Managed to translate Spanish Blogger and so we thought we´d put a quick post on to keep up the hits! Its quite hot here in Quito - not suprising as its on the Equator! Gutted at the football result - gonna support Quito United instead!

Hasta luego!
Matthew and Sarah

The blog is going into hibernation for a few weeks but will be back online in February
We can be contacted by email on info@buckle-yeat.co.uk or by clicking on the Buckle Yeat link in the side bar.

Early breakfast this morning so the guests could be in Cockermouth by 9:30. This meant I was able to take this shot of the sunrise.
We got a message late last night from Matthew, he is at this moment at Miami airport en-route to Quito.
Just the one room free tonight and all arrived before dark.
We had a visitation from my Godaughter Ellie who is 10years old and is saving hard for a holiday in Disneyland in June.
Big match tomorrow when Liverpool play at Old Trafford against Man Utd.




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A lot cooler this morning after the mild grey weather we have been having lately.
Up early and up to Buckle Yeat to give the lounge it's annual lick of paint from top to bottom, we work as a team I do the ceilings and Helen does the walls, I don't mind painting but it is the clearing up afterwards that I hate, anyway all done now.
With the painting to do we never managed to get a walk today so no chance to take any pictures.
We have not heard from from Matthew in New York for a couple of days so he must be enjoying himself, he moves on to Quito in Ecuador tomorrow via Miami, what a life.
This weekend is very quiet again so not many in tonight but a few more for tomorrow night.

We had a good time at the Tower Bank Arms last night, it was a Burns night celebration to raise money for the Sawrey Institute, there was a good turn out and over £200 was raised. It was the last fund raising event that Phillip, Dorothy, and Andrew will be having, they have raised thousands of pounds over the years for local charities.





A group shot of Phil, Dorothy and Andrew along with the piper Mark and the token Scotsman Davy who comes down every year to address the haggis in the strongest Scottish accent I have ever heard.



This is Mark the piper and Phil carrying the haggis.



The commitee of the Sawrey Institute presented Dorothy with flowers to thank the family for all their help in raising funds for the Institute and Chairman Roger said a few words in appreciation.

We went through to Kendal this morning and i took these pictures from the ferry landing,
The mist was right down over Bowness village and as soon as we started to climb over Crook tops we ran into a fine rain.





We had an email from Matthew in New York, he said he is on the 12th floor of the hotel but can still hear the sirens wailing.
We are out tonight at the Tower Bank they are having a Burns night supper complete with the piper the haggis and whisky, photos tomorrow.

Today was painting and decorating day, me and Helen decided to paint the dining room at Buckle Yeat, quite a big room and we needed to paint the walls and the ceiling, an all day job.
Here we are hard at work this afternoon.



We had a visit from Rebecca who went to school with Matthew and is still big friends with our Rachel, Matthews cousin. Rebecca is doing work experience with Radio Cumbria as part of her University course, she is doing a radio piece about Beatrix Potter and wanted to interview me and Helen about the visitors that Beatrix Potter attracts to the village.



This is the intrepid reporter Becca.

A wet day so we headed off to Heysham to take the Buckle Yeat books to the accountants,we had to drive through Morecambe to reach Heysham so I took this picture of Eric Morecambe who took his name from the town.



This is one of the seagulls in Morecambe, big brutes they are as well.



This is a shot across Morecambe Bay I promise it looks better on a sunny day.



We have just had a text from Matthew he has just arrived in New York and he says it is -4 degrees but does not feel it.
It is pouring down here at the moment.

A bit of a strange day today, Matthew set off on his 6 month trip to South America so quite an emotional morning all round, I'm sure we will get used to it.I took him down to Preston to board the train to Heathrow, he has just rang from the airport hotel where he and Sarah are staying in tonight before their flight to New York tomorrow where they will spend 5 nights before flying to Ecuador next Saturday.





When I got back we set off up to Moss Eccles for a bit of fresh air and had a look at the progress of the Tarn Hill playground, the surface under this roundabout is really clever it looks like tarmac but has a sponge like feeling.



