31st August, 2014....Frank's got the 'end of August' blues!!

Where did the school holidays go? Today is the final Sunday for teachers and kids, and Frank is definitely not happy!!

 

Had lunch out with the mad gang last week, and we are all looking forward to returning to school.....we need a rest from sailing, making buffets and generally entertaining family!

 

 

Earlier in the week, after a sneak-peek at baby Darcey, we headed down to Abbey Mill Café to sample Jacqui's famous 'morning tea'.

 

 

Very nice it was too...and what a lovely morning....perfect weather and beautiful surroundings... I would definitely recommend getting down here for an early walk then breakfast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure this is a little 'herdie' peering over the fence at us...but only one??

 

 

 

I thought it was interesting that Story Homes were the good guys on this week's DIY SOS Big Build in Cumbria. All the builders had their Story Homes jackets on and came across as thoroughly nice chaps... which they genuinely are I guess....and I felt I wouldn't want to stand on a Barrow building site where they were working, waving a placard protesting at the Manor Farm homes! Very good PR by Story Homes, and at a crucial time too, as planning has just been submitted to Barrow Council!

 

 

But again...we don't want to lose this view!!

 

 

Subtle signs of early autumn down here at the moment....

 

 

 

.......just ready for Wednesday's mini heat wave, when school kids have to don their new uniforms, shoes and head back inside.....to face teachers bombarding them with the NEW NATIONAL CURRICULUM FOR 2014!! Spanish for juniors; the Stone Age; Infants working on adding fractions; The Mayan a; Evolution.....whatever next!!! (Actually, I wish I was a kid again...we did alpha and beta maths, comprehension and a bit of textured painting...it's much more interesting now!). We haven't lost Furness Abbey from our local history studies though.....or Victorian Barrow....too important!

 

 

We thought we'd be helpful and fix the broken water trough in one of the meadows down here today...unfortunately it had been flooding for a long time and I got caught in the centre of the marsh it had created.....I wasn't allowed back in the Land Rover until I had binned the trousers!!

 

 

I've read a massive volume of books this holiday, but by far the best one was the latest Tana French novel, The Secret Place....She has five novels out now, all set in Ireland, and they are superb on every level...they have pride of place in my library at home, but I'm willing to lend them out!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22nd August, 2014... Manor Farm housing estate and Morecambe Bay!!

Summer is over...coats are on....SteveHillmanphotography has four weddings over the wet and blustery Bank Holiday...ooops....poor brides...hope you've got brollies and your veils pinned on tightly!!

 

Yes...this photo was of us on a trip to the seaside in August....

 

 

.....we just happened to pick the worst day of the summer to go!! I can remember visiting Morecambe as a kid...there was Marine Land, Frontier Land and Morecambe Lights....where did they all go? The iconic Midland Hotel is still there though and providing very nice afternoon teas!

 

 

 

And, of course, a visit to Brucciani's is compulsory......I can remember it's twin in Barrow......the ambience in there is straight from the 50's!

 

 

So.......Story Homes are planning their 38 houses on land near Manor Farm......and it's fair to say this has already provoked some (not completely polite) debate!! We often go and admire this view....

 

 

 

 

......so make the most of it, as by this time next year you might not see it again! When you say it like that, it doesn't seem right. When you look at the ever-expanding property portfolio in Wednesday's Evening Mails it also seems odd that yet more houses are being built, when there are so many for sale?? And I doubt Story Homes will be selling them at a low price.....my thirty year old daughter can never see a way she will be able to own a house, and I work with a lovely guy who's partner is also a teacher, so they have a reasonable income, and they have no chance of buying a house at the moment.

I wonder who Story Homes are aiming these houses at....I'm presuming they've done market research...?!

 

 

Anyhow, some strange markings have appeared on the site so I'm guessing the surveyors are getting ahead of themselves, as usual!

