Land of Harry Potter

My son asked if I would buy him a set of chop sticks the other day. We found four sets of colourful bamboo chopsticks and all the children decided to use them.The trouble was that we were having an Indian curry for tea but that didn't seem to put them off. My son's interest in Japan often spills over into our lives.I for instance have found myself creating a pin interest board. I hadn't appreciated just how pink everything looks in blossom season.!

He had also recorded the film To kill a Mockingbird. Despite being black and white I watched as all three children curled up in the warmth of our cottage and watched it together, blissfully ignorant that they were  actually enjoying a GCSE prescribed text book.They discussed, prejudice,standing up for what was right,and the development of the film industry and I was saddened that the current education system  has the power to take away the love of a good book - in fact the  antithesis or what it sets out to achieve.I would rather my children read book after book after book than one set book all year as my seventeen year old ended up doing.

We went to Scotland on a snow hunt for a few days. It wasn't really planned we just decided to go.We travelled to the Cairngorms and  Glencoe was beautiful with its conical shaped mountains,rivers of snow running down their ravines. Unfortunately , despite loads of snow on the pistes, the winds were too strong for the ski lifts to work safely so we didn't get up the mountain.

 It wasn't a wasted trip however, far from it.My autistic son commented that the terrain looked something like the terrain of a Harry Potter film.We discovered that in fact,that's exactly what it was.The Prisoner of Azkaban was filmed there in 2003. The mountains are some of the oldest sedimentary strata and volcanic formations in the world.They were created 380 million years ago and were formed into their existing shapes by the Cauldon substenance. (Visions of Macbeth came to mind)

With our plans to ski scuppered , I managed to grab the opportunity to do a longer walk in my preparation for the Coniston to Barrow walk.

So far this year it's been wet and preparations for Cumbria's Finest have been a priority.

Ellen's Isle Loch Katrine

My walk took me along Loch Katrine to Ellens Isle. Along the way signs told the story of Sir Walter Scott (who gave his name to the steamer on the Loch) and history of the Scottish rebellion against the English. Quite relevant in the light of the forthcoming vote for independence.It was raining and there weren't many people about but it was lovely walking amongst the beautiful Scottish scenery on my own,whilst daddy chose to watch the rugby and the children ( chaperoned by their eldest brother) spent an hour in the pool and playing pool in the games room.

Walk to Loch Katrine from Loch Achtray

My 'not so keen to go out son' is a very happy boy up here in a place he feels safe with  dvds,fishing, golf, canoeing,snooker,table tennis and swimming , all on the doorstep.

A lovely break from routine!