2016 Our Year

Not one single blog post for 2016. I feel I must write one before the year is out.

What to write?

In 2016 we celebrated 10 years of marriage, one 6th and one 9th birthday. Lots and lots of little moments to treasure in between everything I've written down.

Early in the year the children and I paid a visit with friends to friends by Bassenthwaite Lake (the only Lake in the Lakes) Keswick, Cumbria. All our children have known each other since they were only a few weeks old. It was a lovely trip, one that we hope to make again soon.

 

Thinking back, my highlight of the year was our long weekend on a narrow boat. J's birthday treat in September. The children managed to get an early finish from school, we drove a couple of miles up the road and transferred all our bits and bobs over to the boat. The guy from the hire company told us all we needed to know (well he told J and I hoped he listened) and he travelled with us on the boat until we got under the first bridge...then he just jumped off, gave us a wave and said you'll be fine!!!

We spent the next few days on a small stretch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal (starting at Bradley and East Marton being furthest point). Loving the sunshine, the locks, the making up of the double bed of an evening, the slow pace of life. I was chief lock keeper, which I really enjoyed. Doing this means you get to open and close all the locks, you don't have to be in the lock or steer the boat, and you get to meet all the other people travelling up and down the canal. It was nice to hear their stories, whether they were holidaying or living on their boat.

Fish and Chips for our first meal on the boat

Using their whistles to call in the cows. All before breakfast.

My husband's highlights of the year: 
The canal boat trip.
Taking our daughter to a festival to watch Noel Gallagher.
Taking our daughter for her first bike ride on his Vespa.
All the holidays and mini breaks we took this year.

Scotland: Seal spotting.

Cheesecake and wine on the beach (my favourite evening).

J bought a canoe (bucket list!).

Cornwall:

First on the beach, what a breathtaking view.

The girl's highlights of the year:

Watching Wicked at the Bradford Alhambra Theatre.

Going to the top of Blackpool Tower. 

Her beach hut birthday party with specially requested fairy cake.

And all of the above.

The boy's highlights of the year:
Visiting Knowsley Safari Park, and the monkeys eating the windscreen wipers!
We rescued a hedgehog from our garage and took it for a road trip to a rescue centre.
He lost his first tooth. He has since lost another 2...one down the sink and one in his tummy.
And all of the above.

and in December we went to visit Santa in a cave...

44/52

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2015"

Joining Jodi for the 52 Project

Half term week, with plans that didn't go to plan. We were in Blackpool to see the illuminations. M caught R's bug and completely lost her voice :-( we stayed over in the hotel as planned and then drove home the next morning. She spent the whole day curled up on the sofa watching films, sipping honey and lemon...whispering her every need.

J decided to paint the hallway...he can't sit still. M was feeling much better so I took the kids to see a movie (Hotel Transylvania 2) to try and get into the Halloween spirit. We had a couple of lovely walks, with Autumn leaves and a pumpkin trail. I found a few different recipes to try and tempt R to eat more...he's so fussy. Then pumpkin carving, dressing the house and children dressing up, trick or treat...that's our week.

Inside Wycoller's Panopticon atom

It's not often I like a photo of myself, but I like this one J took on his phone. I don't remember him taking it, I was watching the kids in the atom.

Nice hat

Autumn posy

Waiting for the film to start

Our pumpkins this year

Spotted feather on a post

Spellbound - checking his witches spell

Little Jenny Wren

Miss M received a little bird house from Father Christmas. More or less straight away it was built and painted.  Eventually Spring arrived and we fixed it to the pergola. She decided to put some 'hay' inside to give any birds a head start.

Now here we are...I love watching our little house guests, I think there are 2 little ones inside, they keep peeping out, eagerly awaiting their delicious insects from mummy and daddy...I wonder how long it will be before they leave the nest?

In search of a white Christmas...

 

From our living room window we can see snow capped hills in the distance.  Today, cabin fever set in, we went in search of snow and some much needed fresh air...found some...



 gorgeous glistening snow crystals...

 

I can't believe we actually found the PUDDLE stones amongst the ice and snow, but we did...

These stones are the second set we have found so far from the Yorkshire stanza stones. I'm loving these trails, we've started with the closest to drive to (DEW) and then (PUDDLE) followed by quite short walks...someone said they like walking with a purpose, I like that phrase... 

 

We brought with us 2 sledges, so glad we did...

and back home to a lit fire and eating leftovers from Christmas celebrations while watching family movies...lovely...Nx

Autumn windfall and leaf identification

On our walk home through the park this afternoon, Ro showed me the tree he had got some bark rubbings from (with school this morning).  He also chatted about taking some leaves back to the classroom.  As we walked through a patch of beech nuts, I picked one up and asked if he'd collected anything else? "no but I showed them all a beech nut shell mummy" (smiles).

So we made our own collection, one rule: only things on the ground were to be collected. We had quite a lovely hand posy of autumn treasures by the time we got home...on the playroom shelves...

With the intention of identifying the leaves...he also found some scattered pigeon feathers and rose petals...so they had to be included!

I thought this was interesting, an acorn embedded in something, I picked up a whole 'something' to investigate further. I still don't know what it is. Ro opened it and there looked like a tiny acorn cap inside, surely not???

Another lovely afternoon spent with my little man. Nx