boxing day boys

Can you see the cobwebs blowing away? A wild and windy walk on Burgh Marsh this afternoon was just the tonic we needed after yesterday's feasting. And yes you can pig out on nut roast with divinely roasted potatoes (even if I do say so myself).

knitted booties

These were made for a friend's baby this week. They are really cute and have the advantage of laces so they can be fastened securely to chubby legs. 

another picture of our house

Unfortunately no real progress since last time I posted but I thought you might like to see a picture of the extension and the back of our house in its winter coat.A dusting of snow early on Friday morning which lasted all weekend but has now melted. If you look at the bottom right hand panel in the back door you can see Mouser's catflap. It is made of a piece of denim cut out of some old jeans, so the wind has cheekily been whistling through the flap. We now have a big warm cosy curtain hanging up in the kitchen - so yah boo to the wind!

living with the amish

Call me old-fashioned, but I just loved watching Living with the Amish on Channel 4 on Thursday night. It was a delight to peer into the simple life of the Pennsylvania Dutch as it is today. Visually charming, brightly coloured but plain long dresses; strong men working together to raise the timber barn surrounded by leafy woodland; the contented smiles of a community at peace with itself and harmonious hymn-singing. 



Barn-raising, Amish style







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The  British girls visiting the Amish community this week had some difficulty with the very different role of their American counterparts. Amish women look after the home and raise their families. They cook, wash, sew, clean, polish and home-school their children. All day, every day. But all the women are doing the same thing, and their doors are open, so they are able to share these tasks with felllowship and probably banish the tedium that seemed to worry the teen guests.

 

 

 

The Amish live a life apart. They are a humble, ordered people who put their own community at the hearty of everything they do and try to avoid glorifying the individual. There are four more episodes to come, Thursdays 9pm on Channel 4. My Thursday night treat!

we love our new floor!

Despite a change for the worse in the weather we have concrete floors laid and looking very neat and tidy. There is supposed to be a touch of frost tonight but Mally reckons the concrete should have gone off and not be adversely affected by it. Fingers crossed! And cat footprints have already been added.



2 pm and still a lot to do.



4 pm and looking good.

Our next job is to dig trenches for the drains and then get the pipes laid. I think this will make a huge difference to the amount of clart (to use a good Cumbrian word) outside. And we will also be able to pile up all the blocks and other building materials that have been gathering on the drive so that Cath has access to her garage when the really cold weather starts.

we now have sub-base

There has been more progress this week and the sub-base laid and compressed. The next job is to lay a skin of sand, followed by a damp-proof membrane (can't remember the brand but you might know it), then some insulation and a further damp-proof layer. And finally concrete to cap it all.  Now that the ground is flat and level inside the walls you can get a good idea of how much space there will be in both rooms and let me tell you we are going to be able to spread out so much more!



The outline footprint

You can now actually see how big our new rooms will be. The blocks have been put in up to the damp proof course level, a few inches above the ground. Mally and his merry men, Gaz and Daz, have put in four days of hard graft this week. It is all happening at such a pace it makes me feel quite dizzy. Well, after the years of delberation over the plans, this flurry of activity has been a shot in the arm. Dry weather all week has been a great help too.

This will be our bedroom!

Gas already connected in the kitchen...

We are now down to one skip sitting on Cath's grass at the front of the house - this one is full of recycled rubble to fill the base of the extension. Cath has been extremely accommodating and generous about the amount of upheaval just days after she moved in next door. We may well be spending tomorrow barrowing the rubble out of the skip and up the drive to save the builders some time next week. Good eh?

Ready for the next phase

laying the concrete footings

Our foundation trenches have become old friends over the last few weeks. So much rainwater had collected in the clay-bottomed channels, taking on the rusty shade of clay, that it wasn't possible to see quite how deep they were. Sam knew where there was a raised section and bragged to his two friends that he could walk on water, keeping his balance along the narrow but concealed bridge. Of course Oscar and Ethan could not resist having a go - but when they stepped on the water it came up to their middles.

Yesterday we hired a pump to get all the water out of the foundation trenches. This job was supposed to be done by about 10.30 but the pump didn't arrive until then. Once installed it made quick work of draining the trenches and the water disappeared quickly via the soakaway which was a big relief. The concrete poured into the bottom of the gullies has now gone off and the next job is to try and stack the vast amount of blocks which arrived yesterday. And glorious mud is everywhere!

Amsterdam

Amsterdam , a set on Flickr.

You may notice that I lke canals. And bikes. And I'm not at all averse to the trinkets on sale all over the city centre either. Click any of the pictures to enlarge and view slideshow.

