The annual Santa Special ran a little later this year. The last two wagons contained chocolate cars (well they did till they derailed behind the scenery!) Nevertheless Megan and Jessica enjoyed watching the trains.
Later they were on a real train back to London. Later still they discovered that their flat had been flooded as they opened the door!
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Our attempts at a group photo failed - this was the nearest we got to one! Left to right...Caroline, Jessica, Daisy, Alison, and Megan pose (almost) by Stock Ghyll falls. |
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Jessica poses in view of the falls after climbing the path with Grandad. |
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Storytime with Grandad. Megan and Jessica sat with Rich each evening for stories from the Richard Scarry book which features Lowly Worm. |
Dec
7 -19
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The local robin checking out the strange man the other side of the glass! |
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Some prefer the fat balls stuck on plastic stikes on the edge of the feeder. |
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Today we received our new window bird feeder. It didn't take long for the local bluetits to find it! The hole in the back means you get a really clear view. This picture was taken just two feet (60 cms) from the bird. |
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The rolling continues whilst the vibrating "wacker plate" was used to get right alongside the edging stones. The previous tarmac was laid in 1965 so had lasted 50 years! We just hope that with the new drains installed, this tarmac will do as well as its predecessor! By 2pm, the storm had gone and so had the tarmac men! |
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Here the top layer is being rolled as his colleague spreads the top layer over the base layer. These pictures cannot show the driving rain or the violent gusts of wind! Rich was glad he only had to go out to take pictures and provide cups of tea! |
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The tarmacing did take place. Firstly a base layer was spread and rolled (beyond the wheel in this picture) and then the three men started to bring in the top layer in barrows and carefully spread the hot tarmac before rolling it. |
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The storm is upon us! We woke to the roar of the wind outside. The red zigzgs on the graph show the gusts which so far have reached 42.4 mph and that is where the weather station is located (at the back of the garden shed). Out in the open its more like 60mph. The plunging purple line above the zigzags is the barometer reading. Needless to say the trend is down and quickly! Today is also the day that the tarmac men are due! Whether that happens will be reported in due course! |
| Just as it started to go dark today, Steven Hurt - the tarmac man - arrived to spread some sand and gravel to create a smooth base for the tarmac which is to be laid on Thursday morning! | |
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Jill has bought a doll's house which was left to Oxfam by a local lady who was a doll's house collector (as well as Steif teddybears). So for the last three weeks we have been restoring it and improving it by adding a basement with kitchen and an attic for the nursery. All the rooms now have lights and the fire has a red bulb to create a glow! The doll's house is actually a toy shop. Here, the lady owner returns from selling toys downstairs to find that her husband, Cecil, has consumed a half bottle of gin and is somewhat the worse for wear! More pictures will follow. PS...... This house is for Jill, so of course we have had to buy another doll's house for Megan, Jessica and eventually Daisy to play with! That one needed even more work doing to it! |
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No... it's not bunting for a royal visit but it is a warning to "keep off" made from garden twine and Tesco and other plastic bags chopped in half! |
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The last shovel of slate was unloaded last night as it went dark. The six men had worked all day and made fantastic progress. This morning - 24 hrs after they started, their work is complete with just the new tarmac to be laid next Tuesday. The drains are in place and new slate chippings are spread up to the edging stone behind the drains. After 48 hours for all the concrete to cure, we can move the cars back onto the car park! |
Nov 26
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By 4pm, all the old tarmac has gone and the men are setting the new double line of covered drains and an extra edging stone in place alongside the existing kerb. Later, a third 3 tonne load of slate chippings would be delivered to complete the makeover of the car park. |
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Soon after mid-day, the new edging stones for the bottom of the drive are in place. |
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By 9.30 the new lighter chippings are evident and as Nick, the boss, went off to Elterwater Quarry for the second load, the others carried on. Three of them laid into the remaining tarmac with crowbars and a sledge hammer and it soon gave up the struggle. The chap nearest the camera has uprooted the old edging stones and is digging out a trench towards the road for the new edging stones which will eventually separate the new tarmac from the chippings on the car park. When finished, two covered drains will run on our side of the road kerb to send water back down the road. Behind them will be the newly chipping'd car park area and new tarmaced drive down the gable end. |
