Yesterday we didn't work as Dave wanted to give his shoulders a rest. So we went off to the library to re-stock with books. Had a lovely peaceful time reading and scouring the bookshelves as there were no other children around (all back at school ha ha!!) In the afternoon we got on with making the framework for our willow lanterns that Eilidh had started at art group. We all have the beginnings of a lantern each now so they can be covered at the next group with lantern paper.

Today it was back over to Steve's to get some more of his garden done. Both Eilidh and Ben helped out a bit today, weeding, digging, pulling branches down to the bonfire and other bits and pieces. That was in between playing on the computer with Jason, playing on the drums with Joel and throwing sticks for Levi (their Staffy dog). We seemed to get quite a bit done today, Dave was laying some old carpet to clear a path through some of the woodland, which will be covered with wood chippings later and I was on with the weeding of the front formal garden again (this seems to be an endless task). We also managed to cut down some overgrown shrubs and cleared away some Elder...so a good days work.

I will try and remember to get some more pictures tomorrow as our blog seems to be severely lacking them at the moment!

We all went off to Steve's house this morning, Dave to get on with the garden, the kids to run around and help daddy and I had to drop them off and go to one of the cottages to sort it out. When I had finished I headed back to Steve's with some lunch. Eilidh and Ben were busy playing computer games with Steve's two boys and had only helped Dave for about five minutes!

After lunch Dave and I decided to bring a few trees down! Actually some quite tall but very spindly Sycamores which needed chopping down to let some light through. Everything was going great until Dave's new chain-saw decided to break....Hurrah! So we had to get on with clearing the area and weeding instead. The kids had disappeared inside to watch Shrek and we didn't see them for most of the afternoon. Joel and Jason (Steve's boys) were learning the art of babysitting!

Hopefully we will be able to get the chain-saw sorted or replaced but unfortunately this will take a few days and there are still quite a few trees to bring down. Dave is trying to take it easy so that his shoulder holds out so we shall wait and see what the plan is tomorrow.

Yesterday was mostly taken up with cleaning cottages and vegetating in front of the telly!

As the clocks went back last night we supposedly were meant to get an extra hour in bed (not likely!). Ben was up as usual at the crack of dawn so in the end we got up as well. I managed to get a bath and then the kids both had one, all before church! Afterwards we went out for a drive rather than going straight home, had some lunch at a pub in Orton and then headed back home, exploring some of the little lanes on the way back. Dave amused the kids while I got a pile of ironing done again, then a lazy tea in front of a nature programme before I headed off to church again tonight.

We are hoping that Dave's shoulder is up to getting back to work tomorrow and I will probably spend a couple of days helping him out to catch up.

This week has been really hectic! On Wednesday we went off to Holiday Club again then our friend Kate came and picked us up for a picnic at Brockhole with her, Dennis and Florence. We sat under a big tree in a patch of sunlight on a huge pile of leaves and had lunch then went off for a walk by the lake on the way to the adventure playground. All the kids went off for the rest of the afternoon playing and we eventually got home at about 4.15pm. Then it was a mad rush to get dinner cooked, eaten and out again, back down to church for an evening 'Garden Party' for the Holiday Club kids and their parents!! Loads of the kids turned up with their mums and dads and they had a taste of what we've all been up to in the mornings! More loud singing, dancing, drama and generally having a laugh!!

We were all shattered on Thursday but went gallantly off to the last day of Holiday Club. Another brilliant morning, although it's been really tiring we will definately consider doing it all again next year. Me and Tim (my team co-leader) even got a box of chocolates each from one of the boys in our team ahhhh!!! All the parents and kids have been invited back on Sunday as they are doing some more drama and songs then so it will be interesting to see who turns up.

On Wednesday we had a message from our friends from Orkney (our best man and family) saying they were travelling back from Kate's parents and wondering if they could stop for the night. Help! Our house (as usual) was a complete pig sty so we spent all afternoon on Thursday tidying, vacuuming, sorting out beds, and getting very stressed!! Then I realised I had piles of ironing (literally!) which needed doing for the cottages on Friday and Saturday. Fortunately for us, (not for them) Mark, Kate, Zachary and Stella had an awful journey up which took much longer than expected so didn't get here until 8pm. The kids got to say a quick hello and goodnight and eventually they all got tucked into their beds and settled so we could sit and chat. It was lovely to see them and to catch up, it's been over a year since we saw them last.

