Tag: lily

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Lily’s Gone to the Dogs

Pesky Husky

It’s normal for a ten year old to have a bit of love for animals.  Lily’s always been very enthusiastic about dogs, big cats, and horses in particular.  They’re definitely her thing.  You can feel the enthusiasm glowing from her when near animals, and it demonstrates itself quite a lot when you try and chat to her about them (and generally get corrected on your inaccuracies – quite disturbing at times)

For her Christmas present (2012!) her treat was to go on a husky ‘sledding’ trip.  It was the end of May before we and the weather finally both got our acts together, and we went to a great place called Pesky Husky in Staintondale, just north of Scarborough.  The sun shone for seemingly the first time all year, and the trip was just a delight.

Video here

We tagged along to the the trip, a couple of days over half-term staying in Hartlepool – where Katie was born and brought up.  It was great to share some of her old memories and places, particularly in such lovely weather.  A trip up Roseberry Topping, a morning at the beach in Saltburn, as well as a trip to Robin Hood’s bay and round Ward Jackson Park in Hartlepool itself.

Photos here

 

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Lily is Nine

My little Lily turned nine today – stunningly quickly … as these things go … Elsie jumped in to Lily’s bed extra early and we opened a couple of pressies and cards – but on her return to School Day we decided to leave the proper festivities until later today. Happy Birthday my lovely girl.

Photos here

 

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Happy New Year 2010 from the South

We headed down south for a lovely couple of days to see friends Rachel & Jon at their place in Eastbourne for this New Year. The children and dogs loved it as much as we did. Couple of great relaxed jogging outings on the downs and meandering outings to the seaside – even the traffic was agreeable. Fancy dress party for a few friends (the theme was “a colour” some dodgy pics below). All boxes ticked. Happy New Year all.

Photos and Videos below…
Continue reading “Happy New Year 2010 from the South”

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The Book of Elvis – by Lily

Lily goes off from time to time and sites down quietly with her pens – like lots of six year olds do – to create something.  Usually it’s a card or a picture, but sometimes it’s something a bit more of a ‘project’.

Last week Lily asked me to print some photos of our dog Elvis and disappeared with some paper to a quiet corner on a wet afternoon.  The book she made is just lovely – from the DIY spelling to the use of language – it warms our hearts so much to read. Continue reading “The Book of Elvis – by Lily”

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An overnight visit to Kirkby Lonsdale

We had our first overnight stopover at mum’s house in ages this weekend. It’s been an odd year with the sleep patterns of a baby and going to someone’s house has generally represented hassle for me since Elsie came along, but she’s been sleeping so well for the last few weeks and Katie & I wanted to get oursleves out for a meal without children – so going to see mum was a really ace opportunity to kill a whole flock of birds with a very small stone.

On top of it all, the sun shone despite a dreadful forecast.

I had two ace bike rides – one on the way up; the ‘usual’ way over Gisburn Forest I ride – and the next morning I opted for a (mildly hungover) hilly and gobsmackingly scenic ride from Kirkby Lonsdale to Barbon, Dent, Deepdale and Kingsdale – on my way to Katie’s family’s house in Ingleton. Continue reading “An overnight visit to Kirkby Lonsdale”

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Mothers Day (and not bad for fathers too)

Mother's DayHad a nice chilled weekend really. Didn’t do too much. Elsie’s making us restrict our expectations a bit at the moment so relaxed, homey time is good. Mother’s day entailed a big roast, a quiet trip to the shops at Bolton and a play in the field with the dog and the girls.

Lily and MillieSaturday was special too in a similarly laid back way. Lily’s been looking after a teddy bear from school for the week, and doing a pretty enthusiastic job of it. When she complete’s Millie’s diary tomorrow, I think she should mention a 5 mile cycle into Ramsbottom and back (Teddy Millie was in Lily’s doll backpack). A lovely way to start a Saturday. I also managed the third enjoyable but shortish Mountain Bike excursion in a week – this time round the back of the windmills on Whittle Pike.

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Abigail’s Legacy – a haunting coincidence

Sometimes some coincidences are a bit too wierd. Katie and I lost a lovely friend just before Chtistmas in 2001 – Abigail. Abi was only just 30 and died of cancer, and as always seems the case in these dreadful losses, the last few months were horrible for everyone involved. Abi was dignified and humerous to an extent that still sends shivers down our spines. But a strange anecdotal coincidence occurred the very last time we saw Abigail. Continue reading “Abigail’s Legacy – a haunting coincidence”