Catching up: part 4 - beautiful Lake District...

I think after this post, I might have finally caught up! Well, more or less - at least I'll be no more than a week or so behind, which is pretty normal for me!

A few weeks ago, on a bit of a whim, my sister and I decided we would have a few days away together. It dawned on us that my 2 weeks off work coincided with the end of her course (she has been doing a PGCE year - change of direction to be a primary teacher after 20 odd years in higher education! Brave move I think!) which gave us a week before her children finished for the summer holidays. We haven't been away together for years - a couple of times together as families when the kids were very small and obviously a lot of years ago when we were children, but otherwise it's never quite fitted in. And she confessed that, other than the odd conference over the years, this was the first time she was going away without her kids - they are 12 and 15!! We have always been close - there is only 11 months between us and she is my 'go to' person when I need someone who will just listen and support without being judgmental or giving ill-considered advice. 

We have both had pretty frantic times of late - she has been studying, lesson planning, assignment writing and surviving teaching practice in addition to all the usual family stresses on a background of a drop in income for a year so she could do her course and the pressure of applying for jobs now; I have been juggling an under-resourced NHS job (way too many unpaid hours), study, project work (should be in work time - ha ha!) and a painful (and expensive!) home situation... 

Sooo.... we were seriously in need of a break! The Lake District has been a part of our lives for the longest time - we had numerous holidays there (with varying degrees of success!) as children. My recollections are primarily of lots of rain, lots of being squashed in the back of cars (there were three of us, and our family car for some time was a Morris 1300 with sticky vinyl seats...!) and never quite going where we wanted to. We never tackled any of the peaks (Dad was scared of heights) and never did any of the touristy bits (my parents were more into antique shops and graveyard history - both of which I sort of get now, but as a family holiday???!). In spite of this, a bit of the Lakes obviously got under our skin and we have both taken our own families back there lots of times. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to walk with people who were not afraid of a challenge (and with lots of walking/climbing experience) and still get a huge buzz from a stiff climb and that amazing feeling of arriving 'at the top'. Maybe it's living in Norfolk for much of my life, where if you go up by 15 metres you've climbed a hill, or maybe the feeling is the same for everyone? I don't know, I just know that the hills feel like my spiritual home (Scotland has a very similar effect on me!) and I can feel my blood pressure dropping when I'm up there!!

Anyway, we jumped at a bargain late booking for 3 nights in a cottage near Penrith, just a short drive from the North Eastern fells and set off with car packed with waterproofs, boots etc determined to walk whatever the weather! We drove up in driving rain and woke the first morning to heavy cloud. Undeterred, having both woken at usual silly o'clock we began walking from Grange, Derwentwater just after 8 am! (how easy is it to get going with no kids/men in tow??!!).

  

The cloud was hanging low over the hills and the skies looked full of rain but we had decided not to try to go up high anyway - my sister hadn't walked for years and, by her own admission, hasn't done any regular exercise for a long time and we were both a bit concerned about her fitness, so we had planned a steady walk through Borrowdale, taking in a couple of tarns and a couple of tea shops!

Looking back towards Derwentwater...

I suppose its because its been so wet, but I don't think I have ever seen so many foxgloves all over the hills - beautiful...

Castle Crag is a little 'peak' at the end of Derwentwater that is so worth the short steep slate-strewn climb for the views over Borrowdale...

and back over Derwentwater...

I did get a bit over-excited and had to race ahead a bit but Katherine is not short on determination (some would say stubbornness, something of a family trait!!) and she was soon joining me...

and capturing the views...

After a little breather, we headed back down towards Rosthwaite (lovely tea shop number 1 there!) and then over towards Watendlath via a lovely wooded path...

I have walked this route a few times before and knew it was steep - it's a bit like a long rocky staircase! But if I'm honest, I had forgotten how long its this steep for! But, we had no time scale and plenty of opportunity to stop and gawp so it didn't matter how steadily we took it. And the heavy rainfall has ensured that the undergrowth and surrounding valleys are looking particularly lush and green.

I thought this looked like a little fairy grotto! Lush moss, feathery ferns and a host of tiny mushrooms...

By the time the path was levelling out a bit the skies were clearing (contrary to the weatherman's pessimism!) and the blue skies were appearing...

A tactical moment of scenery appreciation...

We picnicked at Dock Tarn, sitting in warm sunshine, overlooking this pretty little stretch of water, peppered with water-lillies...

Truly lovely and very peaceful.

The path then heads down to Watendlath tarn and another tea shop stop - with a sunny garden full of cheeky crumb fattened chaffinches.

before following the beck back down past Lodore Falls to Derwentwater...

It took us all day, at a very leisurely pace, but was so restorative. Neither of us really wanted to head back to the cottage so we drove round to Buttermere where we sat and ate ice cream (well mine was pink grapefruit sorbet - delish, but melted too quickly to photograph!) and admired the view in the evening sunshine...

You can't really beat this can you?

The next morning I got up early again for a quick run. Something of a different view from my usual city run route...

Katherine was a bit stiff from the previous day's walk so we decided to restrict the 'up and down' a bit and headed to Ullswater, to take the ferry from Glenridding to Howtown... 

and then walking back along the lowish path along the Lakeside...

