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Sunday, 12 February 2017

12th February, 2017...Arctic winds at Furness Abbey!

Brrrr....what is going on...it's freezing! Standing outside on dinner duty every day for forty minutes is killing me...don't know how dinner ladies do it.....especially my mad 75 year old mother!! The field full of herdies at Furness Abbey have got the right idea....keep your winter coats on!



We kept ours on too!

Hillmans seem to be 'last man standing' today....many family members, including Frankie , have got the dreaded 'lose your voice' bug....met my boss down here today...she has it too!

Just a lonely tea and coffee at Abbey Mill today!




Still looking lovely down here though, but the violet skies are definitely  pointing to snow!


Lovely family gathering this weekend, and the food at Oscars, and the newly refurbished Swan Hotel, was excellent!








The Swan had a really rough time of it after the Christmas 2015 floods, but the refurbishments are excellent and well worth a look. Well, we're on to phase three of the building works ourselves.....




...retaining walls built...excellent work by Brown and O'Neill builders.....


.....front door done....excellent work by Mike Doddings from Clear View.....


...drive work next.......then, who knows!!!














Sunday, 29 January 2017

29th January, 2017...the blog's back!!!!

Hi all....we've finally had the chance to visit Furness Abbey in the morning sunshine...we've had messages from our ex-pat followers all around the world (hi Canada, USA, Australia, Dubai, Phillipines!!) asking if something had happened-they love catching up with their home town and families-nothing has happened.... we've just been flat out trying to survive with work and weddings and never seeing the daylight...just like everyone else!!!



Lovely cuppa at Abbey Mill......



........and there is a bit of a 'buzz' that English Heritage have got some exciting plans and projects for the place in the near future, and also that the Abbey Tavern might be included in those plans...let's hope so.

Frankie seems to be having yet another growth spurt at the moment.........

....and keeping his sister entertained with stories about school and smashed phones and sausage buns!


Nana had a bit of a muddy fall today...the air was blue, because she'd dirted her 'traw-ziz'!!


We joined many other Barrovians a couple of weeks ago, in Emlyn Street car park to photograph the gathering of waxwings that were brooding in the rowan trees...it has been three years since we spotted them in Barrow in a tree on the green at Dunmail Raise, and they were gone by Saturday tea time, but we got a few shots!

Hillman senior road trip earlier this week, in all that sub zero weather.......


Hillmans with the Hillman!


                                                           Can't take him anywhere!

I did get a new Herdy for my collection, even though I was probably working quite hard whilst they were all having fun!! We've been up in the loft this weekend-we've got big building projects starting on Tuesday and needed to do some clearing- and we've found some hilarious photos, from the time when photos actually came on photographic paper...

...that's me and my sister in 1991- I think I was in my fourth year of teaching....

...now I'm in my twenty-ninth!!!!


Some beautiful Furness Abbey Sunrise shots for all you ex-pat followers out there.....



...this blog is dedicated to you all!!

















Monday, 2 January 2017

2nd January, 2017...Sparkling sunshine at the start of 'seventeen!

Somehow, we made it through Christmas again.....I always think it's great fun and stressful in equal measure! We have met up with some lovely family and friends and had a few laughs (and a lot of crème brulee!!) but time to get back to normality now...and what a great way to start 2017....a walk to the stunning Furness Abbey!





We managed to meet my friend's fiancé this holiday, just in time for the wedding in April (it's getting close now Em, after many years of our plotting and planning!), and it had to be at Abbey Mill Café- where we sat and talked over pot after pot of tea!


Lots of other family 'meet-ups' this holiday too.....








My family know me so well...these were Christmas gifts!!


Some lovely walks on Christmas Day,Boxing Day and Toe Day!






...and plenty of weddings, including a lovely wintery one with Furness Abbey lady Mrs Jep and her family!




"I'm not a hat person" says my mother (she was seventy-five earlier in the week!!).