Chaos!

Well, I did say it, didn't I! If there is more than 5 cm of snow the country stops working and everything is chaos! It is great!

Just look at the picture from outside our local pub! Apparently the car slid down the drive of the house further up the hill, then continues across a field before falling off the stone wall and ending up next to the pub! Thankfully nobody was hurt!






We have had a wonderful time sledging and cycling in the snow. Everyone except for John who unfortunately hurt his ankle badly during the sledging morning and can't walk now! William and Lily absolutely loves it of course! Can you spot Lily running around on the sledging hill?

We are set for a white Christmas here since it isn't going to get much warmer
until Boxing Day!

Some snow here too!

With all the nice winter wonderland pictures on my mum's and sister's blogs I'll have to show do also have snow, although very little of it compared to you!

For a while now, Lily has been trying to create snow indoors by ripping up any paper, plastic, or for extra special effect, polystyrene into little white pieces which she spreads evenly on the floor. Very annoying as the pieces are just that little to big to be vacuumed easily and just a little bit too small to easily be picked up by hand....

Ah, just seen the odd large snowflake drift past the office window! Hopefully it will be more than 5 centimeters deep when we wake up because then no one has to go to school or go to work as the country almost stops completely with the slightest bit of snowfall!!

Lots of names!

I heard that my sister's little arrival now has a name. I'm sure he had plenty before the proper one was decided. Our newish arrival Lily has so many names I'm sure it completely confuses her most of the time. But that is what they say isn't it! Kart barn har manga namn! (Try and understand that with out the "proper" letters!)

So here are the names we regularly call Lily by: Lily, Woofty Doofty, Doggy Doo, Doggy Don't, Lily Doggiee, Lilster, Lills. I'm sure there are some more that I've forgotten now.

It was very frosty this morning and absolutely beautiful so here is a photo. The last photo is for Anneli as I can imagine she doesn't get the chance at this point in time to see enough of her cows so here is an English relative. Maybe you could even tell me what breed it might be??

scientist goodbye, skills instructor hello!

No, I haven't run off with a mountain biker, don't worry! I've just handed my notice in at my normal job last Thursday. Received no reaction from the bosses and found out today that they have already hired someone to start in January to do the mass spectrometry. This lack of overlap (I'll leave end November) will mean I bet I'll have to come back as a consultant to train this person up....nicely paid and on my conditions so not completely bad news!

Yesterday was the first mountain bike skills training course that I held. 6 eager participants turned up despite horrendous wind and rain! (So no photos I'm afraid!) They left very content and tired 6 hours later and I'm very happy with the whole thing. I know I'm doing the right career swap! Also the B&B has been a huge success! The comments in our guest book is almost embarrasingly nice! But to be honest it isn't exactly rocket science to run a very good B&B, just treat people the way you would like to be treated yourself and you have very happy customers!

I have found that due to you lot posting more and more on your blogs that I post less and less. By the time I've have time to catch up reading what everybody else has written I've run out of time and have to go and do something else and nothing gets written on mine. I do read them though. Don't think that because I don't leave comments very often that I don't take great interest and pleasure in reading what you all have been up to!

Things in the countryside

This is what I saw in the garden on Thursday when I got back from work. Lily was initially excited but quickly realized who were the bosses.

These goats belong to our neighbour and they regularly explore the surrounding area on their own when they fancy it! Because they are goats!



Today we got a bone from the butcher..... maybe a bit too big??

On the topic of belonging somewhere and whether our family is not belonging anywhere, I would add that maybe we are just a family that can root ourselves and feel at home and belonging wherever we are. Just because you never move anywhere doesn't mean you feel better...you just don't know of anything else! At least we try and decide where we like it best and it happens to be in many corners of this planet! Nothing wrong with that!

Autumn joy

Autumn is definitely one of my favorite seasons, the others are spring, summer and winter, not the strange mix of bland, grey and drizzly weather that doesn't fit in to any of the above seasons. Today is proper autumn and it is ok that it isn't warm and things can look untidy without it being wrong and we can finally start having roaring fires again!


We ordered 3 cubic meters of wood beginning of the week and it feels so nice to have a proper supply for the winter! Today we also had a small bonfire to get rid of lots of dead branches and leaves.


Last weekend I went on a trip to the Lake District with some girlfriends. We did ghyll scrambling which is the "new" thing to do apparently. It means sliding and climbing down rocky little streams as demonstrated in the photo. I preferred the canoeing we did in the morning as my body is too bony to slide down rocky stuff! Although it was quite exciting! The next day we went for a 6 hour walk and as usual we were lucky with the weather and had the most amazing views!
I have now booked another couple of nights for me, John, William and Lily in the same hotel late October as it is one of the nicest places in Britain. And the best thing is it's only just over 2 hours drive away

Lily is now neutered!

Last week was Jeanne's funeral. We couldn't have wished for better weather and everything went very well. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and the reception afterwards was well attended. Many people that John and his brother hadn't seen for years were there and as quite often happens despite it being a very sad occasion everybody had a very good time. We took the opportunity to take a photo of us, Brian, Mark and Helen his girlfriend.



