After having a rock and roll time in Liverpool it was time to head to Yorkshire to see my Uncle and Aunt, Peter and Mel and my lovely little cousins Charlie and Monty.
Mel picked us up from the train station and drove us into through the gorgeous Yorkshire country side to the farm where they now live. Mel’s parents own the farm, and Peter and Mel reccently converted a barn into an amazingly beautiful house.
We were shown up the the guest room, which was huge. We had a comfy big bed and our own bathroom. After the grand tour of the beautiful new house we went to meet the boys.
Charlie
and Monty
That evening once Peter got home from work we were sitting around after bathtime (but before story time) talking. Mel said to Charlie “who are these people? Do you know what their names are?”
Charlie thought for a minute, points at Lindsay and says “that’s Strawberry” and then at me “and thats Raspberry!” It was terribly cute. Especially when the boys continued to refer to Lindsay as Strawberry but me as Julia.
I was chosen to read Billy Goat Gruff to Monty, and got horribly tongue tied, (I hope he didn’t notice) I then read him Hairy McLairy, I know this story well so had no problems.
The next morning Lindsay and I awoke to the sound of sheep baaing. So I jumped out of bed to check out the sheep.
Pete and Mel’s dad Howard were weighing lambs deciding which would make nice lamb chops…
(I refrained from making *too* many jokes about New Zealand)
Monty and Charlie were very good helpers.
They chose the blue spray paint to use on the “chosen lambs”
Charlie and Monty soon realised that there was more important work out in the mud puddle!
Lindsay had a bit of a sleep in, and when he came out to the yard, Monty went running up to him, stared at him…
then walked back to the mud.
Charlie meanwhile decided that the mud needed heavier machinery!
The view from the farm was amazing!
After lunch Strawberry (Lindsay) was invited to go for a spot of rock hunting with Charlie
We then all went into the little nearby village to buy some things for dinner
We then finished the day with a walk in the nearby woods
The path went through some woods, up along a section of drywall,
then down through steep fields full of sheep.
While Strawberry and Charlie read about airplanes,
and Pete cooked us a delicious meal,
I admired the view through the lounge room windows.
The next day, Mel had been instructed by my mother to take us to some Yorkshire Moors. On the way to the Moors we stopped for a spot of duck feeding.
The look on my face is deep concentration, I was trying to get the bread to land on the back of the big ducks!
There were soooo many ducks!
There was a storm approaching and it was cold and windy…so we only pretended to go walking on the moors.
Lindsay took this amazing shot:
Here you can see the storm coming in over the hill while the boys play in the garden/farm/grass/amazing outdoor adventure playground.
On our last day in Yorkshire Peter and Mel took us all out for lunch in the beautiful countryside (OMG Mel, I forgot what the place was called!) I had Yorkshire pudding with roast beef. Mel’s mum Jess works there and came and chatted to us while we decided what we wanted to eat.
After a lovely meal Pete and the boys bought some bubble wands, which were a lot of fun!
While Monty had a nap, Charlie, Strawberry and I played an epic game of hide and seek. I have never played hide and seek on a farm, if you have a chance try it. We hid behind hay bales, behind tractors in barns, behind horse floats and in Strawberry’s case next to a gate?
The last hiding spot, Charlie and Strawberry snuck through an outhouse closing the door behind them and hid in a back field I didn’t know they had access to. It took me so long to find them they got bored of hide and seek and decided to go on an adventure!
here you can just see them walking up this field!
We broke the news to Charlie that we had to leave in the morning
to cheer him up again Strawberry and Charlie went into the barn to talk about tractors:
It was so lovely because Charlie would tell Lindsay something about the tractor, and then ask Lindsay a question. And if Lindsay didn’t know the answer the 2 of them would work out an answer together.
In the morning before heading off to York I hung out with Monty while Lindsay fixed Mel’s computer. Charlie had gone to the auction with Jess and Howard to watch the blue spotted sheep being sold off.
Here is Monty sitting next to the Evil duck. I was walking to the bathroom the night before while everyone else was sitting in the lounge. I had kicked the duck in the dark and it started playing Ode to Joy so loud that Mel was able to hear it through the baby monitor!
I leave you with this gorgeous photo of Monty saying “cheessseeee”
but really thinking how glad he was his cousin and the camera she had pointed at him 24/7 was leaving!