This morning, we all surfaced gradually and Zachary and Ben went upstairs to play trains (both Thomas mad!) while Mark packed up the car and I pinched a few cuddles with Stella (8 mths.) It's always nice to cuddle other babies and then be able to hand them back!! They had to go to carry on with their epic journey north and we had to get a cottage cleaned and go to art group. I dropped Dave and the kids off as Dave was sorting out one of the crafts this month and rushed back over to Windermere to get the cottage done.
At art group they were making spider webs and spiders (Dave's bit!), printing with veg and leaves etc, and making willow lanterns which will then be covered next time with lantern paper. Eilidh made a really big lantern which will look fantastic when it gets finished.

I turned up near the end of the group so missed out on doing any but we managed to come home with a bundle of willow to make some at home for next time so I guess that made up for it! They seem to have had a really good time again, both the kids love going to art group (and us too!!)

This morning we had got a big parcel through the post which was full of lovely presents for the kids from Grandma and Grandpa. We saved this for this evening and they have had great fun building lego cars, playing with dolls and wanting to stay up and do all the other bits as well. However being mean parents, we sent them off to bed early!! They then decided to both sleep in Eilidh's room tonight, Ben is in Eilidhs bed (only because it still had his Bob the Builder duvet cover on as Zachary had slept there the night before!) and Eilidh is on the bed we made up for Mark and Kate out of the old caravan cushions on her bedroom floor!! So far, so good, I think they are both so tired after their hectic week, they would probably sleep anywhere!! We are just hoping for a quiet night!!

Another great morning at Holiday Club. Ben and Eilidh went off happily to sit with their teams. Of course, being a church holiday club it is based on bible stories and they have very loud christian music where all the kids (and leaders) are up singing, shouting, jumping around doing actions and generally wearing themselves out!! A lot of the kids never go into church except for these clubs and it is unbelievably popular every year. Not your normal, run of the mill Church of England!!

Crafts today was making clay pots and at the end of the morning some of the leaders are 'volunteered' to be gunged which is always popular! Fortunately as this is my first year I think I'll get away with it. Eilidh is very proud of the fact that her and Ben's teams are beating mine in the team points (not that she is competitive or anything!)

We went of around town this afternoon, finding bits to make Christmas cards, presents and stuff for the art group on Friday and then headed home. Eilidh and Ben went down to Phoebe's house to play for a little while before tea and came back worn out so they went to bed a little bit earlier tonight.

Not blogged for a few days so here goes....

Friday we went off to the first Science group our friend has organised. It went quite well, we were all looking at plants and different parts. Lots of different flowers for the kids to chop up and examine. Obviously the littlies weren't amused for long but some of the older ones spent quite a while looking at different parts and looking at them under microscopes.

Not a lot happened over the weekend, went for a drive around on Saturday starting off in Bowness which was heaving again due to the school half term so decided to head up to Troutbeck where we had lunch at the Queens Head (http://www.queensheadhotel.com/) famed as the only 4 poster bar they not only have 4 poster beds in the rooms but also have one built into the bar. From there we went on over Kirkstone pass to Ullswater & up toward penrith before turning back via a lovely Jersey Ice Cream Farm where the kids really enjoyed the play area. Then down through Shap on onwards home, quite a day out.

Then went off yesterday to pick up a cover for Dave's pick-up down at Stoke. We then decided to go to Ikea on the way back as we love Ikea!! Eilidh and Ben had a play in the kids area while we rushed around trying to look at everything while they were gone. We got our fix of swedish meatballs and a few bits and pieces and then headed home.

Today was the start of the Holiday Club at our church where I am helping out as a junior leader. Ben and Eilidh went off into their teams and seemed to have enjoyed themselves. I was really worried that Ben wouldn't settle but he apparantly was ok once he had seen me to wave at and then sat on his team leaders lap snuggled up quite happily in between doing crafts and games. Eilidh was great and just went off quite happily to her little team so no problems there! It was a really good morning and loads of kids from the church and from the local area turned up. They actually have a waiting list for this holiday club and they all seem like a really good bunch. This goes on until Thursday so we may be exhausted by then!!

