Castle and Trains

On Friday, Matt decided to have a half day, so Tom and I had a useful morning tidying up, cleaning etc and then we headed out.  We decided to explore Ambleside - there is a huge garden centre there which we got lost in.  Lots of toys for Tom to play with there and a massive, MASSIVE Christmas display, I'ld be quite interested to see what it is like out of Christmas season.  We then went to Grasmere - mainly to look around the Herdy Shop.  This is a new brand based on a local breed of Sheep - the Herdwick which are very cute, they have charming faces and overly baggy bodies.  We have always liked Herdwicks since we first saw them up here and are really pleased there is now a brand dedicated to them.  It is a quality brand too.  Have a look at their latest video and shop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28mB950rXLU Herdy Film - vey charming
http://www.herdy.co.uk The Herdy shop

Relaxing in the Big Hall

We then returned to Ambleside and had an Italian before heading home.

On Saturday Matt had a half day translator's meeting in Darlington.  We had a choice, let Matt take the car and us be stranded in Lupton for the day or go with Matt in the car and have a play whilst he was at his translator's do.  We opted for the second option.

It wasn't a very nice day - initially we thought it would be misty in the morning and then clear up, but the mist was too dense and the sun never got through which meant it was very cold, very damp and very dreary for the whole day.

We had discovered that there was a large Tesco in Catterick Garrison just outside of Richmond, on Tuesday I visited the local Tesco here, and whilst it was quite poor I did notice that they were doing a deal where you took your Tesco vouchers in and they doubled them up for you.  Matt had just received some vouchers in the post, so we took them in and managed a £100 shop where we paid just £30.  We came out feeling very pleased with ourselves.

Tom and a Castle

Matt subsequently got the bus to Darlington whilst Tom and I had lunch and then headed into Richmond - a nice Dales market town which has a castle right in the centre, so we decided to explore it.  Now, I'm not sure what was wrong with Tom today, as soon as we got to the castle he started to cry and kept saying he wanted to go back to the car.  He said that it was too steamy for him.  He wouldn't even consider chocolate as a bribe.  I had visions of a terrible afternoon as Matt wouldn't be back until 6pm and this was 1pm!  I took him inside to see an exhibition but he continued to cry - saying it was too steep (it was on the second floor).  He was happy enough looking round the shop and eventually when I asked if he wanted to see the castle he said yes.  Phew!  I then had to use the chocolate bribe to get him to walk round it. Eventually he relaxed and did enjoy it, in fact we spent over 2.5 hours there and I managed to get him to climb right to the top of the tower, so it was a success, but I still don't really know why he was so miserable at the beginning.

Banking

As a reward for good behaviour we stopped at a tea room for tea and a bun and then went for a look around the town.  It's the sort of place that has lots of interesting shops - ie no chain shops, and plenty of Aladdin's Cave type shops which gave us plenty of time to browse in the warmth.  We then had a hunt for a pub to have dinner in whilst waiting for Matt to return (he had pigged out at lunchtime in Darlington and didn't need proper feeding) This was quite problematic, as nearly every pub I looked at through the window seemed to be full of lads drinking - I understand why, cold Saturday afternoon but I couldn't really take Tom with me into an environment like that.  I was beginning to get desperate, but luckily the last pub I looked into (it would be the last one wouldn't it!) was empty, with a very friendly bar lady so we gratefully made ourselves at home and tucked into a huge plate of Cumberland sausage, mash, veg and Yorkshire pudding - yummmmmy.  During this time Matt arrived from Darlington so we finished up and headed home.  Tom slept for the whole journey and went straight to bed on arrival.

Tom and Daisy

Sunday we had thought about going to Keighly with our Dales pass and the steam train there, but Tom had had a long day on Saturday so we decided to stay closer to home.  Matt discovered in the morning that our local steam train - Lakeside and Haverthwaite railway were doing cheap trips for residents - only £4 return for the 3 of us, although it was a diesel day today.  Too good to miss so we went.  They also did a 2 course home cooked dinner for £5 so we had that as well - a bargain trip out.  We are really liking all these resident only prices for the Winter, means we will be out and about on every sunny day we get.

Good Swimmer

Today we went to a local caravan park for an offer I found in a local circular.  Swimming for a family of 4 plus pizzas afterwards for £10.  It was too good to miss even though we are a family of 3.  It took a while to get Tom going as the water was a little cold but after a while he started to attempt swimming and by the end of the session was doing lengths of the pool (about 20 meters). He improved significantly in his technique, he still tends to sink as he is swimming and sort of ends up swimming vertically rather than horizontally, but he is getting there.  We were very proud.

Only thing was this time he would not jump in, but last time we were in Kendal we couldn't stop him jumping in.  Oh well, the swimming was so good we couldn't complain.

Busy weekend

The Princess Elizabeth in Carlisle

Another busy weekend - they are the best after all.  We discovered two good things this week.  If you are a resident of the Dales (where we are isn't officially the Dales, but the postcode is good enough!) you can buy a special railcard so that you can travel anywhere on the Settle - Carlisle line for £7 in November to February.  This includes the line all the way to Leeds and also down to Morecambe.  Normally the fare to Carlisle is £22.50 so it is a great saving.  So Saturday saw us driving down to Settle and we got the train to Carlisle.  It is a very scenic journey, which includes 17 viaducts including the famous Ribblehead Viaduct which takes you across the Dales and the Eden Valley.  It was a 1.5 hr trip, but it went very quickly.  Tom was well behaved looking out the window. although we did have some ridiculous conversations about moving tunnels!  We got to Carlisle and saw countless spotters on one of the platforms.  Intrigued, we hung around and about 20 mins later a stream train arrived - The Princess Elizabeth which looked very beautiful and was full of more spotters (sorry enthusiasts).  It had come from Birmingham International and was due to go down to Settle on its return journey.  (Cost for a trip Settle to Carlisle on a steam train is around £65!)  Anyway a great bonus to see a steam train there.

