A damp grey New Years Eve, Helen & her mum have been busy preparing goodies for the party tonight at Buckle Yeat.
We never managed to get a walk, the rain worsened, so spent an hour with the papers and kept tabs on the footy, Crouch on target again as Liverpool make it 10 in a row and bad news Newcastle and England with Michael Owen breaking a bone in his foot.



I took some shots of all the guests for a bit of a laugh I have planned for later on tonight, Denis and Margaret will be involved, but they don't know it yet, this is them in their lounge this afternoon.
A couple of New Year greetings have come through,one from a couple from Scotland Anne & Robin who where here for a couple of days after Christmas and enjoyed their break. They set off home in the worst of the snow but made it home safely.

I would just like to wish everybody a Happy New Year and take plenty of water with it.

The snow arrived and it was an awful day. No way was Matthew getting to Coniston so he phoned in and changed to Hawkshead shop,I ran him down in the 4x4 but the roads where quite bad.
Margaret had an appointment at the hairdressers and with roads being a bit dodgy I took her to Kendal and at the same time managed to fit in an eye test.New glasses needed, not a suprise i have been struggling with the small print.








All the New Year gang arrived safe and well through the bad conditions and we went out for a drink early doors to the Tower and spoke to them all as they came in for their dinner.

We had to go to Kendal today, a few provisions for the New Year and a plumbing repair job at the shop up a very high ladder, Alan gave me a hand so hopefully the job was a success.
It has been bitterly cold all day and overnight the temperature dropped to -5 degrees.Tonight it has warmed up a bit but the snow has arrrived, Matthew is out with some mates in Kendal so we are keeping a wary eye on the road conditions at this end.







I never managed to get any pictures today so these are some that Denis took yesterday when he went for a walk up into Castle Wood.
A full house again tonight,they all leave in the morning and the New Year regulars arrive,road conditions permitting.

A full house and busy breakfast, very frosty but clear blue skies.
Just the one couple leaving, they wanted longer but no room at the inn.
Went a walk with Helen and Margaret up to Moss Eccles, the tarn is just beginning to freeze over and if the temperature keeps falling the skaters will be out, I have swum in the tarn but you will never see me on the ice.





Just got back in to the village for a swift pint and took this shot of Andrew, his daughter Ellie who is my god daughter will have something to say about her dad posing for the camera.



Some lovely roast lamb for supper and then settled down to watch Liverpool cruise to 3 points against Everton, the blues had two plyers sent off which was very harsh, my brother Steve is a bluenose so I have to be humble in victory.

Back to work this morning getting Buckle Yeat ready for incoming guests.
I went to Hawkshead for some things we had missed of the grocery order and was suprised how quiet it was.
Helen and her mum went a walk while I caught up with some accounts, they said they met nobody on the walk and took these shots of Esthwaite and Near Sawrey from Castle Wood and Cunsey Beck close to Cunsey Bridge







All the guests have arrived safe and well, it is a bit of mix, half have stayed before and the others are new faces.

Another dry day but they say snow is on the way.
Dad and Alan went home this morning, Alan is back for New Year.
Helen me and Margaret went a walk along to Far Sawrey along the side of Wilfin Beck and called at Spout House with some mugs for Margaret and Cliff from Alan's shop.





We went up Cuckoo Brow lane and round Moss Eccles before coming back down Coopers Lane into the the village



This is Holly, Cliff's daughters dog complete with festive headgear.

We got back in time to watch the football,
Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-0 ( Michael who?) Newcastle were lucky to get nil.

Not a white christmas but very frosty this morning.
Helen was up early went a walk down to Esthwaite Water.
We all pitched up at the Tower for an hour before we settled down for a family dinner at home with all the trimmings.






The dinner went well and we all ate to much buy hey that's point of christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas to all we missed on the christmas card list.

A fantastic sunny day with stunning visability.
We got all the jobs done this morning and everything is ready for the big day tomorrow. At about 12:30 we set off a walk up past Moss Eccles and up on to Latterbarrow. On the top there is a trig point and it is the focus of many walkers who flock up there on a sunny day like today.
We almost had to queue to get a picture of the cairn with no people swarming all over it.






We came down onto the Wray road and then walked back into the village on along the side of Esthwaite Water, a good 2 1/2 hour walk.
Dad and Alan are on their way over from the shop in Kendal to stay for a few days over the weekend.

Another dreary day but still mild,
The weather man says no snow for christmas.
Helen was busy this morning getting everything in order for christmas dinner, matthew has been at the Hawkshead shop today and said it was quite busy, he even got a christmas bonus. He is off out tonight with some mates in Bowness and stopping over before coming home for work in the morning.



We had a walk this afternoon up Coopers lane and back down into the village.
The playground is looking very interesting, the kids will have a great time on those diggers.



Another greeting from a blog fan this time from Russia.

