Reasons to be Cheerful: Quality Time #R2BC

Thank you to Michelle for hosting this month! Its back to me for October so I had better get organised... Here are my reasons this week:

1) Time with my son

My son and I walked into town on Saturday afternoon to return our library books whilst his sister stayed with a friend. He and I had a big treat of a trip to the Bristly Hog and he had an awesome hot chocolate:

2) A run at Sizergh Castle

To celebrate the end of the summer running season the running club went to Sizergh Castle this week. A beautiful setting with some dramatic clouds in the distance:

3) Busy bees

Our lemon daisy is an autumnal treat for the bees as they prepare for winter. Makes a beautiful sight for me too:

4) Time with my girl

On Sunday we had a swap over and my son went to a friend's house. His sister and I did some shopping and then tried out the Slate coffee bar:

5) An alternate angle

Sometimes just looking at something differently can bring great pleasure. Here is Kendal Town Hall:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Back to School again #R2BC

I am even later this week joining in with Michelle as its been so busy! It isn't because I am feeling sad though... Here are my reasons this week:

1) Back to school

Last weekend I went to my old High School's 50th anniversary and saw some girls and teachers I hadn't seen for 27 years! A fabulous afternoon reminiscing and exploring the school. Here we are recreating what it was like in our 5th form classroom:

2) Fun with friends

I then went to stay with friends in Windsor for a rare chance for us all to be together without any of our 9 children! Bliss. I even got made a dippy egg for breakfast:

3) Gotta read them all

My teaching assistant finally had time to set up my Pokemon themed reading corner. Hoping it inspires more of the children to actually read...

4) Another Open Evening

My son went to look at his other main choice of secondary. This time its the one his sister attends and she had her photograph up in the English department:

She was being a tour guide and I only bumped into her twice in the 3 hours we were there! I enjoyed catching up with my old colleagues and other parents and my son loved the han.ds on activities. Its going to be hard for him to choose so its just as well he still has a year left to do it...

Join in and share what it making you happy this week

Reasons to be Cheerful - Torchlight #R2BC

Some weeks the therapeutic benefits of this blog hop are more needed than ever! Two weeks into school and I really have to focus on the positives to give me a boost... So here I go:

1) Torchlight

Since we moved to Kendal we have either watched or taken part in the local Torchlight parade which takes place every September. This year we had a monsoon but it didn't stop the parade and how could you not smile at a pink tractor being driven by a lady holding an umbrella:

2) Torchlight celebration

This year for the first time we had a street party the day after Torchlight in the town centre. There was entertainment and hands on activities. My daughter and her BFF had a lot of fun painting the cardboard castle and trying to unicycle:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Back to School #R2BC

The hostess with the mostest this month is Michelle so I hope you all pop over and say hi! I enjoyed reading everyone's posts last week and hope there are a lots of you joining in this week. Here are my back to school reasons to be cheerful:

1) Back on the Helm

Back to school means back to the Helm for running club on a Wednesday night. What a cracking first evening back up there too:

2) Carpet

I spent time at the weekend helping my son clear his bedroom so that he now has a completely clear floor. It looks so much better without the accumulation of toys etc:

3) New class

I spent several days organising my new classroom ahead of the children coming in this week its exciting having the power to do what I want with the space for the best teaching:

4) Parkrun

At a rather soggy parkrun last weekend I knocked 23 seconds off my previous time to send me back on track and in the right direction again. So pleased that my son was once again keen to help out by sorting the finish tokens:

5) My girl

We used the flood measure to prove that she really has sprouted upwards a long way over the last year! I received a super phone call from her new music teacher at school this week so here is hoping that year 8 is a fabulous year for her:

Let's hope all 3 of us have a great academic year!

#CountryKids with Single With Kids camping at Wicksteed Park #WhateverTheWeather

Over the bank holiday we were down in Kettering on another Single With Kids camp. We had heard it was one of the best camps and so had been looking forward to it since booking in May! That may have had something to do with the fact that there is a small theme park on the site. After a horrendous bank holiday Friday drive we arrived to bright sunshine and pitched our tent in the rally field with the other families:

On the first night there were only about 30 families in the camp and most of us joined in the campfire fun after dark. This was my daughter topping the human pyramid:

Saturday morning dawned rather grey and with a rubbish forecast. We made sure everything was all secure before we set off to use our discounted wristbands in the theme park:

#CountryKids at Lanercost Priory #WhateverTheWeather

When we visited Hadrian's Wall my dad left his jumper behind so we had an excuse to head back up to the area to collect it! This time it was just my son and my parents who headed up to the north of Cumbria with Lanercost Priory as our main destination. To make the journey more interesting we went across country for part of the route. This meant we had a giggle at the signposts at Castle Carrock asking us to please dance:

We arrived just in time for a snack at the tea room and then popped into the free little museum:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Camping Fun #R2BC

The lovely Michelle is back from her summer holidays and hosting the linky for September. Thanks to everyone who joined in during August and I will be back hosting in October. Here are my reasons to be cheerful this month:

1) Roses

My roses are still holding their own and look beautiful whatever the weather and it makes me smile to look out the kitchen window at them:

2) Trip down memory lane

My friend posted this photograph of my son at a medieval reenactment when he was a toddler. An authentic dress for my historic tot: