Ee by gum

Yorkshire, Yorkshire, ee by gum
We’re the Rooke family and we like to have fun
We travel in style in our yellow camper van
So watch out Yorkshire here we come

And so with the obligatory holiday song penned and words committed to memory we were off for our adventure in the land of the White Rose.

To be honest I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Yorkshire. I had vague memories of a family holiday as a child but really I was pretty much a blank canvas. We were staying on a farm which promised to let the kids feed the animals every day – and this turned out to be the highlight for both Emily and Niomi…Donald Duck; Mad Mable the hen; a pair of angry geese; Buster, Angie, Annie and Chloe the pigs; Molly and Mandy the lambs; and about 50 hens were all duly fed every morning by the girls and eggs were collected, graded and packed. It kicked off every day in style. Then there was the swimming…the farm had a quite simply superb indoor swimming pool which could be booked to ourselves for up to an hour and a half every day – it even had a sauna and steam room for us older children. So the pool, came a close second in the highlights.

Eggsperts

Milk-tastic

Buster the NBF

Private swimming apart from the ducks

These 2 things alone filled up quite a bit of the action, but we also packed in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Castle Hill, Cannon Hall Farm, the National Coal Mining Museum, pony riding, Yorkshire Yummy Ice Cream and a couple of walks on the Kirklees Way. And all these things added up to a great holiday full of simple holiday fun. The sun shone most of the time, the van pootled up and down through winding country lanes and idyllic Yorkshire villages, the family sung, laughed and enjoyed the fresh air, and we ate great home cooked food and local produce. A real recipe for success…

 Worried about journey down pit

Leaving the others behind 

 Sheep racing

Sister racing

 Peace at the YSP

Mummy-daughter time

Fake strop on top of Castle Hill 

 Hide and seek

Stand off

Horse joy

Sister bond

And to top it off we had a lovely couple of days down in Birmingham with my Mum and Dad, and a quick overnighter near Preston with friends Edward and Ewa (despite torrential weather from the Manchester tornado making for an epic journey).

 Ice cream face

Ice cream face

Half the Rooke clan

Now it’s back to work for 5 days before we’re off again to North Berwick…Phew. Ee by gum indeed.

Release...

release
verb
1. allow or enable to escape from confinement; set free.
2. allow (something) to move, act, or flow freely.

We all need ‘release’ every now and then…it’s important to allow ourselves to flow better and feel relaxed and recharged. I’m a great believer in meditation and fasting to let me flow better, but there’s been plenty of other release going on in the Rooke household.

First up following release from school was some summer adventures round and about. Then it was the Kelburn Garden Party to kick off the summer holidays in style. This quirky, hippy delight is an annual festival taking place in the grounds of Kelburn Castle – itself a quirky, hippy delight. We rocked on down there and had a marvellous time - Niomi stealing the show with her non-stop grooving round the grounds.

 Chilling in the woods 1

Chilling in the woods 2

The iconic Kelburn Castle

Still lovin' the unicorn

You don't get this at Glastonbury!

Videoclip: Festie veteran

And then there were butterflies. The girls have been growing these beauties from caterpillars…watching them every day going through their miraculous metamorphosis via chrysalis to emerge as wonderful Painted Ladies. And then release to our garden.

Release!

A painted lady on not so painted nails

3 butterflies

2 butterflies

Having a drink in the sun

Delighted at butterfly success

But not every release needs be so dramatic – some gentle time in the garden can also do the job. My ongoing horticultural opus has progressed well this year – particularly with the inclusion of my earth-loving spouse. She’s certainly getting her release from growing our soul food – ‘my veggies’ they are now referred too….Geez – I’m only allowed to touch the flowers these days. Still the whole place is looking resplendent this year – particularly ‘my roses’…

And with holidays to Yorkshire and North Berwick right upon us – hopefully they’ll be plenty more release coming right up.

Garden release 1

Garden release 2

A tale of two daughters...

I have 2 daughters. They are very different…Tanya’s sister said a while back “You really do have two very different daughters you know”. Yup.…

Part One

The End of An Affair...

 Rainbow chic

Unicorn lover

Emily thinks fingernails are for painting, fairies are magical and hula-hooping is the best. She's fairly polite and well, I guess a bit like you'd expect from a 6 year old girl.

About 4 years ago some fairies came to live at our house (see post Infestation). Ever since then Nixie, Blossom and Petal have been as much a part of the family as anyone. There’s fairy doors in the house, a fairy playground inside and out and regular notes written back and forth to keep the communication channels open with our other-worldy beings… but the other night…

Emily: Mummy, are fairies real?
Mummy (somewhat taken aback): Why do you say that?
Emily: Because all the notes I get from Nixie look like they are written in your handwriting.
Mummy: Well, no they aren’t real. But there is lots of magic in the world.

Pause….

Emily: Does that mean all the things I left for them in the garden went in the bin.
Mummy: Erm, yes. Is that ok?
Emily: Yes, don’t worry Mummy. I still love you…

She's a smart cookie.
And so that was it – the Fairy’s End. The house of cards is tumbling…will we make it to Christmas?

Videoclip: Hula hooping

Part Two

Bugs, beasts and butterflies...

 Wild Child

Snail lover

Niomi is a little more unconventional. For her fingernails are for picking, snails are for holding and fun involves hard core cycling...She's much more kinesthetic in her approach to the world, learning by doing. And clearly letting you know if its not going to plan. Maybe not quite so typical of a 4 year old girl.

We're reading a book at the moment about the last 'Wild Child' and at the end the last Wild Child discovers she's not alone - the other Wild Child being the reader. Niomi loves the fact that she can be this Wild Child. She's forever picking up insects and bugs - and is currently fascinated by her butterflies that she's growing from caterpillars. She even recently managed to pick up the chicken pox but pretty much seemed to take it in her stride! And when it comes to her bike she may be the smallest but she'll pedal twice as hard as anyone to make up for it. She's seriously impressive.

Videoclip: Family bike ride

So I definitely have 2 different daughters but that's great. They both bring much joy in their diversity and despite their differences they really do have a special bond. And holiday season's coming - just hoping the snails don't need to go on holiday with us!