 

 

We did actually get some nicer August weather earlier this week, and Abbey Mill was quite busy....Mr. and Mrs. Leigh have finally located the café and were able to take afternoon tea! It's becoming quite a 'cult' this afternoon tea lark, amongst the more sensible non-drinking fraternity (if you know me, you will know that I have never partaken of alcohol, after learning from Mr. De Court in chemistry that it was a poison...I'm funny like that....Mr. Hillman didn't drink much either, after we got together! Our livers are pristine!)!

 

 

 

I'm hearing that this piece of land is for sale too??

 

 

Let's hope not!! I'm struggling to get up the side of the Amphitheatre at the moment...old age I presume.....don't know what Frank's excuse is....he's only TWELVE on Monday!!

 

 

 

And on this beautiful morning, as DAWN was breaking over the estate where we live.....

 

 

....we got the fantastic news that baby D number two was born....and it's a SHE....baby Darcey welcome to the world!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10th August, 2014...Wuthering Heights weather!!

Well, we didn't get the remnants of Bertha, but it's been very soggy today! Up on the hills around the Abbey, it was deserted and quite atmospheric!!

 

 

 

It was rather like the North York Moors!!

 

 

That bit of the A65, after Ingleton.....Heathcliffe.....Kathy...!! The 'black-and-white' photography helps!!

 

 

It was very wet!!!! Jack Wolfskin saved the day, as always!! Who took the photo, I wonder??

 

 

Here's another of the 'helicopter flight' photos that the SteveHillman camera has been keeping to himself!! We live in a great place, don't we?!!

 

 

Abbey Mill today and earlier in the week, with a little bit of sun!! The trouble is, if you only come down here in the good weather, you miss all the ghostly and atmospheric vibe of a rainy or stormy day....try it the next time we get a storm coming in, and see if you agree!!

 

 

 

So....earlier in the week, we thought we'd travel a bit further afield for our dose of history, and we visited the Museum of Lakeland Life, at Abbot Hall in Kendal!

 

 

It does have some rather fascinating exhibits about how farmers and gentlefolk lived, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries (and Frank loved the Postman Pat exhibition!).

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara Hepworth also has a sculpture exhibition in the gallery attached to the hall. I wanted to check this out for a visit by our year six children, but I'm now not sure they'd be comfortable with the reverence clearly accorded to this artist!

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting....but I think we will stick to taking year six to Morecambe for the 'Bird sculpture trail'...it's much more hands on (and we love to have an ice cream in Brucciani's!).

 

 

We did drop in to Kendal Parish Church whilst we were there. It is over 800 years old, and has a lot of interesting history attached to it, including the Parr Chapel, which was the family chapel of  Lady Katherine Parr's and her family. My mother liked sitting here and thinking.....Henry V111 is one of her favourite characters!

 

 

So, try a trip out to Kendal if you are history/countryside enthusiasts like us!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3rd August, 2014....Barrow commemorates World War 1.

 

A drab Sunday morning, pouring with rain, but this didn't stop the people of Barrow turning out to remember those that had gone before, defending their country.

 

 

 

 

 

Our MP turned out too!

 

 

Nice touch, with the Motorcyclists supporting the Royal British Legion!

 

 

Jack Wolfskin saved us from the worst of the weather, as always!

 

 

 

The Great War began for Britain at 11pm on August 4, 1914, when Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith declared war on Germany – after it refused to halt its invasion of Belgium.
The conflict lasted for four years, despite confident initial predictions it would be resolved within a few months, and led to the deaths of more than 37 million people. August 4th....an auspicious day indeed!

 

Alan Jones, a lay chaplain for the Submariners Association conducted the service, and it was very poignant...old and young coming together at Barrow's Cenotaph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The service included a heart-felt reading of the Kohima Epitaph:

When you go home, tell them of us, and say, for your tomorrow- we gave our today.

 

 

 

 

I kind of saw today, the final point of us holding the commemorative event in school last month...it WAS fun and was teamwork at it's best, but it also fixed in the mind of 300 children that their freedom to choose was secured by men and women that no longer inhabited the world before they were even born. And thanks once again to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment for adding this memento to our long term memories!