Twelve!

   So, Wednesday arrived - Tom's birthday.  Not the best time for a birthday during full lockdown, but hey the kids are all used to it now!  Although Tom said he wasn't that bothered by his birthday, he spent most of Tuesday night in bed in tears - he couldn't get to sleep.  He wasn't excited about his birthday, but he couldn't sleep - it got to the stage where he was way too stressed to get to sleep.  It was after midnight until he finally got off.  Then of course, neither me nor Matt could sleep because we were worried that he would start crying again.  Oh hum.  He might be growing up, but he is still quite young really.

He came bouncing into our room at 7.45 for present opening.  Considering it is lockdown and therefore no presents from friends, he did really really well.  There was certainly a couple of themes: 1) curry - he got a curry chef apron, a spice caddy with a host of spices to put in it and a book of curries 2) cricket: an  England Cricket top which he has been wanting for ages, a cricket rebounder net and a cricket ball birthday cake 3) biking: a new bike and biking top.  We also got him some new board games, just because half term is next week and we need something new to do.  Oh, almost forgot, as usual Martin over did it and got Tom an enormous lego kit of a dumper truck with a proper motor which can be controlled by his phone!  Anyway, thanks everybody, he's a lucky boy!

  

We had sort of hidden his new bike downstairs, behind the island unit, but it was too big and he spotted it instantly.  He thought he had got everything, so was quite surprised but happy to get it.  Every time he finished a lesson early he was across in the car park testing it out.  He has tested every bike over there!  This time he was bouncing it up and down as it has suspension.  

We had breakfast and then it was on to home school - oh joy!  To be fair it wasn't too bad.  He had a live form time, a live check in for English and a live music lesson which was last period and a check up to see how people found the work.  After 15 mins the teacher told the kids to finish early unless they needed to catch up.  Tom had done everything so he finished early yahooo.  He and Matt immediately went on a bike ride to try out the new bike - Tom was very happy with it, it has suspension and 27 gears.  It was a beautiful day - clear and blue skies but very very cold.  

We hadn't told anyone it was Tom's birthday, but still a number of people knew and came for a socially distanced chat and to drop of pressies.  We had visits from the Bickerstaffs, Fosters, Grannie and Grandpa, the Wilkinsons and Mannings.  We also had zoom calls with Jude and Craig and Granma and Pop Pop.  Not bad and just as well some of Tom's lessons finished early. The only one we got behind with was English, and as he has 2 more lessons, we figured we would catch up on it later in the week.  It was a seriously social day - lovely for all of us.

Tom wanted to cook for his birthday tea - yay!  Japanese curry was on the menu - perfect as he had his new Curry Chef apron.  We made it together as with all the social calls we had got behind.  We had teas on knees in front of the first episode of Blue Planet, which Tom had got on DVD.

It wasn't the most thrilling or fun filled day, but I think he was happy enough.  Expectations for fun have lowered over the past year!  

Home School!

So we are now in week 6 of home school.  Initially we were told it would be until February half term but it is looking more and more likely that it will be until mid March / Easter.  It has been a rollercoaster ride.  We have had a lot of tears, some from me, mostly from Tom and A LOT of frustration.  I have had to learn to count to 3 before getting short / frustrated / stressed with Tom, because as soon as he picks up on my frustration, he gets stressed and seconds later we have tears, which doesn't help either of us.  He does make it difficult sometimes though as he can be quite stubborn and 'refuse' to understand a concept no matter how many times you go over it with him, or he thinks everything is a trick question and therefore chooses the wrong option every time not using any logic to realise his answer has to be wrong or he will put down an answer without reading the question properly.  He keeps saying he hasn't got a functioning brain, to which I say he has, he just hasn't learnt to use it properly yet!  One subject he does enjoy is French and he does seem to be getting better at it.  His accent is better than mine already and the lessons are so well planned and so well explained it is impossible not to understand.  I have learnt loads of new phrases already, my accent hasn't improved though!  We have started using French words in our day to day speech.

