Seals

So today we decided to stay local again.  We booked ourselves on a boat trip from Plockton to attempt to see some seals.  The host is famous for saying if you don't see any seals you get your money back.  Apparently this has only happened about 6 times. 

Strangely for us, the weather wasn't that great today!  The mist was down on the loch and there was rain in the air.  However, it didn't stop us from being on the boat - the water in the loch was as still as could be - so it would be an easy ride.

We had success, found loads of them distributed on rocks in the loch.  They were all Common Seals, and were obviously used to seeing the boat putting around.  In fact we were beginning to wonder if we were an attraction for them rather that them an attraction for us.  They certainly played up for the camera, waving at us, showing us their best side, preening themselves and, of course, farting away for our amusement.  Think we saw about 100 all together - so no money was coming back to us!  Felt like we were in the boat for a lot longer than the one hour.

We were hoping to see a sea eagle too - but no luck - the mist was down so they were probably huddled together in their nests waiting for it to clear.

We decided to go to Kyle of Lochalsh for lunch - to try out a seafood shack we saw there.  A large cup of Cullen Skink for Matt, a huge prawn roll for Tom and huge pan fried scallops and salad for me.  All of which we ate in the van as it was raining.  I was in heaven - the scallops were sooooo tender, well seasoned and the salad beautiful and with no tomatoes.  I got 6 huge scallops for £10 -  who could ask for more?

Unfortunately the weather wasn't getting any better, however, we decided to walk around the town.  We had seen a sign for a museum and handicraft shop at the station so we headed over to it.  Unfortunately there were only empty rooms, everything had gone - another casualty from Covid I gather.  We couldn't find anything else of note in Kyle to look at (if I was to live here, I would choose Plockton over Kyle in a breath!) so went to the co-op to get some more bits and bobs for breakfasts and headed home.

Dun Craig Castle

The afternoon was spent chilling out at home, reading, quizzing, playing Ticket to Ride (Matt won again!) and then making tea whilst watching the final of The 100 - we have all got into it big time and really want to go to a couple of games next year.  

Hoping the weather will pick up tomorrow - planning a trip around Skye.

Scotland: Cycling around our new home area

 Friday - we woke up quite late, and it seemed to take an age to get out of the house - trying to make sure we had everything we needed.  We had decided to spend the day on bikes.  So once we had everything, we headed first to a rare breeds farm.  

This was a hap hazard affair obviously run by some eccentric owners (who we never saw).  We paid a donation and walked in - lots of rare breed chickens running around, then a lama who took a shine to us (we had food with us), past some basic wooden chalets to a field with a pig in it (we didn't find it) and then a horse, donkey and some more free range lamas and miniature sheep.  We found a footpath across the railway line, so did that on to a rocky beach and hung around to see one of the trains head pass - tell you what, we could have run faster than the train, but it is going to be so so scenic when we are on it (just as well as we will have to get the 6.28am service)

We walked back through the farm (still no owners around) and got the bikes and headed to Duirinish, a small, very pretty little village we noticed yesterday on our way here for two reasons: 1) it had highland coos and 2) it had a good looking café.  We were not disappointed on either count.  A field full of coos and the café had the most amazing food.  Tom had a vat of macaroni cheese and chips, Matt got his cullen skink and I had carrot, cumin and feta fritters.  All of it was very delicious and luckily Tom couldn't eat all of his macaroni cheese so I got to eat a bit of it too - made me very happy!  I think we will be back if we can.

View of Duncraig Castle from Plockton

We then cycled on to Plockton for a little explore.  It is very scenic, hugging the shore of Loch Carron.  Tom had a little paddle in the Loch - the water was so clear.  Unfortunately we didn't have a towel with us or he would have had a full swim.  We then had an ice cream, explored an island which had a little causeway due to the tide being out, and then headed back home, up the hill.

It was a very lovely day - it was warm (about 20 degrees), the scenery beautiful, lots of nice animals, a train, and we are now able to have a lovely bike ride together as a family now that I have an electric bike.  And yes, it might be cheating, but my bum still hurts and my legs are aching!

Scotland! Ingleton to Plockton

So FINALLY we are on our holidays.  It seemed to take ages to get to here, and then of course the week we went away was completely manic - realised the day before we left that Tom had no school shoes, trainers, football boots etc etc for school, so had to do a quick trip to Kendal to get all that on top of trying to work out what to pack etc etc.

We decided to go a day earlier than planned, having a van we can do that - yay!.  We worked out that it was 380ish miles to get to our first destination, which is a bit of a long day, especially as once we passed Glasgow the roads get narrower and narrower.  So Matt spent some time on Google trying to find a campsite in the right sort of area with availability for the Wednesday night.  Took a while but he got there in the end.

So, we packed the van up - all very strategic as we were taking the bike carrier with us and we discovered that once the bike carrier was on we couldn't open the boot door - so everything we needed for the first day would need to be up top.  Got there in the end and we headed off around 10.30 as planned.  We had a very easy journey to Moffat where (of course) we had to have our lunch at Café Arieté - Matt's first taste of haggis - very important.  We then went to the toffee shop so Matt could buy himself a bottle of whiskey (another tradition) before headed on up and through Glasgow to Drymen where we took some very narrow roads to find our campsite.

Eyes closed when catching!

Eyes open when catching...