We headed out to Carlisle, round the very good looking Citadel to the city centre.  It was HORRIBLE, full to bursting with Christmas shoppers (we had forgotten that we are well into the lead up to Christmas now).  Panic over took us and we quickly needed to get out of the crowds and find somewhere for lunch.  We found a Frankie and Benny's and dived in.  Matt managed to get a digital voucher on his phone so we had a pizza and a plate of pasta and drinks for not very much at all.  We then did some research and found that there was a park not far away and decided to go there, there was no way either of us would survive the shops.  So we found ourselves in Bitts Park which was really good - had a well thought out playground and a musical trail with lots of xylophones to play which kept all of us occupied for a while.

We then headed back towards the station where I found a very well stocked cake shop with all the bits and pieces I've been needing for the last couple of weeks - phew.  Next door to the cake shop was a cafe with a model railway in it (these are shops located in the railway arches).  Perfect somewhere for the boys to hang out whilst I shop.  Well, it would have been perfect if it hadn't been closing.  Oh well, next time we come to Carlisle we know what to do, head straight for the railway arches, the boys can eat and drink and watch the model railway and I can look round the cake shop in peace - everyone will be happy.

This was the only crocodile we could find

We got the train back to Settle and watched the sun set over the Eden Valley.  Tom had a quiet period where he snuggled into me, but he didn't fall asleep.  He was pretty well behaved though and kept us entertained.  A very good day out and ridiculously cheap - think we will do this a couple more times between now and February.

Sunday dawned clear but cold.  We decided we would go to South Lakes Wildlife Park - a zoo near to Ulverston where it is free, yes FREE to enter during winter months. How could we not visit?  We were expecting a small, average facility so were very pleasantly surprised to find it was a very well run zoo with nicely thought out enclosures. 

Riding a Rhino

It wasn't huge, but it had plenty to look at.  No elephants but pretty much everything else: tigers, lions, rhinos, hippos, about 6 giraffes (my favourite and they didn't disappoint - they were very tall), bears, penguins, kangaroos, lots of birds, monkeys etc.  We didn't find a reptile house, but you never know we may have missed it.  The bird enclosure was really good - had lots of ducks, swans, cranes etc, but also flamingos, and a couple of emus, all walking around with you.  The emus freaked out Tom - understandable though, they do look scary especially when they tower above you like they do to Tom.  The bird enclosure included an indoor area which housed some parrots, monkeys, kangaroos and a pond within which was a huge constrictor snake.  There was no fence between us and the pond, we only noticed the snake after we saw a notice saying 'beware of the snake' we thought it was a joke at first until I heard an exclamation from Matt when he saw a snake's head appearing from the pond!

We spent a good couple of hours in the zoo.  Apart from the Emus, Tom enjoyed it all.  There was even a little train for him to travel on - what more can a little boy need?

Lioness

We decided to leave when the heavens opened, and we had rumbling tummies (the food at the zoo looked very very average - however, we did find an indoor picnic area so next time we go we will take a picnic).

We headed to Ulverston and Booths where there was a cafe for lunch.  All in all a good day, can't believe it is free - we made a donation as we thought it was so good.  We will definitely return before they bring back the entrance fee again in March - when it costs £13.50 per person.

Another Sunny Day

Autumn colours

Sunday dawned beautiful - another deep blue cloudless sky.  We decided to head back to Barbondale and do the walk we discovered a couple of weeks ago.  We parked up in the usual place, had a game of football, threw some stones in the river, claimed Tom island for Tom with a flag and then headed off on our walk.

Tom did well and walked quite happily with us, with only one minor hiccough.  It took 1.5 hours to walk the 2.4 miles, so we won't break any records, but it was a lovely walk along the river, mostly downhill, to Barbon village, where there was a pub with a fire burning brightly in the grate making us feel very welcome.

Two-hat Tom

One glance at the menu and we decided to eat a proper dinner.  A sandwich was £8.00 and main course £9.00 - it was a no brainer.  Between the three of us, we shared a trio of sausages & mash, a big plate of Sunday roast (pork with crackling) and the inevitable portion of onion rings. Whilst consuming our dinners we realised that we probably wouldn't be able to coerce Tom back to the car on foot - the walk would be mainly uphill and away from a road, so if he played up there would be no choice other than to pick him up and carry him.  Matt therefore decided to walk back himself and drive the car back to us.  It took him 30 minutes to get there - which says a lot about the difference in speed between Tom and him.
I (Matt) should point out that while I marched at great speed back to the car (going shin-deep into a muddy puddle at one point), Nik & Tom killed time by polishing off a portion of apple crumble and custard.

We then headed to Sedbergh for a little walk round to familiarise ourselves. Good news: the butcher's hasn't closed, so I really need to go along one day to see if the display of meat is as good as we remember from 3 years ago.  I also found a hardware shop which looked like it might sell cake cards - it was closed so we will have to go back soon.