Some subjects have been great (French, Geography, History, Theatre Studies, Textiles, IT), some ok (English, Maths, Music, Chemistry, Art, DT, PD ) and some really awful (Biology, Physics, Food Tech).  The awful ones have caused so much frustration and stress, mainly due to bad teaching, lack of explanations and then assessments that bear no relation to the work they have been given! I have chased English and given feedback which to be fair they have acted upon, but I have sort of lost the will now with it all.  Plus we keep getting told that teachers are super stressed - you don't know what is going on in their personal lives, so don't want to complain too much.

However, having said that, Physics and Biology have sent me over the edge!  I have ended up buying a course guide for science and that has made it better.  Basically we get a topic, do the lesson, then get out the course guide and make notes from that in the hope that Tom gets some understanding.  The teachers send through a powerpoint with no explanation of the slides or just tell us to watch a video and make notes they certainly aren't able to follow a powerpoint with no explanation (eg today I spent an hour fathoming out 2 pictures of electrons and a cloth, trying to work out why they were different, eventually I worked out that the 'rod' in each picture must be made of a different material - how would an 11 year old be able to work that out or understand it?).  Also, an 11 year old is not capable of making notes, they need some guidance on what is important etc etc.  I have ended up sitting down with him for all science lessons now, hoping that I can unravel it for him and teach him what he needs to know.  I think it is very lazy, the other subjects seem to be able to put together some useful lessons, you wonder why the science dept can't?!  This week, Tom got given the hardest crossword on electro-static forces as his homework.  Initially all three of us poured over it, but couldn't answer it, then we got google out, still no luck.  This morning, I was determined to get it done so spent an hour or so on physics websites from universities around the world until I found the answers.  I saw it as a personal challenge in the end and was determined to see it to the end, but really, how is an 11 year old meant to do that?  Biology is easier - I did A level and first year of uni, so have a decent understanding of it, I didn't do physics at exam level - I never 'got' it, I might be 'acquiring' it now!

Oh and guess what - we got an email from school saying they aren't doing the puberty chat with the kids now, that we would have to do it in their place instead - oh joy!  There was then confusion regarding sending teaching materials to us and then in the end they just put up a powerpoint with audio and a teacher going through it all.  It was fine, she spent a while doing male organs and glossed over female organs, so I went back to explain that and a girls period - what it is and why etc.  Didn't want him not knowing, especially as some of his friends have started already.

Quite often Tom is working until 5pm trying to get all the work done.  By which time he is shattered and I can't expect him to continue.  It has got better recently, it just seems to be English and the sciences that take up so much time.  The school last week, decided that as it was Young Person's Mental Health Week that they would give the kids a challenge to do every day - on top of their school work...WHAT?!!!  We, of course, didn't have time to do them - most of them were art ones anyway, anything art causes conflict in our house.  The kids who did them then got emails of commendation saying how wonderfully they are engaging in the work...NO! The reason they were able to do them is because they AREN'T engaging properly and therefore AREN'T doing all the set work and so have time to do them.  Talk about how to crush the kids who are working properly! Completely didn't help their mental health, in fact it made it worse!  

Of course the school won't know until the kids go back who has been doing all the work properly and who hasn't, as the school hasn't asked for any evidence of the work to be sent their way other than the odd assignment and quiz - most of which you could do without doing the work as they are multiple choice click bait.   I know some mums have told me that their kids are finished every day by lunchtime, I just have no understanding how that can be, other than they look at the lesson, go straight to the quiz or assignment, do that and that's it - ie do none of the work leading up to the quiz or assignment?  When I ask about specific bits, the mums have no idea as they haven't been monitoring their kids, so I am thinking their children can't be doing it properly.  I know other mums who are monitoring their kids and they are all working late and getting stressed trying to get it all done - I'm certainly not alone, but think I am one of the more conscientious parents - hopefully it will pay off on Tom when he returns and the teachers see that he does have understanding of the home schooling lessons.  I hope so anyway otherwise all the stress wouldn't have been worth anything!

In the last 2 weeks, the school have been doing more live check-ins for the children.  They are supposed to have 2 live form sessions a week (that has never happened for Tom) and then the odd live lesson - with mixed success: Chemistry and Textiles have done live lessons really well, Geography, Maths, Biology and History each tried to do a live lesson but failed miserably and gave up - mainly due to technical reasons and others just haven't tried.  Some subjects are now doing a live check in at the start of the lesson, to see who is checking in, check they understand where the work is and ask if any have any questions.  Mainly this is to take the option of 'I didn't know Miss' away from the kids!  No teaching really takes place, but I think maybe if the teachers start with that they might get their confidence up to do a proper live lesson.