Was a lovely campsite too - very small and on the West Highland Way so was mainly hikers with big backpacks.  We were the only camper there and were put on a big field with 2 other families.  Was a lovely quiet site, mainly because most people were exhausted hikers and also no alcohol was allowed on site (although we did sneak in a bottle of whisky and had a dram behind our blinds!)  Tom was quite excited and we had a couple of mad sessions of running around like loons to get rid of his energy!  We had curry and rice for tea (I made the curry yesterday to make it easy on us), then a shower and bed.

It was a quiet night - and we slept better - still not great at sleeping in the van, but we will get there. We packed up and were on the road by 10.  I did the first stint - along Loch Lomand to the Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum.  Beautiful scenery and not too much traffic on the road which is great.  After a cake and toilet break at the Green Welly Stop, we headed on our way through Rannock Moor and Glencoe to Fort William where we parked up at Morrisons, had lunch in a greasy spoon at the train station and found a barber's for Tom to get his hair done (I hate cutting Tom's hair - it is so fine, it is easy to get it wrong).  

Then back in the van through the West Highlands to Kyle of Lochalsh to do some shopping (local butchers and co-op) before heading to our holiday cottage in Duncraig which is just across Loch Carron from Plockton.  We had trouble locating our holiday cottage (door had changed colour and instructions weren't quite right) but we got there in the end.  We are in a tiny cottage which is part of the old stable block at Duncraig Castle.  Very much the middle of no-where. It has two bedrooms and a lounge / diner / kitchen all open plan which is how we like it on holiday (I hate having to cook in a separate room to everyone else when we are away).  We unloaded the van and then went for a look around.  

We walked down to the castle which has been converted into a very luxurious Bed and Breakfast and looks very very lovely.  However, that wasn't the main thing for us to see, because, in the grounds of the castle is its very own train station - which is a request stop on the Kyle to Inverness route.  They were very impressed by it - a cute station which fits a 2 carriage train nicely.  It has 4 trains a day each way, we will have a day trip to Inverness whilst we are here so they can use it!

We walked back, I made tea (pork chops from the butchers), and then Matt had a scary 30 mins when he thought his computer wasn't charging (all sorted) and before we knew it, it was time for bed.  Everyone was quite tired.

August in Ingleton

It's August and Tom's already been on holiday for over 2 weeks and isn't going back to school until the second week of September.  He has over 7.5 weeks holiday this year beginning to wonder if QES think they are a private school - it's an insanely long holiday - would be much better if they took 2 weeks off it and added them to Easter and the October half term.

Anyway back to these holidays... Sunday morning Tom went swimming with Annabel and came back streaming and feeling rubbish.  Straight to Covid test - he was clear.  The plan was for him to go to cricket with Matt in the afternoon as Ingleton were playing Sedgwick and we knew a couple of his friends might be there, but he wasn't having it - he felt ill and wanted to stay at home so Matt went by himself.  Tom had a two hour bath and then watched a James Bond.  He seemed better - but not 100% (how many times have I said that this year?!)

Monday our plan was to have brunch and a walk with the Fosters (well Anne and Lauren anyway!) we met up at the Knight's Table at 10am to find that it didn't open until 11am!  So we went for a mini walk down to Stainforth Force (how have I never been there before?!) before heading back up at 11 for some bacon butties / beans on toast.  We then headed up the hill to Smearsett Scar.  The kids just legged it up there, Matt and Anne did fine and I huffed and puffed after them (Covid lbs and hayfever isolation means I have lost some fitness!)  Oh hum, it was a lovely morning / afternoon - didn't get back to our cars until around 2pm. Was good to have a natter and Anne is brilliant at nattering.

Tuesday, can't remember what we did in the morning, but in the afternoon we headed up to Ribblehead for a walk with the Raddas.  They are always great company and Katie and Jon such great storytellers that we find ourselves giggling the whole way round.  We just happened to walk past the Station Inn so stopped off for a pint and then headed back to their cottage.  The sun was still out and the men were wanting more beers, so we sat out in their garden drinking and nattering for the evening until the midges got so bad that we had to leave.  Was a really really lovely afternoon.

Wednesday morning, Tom and I went for a bike ride - up to Kingsdale, across the waterfalls walk and down Oddies Lane back to Ingleton - was a lovely morning for it and now I have the electric bike so so much easier.  I actually like to go for a bike ride these days.  We stopped for a cider refresher at the top of the falls before heading home (didn't taste quite as good as I remember them!) 

At home in the afternoon Tom couldn't think of anything to do, so, we carried on with his bedroom.  We opened up the other side of his wardrobe and went through all his books / toys etc.  

Once again it took forever, created clouds of dust but it needed doing and we ended up with another bin liner of goodies for the jumble sales.  In the evening Matt was playing a friendly match of cricket against Aysgarth.  Tom went along to watch, as did I.  Ingleton only had 9 men, I said it was a shame Tom wasn't 13 as then he would be able to play for them, however, as it was a friendly, normal rules don't apply and they were desperate (one of the players had his wife and Dad playing for Ingleton) so he was told to go and get his kit.  

He did and he got to bat, field and bowl!  He did ok too, luckily the bowlers on the other team were quite slow so he was able to bat ok - scored some runs.  He bowled ok too and his team mates (late teenagers and 20 year olds) all got behind him: "come on Tom lad" etc etc and were very complimentary.  None of them had seen him play before so didn't know what to expect, think they were pleasantly surprised.  Matt was so proud, Tom was mega proud too - he was really cocky when he got back home, but unsurprisingly so, he was in a team where most of his team mates were at least double his age and he held his own!   Maybe he might be able to play for the second team next year (although he does need to bulk up a bit first!)

