I'm Thinking...

....spring might just be on the way!  At least that's how it felt today.  It was too nice outside to stay indoors and luckily for me that's just what John and Lesley were thinking too.

 

 

A leisurely walk down through Ealees fitted the bill. 

 

 

Muffin came along although he definitely would've preferred to have stayed at home.  He doesn't need to speak to let us know what he's thinking.  His actions speak louder than any words.  He simply  refuses to move!    I don't understand his canine logic though because if I leave him behind he barks like mad as I close the door on him!  Unfortunately he's feeling his age, at 14 he's no puppy anymore.

 

  

That is unless he wants to play fetch.   In that case he can outrun Max, who is a youngster, any day of the week and get to the ball first.

 

  

Here's a cute photo Victoria sent me via her iPhone.  Max is frightened to death of the vacuum cleaner.  He usually tries to stay clear of Nicholas too.  Nicholas can get a bit over zealous with his affection toward the little dog but when the vacuum  cleaner came too close the other day Max swiftly jumped on Nicholas's knee.  I think Nicholas was the lesser of the two evils at that moment.  Nicholas was thrilled to bits, he couldn't believe Max was sitting on his knee without him having to hold him in a vice like grip!

 

Until next time,

A Beach Day cont’d..

I must’ve been feeling tired and plain old lazy on Tuesday night when I posted that single photo from our day at the beach.  I found fault with every photo I’d taken that day and didn’t think any were worth editing.  However, when Victoria asked me today where all the other pics were I decided to take another look at what I’d got.  For the fun day we’d had it did seem a bit feeble to post only one photo.  So after getting my finger out and getting stuck into PSE11 here are the photos I should’ve posted on Tuesday.

Our picnic overlooking the beach.  It was too cold on the posteria to sit down on the prom wall though. 

The boys small and …

.. large rode their bikes along the paved promenade.  Actually that’s George’s bike his daddy is riding.

Could be anybody down there I know but it’s actually Gary throwing the ball for Max and that’s Caroline, George and Harley down by the water’s edge.  (I should’ve cloned out that group of people huddled in the middle!).

Harley and Max.  Looks like Harley is doing some kind of dance move up there!

Charlie was tired out from scooting and walking up the front and needed a donkey ride from Uncle Gary.

Nothing like ice cream to revive weary little bodies.

Double cones – lucky boys!

Revived we walked back down the front to the car, stopping to play on and off the beach along the way.  Gary loaded the bikes on the rear carrier and we headed for home via a pit stop at a local McDonalds. 

As you can see the skies were blue, there was a slight haze over the sea and the sun shone.  We were all happy campers.  Here’s to the next time, maybe over the Easter holidays?  What do you think girls and boys?

Kathleen.

A Beach Day

Another picnic today. This time at the beach.

It’s half term and the boys are on school holidays this week.  My girls both have activities planned for their boys to fill the days.  The beach was planned for today and a better day could not have been picked. 

We had a day filled with sunshine and blue skies, sand and sea, bikes and scooters, dogs chasing each other, a leisurely walk down the prom, ice cream at the end of it and happy people having fun.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

And the icing on the cake?  Good weather is forecast for the rest of the week.  Always welcome when kids are on school holidays don’t you think?

Kathleen.

Wycoller Country Park Revisited

Cold weather we have had plenty of just lately but today the sun shone, the sky was blue and the temperature reached a giddy 9 degrees Celsius!  Perfect for a day in the country.  Perfect for a picnic too.

We visited Wycoller for the first time in January of last year.  More photos of this quaint, picturesque village can be found in  that post.

The boys ran around, explored ..

.. and climbed over the ruins of Wycoller Hall.

I played Hide and Seek with them in and around the ruins.  I didn’t do any climbing though!

Although come to think of it, maybe I did.  Victoria did too.  We followed the wrong advice as to how to reach the Atom Panopticon, a pod  like structure, way up high above the village.  We hiked, zigzagged, panted, practically crawled up the steepest hill for miles around (maybe a bit of an exaggeration but it was steep!) with mud two feet deep along the way to  boot.  Heaven knows what was in that mud too.  There was plenty of sheep droppings for starters!

