A Happy New Year to all our blog readers from Daisy on our behalf.
No children were hurt or drunk alcohol in the taking of this picture!
Ben and Alison arrived with Daisy for a few day's stay. With rain and cloudy conditions it was not ideal walking weather but with Daisy suitably wrapped up, a walk to Sweden Bridge was possible! Daisy isnt quite so sure by the look in her eyes.
Yet another miserably wet day with low cloud. The arrival of Jill's niece and family as well as her nephew and his fiancee meant that the house was the scene of much indoor play by three under 4's and two slightly older children!
A game of Kerplunk was hilarious as Megan failed to grasp the idea was NOT to let the marbles drop and so she proceeded to pull straws out at a fast rate and then sit on the resulting marbles like an emperor penguin gathering its eggs in for safe keeping!
No sign of snow so no white Christmas! Rich cooked Christmas lunch for eight using the Lurpak Mighty Meat Timer app on his Iphone. It provided minute by minute instructions on what to do and guess what? ......... it worked perfectly.
Megan and Jessica are currently besotted with Scooby Do so..... Scooby pyjamas were soon followed by an interactive Scooby Do Hide and Seek toy!
The link below will send you to the Ambleside Christmas lights website. Once there you can scroll down that page to click of a chance to see a video of the day.
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The day ended with a really spectacular fireworks display in Rothay Park. We estimate 6-7000 people were in town for the day! |
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Some of the 1000 people in the procession, (including 13 members of the family) with the paper lanterns make their way up Compston Road. |
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Right on cue, Santa arrived on his sleigh and the lantern procession started to make its way through the town with magic dust being thrown by Santa to switch on the lights in each street. |
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At 4.45pm the girls in spectacular costumes prepare to join the procession. |
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Over 400 people enjoyed a 20 minute skating session during the day. |
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Real reindeer Blitzen and Belle were in town for the day and led the lantern procession later. |
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The morning Santa Cruise returns with 208 children and adults who "found" Santa at Bowness. Rudolph is just visible on the front upper deck! |
A final thought on Hamburg.
ABC Street
Is this the world's daftest street name or is it perhaps where alphabetti spaghetti was invented??
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After the boat trip we sat and watched the world go by on the promenade. Whilst doing so, one couple tried to interview us for North German TV and another pair tried to get us to be in an advert for Signal toothpaste. The man's hat tells you which was the toothpaste ad pair! |
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Before heading back to the airport we had a trip on the old steam powered boat, St.Georg, around the Alsterwasser lakes, passing the famous water spout on the return part of the trip. |
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We took a tour of the docks by launch and amongst the ships was this oil rig support vessel with its maze of pipework! |
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Just off the main shopping street we found a craft market and this halloween display. |
Click here to see a video of Miniatur Wunderland (Not our video but a good one! If it starts with an advert you can click skip the advert after a few seconds)
Click here to see Jill's video of a miniature plane taking off!
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A sene from the Swiss section of Miniatur Wunderland |
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The cycling tour of the mountains! |
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There's another big fire at Knuffingen Town Hall!! All the fire engines moved to arrive and all had flashing lights and sirens! |
After our first night in the hotel we were up fairly early for our day's visit to Miniatur Wunderland. The attraction is housed in this old coffee wharehouse on the edge of the docks. We stayed for a total of seven and a half hours with a lunch and a coffee break in the restaurant designed to look like a dining car on a train with real train seats and tables and views through fake windows!
Today we set off for a four day break to Hamburg in order to visit the world's largest model railway - Miniatur Wunderland. We took the train to Manchester Airport and then flew by Easyjet to Hamburg. Rich got a big surprise and a kiss when he boarded the plane. Ceri Spottiswood, one of his delightful ex-pupils was on duty!
Megan and Jessica were amazed to see a double rainbow from the cottage door this afternoon!