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By 8.30am the team of 4 men plus their boss had arrived and set to work digging out the old edging stones in readiness for them to be reset in concrete. They also arrived with a 3 tonne load of chippings to start improving the coverage of the car park in general. |
Nov 25
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Tomorrow we are due to see work start on the driveway and car park. The drive alongside the gable end was last tarmaced in the 1970's and it has all but disappeared over the years. |
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Rich escaped to Reading and London after the switch-on to see our grandchildren and enjoy some "non-lights related" time! Megan and Jessica are now at school and enjoyed seeing Grandad collecting them from school on Tuesday 19th! Here, they show off their uniforms and their favourite teddies. |
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The day ended with all 9000 people heading to Rothay Park for a fantastic free fireworks display. Once that was over, Richard and Jill collected various equipment used during the day and headed home for a family tea with Rachel and her family. |
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Behind Father Christmas were a group of ladies wearing fantastic costumes and they were followed by a local drummer group and then hundreds of people (local and visitors) with their candle lit lanterns, most produced at the lantern workshops over the October half term holiday. Here, the parade starts to pass Market Place towards Church Street. The town had buzzed all day with people enjoying the festive atmosphere. Jill had helped to man the WI stall at Market Cross. |
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The town was FULL of people (8000 to 9000 was the estimate by the organisers and police) and by 4.30pm they were lining the route of the lantern parade 4 to 6 deep on each side of the road. At 4.30pm Father Christmas arrived in his sleigh and the parade set off up Compston Road, through Market Place and then down Church Street. At various places he stopped and threw magic dust in the air to switch on the lights in that part of the town. |
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Father Christmas makes an exit from the boat to a secret location before returning a little later for the second cruise which was a sell out with 297 people on board. |
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Just before 1pm, the first cruise returned with Father Christmas on board, still talking to the children. A total of 250 people had enjoyed the magical cruise. Visitors from as far afield as Hampshire, Newcastle on Tyne and Hitchin were on board. |
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Despite cloudy skies, the day was dry and watery sunshine made for the perfect conditions. By 11am Rich was collecting tickets at the pier for the first of two special Father Christmas Cruises. As people waited to board, they were entertained by Rudolf the demented reindeer. He was likely to remove peoples' hats, sneeze and pretend to wipe his nose on the hat! The children loved him and the parents who were not wearing a hat also appreciated his humour. |
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Steve, the lights electrician makes adjustments to the banner at the bottom of Church Street. The banner had an earth fault last year but Steve and Rich had replaced a faulty plug when the banners were checked during the summer and "Welcome to Ambleside" now lights up perfectly. |
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With Jill in London until Wednesday to visit Caroline, Andrew and the twins, Richard was in charge and on Sunday Oct 20th, 27th and Nov 3 is scheduled to put up the Christmas Lights in the village. The forecasts are not great! (Just glad I won't be out there on Monday 28th!!) Today the first session was OK for the first hour and then the heavens opened! |
Before Ben,Alison and Daisy left us, we all walked up to the farm to buy up eggs for Ben to take home.
There were no duck eggs and this is perhaps the reason why!
Mother duck waddles away from us with her seven ducklings.
Ben, Alison and Daisy have arrived for a week's stay and Ben was soon feeding carrots to Lola and Chico. As soon as the carrots ran out they both tried the longing "we'll love you forever if you give us a carrot" look as they strained to reach up the wall! (Chico is on the left.)
Chico is Lola's son but he recently became rather too "frisky" with his mother. Soon afterwards the local vet arrived and suffice it to say - Chico now sings soprano!
Today we took a leisurely trip on the regular bus route from Ravenstonedale (near Kirkby Stephen) to Hawes, where it was market day. We were joined by Roy and Jean Parfrey and two of our local friends, Geoff and Anne Bowen. The wedding ribbons were removed before we set off!
The trip was free with our bus passes, which made it even more of a bargain! The double decker took nearly two hours to make the trip and at one stage it actually hit 34mph. Quite often it was using narrow roads but the driver obviously knows exactly where to watch out for oncoming traffic and where the passing places are located!
For further details check out their website at this address.
The Tour of Britain Cycle Race came through Ambleside today and Rich was on duty as a marshal at the foot of Kirkstone Road. This had the advantage of a clear view. Here, the peleton streams along Rydal Road towards the town centre at about 3.20pm.
The riders had set off from Carlisle and had then climbed and descended Honister Pass before reaching Keswick and turning south towards Ambleside and Kendal.