Barbon - typical Dales village

Tom fell asleep on the way home, but woke up as soon as we got back so we had a lazy afternoon before having a snack for dinner and bed.

My First Craft Fair

The Cake Table

I have been busy baking and inventing over the last couple of weeks as I had agreed to run a stall at the Smile Nursery Christmas Fair this weekend.  I didn't really want to do a fair as they are well known amongst the cake community as being very hard work for very little reward, however, I still haven't received one order so I am desperate to get myself known in the local community.  The nursery were running their own cake stall so there was no point me doing so, I therefore had to come up with ideas of different things to do to to showcase my skills.

First I made some cake toppers for Christmas cakes - I have found that most people make their own Christmas cakes these years but most hate decorating them so I made some decorations to go on top: Father Christmas, Snowmen, Rudolph, Penguins, Teddy Bear, Choir Boys etc.  Then I had what I thought was a good idea - making chocolate tiffin in the shape of a Christmas pudding.  I got in some silicone moulds and made 3 types: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate ones.  They are very very naughty - but who doesn't love a piece of tiffin and most people hate Christmas pudding.

Biscuit Table

My next idea came my way during a trip to Booth's in Settle where I bought some walnut whips - I turned 3 of these into Christmas figures: Father Christmas, a Choir Boy and an Angel.  I have also been experimenting with Gingerbread and made a big house and a kit for making it which I took along with some gingerbread biscuits and a last minute thought - some miniature gingerbread houses.  I also made some stained glass biscuits - biscuits with a hole in the middle filled with a melted boiled sweet - very pretty.  I was sure girls would want these.

Collection of Cake Toppers

I also took a couple of Christmas cakes - proper size and miniature size just in case someone wanted to buy a Christmas cake.  I also made some cupcakes - chocolate ones with snowflakes on top and some apple streusel ones for those who don't like mega sweet things.

Gingerbread House

Last but by no means least I made some orange peel Christmas tree decorations - for those who like a natural Christmas.

I got to the nursery an hour before opening time to set up.  The nursery provided me with some tables and it took me a good hour to get the tables set up.  I had a problem in that I didn't know what size table  I was going to get, so therefore didn't know how much stuff to take but it fitted well.  The only problem was that the tables were very short so all my wares were at the right height for toddlers to be able to destroy.  I had to bite my tongue and smile sweetly every time a toddler came up and grabbed at something - there was nothing I could do - my fault for not bringing my own proper height table.

Stained glass window biscuit

This was the first Christmas fair that the nursery had held, so they didn't know what to expect.  They have a location problem, in that they are located in a hamlet - so not many locals to come along and they have limited parking for those wanting to visit.  I wasn't expecting many to come, but plenty did.  I wouldn't say it was mega busy, but there were people milling around the whole time it was open.  I didn't do great business, the most popular things were gingerbread men and women.

However, I did get an order for some more walnut whip decorations.  Most important though were the people who took my card and looked through my portfolio saying - "Oh, I've got a 50th birthday coming up" etc etc.  I did get lots of people complimenting my work which is always lovely to hear.

I did come home with a lot of stock though - can you believe it I only sold 1 tiffin????!!!!!  I'm now trying to find an outlet for them and no-one bought a stained glass window biscuit which really surprised me - I think they look very pretty - maybe I didn't present them well enough?  The spare cupcakes went to Playgroup with me on Monday - the rest won't go off.

Walnut Whip Decorations

I got 3 orders for the Gingerbread House kit from a mum who I know at playgroup on Tuesday who went to the fair on Saturday but was having to look after a toddler in destruction mode so didn't order anything on the day.  So all was not lost, all I need is one order for a birthday cake which is then seen and eaten by many at a party then hopefully I'll be on my way.  We will see...

Needless to say I was very tired and aching on Saturday night - sitting and standing at a miniature table did my legs and back in.

Chocolate enrobed tiffin Christmas Puddings

Ha-har

Oh, I totted up what I made - £72 which is better than I thought - that doesn't include the £30 order I got on Tuesday.

Notes for next time:
+ Use a proper height table - ie get a wall papering table
+ Work out how to display biscuits properly
+ Have a proper table cloth (blue/green/with frogs?)
+ Have portfolio showing work other than that on the table
+ Have lots of £5s to hand
+ Rudolph and Santa cookies in a jar
+ Gingerbread Sleighs

Beautiful Day

Monday was a very very beautiful day.  So much so that Matt decided to take the day off - fantastic.

First of all we went to Greenlands as Tom's Enjoy-a-Ball started up again today and I knew that Matt would enjoy watching him do it.  I was right and Tom did really well, only having one little clingy moment.  Unfortunately it was all football based today, so no tennis or rounders, but it was good fun - Matt got so absorbed that he forgot to take photos - rare for him.

Car boat 'Mallard' on Windermere

Me and Tom

We then headed down to Lakeside for a snack and got the boat on Windermere to Bowness.  We had found out at the weekend that local residents get 50% off the regular price out of season, so it cost £10 for all 3 of us for a 2 hour cruise, can't complain at that.

Solem (tired) boy

As I said, it was the most fabulous day - deep blue sky and great sunlight.  The mountains were covered in snow, "looks like sugar" there wasn't a whisper of a breeze it was glorious.  We wrapped up warm and sat outside drinking up the view and looking at the very lovely houses and hotels on the shore.  We docked at Bowness and had a little walk around - somehow we managed to do quite a bit of shopping - a new winter's coat for Matt and a new pair of lined trousers for me.  We then had tea and bun before catching the last boat back to Lakeside, once again opting to sit outside and admire the sunset and view (we were the only ones outside - not sure why)

We got home with a very tired Tom, so he had dinner and went to bed.  A glorious day - as you can see from the photos.