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If yesterday wasn't wet enough (25mm) today was destined to be wetter (38mm)! It was also the day that we were due to drive to the Bradford area with Caroline and the girls so that we could visit one of of Caroline's friends who has recently had a little boy. The journey was very "interesting" with severe flooding on and alongside the roads. When we reached Otley it became a whole lot worse! We retreated and found a new route. The BBC later reported that car drivers were standing of the tops of their cars waiting to be rescued!! |
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Today has been the big day for Richard. Together with three other Rotarians he had organised a concert by the Brighouse and Rastrick Band in Kendal. It was a complete sell out and everyone raved about the show afterwards.
At the very end the band was left by their conductor to play their most famous piece - The Floral Dance.
Click here to see The Floral Dance at Kendal
After watching the video you will need to close the current window to return here.
Ian Creighton and his men have started work on the re-pointing (with lime mortar) of our gable end. In winter the east winds search out the cracks and create draughts but this will all stop once their work is finished. Several families of blue tits will need to find a new home next year as several holes in the wall were regarded as "des res's" until now.
Once they have finished, Rich will make use of the scaffolding to paint all the wood on the apex of the roof before the scaffold men return to remove it.
With just a white board and a stick, this teenaged girl steered her massive Tamworth sow around the ring with ease.
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A proud lady with her prize winning Herdick sheep - a breed associated with The Lake District. |
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You are never too young to pull a Texel sheep around the ring! This breed is renowned for being aggressive. The little girl aged 4/5 gained special praise from the judge for her handling! |
The Triathlon Day - over 700 competitors have already swum across Ullswater and are now 2/3 of the way through a 38 mile cycle ride before running up Helvellyn! Needless to say the road was closed for 3 hours as they cycled / walked / staggered up past the cottages!
Daisy and Ted joined us in bed for one last early morning cuddle!
We took advantage of the spell of better weather to take a walk around Tarn Hows.
Around the edge of the tarn we spotted a robin with an identity crisis. This one clearly could confuse the unweary!
Ben decided that we should start a tradition of a photo of Daisy "standing" in the farm entrance gateway each year - so this is the first of a series!
After some awful weather, today was quite reasonable and in time honoured tradition Ben decided to sit on the seat outside the cottages and "do a car survey" (something he and Caroline did as children). So in pleasant afternoon sunshine, Ben, Alison and Daisy (as well as Jill and Rich) sat and watched the world go by!
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Daisy was less than impressed as a USA F15 Tomcat and a RAF Typhoon screeched over the cottage chasing each other jast as she was being taken out to the car! |
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The forecast today promised rain. This lot produced 12mm in just 14 minutes! Ambleside is the red dot under the rain!
We had the twins for the day so we took them to Godstone Farm, south of London. It was a perfect day with warm sunshine and Megan and Jessica had a great time on all the play equipment and looking at the animals (and eating ice cream of course!)
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At the Olympic Park in hot and sunny weather. We saw Usain Bolt win his 200m semi final and also watched parts of the Men's Decathlon, javelin, and the Women's Long Jump. It was a truly memorable day! The volunteers were permanently cheerful and EVERYBODY had smiles on their faces. We used the Javelin trains to travel from St.Pancras to Stratford in 6 minutes flat! |
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We met up with Marilyn (Jill's sister-in-law) who is a volunteer for the Games. Marilyn checks out Jill's unofficial Olympic scarf! |
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With time on our hands before the start of play at Wimbledon, Jill poses with her new Omega watch! |
The day started early for Jill. By 8.12am she was ready to help ring the church bells as part of the "all the bells" campaign to herald the arrival of the Olympic Games.
Today we decided that the time had come to clean out the pond and count the fish! After two years the amount of debris had built up in the deepest part and we have had several fish deaths in the last couple of weeks. It took all day but the fish are now back in and a lot happier. The total count was 25 (10 Koi, 6 Golden Orfe, 8 Green tench and a large Sarasa Comet - and one frog!)
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Today we have been at Ambleside Sports! Not doing this!!!! Rich was collecting money at the car park gate with other members of the Rotary Club whilst Jill was selling programmes and raffle tickets. These people are off on the Rydal Round (run up Fairfield!!) |
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The traditional wrestlers were there too, trying their best to get their oponent on his back. By tradition, the wrestlers wear decorated shorts on top of their leggings. |
The scaffolding men arrived at 11.15am and started to remove all the scaffolding - pausing only to "bad-mouth" their boss for not sending three of them to do the job. Moaning about the boss seems to be a pre-requisite for a scaffolding career!!