Thursday Tom and I went into Settle in the morning to do some shopping and have lunch.  Then we had a quiet afternoon in the rain before I took him over to Meadow Falls - as he was having a sleep over with Annabel.  Matt and I were down for our hot air balloon ride in the morning - it is a 6am start.  However, the weather had turned, it looked very much as if the balloon ride wouldn't happen, however, he and Annabel were excited for the sleepover so it went ahead anyway.  Matt and I did some last minute phoning around to find a place for dinner out in a pub, no luck, but on the way home I drove past La Cascada, we called them, they had room!  So, we had a very pleasant evening in La Cascada eating way too much and drinking way too much!  We staggered home, happy!

Friday, spent the morning cleaning and catching up on computer work until Tom came home after a morning at the campsite and a session swimming in the pool.

Saturday the weather was awful and we had booked for a outside house clean: our house got really really dirty when Tom Brown was building his - with lots of trucks belching out their fumes onto our walls.  After sorting out our windows, doors and woodwork, we needed to get the paintwork done so after a little bit of FB help we found someone who could help us.  Unfortunately it rained all day for him - so he was soaking - but he was happy and refused to come in to shelter from the rain or use the toilet etc. Anyway, after 6 hours the house was looking amazing.  He did the patio as well, which was black.  The difference was amazing - almost too bright to be outside in the sunshine near it now!

Sunday was another miserable day - we went to Goat Gap for lunch and watched a film in the afternoon.

Monday - we met up with Liz and Annabel and had a day out with them to Yorkshire Wildlife Oasis.  A cute little zoo near Milnthorpe.  This is another one that has had bad press in the past - but has new owners and is turning things round.  Annabel really wanted to see the meerkats - they put on a good display.  

There was also a Fossa which I had never heard off (biggest mammal in Madagascar - part of the mongoose family), two snow leopards and plenty of other smaller creatures.  We had a good time.  We left in time to find lunch somewhere nice.  First (lovely looking) pub was closed for a funeral, second place was closed on Mondays, so we headed to Arnside where we knew that there would be a couple of options - well acutualy there was only one option as the cafe I know and like was closed and new management taking it over.  So we went to the pub which we have never gone to before.  They were stretched to the max so service wasn't great, but the food came eventually and it was as described and we ate up (once I could get hold of some cutlery!).  

We then left the kids to go for a paddle in the sea whilst we went to get some drinks.  We got back to the beach to find both Tom and Annabel up to their necks in the sea (is that a paddle?!)  We couldn't quite believe our eyes!  Made us laugh, but they were fully clothed and we didn't have any spare dry clothes for them!  Oh hum, we got them hot chocolates each and made them strip and wear our jumpers!  What numptys! Also that meant the day was over as we couldn't do anything else as they were freezing! 

Tuesday - time for Matt's birthday present which was a day out at Yorkshire Wildlife Park which is near Doncaster.  Takes a while to get over there, so I booked tickets for 11.30am.  We left at 8am and got there around 10ish.  We waited half an hour and then headed in, they accepted us.  Now this is a park we've not heard about until we discovered that they have 8 polar bears and as Matt has a 'thing' for them we had to visit.  The zoo was amazing, it felt like it had just been built this year, everything looked brand new, the enclosures were huge.  They had most of the big animals you expect: giraffes, lions, tigers, rhinos etc as well as many creatures we hadn't ever heard of eg Geladas (monkeys from Ethiopia if you were wondering?!)  We followed the path in, stopping to watch anything that was out.  It was pretty busy at the start - a little bit too busy for my liking, but soon everyone spread out and it felt fine.  

We had a sit down, tea and a bun break and then discovered that one set of polar bears were quite near so we headed off to see them.  We weren't disappointed, it was a family group: mum and her 3 cubs: Tala, Indie and Yuma.  They were in the pool swimming and then they came out one by one.  They were mesmerising to watch - such huge creatures and they seem to have a great sense of play and fun.  One (Yuma) had a ball and obviously loved playing with it - diving on to it in their pool and then taking it over an obstacle course.  Mum and the other two hung out with each other.  It was like watching a regular family having fun together, they were obviously happy.  We managed to pull ourselves away from them and headed round the rest of the zoo - we saw rhinos, lions, kangaroos etc.  Our tummies started to complain, so we headed to one of the cafes for lunch and a welcome sit down.  

The afternoon was spent mainly watching polar bears.  We found the other enormous enclosure which is home to 4 male polar bears.  They put on a great display for us: plodding slowly towards us, having a play with each other (they only fight when short of food), hanging out in a cave, just slowly taking in life.  They were all magnificent specimens and once again quite mesmerising.   When we finished with them, we went back to see the family.  Only Yuma was out, he had his ball and was playing happily by himself.  He would climb out of his pool, throw his ball into the pool and then dive in after it.  He was clearly having a great time and we so loved watching him.  We finally said our goodbyes, went for an ice cream and sit down before heading to see the other bears again and finish up the remaining tracks and animals we hadn't yet seen before leaving at 5pm.  A quick look around the shop before heading into their 'Darwin' themed restaurant for dinner.  We got back to the van around 7pm and headed to a car park we had found on 'Park4night' App to stay overnight.  When we arrived, we were both worried that it might be a bit dodgy, but it turned out absolutely fine, it was a car park which was access for a forest.  

