off mid morning, leaving Tom and me behind.  We had a quiet morning, Sainsburys delivered our food and after lunch Alice, Charlie and Harry turned up for the afternoon.  We were supposed to be doing an Escape Room together - but it didn't work out.

They boys went to play cricket over on the astro turf and then we did the village Easter Egg Hunt - during which the sun came out, in fact we had a very pleasant afternoon hanging out together.  In the evening I went to see what Ingleton Ladies Rounders was all about.  Answer - lots of loud, fit, younger ladies playing rounders.  I managed to get Anne to come along with me for support - very glad I did as I'm not sure I would have done it by myself, loads of ladies I've never met before (mostly in their 20s and 30s) Everyone was a bit rusty as it was the first session of the year - I worked out that it was 30 years since I last played - so think I was probably the rustiest.  So much so that I couldn't remember if I played with my left hand or right hand (still not sure!).  They used plenty of terminology that I didn't understand but on the whole it was good humoured.  As long as Anne keeps going I will too.  Tom had a fab time, Lauren came as well and there were children from others too and they all played together.

Wednesday, not much happened today.  I took Tom to Pat and Bob's in the morning (snooker is on the telly again) and I returned home to make cupcakes for a wake (so much for not working during the holidays, couldn't really say no to these - which is a pain!)  By the time I had finished baking, Matt had returned back on his bike - shattered.  We then had a quiet evening in as Matt was quite tired and not feeling 100%.

Thursday morning was spent putting together our arguments against the proposed development behind us as it has gone to the National Planning Office.  Oh joy!  Not a fun thing to do, but necessary and hopefully we've picked enough holes in his argument to show that he can't be trusted.  We will see...  the rest of the morning was spent putting together toppers for cupcakes before Tom was returned to us by Bob.  The afternoon was spent at Jump Rush and Pizza Hut for Seth's birthday. Then the evening was spent putting the cupcakes together.

Ready for 2 days away!

Friday we had a quiet morning.   Tom was off to cub camp for the weekend and we had a massive kit list to put together.  It took most of the morning to get the kit together and then we had the task of getting it into a bag.  In the end we had to get Matt's old back packing rucksack down for him. and even then it wouldn't all fit in - his pillow and wellies having to be put in bags and attached. He could carry it by himself though.  Oh, he also made a batch of flapjacks - which he did by himself - they got split between a jumble sale and cub camp.  We had lunch at home and then Matt decided to head off early as Barton Grange was just round the corner from where cub camp was, and as it was a horrible day we could easily spend it playing crazy golf and playing pool and table curling which turned out lots of fun.

Tom and Harry in their dorm

At 7.30 we arrived at camp to drop Tom off.  Charlie and Harry were already there and very very excited - off the scale excited (especially Harry!)  Cubs weren't camping but staying in a bunk house - pretty basic - 4 bunk beds crammed into a room - you did wonder how much sleeping would take place.  Tom got a bottom bunk because all the top ones had gone - we arrived on time, the others arrived way earlier than we were told!  Anyway they were all excited to be there and we left him there very happy.  We drove home the scenic route and then went to the OPO for a drink before heading home.

Easter Weekend

Putting up the tent

WOW what an Easter weekend.  It reached over 20 degrees every day with clear blue skies.  Summer wardrobe is out, but the woolly hats and gloves are still in reach just in case...

Friday - we decided a quiet day would be good as we were all aching a little after Thursday's exertions.

Camping

Matt and Tom were on scenery duties for Tom's model railway - Matt had got hold of some images to use as scenery to go around the model railway and a huge piece of plywood.  Today he sawed the wood into the right sizes and pasted them on.  Leaving them in the sun to dry.

We headed to Inglesport for lunch and spent the rest of the day faffing around.  Tom and Matt put up Tom's new tent.  The instructions said it would take 5 minutes - it took them 45!  Oh hum.  I was on laundry duty and did 3 loads as it was so sunny.   We then played some cricket over on the astro turf.  Matt was on the bar at Sheafstock at 5pm - so he headed over there.  Matt and I joined him later on.  We had a burger each over there.  Tom was off playing with the other kids and we chatted to whoever was there, there were loads of people we knew there - this is, I think the biggest event Ingleton has - and the amazing sunshine brought even more people out - so much so that the bbq ran out of food quite early and the bar too - they were on record takings on Friday at 7.30 - the bar didn't close till until 11!  A good time had by all - we only left because the last band of the night were a bit screechy and as they were called Sex Shop Ram Raid we figured it might get a bit fruity!

As Tom had put his tent up, he said we wanted to sleep in it over night.  He gave it a go, but came in twice - once saying he was worried he would get kidnapped and another saying he felt it wasn't quite right - so we tucked him up in bed.  Was a good try though.