At last the ferry is back in action, Kendal again today for the very last shopping day before christmas and it was very busy.
Margaret went with us leaving Denis home alone, he is feeling a lot better.
I kept meeting people in town to talk to.
Yesterday I got a really nice e-mail from some blog fans in Los Angeles, and today one from Spain.

A few jobs to do at home today,then up to Buckle Yeat to write a few letters and sort out some e-mails, Helen iced the Christmas cake and made a sticky toffee pudding.
Afternoon and we set off up on to the tops and managed to find some holly with berries, very scarce this year.
The contractors have started preparing the Tarn Hill playground ready to erect some serious looking equipment. I went down to Hawkshead for some milk and a few tourists are starting to arrive, in fact in Sawrey quite a lot of the holiday cottages are already occupied.





Helen took these shots from up on the tops this afternoon.

A lot milder day and no rain.
Helen made three Christmas wreaths this morning and so we went to the cemetery at Ulverston to place them on them on mum and grans graves, we also put one on Helen's Aunt Janet's grave.
We called in Aunty Margarets in Ulverston and delivered her present and card and stayed for a hour or two, she dosen't get about to well.
We have had the village carol singers tonight and they were as good as ever.
Matthew is out at the firms Christmas party tonight in Coniston so I am doing the taxi driving and will pick him up later.



This is a shot of the village pub The Tower Bank Arms in festive mood taken tonight from Buckle Yeat

A dry cold day and off to Kendal to stock up on essentials and a few last gifts.
The ferry is still out of action,as mentioned earlier it has been crossing and docking at an angle. The problem got worse and worse and eventually getting on and off was dangerous.
England lost the latest one day match in Pakistan and series with it.
Denis is a bit under the weather today, hopefully back to to his best tomorrow, as they say there is something going around

A freezing cold morning and a grey overcast sky, not very pleasant.
Everyone out this morning so a busy day, tried to keep up with footy and saw a bit of it, we slaughtered them and lost 1-0.
The plan was try and find some holly this afternoon but the rain arrived and it was icy at first making the car park and the steps up to Sawreycroft treacherous, a sprinkling of salt sorted it out.
The heavens opened later so we gave up on the walk.
Matthew was at Ambleside today and it was quite busy.
Watching the snooker and supporting Steve (the nugget?) Davies against a 18 year old Chinese lad Ding.

It was a good night at the Tower Bank Arms last night, no luck on the domino front I got knocked out by Patricia and her husband Alan beat Matthew in the final of the darts.
Over £300 was raised for the Braithwaite Hall in Far Sawrey, a large part of that was an auction for a nights stay in Masham and a trip round the Theakston brewery, a prize donated by the brewery via Phillip and Dorothy. The Auctioneer was Jimmy from Esthwaite How who also sold three strings of onions and ended up without a voice.



A tense domino match between Matthew and his uncle Tony, advice is being given by a couple of old pro's. Matthew was victorious on this occasion but was defeated by our neighbour Elizabeth.



I had to go into Kendal this morning and Helen spent the day making mince pies and cakes ready for the festive season.
We had an early visit from a dubious looking character dressed in red.

Me and Helen just back from a couple of days away and back to the blog.
Matthew has been in charge as you might have guessed,it has been cold again and we have
6 guests booked in and most are here, just one couple left to arrive.
Christmas knockout at the Tower tonight so I will have to go and defend my domino title.I will take my glasses it might help the darts technique.
Big day for Denis tomorrow, keep it quiet but he is standing in for Father Christmas at the village christmas party, pictures tomorrow.
good draw for Liverpool in the Champions League, Benfica the Portugese champions

I got the impression Hawkshead had a few more visitors wandering around today. We were expecting the carol singers tonight but they haven't turned up. It is really wet and windy outside so perhaps it's not singing weather. Just watching the recording of Liverpool's win this morning.

Went to Lancaster today but saw no good photo opportunities. The University has changed since I was last there, lots of new, modern buildings. Grandad planted his bulbs so they should look nice next spring/summer. I found this shot on his camera, I thought it looked really good. Back to work tomorrow so I'll miss Liverpool in the morning. Never mind!

Had a trip out to Hawkshead and Ambleside today. Went into work for some supplies, its a good thing I get discount! Ambleside was busy, it had a nice wintery feel about it today. No photos today but grandad has some on his camera and I'm going to Lancaster tomorrow so should get some there. Grandad was planning to put some rose bushes in today, not sure if he got around it. I'll check tomorrow.

Frost on the car when I came out of work, will have to get the newspaper on the windscreen tonight. Sarah is arriving later so don't want to be late to the station! Got a couple of shots of the snowman, its got a bit of a lean at the moment. As you can see it lights up!

No photos today but spotted a good one for tomorrow in Hawkshead. Some locals have put a big inflatable light-up snowman on a roof in the village. It looks quite impressive. We didn't hear the explosion from down south. Apparently it was heard in Holland. I guess the hills affect it around here. Hawkshead wasn't very busy today, think everyone did their spending yesterday!

