That Is a Mad Eye Deer

The Weekend Picture No. 43

Mad Eye Deer at Longleat

We were at Longleat Safari Park two weeks ago.

We saw lions, rhinoceroses and hippoes. Our car was sat on by monkeys and we had meerkats ducking between our feet. We laughed at the porcupines and the anteater.

But the highlight for the Dubmeister was Mad Eye Deer. Halfway round you get to pay to feed the deer. You pull onto the side of the road and, in a reverse of a MacDonalds' Drive Thru the Deer gather by your car window, mouths open, napkins around their necks and knives and forks at the ready.

The greediest of the deer was Mad Eye who worked her way through our bag of treats without pausing for breath.

She is called Mad Eye Deer because  ... Well, you see if you can work it out.

Speak soon

JH

Training in the Spring Snow

The Weekend Picture No. 41

The Peak District in the Spring

In 2 months and 8 days time The Lovely Wife and I will be lacing up our walking boots for the 24 peaks in 24 hours charity challenge in the Lake District in order to raise money for Caring Matters Now.

Caring Matters Now is a charity which works with children with a rare skin syndrome called Congenital Melanocytic Naevi or CMN.CMNs are large birthmarks which can cover up to 80% of a child's body. In addition to the obvious cosmetic impacts CMNs can also cause developmental delays and present a slightly raised risk of skin cancer.

Caring Matters Now works to support those with CMN, raise funds for research and raise awareness of the condition. It is a small charity that makes good use of every penny. It has done a huge amount for E, our youngest, and because of that we have decided to pack blister plasters and a stash of Kendall Mint Cake for an assault on some of the Lake District's most awesome peaks (Scafell Pike anyone?)

In preparation we are taking every opportunity that presents itself to walk up things. Next week we are walking the Thames tow path (distance for stamina) and then the Surrey Hills (more hills!). This past week we have been in the snowy wasteland that is the Peak District in the Spring. We spent Thursday walking 13 miles on the Kinder Scout Plateau in the Peaks and sinking thigh deep in snow drifts whilst avoiding slipping off the ridge path to a grisly end. This weekend's picture was taken just before we joined the ridge path - hence the smile.

Friday was an easier walk of (only) 8 miles from Hathersage in Derbyshire to an amazing pub called "The Barrel at Bretton" It stands atop one of the peaks with it's own panoramic view of some of the best scenery the UK can offer. The picture below is a valley we crossed en route to the pub.

Abney, Derbyshire

We have now hit our fundraising target - for which we are hugely grateful - THANKYOU! - however, we are still taking sponsorship and would love to break the £2,000 barrier. So, if you would like to sponsor us please visit our JustGiving page which you can get to by the button on the top left of the page or by clicking here.

Speak soon
JH

PS Only 4 days left to nominate for the BIBs blogging awards. I have put myself forward for 2 categories - please click on the badges to nominate or you can click here. Thankyou.

PPS - This blog is 1 year old on Wednesday (!!) Watch this space.

It's Snowing!

THE WEEKEND PICTURE NO. 34

We love Snow Days!

It has been snowing almost non-stop here since 9am on Friday morning. It snowed so dramatically on Friday that all of our schools gave up the ghost and closed for the day before the snow closed Surrey's highways and byways to all traffic bar husky drawn sleds.

We visited the local golf club on Saturday morning to sled on it's fairways. The Dubmeister disappeared in a cloud of testosterone filled snowballs to join his best mate skidding down the blackest of black run hills whilst the lovely wife and I spent a very chilled morning (get it?) chatting with friends and cheering on The Signs of Spring as they giggled downhill.

It was perfect.

Speak soon

JH

The Weekend Picture No.20

Cap'n E - ready for the Great Raft Race

We have just come back from a great weekend away with lots of new friends at the PGL Centre at Boreatton Park in Shropshire.

We were spending the weekend with the charity Caring Matters Now which works to support children with a rare condition called Congenital Melanocytic Naevus and raise funds for research into the condition. Our youngest has CMN and she had a great time over the weekend getting to know other boys and girls who have it too.

We built and raced rafts, abseiled impossibly high walls, swung on giant swings, practised archery and quad bike racing and got to know lots of really nice people.

We are looking forward to the next one.

Speak soon
JH

PS As part of our support for Caring Matters Now my lovely wife and I are about to embark upon a gruelling charity challenge - more information to come later this week.

The Weekend Picture No.18

The Dubmeister brings a little bit of Cornwall home with him.

 The Dubmeister was away for the last fortnight of August. He was camping with a brilliant Christian boys organisation called Urban Saints.

He went mountain boarding, wave jumping and hiking. He sat around camp fires, ate enormous breakfasts and bundled with his mates.

Mostly he had fun and came back a happier, more confident, and yet slightly dirtier person.

His tent was flooded out one night and he mostly wore flip flops around the sodden camp site so when he came home I just had to take a picture of his feet.

It's great to have him home.

Speak Soon
JH

PS You can read about the Dubmeister's bedroom tidying exploits here

The Weekend Picture No.14

On holiday - Poppit Sands, Wales

We have just had a fantastic holiday in the village of St Dogmael's near Cardigan in South West Wales.

We chose a week when the rain didn't make an appearance so we got to experience that corner of the UK in all it's glory.

We canoed on the Teifi River, went Dolphin and Seal watching from a bright orange powerboat, visited Castles and walked the hills that embrace this place.

The highlights for us were the beaches at Mwnt, Tresaith and Poppit Sands (pictured). Each of which is as beautiful as it is sandy, as unique as it is (relatively) empty, as intriguing as it is unspoilt.

This picture was taken as the sun was about to set on a barbecue evening at Poppet Sands.

Speak Soon
JH

Games for Long Car Journeys

We have just come back from a fabulous week away in a village called St Dogmaels on the coast of South West Wales. It was fabulous because it did not rain (AT ALL), we spent 4 days on beautiful local beaches - and WE SAW DOLPHINS!

Does life get any better than that?

The only thing that was not fabulous about the holiday was the journey there. 229 miles in more than 6 hours.

Now, I love my family very much BUT 6 hours in a glorified tin can on one of the hottest days of the year stretches things a little.

There are just so many rounds of Eye Spy that you can play and verses of Ten One Hundred Green Bottles that you can sing.

So, with that in mind, here is the Dad Etc Guide to Games for Long Car Journeys. This list is compiled by the Signs of Spring and the Dubmeister - and verified by me as non annoying for adults.

The Weekend Picture No.9

Life doesn't get much better than this!

We have just come home from a great weekend with friends in the Derbyshire village of Hathersage. On Saturday morning we dodged the showers to take a walk across the hills that surround this beautiful place and stumbled across a flower filled meadow (above).

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were with some of our favourite people in the world. Does life get much better?

Speak soon.
JH

The Weekend Picture No.8

Dad, next time can we please have a tent which we can fit our heads into!

The sun shone on Saturday so we went camping. We had a great time with the Dubmeister's Scout troupe on their annual family camp. We learnt archery, sang campfire songs, ate burnt barbecued burgers and made new friends.

And then on Sunday (today) it rained. Only it wasn't "the rain all day, soak you to the skin" type of rain. No, it was "the wait until you are about to pack your tent up and then rain hard for 5 minutes" type of rain.

But that was OK as well because we had had a great time and we could laugh together with our new friends at how typically bad the British weather is.

Speak Soon.
JH