out, damn spot, out!
We picked up Julia on Friday evening and headed over to Levisham, were we cooked some more of the rare breed lamb, which was lovely. Simon was on the box, so we just bummed around and drank sloe wine and mead until the others showed up. As Lesley was down it was easier to put Julia in with Grandma, which complicated things a bit, but it all worked out.
On Saturday morning we headed out about 9:00 with Mum to pick blaeberries. This wasn't as early as Mum had hoped, so there was muttering! We found some good patches and spent a couple of hours picking. Luckily Cawthorn Roman Camp is all banks, so its not as murderous on the back as blaeberry picking can often be. After 2 hours we had all had enough and our hands where a beautiful blue-purple, so they just about matched my toes. Julia had been good, but Mum and I also had blue tongues. We headed back as Mum wanted to be at Levisham to meet Ness and Terry for lunch.
Julia and I got roped into to helping Simon do lunch for 11, then after that we headed out on the train with the family. Mum, Ness and Terry went on to Whitby, but Julia and I stopped at Grosmont and came back (after ice cream!), as we didn't have time to do the whole trip. It also meant Mum and Ness could talk about me when I wasn't in ear shot! At least they'd started on Paru when we all changed trains, and there is plenty of material there.
When we got back I had to do some accounts and the August ticket book, then we got changed to go out, during which Julia was bothered by a bat in Grandma's bathroom. I know its illegal to handle them, but if it lands on you is it legal for the bat to handle you?
We caught the last train to Pickering, nipped up to Mum and Dads to get their Dalby forest pass, discovering they had failed to lock their door on the way, then had far too much good Cantonese. Julia and I were the only 2 using chopsticks on a table of 10, so I guess we can feel smug about that! We had a swift drink afterwards, then got a taxi back to Levisham and sank into bed.
We told Julia breakfast was at 8:30, but Simon's alarm clock didn't go off, so we had to jump out of bad at 9:45 to go and let her in. Oops. After breakfast we went and found Lib and spent some time touring the Moors. After driving through Dalby forest (next time we'll walk the Bride stones!), we failed to get to Boggle hole as we were one inlet too far over, but we had a nice stroll along the beach at Stoupe Bank Stands, poking things in rock pools, picking up fossils and trying to remember which sea weeds were edible (we didn't bother in the end!). Then we headed to Ravenscar for lunch, over to Stiathes, then Grosmont, Egton, and Thornton Le Dale all on back roads. Julia was convinced we were trying to scare her, but if we wanted to do that we'd have gone up Rosedale Chimney bank. We also didn't cross the ford at Grosmont as some idiot was panicking on the other side and blocking the exit with his car.
We wandered around the tourist tackiness that is Thornton Dale (I broke and bought some fudge!) then headed to Pickering to find a present for Daz. He's getting a mug. I found some "Megan" Thomas the tank stickers for Megan, so she can stick them on everything much I'm sure to Ruth's disgust! Then it was back to Levisham, where we cooked Cottage Pie for dinner and apple, logan berry and blaeberry pie for pudding.
This afternoon's job is to weigh my blaeberries and go and get some vodka to make liqueur. Hopefully it'll be worth while. Maybe I'll just eat them all instead!
On Saturday morning we headed out about 9:00 with Mum to pick blaeberries. This wasn't as early as Mum had hoped, so there was muttering! We found some good patches and spent a couple of hours picking. Luckily Cawthorn Roman Camp is all banks, so its not as murderous on the back as blaeberry picking can often be. After 2 hours we had all had enough and our hands where a beautiful blue-purple, so they just about matched my toes. Julia had been good, but Mum and I also had blue tongues. We headed back as Mum wanted to be at Levisham to meet Ness and Terry for lunch.
Julia and I got roped into to helping Simon do lunch for 11, then after that we headed out on the train with the family. Mum, Ness and Terry went on to Whitby, but Julia and I stopped at Grosmont and came back (after ice cream!), as we didn't have time to do the whole trip. It also meant Mum and Ness could talk about me when I wasn't in ear shot! At least they'd started on Paru when we all changed trains, and there is plenty of material there.
When we got back I had to do some accounts and the August ticket book, then we got changed to go out, during which Julia was bothered by a bat in Grandma's bathroom. I know its illegal to handle them, but if it lands on you is it legal for the bat to handle you?
We caught the last train to Pickering, nipped up to Mum and Dads to get their Dalby forest pass, discovering they had failed to lock their door on the way, then had far too much good Cantonese. Julia and I were the only 2 using chopsticks on a table of 10, so I guess we can feel smug about that! We had a swift drink afterwards, then got a taxi back to Levisham and sank into bed.
We told Julia breakfast was at 8:30, but Simon's alarm clock didn't go off, so we had to jump out of bad at 9:45 to go and let her in. Oops. After breakfast we went and found Lib and spent some time touring the Moors. After driving through Dalby forest (next time we'll walk the Bride stones!), we failed to get to Boggle hole as we were one inlet too far over, but we had a nice stroll along the beach at Stoupe Bank Stands, poking things in rock pools, picking up fossils and trying to remember which sea weeds were edible (we didn't bother in the end!). Then we headed to Ravenscar for lunch, over to Stiathes, then Grosmont, Egton, and Thornton Le Dale all on back roads. Julia was convinced we were trying to scare her, but if we wanted to do that we'd have gone up Rosedale Chimney bank. We also didn't cross the ford at Grosmont as some idiot was panicking on the other side and blocking the exit with his car.
We wandered around the tourist tackiness that is Thornton Dale (I broke and bought some fudge!) then headed to Pickering to find a present for Daz. He's getting a mug. I found some "Megan" Thomas the tank stickers for Megan, so she can stick them on everything much I'm sure to Ruth's disgust! Then it was back to Levisham, where we cooked Cottage Pie for dinner and apple, logan berry and blaeberry pie for pudding.
This afternoon's job is to weigh my blaeberries and go and get some vodka to make liqueur. Hopefully it'll be worth while. Maybe I'll just eat them all instead!