Wet all day and really gloomy.
I managed to put the new lights on the tree this morning so the plan is not to bother with them until January.
Liverpool on the box again and winning again, am I dreaming 7 straight league wins.
Just been down to Hawkshead for some stamps so we can get these christmas cards away, a couple are for overseas so they needed sorting asap.
Matthew is is the Coniston shop today so early start and later finish.
Denis ordered some rose bushes weeks ago and is getting a bit annoyed that they have not arrived, he also has some bulbs but wants to get the roses in first and then plant the bulbs in and around them.




Helen's christmas tree in Buckle Yeat dining room






A couple of shots Matthew took today in Coniston.

Another dreary day but we are not getting a lot of rain.
I had to go in to Kendal today, and Helen stayed at Buckle Yeat and finshed writing the christmas cards and getting the house ready for the weekend. We are not full this weekend but that is what we expect these last weekends before the festive season, people are doing other things such as the dreaded shopping.
The tree lights are proving to be a pain, so today I did what I had planned to do this year and went to the electrical trade only outlet and bought a serious set of lights that look like they will do the job for years.



This is the weather vane on the stack at Buckle Yeat.

It was a lot better day, plenty of sunshine.
We spent most of the day at Buckle Yeat finishing the christmas decorations and writing christmas cards.
Denis and I decided to have a go at the cherry tree in Buckle Yeat garden, I think the word is pruned but we actually lopped loads of boughs off it.





Before the light went we had a walk up to Moss Eccles and took some bread crusts up to feed the swan,there is only one again now. A couple of weeks ago there was three swans, maybe the other two were just visiting.

A misty day and the mist stayed with us all day.
Helen was inside Buckle Yeat sorting out the interior decorations while I put the outside tree up and decorated it with lights, Gary from Hill Top next door stopped and I ordered some free range eggs,he said he hoped we had some coloured lights for the tree but I am afraid I had to disappoint him.
We were busy all day and before it got dark we set off through Castle Wood looking for a few more twigs to use as decorations,there does not seem to be any holly with berries on at all, we have looked at all the usual places but without success.





No suitable pictures today so these are a couple Matthew took yesterday, Ambleside in the late afternoon sun taken from Barngates crossroads.

It was a fantastic winters day with wall to wall sunshine, after sorting out some mail and delivering mother-in-law Margarets birthday gift me and Helen went up to Moss Eccles for a quick walk.
We passed Harriet who was holding her horse as the mobile smithy fitted new shoes.



The local pheasant shoot was out when we got up to Moss Eccles and we stood and watched for a few minutes, we saw a couple of hits and a couple of misses.







As I said it was Margarets birthday so we all went out for a very enjoyable lunch to the Drunken Duck, they brew their own beer and I can recommend the Tag Lag beer, Matthew's sweet included Tag Lag ice cream. The food was fantastic and the service spot on.

A misty murky morning and we had to go into Kendal.We crossed the ferry in a real pea souper, you could not see more than a couple of metres in front of you, the lake was like a mill pond. As we climbed up over Crook tops towards Kendal it was clear blue skies, but as we arrived we were back into the gloom.
In Kendal we bought a couple of christmas presents and then headed towards Haverthwaite.


We arrived at Stribers farm on Holker Mosses to buy the tree for outside Buckle Yeat.
These are the contraptions they use to wrap the trees.
When we got the camera out the girl in charge panicked, I think she thought we where from the tax office.



Me securing the christmas tree on top of our car and then we headed slowly home.

A showery start to the day and everyone checked out this morning so a busy busy morning.
After Helen had finished all the washing and ironing we set off up Coopers Lane pictured below.
The sky was very dark over Hawkshead and we wondered whether we such carry on, in fact we did backtrack a bit and then finally went for it.



A rainbow over the cottage at the the top of Coopers Lane, once lived in by a lady called Mrs Cooper hence the name.
We collected some branches and twigs which Helen will spray silver or gold and use them for christmas decorations in Buckle Yeat.



We just back home as the heavens opened.
Matthew is at the Coniston shop today and is home soon.

Quite a busy breakfast, 12 in all.
Football at lunch time,a ridiculous time for kick off, but never mind, Liverpool won 3-0 went to the 2nd place in the league, if only for a couple of hours.It was plain to see Crouch would score today because Matthew missed getting a bet on with his grandad.
After the match we went for a walk up the tops and kept a look out for some branches for the Christmas decorations in Buckle Yeat, we have sorted out what we need and will get them next week.







The rally went ahead and we could hear them all day, I believe there was a need for the rescue helicopter to take one of the competitors to the local hospital, hopefully everything turned out ok.
We have some guests in who are staying with us for the first time, the lady told me her maiden name was Kirby and then in conversation it turned out her husband and I went to the same primary school in Liverpool over 40 years ago, spooky.