Sunset over Windermere

Busy Weekend

We had a very very busy weekend.  On Friday evening Grandpa and Grannie came to see us.  They were supposed to be in New York celebrating Pat's 70th birthday, but Hurricane Sandy had put paid to that - instead they were spending a couple of days in the North.  Tom was on very good form when they arrived and treated them to a game of shop.  We then headed out to The Strickland Arms, a gastro pub near to Sizergh Castle for dinner.  The food was really good, Tom ate from our plates and did really well.  He was in entertainment mode, he was making up stories, singing songs and generally in a very good mood.  When pudding came out, there was a lull in conversation during which Tom shouted at the top of his voice "BLOODY HELL!" no-one else had said it, we all looked at each other in disbelief and then all dissolved into laughter - his timing was fabulous.

We didn't get home until after 8pm - Tom went straight to bed.

The children have their second sleep over - in the lounge this time

On Saturday we went out for the day.  As it was a horrible rainy day we decided to go to the Lakeland Motor Museum.  It was a fantastic place, absolutely rammed full of vehicles of all kinds.  If we didn't have a 3 year old with us, we could have spent many hours there, but we were forced to go round it quickly.  Tom did enjoy it though, he just doesn't have the concentration span that we do.  There was also a exhibition about Donald Campbell with some replica Thunderbirds which was quite interesting.

Maggie, Tom and Jenny

Once we were done, we headed off to a pub for lunch and then headed back home as the Watsons were visiting today.  They arrived around 3.30.  Jenny who's almost 3 was snoozy and shy on arrival but Tamsin and Maggie made themselves at home and before too long there was some serious track building going on downstairs.  Tom made a beeline for Cameron who was on good form - Tom called him 'funny man'.  The children had a good time and then had dinner and bed so we could do the same.

We decided to try out a sleepover with Tom this time, so Maggie and Tamsin slept in Tom's room with Tom.  It worked and it didn't take as long for them to go to sleep as we thought - no stern words were needed to get them to sleep and they stayed asleep until 6.45 which in my book is a success.  

King of the Castle

Throwing stones from 'Tom Island'

Sunday dawned bright and sunny so after some bacon sarnies we headed off for the usual Kirkby Lonsdale circuit.  We were hoping for an apperance from Church Cat Bob, but no joy today again which was a shame.  We ended up at Emily's for tea and a bun before saying goodbye to the Watson's as Cameron needed to catch a flight down to London at 3.  We then headed off to Barbon for another play and then Dent for lunch before driving home.  Tom fell asleep in the car on the way home and stayed asleep for 1hr 20mins which is longer than he's done for quite a while.

Video taken in Barbondale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1ZtIhS9YIQ&feature=plcp

At 6pm we had arranged to meet up with Pat and Bob again at The Plough.  They had been zooming around the region and seen quite a bit and found some good eateries which we've put on our list of places to visit.  Tom again was on good form, entertaining us and eating well.  We had a photo session in the pub got some good ones - especially of Bob and Tom - the photos speak for themselves!

Concentrating

Gurning boys!

My best friend comes to stay

Hugging in the park

On Thursday morning we had much excitement as Rachel, Mae and Lucy came up to stay for a night.  How cool is that?  Although they hadn't seen each other for 2 months, they were straight back into being best friends again.  I think there was about 2 seconds of shyness and then we lost Mae and Tom as Mae explored the house, and a game of hide and seek got underway.  Mae is a lot better at this than Tom, she actually hides and waits to be found, Tom still doesn't hide and finds you as soon as you say 'ready or not'.  This meant that Mae was much better and had to hide a long time before Tom could find her (with my help).

Playing on the horse

Lucy had grown amazing amounts as well - she's walking, her hair has got thicker, curlier and blonder, she has more teeth, is beginning to talk and after initially not wanting to be with me, accepted me and played quite nicely with me if Rachel wasn't around - she's a Mummy's girl.

Anyway they acted as if they last saw each other a couple of days ago and obviously still adore each other, it was really good to see both of them so happy to be in each other's company.  Unfortunately Mae wasn't in best health with a cough and cold, but it didn't seem to bother her at all.  After lunch at home we headed out for some fresh air and did our usual circuit of Kirkby Lonsdale - Tom and Mae ran with each other round by the river ending up at the park for a play.  They played for ages and ages in the park - much longer than if Tom and I were in the park together.

Rachel, Tom, Mae and Lucy

We got caught out by a hail storm and decided we should return home, which we did.  We had a quick dinner of sausages during which Mae became unwell with a stomach ache, she ended up going straight to bed - something we weren't expecting at all.  Infact all children were in bed by 7.30 meaning we had quite a nice evening.  This wasn't to last though as Rachel had a dreadful evening with Mae awake with a fever, and her waking up Lucy.  Poor Rachel didn't look very well at all in the morning.  Needless to say Rachel was keen to get home to try to get Mae back on track so they left in the morning after watching a bit of Totoro.  I was sad to see them go, we both re-made our resolutions to keep in touch and make sure Mae and Tom see each other as regularly as possible, their friendship is too good to break.