We've been told that the earliest schools will return is 8th March, but of course they need to do mass testing before anyone can go back - not sure how long that will take?  Year 7 is the least important year, so they will be last to get back, probably just in time for the Easter holidays!  Infection rates are going down, but Covid is still quite well spread and hospitals are still rammed with patients, and as soon as the kids go back, infection rates will rise again, although they will have testing so they won't have to send huge numbers home every time there is a positive case like last time.  If you are in the same class as a positive case, you have to take a test everyday for 10 days and as long as you are negative you can be in school - will be so much better, means kids can stay in school, and hopefully asymptomatic cases will be picked up as well, which will help stop the spread.

Anyway, can't wait for half term and no home school - all evidence of home school is going to be removed from the kitchen and we are going to relax and do other stuff.  

Back to the Home School routine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tom the snow angel

Playing in the drifts

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

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

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

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

Our favourite tree

New Year

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

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

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

Inside the Cathedral

Statue in Ripon Cathedral

Beautiful window

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

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

Standing up frost

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

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

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

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

Good things about 2020:

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

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

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

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

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

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

1st January

The River Ure at West Tanfield

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

2nd January

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

Snowy bobbles

Cyril (part of)

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

3rd January

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

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

The bit in-between

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

Herdy!

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

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

Lauren and Tom silhouettes

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

At the top of Long Scar

A lovely day.

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

Usual photo at Ribblehead

Christmas

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

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

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

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

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

Before

After

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

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

220 DEGREES FOR 25 MINS

140 DEGREES FOR 1.5 HRS

TAKE OUT OF THE OVEN 45 MINUTES BEFORE EATING

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

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

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

Yorkies!

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

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

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

Sorry didn't take many photos except of dinner!

Ingleton on Christmas Day

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

December

The beginning of December saw the end of the second lockdown.  We are in Tier 2, meaning that all shops, bars and restaurants are open, but you can only go with people who you live with.  We can meet up outside with up to 6 people.  We could also stay overnight in accommodation, once again, as long as it is only with people we live with.  Yay.  This meant that we could, at last have our nights away at the Den.  We got in touch with Katie and Jon and booked ourselves in.  We were ridiculously excited.  Just to be somewhere else - and the fact that this was third time lucky.  

The Den at night

We were slightly worried earlier, as it snowed quite hard on Wednesday night.  The hills were covered in snow and of course the road to Ribblehead is always the first to close.  Luckily, the snow did melt in the lower slopes, meaning we could get up there in the Civic, we took the sledges with us just in case we could find some good runs.

We picked Tom up from school, quickly packed the car and headed the 7 miles up the road to Gauber, unpacked and relaxed.  There was a fire burning for us, which was lovely.  The Den itself was very cosy.  It is tiny but the use of space so clever, that it feels bigger.  Matt and I even had a kingsize bed.

I had made a stew at home in the slow cooker, so we plugged that in, opened a bottle or two and snuggled down on the sofas for a lovely, warm, evening in, drinking lots, eating plenty and, well, relaxing.  Pure bliss.         

We had a fabulous night's sleep. Bacon sarnies for breakfast and then we headed to Snaizeholme to see the squirrels.  We went with Katie and co - they are a family of 3 and as we are allowed to be together as a 6 it made sense to do it together - they weren't sure where to go and (of course) we are all starved of social interaction.  

Wowzers, the squirrels put on a brilliant display.  There must have been a dozen or so of them, and they were happy to play around us.  The scene was amazing too - bright blue sky, snow on the hills and gently steaming trees and meadows.  We must have spent a good 1.5 hours up there just watching all the squirrels darting about.  Matt was very happy as he got some great shots. Katie and co were enchanted by them - think they will go back.   

Tuffty!

Hawes 

We then split up - we headed to Hawes, whilst Katie and co went home.  I had some chocolates to deliver to Chapel Gallery, so we stopped off at Wensleydale Creamery for lunch (I was good and just had soup) and then we went into the town.  It was completely deserted.  Eerily so.  We dropped off the choccies, did a little bit of shopping on our favourite stores and then headed back home.  

