31st July, 2015.....Instrumental and International!

Well fancy that....the blog makes it into the Evening Mail today...but I have no idea where they've got that archived photo of me from (oh...and I'm NOT Head teacher of Greengate Juniors, merely Deputy Head!!). Clearly Abbeywatch is becoming a bit of a 'phenomenon', and it all started because of a simple conversation I had post- illness one day!

 

 

 

 

 

Well.....we've had a bit of a mixed bag of weather to start the school holidays...brisk breezes, sparking sunshine and some duller, quieter days...but always looking lovely down at Furness Abbey!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frankie is working on his 'urban-warrior' look....but in reality he likes his 'home comforts' too much, which is why I have to spend so much time baking!!

 

 

 

They have been 'shorn' for the summer!

 

 

Thanks to Louise from Kutz!! Me.....I found the motor bike I've always coveted down here on Sunday...a new version of a Triumph Tiger.....don't look the part so much nowdays though...a bit 'middle aged' to be a biker...but you never know!!

 

 

Even though it is only the last day of July, there are sloes and blackberries forming on the bushes down here, and the evenings do have a distinctly 'autumnal' feel.....and we haven't even had a holiday yet....not much chance of that with all these wedding demands!

 

 

 

 

 

 Oh well....Hillmans always get plenty of walking in....just one pair of boots missing...she's at work!

 

 

So....whilst we were out on another one of our gentle  'ambles' yesterday, over by Ormsgill Quarry, a helicopter just landed in the top golf course field...of course we happened to have the little camera.....and a car drove over to the heli to pick up.....Rob Thomas I hoped, but no...it was Dave Whelan (of DW Sports and Wigan fame) for the football funeral yesterday. Well done the SteveHillman camera again!

 

 

 

 

Rather tragic happening down at Furness Abbey on Tuesday evening....feel so sorry for the family. I'm reading or should I say have read this week, in one sitting, the James Rhodes biography 'Instrumental'...

.......a gripping read, but one to make you seethingly angry at what some people inflict on others, without even caring about consequences. The upside is that James Rhodes is a stunningly insightful and talented human being who has found a way through pretty much the worst that can be inflicted on a person, and he shows just what a member of the human race can be...you've got to read it!

 

 

 

 

Oh, and have a walk and a think down at Furness Abbey!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22nd July, 2015..."Parting is such sweet sorrow...!"

Well...that's the end of another school year...another set of eleven year olds sent out into the big wide world....and there were some great kids, especially my little Shakespearian friend. He even read out a sonnet dedicated to one of our retiring members of staff....more on the Shakespeare theme later! It's got to Wednesday before we could even think about some time to ourselves and a walk.....

 

Very quiet and calm down at Furness Abbey this lunch time.....with a lovely smell of woodsmoke in the air...

 

 

...until we realised that it was woodsmoke from an actual fire that was still burning!!

 

 

Someone has been camping in the woods again, abandoned the tent and their rubbish but left the fire smouldering...ooops!

 

 

What a mess! Still...we had a lovely lunch at Abbey Mill and a good chin-wag with Jackie...don't forget to have a trip down to Abbey Mill this holiday!

 

 

 

 

Yes I am looking a bit 'wiped out' at the moment...people who know me know what has gone on! Normal colour will be resumed soon! So...to Shakespeare.....

 

 

.....Blackwell and The Globe Theatre Players...two of our favourite things coming together...how could we resist....and what a superb performance of Romeo and Juliet it was....stunning and so uplifting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tattoos to show the Capulets apart from the Montagues, whilst the swallows flew overhead.....

 

 

 

 

...so much energy...Frankie couldn't take his eyes off the stage.......

 

 

 

...him from DCI Banks.....

 

 

...and all set against a Lake District summer twilight...So worth it!

 

 

Said good bye to a colleague whom I have worked with for 28 years this week...she's supported our school for 38 years, so we had a bit of a party for her at Clarence House too...

 

 

Happy Retirement Elaine......and in the words of Juliet...Parting is such sweet sorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5th July, 2015...Bilstering weather...at last!

Phew...what a scorcher of a week...perfect for our sports day...definitely wasn't cancelled this year! As today is slightly cooler, we headed for a walk down to Furness Abbey!

 

 

 The summer meadow certainly needs cutting....

 

 

 

...and actually, there is a lot of 'hay-timing' going on in the fields around here already!

 

 

 

Mr Hillman senior is getting about a bit after his recent accident...he's making one of those travel shows.....Journeys in my slippers!!

 

 

 

He and the SteveHillman camera had rather a nice trip out along the west side of Windermere earlier in the week...lots of interesting things to see.....woodland management and nice cafes!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Saturday wedding this week belonged to the Evening Mail 'Win a wedding' couple...how lucky were they...and to win the SteveHillman camera too....

 

 

...she looked stunning and the weather was gorgeous, so what better venue than Abbey House!

 

 

 

 

The beck is very low down here again...but that didn't stop this robin from taking a cooling dip...I thought they flew to cooler climes for the British summer?? There was a large chaffinch (I stand correct!) following us and showing off too!

 

 

Frankie seems to manage to pull off the colour co-ordinated look, even on a Sunday....

 

 

...unlike me!

 

 

We had a lovely sports morning earlier this week, that confirmed to me and my colleagues that our school and it's community are 'rock solid'.... we all came away smiling on Friday morning!