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Today we went to the Westmorland County Show near Kendal. Jill was to be on duty in the WI tent for a couple of hours. This view from the car park shows about half of the showground which attracts around 29,000 visitors each year. |
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A very popular display is the Kiwi chap with his sheep fashion show. To an enthralled audience of around 1000school children and adults, he describes the various breeds and ends by creating a "naked sheep" by shearing it. |
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The working Heavy Horses were represented by this beautifully turned out pair hauling a "Cooperative Funeral Service" wagon! |
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Alpacas were well represented too, with these two taking their place in the Grand Parade of all the winning livestock at the end of the show. |
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Supreme champion of the cattle was this Limousin cow, complete with its winner's sash! |
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Sophie, Countess of Wessex, arrived by helicopter and presented some of the cups. Standing just a few yards from us, she watches with a keen eye as the young farmers and farmers' children lead their beasts around the grand parade ring. |
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The Food Hall tent is always popular and Rich had to struggle through to get to one of the most popular - Higginson's Butchers (from Grange) who sell amazing pies and local meats. Looks like the BBC have heard about them too! |
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In the WI tent there were displays of work from the various institutes with a common theme. Here the chocolate cakes are on display with a rope to keep people at a distance! |
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This was the winning floral display on the theme of "creatures from the wild". |
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Dogs of every breed were there too, walking around with their owners. This is a cross between a Poodle and a Golden Retriever - called a Golden Doodle ! |
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In one area of the showground, a group of men were demonstrating stone walling techniques. Here they are about an hour into the task. By 3.45pm, the wall was finished! |
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The Truncator consists of an adjustable trestle with a wooden beam across the top. Onto this are fixed 5 (in our case) heavy duty plastic U shapes which hold the logs and you then cut down between the "cups" to finish up with up to 60 logs in 60 seconds. The cups can be tipped over to drop the logs straight into a waiting wheelbarrow. |
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Having watched the Dragons' Den on TV when we saw a local inventor Richard Bowness who had invented a multi log saw horse, we decided to buy one. This afternoon we drove to Little Langdale and met him and his fellow "dragon denner" Steve Tomkin and we watched as they assembled a Truncator for us. During the time when it was being put together, Jill gave Richard Bowness the third degree about the Den and his reception by the dragons including Debra Meaden and Peter Jones. |
Today was the big day and we all assembled at Friern Manor near Basildon for the wedding on a beautiful summer's day!
James and Jodie (left), followed by Charlotte, Helen (with George) and Katie (with James and Jodie's son, Oliver) form the Attenborough line up after the ceremony.
Jodie was delighted be the latest "Mrs" Attenborough.
After the speeches we had to leave as we had to be up and rested for three cottages changeovers the next day!
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Water Street, Lavenham, is much used in films, including Harry Potter! |
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By today we had moved to Essex in preparation for James' (Richard's nephew) and Jodie's wedding on Friday. However, today we visited the historic town of Lavenham which has lots of medieval and timber framed buildings - some displaying crazy angles! Wallpapering inside these houses must be a nightmare! |
We drove south to Ben and Alison's house near Reading, pausing on the way to visit friends who recently moved to Bloxham near Banbury.
Daisy is growing quickly and we watched her become adventurous on the garden slide.
Richard and Ben also felled an old Christmas tree and transformed part of its trunk into a respectable bird table.
Today Rich went down to London with Caroline and the twins to help get them home (with a monster suitcase!). We left Windermere at 1049 and travelled via Manchester to Euston. Andrew was there to meet us so I handed over the suitcase and about an hour later I was on the way home again!
All went well until Stafford where the Pendolino slowed to a halt. After 25 mins of the driver looking under the train we set off again but just after Crewe we stopped again and this time he found the fault! The train reversed into Crewe and there it died! A following train was stopped and 300 of us got on to what was already a busy train. Rich finally got back to his car at Windermere at 11pm. Quite a day!
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Before setting off for home we called at Floors Castle and visited the walled garden which was a riot of colour in the herbaceous borders. |
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The garden also has facilities for children and so Megan and Jessica tried out the swings and the adventure course. |
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A multitude of towers! One for everyone in the family actually! Jessie puts the finishing touches to Daisy Tower. |
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We took Caroline and the girls to Scotland to see our good friend Christine in Kelso. Whilst there, we took the girls to the coast at Coldingham Bay and had a real "seaside day out!" Grandad helped make sandcastles and a sand whale and Nana helped explore the rock pools. The car journey became a game of "guess the colour of the next tractor we see!" |
Today was the day for a walk to Sweden Bridge. In time honoured fashion, the fairies had managed to hide some coins under the rocks near the bridge and the girls loved searching for the hidden treasure!