We wanted an hour or so in front of the fire again.  We then headed out to the Station Inn for dinner.  Felt very decadent and very safe. Tables were very far apart, the foot was good old comfort food for walkers - so it was a lamb shank for me and bacon wrapped cumberland sausage for Matt.  We walked home with happy bellies admiring the stars above even though it was a little cold!

Sunday we went for a walk with Katie and co around their house, and then headed to Thorns for another ramble - such an interesting place.  As I was looking in a barn, suddenly there was a movement and a flutter...a huge barn owl flew over my head.  Wowzers.  Unfortunately, Matt didn't have his camera ready.  We ate our sandwiches and then headed over the road to clamber on some limestone pavements before returning to the Den and heading the long way home.  Was a lovely weekend - so glad we finally got to do it.

The next week, I had my head down getting orders done.  With the threat of isolation always above our heads, it was imperative that I got as much done as possible as quickly as possible just in case.  I basically worked every single minute I could.  I didn't actually advertise myself that much this year as I didn't want to get too many orders, but somehow I still managed to get quite a few - lots of new customers (people wanting to support local business which was great).  Also, of course I needed to keep Gingerbugs stocked and they were selling a lot of my chocolate.  Also, on Monday we got our tree and the decs down from the loft, put the Christmas music on and got the house ready for Christmas.

The Beck at Austwick

English Prize

At the weekend, I broke off.  Tom came home from school on the Friday very excited as he had been 1 of 2 children chosen in his English class to get an effort prize.  He was delighted, as were we as English isn't his favourite / strongest subject and the fact he got recognised out of 30 means that he must be putting himself out there which is good to know.

On the Saturday we did the long walk around Feizor which was nice.  On Sunday I think we had a day of chores and Tom watched Polar Express - his favourite Christmas film which he has to watch every year.  A good beginning to the Christmas season.  Oh and we finished putting up all the Christmas decorations.

Tom had 4 days left at school and he managed all of them.  We got his school report which was very bizarre and took a while to interpret.  First of all were effort grades which were all fab - improved from last term.  Then attainment grades which averaged out as G/Fs?!!!!  We were completely confused, but it turns out that these are the grades he would attain right now if he was to take his GCSEs today.  What is the point of that?  Do we really need to know that?!  Anyway, once we had worked out that that was what we were looking at, we ignored it!  He got chosen to enjoy a Christmas film with popcorn rather than double Chemistry on the Thursday as one of 30 who had got top effort grades.  Not bad considering he is in a year group of 256.  We were very happy with him and for him.

I got all my orders finished and most of my orders collected which meant I could sort of relax, the kitchen was in a state, but the main thing was that the orders were finished and packed.  On the Friday we all enjoyed a lie in and then had a useful day doing chores.  I packed up fudge which was left over from orders to take to Gingerbugs.  It wasn't the nicest of days, but Matt and Tom managed to fit a short walk in to get some fresh air.

Tom and Florrie tree climbing

On Saturday, we finally got to see the Alpacas.  This was also third time lucky - due to Tom being isolated and Florrie being isolated for the last two dates that were arranged.  First of all we met up at Whinlatter Forest for a walk.  Was lovely, through a forest up to a peak from which we looked over Keswick and Derwent Water.  Was a bit of a slog though, especially as we were talking and walking up hill at the same time.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great - we had shower after shower of heavy rain, meaning we were all soaked and cold, but it didn't really matter - we were all glad of the company and being out somewhere.  

Inca the Alpaca

After the walk we headed to Lingholm Estate where we met up with the Alpacas.  After a quick talk we were let into their field with some food.  Wowzers, as soon as they saw us they came hurtling towards us at full pace - we all thought we were going to be bowled over, but they all stopped in time and stuck their noses into our bowls to chomp away on their food.  They were all males, and all very social, very calm, gentle and quite comical.  We came away wanting to have one as a pet.  They basically looked like big sheep whose necks had been pulled.  They allowed us to pet them and Tom and Florrie managed to get some selfies.  It was good fun.  Shame they were all bedraggled from the rain, I would like to see them fluffy.