I'm feeling very self righteous tonight as we seem to have got a lot done today and had a good day as well!! This morning Dave went off to sort out the rest of the caravan and take it to be scrapped so we decided to get on with some 'work'. Eilidh and Ben worked on finishing their Swallows and Amazons projects.

We then decided to pack a rucksack with supplies and leaf spotting booklets etc and went out for another walk. We went up our back field, over the top of the crag, past a cairn and headed down towards the footbridge over the main road from Kendal.It was gorgeous today, really sunny but still lovely and fresh...perfect walking weather! The kids spent about half an hour standing on the footbridge waving to all the cars and lorries rushing past underneath them. I think everyone must have been in a good mood as most of them waved, tooted or flashed their lights!! We then headed back down towards the farm shop, through a farmyard and fields of sheep and cows to get something for lunch. On the way we stopped to do some tree bark rubbing (Eilidh's idea!) After having a wander around the Cumbria Wildlife Trust place picking up lots of autumn leaves we went home for lunch.

They had both enjoyed the Swiss plaited Bread yesterday so we decided to have a go at making some more after lunch. They both had their own dough to make into shapes and plaits, they all came out really well! While the dough had been rising they got on with making a autumn tree picture with all the leaves they had collected and the bark rubbings. It is now proudly displayed in our kitchen!! It's been a really good day and I think we are all shattered tonight!!

We went off to see 'Happy Feet' this morning at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal this morning. We had free tickets through the National Film Week which is run each year for schools (and home educators!). It was not as good as we expected and Ben was actually scared through half of it!! There were only two other groups from schools there so it was not very full but it was nice for a change.

After having some lunch at Asda's we went off to our new cookery group this afternoon. All the kids (and parents) got on making Swiss Plaited Bread which they all had a go at mixing,kneading and plaiting and of course eating!! It was really yummy and Eilidh and Ben managed to eat both of their plaits before we even got home! So much for enjoying it for our tea with some jam!!! The group was good, quite a few families turned up and while the dough was rising the kids all played together. Ben was off racing around the hall on a bike and playing with a garage while Eilidh was playing wild horses with her little group of noisy girls!!

Quite a long busy day and both were shattered at bedtime. We managed to read another chapter of 'Swallowdale' (sequel to Swallows and Amazons) which is turning out to be a really good story. We are slowly managing to get hold of all the Arthur Ransome books but still missing a few....we will keep searching!

Yesterday we had another cottage to clean so as it was raining and Dave wasn't working we all decided to go over and sort it out. Just as well as it took us a while!

Today has started off with a bad sign, Eilidh lost yet another tooth - at this rate we are heading for bankrupcy & we still have Ben to go.




Ben also got a new pair of swimming goggles & wanted to try them on, we could hardly get him to take them off he now wants to go swimming again.

Dave went off to work on Steve's garden again. Eilidh and Ben had got a letter throught the post this morning from the Woodland Trust as we had got them membership to their Kids club. There were posters, spotting sheets, woodland logs, stickers and loads more so we spent a while putting stickers on posters and then putting them up, making finger puppet birds and sorting through it all. Eilidh then decided to have a go on some of the games on their website http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/ It's a brilliant website about nature in this country.

We had a phone call from our friend Paul who has been working with Dave for a while but he is really too ill to carry on now. He has a lifelong illness which he always in and out of hospital with, he has also just had to undergo some surgery for cancer and is now struggling with his breathing so doesn't feel he can carry on working (not very surprising really!). Of course this means that Dave still has heaps of work to do at Steve's and other jobs coming up and no help, so we decided that when possible I could go over and give him a hand while the kids play. So we all went off this afternoon and Dave got on with the heavier work while I weeded a very overgrown pathway. After 2 hours it still looked like I had hardly touched it!!! Eilidh and Ben went leaf spotting and did some jobs as well like carrying wood down to the fire pile (bit of child labour!) In fact they enjoyed themselves so much they didn't want to go home!

Tomorrow is a busy day, we have a film to go and watch at the cinema and a cookery group to go to.

Not much has happened over the last couple of days, Eilidh, Ben and Dave went for a very wet walk on Saturday while I was doing one of the cottages. Then spent the rest of the day sorting out bits and peices and Dave went to help clear out after a local jumble sale and now has a truck load of stuff to go to the tip.

