What's going on at the cottages? - The Sunnybank Blog! 2022
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And so our 2022 blog comes to a close....
To all of our readers.... Have a very Happy, Healthy and less stressful New Year!
Richard and Jill |
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Xmas 2022 |
With Caroline, Andrew, Megan and Jess arriving via York (after a short stay to see friends) and with Ben, Alison, Poppy and Daisy arriving by car from Reading - we were all assembled for a real Family Christmas. | |||||||||||||||||||
Dec 23 | ![]() |
After the service, we had a group photo outside! | ||||||||||||||||||
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A group of us set off to Rydal Church for a carol service by candlelight. Jill said to go early as it would be packed! As you can see - that was somewhat optomistic on Jill's part!
We each had a candle for the part where the lights were turned off!
Andrew, Megan, Poppy and Alison waiting for the crowds to arrive!
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Dec 17 | ![]() |
As we returned to the car after the meal, we spotted a large inflatable Santa in the distance. Curiosity took us to find it and this was the result.
Two inflatables, each taller than the house. There was a man behind Santa and he only came up to the top of Santa's boot!
As we approached Ambleside, we saw that the snow had arrived and we slithered our way up the hill to the cottages - just about making it in the Volvo. |
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The weather forecast for our return trip was not good but we stopped again at Salt near Stafford for lunch. The pub was really quiet (unlike the time we had been with the twins when it was packed!). Sitting by the log burner fire, we enjoyed steak and ale pie. |
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Dec 15 | ![]() |
A short visit to Ben and family to travel on the famous Watercress Line Steam Illumination train. The whole train is covered, inside and out, in thousands of fairy lights which change colour and flash in time with the music throughout the train! | ||||||||||||||||||
Dec 9 | ![]() |
Ray unwraps his present as Peter watches. It was a special back pack for tennis equipment. |
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Today we travelled to Longlands, near Carnforth to meet up with friends for coffee and lunch. It was time to celebrate Ray Hubbard's 70th birthday!
Here, Liz, Jacqui and Jill pose in the dining room. |
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Nov 29 | ![]() |
A cold dry day which led to a pancake of cloud in the valley. Ambleside is down there - somewhere! | ||||||||||||||||||
Nov 27 | ![]() |
Richard stopped by the house where he grew up in Biddulph. The house (with the light green hedge) was his home from age 6 until he left home after college at 21. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nov 27 | ![]() |
Robert was in good form and entertained us for our overnight stay. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nov 26 | ![]() |
A visit to Biddulph to see Richard's brother, Robert, this weekend. On the way we called in at Nantwich where there was a Christmas Market. A visit to Welch's famous shop (about 8 feet wide but 200 feet long!) enabled us to buy goodies and stocking fillers for Christmas. Nantwich has many very old black and white buildings. |
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Nov 22 | ![]() |
In preparation for Richard stepping down as Lights Coordinator, we decided to sort out and label the various items in the storeroom underneath the Regent Hotel at Waterhead. Richard (and Jill) has been involved inthe Ambleside Lights since 2007 - so it's tie to hand over to younger volunteers! |
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As usual, the day ends with a spectacular foreworks display in Rothay Park. This view was taken by a photographer from the top of Loughrigg hill, and it shows the size of the fireworks when you look at the town buildings beyond! |
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The lantern procession sets off from The Gables Hotel with Mountain Rescue bring up the rear of the procession. As the procession wends its way around the town, Father Christmas, in his sleigh (at the front of the parade) throws up his magic dust and a section of the lights is switched on! |
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Nov 19 | ![]() |
Jill and Sheila Lang helped man the Information point outside the Post Office. | ||||||||||||||||||
Oct 18 | ![]() |
The Christmas Lights are going up once more. The work is done over three Sunday mornings - starting at 7am and ending around lunchtime, by which time the traffic has built up.