Alpaca selfie

We went looking for a mulled wine to warm up - but being two families we had to stay outside and it was cold and wet outside.  The cafe at the Alpacas was licensed but they didn't do mulled wine, so we decided to call it a day and head home, if we found a pub doing mulled wine we would have to eat a substantial meal which we didn't want - the pains of tiers!  (At least we are in tier 2 and have some freedoms).  We decided to call it a day and headed home for hot showers and mulled wine.

Sunday we had a quiet day.  Tom and Matt went out for a quick bike ride, whilst I went for a walk.  

So, towards the end of the week, the government changed their minds about Christmas.  They had promised a 5 day window where people could meet up (max of 3 households) regardless of where they were in the country.  However, incidences of Coronavirus have risen massively in the South-East, meaning that a new tier 4 has been introduced (basically the same as lockdown v2) and people who live in tier 4 told not to move.  Christmas is now for one day only meaning that people (hopefully) won't travel too far.  Just as well we had arranged not to meet up with anyone - everyone I know around here with family outside of the local area has decided not to travel - I think pretty much any sensible person would have decided it wasn't worth it - especially as the vaccine is being rolled out - a couple more months and we will be able to meet up safely - might as well wait.  Let's hope not too many people travel here to second homes from the South-East and spread their variant to us, our infection rate is the lowest its been for a while at the moment.

Monday we had a useful day.  I got up at 6am and drove to Sainsburys in Kendal for the Xmas shop.  This year, for the first year ever, I forgot to book a delivery slot.  With the announcement that the extended Christmas meet up period had been cancelled, I figured that more people will need to go to the supermarket to pick up food that they thought they wouldn't need.  The earlier I got to the store, the better it would be.  Anyway, I had the most pleasant supermarket experience I could hope for.  There were more workers than customers, everyone seemed in a good mood.  I didn't have to do the Covid dance to get my stuff from the shelves and everything was fully stocked. 

When I finished I thought I would hop across to Aldi to restock my cake ingredients.  It was a different story there.  The shop was rammed and there was a queue to get in.  I took one look and decided to leave it - I won't need anymore cake ingredients for a while.  I did a bit more Christmas shopping in the retail park before heading home.  I got home around 10am and everything was done.  Great stuff.  Turns out it was a good decision as the French closed their border to us on Monday due to the Covid infection rates in the south-east and as a result some food items have been hard to get hold of.  Phew!

Big fat pig!

On Tuesday we had a non rainy day so went out for a walk on the Bowland Fells.  It was going to be a short circular walk, but somehow it got extended and it was pretty slow going as the land was sooooo boggy.  We got ourselves to the top of Clougha Pike and were rewarded by wonderful views of Morecambe Bay down below us - we could even see Blackpool Tower.  We sat and ate our sandwiches (we went to Seasons to get them Tom had chosen the biggest one he could find - a Yorkshire pudding wrap with a Christmas dinner in it - the big fat pig!)  We then headed into the bog to get home.  We were all exhausted when we finished - basically we spent 6 miles pulling our feet out of muddy bogs, not the easiest walk, but we felt good afterwards (even if we had leaden legs!)

View from Clougha Pike

Wednesday was a miserable, rainy day, so we had a day of chores.  Laundry, vacuuming, washing floors, cleaning the kitchen etc etc.  The house looked a lot better afterwards.  I feel I can relax now.

Christmas Eve, we had a nice quiet morning, then the boys went out for a bike ride (was very cold and windy - they did good) and I went for a short walk and seemed to bump into loads so turned out to be quite social.  Was a beautiful day - bright sunshine and blue skies - very very cold though!

We are now all set for our quiet Christmas

Merry Christmas Bike Ride

November

Back to what we have been up to..

So, on the Tuesday after half term, Tom went back to school and enjoyed 4 normal days of learning.  On the Saturday lockdown 2 started: a month of all hospitality, non-essential shops etc closed.  We weren't allowed in other people's gardens, but we could meet up 1:1 to go for a walk.  This I did a couple of times until Christmas orders got too much.  

On Thursday I had a very rare night out.  Janine, myself and Steph met up at the Wheatsheaf for tea.  It was just wonderful, having a girlie chat about not much, munching on pub chips and burger and a drink.  A delicious treat I haven't experienced since before March.  The barman at the Wheatsheaf really didn't want us there and was very passive aggressive, trying to get us to move, but all of us were revelling in being out that we ignored him and waited until 9.50 until we left.  It was a wonderful night out - much needed.