Last week we also took Lily to the vet to be neutered. We realised since it is common place to let your dogs run around loose around here that once she got on heat there would be nothing we could do when next farms Great Dane (as big as a pony!) or the greyhound further down the hill came running wild with excitement! The operation went well and now she has to wear a cone around her neck until the stitches come out. Doesn't seem to slow her down though as she is as wild and crazy as before!



We took advantage of the nice weather at the weekend and went for a walk near Kinder Scout. It was absolutely beautiful! I've updated my B&B website now to make sure people will know it is only 10 minutes drive to this place.

The B&B is going quite well. We have two more bookings in the next month which is about the right amount for it not to interfere with normal life but just add some pleasure and a bit of extra cash.






One advantage of living on a hill is that the view over the surrounding landscape is never the same from one day to the next. Everyday it looks different. I took a picture of the valley the other morning as the fog was lying dense on the valley floor, very atmospheric!

Sad news

Sadly John's mum died this weekend. She not been particularly unwell apart from a reoccuring kidney infection. On Thursday she quickly became very unwell and was taken to hospital and the next day was moved to intensive care. Her liver stopped working and the all the other organs followed and the next day she passed away.

John rushed back from Germany where he was on a conference but unfortunately didn't make it back in time. He is spending a few days there to support his dad. As you know his dad is a lovely man and he is very happy he had 60 lovely years with Jean but we are all worried now how he is going to cope without her. The didn't have any friends and prefered to be just the two of them so it is going to be a big change for him.

On a more positive note, we have had our first proper guests (walkers/mountainbikers)in our B&B this weekend. Despite rushing off to see John and his dad, it has been much more relaxing than I thought it would be and also hugely more rewarding! I've had more job satisfaction in the last two days than I have had for the last 5 years in my regular job. People are so grateful for the slightest thing such as printing a map out for them or giving them some cake! I really know now that I want to continue the B&B! And despite charging the cheapest going rates I've made nearly £200 this weekend. (2300kr)

William has had a lovely summer holiday. Last week I took him to the velodrome for a childs bike session for an hour. He got on really well and managed a lap of the track in under 30 seconds! We have mostly stayed at home this August which when you live where we live is like being on holiday anyway!

Holiday in rainy Wales

Just after our first bed&breakfast guests left after a "10 out of 10" stay (they seemed honest!) we set off for a few days camping in Wales. The first day was a bit grey but that didn't stop William from trying his surfboard in the sea! The second day was sunny and we all went in the water. The waves were great and Lily thoroughly enjoyed the beach with so many dogs to play with and a few dead seagulls to roll in!

She also made a new friend in the tent next to ours. A vizsla called Hughey. They played for hours together! He was very gentle with her and didn't mind her biting his ear or stealing his marrow bones! In the afternoon our new neighbours, who we bought our house from, joined us and the kids challenged the adults to a game of cricket and beat us easily. In the evening John cooked a curry for everyone. The next day was miserable because the rain was back and the wind also! We decided to go home early! Off camping again in Yorkshire in just over a weeks time just hope the tent dried out in time!

First guests!

Just as I thought that it would be impossible to get any guests for the B&B without serious advertising etc I got a phone call yesterday. One room for one night this weekend. And they are not even mountain bikers, just visiting an old poorly relative! I'm amazed that they dared to book considering all the photos of bikes on the website! So today is cleaning day (kitchen thankfully is almost finished just lacking the tiled splash back and a small cupboard unit) and I'm starting today with cooking a full English cooked breakfast (sausage, bacon, egg, tomato, mushroom, beans, toast and black pudding)as practise for tomorrow morning. Very exciting day indeed!

New developments!

Lots of things are happening! At the moment we are in the process of replacing the units in the kitchen and we finally have a dishwasher! Especially welcome since we have been without a sink in the kitchen for the last 2 weeks.

Lily has slowed down slightly in her growth (thankfully!) but is as cute as ever!

But the last thing that has happened is that I've got a new job. I went on a mountain bike leader course just over a week ago and at the end of the course I was asked if I wanted to hold the mountain bike skills courses for this company. My dream job! Unfortunately there will be a bit of weekend work but thankfully the location for the courses are literally on the doorstep. (Might even use the actually doorstep as an obstacle on the course, hhehe...)

Swine flu!

Last week was definitely weird. John found out that a colleague he had spent a lot of time in the car with had been tested positive for swine flu and since we both had sore throats he phoned the medical center to ask for advice. Within a few hours he was quarantined at home with a man dressed in goggles, mask, gloves and plastic apron coming to take a throat swab! Talk about scaring the neighbours! Anyway the test came back negative and everyone is well so that was that excitement! His colleague has since recovered very well.

Finally the website for my Bed & Breakfast venture is ready!www.lilybankfarmcottage.co.uk Officially we open the 10th July but who knows whether we get any bookings for then. We are aiming for having people maybe 2-3 nights a week. Not more. Preferably not just weekends either! So we are quite picky! Hopefully it should attract mountain bikers!

