It felt like a busy Easter holiday this year - a nice mixture of household jobs, time in the sunshine, and family celebrations. Here are a few highlights. Birthday cake Graham's mum had a big birthday, so Graham and his sister secretly organised a few friends to come to dinner with her. She was surprised - and pleased! - when a small family meal at the pub turned out to include fifteen extra people. Theo baked and decorated this amazing cake all by himself. My sole involvement was cutting it up at the end. The event was a big success. thanks to my mum for the photo Days out We had a family day out at Peak Wildlife Park , in the Staffordshire countryside. It's been a few years since we last went; the penguins and lemurs were familiar, but the zoo has acquired a couple of polar bears. Believe it or not, these two are only half-grown. They're about three years old. playfighting polar bears lemurs penguins otters I persuaded Toby and Theo to come to a garden with me with the ...
It was a beautiful sunny day. So beautiful, in fact, that the small car park in Whatstandwell was filling up even at 10:00 on a Monday morning. Still, there weren't too many people around as I set off along the Cromford Canal. The Derwent Valley Heritage Way runs along the canal towpath for this section, so I knew it would be a lot flatter than my previous walk ! The plan was to head up to Holloway and Lea first, rejoining the canal at Cromford to walk back to Whatstandwell. So, after a short section on the towpath, I turned right to join the road to Holloway. This was where Florence Nightingale grew up. I passed Nightingale Lodge and the well-manicured grounds of Nightingale Park. The house she actually lived in is called Lea Hurst. It was a short but steep climb up to Holloway village. Church Street then ran along the ridge, with glorious views across the countryside. It took me past the village post office, the Methodist Church, the public toilets, and the Anglican Church. Post ...