A Game of Cards: June 2012

I had been wanting to do a "proper" ride for ages, ever since Tom had the stabilisers taken off his bike and proved himself to be a proper little powerhouse. The onset of a spate of gorgeous May days, akin to the height of summer with deep blue skies, hot sun and gentle breezes saw us spending a Saturday planning the much anticipated "proper" ride.

Along our stunning coastline northwards towards Seaton Sluice, taking it slow with stops whenever requested for the most whimsical of reasons. Then cutting inland, up the hill to National Trust property of Seaton Delaval Hall. The weather on Sunday dawned wet and grey, one of our famous Whitley sea frets covering everything the eye could see in dense fog. We gathered our things together nonetheless, confident that once we headed inland the sun would appear.

Tyres pumped, helmets on, ready to go!

Tom vanishing into the fog

The weather was looking much improved by the time we got to Seaton Sluice, where we had a drink and a snack and Steve, Sam and Tom decided to climb the (really rather steep!) sand dunes...

Victorious!

... which was a sight to behold from the bottom. By the second attempt the boys were scaling the ascent with aplomb that belied their age and size! But then it was time to mount our bikes and turn inland as we climbed the hill to Seaton Delaval Hall. As we neared the top the sun came out gloriously and so we coasted down the drive to the Hall under blue skies, about 2 hours after setting out from home. We availed ourselves of the picnic tables, where we ate our packed lunch and had a kickabout with the football Sam had carried in his backpack. The kids scampered about like squirrels in the long grass, attempting to climb the trees and exploring through gates and darkly shadowed corners.

We paid our entrance fee and went inside Seaton Delaval Hall for the first time. I was entranced by the beautiful gardens and the exterior stonework of this old building built in early 1700's.

Laburnum Arch

We marvelled at the famous Rhododendron Hedge with it's fantastic den, deep inside the perfect height for 2 little boys to play in - with flowers growing even on the inside.

They have a fantastic play area that is made entirely from carved and sculptured tree trunks which is truly amazing, and the boys had a great time scrambling all over it - until Tom fell off (he was alright, he hit the ground with a real thunk, but had no bruises or scrapes to show for it!).

By this time we had spent about 2 hours meandering through the gardens, exploring the old cellars and investigating the buildings and chapel and we realised that we still had to make the long bicycle ride home so we really ought to get on our bikes! We took what we thought was a cunning route home, along the river, avoiding the loooong climb up to get to the top of Seaton Sluice. Turned out to be a trickier route than we anticipated and we ended up heading back towards the road, but at least we missed out the big hill!!! Coming home took us about half an hour longer than the trip out but I was so proud of my boys who handled it all amazingly well, with little, to no whinging. When we got home I thought they would crash in front of the telly exhausted from the cycling and the heat, but they headed straight out to play with some of the neighbourhood kids in the back lane!

It was one of those days that sparkles in your memory.

One of those diamond days, that fills you with happiness.

A day that I will always treasure, even when my little boys are gown up with little children of their own and my own cycling days are long gone.

Eeeeeeeeee. It's been awhile. And if I'm telling the truth, this post came very close to not happening. It's nothing to do with not wanting to write my blog and everything to do with being, what's that modern parlance... oh yes, time-poor! Everyday something happens, or I think about something and I want to write about it, but then another day and night slips through my fingers and before I know it my head is hitting the pillow. Another day of "To Do's" left undone.

I was talking to my sister the other day for the first time in weeks, maybe even months and she asked after my mental health. I guffawed (yes, literally) and replied that I had no time for mental health concerns, to which she commented that she thought that that was a sign of really good mental health!! Things are stressful. We are still in limbo, still struggling through, still no end in sight. But most of the time our money worries are not that close to the top of my thoughts and the tick tock of daily life keeps us moving along without too much introspection.

We have recently had a series of amazing May days with blue skies and hot sunshine and there was no way I was going to allow us to waste them. We've been to the beach after school, the boys have played out till 7pm on school nights, I've lain out in the sunshine in our postage sized garden listening to the boys playing with water pistols and we have spent lots of time on our bicycles.

We started off one weekend with a gentle ride to Tynemouth, taking it slow with stops for playgrounds, eating ice cream and kicking the football. Tom coped very well with the ride, and both of my boys are starting to learn the rules of cycling and vagaries of traffic!