Here we are putting a string of lights across Compston Road from the previously Smallwood Hotel (now flats) to the corner of the Ambleside Toy Shop. |
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Sep 18 | ![]() |
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the coffin lay in state in the Great Hall at The Palace of Westminster. Caroline was on duty as a counter and on Sunday 18th, we captured her on TV as the guards were descending the steps to take up their position. |
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Sep 2 | ![]() |
The X-ray shows the new joint and the various pieces of hardware. | ||||||||||||||||||
Today, Richard had his long awaited new shoulder joint! The operation was 3.5 hours in length and was called a reverse geometry joint. (The ball of the joint now sticks out of his torso - with the aid of screws and pegs- instead of being on the end of his arm! The socket is now on the end of the arm! The surgeon at Kendal even inserted a wedge to correct the 15 degree incorrect angle of the arm!
Rich relaxes in the ward. Ben decided that Rich's left nipple needed covering up - hence the monkey logo! |
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Sep 1 | ![]() |
Using just some of the mirabelles, Richard made two clafouti pies today. | ||||||||||||||||||
Aug 28 | ![]() |
Today, we harvested the mirabelle plum crop which weighed in at 8 kgs - a fantastic result compared with the crop in 2019! | ||||||||||||||||||
Aug 18 | Today, Richard's Rotary club presented Ravi and Halima, the local chemists, with a certificate (A Paul Harris Fellowship) in recognition of their amazing support for local elderly people during the Covid Pandemic. | |||||||||||||||||||
Aug 14 | Today we said goodbye to Chris and headed south, stopping at Tebay services for lunch! Unfortunately, half the UK population has decided to do the same thing, so the hoped for roast beef lunch became a variety of alternatives! | |||||||||||||||||||
Aug 13 | ![]() |
In between drinks and sunbathing, we played boules on Chris' lawn. Megan does a nice flip shot down the lawn in a match against Caroline! |
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The weather was perfect and we sat out on the rear lawn in the shade of a horse chestnut tree with Chris's house as a backdrop. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Richard managed to knock the stall holder down from £75 to £57!
This is the tea set - well part of it as it also includes sugar bowls and milk and hot water jugs! A BARGAIN!! |
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Chris told us that there was a collectors' fair at nearby Springwood Park that day, so Richard hatched a plan. Megan and Jess were handed a £10 note each and their task was to buy whatever took their fancy at the fair - but in true "Bargain Hunt" tradition, they were not allowed to buy any item at the ticket price! They rehearsed the usual line.... "and what's your best price for that today?" At first they were hesitant but soon got into the role! Meanwhile, Richard believed in "practice what you preach" so he went to strike a bargain for an iconic Picquot tea set priced £75.
Here, the girls do a deal! |
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Aug 12 | ![]() |
Caroline had joined us the previous week but had to "work from home" - in the garden chalet! This week however, we travelled to Kelso in the Scottish Borders to visit Rich's ex-colleague Christina Moffatt, who now owns a beautiful country house. The last time the twins were there, they were toddlers! Now they are taller than Chris and Jill - as Megan shows here. The dog is Belle - a Patterdale /Border Terrier cross and Richard and Jill had once puppy-sat for Chris when she was away. Belle was one of the 6 puppies that "assaulted" Richard as he lay on the lawn!