Before church breakfast was a treat, here are the main offenders heading back from the big M). After church today, we came home and spent most of the day lazing (thats code for Dave & Ben watched the Touring Car Racing) about playing board games, doing puzzles and watching telly. Suddenly realised we have a cottage to do tomorrow and I hadn't done any of the ironing so waded through a pile tonight which fortunately is now finished...Hurrah!!

Yesterday we spent most of the day over at our friends house where Dave was stripping out the caravan of all sellable items! Eilidh and Ben disappeared with their three kids all afternoon, 'hunting', making bows and arrows, playing on rope swings and getting wet again. They love it over there as they live on a very quiet country lane where the kids are perfectly safe and can be really free.

Dave managed to get most of the bits out and they are already drumming up business on ebay very successfully!! We also decided to put my car on ebay rather than scrapping it as it seems such a waste when someone out there could use it or even repair it.

Today Dave was busy taking the camper for an MOT which it failed dismally.... The kids were busy with their Swallows and Amazons projects, playing educational games on the computer, doing puzzles and playing junior scrabble amongst other things! This afternoon we went off for a walk across the fields, up through the woods and out onto the top of Crunswick Scar (the hill behind our house) . We did a circular route round and ended up walking back through the field behind our house which we've not done before. It was a lovely walk and really interesting seeing the countryside from a different direction!!

Our house is the last one on the left.

We all got up early this morning (well...early for us!!) to take Dave down to the train station as he was off on an adventure. Well he was actually going down to pick up an old camper van from Leicester that we have just bought on ebay!!! Yes, I know, we weren't meant to be buying a camper just yet but ho hum!!! I spent an extremely stressful morning trying to get insurance for it before Dave got there, hate sorting out insurance!! Eventually it got sorted, and Dave managed to get home safely tonight.

The camper is a classic (1976) and needs a bit of TLC but hopefully we can get it sorted out over the winter. It's just a small Leyland Sherpa pop top so we can also use it to run around in locally inplace of my little (now deceased) car.

Eilidh and Ben spent this morning reading, playing and doing puzzles and this afternoon they were having a go on a new educational website we found, (http://www.sparkisland.com/) they have a free trial for fourteen days so we will have two weeks worth from it!! They are both doing really well on the computer and they help each other out on the games. Learning while having fun...great!!!

We drove up to Penrith this morning to join the Home Education group there for a swim and their fortnightly get together. We haven't been swimming for over a year and Eilidh and Ben have been desperate to go in the last month or so. We all had a great time, after I had got over the huge hurdle of getting into a swimming costume again (yes, not a pretty sight!!). Eilidh and Ben both had on their float suits and vest so once they got used to the water again they were off 'swimming' on their own. Hopefully we shall try to go more frequently so they will soon be able to swim without the need for these floats which then means I can actually get a proper swim too!!

After swimming we went on to the local hall for lunch, coffee, chatting and playing. The kids were busy running around and we had a go at some origami someone had brought in, Dave managed to play three games of pool with some of the older boys which he really enjoyed (he won all of his games & retired reining undefeated champion) . A really good day and both Ben and Eilidh were shattered tonight..Hooray!!

Unfortunately, the caravan will now not be retiring gracefully to some lovely woods, instead it will be heading to car and caravan heaven ... yes, the scrap yard ... along with my car!!! Our friends, Lex and Vince started to strip out some of the interior and found that the rot was worse than any of us had thought, so we decided the best option was to strip anything worth selling out and send the rest to be weighed in for scrap. It's quite sad that it's worth more in bits than as a whole caravan!! Never mind...

We had a lovely afternoon today up at their house they are just about to move out of, Eilidh and Ben disappeared off with their three kids exploring, splashing in a nearby stream and generally getting very wet and muddy...again! We had a job to get them in the truck to go home, both of them wanting to stay for tea, then a sleepover and goodness knows what else. We had to bribe them with flapjack and the promise that we were back over there on Thursday to start stripping out the caravan and then we would stay for tea.

Dave's shoulders are still really bad, (not a good sign). We're just hoping that they will ease off as he has more work coming his way everyday,which is great, but not if he can't do it!!!

Weather was much colder today, back to the autumn after our little summer blip!

Today was another gorgeous day so after I had changed some linen at one of the cottages I went in search of Dave and the kids. They were busy scrambling over rocks on top of a hill just above the cottages. This place has amazing views over Lake Windermere and today it was really clear.