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The temperature rose and the girls decided to move the party into a tent! Megan (left) and Jessica (right) |
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With glorious sunshine, the garden was the scene of a teddy bears' picnic, complete with pretend microwave on the table. |
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Here it is, but to watch a slide show of it being constructed click here. |
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The time has finally come for a new door on the garden chalet! The door was originally put in by Rich's Dad, Fred, way back in the 1960's so it has lasted well. Today Martin and Bryan Addison arrived from Keswick Superglaze and in a few minutes the old door was out and the preparations for the new door were underway. |
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Today we had a day off and joined a special rail trip from Oxenholme to Dundee and back (returning via the Tay and Forth rail bridges). We enjoyed watching the scenery go by and in Dundee we explored for a couple of hours.
Dundee is the home of comics such as The Beano and so it came as no surprise to find a statue of Desperate Dan and his dog Gnasher. Jill poses alongside the statue (Jill is the one on the right!!) |
| The forecast was right! We had 32mm before breakfast so we are hoping that our water supply will start to return to normal soon! | |
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After the overnight rain, the weather improved rapidly and the sun shone for the local lady, Sally Mulholland, who occasionally opens her garden in aid of charity. We joined around 30 other people for a look at her wonderful garden where not one square inch of space is wasted. |
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The garden has displays of roses, lilies, perennials, and shrubs which are a real inspiration. There is even a fruit and vegetable corner with peas, broad beans, tomatoes, potatoes, gooseberries, strawberries and an apple tree! The money raised today will go to Manchester Children's Hospital. |
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A4 Locos "Mallard" and "Dominion of Canada" (returned to the UK especially for this event) looked splendid in their LNER blue liveries. Mallard, of course, still holds the World Record for a steam loco having travelled at 126 mph. |
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The Great Gathering - York 60009 "Union of South Africa" was one of the six remaining A4 locos on display. We had driven down from Chester-le-Street to arrive 20 mins before the National Railway Museum opened. We joined the back of the 200 strong queue. By opening time the queue was more than twice as long! The wait was worth it to see these famous locos but trying to get a photo without loads of people was impossible. Rich queued for 30 mins to get the chance to climb up on the footplate of this loco. |
We set off on a three day trip to the North East this morning. First to Hartlepool for a model railway show followed by visiting relatives in Hartlepool and then on towards Chester-le-Street where Jill's 92 yr old Auntie Peggy lives.
On the Monday, we took her out for a ride to Whitley Bay and on towards Blyth after a lunch stop for what was billed as "fish and chips" but could more accurately be described as "whale and chips". It was massive!
After a wet day yesterday, the road gang arrived today to add a tar and chipping top surface to the road. They started at 4.30 am and finished at 8.15pm. Quite a day!
To see a short video of the process as they passed the cottages Click here
Hello... my name is Meggie Moo Moo and I'm the new girl in the field!
(Meggie Moo Moo is our pet name for our grand daughter Megan... so we had to send her this picture!)
Ben was in charge of Daisy in this shot with Rich in the background. Daisy did really well and lasted until 8.35pm when Alison decided that Daisy needed her bed!
The following day (after taking Caroline to Dublin airport for her return flight to Gatwick) we all went to the bride's parents' house near Blessington and had a lovely party in the garden, dodging the odd brief shower whilst playing croquet and watching the newlyweds planting a tree in the field above her parents' house.
On Wednesday, Ben and Alison sailed home but we stayed until Thursday night's ferry and explored the Wicklow Mountains and the coast.
On May 24, we sailed from Liverpool to Dublin (in a force 9 gale!!) for the wedding of Jill's nephew - Oliver - to Ellie - an Irish girl he met several years ago whilst skiing.
On Monday 27th we were at the wedding, along with Ben, Alison and Daisy as well as Caroline. The service took place at a beautiful "wedding village" near Celbridge in County Kildare.
We were all staying in a cottage about 20 miles away and we soon got to know the various routes we could take to the wedding, to Dublin and to the nearby towns of Newbridge and Naas.
