Wednesday, 9 January 2013

Link to 2013 Blog


We have started a new blog for 2013 and you can find it by clicking on the link below:


Thursday, 3 January 2013

21-31 Dec 2012 – Rothbury


 Christmas and New Year in Rothbury again.   No snow as in previous years, but lots of rain and VERY cold.
We spent a lot of time in the local park, where Jack demonstrated his climbing skills
And Georgia showed us how muddy she could get without even trying
We also made good friends with a local horse
As always Christmas Day started very early
Jan kept going with lots of cups of tea
Jack got a Darth Vader outfit
Georgia was well pleased with a dolls house
And Stuart and Michelle did quite well also
On Boxing Day we went to see the latest local tourist attraction.   “Northumberlandia”  (Lady of the North) is a huge land sculpture in the shape of a reclining female figure.   It is a quarter of a mile long and 100 foot high.   It is apparently the largest human shaped art form in the world.  It was built by a mining company in return for allowing them to extract coal by opencasting.
Though sunny it was still very cold.   The site is not finished yet, and the paths were very muddy.   Behind us is the head of “Slag Alice”, as she is known by the locals.
Despite the cold, and the mud, the car park was full.   The northerners are a hardy lot, and after a very wet week were obviously keen to get out for a bit of fresh air.
We also watched a lot of TV and movies on Stuart’s huge cinema screen.   Mind we had to put up with Georgia making friends with any fish or animals on the screen.
New Years Eve was the brightest day of our stay, and we celebrated by a visit to Craigside House, the local national trust site.   The house was closed to the public, but there were quite a few locals walking around the grounds.
We did a short walk with Stuart and family, though Jack soon got tired of all that boring walking.   After a short circular walk they returned home
We carried on around the gardens and lake, and then walked the 2 miles back to Rothbury.