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Aug 6 | ![]() |
Whilst in Ambleside, the girls were amused that apparently their Mum is banned! The sign is still outside Lucy's restaurant in Church Street. | ||||||||||||||||||
Jul 30 | ![]() |
After Caroline and Co had returned from their holiday in St.Ives, we were due to take Megan and Jessica up to The Lakes for the first of a three week stay, with Caroline due to join us a week later. On the way North we stopped at a very old pub in Salt near Stafford and had a lovely meal, and a welcome break from driving! |
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Jul 26 | ![]() |
The old Mitre is NOT easy to find! Once you have located the innocuous looking alley between two houses, you follow the winding alley and then you see the sign! Note the date! Pre-dates the Great Fire of London! | ||||||||||||||||||
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The Old Mitre public house was where we headed for lunch. The only food they serve are pies and scotch eggs! There were only Scotch eggs available that day! You can just imagine characters from the past sitting in the little rooms with clay pipes as they put the world to rights. |
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We were looking for Alderbury Street but all that remains after the WW2 blitz was this church tower! Jill's grandfather lived here well before the blitz. | |||||||||||||||||||
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London Wall was a fascinating place with many remains of old churches and gatehouses. | |||||||||||||||||||
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As we headed from Cripplegate towards Alderbury Street, we came upon London Wall where remains of the Roman Wall have been preserved. | |||||||||||||||||||
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The churchyard of St.Giles Cripplegate. Jill's great grandfather and family lived somewhere very close to here and it seems very likely that her grandfather, Albert Whitehead, would have played in and around this churchyard as a boy. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Away from the glamour of the high rise buildings just 3-400 metres away, we walked along streets like this and were amazed at all the stalls being set up to sell food. As we returned the same way after visiting the Cripplegate area (see above) the area was packed with young office workers from the City who were buying their lunch. Imagine any type of foreign food and you would almost certainly find it here - Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese, Africa, Caribbean, Italian, American, Mexican etc. The smells of the food were amazing. |
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From Cornhill, we set off along very narrow streets which would have been there before the Great Fire of London. Nowadays, however, they were surrounded by ultra-modern office buildings. | |||||||||||||||||||
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The counting is shown underway in the mural above our table! | |||||||||||||||||||
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Just across the road was a coffee shop/pub which was in an old bank. The interior was sumptuous with murals and oak panelling. At 11.15 am it was all but deserted, but in a couple of hours it would be full of city slickers after a fast lunch! | |||||||||||||||||||
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Today we explored the City and were in search of the areas where Jill's ancestors would have lived. After a train ride from Staines to Waterloo, we took the Waterloo and City line to Bank and emerged into Cornhill where we found this pump and its amazing inscription. It recalls the House of Correction (prison) built there in 1282 ]! | |||||||||||||||||||
Jul 24 | ![]() |
If you don't like swans - don't travel to Windsor by boat!! | ||||||||||||||||||
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Near the landing stage at Windsor, there were more swans than you are likely to see in an average year! The local shops sold bags of swan food and naturally the swans were flocking to enjoy the treats! | |||||||||||||||||||
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The restaurant was at the bottom of the main shopping street and we chose to sit outside and "people watch" as the world and his wife sauntered past. As Richard was not driving today (we used Ubers to get to and from the Runnymede pier) a glass of wine was enjoyed over lunch, whilst Jill opted for orange and lemonade. | |||||||||||||||||||
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We decided that today we would take the pleasure boat from Runnymede (not far from Staines) towards Windsor and had booked lunch there at an Italian restaurant. The boat had to negotiate several locks and in this case, wait for small river boats to descend first. | |||||||||||||||||||
Jul 23 | ![]() |
A pleasant walk along the nearby Thames towpath today. In the warmth of the afternoon, we met a cat sitting on a gate post - but it was all just too much for the lethargic puss! | ||||||||||||||||||
Jul 22 | As Caroline, Andrew and Meg and Jess headed to Penzance on the Night Riviera sleeper train, we had arrived to "housesit" their house in Staines. | |||||||||||||||||||
Jul 18 | ![]() |
On the way home, we stopped to photograph the scarecrows outside the Outgate Inn | ||||||||||||||||||
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After emptying the Rotary wishing well at Hawkshead, we headed for one of our favourite spots - The Esthwaite Trout Fishery cafe! In idyllic conditions, we enjoyed our breakfast paninis. |
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Jul 16 | ![]() |
The first passion flower has arrived! In the following weeks, we had another 25 flowers on the rapidly growing plant as it spread across the trellis over the mini greenhouse! | ||||||||||||||||||
