8th April, 2018...Family on Home Ground!!

Phew! That was an intense few weeks at the end of term. Lots of school and home events, and even an event combining the two!! After a few drizzly days in the Lakes, we headed down to.....

...a drizzly Furness Abbey!!

There are some signs of spring, but the weather is still playing catch-up!!

Plenty of water around too!!

And we had the chance to sample Jackie's delicious new recipe parsnip cake...

It went down a treat!!

  Raining or not though, the Lake District is always lovely.....

...and we did stay in one of our favourite hotels...

...and we've found a brand new café of choice in Windermere....

......HomeGround...excellent breakfasts!!

Lovely couple of days chilling out with some of our favourite people....

...bit of a Greengate Family event to end the term too...yes- that's my sis and mother in the corner!!

We always seem to end up at Lakeland Motor Museum in the rain...here's my mother showing off with a Ford Sierra Cosworth- the car my brother coveted all through his teens and beyond!!

And the SteveHillman photograph that everyone seems to be raving about!!

24th March, 2018.....Fiftieth birthdays and the 1950s!

The sun was out, the sky was blue and we needed to walk off a bit of stress...Furness Abbey was calling as always, so off we went.......

....and it was looking truly lovely in the early spring sunshine!

We did laugh we  we found these two stuck in the railway cottage garden....

....we let them out and they managed to open the gate themselves by biting it and pulling!!

Furness Abbey was treated to some extra special visitors earlier in the week.....

...bought my crazy class and colleagues down for a walk and a hot chocolate!!

A little bit of fresh air and freedom worked wonders for us all!

My brother Mike is 50 tomorrow!!! Happy Birthday to him....and here's our mum in the 1950s ( in the middle), a LONG LONG LONG time before she had any of us!!!

18th March, 2018....Barrow Library and the Bloomin' Beast!

Just when we were putting away the winter coats....icy winds from the East are back....cold in Barrow but at least we don't have the snowstorms that seem to be hitting the rest of the country. We braved the cold to venture down to Furness Abbey.....

..it's looking lovely but no signs of spring yet- no daffodils or buds and plenty of herdies in their winter coats!

Always time for a spot of morning tea with Jackie...

...just us today though!!

We visited Barrow library earlier in the week, for some excellent 'literature' workshops....first time I've been there for about fifteen years, and it was a shock to find out that some children in my class haven't EVER been there. I spent half my childhood in Walney library because we just couldn't afford books when I was growing up...new books were a luxury. I loved to read so I used to cycle up to the library on Central Drive from West Shore and take out my three books every few days...Ruth Manning-Saunders was my favourite author back then but I think I read most of the contents of the children's section back then. I can afford to buy books now which is great but we MUST support our libraries more- we can't let them close. 

Both mother and mother-in-law have had their own struggles over the last fortnight, but both are doing very well- they don't moan or make dramas, they just get on with it...

Freezing but lovely wedding at The Daffodil on Thursday for the Steve Hillman Camera...

The couple were brave enough for a Lake Cruise too! Look out the SteveHillman camera at this event next week!