More holiday snaps...

Pictures of Coniston, Hawkshead and Grizedale Forest

Some holiday snaps...

A week in Coniston... one visit that certainly isn't as uninteresting as it might sound... the pencil museum in Kendal... well worth a visit... Some snaps from outside the museum...

A day Rufford

A collection of random pictures from a day trip to Rufford Park... a bright sunny day, a wander in the park, a play in the play village and walk around the lake followed by ice creams... :-)

Spot the Pink plaster cast....

Jemima and the ground had a coming together at the weekend, Jemima came off second best. Still she's not letting the lightweight plastic cast [pink] stop her bashing people in the face.... she's inadvertently striking people at the moment... could be interesting if she works out that it could be used as an offensive weapon... the white was a temporary cast

Yorkshire 3 Peaks

At the second attempt the Peaks were conquered. No wind, no rain (well at least not until Ingleborough) the ground had obviously had a soaking and the track from Pen-y-ghent to Whernside was most bog like in large swathes and took considerably longer to traverse than previously [not helped by one of the party taking an impromptu dive into a very cold stream... marks were 6.9 for artistic impression and 9.2 for scale of difficulty... overall, could do better!!] so after a complete outfit change and a bite to eat it was on to Whernside.

Whereas previously [see June 2008 entry] the weather had been horrendous and we had been lucky to see 20 feet ahead of us the view was breathtaking... out across Morecome Bay to the high peaks in the Lakes to the west and at least 60 miles in each direction... the view was worth the slog.

After that Ingleborough was a doddle and after a brief stay at the top to take in a similar view we headed back down to the Golden Lion at Horton-in-Ribblesdale and a hot cup of tea before heading home, the challenge to walk the 20 something miles [the distance varies from book to book ranging from 24-26 miles] in under 12 hours a success.

The challenge next time is to do it in under 10 hours I think...

I'd rather go grey than bald

This was an "either/or" statement and my desire was obvious.... it's no good to me that the ones that aren't falling out are going grey- particularly as there are at least 20x more falling out than are 'becoming distinguished`!!! Pah! But as "Male Pattern Baldness" is hereditary there is at least one of my traits which I can legitimately blame the male line in the "Cox" family for!!

Frozen Yogurt or a Frube....

Ah the dilemmas of a 2 year old...
when asked by Sarah "would you like a Frube?"(for those unknowing - that is a frozen yogurt)
Jemima's response was "I want a frozen yogurt"
S: "would you like a Frube?"

J: "no I want a frozen yogurt"the discussion went on... Jemima, I think, finally establishing that a frube and a frozen yogurt were the same, was asked about the flavour she would like...

S: "would you like a strawberry one or an orange one?"
J: "I want a frozen yogurt"
S: "yes, would you like a strawberry one or an orange one?"
J: "I want a frozen yogurt"
S: "Would you like a red one or an orange one?"
J: "I want a yellow one"..............................................................................................

The foibles of a 2 1/4 year old

Sitting down for lunch, just a snack, before heading out to Brodsworth Sarah made up a small plate for Jemima, the usual, some pepper, cherry tomato, cucumber, and cheese. Handing back the cheese Jemima said in her small voice "I didn't want my cheese cut into triangles mummy, I wanted squares...." I don't know, what is the world coming to??

Catching up

It's been a while, two birthdays, various visits to various museums... Alnwick Gardens, Weston Park, Alnwick Castle... :-)

Yorkshire 3 Peaks... well 2 as it turned out

Well the start at Horton-In-Ribblesdale was interesting... firstly parking in the wrong sports field car park... I parked in the field where Christians Against Poverty and the Brain Trust were based.... and then had to walk across the village to the car park for the Leukemia Research and Heart Trust Walkers Start... there was a large queue and I an even larger swarm of midges... Insect repellent a necessity next time. [Note "next time"]


After registration at 7.40 it was onto the first "peak" Pen-y-gent... a gentle incline and a short meander along The Penine Way and finally a scramble to the top.... Fantastic vViews, the sun was shining. albeit briefly... the snake-like procession made it's way down the slope towards Whernside... it looks pleasant, ambling over the moor alongside the viaduct... that is until you get the clouds of midges.... and the bog...

So in my wisdom I asked for some wind and rain to disperse them... Perhaps I should have been more specific as the heavens opened and a wind the likes of the Chinook came up the valley. Unfortunately from the moment you cross the railway until the moment you reach the foot of Whernside you are completely exposed. So I guess there's about an 8 mile walk there...

the path across the moor is narrow, if there weren't a procession of 600 or more people all trying to cross you could turn back if the weather was truly foul... as on Saturday...

I would expect a walk over the peak to be reasonably pleasant on a good day... but with winds gusting at 40-60mph it's not pleasant!! When combined with rain, which is being blown up from the valley and horizontally over the top. Biting into your face with each pace...

As the rain kept driving the ground underfoot became more treacherous, the mud becoming like slurry running down the hill.

Drenched to the skin at Hill Farm, 17.5 miles in 6 and a half hours, even the Hill Farm Hot Chocolate and Sausage Sandwich was unable to warm my core...

Walking to the next checkpoint I was advised that they were not letting people continue as the weather had closed in and it was not safe... so 2 peaks and 17.5 miles was as far as I got.