Matthew rang his gran and grandad in Spain this morning, they are both well but the weather is a bit mixed.

Housebound again today I'm afraid, spent all day doing the vat returns whilst waiting at Buckle Yeat, very quiet again this weekend it's becoming a trend.
Great results on the footy front with Liverpool winning and United losing.
We took Matthew out to the Drunken Duck last night, he is off on his travels tomorrow morning, we had a great meal and then went back to the Tower for a drink.
Two nights out on the row because tonight there is a bit of a party in the Tower Bank Arms, Peter who drives the ferry has a significant birthday to celebrate, so we are invited to join him, should be a good night.
Denis rang this afternoon from sunny Spain, (raining today he tells us).

Sorry no new pictures today, I spent most of the afternoon in the loft at Buckle Yeat trying to sort out a plumbing problem which I wont bore you with, I was up and down the loft ladder and ringing the plumber, its very hard to sort out plumbing via the telephone.
This evening Matthew changed a few things on the Buckle Yeat web site for me, ie the tarrif and he put in a link to this blog.
When looking through pictures we came across this one which was taken professionally and put forward for a jigsaw, alas it was turned down but it is a timely reminder of better weather then we are having at the moment.

We had a good long walk again today, about 3 hours. We set off to Far Sawrey then up behind St Peter's church and down to towards Windermere.
We took a diversion off the path to visit Claife Station, no trains here though it is a viewing station. Claife Station was built in the 1790's and was at it's most fashionable in 1830's and 1840's when it was used for parties and dance's.
There is even a sloping track up to the station which was used by horse drawn buggies to transport Victorian tourists up to the station for "landscape appreciation"



This is Claife Station when in it's heyday was on 2 floors.



This is the view from the station towards Windermere



We took a different path up from the shores of Windermere, and then back over Claife Heights and into Sawrey. On the Windermere side it was quite mild but when we got up onto the tops the wind changed and it was bitterly cold

A lot better day with clear skies and a fresh breeze.
We set off on a long walk at about noon and just got back as the sun went down.
We walked up onto the tops and saw nobody at all, just to prove how quiet the lakes are at the moment. On the way back along the Hawkshead road the gritter lorry went flying past spreading salt on the road, a frost must be forecast.





Matthew is out tonight playing squash at Langdale with and old school mate, he as gone straight there from work , he has been at the Coniston shop today.

It has poured down all night and has continued most of the day.
We went to Kendal to get the final items for Matthew's trip. Kendal was very quiet, no wonder in that weather.
This first picture is on the Bowness side of the ferry.



Radio Cumbria news said the Coniston to Ulverston road was closed due to flooding and the primary school in Grasmere was starting to flood and parents were told to pick up their children asap.





These pictures where taken between Near & Far Sawrey, Sawrey means low lying land. liable to flood and it is easy to see why there are no houses between the villages.
The rain has stopped and the wind is really getting up now. This time last year was the big storm when a lot of trees were damaged and the terrible floods occurred in Carlisle
.

Another gloomy cold raw day.
No guests this morning so we set off to Ambleside to look for a new fleece, no luck, I have never seen so many shops selling the same goods, Ambleside is not called the anorak capital of the north for nothing.
Off to Winderemere and we had our first look in the new Lakeland shop, a bit of compulsive shopping takes place in that shop especially when they bus in the customers.
We had some lunch in the cafe/bar above the shop and very enjoyable it was.
Back across a cold dreary Windermere on the ferry and then home.



This is the trout farm from across the lake.

Another grey day, and another day doing the books, nearly there.
Me and Helen went a walk down to the Lake this afternoon and took these shots of the fishermen out on the water.



This is a shot down towards Hawkshead and the fells in the background.





We took a detour to check out the progress of Tarn Hill, it is looking more interesting by the day, all the equipment looks to be in place and the they are getting the rubber mats in place to make sure the kids bounce if and when they fall.

