A boat trip on Thursday

On Thursday we had arranged to meet up with Frank (Jon's step Dad), Terri and Joel (Terri's grandson). It was Frank's birthday and we thought we'd go for a boat trip on the River Ouze and then on for lunch. We had a little while to wait before the boat was due to set off so had drinks on board.

Robbie, Joel, Frank and Alison Emily and Terri

Once the cruise was underway, we decided we would get a better view if we went upstairs. We had only been up for a short while when it started to rain but, fortunately, they provided umbrellas.

Frank

Joel, Robbie and Ali

Emily and me

Unfortunately the rain was soon too heavy to stay upstairs and we ended up inside for the rest of the journey

The rain stopped again as the cruise finished (typical!) and we walked into town to have lunch at Pizza Hut. It was lovely to get to see Frank on his birthday and hopefully, he enjoyed the day out as much as we did.

xx

York on Wednesday

On the Wednesday, Emily and I set out to do some sightseeing in York. Alison had brought us into town but then had shopping to do while we continued with the tourist bit!

We chose to do a York Sightseeing trip on the open top bus. We sat upstairs near the back hoping to get a decent view as we went round.

York Minster The roof tops from the top of the bus

There is a wall that can be seen around the city of York dating way back.

The Golden Fleece pub and looking down one of the main streets

There is also a river around the city. This is one of the bridges that crosses it.

Clifford's Tower

(click on the link to read a bit of history)

An old water mill

Part of the wall. I love the York stone that was used.

Emily on the bus

The top of one of the towers

The station clock

Boats on the River Ouze

(The red and white one is like the one we went on on Thursday)

We think this was one of the ghost tour groups with the guide (in black) at the front.

York Minster

After our sightseeing, we met up with Ali again and headed home. We enjoyed a quiet evening at the house and Rob decided a braai was preferable to the omlettes we had been going to have ;o)

Thanks Rob, it was delicious!

xx

Pocklington on Tuesday

On Tuesday morning Emily and I left home at 6am for our trip up to York. We had a good run and made it to Ali and Rob's house in Pocklington (approx. 25 mins from York) by about 10.45am. Yay for Satnavs!! After unpacking the car and unwinding for a bit we headed out to Burnby Hall Gardens for lunch. The gardens were the inspiration of Major Percy Stewart who left the gardens in trust for the people of Pocklington. After lunch we had a look through the Stewart museum which gives you a glimpse into Major Stewart's life and travels. In the garden there are two lakes which hold one of the largest collections of water lillies, in a natural setting, in Europe and are beautiful to walk around.

There was also a woodland garden with a couple of wooden scultures. Robbie had fun showing us around as he had been here on a school trip already.

One of the water lillies

After Burnby Hall Gardens we headed out to see Robbie's school which is in Warter (situated on one of the highest points in the Downs - Ali was telling me this leads to her receiving texts from the school whenever it looks like there is likely to be a lot of snow as the school can become cut off and the roads are difficult to get up.) We also stopped off at the Madhyamaka Kadampa Buddhist Centre which is in a beautiful peaceful setting. We walked around the main house and had a look at the view but, unfortunately, the tea rooms are closed on a Tuesday so we didn't get to have tea and cake.

An old church next to the retreat.

We had a lovely meal in the evening and by 9.15pm, my head was nodding and eyes closing even as Ali talked to me :) so I headed off to bed. We had a busy day to look forward to on Wednesday.

xx

Leah's 6th birthday

Yesterday Emily and I went to my friend Ali's daughter's 6th birthday. Ali and I became friends when Emily and Jake started school and have, therefore, known Leah all her life. She used to tell Emily that she was her sister ;o). Her birthday party was at Manic Monsters in Edenbridge and I didn't expect to have any problems finding it because my Satnav knew the postcode. Turned out I was wrong, as we got near to our destination we found the road was blocked off and turning around caused the satnav to tell us to do a U turn. Long story short, I resorted to the old fashioned method of asking someone for directions - thank you kind stranger! We got there a little bit later than expected but still in time for the fun! Unfortunately, Manic Monsters don't allow you to take photos in the main area so I could only take some when we got into the party room.

Birthday cake being brought in Blowing out the candles

Birthday girl

Happy Birthday Leah!

Matthew

Marc, Ali and Leah

Adam (Emily's brother)

Matthew, Jennifer and Neil

Jake (Leah's big brother)

Goofing around The 2 Emilys

After the party Ali invited a couple of families back to the house. Leah got to open her presents, play her new guitar and hit the pinata. The adults got to relax, have a couple of tea and some snacks that Marc prepared. It was a lovely way to end the afternoon (apart from Jake having to go up to the hospital to get his eye checked out. Someone had poked him in the eye accidentally and it had actually scratched his eyeball above the top eyelid. He's now on antibiotic cream for it. Hope it feels better soon, Jake!)

Back at the house, Leah plays her new guitar

Hitting the pinata

And finally, because it's not often that I get a photo of Charlie where he looks decent (unlike Tom who is very photogenic ;o) ), here's one I managed to capture the other evening. Can't believe we've had him 3 years this month!

Hope you've had a good weekend

xx