Jill and Rich now have the task of cleaning up the attic, spraying it against woodworm etc and then replacing all the plastic boxes which are currently gracing the back bedroom!!!!
The bottom line - we now have a roof which looks like new but isn't and should last another 100 years!
End of Day Four
The front half of the roof is nearing completion. Nice neat rows of slates with not a slipping slate in sight. Tomorrow the flashing goes around the chimney and the rest of the slates will be fixed.......
Day Four
Andrew has fitted the new chimney flashing and is fixing the slates on one side. Fixing them on the other side of the chimney is precarious to say the least!
Meanwhile, Scott and Alex are on the front roof fixing the slates in position.
End of Day Three.
Some of the large slates are stacked but some new ones arrive tomorrow to replace those beyond repair.
The rear roof now almost done except for just around the chimney, waiting for the tailor made lead flashing.
Day Three
After last night's torrential downpours, today is dry and sunny - perfect roof weather!
Whilst the lead flashings are being made for the chimney, the lads have started to strip off the slates from the front roof.
Day Two...
Generally dry, and the lads are back putting the slates back onto the rear roof.
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End of day one. The slates have been stacked on the new surface ready for final positioning tomorrow. |
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Lead nails celebrating their 198th birthday! |
Jul 9
4pm and the back half of the roof is now waterproof and the new 21st century battens are in place - the 19th century ones are becoming firewood kindling!
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By 11am the slates were almost all removed and the old lime mortar had been collected up and put into bags. The lightish grey area running down from the chimney and along the bottom of the roof are actually the walls which shows just how thick the walls are! |
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A dry day and by 9am the Andrew and Alex had arrived and were removing the slates from the back of the house. The top of Wansfell is just peeking over the roof between them! |
Rich decided to take advantage of a sunny spell to climb the scaffolding ladder and take a roof-level photo of the view towards the lake
The scaffolding is now in place for the start of the job to remove all our slates, treat the roof timbers against woodworm etc, apply breathable felt and then replace the slates on new battens. The roof is 198 years old and although basically sound, the lead nails are disintegrating which results in slates sliding down the roof! The lead nails do not go through the battens but are hooked over them! - that's the way they did it 198 years ago!
Both the front and back roofs will be done. The old lime mortar which was slapped onto the backs of the slates in the attic will go and we look forward to not having to deal with moving slates in future!
We are just praying for dry weather - despite the forecast!!
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Mobile kitchen at a windswept and horizontally raining Wasdale Head. |
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Dressed for the weather in mid-summer! |
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Mission accomplished! |
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The Attenborough Mobile Kitchen Service swung into action this morning! Jill's nephews Oliver (and partner Ellie), Elliot, neice Rachel, and a friend Peter have taken on the Three Peaks Challenge (climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24hrs!).
Yesterday they had tackled Ben Nevis and overnight they were driven south to Wasdale Head by Keith in a hired minibus.
Meanwhile...we had packed the Jimny 4X4 with enough food to feed a small army and at 5.45am we set off to drive over Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass in driving rain and low cloud to meet up with them and provide porridge and bacon rolls.
After an "interesting" drive over the two passes we finally found their minibus amongst about 30 others doing the same challenge. As they descended from Scafell Pike we lit the stoves in an improvised kitchen under the minibus tailgate and cooked a pan-full of porridge and 24 rashers of bacon, not to mention coffee and tea!
They eventually arrived looking like drowned rats and were soon fed and watered and ready to drive off towards Chester and North Wales for the last of the three climbs.
Ellie had to drop out in Wasdale due to an injured knee and Rachel didn't make the Snowdon climb but Olly, Elliot and Peter managed it and if they counted climbing and travelling time - they did it in under 24hours. They ALL deserve a medal for their efforts in what must rate as the worst weather you can possibly expect in June!!!