Sun & seaside

Another very busy weekend (aren't they always!)  It didn't start too well.  I asked Tom what he wanted to do on Friday and he said cycling in Morecambe.  So I swore blindly whilst loading the car with my and his bikes and drove to Morecambe.  We parked up and cycled to the stone jetty for lunch.  Tom did really well, we both really enjoyed ourselves racing along the prom.  We parked up at the Stone Jetty and he was given his choice of lunch for being such a good boy on the bike.  He had a sausage sandwich whilst I had a jacket potato.  This is where the mood changed, Tom was very very very slow at eating his sandwich - it took an hour of constant nagging before he finished it.  

We finally got back on our bikes and cycled back towards the car.  It was all going well until we saw Eric, then Tom got it in his head that he couldn't pedal past him - something about not being able to pedal past a bush next to him????!!! From that point on it was hard work getting him to pedal - he whinged and whinged and whinged.  To be fair it was cold and a little windy but as I kept telling him - he would be warmer if he cycled than not.  In the end he completely gave up!  He sat on his bike and cried.  He wouldn't come off his bike and he wouldn't cycle.  I gave him time out to sort himself out, but that didn't work.  We were both getting cold.  In the end I had to prise him off his bike, then walk with his and my bikes, down the prom, leave them against a bench, walk back, pick him up (he was also refusing to walk!) carry him past the bikes, sit him on a bench further down the prom, walk back to the bikes move them further along the prom past Tom who was still crying and so on - much fun was had as you can imagine.  

In the end a little old lady with a dog and a walking stick took pity on me, ditched her stick, and wheeled Tom's bike whilst I wheeled my bike and carried Tom back to the car.  Thank goodness for kind people, but how embarrassing - she must have been 85 plus!  As  you can imagine he was in disgrace for the rest of the day.  I thought he might fall asleep on the way home as he had cried so much, but no - so he wasn't tired.   I think he was cold, but if he had kept pedalling he would have been ok, I tried to explain to him many many times that was what he needed to do, but he just wouldn't have it.  Oh hum, he was suitably contrite back at home, didn't ask for the telly and sat and did jigsaws by himself all afternoon.  We then went out for a curry in Kirkby Lonsdale, didn't start too well - restaurant not open when we arrived and slow service, but it turned out the staff come from the other side of Keighly (over 70 miles away!) and got stuck in traffic.  They apologised and were quite pleasant, so we will try them again sometime.

Throwing stones in Dent

Saturday dawned beautiful - clear blue sky.  Tom had been told to be on his best behaviour and was in good cheer in the morning.  We asked him what he wanted to do - he said he wanted to go to the Dales, so we decided to explore Barbondale.  This is one of Matt's most favourite places in the world so it was a real test for Tom - would he like it?  We hoped so.  We needn't have worried, he had a fab time, as did we.  We had a kick around near the river and then went for a walk along the river back towards Barbon.  Think we did about 3 miles in the end.  It was a really good walk - not too steep and the walk was fenced in, meaning Tom could kick a football along it.

A model's pose

We found out that if we continued down the path we would have ended up at a pub in Barbon (something to do next time we have a nice day).  It really was beautiful, I could have walked for ever, however, we had a small boy with us who was in good cheer but would need feeding before too long, so we turned round and headed back to the car.  Oh AND we met a lovely old couple with a lovely old labrador which Tom stroked!!!!!  We then went to Dent and had lunch at the Sun Inn, which included pudding (of course) and then a play in the playground and a walk around the village which included a period of throwing stones in the river before heading back home.  Tom fell asleep in the car, he had played hard.

Sunday was a miserable day.  We headed into Kendal to take Tom swimming.  It didn't start well, after looking at the website we thought we could turn up any time, but on arriving just after 10am we found out that they run hourly sessions on a Sunday on the hour, and the learner pool was full.  We thought we would sit in the cafe and wait for the next session, no joy, the cafe was closed.  So, we went into Kendal and did some shopping.  We were too early - most shops weren't open yet!  Not great!  We ended up having a drink in the Booth's cafe and then tried again.  Success, the shops were open.  We then got to the pool for a 12 start, we were the first in, and the pool was pretty empty.  Phew!  It wasn't a great start in the pool, Tom started whinging as soon as we got there, he clung to me and was acting really scared.  In the end I gave him a talking too, it seemed to work, suddenly he started to relax and enjoy himself.  In fact he had a ball.  He swam all over the place, splashed us and himself, jumped in - yes JUMPED IN again and again and again and even asked me to pour water from a watering can all over him.  It was a complete success - we were very proud of him.  Once we were done, we went in search of lunch and ended up at Kitridding Farm for cheese scones.  Tom almost fell asleep in the car on the way back, but not quite.  This wasn't good as in the afternoon Auntie Jude arrived.  We could all tell he was tired but he would not admit it, he was in full fidget mode, wouldn't listen to us etc etc.  We ended up putting him in his bed, but he cried and cried and cried.  His stamina was amazing, there was no way he was going to let up.  I went to lie down with him, he still wouldn't relent.  In the end Matt did a deal with him, come out and be good, or straight back to his room.  He came out and was good.

