My blog year in review: Part 2

Time to finish off what I started in Part 1 with the second part of the year from July to December 2011:


July


This was the month I spent an awful lot of time getting my benefits re-instated after they were incorrectly removed! I made good use of my MP Tim Farron to get a resolution - eventually... In contrast to this my children had some ideas for a future new husband for me. I also got a chance to showcase my grandparents in The Gallery.


This was the month of the first Cumbria Twitnic and I hope to repeat it again. There was a brief foray into a Saturday Recipe Swap and I ought to try that again. I also joined in the Love a Read Book Group a few times over the year. 

View from Loughrigg

Reasons to be Cheerful XVII (#R2BC)

On the whole a much more cheerful week so here's the things that have made me smile in the past 7 days:
1) A Wonderful Weekend
The friends who did the most to help me move out of my old home to come up north were up in Kendal staying with my parents. We had a great weekend showing them around Kendal, having a BBQ and going to the #CumbriaTwitnic. It was a very relaxed weekend with friends old and new. The fact the sun shone for almost the whole time was an added bonus.

Windermere from Fell Foot Park on Sunday

2) The Fells
See Tuesday's post where I got a chance to actually get out and enjoy the marvels on offer on my doorstep.

Grasmere from Loughrigg Fell

3) My Son's Nursery Leaver's Report
My son is leaving nursery next Wednesday and yesterday I was given his final report. I am one proud mummy after reading the lovely things his teacher had to say about him:

• very confident and motivated
• hugely creative and develops some fabulous play
• His imagination is a joy to observe
• has a superb general knowledge and wide extensive vocabulary
• has a wonderful knowledge of songs and rhymes

The best bit has to be "you have been a super member of the class and we will all miss you". I think it could be quite emotional when he has his last visit next week.

#CumbriaTwitnic at Fell Foot Park

Since I started tweeting as LakesSingleMum I have met many lovely people online but only encountered a couple of them in real life. So when one of the Cumbrian tweeters arranged a meet-up as a CumbriaTwitnic at Fell Foot Park on Windermere it was a great chance to meet up in a safe place with other tweeters and their families.

Windermere from Fell Foot lakeshore

As yet since moving up here I hadn't been to this National Trust property and people had been telling me what a great place it was for a family day out. I had friends visiting from Sussex with their teenage son and they were pleased to come and see what the park had to offer. Luckily we are all members so parking and entry were free. As non-members parking started at £2 and up to £9 for the whole day.


We arrived ahead of the scheduled meet time so headed to the adventure playground to eat lunch. With children aged 4, 7 and 14 it was a perfect spot as they all had something to amuse themselves on whilst the adults had a table to sit at.

All ages on the adventure playground

It was such a sunny day we had to beat a retreat to the shady trees on the lake shore to cool down. On reaching the BBQ area, which was the meeting point, we discovered that we had earlier been sitting next to 2 other tweeters in the playground but hadn't known! The children from the families got on well together despite having never met. There was plenty of paddling in the chilly waters of the lake as well as football on the grass. 


The grown ups had time to sit in either the sun or shade and chat whilst the children entertained themselves. It was great to be able to talk to people face to face I had only had conversations with using 140 characters on my computer or mobile phone. Meeting somewhere such as National Trust property was an ideal venue as it was very public and safe. It also meant that our children were happy to be there too.

My fellow tweeters in the shade

As a final treat we had ice creams from the cafe though it was hard to choose between the yummy flavours of Lakes Ice Cream. The children had one last go in the adventure playground and then it was time to go. Everyone agreed it had been a lovely afternoon out and one to be repeated. I will certainly be back to the park with my children over the summer (next time with swimming things!) and I look forward to future twitter meetups with my fellow Cumbrian tweeters.

Part of "Art in the park"