At the weekend we made a point of being outside and walking as Tom had been stuck inside for 2 weeks, so on Saturday we drove to Kingsdale and walked up to Gragareth.  It was a long old slog through bogs, made worse by the fact I had new hiking boots on which gave me a blister and the usual pins and needles in my feet - all my hiking boots give me pins and needles - I think because my feet are so wide.  Anyway we got to the top and were rewarded with magnificent views across the countryside towards Kirkby Lonsdale.  A good stiff walk.

On Sunday we went for a shorter, easier walk along the Greta which was lovely, we managed to bump into the Woollys too which was fab - shared a pack of Cherry Bakewell biscuits which were a revelation to us!  When we got back from the walk we got an email from school saying that Tom would have to isolate for another 2 weeks (see earlier blog post) We weren't happy, Tom only had 6 days of freedom, so he spent 4 out of 5 weeks stuck inside - not good.

Chicken Korma

Up until 20th November was spent attempting to home school Tom and watching films (we got through the whole Roger Moore collection of James Bond) and making dinners - Tom has found my curry cook book which is a step by step book and teaches you how to make curries from scratch - grinding up spices etc - it is a great revelation - for him making lovely food from scratch and for us - eating lovely food not cooked by me.  Oh and he spent an afternoon making a cauldron of bolognaise for lasagna and school dinners.  Fantastic.

Lasagna production line

Tom was brilliant during his isolation, never grumped, just got on with it and tried his best (mostly) with the school work we could find.  He went back to school on Friday 20th November, he was very very excited, so much so that we was dancing around the house as a crab (?!) all of Thursday afternoon.  His bag was packed mega early and, well he was just very very excited. Couldn't be a moment too early - he was visibly grey from lack of fresh air on Thursday - not a good look and not good for his health.  

We took him to school in the car - we figured 2 isolations close to each other was enough for a while.  Whilst we can't control who gets Covid at school, we can control how he goes to school (if someone on the bus tests positive, the whole bus has to isolate, regardless of the fact you could be sat a good 10 metres away from the person with Covid - this has happened to Sierra twice).  So from now on we will be dropping him off and picking him up - this, of course significantly eats into our working day, but it is worth it, knowing we won't get the dreaded email for the bus trip.

On Friday, once Tom was home, I made him get dressed and we went out for a Storrs Common walk.  It was raining, it was windy but Tom was grey and needed some fresh air.  We got home, he had colour in his cheeks - very good to see.

Saturday, the plan was to have a nice long walk.  We headed to Settle and did the Victoria Cave walk - which is quite a stiff walk but very beautiful: the crags of Attermire Scar are very jagged and interesting.  We were lucky in that the sun came out and shone on the landscape.  A beautiful afternoon.

Buzzard

Sunday we headed up the Hawes road and did a walk around Great Doak Cave.  A short but steep walk with lots of interest.  Last time we went up there we came across a lost sheep, no such adventures this time.

Tom then managed a full week at school (well sort of - he had a hospital appointment about his hayfever on the Wednesday so he missed 2.5 lessons because of that)  He saw two Drs who are going to monitor him as closely as they can next year (although depends on Covid etc), they will change his medication again but if it still doesn't work, then they will look at desensitisation jabs to see if that helps him.  They take 3 years to work - so we really need to get it started soon.

Saturday, we did the Ingleton quarry walk and then Tom made us a green hara masala curry - which was chicken in a mint and coriander sauce, very refreshing and tasty.  

On Sunday, Matt and Tom went for a bike ride up to Broadrake via Oddies Lane, whilst I went for a run.  Took me an age - a combination of extra weight and less fitness due to also being stuck in because of Tom's isolations.  Always the way, the first thing to go is always my running and now I am 10 minutes slower than I was a couple of years ago.  It is going to take ages to get back to that level - if I ever do!

Tom came back and made a lemon drizzle cake (he really does have the cooking bug at the moment!).  A great weekend.