We were so lucky with the weather, with just those two sunny days that week and when we drove back through the peak district the next day it was pouring again. 

Apologies for the photo overload, I just needed to relive it a bit before I go back to work tomorrow and couldn't be very selective about the pictures! So worth going, even for just a short period of time and has made me determined to get back there again soon.

Back to reality this week...

Sx

catching up: part 3 - trips away...

The last month or so has seen me off on several trips both work related and pleasure. Much of it I didn't manage to capture on film but I just feel a need to record for posterity! 

Regarding the work trips - the important one was to present a project that has been dominating my time (and that of some colleagues) at a national conference in York at the beginning of the month. York is a lovely place to be but the rain was torrential for much of the day and a half I was there so I didn't take any photos of the beautiful city! It was a bit weird because the last time I was there was when my home life was a little different and it felt a bit odd wandering around on my own. Suffice to say, I completely wimped out of eating in a restaurant alone in the evening and resorted to a picnic tea in my B&B room courtesy of a supermarket 'open all hours' type store! I really know how to live it up!!!

This made me smile though...

Given that I was presenting our work on behalf of our team and we were competing for an award (no presuure...!) this couldn't have been a more appropriate find in the en-suite!

In the event, all went well and we won the award so I was able to breathe a sigh of relief and return to work with head held high!! 

The following weekend saw me back in London for my second birthday treat weekend! Another of my 'must do' wishes was to go to the Royal Albert Hall; in all my visits to London, I had never even been inside, so when an opportunity arose to go to see a favourite of ours, Laura Marling, my lovely eldest son bought tickets for my birthday present and we arranged a rather budget visit. Accommodation just a little more basic than the theatre trip a few weeks ago...

We stayed at a hostel in South Kensington - cheap and reasonably clean! It has to be said the shared bathroom facilities left a bit to be desired - particularly given that, unbeknown to us, there was a festival that weekend in nearby Hyde Park so most of the others staying were clad in wellies and shorts (de rigueur festival gear, regardless of the weather, it seems!). The less said about that the better! Just that I rather suspect I was the oldest one there, and it is possible that I just am a bit past sharing a bathroom with inebriated teens...

Anyway, moving swiftly on... we arrived in time for a bit of a wander so spent the afternoon at the V&A. Before going to the ballgown exhibition on the last trip, I hadn't been there either and it is a truly beautiful place to absorb a bit of history and culture. It is full of fabulous colours and patterns, from the walls of the tea room...

...to the beautiful ceramic staircase...

This glass font was modern and I don't think the picture really does it justice but I thought it was really stunning...

There are, of course, many ancient pieces - this beautifully decorated harpsichord...

and some intricate needlework from Asia. The stitches on this garment were tiny - it must have taken ages to complete...

Not quite sure what this delicate fretwork is called but it looked lovely with the light through it...

as did the enamelling on this spoon...

and more stunning embroidery...

So many lovely things there, we spent a good few hours just 'absorbing' and in no way saw everything! The great thing about the London museums is that most are free to enter so you don't feel pressured to get to overload point on your visit. It is definitely on my 'somewhere to go back to' list though!

We walked back to the hostel via Hyde Park, can you see the much talked about 'Shard' in the distance?

It seems to have rather polarised opinion but whatever you think, it is pretty striking. Got a bit daft and emotional looking at Yoko Ono's wish trees at the Serpentine Gallery, Hyde Park. People have written little wishes or statements on tags and tied them to the trees. Some were rather silly but some were just heartfelt and moving and given that I seem to be able to cry at the drop of a hat at the moment, I was soon sniffing into a tissue!

Someone had taken the time to make a little origami bird...

After a quick dinner (no prizes for the speed of service at the Italian restaurant we picked, over an hour for two bowls of pasta to arrive!!!) we had to virtually across the park run to the main event...

The Albert Hall is such an impressive building, both from the outside...

and on the inside, where the scale of the place just takes your breath away...

Laura Marling has an amazing pure voice that just filled this massive space, sometimes accompanied by her small band and other times just singing to her own guitar playing. It was really breathtaking and we both loved it! Made me want to go back there and see something else...!

The following day was pretty miserable weatherwise but we headed up to Westminster, intending to wander over to the Southbank and Tate Modern. What we hadn't realised was that we had picked the day the London 10k run was happening and as we emerged from the tube station the race leaders were just completing the course...

The first few through barely looked as though they were breaking into a sweat and this bunch were running pretty impressive times. I think there were 20,000 or so running and the winner came in in less than 28 minutes which rather puts my 5km in 24 mins to shame! The field got progressively slower, redder and more wobbly as it went on with the average time just over an hour. It did inspire me to keep at the running - I've stuck to 3 or 4 days a week for the last couple of months and can now manage 7km in about 40 minutes, so I don't think I'm doing too badly! I hesitate to say it, but I'm even quite enjoying it now and although the prospect of a half marathon (the gauntlet has been thrown down but not yet picked up!) still seems too daunting, I do think I could probably make myself do 10k now. And more importantly, I definitely feel fitter and better for doing some more active exercise. 

After a wander round the beautiful and strange at Tate Modern we headed back towards Liverpool Street station via a closer look at the Shard...

I think, on balance, I quite like it...I certainly loved the reflections of the clouds and it is unmissable!

Sx