The Tower and lovely sky

Monday morning Tom and I took Jude for a tour of the area including Kirkby Lonsdale (no Church cat Bob this time unfortunately) and Ingleton including Neptis for lunch (this is becoming a regular tour for visitors staying with us)  We returned home and then all piled in the car for Blackpool.  It is the illuminations at the moment - they end on 5th November.  It is really busy this week as it is darker earlier now the clocks have gone back.  We parked up and went to explore the North Pier.  It was full of tacky shops and amusements (didn't disappoint), we even saw that someone had written a huge Tom in the sand below us (added bonus) and then had a drink in the bar at the end.  The bar was pumping out some really loud cheesy music.  Tom liked it and started bouncing on me.  In the end we did a full dance routine. he loved it.  So nice as normally he tells me to stop if I even hint at a dance!  Matt got it on video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7RhvF_F7c8&feature=plcp

Pirates

Daleks

We then headed off to the lights.  We were a little early, we thought they came on at 5.00, but it was 5.15.  Once they came on they were great.  I was a little worried what Tom's reaction would be as recently he has been saying that he doesn't like lights, but he was mesmerised by it.  "Lots of lights" "Too many colours to count" "Blue, green, white, red, yellow - 29 colours!"  There was definitely lots to see.  In the end he walked 3.25 miles along the prom looking at them.  There were big lights with moving parts, nursery rhymes, haunted lights, daleks, Basil Brush, Noddy, Postman Pat, Romans, Egyptians, pirate ship, big rocket, and a huge display about recycling.  It was fabulous and Tom was really engaged by them.  On top of all that the illuminations were next to the tram line, so there was a lot of tram spotting going on.  Some of the trams were illuminated themselves, one was illuminated as a steam train (really really good) and two as boats - one which was very noisy: tooting and honking its way along the tracks.

A good time was had by all

We finally got to the end of the lights and went in search of a chippy.  We found the biggest chippy we had ever seen.  Queued not long and got served very very quickly.  Fish and chips for Matt and me and scampi and chips for Jude and a bit of everything for Tom all served with bread and butter.  Tom demolished his portion and ate half of the bread and butter.  He had his first chip butty - it went down very very well.  Think I may have started something bad!!!!!

We then got a tram back to the pier.  We had to wait ages and then were crammed on, but Tom didn't mind.  He was so well behaved for the whole trip, Matt and I were really proud of him.  We carried him back the last couple of minutes to the car and then headed home.  He stayed in good cheer for most of the trip before nodding off.  He went straight to bed when we got back, Matt, Jude and I weren't far behind

'Little Miss Vera' comes to stay

Don't know what to say!

The weekend started early this week: Denzil, Lucy and Meg the dog came to stay with us.  Denzil is one of Matt's friends from Bridgnorth Jelly - he's into doing super marathons and was doing one this weekend in Ennerdale.  They had decided to make a holiday out of it - especially as they have a recently acquired campervan that they wanted to try out.  They arrived Thursday afternoon.  Denzil is the guy that got Matt into Shite shirts, they thought they would hit the local pub in them!  Denzil even brought some fab white platform shoes with him.  What a pair they looked.  The look went down well in the pub, someone even came up to Denzil and asked him if he was in a boy band!

We had a good evening with them, Tom even managed to stroke Meg the dog (we were amazed) but then reverted to type when she came rushing in from the garden.  Oh well.

On Friday Matt decided to take the day off. We decided to go in to Kirkby Lonsdale - so Tom could have a ride on his bike and so we could get copies of our passport certified for the Estate Agents.  One of these went really well, the other was a no starter.  Because we are buying the house from an internet estate agent we don't physically see them, they need copies of our passports and a utility bill as proof of who we are.  We need to get someone to certify these copies saying that they are true copies of this document.  I was told to try either a Post Office, Bank, Estate Agent or Doctors to do this.  Post Office: "no" we don't have authority to do that, Bank: "no" we aren't allowed to verify anything, Estate Agents "no" we can't do that because of possible money laundering??????, Doctors, "no" because we have never had a Dr's appointment and therefore they don't know us!  What next, I phoned the Estate Agent we are dealing with back, we will now have to go to a solicitors.  She said she couldn't understand it as no-one else she has dealt with has had such trouble.

On the plus side Tom had a good bike ride, he found himself a really good track in the church yard and went round and round and round and we found a lovely ginger cat to play with, apparently he spends most of his time in the church yard, he was a very beautiful and solid cat.

Here's a link to a video of the cat and Tom biking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhAK9YD6Occ&feature=plcp

We then had lunch in our favourite tea rooms and then back home before heading off again to drop Matt off at Oxenholme, he was heading off to Edinburgh for a translator's workshop and meet up, so I arranged for Vera to come up.  We hadn't seen each other for ages.  I managed to persuade Vera to come up by train rather than drive but as she lives in Watford she was unable to get a through train and ended up on a journey with two changes instead.  Matt and I cruelly discussed this - both of us predicted that something would go wrong along the way.  Guess what - it did - at the first change.  She had to change trains at Milton Keynes to go to Crewe.  She did get a train to Crewe, but the wrong one, meaning she was an hour late arriving with us.  Not a disaster, just typical Vera!

Anyway she arrived at the station, absolutely loaded with bags, Tom gave her a huge hug which was fab and then we made our way home.  Tom went straight to bed and then the two of us had dinner and sat up chatting and catching up until midnight - very late for me, early for her.