Unimpressed with school

So, Tom managed 4 days at school and then at the weekend (luckily late on Sunday) we got the email of doom and were told that a classmate of Tom's had tested positive for Covid and that he couldn't go back to school until Friday 20th November.  BUGGER!  A number of FB messages later and we narrow it down to someone in his English class - not that it matters who it is, but it means that most of his form are still at school, Tom is 1 in 5 who isn't in class for general classes, I think this makes it worse as the work goes on without him and the teacher won't remember who was off isolating when they are working out report grades etc. 

We were thrown into on-line learning, the school uses TEAMS for their on-line learning which is basically a database of resources.  They don't have live lesson streaming (not sure why - it would mean less queries coming their way if so!)  It is a nightmare system to navigate, mainly because every department uses it differently, files are all over the place, links don't work, there are hidden channels, worksheets that you can't download, basically a mess.  How an 11 year old is supposed to find their work and then do it unaided is beyond me.  Because he is isolating at home and wanting to do his work in the kitchen, I can't do any chocolate work.  Not great with Christmas coming up, but it does mean that I can dedicate my time  to helping him keep up.  It was the most frustrating week ever.  The worse subject by a long way was Maths, then all the sciences and then French.  Some, geography (naturally) were very well organised and a dream to do.  No subjects have asked for any work to be submitted and marked which I find extra-ordinary.  Tom has filled in worksheets for Maths, but once again no answer sheets - how on earth is he expected to know if he has understood correctly, or are they expecting me to work out all the answers as well?  He is missing 6 maths lessons, which is not good considering they were just beginning to learn algebra!  In an email to Matt, Tom's old headmistress said that we should expect excellent on-line resources, and we would be well within our rights to moan to them... Then on Thursday we get a letter from the headteacher basically saying to stop moaning about home schooling, all the work is available, you aren't doing it properly.  A red rag to a bull...the work wasn't there, so I spent Saturday whilst the boys were watching James Bond taking screen shots of the Teams system to prove that the work wasn't available and where it was available, impossible to find.  I ended up with a 15 page letter, showing proof that the info they said was available wasn't available and trying to explain to them how difficult it is to navigate.

It made me feel better if nothing else - I had a lot of pent up frustration in me!

Despite the on-line resources being rubbish, Tom has yet again been brilliant, doing all his work as well as he could (although he is a stickler for having his breaks at exactly the same time as at school regardless of whether he has finished what he is doing or not).  He has looked a bit sad though, it isn't fair on him, not able to have any fresh air, get some exercise etc.  The school are very quick to send reams of children home, for example, for 1 positive case, 120 children in Tom's year got sent home (at Settle College - they only send home children who were within a 2m radius of the positive case).  How can two schools read and implement the regulations set out by the Dept of Education so differently?  Also at Settle they have live lessons and teachers who phone to check up on pupils, we've been told that is too much work for the teachers at Tom's school?  How?  The teachers wouldn't get oodles of emails and messages asking what work to do if they could log in and see the lessons in action.  Also regardless of how big a school is, the class is still the same size.  So a form tutor in Settle will have 30 pupils to check up on, the same number as a form tutor at Tom's school.  Needless to say we aren't that impressed with the school at the moment!

I sent the email on Sunday, just before 9am on Monday I got a phone call from one of the Assistant Head Teachers, who firstly gave me a lecture saying I didn't understand how much work the teachers were doing and that it was extra stress on them every time children get sent home.  I knew I would probably get a lecture, so I was ready for it.  I didn't rant in the letter (as much as I wanted to) and I didn't mention any teachers names either and I kept the tone very neutral as I knew they wouldn't take me seriously if I didn't.  Once she got that out of her system, she relented to agree that the provision for the sciences and French could be improved, but wouldn't agree that Maths was awful, apparently it is ok to have black screens, where you have to hit 'back' to load, hidden channels with hidden files, presentations that make no sense and worksheets that you can't read or download.  Because the work was in the system, we should be able to find it...these children are 11 years old!  She said that every teacher has in class shown the children where the files are - how you can expect an 11 year old to remember the location of files for 11 plus subjects is beyond me?!  I kept the conversation positive, but inside I was boiling.

Anyway, I've said my piece and probably made a name for myself!  Funny later in the day we get a one line letter from the Head of Year 7 saying how well Tom has done in his first half term at school...a coincidence?  I don't think so.  However, Tom was very happy to see it.