We went for a walk in the forest on Wednesday morning, ended up playing on a swing for a while and just enjoyed taking in the atmosphere of the forest which was obviously very old wondering what the trees had seen in their long lives.  We then headed back to Ingleton via Keelham Farm Shop to pick up some food and Helifield Station for a quick lunch.  It had been a great break - felt like we had been away longer.  We will certainly revisit the Wildlife Park again.

Thursday, as we are now converted bird watchers, we thought it would be good to revisit RSPB's Leighton Moss, although our knowledge of wetland birds isn't the greatest.  We made a day of it, and visited all the hides.  Typical the best one was the last one (the Eric Morecambe Hide).  We saw Avocets, Grey Herons, Spoonbills, Green, Red and Red Spotted Shanks.  We came away happy.

Friday, a grey and drizzly morning.  Tom and I spent the morning cooking as we had weekend visitors.  Tom made a lasagna whilst I made bbq ribs.  Tom did a fantastic job - he made the bolognaise sauce with out any help except with quantities of spices and herbs.  Normally I have to ask him to re-chop veggies as he does them too big, but not this time and he did the onions all by himself (albeit in swimming googles).  I helped him with the cheese sauce - only to speed up the process, not because he couldn't do it himself. 

The afternoon saw Tom out on Twistleton climbing with the climbing club whilst I got the house ready for our guests: scrubbing the bathrooms, kitchen, vacuuming everywhere, getting rid of the worse of the cobwebs etc.  Our problem is that we don't tidy / clean up for ourselves, but will do for guests, but recently (of course) we haven't had many guests, meaning the house does tend to get a bit neglected.  

The evening was spent in the village square: Alice was doing a free gig so Janine and I went up to listen to her, Tom met me there so we had pizzas from Elaine for tea.  Apparently a 10 inch pizza wasn't enough for Tom so he had a huge nutella and banana crepe too - the boy is creeping upwards again!  Was a really nice atmosphere in the square, people were dancing on the road which must have seemed a bit bizarre to those visitors who were driving through the village for the first time and having to dodge dancers of all ages, shapes and sizes.  Matt in the meantime was at the Old Post Office with his Friday evening pals.

Saturday, the Komorovskis arrived.  The morning was spent stripping beds and doing laundry.  We weren't too sure who to expect as both me and Matt had received different info from Karen and Adam.  It was just Rosa and Karen and Teddy the dog, Leia and Adam were coming tomorrow for various reasons too complicated to explain here.  Originally I had booked swimming for the kiddies on both days of their visit, but a lack of life guards meant that Saturday's session got cancelled, so instead of that we decided to do the quarry walk which includes stepping stones that Rosa would enjoy and Teddy could have a good swim in the river.  

It all went well, although Teddy (who is a Fox Red Labrador) went a bit mad pulling on the lead, he tripped Matt and Karen.  Unfortunately he was too strong for Tom and really a bit too strong for Karen, me and Matt, he has such immense strength when on the lead.  Thing is he is lovely in the house, didn't chew anything, didn't destroy anything, was gentle and kind (although a bit looney) but on the lead he is a nightmare.  Karen took him off the lead where she could (ie when there were no sheep in a field) and he was fine, coming back when called, but on the lead he tugged, tugged, tugged.  Think Karen was pleased when we got home, she said that he was the worse ever today - probably because he is an inner city dog, this was his first experience of the great countryside.  Anyway, we had a lovely evening.  Rosa and Tom decided to sleep in the van, so we had an uninterrupted night.

Sunday, Adam and Leia arrived on the train.  Matt went to pick them up.  Matt was playing cricket today at home, so Adam went across to watch him whilst we hung out at home.  Then Rosa, Tom and Leia went swimming with Karen and I spectating.  So at home Tom and Rosa hung out together (Rosa is 9 but Leia is 14 and a full card carrying teenager (according to her parents - she was fine with us but apparently she is normally a nightmare!) in the pool, however, the tables turned and Tom and Leia were buddies and Rosa played by herself.  Tom and Leia used to be really good friends (even sleeping together in the same bed) until Leia went to High School and suddenly she didn't want anything to do with him. It is funny how these dynamics play out.  The cricket didn't take too long so we all managed to have tea together and another sociable evening before bed.

Monday, the Komorovskis left for home about 10, we then tidied up and rearranged the house back to normal.  I put together a big box of chocolates and medals for Gingerbugs and took them round before making a lemon tart and all of us heading round to the Wilkinsons for tea.  We had raclette - which was fun, a bit like a fondue, but grilling rather than boiling which is a bit safer all round.  Between us all we got through a LOT of cheese and a LOT of wine (poor Matt was on driving duty so missed out - was fab wine too).  Was a really good evening - our friendship has come to be over lockdown so this was our first time in their house (oh my - it was immaculate and straight out of a magazine!) but the conversation didn't falter and we had a very good night. 

Tuesday, we decided to head to Scotland a day early - ie Wednesday but I still hadn't done the school shop with Tom, so we were up early to get to Kendal before it got busy.  Bought school shoes, trainers, football boots (oh - he is size 8 now!!!!!), stationery etc in a mad dash so we were home in time for lunch and a cricket session on the field for Tom.  I then spent the afternoon attempting to put together all the bits and pieces we would need for Scotland.  Felt like a manic week!