We made it though.  Looking back it was fun, really.  I think.   The boys got to the top with no fuss and Gary got there by way of the correct easy peasy footpath. 

It was worth the climb.  Atop that hill the wide open vistas were simply beautiful.  I love our English countryside to bits.

Going down was a piece of cake.  I love the way the boys are running in the picture above with their arms flung wide.

Billy didn’t fancy the climb.  He waited with our little old dog, Muffin, halfway up the hill.

There was still a little snow here and there.

Enough for a snowball fight.

I’ve said it before, we don’t half live in a hilly place.  I like it that way too.

Alongside the road through the village runs a river.  Nicholas ran through it.  He got soaked.  Was he bothered?  Not one little bit.

It was all good fun.

Kathleen.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day.

From the man in my life and aren’t they pretty?

Kathleen.

A Wool Shop and Buckingham Palace.

Feeling the need to do some knitting I found my way yesterday to the friendliest wool shop on the planet.  The shop, Attica Yarns, is a pleasant ten minute drive away over the tops of Blackstone Edge.  I thought I was just going to be popping in and out but no, the owner is so friendly, happy to chat and dispense advice that this “popping in” lasted an hour and a half!  

A welcome cup of coffee was included in the visit. I felt right at home.  I came away with what I popped in for too – some sock yarn.  I can’t wait to start the needles clicking.

Now, then, onto Buckingham Palace.  While I was having a lovely time in a wool shop my sweet cousin, Sylvia, was having a lovely time at Buckingham Palace.  Yes, Buckingham Palace!

Sylvia’s husband, Andy, was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for “distinguished service” in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List last June but it was only on Friday that he actually received the medal from The Queen at Buckingham Palace.  How special is that?  After the ceremony they celebrated with Afternoon Tea at The Ritz.  How special is that too?   All I can say is The Queen knows how to pick ‘em because  Andy well and truly deserves this honour! 

Sylvia and Andy are pictured above with their daughter, Katie. Their son, James, took the photo.  Katie’s twin sister, Laura, a serving officer in the Royal Navy was away at sea otherwise she would have been there too. 

Kathleen.

Can it be?

Is it possible that we are already in February!  Yes, is the simple answer.  Have to say I’m quite happy to get January out of the way.  I noticed buds on my magnolia tree this afternoon.  Spring must be on its way.  How’s that for optimism?  I’m kidding myself though, I know full well more snow is forecast for Tuesday.

A few iPhone pics to document.

• I love my BBC iPlayer app.  Yesterday afternoon whilst doing some ironing I listened happily to Book of the Week.  Charles Dickens – A Life.  I love to read but I also love to be read to and nobody does it better than the BBC.  My son in law, Gary, gave me a docking station as a gift last march.  At first I thought I’d never use it, but I do and I definitely wouldn’t like to be without it now.
• I made a courgette cake yesterday afternoon and enjoyed a slice of it with a cup of tea after the ironing was done.  Used my best china too.  That would be the 24 piece tea set I bought at a car boot sale for £18 in Rousdon, Devon in summer 2011.
• Victoria emailed me this little pic of Nicholas on Friday night.  He’s fast asleep tightly clutching his little Christmas Elf.  Very sweet!
• Today, a grey-sky-miserable-dull-day, Billy and I decided on a ride out.  I grabbed a takeaway coffee en route to our destination.  Our destination being Bay View Holiday Park.  BVHP is in Bolton le Sands, a little town smack dab on the west coast of Lancashire and just an hour and fifteen minutes north from where we live.  As from March it’s going to be the new residing place of our holiday home on wheels.   It’ll be a big change from Devon but we’re sure it’ll be a good change.  One of the very good things about the change is that Bay View is only thirty minutes away from the spectacularly beautiful Lake District of England.
• Deserted today but in the holiday season this bar/restaurant, in the centre of the park, will be bustling with holidaymakers.  We’re looking forward to using that facility!
• Checking out the locality we found a popular eating place.  The local garden centre.  It was quite busy so we presumed the food must be good. No doubt we’ll verify that in the months to come.  For today it was just kaffee und kuchen.

Apart from dropping a boot on my foot (it hurt like you wouldn’t believe!) yesterday afternoon it’s been a lovely weekend.

TTFN,

Kathleen.