Me, Church Cat Bob and Tom

Saturday we looked at the weather and decided to head East into the Dales.   So first stop was Kirkby Lonsdale where we did the same route as yesterday - including many circuits of the church yard and another encounter with the ginger cat (we've christened him 'Church Cat Bob').  We also bumped into Judith from the nursery (made me look popular) before heading off to Ingleton and Neptis for lunch.  Tom was made very welcome as usual by Rachel, and Vera had her first ever cheese scone.  We then showed her our new house before jumping back in the car and heading to Settle the scenic way - ie via Horton in Ribblesdale.  Tom fell asleep so we waited for him to get his kip in the Booths car park.  I then introduced Booths to Vera.  Vera always makes me laugh because whenever she comes to visit me she always asks if there is any food I would like her to bring me (I don't know what she thinks we can't get outside of London)   Anyway she took one look and was amazed - her words "it's better than Waitrose" she's now said that she will send us a food list when we are heading south.

* Oh and Vera we looked the most southerly Booths is in Knutsford - still a bit of a trek for you I'm afraid*

Vera and Tom at Tarn Hows

Tarn Hows

Sunday dawned gorgeous - deep blue skies.  We headed west towards the Lake District.  After a lot of humming and harring we decided to go to Tarn Hows.  We are so glad as it was absolutely beautiful.  We headed to Newby Bridge (at the bottom of Windermere) and then up the west coast of Windermere to Hawkshead - a beautfiul road winding its way around the hills and through dappled tree lined roads. All the trees are turning so there was a rainbow of colours.  Couldn't ask for more.  Got to Tarn Hows and were rewarded by the most beautiful scenery.  The walk round the lake (or Tarn) was only 2 miles, so we decided to do it.  Everyone did really well - it was an easy walk - Tom could do it on his bike if he wanted.  It was completely still, there wasn't even a sniff of a ripple in the water meaning there were the most amazing reflections going on.  Both Vera and I were staggered by the beauty of the place (Tom just liked being outside and running around).  We even saw some Galloway Belty cows.  We took our time walking around, however, before too long our tummies were rumbling so we sped up and finished so we could find some lunch (no lunch here but plenty of picnic spots).  We headed off to Hawkshead and had lunch before continuing on our way up the mere to Ambleside and then around and back down to Kendal in time to collect Matt from his train at 4.09.  Note to self - must go to Tarn Hows again with a picnic it really was a stunningly beautiful place.

Another view

And another

A big Tom hug

A Galloway Belty (incase you were wondering)

Monday we had to put the car in for its service, so I swapped it for a manual red Colt and then had our day out (and if you are wandering - I didn't stall it once, I was very proud!)  First stop was Greenlands for Tom's Enjoy-a-ball.  He did really well.  I stuffed him with a Kinder Egg that Vera got him directly before he started and it worked - he lasted the whole lesson, only having one very very minor wobble.  That is obviously the way to go.  We then went in the farm shop and saw a Cartmel sticky toffee pudding, Vera wanted to buy one, but I suddenly thought why don't we go there and buy one locally - so that's what we did.  Cartmel was a lovely sleepy little village - a very villagey village - little village square, a river housing the biggest, noisiest ducks I have ever seen, winding streets. Unfortunately some places were closed on Mondays but we found ourselves a lovely pub with good food and service for lunch and then we went to the sticky toffee pudding shop for a pudding (we saved a whole 75p buying it here - not withstanding petrol of course)  We then took the little windy roads hugging Morecambe bay back to Carnforth to pick up the car.  It was a really nice ride, Arnside in particular looked very pleasant and worthy of a return trip.

Anyway we got the car back and headed home for Japanese curry and rice.

Tuesday we took Vera back to Oxenholme.  It was a shame to see her go - I haven't laughed so much in ages.  We just slotted right back into being the 'Nik and Vera' who lived in Treetops - just that there was a little boy as well.  Tom absolutely adored her and certainly latched on to her sense of humour.  He called her 'Little Miss Vera' and 'That naughty lady' I think he has got her sussed!  It was a fab long weekend and as she said we shouldn't leave it another year before we meet again.  In fact I promised to try to meet up with her when we are in London in November.

Development

Tom has been developing away recently - other than cycling.

We have entered the 'Why Phase' - so have ridiculous conversations for example why is a train called a train?

He has also started arguing, just for arguments sake.  It's not Saturday, no want to have breakfast, no want to wear clothes etc etc.  This can be quite trying as you can imagine.

We also have 'are we nearly there yet?' in the car for EVERY destination

He stands up for himself if someone dares call him the wrong name - ie not Tom.   This can be quite fun as Vera found out - she came up with lots of names for him for example 'Sweetie Pie' - to which she got: 'I'm not a pie, I'm a boy!'

He's certainly maturing - he's not a toddler anymore and gets more and more fun with each day.

Another sunny weekend

Tom and a cockerel

Well we have been lucky.  We had another sunny weekend and this time we had someone to enjoy it with us - Michael - one of Matt's friends came up on Friday night.  He and Matt were hoping to do some proper walking and they were rewarded with sunshine so off they went and climbed Whernside - the highest point in the Yorkshire Dales.  This meant that Tom and I had each others company again.  I was going to take him for a bike ride at Ribblehead just down the road from where I dropped Michael and Matt off, but when we got there it was packed - I would have had to walk with Tom and his very heavy bike a long way before we could start cycling so I decided not to stop so followed the road and ended up on a very pleasant drive to Hawes.  We had been there once before, but it was mid tourist season and quite packed.  This weekend it was empty so we had a pleasant look around.  We also found a big play park for Tom which kept him happy.  Next stop was lunch - we found a greasy spoon full of bikers (of the motored and non motored variety) this is always a good sign, and it was good (ie cheap, filling and quick)

Riding towards the viaduct

We finished off looking round the town, including a stationery steam train in a car park, and a look around the National Park centre before heading off back to Ribblehead for another go at parking.  We were successful this time.  Tom did a really good job riding under the bridge - it was very lumpy and bumpy and full of pot holes as well as being very uneven.  He took it in his stride - he's definitely getting braver.