July

So Tom managed to avoid isolations during the last two weeks at school, however, he still missed a week because his hayfever / asthma made him so ill.  He has been getting better - but it has been slow...very slow, he is still coughing A LOT!  I took him to the GP but got a locum who didn't look up his history and told me it was a viral cough and to come back in 6 weeks if he still has it.  We already had an appointment booked in with the allergy specialist for the last day of term - so as he wasn't at death's door anymore, thought it best to wait to discuss it with her - as she would understand.  So, we might as well have been in isolation because we didn't really move from the house.  Tom was a sorry sight!

After a week off school, he went back for a half day (it was parents' evening) and then it was an inset day on the Friday.  Parents' evening was...interesting!  It is a zoom meeting style set up, you get 4 minutes with each teacher before getting cut off.  4 teachers bowed out on the day!  First teacher was science, we connected fine but then her voice was a robot voice which we could barely understand.  So we were reduced to sign language to try to get to understand her.  After a minute and a half her voice became normal so we got 2 mins of being able to hear her!  Not great.  This carried on for all teaches - oh joy.  The worse (ironically) was the IT teacher - we only got 1 minute where we could understand him!  After the majority, we had a 10 minute rest due to the teachers who couldn't make it so we set up another device - and yay - it worked.  So for the last 4 teachers we were able to have a proper conversation and 4 minutes was ok.

So the gist of the conversations was that Tom is a good pupil, he engages well, tries his best and is a valued member of the class - works well in teams or by himself.  No-one said anything negative at all (although you do wonder if teachers are allowed these days, plus with all the home schooling that has taken place, I'm guessing the teachers won't be negative because every parent has the perfect comeback to them)  We asked about the grading system - asking if Tom was where he needed to be for his year group.  All said that the grading system was ridiculous / pointless but not to worry about him, he was doing fine.  

Most of the teachers were young and enthusiastic - made us feel better about the school.  I think the top management are pretty weak, but the teachers we saw gave us hope that the actual teaching is ok.  For Year 8 his year get randomly split into 3 populations: A, B & C and then those populations get split into 3 classes.  For Maths, Science and Languages they get streamed.  We got a letter through in his last week saying that he was in the top set for all 3 subjects - so the home schooling and nagging to do revision worked. Hoping that he will get to be in classes with well behaved pupils for those (he's always complaining about disruptive kids!).

The Friday after parent's evening was an inset day - strange time to have one, but it meant that wherever we went it would be empty.  We decided to head to Dalton zoo.  We haven't been there for ages.  We had a very nice day out, most of the animals behaved themselves, but mainly we were away from home, doing something different and it wasn't busy.  

It was also the Euros, we allowed Tom to stay up to watch the matches even though he was ill because we didn't want him to miss out.  As you can see from the photo of him with his (new) Rhino he didn't actually manage to stay the course, but he was in front of the telly.  It was exciting because England got to the final, however, they lost to Italy on penalties (3-2) - usual story.  I have learnt the names of a new generation of footballers and got quite swept up in it all too.

The last week of school was pretty manic with isolations here there and everywhere.  On Wednesday they told the whole of Year 9 not to go back in whilst they worked out who should / shouldn't isolate.  

The next day all of Year 10 were sent home.  When Tom got home he announced that the school had said they were closing early and not to go back in.  As usual, no email, nothing on the the website but other parents said their children were saying the same, so we figured it was true.  Don't blame them - it was getting completely out of control - still can't believe Tom managed to dodge them all!

On Friday we headed down to Manchester for Tom's appointment at the Children's Hospital about his hayfever.  As I said before, this was good timing.  We all went as Adam and Karen said they would put us up for the night.  Matt dropped us off (only one parent allowed at the moment), we had an M&S lunch in the gardens and headed in for our 2pm appointment.  Between us we explained what had happened over the previous weeks and (thankfully) Tom coughed.  As soon as he did - they were, oh - we need to do something here, that's not good!  He's been put on a brown inhaler twice a day and they have approved him for immunotherapy which is 3 years of 4 injections.  It isn't a cure, it isn't successful for all, but if it works it will take the edge off and make his quality of life in the summer better.  I got a little told off about not taking him to A&E when he got really bad.  She said if it happens again that he should go and we should use her name to make them take us seriously!  She gave us a prescription there and then which we could take to the hospital pharmacy to process - she wanted him on it asap!  We did that and then got the bus to Adam and Karen's (very posh executive seated double decker bus - and we got the best seat!).  

We had a very pleasant evening: chatting, drinking, BBQ and watching the cricket in their new hot tub. Leia and Rosa were pretty good company too - surprisingly as we were told that Leia (14) is hard work now.  

We came home on Saturday after a shopping trip: Aldi and Wing Yip.  It was the Gala in Ingleton - so we headed across, it was packing up as we got there, but Tom found Annabel and hung out with her for a good 4 hours - mainly helping with the duck race in the river.  

Sunday we had a quiet day, Matt was playing cricket.  We went over to watch for a while.  Tom went for a dip in the river.  He then stayed to watch Ingleton bat, whilst I visited Janine for a birthday gin.  