Apr 30
Today, the JCB is working behind the tipper lorry which is unloading tarmac for the men to fill yesterday's hole. In the distance, the vacuum lorry is waiting to clean up what the JCB is excavating.
Needless to say the road is completely blocked but that doesn't seem to worry the people who ignore the road closed sign at the top or bottom of the road.
Once the patches are all done (we live alongside patch 141 !) the council apparently plan to spray tar and cover the whole road with chippings later this summer (more chaos!!).
Keith had his missing slate on Sheepgates replaced this morning by our trusted builder and roofer - Ian Creighton.
The potholes on the road are about to be cured. A small army of men and machines including this road planer on a JCB are excavating the road at various places. They are followed by the tarmac layers who will be here tomorrow.
This is a serious bit of kit! Under the black dome are 40 revolving steel teeth which rip into the road until the rollers on the dome reach the surface and then the drived pulls it up along the road and suddenly you have a 3 inch trench.
A powerful vacuum machine comes next and sucks up the bits leavind a clean-edged hole ready to be filled.
The pond has finally thawed out after being covered by snowdrifts.
We seem to have lost 3 large Koi carp but the others are slowly stirring and beginning to take food.
The net is to prevent any visits from the heron or the mink which decimated our fish stock two years ago.
Two weeks and a day after the snow fell, the road to Kirkstone Pass was finally opened this morning but only if you don't mind driving between walls of snow STILL 6-8 feet high - especially in the last half mile!
The garden, on the other hand, still has 18" of snow across most of it and the rate of melting is pitifully slow.
Daisy is showing a real flair for dentistry today! This was followed a decent left hook.... so perhaps part time dentistry and part time prize fighter!
Ben has designed a new beer and Diet Coke cooling system!
It does, however, require going outside to replenish supplies!
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As people arrive for Easter they seem to be magically drawn up The Struggle despite the Road Closed sign at the bottom and again outside our cottages.
Like moths drawn to a flame they go up and then .......they come back down again! |
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We decided to see just what met them at the top (to the point where the JCB had reached after 3.5 days).
Here, the Jimny poses at the road end and (above) it's soon virgin snowdrift! |
Mar 26
After a warm cup of coffee, the JCB driver sets off up the road to deal with even more snowdrifts. Despite the "Road Closed" sign, several drivers came up behind him and said they were try to get to places such as Windermere and even Flookburgh(on the coast to the south of Lake Windermere!). Idiots!! They all changed their minds....
Three girls even got out of their car and jumped into the snow to make snow angels!
After five days of snow drifts blocking the road, the council finally sent a JCB digger and a lorry load of salt up the road to clear the road as far as the next cottages up the road.
The driver of the JCB repeatedly scooped a ton or more of snow in his bucket and then dumped it over the wall into the field.
Here the JCB works on the drift just below the cottages before scraping the drifts by our car park and moving further up the road - where he faced massive drifts.
When they came back down the road, the men estimated some drifts above us are 20 feet deep!
Rich provided cups of tea and two bottles of Wyre Piddle Beer (for later) as a way of thanking them for their efforts.
Our poor garden is FULL of snow - seven feet deep to be precise - from one side to the other. The pond is under there somewhere as is a lawn and garden furniture.
We will be able to dig a trench through to the chalet (top left of picture) but to our right will be a seven foot wall of snow!
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Spot the road! The black line on the left is the top of the wall!
More snow, even stronger winds and we woke to these scenes on the road. Even our trusty little 4X4 is not moving today! |
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The forecast has warned of snow but today we had to drive down to St.Helens for a friend's funeral. We woke to a blizzard but made it down the hill and then the roads were OK. However, by the time we returned at 5pm, there were drifts up to 5 feet high starting to reduce the road to a single track. The Jimny bashed through but an hour later when Rich took this picture it would not have been possible!
The twins, Jessica and Megan, were 4 yrs old today and of course we were in London for the event. The girls were given a lovely wooden play-kitchen and associated items including aprons and chef's hats! Here, the girls with Caroline's help prepare to cut the first pieces of their cake, designed as a castle!
We spent the day at London Zoo which was quiet and several major parts were closed for refurbishment. That made paying £17 each for the girls somewhat of a rip off!
We discovered that three days later the brand new Tiger House is due to open - not the best timing!
Mar 17
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Not quite what we expected for Rich's birthday! Between 5am and 9am we had heavy snow and it soon added up to 3 inches (and counting!) |
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Today we visited the Model Rail Show and had to navigate our way through crowds of ladies heading to the Scottish Wedding Show in the next exhibition hall.