And through to the other side

We then drove the very scenic route through Dentdale to Dent to meet up with Michael and Matt.  We got there half an hour too early so played in the park for a while before heading to the pub where we found 2 tired and happy men.  They had just bought a pint each so we stayed and watched them attempt to play darts and then took the scenic route back.

Made a huge amount of pasta for dinner and decided to make some garlic bread with some pizza dough I had left over from earlier in the week.  I wandered whether to put the garlic butter on the dough and then put it in the oven or vice versa.  We decided to put it in naked - a mistake the pizza dough blew up into a huge ball and went very crispy.  A lesson learnt.

Sunday we took it easy in the morning and ended up in Grange Over Sands for lunch in a tea room and then a walk / cycle on the promenade before heading back to Oxenholme to send Michael on his way back to London.

Sunny Weekend

On Friday we got good news - he have had an offer accepted on a house in Ingleton.  We had been pushing to get the price down and managed to shave £12,500 off.  We thought the vendors were being really stubborn, but then a friend of Matt's found out that the original asking price for this house was £400,000 so we have in fact managed to get it for £87,500 under that.  We now think we have done good.  Here's a link to the house: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25245433.html.  Now comes the hard work - trying to arrange a mortgage and get all the paperwork done...

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At last we had a decent weekend - the sun shone on both days, so we put it to good use and had an outside weekend.  Saturday we headed into the Lake District.  I had been planning for some time to go to Windermere which just happens to the location for the HQ of Lakeland (oh - that's why it's called Lakeland!!!) and therefore their biggest shop.  A voucher for £5 off had come through the door earlier in the week so I thought I would see if I could spend it.

It certainly was a huge store and I could easily spend A LOT of money in it, but I needed to spend £30 to get my £5 off and as I'm not earning at the moment, I couldn't really justify it.  However, I would be very happy to receive Lakeland vouchers in the future to spend there.  They also have a cafe, soft play area for children and wifi, music and headphone area for the men - well thought out so women can have time to themselves to shop, shop, shop - shame we found the play area at the end of our time there, but will keep that in mind for future visits.

View from Brockhole

We then headed off to Brockhole, the Lakeland Visitor Centre for a day out.  Didn't really know what to expect but plenty of people had recommended it to us.  It didn't start off well.  We headed to the adventure play area - full of slides, nets, climbing frames, zip wire, swings etc etc.  Tom had his 'wussie' head on and refused to play on anything - it is really hard when he gets like that: he says no to everything and moans and whinges about everything.  We managed to get him to have a couple of goes on some apparatus, but then gave up and headed to the cafe for lunch hoping that would sort him out.

Tom concentrating!

He did cheer up and ate up.  Matt went to fetch him his bike and fishing net and we explored the gardens.  Tom did really well on his bike - getting up some speed on the down hill bits, he also did quite a bit of fishing (mainly stones and leaves) in the lake.  When we got to the adventure play area again there was no stopping him - he tried pretty much everything and enjoyed himself.  Phew.  So in the end a good day.  The plan for the day was to end up in a restaurant in Ambleside, but Tom played so hard in the afternoon we didn't think he would have the stamina to have dinner in a good mood too, we were right, after about 10 minutes in the car on the way home he was fast asleep and remained so for a good hour.  We went to the Snooty Fox in Kirkby Lonsdale for dinner instead and had a really good slap up meal - so much so that we couldn't finish two adult meals between the 3 of us!

Sunday dawned an even brighter day.  We decided that today we would ALL go for a bike ride.  Tom tends to go slow on his bike because he is always waiting for us - our running skills aren't the best!  We have a bike carrier for the car, but it is very precarious and a right pain to put on and use.  A lot of swearing occurs whilst wrestling with it which is why we have been putting it off.  So, it was with a heavy heart that we got it out and attached it to the car, and then got out our bikes, dusted off the mould, pumped up the tyres heaved them onto the rack and set on our way (took over an hour!)  We headed off to Bull Beck just outside Caton - a car park near to a disussed railway path which is also a cycle path.

Tom was an absolute star and cycled really really well - when you consider how small his wheels are.  He has to pedal manically to keep up with us hardly pedalling at all.  I'm not sure how long he will have this bike for - he definitely needs bigger wheels.  We cycled to Crook O Lune which is another car park with a greasy spoon cafe serving bacon butties, sausage butties and burgers (which Tom demanded and ate up) We continued on down the cycle path across the river and then up an incline and down a hill,  as the terrain was getting harder, we decided to turn round and head back to the car.  This we did.  Tom kept going really well until about 400m from the end when he flagged, but the promise of a banana and a chocolate biscuit got him back.  All in all he did 3.8 miles - no mean feat when you've only just learnt to ride a bike and your bike wheels are tiny.  We were very proud.  As it was still very sunny we then hunted down a pub to have a drink and then headed home.  Once we got home we still couldn't bring ourselves to go inside so we went hunting for blackberries again - poor Tom had to climb the hill at the back of the house with us.  He did it with good humour though, didn't complain once.  He went to bed very very tired.

Here's a clip of Tom on his bike: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcQKf2xEtOI&feature=plcp