16th July, 2017....Mad Colleagues and Englishmen!!!

A beautiful, breezy Sunday so we decided to head to Furness Abbey for a bit of peace and a 'wind-down'...only four more working days of this academic year left.......

....always time to have a spot of morning tea at Abbey Mill Café....

.....with lemon drizzle cake of course!!!

We've had such a mad last few weeks of term, keeping the academic ball rolling as well as fitting in all our community events, so thank goodness for my massively supportive (and totally crazy) colleagues who share the load.....

                                ...couldn't manage without this one, in her Mexican blanket......

...we did have an actual reason why we were all dressed in denim, checked shirts and cowboy hats...it was our annual transition event- hence the two head teachers above-and this year it had a 'Wild West' theme....the KIDS enjoyed it too!

The Steve Hillman Camera has had a quiet, lonely fortnight, editing weddings, so he took a break to visit Grizedale Forest earlier in the week, again with the MAD GJS brigade-it is a lovely place to walk and chill out with the family...no need for arcade games and rollercoasters!. My mum and dad used to chuck us five kids and the dog into the car when we were little and let us run for a whole day on the Grizedale Forest Nature Trails- there were different coloured posts to follow back then-keep us fed with Tupperware-flavoured sandwiches and sausages from a flask, and we didn't half sleep well when we got home!!

Isn't Cumbria a stunning place...we are so lucky!!!

2nd July, 2017....Finally, family at Furness Abbey!

First weekend for a month without full-on weddings and school work....and the chance for a lovely catch up with the Northants and Lancs parts of the family, along with the Barrow contingent and a buffet chez Hillman....

(bit of a height differential with the Hillman Children!!)

...we even managed to escape to Furness Abbey and have morning tea at Abbey Mill Café!

             Furness Abbey, we've missed you!!!! So tranquil and green in the morning light.........

                              ...and full of local people doing what they do best on a Sunday morning...!

We love the Barrow community, and I was interested to read what Phil Huck was saying about plans for the town over the next few years taking it on into 2030...hope we have our new Central Ward redesign by then!!! We were so proud to be part of the Great Community Get Together for the Jo Cox Foundation, last month....

......and we've really used the locality to support experiential education over the past few weeks.....

...and, of course, teachers love experiential learning and away days!!!

We did have a short walk to Furness Abbey during the 'mini heatwave' the other week...

...look at that blue sky......

Stunning, but so OVER now it's July!!!!

31st May, 2017....Floral delights at Furness Abbey!

Last day to get a blog done before it becomes Flaming June! We just haven't had the time to get down to Furness Abbey since the start of May.....work and weddings have taken over a little bit, but thankfully it's the spring bank holiday week, and we've allowed ourselves a little bit of 'down-time'. Not much though-if you're a grafting teacher, this half term break is for REPORT WRITING-and it has been for years! But we have managed a sunny walk down here this morning......

.....and it is looking truly stunning.....early summer flowers everywhere......

...beautiful!

One of my children has taken the other one on a short break to London.....

......but we did manage a family 'catch-up' first at the lovely Bay Horse! The last text I had from the kids was that they'd had a late breakfast at Pre-a-Manger and were heading to the British Museum! Even though I was born there, I'm really not a fan of London....much prefer the quiet of the countryside!

My mum's the original 'cockney' though...if you know her, you'll know what I mean (pawa wosh!)!

Even the SteveHillmanCamera took time out of his busy schedule to have an ice cream, care of Abbey Mill Café!

Just a couple of days to relax a bit, and unwind before....argh.....masses of stuff through June and July!!!!

7th May, 2017...YMCA and a sunny Sunday before SATs!

What a beautiful Sunday! Perfect for a walk at Furness Abbey.......

...which was looking like glorious, as always!

We are bringing our hard working year six children down here on Friday after what has become know as 'Silly SATs Season'....we know they will 'nail it' -they always do!

Lovely meal at Abbey House/Oscar's on Friday too.....can recommend it highly! The SteveHillman camera was up at YMCA Lakeside earlier in the week- our children had been invited to a 'taster day' for their new promotions, and they had a fab time! I worked there through my teens, on Day Camps, which kind of set me on the road to becoming a teacher, and my daughter attended Day Camps herself from age seven up until she was thirteen- she loved it! The use of Lake District as an outdoor pursuits venue is becoming quite competitive, and YMCA and now working very hard to re promote themselves-it's worth a look!

'Changing young lives' is what YMCA does...it certainly changed mine! As did this lovely place!

And congratulations to Sam and Natalie who married at Abbey House yesterday...we saw Sam as a newborn!!!