After many coats of primer, white and blue paint - the Beware of the Trains sign is finally finished and restored to its former glory (compare with June 18th pictures!).
Soon it will be fixed securely in its new home!
Jun 21
At 6.50pm, the torch was on its way to Bowness, escorted by a flotilla of vessels.
Daisy waits eagerly to wave her mini union flag as she relaxes in Alison's arms at Waterhead.
To be honest she was very laid back about the whole event but the grip reflex in her hand made it look as if she was ready!
Despite the rain which fell throughout much of the day, the crowds turned out to see the Olympic Torch relay pass through Ambleside and onto the lake steamer "Tern" for the voyage to Bowness. Windermere girl, Stephanie Booth, heads for the pier with her torch.
OLYMPIC TORCH DAY!
Outside Borrans Park (near Waterhead) a Torch Kiss took place, captured by Jill as she made her way from church (where she had been bellringing for the torch) to the rest of the family who were enjoying the Hog Roast at Waterhead and ready to see the lake steamer "Tern" take the torch onwards to Bowness for a fireworks extravaganza!
After! |
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Rich returned to the sandblasting shop near Carlisle (where the car wheels had been refurbished) to have the railway sign cleaned up.
Now it will be gradually spray painted white before the letters are painted in the same colour of blue (as used by the Furness Railway in the 1890's).
We had a lovely surprise towards the end of the Bash when Princess Amelia presented us with a thank you letter - and it was even on special Diamond Jubilee paper!
We particularly like the drawing of the Queen sitting on a Corgi's head!
During the afternoon, Julia (staying in Sheepgates) showed the girls her email from The Queen, received after she sent a message of congratulation on the Diamond Jubilee.
A few minutes later, the girls had sent their own message via Julia's I-Pad! They are now waiting for their reply!
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At one stage we thought that we had interlopers trying to sneak through the hedge for a chance to join in the fun! |
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Rich had devised a royal quiz and until the BBQ was lit the visitors tried to identify royal faces, residences and amongst other tasks - decide the name of the Queen's first ever Corgi (it was "Susan" ) |
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The cottage garden provided the space for our "Bash on the Bank" as an alternative to the "Picnic in the Park". Everyone was elevated to the Royal family and given a copy of the official guest list! Amelia and Madeline (staying in Cobbleholes) became became the Princesses Amelia and Madeline of Braintree! |
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The scene is set! With a flag every six inches across the entire front of the cottages and on every fence post around the garden, the Bash on the bank was a colourful event! Despite yesterday's awful weather in London (it was just COLD here!), we had a really pleasant sunny afternoon. |
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Although we watched the whole thing, we never saw the local launch Queen of the Lake which was part of the pageant. |
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We watched the River Pageant of 1000 vessels as it sailed down the Thames and were amazed at the stamina of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. |
We have had a week of bright sunny weather and the trees are now finally in full leaf (well nearly all are!).
Today Rich had winning bids for two items in the Coniston Railway sale!
1.A cast iron Furness Railway "Beware of the Trains" sign from the 1880's.
2.The signalbox stool from Coniston Station's North Signal Box. The catalogue said "no markings present". It did have!...... "Furness Railway Co."
The stool was used by Major Hext in the signal box which he bought for £5 in 1962 (though it cost him £116 to move it to his garden - about 1/2 a mile away). The stool will now live next to Rich's model of Coniston station!
The newly polished stool but the sign will need a clean up and repaint!
Before driving to a village near Carlisle to collect the Volvo's refurbished alloy wheels, we went to an auction viewing day in Coniston. The auction is to sell off the famous railway owned until his death by Major Hext.
When Richard was 16yrs old he went to the house on an open-day and had rides around the garden on the railway. Major Hext built his railway and ran it like a real railway with signals and signalboxes etc bought from British Railways when they closed the line in 1962.
After looking at all the items, Rich put in bids for two signs, a stool and two carriages which would look good in the garden!
The catalogue shows a picture of Major Hext on his loco "Josephine" outside the signalbox from where the stool came.