Saturday - Matt and Tom had been invited by Pete and the boys for a bike ride up near Ribblehead.  They jumped at the chance.  Pete is very very fit, and has lived around here all his life and therefore knows a lot more routes than us.  He is also an early riser - so we had to get up early to make sure we had enough time to have breakfast and pack up the bikes by 9am - luckily we are punctual as they turned up 10 mins early.  I wasn't invited.

OVER TO MATT...

Tom and Harry on the Cam High Road

Yes, taking up an invitation from a (super fit) friend, we strapped our bikes to the car and parked up near Gearstones on the Ingleton-Hawes road. The first 1.5 miles or so of the bike ride was up the main road, which was less unpleasant than I'd imagined thanks to smooth tarmac, nice weather and very light traffic. Just near Newby Head, we turned east onto the Pennine Bridleway, and headed up up up on a rocky twisty path. Tom and Harry (who have identical bikes) cleared off into the distance (fit as fiddles, both of them), while Pete and I (and Charlie) brought up the rear while having a good chat.

All 5 of us

The weather was just perfect, and the views up up there, at nearly 2000 feet, are just stunning - the Dales at their absolute best. After 3 miles or so, we reached Cam High Road, an ancient drovers' road, which is beautiful smooth tarmac, so we bombed along to Dodd Fell, where we refuelled ourselves and headed back down to Gearstones along a logging trail. All in all, we did about 11 miles, and it was fabulous. As Nik mentioned, Pete knows this area as well as anyone, and that circular route was tremendous. We'll definitely be back. Might even drag Nik up there.

Near the top of the bridleway

I was beginning to get worried about them as they were gone so long, but having heard about their adventure and how many hills were involved, I'm quite glad I didn't go, think I would have got left behind.  Anyway I put the time by myself to good use: I weeded the front and back gardens and driveway, cleared up the back garden and did yet more laundry.

Once they were back they had showers and then we went to Bernies for lunch.  Then back home for a couple of hours to finish up the garden and then we cleared out and vacuumed the garage - yes vacuumed the garage!!!!!!  All of that manual labour worked up a thirst...where could we go....oh, yes Sheafstock!  Off we went and we found lots and lots of people we knew there.

It was another good night.  Tom went off and played Frisbee in the Community Field with some friends, whilst we stayed and listened to the music and chatted with friends.  Alice was singing with the Flaming Noras again so we stayed to watch her, Tom came to us absolutely shattered at 9.30 and basically asked us to go home, so we did.  He wanted to try to sleep in the tent again - and this time he was so tired he was asleep in minutes and stayed outside for the whole night - well done him!

The Flaming Noras

Sunday - another quiet day to recover from yesterday's exertions and late night.  We had a nice long lie in (we were treated to Tom's singing coming from the tent underneath our room - he was singing along to The Lancashire Hot Pots and The Perfect Pint).  He didn't come in until 8.30.

Eye on the ball at Barbondale

After yet more laundry we headed off to Hawes to purchase some cheese (Hawes was surprisingly quiet considering it was Bank Holiday - no problem finding parking at all - Ingleton on the other hand has been absolutely rammed with cars.  We did a quick circuit of the town - I bought some sandals and Matt a cool new shirt, then lunch at the creamery before the boys showed me the Cam High Road where they cycled yesterday.  Very very scenic and quite lumpy - glad I didn't go, especially as superfit Pete was there!

We then went to Barbondale for a dip in the river there before heading back home and one last visit to Sheafstock - well it would have been rude not to!  Lots more friends there again!  This time we came back home for tea - couldn't face another burger as good as they are!  Tom then slept outside in the tent again.

Monday - we had a quiet morning.  Matt and Tom fixed the new railway scenery to the model railway - looks good.  I did some cake admin, then we went out to Goat Gap for a spot of lunch, well I had a spot of lunch, Tom had a massive wedge of sausage roll and chips and Matt a bowl of bean and chorizo stew.

Messing about on the river

Ali and Tom

The afternoon was spent with the lovely Bickerstaffs down at the river in Burton.  Was a lovely afternoon - not been there before.  The river is deep here, meaning you can swim if you wish.  The Bickerstaffs bought a dinghy with them and we took Ali with us.  The boys got on really well and all 3 ended up completely immersed - brave souls!  I had my swimsuit but only my toes got wet - way too cold for me!  Whilst the kids played the adults sat, relaxed and chatted.  All very civilised and super chilled.  We very much enjoyed ourselves.

Got home, made a curry for tea and vegged.  The weather has turned a little bit - windy and therefore a bit cooler.  Tom was insistent that he wanted to sleep outside again.  This the boy who hates the wind?!!!  It was whistling around the garden.  I didn't really want him to sleep outside, but figured it was up to him.  We didn't have to wait for long, within half an hour of tucking him in, he came in saying "I regret going outside".  I was relieved and happily tucked him up in his bed.