Morris dancing

Monday night was Morris dancing night in the local pub. I had never seen Morris dancing before only heard about it on the radio when they mentioned that due to no younger people taking it up it might die out! Well, after having been, I can kind of understand why. It was a bit weird! It was also the first time Lily showed any fear of anything when she saw the weirdly dressed and dancing old men and women. But she quickly got used to it and enjoyed the affection from the rest of the audience!

Today I also finished writing a document about interesting things where we live. For instance a few years ago when they dug into the hillside behind the house they found an old stone axe head from the Bronze Age! Our neighbours have still got it so I took a photo of it today.

The dog who thinks she is a cat

Lily decided a few days ago that climbing up on the roof like the cats always do(one bit is easily accessible from the garden) and having a walk around while everybody was waving and shouting below was a good idea. That was until she walked to a section of roof that had a different kind of tile on it and suddenly lost her footing. She tumbled 15 feet (4.5 meters)through the air and landed on the patio. Amazingly enough she was straight up on her feet with just a slight limp which has now virtually gone. So if there is a bit of cat in her she must surely have used up one of her lives!

Yesterday we tried to play croquet with her around...not easy.

Broken thumb news

So much has been happening that I didn't really have time to go into details of what happened to John's thumb. I let the pictures speak for themselves. Good news is that he had the pins taken out just over a week ago and he is slowly getting movement back in his thumb.

More puppy pictures

It was a lovely evening last night. Sunny and warm and with a puppy and a boy happily playing in the garden it was wonderful to sit down and admire the view.

What surprised me the most about Lily is how nice she smells. I've always disliked dog smell but Lily smells lovely! Is is only because she is a puppy? She is going to be quite a big dog I think! In just the first week she has put on nearly a kilo in weight!

We have now taught her the first useful thing: to retrieve cricket balls! This will definitely come in handy!

Just like a baby....

Our lives revolve around feeding, pooing, sleeping and playing. Just like when William was little!

Thankfully she is growing up quicker and learning faster! She is an adorable little creature and 95% of the time she is good as gold. The other 5% she is a scary, super-excited, growling and biting little devil! But we are getting there! Patience is the key!

We have a list from the vet with things she should encounter on a regular basis while she is little. It includes the funniest things: People with glasses, beards, in wheelchairs, wearing dark clothes and Halloween masks, motorbike helmets etc. We are getting there but so far not found someone in a wheel chair. Plenty of horses, mountain bikers, sheep and chickens though.

Puppy!!

Big news! We've got a puppy!

She is called Lily and is 9 weeks old tomorrow. Her dad is a Hungarian Vizsla and her mum is a strange terrier cross (lots of breeds in there I think!)

She has settled in quite nicely (lots of poo and wee accidents) but is sleeping well at night and loves all of us as much as we love her!

This morning I took her to the vet for her immunisation and deworming and since it wasn't too far to Manchester from there I've taken her to work now and she is sleeping under my desk. Our internet is playing up so that is why I haven't posted earlier. We are going to a puppy party later this afternoon.

Home

Just to let you know I'm back home from Italy now. Lovely two weeks and I'll tell you all about it later! Unfortunately without the photos as I lost my camera during a mountain adventure....

More soon!

Sad day.

Just found out that the puppy we were hoping to get unfortunately was dead at birth. Fortunately the mum is ok. I suppose we'll just start looking again. Great shame because the mum was such a lovely natured dog!

Also, on Saturday John fell and broke his thumb badly and had an operation on it yesterday. His thumb contains/and is surrounded by metal work! Obscured by bandages of course. He was doing a good deed by clearing up a lovely patch of land near by where people had been throwing litter everywhere and slipped on a rock. When he came home requesting to be taken to hospital, his thumb looked about 2 cm shorter than it should have done and was pointing the wrong way!

Good thing or not?

Went out for a bike ride with a colleague from work the other night. Lovely weather everything fantastic until we did a short stretch of road where we spotted an injured male pheasant. It was beautiful, but had lost the ability to use it's rear legs. I picked it up and decided that the best thing would be to kill it there and then so it wouldn't suffer and surprised myself by actually breaking its neck. It took about 20 seconds before I was convinced it was dead but it was surprisingly easy. Was tempted to take it back and cook it but in the end left it for the fox. I'm both pleased and horrified that I did it without thinking so much but still can't help thinking that maybe it was something else I should have done to try and save it (like Tata's squirrel baby rescue effort). What do you think?

Puppy and laundry

On Saturday we went to meet the mother of the puppy we hopefully will be getting. She is due to give birth to the puppy (yes apparently the vet says there is only one in there!) in a weeks time. She was the most adorable creature we have ever met. Wonderful combination of gentleness and madness! She absolutely loves having her tummy rubbed! Most of the time she would quietly sit and lean against our legs to be close to us. Strange really since she had just met us! She was also incredibly patient will William and let him play with her giant soft ears (she later got her own back and gave William's ears a good licking which they desperately needed!) Let's hope the birth goes well and that in 8 weeks time we will have a new little addition to the family!




Last week we had lovely warm and sunny weather and I realized putting the washing out to dry while looking at the view must be the nicest kind of housework there is! I did struggle with the clothes pegs just being scattered everywhere so I made this peg holder! If anyone needs one for their pegs let me know as it was very easy and rewarding to make and I'd love to make some more!