DFDS Ferry to Amsterdam

Eight out of ten to the ferry from North Shields (Newcastle) to Ijmuiden (Amsterdam). The crossing is 16 hours, overnight, leaving at 5.30 pm and arriving at around 9 am. This long journey is comfortable and there is a range of cabins to suit different budgets. The boat has a choice of eating places but there is no budget option for eating. Prices start at around €7,00 for a sandwich and top out at around €20 for the all-you-can-eat-buffet option. Notices around the Danish-owned boat strictly tell you that eating your own food in public places may result in your food being confiscated. Catering aside the journey was really comfortable. Having a cabin to slope off to when you get on board is a real treat. Bunk beds, fresh linen, towels, soap and an en suite shower room with toilet. I want to have cabins like this on trains too. You can shut out the world and read or play games. And the children loved having boarding cards that double as cabin keys. We had a window in our cabin on the way home and could watch the waves down below. No such luxury on outbound leg. Force 6 winds buffeted the ship all night and we just lay down  for 16 hours and slept fitfully. Mini-cruise passengers who return to Newcastle after 5 hours in Amsterdam may safely leave luggage in their cabins whilst enjoying the pleasures of the Dutch capital.

Make sure you book the bus from Ijmuiden to Amsterdam when buying your tickets. It is included in the ticket price (ie. not extra) if reserved in advance. If you decide later to get the bus it will cost €10,00 a head.

digging the foundation trenches

It's only been eight years since we first drew up plans for our extension! But on Thursday Rob the builder came along with a mini digger and dumper truck and started cutting the trenches for the foundations. Work stopped on Friday when the skip was full, so we now have two more 8 yard skips waiting for him to come in and finish the job this week. In the meantime the big toys in the garden have been irresistible to some people over the weekend...

heading for a ten miler

I'm really pleased to say that I completed the 10km run in Edinburgh yesterday. And I think my time of 70 minutes and my place (4935th out of over 11,000 runners) is quite creditable. The course was quite hilly as I'd thought it would be, but the longest ascent was in the first couple of kilometres so the worst climb was over early. I found it hard going for the first half, but after collecting a bottle of water between the 5th and 6th km markers I began to feel better. After 7 km it seemed very fast to 8km and the last stretch was on familiar ground which helped too. The weather was cool and stayed pretty dry so running conditions were quite good.

After the run we took our picnic to the beach at Portobello. A fret was coming in from the sea but the beach was wide and sandy and we'd love to go back some time. We also had time for a look around the very picturesque Grassmarket below Edinburgh Castle before driving home.

Next run could be a ten miler, you never know!

not just a pretty face

The Gwen Lattimer Prize 2011 for Attitude and Sevice was awarded to Polly this morning. As well as bringing home a book token she also has a certificate with a citation extolling her virtues. If you don't mind, I will share it with you.

"for the positive attitude she adopts to all aspects of school life, earning her the respect of her peers and staff alike; for her contribution to charity, completing a bike ride to raise money for Japan, as well as helping wheelchair users at the hospital; for her constant determination to succeed academically at school, never giving less than her best; for her frequent involvement in extra-curricular activities, including being a school librarian."


Mr Hamilton, Head of Year, also praised her maturity and said what an exceptional person she is and a real asset to the year group.  Big smiles all round, and many congratulations to Polly.

edinburgh great run

Next Sunday I will be running 10 km (6.25 miles) through the streets of Edinburgh! The race is the Edinburgh Great Run and the course goes through the ancient (and hilly!) heart of the city as well as Holyrood Park. From what I can see there will be bands playing in another park (The Meadows) and between 7K and 8K we will be running past Edinburgh Castle.

I have received my race number: 9362 if you happen to be tuned in to Channel 5 where the whole event will be covered from 9.30 am!

Cumbria Wheelchair Sports Club does a great deal to promote sports for disabled people, including basketball, tennis, athletics and rugby. The costs of providing sports chairs for athletes to use is high so if you could sponsor me, the money would be put to really good use and I know a lot of people who would be happy to have better, faster chairs!

welcome, gabriel!

Living in the far north of England whilst much of my extended family are much further south means that we have got used to driving long distances for short breaks. Last weekend I think we set a record even for ourselves, going to London and back (660 miles) in about 32 hours! We left home on Saturday afternoon and were treated to a slap-up meal in Amersham the same evening. Chris made us most welcome and we spent a really comfortable night at his house. The little red Fiat proved its mettle by continuing on Sunday morning through central London and over the Vauxhall Bridge to Brixton. The beautifully lit Corpus Christi church saw Gabriel christened before we all made our way to Sarah and Simon's home for a very relaxed and nourishing late lunch in excellent company! It was really lovely to see everyone and to catch up with the ever expanding family.

digging the dirt

The dirt I mean is actually premium quality topsoil from our garden. This has been tipped and skipped and carried away today, leaving a gaping hole outside the back door. And it gives us a much better idea of the size of the space our extension will take. Mouser was quite spooked by the change in her preferred hunting ground and was unimpressed when the digger knocked down the old conservatory walls in more or less one piece.

Another couple of skips arrived this evening and all the remaining soil and rubble will go into them. The weather was good enough today - despite some heavy showers this morning - and we hope it will be tomorrow too.