a bit ofa do April 29th posted by Hannah
As the wedding party left the balcony we legged it round to Gowan Close. We are all agreed that the boy's done good! A beautiful bride on his arm, an Aston Martin for a getaway car and the keys to the Dukedom. Here in God's own village we held a street party fit for a king, complete with a red carpet and a game of 'pin the medal on the Prince.' We toasted the happy couple with Pimms and Champagne and wished them all the very best for a long and happy life together. Extra photos here.
royal greetings April 27th posted by Jonathan
We're getting in the mood for the big day on Friday. Daniel has spent the day making crowns and flags at school and Boo and I have started baking for the party. This afternoon they played 'Royal Weddings', which involved Bethan swishing around the lounge in a blanket and pearls, a lot of kissing and pretend signing of the registers. After tea the newly weds met Jon from the train.
orienteering in a party dress April 25th posted by Jonathan
A row of houses near us has a gathering each year on Easter Monday which consists of a duck race on the stream opposite, homemade soup for lunch and an afternoon of orienteering on the scar. Neither Daniel or I have tried orienteering before, but with Andy and his children Nathan and Lara we really enjoyed the long course (Daniel was the youngest on it!). Bethan and Hannah did the short course and all did well. My favourite image of the day though was Bethan bombing about the fell in a polka dot party dress and bare feet. It was a beautiful day and ideal for finding orienteering treasure.
crayfish April 24th posted by Hannah
Daniel and Rebekah have become crayfish experts this holiday. They have enjoyed searching them out together leaving (literally), no stone unturned in the river. They found this crayfish today in the River Kent and it was closely examined before being carefully returned. They have also made a crayfish museum in the sandpit and written a talk about crayfish - with notes, which they have been delivering with Boo and Little Hannah. Having spent the entire Easter holidays with the children playing in the river, it is amazing to think that three years ago we woke up to snow on Easter morning.
wild camp April 21st posted by Hannah
For the last few Christmases, Jon has been trying to kit out his God-daughter Rebekah for camping and this holiday she has finally been able to test her kit. She and Daniel made their camp for the night in the wilds of Kentmere and this was them waking-up yesterday morning.
we have a winner April 16th posted by Hannah
Today we received an exciting phonecall from the Cadbury's shop in Kendal. Dan and Boo had entered a competition to design and decorate an Easter Egg, and Gino D'Acampo (celebrity chef) chose Daniel's as the winner! This afternoon we made off with the first prize, a fabulous Dairy Milk egg as big as Daniel's head. Then he had his picture taken for the paper!
and they're off! April 13th posted by Hannah
The annual north/south Burgess sunflower growing competition is well underway. I must admit to being a little disheartened 10 days ago when Yvonne rang to tell us that James's sunflower already had two leaves (ours were yet to leave the packet). However, despite being late starters, our little sunflowers are finally out of the blocks. This one was wearing it's seed as a hat earlier in the week which we liked.
Mickeldon April 10th posted by Hannah
We made an early start this morning and were one of the first cars to roll into Langdale. We walked a little way along Mickeldon valley and had the place to ourselves. Dan did a spot of dam building - which I'm pleased to say he has taken to rather well. Dam building is a traditional summer pastime on my side of the family. My brother and I used to spend the holidays making dams on the north devon coast with my Dad. Our dams were so spectacular that whole watercourses were permanantly re-routed. One memorable year my Dad actually produced a shovel from the boot of the car to assist, (had there been a mini-digger available, we would have used it)!
dafs April 9th posted by Hannah
It's been a glorious weekend and a great start to the holiday season in the lakes. We've had the canoe out for the first time this year (which Hannah and Caleb have christened 'The Snorting Horse', because they thought it deserved a name in keeping with the rest of the fleet)! We have been lazing about at Fell Foot with Nicols and Mclellans, eating picnics and toasting the sunshine. Daniel and Elliot divided their time between roaming the rhododendrons and trying to catch a fish in Daniel's lunch box.
conversations with Daniel at bedtime April 8th posted by Hannah
Daniel doesn't volunteer much information about his day at school. We have the universal parent/child exchange at the school gate: Me, 'What did you do today?' Dan, 'Nothing'. But, at bedtime, when he's trying to stall, we are treated to all sorts of fabulous stories. The best one this week was this.. Dan, 'Did you know that Angus' Mum used to work on the Titanic?' Me, 'That can't be true, the Titanic sailed a long, long time ago.' Dan, 'It is true Mum, Angus told me, and he was ACTUALLY BORN in the water!'
cairn climber April 5th posted by Hannah
We had a great walk on Saturday, up the Scar and along the ridge above the forest where Bethan goes with nursery. It was a blustery old day and it felt good to be out. We inspected the dam that Daniel and Charlie built a couple of weeks ago and found it in need of an engineer, so that's a job for another day. We also visited the tadpoles and were tempted to bring some home (this always seems like a good idea until the day you find the kitchen full of frogs).
giddy lambs April 1st posted by Hannah
The field in the middle of the village is full of lambs and we're having to allow extra time to get to and from school so that we can visit them. There was a lot of larking about going on earlier today when the sun came out. They have discovered their legs and were doing 'mad-running' (Daniel's phrase), and lots of skipping.