We then decided to take the ferry over the lake and have a picnic by the lakeshore on the other side. Of course at it was Saturday the queue for the ferry was long but Dave took the kids for a wander looking at boats until it was our turn to go on. No matter how many times we go on this ferry (which is quite often) Eilidh and Ben always get excited and love the very short trip over!
We had a nice relaxing picnic and they played on the beach and waved to all the boats going past. After a while we decided to drive up into Hawkeshead to have a wander around. Of course you can't go to a pretty Lakeland village without having a cup of coffee and ice-cream (yes Mum, they have had MORE ice-cream!!!!) Dave was very amused watching all the tourists with their flash cars and GPS units going completely the wrong way (GPS units seem to have a bad habit of telling people to go the wrong direction around here!!)

Unfortunately, next week Dave will probably be busy working most days so we will be stuck at home so we are making the most of this lovely weather and the truck.

As today was so lovely, warm and sunny (you could almost be persuaded it was July) we decided to go over to Coniston Lake for a picnic. We were hoping to go on a boat so the kids could see where some of Swallows and Amazons was based but after looking at the prices Naomi quickly changed our minds!!

So Ben and Eilidh had great fun paddling in the Lake while filling up bottles with water, making castles and moats and eating ice-cream. We sat and watched the boats going in and out and enjoyed the scenery and weather. At this time of year the holiday makers have changed a bit from noisy families (like ours!!) to mainly older folks who seem to love chatting away to the only kids around (ours!) They had a couple of 'chats' with people but, for a change, not one of them asked why they wern't at school which was quite nice!!

Sorry, missed a few days! Wednesday was a trip to the library and then shopping for little bits and peices for our Christmas Shoeboxes. Yesterday I bundled the kids in to the car as I needed to go to the Doctors but only got about halfway there. My poor little car has finally died a death!! Dave had tried to fix it but there's obviously more wrong than we thought. Although I am really fed up because now I have no transport so if Dave's working we are stuck, we have to look at the bright side.... we were given the car in the first place, the MOT was due this month so it conked out just in time! and we have had no problems with it up until now. So I think it will have to go to car heaven (ie..scrap yard!) and we will have to get by until we can afford another one (boo hiss!).

Dave has been off work this week as his shoulder is playing up and he has been told to rest it, hopefully he can carry on with Steve's garden next week and he has some other jobs lined up which is great.

This morning the kids spent about and hour and half busy doing work on their Swallows and Amazons project, cutting out tents, campfires and doing camping wordsearches and other bits and pieces. Dave was busy collecting parts to fix my little car as it has started hiccuping along the road when we go anywhere. We all had lunch and then decided to get some fresh air and take a trip to the local ice-cream farm, Natland Millbeck. They have an outdoor play area so Eilidh and Ben gobbled their ice-cream and then ran around like mad people for about an hour.

Eilidh managed to lose another tooth just as she started to eat her ice cream - with another two loose & her attachment to the tooth fairy this is going to be an expensive year.

They have some lovely laden apple trees there so Dave went and asked if we could take a few apples and we came out of there with loads absolutely free!! We decided to drop some of at our friends on the way home and stopped for a coffee and chat while the kids played and then headed home for dinner.

Dave took the kids off to the hospital this morning so that Ben could be checked over, after two hours he eventually got looked at!! The doctor then decided to try and give him a local anaesthetic to get the head of the tick out, but after poking about with a needle for ages, the anaesthetic obviously not working and Ben screaming and nearly breaking Daves hand, Dave decided enough was enough and told him to leave it alone. So we just have to keep and eye on him and he now has some new medication as well. Honestly my faith in doctors seems to get less every time we have to see one!!

Dave then took both of them out for some lunch and had a wander around town buying slippers for himself (sorely needed) and trainers for Ben (who actually wore out his last new ones) while I went off to clean out one of our cottages and start emptying the caravan.

After Steve had popped around for a coffee and to pay Dave for his work so far, our other friends turned up to take the caravan away to it's new life in the woods. They stopped for coffee and ended up staying for dinner (sounds familiar!) and the kids had great fun playing in the garden and upstairs while we had a chance to gossip. It's been a really nice afternoon. I had to run out for a meeting at the church for the holiday club which I am helping out with soon and came back to find dinner all done and ready to eat...fantastic!! They eventually left at 10pm so another late night tonight for the kids but they have had great fun with their three friends.