Jul 9 | With his waistcoat on, Mortimer looks like a mini-waiter! The couple have a travel cage in their car which sits on the central console between the front seats and means that Mortimer can watch what's happening! He is about ten years old! |
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Richard did a double take today as he walked past No 2 cottage where there appeared to be a toy parrot sitting on a plastic covered loop attached to to front window! Then the parrot turned its head to watch him go past! A chat with the owners revealed that it is called Mortimer and is a Caique parrot and goes everywhere with its owners! When going outside it wears a little waistcoat to which a lead is attached! |
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Jul 7 | ![]() |
Our Rambling Rosie roses are producing hundreds of flowers and make a real feature as well as hiding the garden wall! | ||||||||||||||||||
Jun 25 | ![]() |
The passion flower had given us the incentive to add trellis to the chalet's West Wing! So it was off to Hayes Garden Centre and we found the panels we wanted at a reduced price - perfect solution! We also added fake ivy to disguise the somewhat tatty felt covering (for the time being!) We had also bought a mini greenhouse, where Jill can plant her seeds and watch them as they are protected from frosts and birds | ||||||||||||||||||
Jun 19 | ![]() |
Later that day, we went off to find The Orient Express which is now at Bassenthwaite Station! The loco is actually a replica and is the actual one used in the filming of the latest version of Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express"! Behind the loco are four real Wagon Lits dining cars, where (if you book in advance) you can enjoy afternoon tea as you pretend to cruise through the countryside at 0 mph!! We had not booked early enough, so we had to be content with a picnic bench on the platform. |
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Jun 19 | ![]() |
The plant had plenty of growth, so it looked like it would be off to a good start once planted. | ||||||||||||||||||
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On a warm morning, we had one of our favourite breakfasts - home baked croissants on the patio. A parcel arrived from Caroline which turned out to be a passion flower plant. | |||||||||||||||||||
Jun 17 | ![]() |
Today was a sad day as we attended the funeral of our dear friend, Roy Parfrey. On the way south to Newton-le-Willows, we saw a bad accident on the other side of the M6 which closed the motorway for most of the day. So we decided for the return journey to go on a round about route towards Preston and then near to Fleetwood as we took to the side roads. At Conder Green near Lancaster, we stopped for a meal at the Stork Inn. A few days earlier it had been the Trooping the Colour and as we went into the pub, which was not crowded, Rich was amazed to hear his favourite march from Trooping the Colour playing (Les Hugenots). Having ordered our meals at the bar, Richard returned to the table where the music was just as loud. It then dawned on him that the music was coming out of his phone in his shirt pocket at full blast! Heaven knows what the bar person thought! The picture shows Jill at a point of her unsuppressed giggling fit at the revalation of the music's actual source! |
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Jun 8 |
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Today we were at Rydal Hall as a joint Rotary / WI tree planting group. Both groups had donated 2 new trees to help replace ones lost in Storm Arwen. They were to be dedicated to the Queen's and Rydal WI's platinum jubilees! The tree planting turned out to be "making a cage where the tree will be planted later!". Here the first one metre square plot is prepared ready to have wooden stakes driven in at each corner on which the boards and netting of the cage would be fastened. The ground was 90% lumps of rock which did not make for an easy task! |
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May 29 |
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May 29 |
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May 28 | After a quick journey back to Ben and Alison's house for a cup of tea, we took our leave and headed back to Staines and Caroline's house for the night. | |||||||||||||||||||
May 28 |
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May 28 | Today we travelled by train to London. Poppy was to be in a show called "High School Musical", being put on by the group where she goes to Saturday morning theatre school in Reading. The train trip was not striaghtforward as many trains were being cancelled due to lack of drivers (ahead of the threatened national rail strike). However, we made it and after seeing Caroline and her family, and leaving our bags till later, we set off by train again to Winnersh. We had a quick meal with Ben and family before we all headed off to the Whitty Theatre in Wokingham. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Mar 21 | After a hectic weekend of birthday celebrations, today we left Winnersh and headed towards Norwich for a four day break. Jill was born in Norwich and spent her first four years as a girl there. We stayed at The George Hotel just on the edge of town. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Dec 28/9 2021 |
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Xmas 2021 |
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Dec 2021 | After a long break, our blog is starting to re-appear! With the pandemic, our concerns have been elsewhere but we are pleased to say that we are now quadruple jabbed and so far have stayed clear of the virus. The blog will begin with a short re-cap of Christmas 2021 and our journey home from Reading. |