My pride would have made me want to continue but my head was telling me it wasn't safe... in the end I was glad I didn't have to make the call.

I waited for almost an hour for the minibus to take me back to Horton, there were some very cold wet and sick people to be taken back before me....

I intend to go back to complete the walk....

Walking.... again

On Saturday 21st I will be braving the Yorkshire 3 peaks in a sponsored walk... the charity is Heart Research UK, click the link for more information .... please sponsor me.

http://www.heartresearch.org.uk/three_peaks.htm

I am hoping to complete it in under 12 hours and qualify for the Yorks 3 Peaks Challenge...

The Year of the Barbie

Elspeth is now 5... many thanks to the many people who sent gifts... it appears that this is the year of the Barbie... 3 and a horse so far... After Sarah's best efforts Barbie came wrapped and gleefully accepted into the hose by Elspeth... One week on and one Barbie is unwrapped, 2 remain in their boxes... as well as many of the other gifts...

The DVD's have been repeated over and over... Jemima in particular loves Sleeping Beauty...

thank you once again for the generous gifts...

random pictures

a variety of pictures from March and April

Dancing on bubble wrap seems to be a favourite past time for both girls...

DON'T WORRY ELSPETH HASN'T HURT HER ARM- it's a fake cast from the Teddy Bear Hospital we visited at Weston Park Museum in Sheffield [and manned by 3rd year medical students].....

The Second Best News This Week Is...

Wagamama is coming the Sheffield!!! We wandered to Leopold Square today in search of Tapas... lo and behold, right next to the Tapas bar... notification that Wagamama opens it's doors on 24 April 2008!!!!! Only 6, yes that's right, 6 more sleeps!!!

Footnote : this has relevance a) because we like Wagamama, b) because we like Wagamama and c) because James and Michelle like Wagamama.... [perhaps that should be a)...]

Jemima's Birthday... Elspeth's list...

Thanks to all for the gifts for Jemima's 2nd birthday.... opening presents on Wednesday , party on Friday followed by a family day out at Weston Park Museum in Sheffield. [pictures to follow]


Elspeth will be 5 on 7 June... the time has gone frighteningly quick... anyway for those family members who have no idea what to buy there's a list....

Lion King Disney DVD
Sleeping Beauty Disney DVD
101 Dalmations DVD
Flushed Away DVD

As she is a girly girl clothes, necklaces and bracelets always go down well... as do stickers...

Weston Park

Well the weather still can't make it's mind up... we'd planned a family day out, the weather dictated where that would be... bright sunshine and a crisp morning... Great Canons Hall Farm... ten minutes later... the sky darkened, the sun disappeared, and the wind picked up... Weston Park Museum it was...

When we got there the student Dr.'s from the University were conducting a Teddy Surgery... had we known Sarah could have brought her "well loved" Panda for come treatment... As it was we borrowed 2 Mickey Mouse dolls from the receptionists... we by passed triage and prescriptions and went straight for the bandages... plasters, "pots" [plaster cast] x-rays, and c-scan...

Jemima was transfixed by Theo the poorly teddy who seemed to wander around all afternoon... although the most fun Jemima seemed to have was with the lockers... she could creep in and close the door behind her.... am not sure whether she's been watching Narnia too much...

Hunting the hood

We went to Sherwood to find Mr Hood, we didn't find him or his merry men...

The sun shone though

Brodsworth in the Spring...

Recently re-opened after a break there have been some changes at Brodsworth... a new play area for the children. Today was an egg hunt, wandering around the gardens looking for Easter Eggs with letters imprinted upon them and then working out the mystery word from the jumbled letters G E E R I H T A.... it took some time to work out...

Lots of great shots in the bright spring mid morning light only for them to have corrupted on the memory card.... [aghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!]

anyway - some pictures....

Snowjoke....

It's all starting to melt, but here's the pictures of the new family member.....

Where'd all that come from

A white blanket this morning... no, not Elspeth's favourite blanky- outside, the "white stuff" loads of it... not sure how long it'll last so we'd best enjoy it while it's here... I walked around the block and it's already started to thaw. So on with the hats, coats and scarves... it's a snowperson making time....

Life for the under 12's gets a boost..

Doncaster has entered the 21st Century for under 12's with a new soft play "Astrabound" opened 12 March and Daddy, Elspeth and Jemima went to visit 16 March - so brand spanking new everything....

3 fun areas and a disco room :-) to explore...

Daddy had a great time... So did the girls... the best bits... the ball pit with the chute to take the balls to an overhead net and the lever to release them all... the air cannon [need I say more!!]

The coffee is tepid - perhaps they don't want pesky lawyers suing them...

highly recommended... they've obviously tapped into a fertile market, a party was kicking off as we left, with the largest fairy facepainter I have ever seen....

An interesting evening

The work Christmas Ball, slightly out of context, although the thick frost did add to the atmosphere. Unfortunately Sarah was at home as Jemima was unwell and I rolled up at the Gangsters and Molls evening on my tod... It seems all the hard work of arranging the evening was worth it as people had a ball....

RANDOM PICTURES

A collection from the last year... ok, an array of pictures from what's on the memory card...