Our friends Roy and Jean Parfrey have spent the week in Cobbleholes. Roy arrived with additions for the Coniston railway - two coal staithes and a coal lorry. By the end of the week, Roy now featured on the layout as the new coal depot has a sign naming him as the local coal and log merchant. Here, "little Roy" is shovelling coal to fill his sacks! 
Combining a family birthday party in Stoke and collecting friends from Manchester Airport, we have taken a two day break in the Peak District. We arrived in a monsoon but Monday was lovely so we took the cable car to the Heights of Abraham in Matlock Bath, where we explored a natural cavern. It made a relaxing break and saved some fuel by not driving the M6 twice in two days!
Megan and Jessica met Daisy today when Caroline took them to Ben and Alison's for the day.
Jessica is holding Daisy who seems quite unphased by the event!
As Daisy and Alison returned to the ward too late to see her last night, we had our first chance to see her at 3pm today.
Later we drove back home (with 10 more new fish for the pond - who all survived the 4 hour journey)
Daisy Attenborough has arrived - Ben and Alison's first child and our third grand-daughter.
Drove back from Reading (with 12 fish from Shinfield to start replacing the fish slaughtered by the wild mink last year.)
This picture shows four of them (silver ghost carp).
Mar 19
Megan (left) and Jessica (right) do a bit of tree hugging in the park!
The birthday girls pose amongst the daffs on the way to their favourite playground.
Finally ventrured out to the village and Boots Chemist!
Rich's longstanding order for a diesel unit has arrived and it has a Cumbrian favour, as can be seen!
Spent a few days in London seeing the twins and helping Ben and Alison make the move from Streatham to the Wokingham area. This included moving a tank of tropical fish (not still in the tank of course) and later helping to paint two rooms in their old flat which is to be rented out.
Unfortunately, we both returned with what was probably flu and have spent over a week either in bed or walking around like zombies!
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As the twilight fades and the lights go on - the work at Coniston shed goes on! |
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After two days of Richard lying half inside a cupboard under the layout, the turntable at Coniston (on Rich's railway) is finally complete. At the touch of a button locos swing around and stop opposite the track they will depart on. |
Just around the corner we saw the reason why..... a Land Rover had smashed into the wall as it descended the road
and demolished the wall before sliding to a halt across the road.....The police decided it was unsafe to get a tow truck up the road to move it so they simply closed the road and the car remained here until Monday afternoon!
At Edinboro, we came across this "Road Closed" sign .....
Beautiful snowy scenes on Kirkstone Road looking towards Fairfield
The forcast said snow from 1pm and almost on the dot it started. By 5.15pm when this picture was taken by the webcam, we had four inches and still snowing steadily.
Since the jackdaws and crows tend to arrive en masse and eat all the bird seed from the feeder on our fence, we have invested in a mini cage which now sits on a platform on the fence (not like this publicity shot!)
The ordinary birds arrived and went through the slots quite happily but the pigeons, crows and jackdaws arrived and took one look and gave up! Success!
The birds will need all the help they can when the snow comes.
Today we had a professional bath restorer from Preston to re-enamel the bath in Sheepgates. After a thorough preparation, Nigel has masked off all the tiles and taps and is almost ready to start spraying the various layers to make the bath like new. He worked through from 8.10am until 4.50pm! The result is a "new" bath.
The joiner has found a 16 feet long piece of timber to replace the old one and now the work is underway to replace the slates and to replace the one which blew off and smashed before Christmas. Ian Creighton's men are working well.
After only a two week wait the scaffolding has finally gone up on Sheepgates' gable end to allow the soffit board to be replaced!
The first 3-4 tiles have been removed from the gutter upwards and the old (1815) soffit removed.
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A mole has decided to invade our lawn |
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Overnight a line of mole hills have appeared. Another mole (or perhaps the same one) has also invaded the "secret" garden near the car park. Time to call in the mole catcher - Allan Nicholson, who arrived later. He excavated the tunnels in a few places and inserted a series of traps |
Winter is returning! Awoke to snow and sleet showers and a slightly whitened Wansfell.
Click here to see a clip of the fireworks
A Happy New Year to all our visitors and blog readers.