March 28th 2015 - Family Walk

March 28th 2015 - Family Walk

This morning the weather was really bad,  it was cold, wet and really dull and overcast.  I thought this was going to stop us going on a family walk, however, after lunch it brightened up and stopped raining so we stuck shoes and coats on and we headed off in the car.

Yes I no I said family walk and we went in the car, but we were heading 10mins up the road to a nature reserve we had found on the net that looked really good.  We found the turning in the road and went up it and parked the car in a lay by just down from Harrington Nature Reserve.

First impressions as you walk by the big fenced off area to where the gate is situated is "there's not much water here and it looks like waste land".  Not a good start.  Before we went through the gate we looked at the map and it looks like there is quite a lot here.  We went down the path and onto a bridge and the kids played pooh sticks - they love this simple game!

We followed the path round to the right and the river just stops as it goes under the road, so we followed the very wet and muddy path round a piece of grassland and came back to the main "rezzer" which again had very little water in it, only a few ducks and lots of dead trees and plants and rubbish!  I don't mean drink bottles and crisp packets but tires and road cones and broken things.

Sadly this walk was a big disappointment to us as the Harrington Nature Reserve website makes it look so much better than it actually is.  I would like to think that it is in the process of being tidied up the fact trees have been cut etc, it is a great site and has the potential to be a very nice place to visit.

Here are a few pics that I did take there.

After we left here we headed 2mins up the road to the Salterbeck "rezzer" which again didn't have much so we took a short walk up to the sea - most of the cliff top didn't seem very safe and you could see where a lot of it had collapsed down to the beach.  I'm not sure if it used to be a coal pit/mine or something else but it was definately buildings of some sort.

We nipped to Harrington Marina on the way home and some of the waves were huge, not as big as I have seen but big considering its not very strong winds.

The kids did enjoy being out of the house for a bit, just a shame the initial place we went wasn't as good as it looks on the net.  But never mind.

February 17th 2015 - PANCAKE DAY & family walk

February 17th 2015 - PANCAKE DAY & family walk

Today is pancake day or shrove tueday!!! (Today's pin is a link to the stack of pancakes I made in 2013 for the family).  I love this day as I love pancakes, I always have.  Golden syrup and sugar and lemon toppings are the best!  I tried Nutella last year after being reccommended it, it was nice but i'm not a great fan.  I have also had ice cream toffee and raspberry sauce on them - the raspberry is actually really nice, but I never remember to buy any.

So one question is how do you eat your pancakes - do you roll your pancakes into a coil,  fold them into triangles or have them as a stack one on top of the other with fillings inbetween???  I usually roll every one into a coil but saw on pinterest that people put them as a stack with fillings in between, i'm trying that for mine tonight!!!

Then there is also the big debate of tossing it in the air or flipping it with a fish slice - well me I flip mine as the one time I tried to toss it in the air I didn't catch it and it ended up on the floor and the dog licked it before running off!

Happy pancake day to everyone no matter how you make or decorate or eat them.

Hubby has been asked to get extra eggs, milk and flour so we can have pancakes and so the kids can make cakes like they have asked to do.


EDIT

After lunch today we decided as it was nice we weould go on a walk.  We all put on jumpers and coats and gloves and hats and set off.  We had been told about a lake and woodland walk about 8miles from where we live, according to the website its takes about 2hrs to walk around Longlands Lake.   So we thought may take longer with my knee.

We found it very easily as its signposted from the main road, when we got there, there was 1 car in the car park.  We crossed the bridge and then came back to get sticks as the kids wanted to play pooh sticks - where you all drop a stick at the same time from one side of the bridge and then go to the other side to see whose stick comes through the bridge first.  We ended up doing this 2 or 3 times!

Once we got across the bridge we tossed a coin as to which way we were going to go as had a fork in the path and according to the map would both take us round the lake.  We went with the heads route.  The older 2 ran of being very noisy, and lil man stayed with me.  Me and him saw mushrooms growing on a tree stump (see below) and 1/2 coconuts being used as bird feeders.

It was very wet and muddy under foot, so we probably should have all worn our wellies, never mind.  We continued on round the paths round the lake and saw daffodils, snow drops and croscus's.  Blossom was starting to form on some of the trees as well.  There were quite alot of birds at the lake including swans and ducks, but they didn't come to us, maybe we should have taken some bread for them.  There was a fissherman and lots of people with dogs who all spoke to us.

We headed back to the car park, which was now very packed.  It had taken us just over 45minutes to walk all the way round, so not quite sure where they say its 2hrs.  There are lots of benches to stop and rest at as well as picnic spots.  This was our first visit here but I certainly think we will visit again as its so close and not uphill or a long way which is good with my knee as it is.  I think it will look a very different place in the summer months when its dry and flowers are out etc.

Although I forgot to pick up the camera I did get some nice pics on my phone.