Monday Luca came round at 2, they went off on their bikes for an hour or so, then went for a swim in the pool.  Unfortunately it was too much for Tom, he came back from the pool looking 'wrong' and then he burst into tears saying he felt awful.  He was supposed to do cricket training, but he didn't want to which is pretty extreme for him.  He had a shower, watched the cricket on the telly and slowly got a bit happier.  Oh hum!

Oh I haven't said but were are in the middle of a heat wave - it is roasting here at the moment.  Not great - I have a wedding cake going out this weekend and it is so hot that buttercream is melting, fondant is sticky.  I got up at 5am this morning to do the baking.  I'm going to have to get up around 4am tomorrow to start doing the fondant work!

Tuesday we had a slow start, then Tom met up with Ellis to do some cricket in the field.  They then went to the new ice-cream shop where Tom fainted.  Luckily the owner was a nurse, so she looked after him and someone called us to go and get him.  Oh dear.  

He seemed fine - actually that was his first ever faint (that I can remember anyway) so he's doing much better than me - I used to faint all the time as a kid / young adult.  In the afternoon the farmer came to cut the meadow behind us so we hopped into the campervan and headed to Hess Bank to do some train spotting.  Was very civilised - we put the pop top up so Tom watched from 'upstairs'.  I went for a long walk on the beach as there was no water in the bay at all (the height of low tide) - tried to take some arty photos - didn't really succeed!

Wednesday - I was up at 4.30am to ganache and ice the cakes.  Took an age - it's been over a year since I last ganached a cake - forgotten how to do it - my skill level was down for sure!  Because I knew I would be caking the boys had arranged a train day out on the vacation express: Skipton to Carlisle and back.  I believe they had a grand day out - good food to be had in Carlisle!

Thursday - I was up at 5am to decorate the cakes - it went well, but I still couldn't stack them as the icing still wasn't set enough.  Tom joined up with Jack Bickerstaff and they headed over to the salmon runs together to have some fun.  They aren't exactly friends, more acquaintances but no-one else was around.  I thought they would be back after an hour...over 3 hours later a very happy Tom arrived back - Craig had gone to get them as Jack had another appointment.  I even got some video...

  

Friday I didn't have any cake stuff to do, but as I was used to getting up early, I suggested to the boys we got up early this morning to go up Ingleborough for breakfast, before it got too hot.  They thought it a good idea, so we all got up at 5am, and headed up.  

There was a cloud inversion going on which was amazing, made the mountain really mysterious.  There was a waterfall of clouds falling down on us.  We had breakfast, hung around to watch the clouds and then headed down.  We were back home by 9am.  

We had a lazy rest of the day - watched Thunderball with Tom in the afternoon and had pizza from La Tavernetta for tea.  Then Tom and I went down to the Bickerstaffs for the evening, Janine and I to drink wine and the boys to play in the paddling pool - Tom and Seth this time.

Saturday, wedding cake day!  We were in Settle for 10.30 to deliver the cake.  I had to stack it there which was a nightmare, however, it all went well and an hour after arriving it was all ready and no problems, phew!  We headed back to Ingleton, had lunch at the new Bernies and then went to the church to see Harriet and Richard come out, so so nice to see a wedding - everyone looked amazing & happy, gave me a real lift.    We then had a quiet afternoon.  

Oh, good news, Tom seems to be almost recovered from his hayfever / asthma, hardly coughing now which is just lovely.  We are still taking things easy though just in case...

Sunday morning, Tom and I went for a bike ride, once again to test out his breathing - he did grand.   We just did the Cold Coates loop - so I could pick up some duck eggs and we could see if the Fosters were in - they were.  They invited us in for a drink and before we knew it we had been there for about an hour just nattering away! We came back, had lunch and then Tom made a cake whilst Matt played cricket.  We then headed across to the field to watch Matt in the sunshine.  Wasn't the best match but was a pleasant way to pass the afternoon.

Monday, a morning of faffing and then Tom did a session of cricket nets with Ethan, Luca and Charlie for 2 hours.  Tom was looking tired so he was in bed early tonight, still not 100%!

Tuesday, Matt took Tom to Netherfield for some county hardball training, whilst I stayed at home and did some chocolate work and baked some gingerbread medals ready for summer business.

Wednesday, we all did lateral flow tests and then Tom went to Pat and Bob's for two nights - this has been arranged and re-arranged a number of times, but we finally got there.  This meant, of course that we had 2 nights to ourselves - what to do...well, have a play in the van of course!  After dropping Tom off, we went to Booths and stocked up with food and headed out.  First stop was on Birkett Common (just by Pendragon Castle) we found a lovely spot for the van and settled in.  Unfortunately it was a bit rainy but it didn't matter, we were away from home and in the van.  No stress.  YES!  We (of course) were parked on top of a train tunnel, so Matt went for a wonder from time to time to spot trains.  I was happy with my feet up, reading a magazine, listening to music and oh, relaxing, just lovely.  We decided that as Tom wasn't with us, we would sleep - one up, one down to give us more wriggle room.  It worked.  I went upstairs, it was a little cold due to the wind and a little loud due to the rain, but it was cosy and I did sleep.  We woke up due to a cheeky car driving past sounding its horn at us - (poo!).  We were surrounded by sheep - there were none here yesterday but hundreds in the morning - all very strange.

We had breakfast and then headed over towards Middeton and then up to High Force - never been before and we found ourselves a good walk to view it from all angles.  We then went in search of lunch and found some in a converted church.  It felt like a proper holiday - eating in cafes and exploring new places.  

