#CountryKids in London and Berkshire

This weekend was our annual pre-Christmas trip down to London and Berkshire. We took the 6:21 AM train from Oxenholme to allow for time in the city before heading out to Ascot. My son's aunt and uncle met us from the Northern Line and took us to the RAF Museum at Hendon. He will be studying World War 2 this year at school so this was an ideal location. 

Here are a few of our favourite airplanes:

Lancaster Bomber

He was amazed at the size of the plane but also at how small the places for the crew were.

Spitfire

Of course this is the iconic British fighter from World War Two. We have seen the Dunkirk film which highlighted the vital role this plane played in saving Britain from Nazi invasion.

Vulcan Bomber

Reasons to be Cheerful: A week of cheer! #R2BC

Are we really almost half way through December already? I can't believe in less than a fortnight it will be Christmas Day! At least there are plenty of festive frolics to make me cheerful now. I am also watching season 2 of the Crown as I type which I am thoroughly enjoying! Here are my 7 main reasons to be cheerful this week:
1) Community Coffee Morning 

We had a Christmas coffee morning as a community as we had Big Lottery fund money left over from our playground opening in the summer. One of our residents is a professional cook and she made all these wonderful goodies for us to enjoy:

2) Magical Kendal

Whilst out to scope out shots for our latest Fell running video I saw how magical Fletcher Park was looking in the wintry light:

3) Fabulous Frost

Fractions made simple

As a teacher and a parent I become aware of which areas of mathematics children are most likely to struggle with. I am starting a mini series of videos on how to work on some of these areas and make them simpler to understand. 

First up it is fractions. The video looks at:

• equivalent fractions
• common denominators
• simplifying fractions
• adding fractions
• subtracting fractions
• multiplying fractions
• dividing fractions
• improper fractions

What areas of maths would you like to have explained simply?

Recipe Monday: Roasted Vegetable Soup

I know full well that I am not eating enough vegetables so I seized the chance today to remedy that as I had a colourful array of vegetables waiting to be eaten:

I chopped up some of each colour carrot, a few parsnips and the red onion and tossed them in olive oil with some of my flavoured salt:

Fell Running Challenge #2 Kendal Castle

My son was very pleased to have had over 100 views of the two versions of his first fell running film in a week! So we headed down the road to Kendal Castle to film our second one. It was bitterly cold but no snow except in the distance as he ran up, around and down at the castle: