Phew! So far, although we encountered Noro-stricken relations in Morecambe we seem to have avoided anything too serious ourselves. Fingers crossed for the rest of the winter which seems to have set in with a vengeance. At least Ba’ Bag and his wind band haven’t reappeared!
Well needless to say, the experiment with electric motor from the tumble drier ended in tears – mainly as a result of the acrid smoke that poured out of the windings once it was switched on. I thought at first it was just fluff burning off as the motor started to run but the flames coming from the holes in the casing were a bit of a give away. Back to the drawing board!
Both of us spent the early part of the month dodging the weather, cutting firewood and getting stuff ready for our Christmas trip to Keswick. We thought we had sent out a Christmas letter but having checked with one or two recipients it became clear that something had gone wrong. Apologies. It has gone now but there is also a copy here if you need it. Things started with a trip to John Friar because finally, both chainsaws decided they needed more t.l.c. than I could give them. We had a leisurely trip to Glasgow via Inverary where we actually found some bargains in Edinburgh Woolen Mill (I suppose they couldn’t really call it anything else), ending up with Suse finally getting to see “Skyfall”, which we both enjoyed. The last time we tried to see it, we booked tickets for the Screen Machine showing in the Tarbert on Harris. Braehead was a bit easier to get to.
We wished Margaret, Merry Christmas and then set off to Mona House in Keswick after a swift overnight stop with Emily and Richard in Stonehouse. I suppose it may not have rained at some point during the journey or the preceding week but looking back, it’s hard to recall. But there again, you do occasionally get winter days in Stonehouse which are pretty special.
The house in Keswick was a very pleasant surprise and we can recommend it to anybody looking for a very nicely presented, large house in a nice part of Keswick. We liked some of the prints and photographs which were on display and I was particularly taken with a representation of Wainwright’s Lakeland Fells in the form of Harry Beck’s London tube map. There is something similar for the Monros which sounds interesting.
We teamed up with Emily and Richard on Saturday and then popped off to Morecambe for Sunday lunch with Kathleen and Hilda and presumably Uncle Noro, whose Christmas gifts to K & H were not appreciated. For some reason, we didn’t see any further signs of Noro. Perhaps we’ve still got something to look forward to.
As you can see from the Loony Dooker, it rained significantly in Keswick but we still managed a series of fine little walks from the House. Emily’s walk up to the summit of Latrigg and back along the cycleway was a splendid effort. Once Steve and Sharon arrived we went down the east side of Derwentwater and then the next day to Castlerigg stone circle. Having squeezed in a sneaky trip to the Rohohohan Boxing Day sale. All the walks were better for being able to do them from the House.
Later on, Suse and I eventually met up at Grange at the southern end of Derwentwater but not until Suse had also visited Rydal Water in error. Back at Stonehouse we did some tiling in Emily and Richard’s kitchen which is progressing nicely. All in all, we had a grand time and even managed to get some cheap oak flooring in B&Q which should allow us to put some doors on the drinks’ cabinet in the livingroom. At the moment, it collects dust as if it were appearing in a Philip Pullman book! I finally managed to download His Dark Materials trilogy and am currently enjoying them- hence the reference.
Although we had left an oil filled radiator on in the hall at Larick House, I don’t think that we had set the thermostat high enough because it didn’t seem to have been on. After we got back, it took an evening with the fire on to pull the temperature up to the 19/20 degree C which we are comfortable with. Just for the record, we haven’t been burning the fire overnight and despite single figure temperatures and the absence of sunshine, we normally don’t have to put it on again until the afternoon. This works for us but I’m not sure what the DWP would make of it in the light of my recent application for a Winter Fuel Payment. So far all they have said is “We’ll let you know in February” I felt like writing back asking if they had inside information about an unseasonably warm winter or do they hope that by delaying consideration, their eventual payout may be less! Anyway, that’s it for now and steer clear of Noro!