Once fed, we headed to High Carlingill for another night in the van.  We were in luck - no-one else was there (only really space for one).  We were in hearing distance to the M6 - but it was just white noise so that was fine, and guess what...we could see the West Coast Mainline, so once again Matt disappeared to train spot and I put my feet up.  Another van tea, and we were in bed early (about 9.30) exhausted with the fact we had managed a whole day out!

Friday morning we woke up, had breakfast and headed straight home as Tom was being deposited with us at 10am.  It was Matt's birthday.  Tom arrived about 5 mins after we got home, so we did birthday things straight away.  Tom was supposed to have another hardball session with Cumbria Cricket, but it got rained off.  Instead, we stayed at home and watched O'Brother together.  We then went to the  Highway Man for tea.  Not the most exciting of birthdays for Matt, but we had just had 2 days in the van.

Saturday, a grey day.  Didn't do much.  Matt worked,  Tom retrieve his  Roger Moore James Bond collection from the Mannings, so he could watch them again.  However, I then went in his room - and had a 'mother' attack.  It was really really messy.  Stuff stuffed every which way, so I put my foot down - everything came out from under his bed and then we delved into the dark depths of his wardrobe and 'found' all the clothes that had gone missing over the last couple of months - all screwed up and stuffed in the back corner of it.  That was it - I saw red.  Closed the door, and then made him pull EVERYthing out and then made him try EVERYthing on to see what still fitted.  We ended up with two bin liners of discarded clothes, and his T-shirt drawer went from only having 4 T-shirts in (that's all I have Mummy) to having about 15 T-shirts in it as well as about 10 discarded T-shirts (that's how many were screwed up in the depths of his wardrobe).  We both did loose the will to live, but it needed doing, however by 3pm we were down, watching James Bond to recover!

And that was July!

June

Cider Refresher on pick up from school

So Tom returned to school on the Monday to two weeks of exams.  We knew they were happening, but even we couldn't be so mean to make him work when we were visiting the Branches.  So we had a manic week of revision in the evenings to try to cram it all in.  He wasn't as prepared as he could have been, but I think he was probably more prepared than most others and to be fair to him he did work hard those two weeks.  I bet you we never find out the results of these exams anyway!

QES is a strange beast.  You get effort grades every half term (when not homeschooling) and then attainment grades twice a year.  The attainment grades are impossible to work out as they are grades that Tom would get if he was to sit a GCSE exam now?!  What the point of that is is beyond me?  I can understand that they are useful for teachers, but they are unfathomable for parents.  I don't want to know what grade Tom might get in exams in 4 years time, I want to know how he is doing for a 12 year old. According to his grades he is already a grade C for history and science???!!!!  I can't believe that at all.  Everything else was a D, E or F grade (with one G grade for Music) which I figure might be about right but who knows?

We tend to pick Tom up from here, rather than from school - nicer!

They don't do school reports as in some text about your child, so we have no idea how he is doing really.  Apparently they don't publish exam results or position within form so we are left with no idea how he is doing at all?  We have his parent review at the beginning of July, all done virtually. You get 4 minutes per teacher - apparently the system just cuts you off after 4 mins, so you have to be prepared with questions and hope you get a chance to ask them and get answers.

Luckily his hay fever didn't properly kick in until after most of them were over, which was good.  The rest of the month was a whirlwind of cricket and hay fever.  Every year we forget how horrible hay fever is, I think we must block it out!  The farmers have been very busy this last week, cutting and spinning grass, ready to store before the weekend which is forecast rain.  Tom's system has now gone into overload, leaving him with a hacking cough, full of congestion, sore throat etc.  It is the same as 6 years ago when he ended up in hospital - luckily as he is older, we think he will be able to weather it a bit better now, but he is a sorry sight.  We had to take him for a PCR covid test on Friday as his symptoms match the unofficial 'children's reaction' to Covid, if your child is off for these reasons, you have to get them PCR tested for them to be allowed back to school.  Luckily there was a test centre open in Settle for that one day so we didn't have far to go.  We then had to isolate until we got the results.  Typical I had cakes due to be collected that day, so after calling Environmental Health for advice (they wouldn't give me any advice) I then called the clients to let them know what was happening - they both decided to come and pick them up - just as well because his test, as we thought, came back negative.  He has spent the weekend in hot baths and lying on the sofa coughing, we both hate to see him like this, just have to hope it doesn't get any worse, although we got a thunder storm last night which will have brought more pollen back down again.  

Fun things we have done in June:

Campervan sleep over!

Tom and Annabel had a sleep over in the camper van on the drive, was blissful for Matt and I - we had a very peaceful sleep.  We then had to play shop with them in the camper van all morning (still children really!).  Tom got invited to Isaac's house for a play to celebrate Isaac's birthday.  First time he's been invited anywhere new since he started at QES.  Isaac is the youngest child of Clare who is one half of Gingerbugs, and just happens to be in the same class as Tom.  I don't think they are great mates, but of course they live in the same village (Isaac went to a different Primary School as he moved a bit around the local area), was good for him to be with another friend anyway.

We had the Wilkinsons round for a BBQ one evening.  Tom wasn't feeling very well (hay fever) so he and Florrie disappeared into the camper van for the afternoon / evening, only appearing when the food was ready.  