After an overnight stay in Glasgow at the Campanile Hotel, we headed home via New Lanark.
New Lanark is a remarkably intact complete industrial village which is now classed as a World Heritage Site.
There would have been no chance of returning to Carlisle today!
It snowed continuously from 7am until mid-afternoon and the roofs of Ambleside took on a black and white appearance.
Having failed yesterday, today we drove over Kirkstone ("hairy" at the top of our road which was still icy!)to Penrith. We tried the auction rooms in Penrith -failed; then we tried Impact furniture warehouse - failed again. So next stop was Impact in Carlisle where we found a perfect table - 
almost as new and only £20!! (but no chairs), so we drove across the city to Brampton and to another house clearance centre and there we found four matching chairs. They need the seat fabric re-covering but at a bargain price it was worth it. Drove back to collect the table but it wouldn't fit in the car!
OK next plan - go to a Halfords - buy a pair of roof bars and some foam pipe lagging from B&Q and the table was soon on the roof for the journey home" It was still cheaper than hiring a van to go back to Carlisle tomorrow( when heavy snow was forecast!)
It wasn't good news for some! These sheep looked thoroughly miserable as they trudged along in search of some green grass!
Beyond Windermere there were literally dozens of abandonned cars and vans whose owners had presumably walked home last night and were yet to return to dig their vehicles out of the drifts! |
By this morning the snow had amounted to at least 12 inches! The garden furniture had developed new arms and the road was untouched by traffic except for two sledges which had gone down the road. |
Jessica (left) and Megan (right) with their snowman and snowdog. Later we all went to a nearby park to use the sledges and the girls loved it. In Crystal Palace, a park was packed with speeding sledges - an accident waiting to happen!!
A picture from Ben shows that someone has too long a lunch hour in the City of London!!
A creditable effort at creating a snow wizard!
We left Ben, Alison and Daisy in Reading and drove around the M25 to Andrew and Caroline's in heavy snow.
Later Jill and Rich collected the twins from nursery with the aid of two sledges and towed the girls back home!
This was a treat for the girls and fortunately they were well wrapped up as it was bitterly cold!
Before leaving Ben and Alison for Caroline & Co we had time to watch Daisy "walking"around the furniture! In a matter of weeks she will be setting off across the room for real! She is still just 10 months old.
She has a fascination for I-phones and will grab it if within reach!
We were treated to many of her cute smiles.
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Just how close a shave Ben had can be seen from the map. His train was where the blue line is at the bottom of the map and the helicopter crashed only feet away from the train after hitting a nearby crane in the poor visibility. |
Just after 8am we had text from Ben saying something had just expoded next to his train as he was going to work. It soon became clear that Ben was a very lucky person (along with his fellow travellers) as he had narrowly missed a helicopter crash!
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With sunny weather but snow still around we decided to have a drive up the Langdale valley and have lunch out! This was the scene as we passed Robinson Place farm, beyond Chapel Stile - The Langdale Pikes in all their glory!
The view across to the Coniston Fells was even more "alpine" with poor old Ambleside sitting in a sea of mist below us as we basked in sunshine and the fenceposts all wore a little hat!
This morning the view is a little brighter. With 3-4 inches of snow, the valley looks positively alpine!
The forecast said snow by 3pm but it started by 1pm.
By 9pm we have had 2 inches. The floodlight on the gable end creates an eerie night-time scene.
Rich spent the morning from 7am taking down the remaining lights in the village. Here, the cherry-picker is used to remove the banner from the White Lion car park.
In just two weeks all the lights and trees have been removed and safely stored until it's time to start checking every bulb (from March onwards!).
A very pleasant visit today as Elaine Taylor-Green (one of Rich's ex-pupils who studied Travel and Tourism with him) called in for coffee with her husband John and their 6 month old boy, Winston.
Elaine has maintained her Travel and Tourism interest as she now works for EasyJet and is in charge of acquiring and issuing all 7000 uniforms for their staff.
John is a First Officer and flies the world with Virgin Airways.
Jan 3
A morning walk from Skelwith (after Chester's for coffee and a cake) to Elterwater. Ben, Ali and Daisy pose alongside the water.
Ben is making a tradition of a picture with Daisy by the farm gate. This is the 2012/13 version with 9 month old Daisy.