Up to his neck in it!

Easter Holidays - Week 1

Group selfie

Monday - it was sunny but cold and windy again.  I couldn't bear being outside and getting cold again so we decided to head to Kendal for lunch and then the cinema to see Missing Link which was a film I hadn't heard of but really enjoyed - very British humour about an explorer that goes looking for 'the missing link' finds him, becomes friends, takes him to his kin in the Himalayas, but he isn't accepted, but they end up life long mates helping each other along.  Have to watch it to understand it - but was a fun children's film to watch - Tom enjoyed it too.

Tuesday - the wind had stopped blowing - yay!  We had arranged a day with Matthew so we went round to pick him up and then went to Stacksteads for some swimming.  Forgot to take my underwater camera which is a shame!  We were there for 2 hours, the kids managed over an hour in the pool by themselves, so snappy came out and they had loads of fun whilst I did some lengths.  Then back to Ingleton, lunch at Inglesport and then we went to the park which was good, until Tom leaped off a piece of apparatus and face planted on the floor - blood in the mouth, nose, chest etc etc.  That was the end of that, so we came home and they played zoo and lego until I took Matt home.

Lucy, very tall Mae and Tom

Wednesday - Tom and I headed to Warrington for the day.  Warrington is half way between Telford and here, so the perfect place to meet up.  Warrington isn't a well known tourist hot spot, but I managed to find a good looking park on-line and we decided to meet there.  It was a glorious day - blue skies and sunny by the end of the day we were all in T-shirts and looking a big rosy!  We met up with Rachel, Mae and Lucy.  We hadn't seen each other for 3 years - but it didn't seem to matter, the kids got on instantly and Lucy is now big enough to join in with most games which is great.  There was a huge adventure park so the kids played there whilst Rachel and I chatted - we had quite a bit to catch up on.  After a while we had a picnic lunch together and then explored the free children's zoo which had lots of randy male Peacocks strutting their stuff, a couple of donkeys and lots of red squirrels, oh and some Herdwick sheep.

Welcome strawberry ice cream half way round

Then a quick change at the car to rid ourselves of some clothes and get scooters out for the kids.  They then whizzed around whilst Rachel and I explored the formal gardens.  It was a very pleasant park and only cost us £3 parking for the whole day - a bargain, shame we had to drive right through Warrington to get to it.  Tom, unfortunately wasn't at his best today - he spent a good hour in a sulk, never got to the bottom of why - not great behaviour and I was disappointed but hey - that's kids for you.  When we parted, Mae said she hoped it wouldn't be so long before we met up again - so I'm guessing they had a good time.  It was lovely to see them all again.

Thursday - Matt had finished his WOSAs so was free of work - yay.  We split into two today - I'm in training for the 3 peaks and was needing to do 2 peaks this week, so we made a picnic for each of us and then Matt and Tom dropped me off at Ribblehead so I could climb Whernside and Ingleborough finishing up at Ingleton and they headed off to the Howgills.  It was another gorgeous day - although very very hazy.  Got up to 19 degrees I believe which was good.  It was MEGA windy on top of Whernside - so much so that I struggled to walk in a straight line!  Anyway, I managed it: 14 miles, 3330ft of ascent in 5.5 hours.  Got tired legs tonight.

Testing the depth

Over to Matt:

Struggling up to the summit

Yes, Tom and I took ourselves off for a 6 mile hike through the Howgill Fells. I'd been meaning to explore this area for ages, so it was nice to finally get round to it. The first half of the walk was a climb up an ever narrowing valley/gully along a stream. The path was very narrow and indistinct, but Tom seemed to love the challenge. If anything, he made it up the gully more easily than I did - a proper little mountain goat. We stopped for lunch at the bottom of a waterfall called The Spout, with me eating while trying to work out how on earth I was going to drag Tom up it. We somehow made it, and once we got to the top of the valley, the landscape opened up into open moorland, which was tough going on very boggy and grassy terrain.

Tom's enthusiasm was starting to seriously wane once we reached the summit, but (luckily) once we got there, we were rewarded with views down to the M6 (Eddie Stobart trucks!) and the West Coast Main Line (Virgin Trains!), meaning that the journey back down to the car was a pleasant one, despite some seriously strong winds (I had to hold on to Tom to stop him blowing off the mountain) and very limited visibility thanks to some thick haze.

Pendolino in the Lune Valley

For "only" 6 miles, it was extremely tiring, and my legs ached the following day, but the views were lovely, and I was very impressed with Tom's stamina. We were worried that he's lost some fitness since he stopped swimming lessons, but it didn't show today.