Jude and Craig came up for a visit on their way up to Scotland, our first house guests since Jude stayed with us one night last summer.  True to form we made them a curry!  Once again it didn't feel weird them staying because it is something that happens infrequently.  It is when local friends come round and come in the house, that feels weird. Tom also managed to get a ticket to the swimming pool with Annabel on her birthday so enjoyed that.

Walk from Dent Head

Dent Head Viaduct

We took the camper to Dent Head viaduct for a Saturday night.  We did a lovely walk and then as we got ready to bed down, we realised that we had forgotten a duvet - durrrr! Of course, Tom got the duvet and Matt and I were left with a single blanket between the two of us - it wasn't a good night's sleep.

There has been plenty of cricket too for Matt and Tom, both winning and loosing.  Tom's batting has definitely improved - so far this season he has scored 57 runs and he hasn't been out (he only bats for 4 overs a game)

Oh and Covid is on the rise again, isolations at school are occurring again.  For once he hasn't been affected,  but his class was down to 12 at one point (which he really enjoyed, especially as all the trouble makers were off).  He's missed a day because of hay fever, and probably won't go back on Monday so at least we know he won't be isolated in the next couple of days!  Matt and I are now double vaccinated.

Oh, and even though he is ill, we allowed him to stay up to watch the football last night: England vs Ukraine - glad we did as we won 4-0.  It certainly cheered him up!

And that was June!

Half Term

 Half term, and for once the weather behaved itself.  After quite a few miserable, cloudy, rainy weeks, it was finally sunny and hot - yay!

Piel Castle

On the ferry.

Monday we headed to Barrow with an attempt to get to Piel Island.  We have tried to go before but have been unlucky when turning up to find no ferry.  No problems this time, however, there was quite a big queue!  Being British we joined the queue, and then wondered if it was worth it (we had to get back for a cricket match you will be surprised to hear!).  As we were counting the number of people and working out how long we may have to wait a call went out for a group of 3 - we were the only group of 3 in the queue so we walked past everyone saying sorry (how very British) and got on the ferry mega early - RESULT!

Peeping Tom

 
Piel island is very small - it has a pub, a couple of holiday homes and a ruined castle.  It is basically a nature reserve now.  The pub landlord is the 'King of Piel Island' but considering there are no permanent residents - it doesn't really amount to much.  We weren't sure if the pub would be open so we took a picnic with us - just as well, the pub wasn't open.  We walked across the island (took 5 minutes) and sat on the beach eating our sarnies.  Then we had a good explore, there were lots of birds, a decent beach and the castle had lots of walls and towers which we could clamber around.  We spent a decent couple of hours there, if the pub had been open, we probably would have spent even longer there, but it was lovely, the weather was amazing and we were happy.

On Tuesday, we packed up the van and headed south to Waddesdon.  We got there in good time, only being held up in Birmingham.  So nice to travel in a big vehicle, the whole experience was much nicer than if we were in the Honda.  Before we had parked, we had been spotted and Jake and Amber were waiting for us.  Apparently Jake had been really really looking forward to seeing Tom again (Amber less so!)  Tom got whisked away into Jake's bedroom and we headed into the house to find Simon and Clare. 

Had a very pleasant afternoon/evening in the garden watching red kites swooping over head and eating pizza.

Branch family on a...

Wednesday we had tickets for Blenheim Palace.  I don't remember having visited before.  It was a very hot day, we packed a picnic and headed out.  As we had just paid for the grounds (£46 for the 3 of us) we decided to do the longest walk (much to the annoyance of J&A).  

Happy cousins together?

Was very nice - gardens by Capability Brown (of course), a lake etc etc.  We had a picnic in the shade and then to the maze for the kids to run around (as if it wasn't too hot?!) and back to the house via the train to get an ice cream.  A good day out, rounded off by a bbq in the rain - bloody typical!

Trampoline time (and a rare Amber smile!)

Thursday we didn't really have any plans.  We all had a lovely easy morning, doing pretty much nothing - I even got a reading book out.  

A Brill Windmill!

After lunch, we headed to Brill with the windmill and did a sweaty walk around some very pleasant fields.  

Back to the village, ice cream each and then back home where the kids got watered down on the trampoline. Then a full on bbq (this time it didn't rain).

He's got me!

BBQ

Was a very nice break.  Tom and Jake got on really well.  Jake in fact was a pleasure to be around, chatty, engaging, happy to be in our company.  Amber, well I think she felt left out, but she didn't make it easy, once again everything suggested to her was 'boring', or she just said no! I think she likes to be difficult.  All it means is that she doesn't have fun whilst the boys do!  Tom's best friends in Ingleton are girls, so he certainly isn't bothered that she's a girl, think it is more that she is bothered that he is a boy!

Friday we went home again.  We went up the M1 towards Leeds and then across on the A65.  The motorway was fine, but the roads were in lockjam once we were off was everlasting - all the way to Ingleton - just as well we were in the van with a fridge full of cold drinks.  Anyway it was a good break, so nice to be away from home and not cooking.  Oh and Jake has caught me up - we are officially the same height!

The weekend was spent playing cricket.  On Saturday we did another curry off with Jude and Craig and on Sunday we had the Mannings over for a huge roast pork. A great end to a great week.  Poor Tom has exams at school now and didn't really have much time to do any revision over the holidays - only a very mean parent would make their children study during this half term - the first time people could meet with family and friends in other locations in months!  Even we aren't that mean!