I have had a couple of emails from different people letting me have their e-mails.
We rang Denis & Margaret in Spain this morning, they have had a couple of dull days but it was clear skies this morning.

All day at the computer today trying to re-enter all lost accounts data, what a drag.
I have give up for the day it is giving me a headache.
I have also lost all the e-mail address's from the last 3 or 4 years so if I don't send you an e-mail you know why,I will have to start rebuilding the address book as I receive messages.
Quiet night again at Buckle Yeat,the whole village is quiet.
Luton v Liverpool in the FA cup at teatime, hopefully no giant killing acts there.

Buckle Yeat open again this weekend but so far very quiet, another cold grey day with no sunshine.
My computer expert has been in today trying to rescue my PC at the guesthouse, I think we have managed to recover nearly all the data lost due to a major hardware failure (sounds like I know what I am talking about) the only thing missing is some accounts which I will have to re-enter this weekend.





I went to Hawkshead this morning and it was quiet down there, on the way back I took these shots of Esthwaite Water, there is a very thin covering of ice over much of the lake and it looks very bleak.

Another cold start to the day, we rang Denis aka Paco in Spain to wish him a Happy Birthday.
Around noon Helen and I took the car to Tilberthwaite and parked up, we then walked through to Little Langdale and had a sandwich and a beer at the Three Shires Hotel,we then walked back towards Hodge Close which is a disused slate quarrry and back to the car.



This the Three Shires Hotel



Hodge Close a disused quarry used by climbers and divers.



The spoil from the quarry which looks like a lunar landscape

A quiet day,another frosty misty morning and another trip to the optician, this time a successful trip the new specs are ordered.
When we got back we just had a wander up the lane and took a few pictures as the light was fading.
The playground work goes on and is looking good.
We had a phone call from Spain yesterday, the Lamberts had arrived safe and early, good old Easyjet.We also had a phone call last night from my godaughter Ellie who was 10 years old yesterday, she was ringing to thank us for the birthday card and some money we sent, she is saving hard for a trip to Florida later on in the year.







Matthew is at the Hawkshead shop again to day and is starting to countdown the days left at work before the big trip, he has just started a course of anti-malaria tablets to see if he is going to suffer any side effects, he seems ok so far.

Me and Helen went across the lake this morning, I was trying to get some new glasses but the optician was having an extra day off, so we will have to try again tomorrow.
The fog was really dense on the lake this morning and one of the passenger launches Miss Cumbria actually got stranded in the middle of the lake,they where trying to keep the shoreline in sight but lost it. The lake warden had to go to assist, the warden's boat is fitted with GPS equipmet.



This is the round house on Belle Isle



The journey back across the lake was a lot clearer than earlier, this picture is taken as we waited for the ferry, these large floating caravan type boats are for rent, I don't think they move anywhere.

A big turn out from Buckle Yeat this morning, then all the christmas decorations had to come down including the outside tree.
I got a bonfire going to dispose of the tree and some branches from a previous pruning job, it was a calm day with no wind so the smoke caused no problems.
Liverpool came from a goal down twice to get a 2-2 draw at Bolton, reports say they should have won but a draw was not a bad result from the Reebok.
Alan went home this morning, the shop is open tomorrow so back to normal.
Denis and Margaret are off to sunny Spain for an extended holiday in the early hours so hopefully the fog lifts and they have a safe journey down to Liverpool Airport.
Nobody in tonight so a bit of a break till the weekend.

A bit of a sluggish breakfast, but only to be expected,it was a late night, we got to bed at 3am and had to be up at 7:30am. We had a really good time last night, a few beers in the Tower and then back to Buckle Yeat to see in the New Year and take part in a few party games, a good laugh was had by all.
We took a walk up to Moss Eccle after lunch, it was a beautiful sunny day and it starting to freeze again tonight.We called in to the Tower and met up with a few locals we had missed last night.



Matthew has been working at Ambleside today,quite busy.
Alan is here for New Year so we will visiting the Tower again later.

Matthew has put a new link on the blog which enables you to send the address to a friend by email.