20th March, 2016.....Furness Abbey, falconry and fashion...!!!

As my friend and colleague Mr Woody rightly says, I use the exclamation mark quite wrongly!!! If you are a year six teacher at the moment, you understand the joke...if not...thank your lucky stars!!! What a fabulous day though, so we headed off to Furness Abbey for a sunny walk (can't believe we missed Jason Watkins down here on Friday...loved him in 'The lost honour of Christopher Jeffries'!)

 

Who's that giant with me??

 

 

 

Silverband Falconry visited school earlier in the week...fascinating to watch, and kind of mesmerising.....luckily the Harris Hawk didn't swoop down and steal any children, but the local seagull fraternity were not happy with the visit!!

 

 

 

 

 

Stunning!

 

 

First wedding ever for the SteveHillman camera at the new Levens venue The Villa yesterday. And he even bought back a souvenir for our friend Wedgie so that she can expand her 'afternoon tea' horizons.... can feel an Easter tea coming on!!

 

 

Talking of lovely venues, it looked beautiful out the back of Abbey House this afternoon...yet I bet a lot of people don't really explore the grounds when they go there...have a look....

 

 

 

They have a lovely display of daffodils too!

 

 

I think I've been watching too much 'Countryfile'....even my reading materials of choice are reflecting an agricultural or horticultural theme.....

 

 

...the Tracy Chevalier one is fantastic, as always, and I had to stop myself 'binge reading' yesterday, as I had work to do!!! (oops...wrong exclamation marks again...sorry Woody!!). This is my 30th class of kids, and I think they will probably get by without knowing whether a sentence is an exclamation or not...

 

 

...modelling 1980's fashions earlier in the week!!!!!!!

 

 

This was Frankie's first day out after three days in bed with the tonsil problem again.....so a milkshake and scone at Abbey Mill Café was in order....

 

 

So, the question is...will the scales fall from Richard Roper's eyes or will he let Jonathon Pine go???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 13th, 2016....Kendal, Kirkby and collaboration!!

I'm looking out over my sunny garden as I'm typing this....clumps of golden daffodils and a mild breeze...it feels positively spring like....yet we all thought we'd get pneumonia on Tuesday!!!

 

 

 

That's Furness Abbey this afternoon...it certainly brought the crowds out....

 

 

...even nana managed the climb to the top of the amphitheatre!!

 

 

 

Definitely Abbey Mill ice cream weather!!

 

 

You can tell it's the Steve Hillman thumb...that's the injury from last time's DIY...got a new one today, as I'm sure everyone now knows thanks to the incredibly annoying FACEBOOK ( I am one of the sensible small minority who doesn't!!).

 

 

Boy-oh-boy did we get wet in Kendal on Tuesday...a low and drenching mist hung around all day, and wet coats lose heat! The kids enjoyed a great tour around the Kendal museum of Lakeland Life , and some skiing and tubing fun at Kendal Snowsports, but they were pretty cold and wet by half past two!!! Even Jack Wolfskin failed to keep me totally dry!!

 

 

 

 

 

Soaked!!!!

What was great though was the two fifty minute coach rides, which gave me a chance, for the first time in ages, to catch up with my colleagues...we all work in the same year groups and on the same corridors, but all we seem to manage is 'Hi' and 'Bye'...that is the nature of the job now. Teachers need more chance to collaborate...that's when they do their best work, but with what the DfE have just landed on us, there is little chance of that...for now, we'll have to plan on the front seats of coaches!!

 

 

Now there's a 'blast from the past' for all Greengaters...Mr Wall has re emerged in England, just for a few days...the grey beard has gone, but he's still climbing Everest every day, for fun, into his seventies (actually, that's not a joke...he runs a trekking company in the Himalayas!)

 

 

Not the Himalayas, that's Kirkby...the Steve Hillman camera has been looking for pastures new this week.....

 

 

...looks lovely doesn't it! Let's hope this warm weather lasts...it's been raining for far to long! We always have The Eagles playing on trips in the spring and summer...it's driving music, and a trip down memory lane for me because MAN, did I have a crush on Glen Frey...I wanted his clothes, his jacket, his jeans, his hair, (not his beard or side-burns though!!)....I thought he was IT!!! We watched the four hour Sky Arts documentary on them last week, stunning! So sad that he's gone!

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhH3mRkKDX8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 6th, 2016...Stunning weather for Mothering Sunday!

 

We've woken up to some beautiful sunrises this week, and ended the day with some stunning sunsets, there's been a little snow and some sparking sunshine...look at the skies at Furness Abbey this Mothering Sunday.....

 

 

 

 

 

Very busy down here, with everyone taking advantage of the spring sunshine....

 

 

.....it did snow very quietly on Thursday night...my car was covered at 7am but in town there wasn't any...disappointed children were asking me why my car had snow on and where had I come in from...we seem to get different weather on Hawcoat Hill!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a lot of surface water around the Furness Abbey area after the snow melted...this area is certainly NOT the place to be building a new housing estate....final decisions about this will be made this week...let's hope common sense prevails!!

 

 

 

The SteveHillman camera, along with Old Father Raymond attended the funeral of the well respected Horace Parrington earlier on in the week; sad, though a life well lived...and again a reminder of what a stunning place we live in.....

 

 

 

So...journeys with my mother......

 

 

...we headed off for a Mothering Sunday meal at The Bay Horse...they do a 'lovely roast' according to my mother, and I have to agree...we often pop in there for tea or Sunday lunch and it is always nice!

 

 

Keep forgetting....I'm this pair's mother too!!

 

 

Why do they have to get 'Selfies' everywhere they go...what are they exactly??

 

 

My sister has to do it with one of her brood too!!!

 

 

"All photos are selfies" says nana, "if you are in them yourself"!!!

 

 

I think tonight is the last night of plummeting temperatures and stunning sunsets.....

 

 

 

...milder from tomorrow!!! This is coming out in our garden at the moment....

 

 

...very bridal, for the start of the season, and congratulations to a member of the Greengate Tribe, who kicked off the season in style last weekend!!