The days seem to be rushing by – it’s now less than a week before we start on our travels to Goa, India… cannot wait after the weather we’ve had in the last few days – a little bit of everything including half a foot of snow, torrential rain and dazzling sunshine!

Last time I did the blog, we were looking forward to having a celebratory weekend with Louise, Lee and the grandkids… in the end, Aedan decided he wanted to stay home (which is fine – he’s 16 years old now after all and has much more interesting things to do than hang-about whilst the rest of us go see Father Christmas on a steam train!) so Pete went to collect Louise, Lee & Niamh as they are waiting for their new car to arrive… This gave me time to complete Niamh’s birthday “cake”… well, I say cake, but for a 7 year old with strange dietary tastes which only includes delicacies such as chicken nuggets, fish-fingers and lentil soup, is a challenge! Fortunately, two of Niamh’s other favourites are meringue and Nutella… so that’s what she got – a Nutella meringue “cake” – see pic below… unfortunately, my first time at making meringue “nests” (I use this term very loosely as they were more like meringue splodges! 🤣) meant the insides were a bit chewy for our favourite granddaughter, although she did at least try a minuscule bit of the crunchy stuff on the outside and it looked pretty good with the candles even if I do say so myself! Anyway, it’s the thought that counts and it gave us the opportunity to sing happy birthday and for Niamh to blow out the candles! 🥳

So, Friday was the birthday celebration and Saturday (23rd November) marked the start of our family Christmas! Storm Bert did not disappoint and, although I know people around the country had a terrible time of it, we woke on Saturday morning to what I can only be described as perfect Christmassy weather with about half a foot of snow! Of course, it quickly dawned on us that we might struggle to get through this amount of snow to the Polar Express train we had booked for the five of us which, being at least a 30 min drive away in normal weather conditions and departing the station at 11.30am, might be a challenge… Undeterred, Pete and I went out to clear the driveway… unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we could not get the “big” car up the drive which, as we live on a hill, is quite steep… it then dawned on us that the Mini (yes, the “small” car!), which is parked in front of the house so on the flat, might make it – it is a four-wheel drive Mini after-all and deceptively bigger on the inside (a bit like the TARDIS 🤣)… Pete had been down to see the main road through the village and, although only a few cars had been along it, thought it would be possible if we could get down there… so the snow was cleared off the Mini and we walked down to the end of our road to meet him at the bottom – all good so far with an hour to make the 30 min journey… we started to believe we could make it! We crawled along the main road towards Keighley but on reaching West Lane, got held up due to a number of cars struggling to get up the hill (luckily, we were aiming to head down and hoped that gravity would help with this!)… which delayed us for another 15 mins whilst this nice old chap helped those getting stuck by clearing the road in front of their cars with a snow shovel! With the clock ticking down, I let everyone know that this was the point of no return – if we turned down the hill and then got stuck, we had to be prepared to (a) miss the train trip and (b) walk home… it was a chance we were all prepared to take and I’m glad we did as when we got to the bottom, the roads were not too bad and it had already started raining instead of snowing… we made the train with about 20 mins to spare! Hurrah!!!

The Polar Express experience, although a little pricey, was great – we missed a bit of the musical “show” at the start but not much… on the train, we had hot chocolate and cookies – there was singing / dancing and an instructor who came and clipped our golden tickets… and of course, once we got to the North Pole (or Embsay as we like to call it locally – hahahaha! 🤣) Santa got on the train and gave everyone a small silver bell with the lines from the Movie “This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas – as am I. Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart”… In the movie, at the end, the little boy says “At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them… Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe” – aww, sweet! Glad to say, all five of us (and everyone else in our carriage) could hear the bell!

After the Polar Express, the rain was really quite heavy but we decided to have a detour on the way home to Skipton for a spot of lunch… all in all, it was a great day out and, by the time we got home, the roads were all clear and we had no trouble getting up our road back to the house – phew! Thoughts of course, with all our friends affected badly by the weather…

When we woke on the 24th November, there was not one trace of snow left – you would not have believed that the previous day had caused us so much panic… anyway, it was good because it meant that Santa had also been able to visit the house and drop off some early Christmas presents! Hurray! It also meant that Niamh could try out the roller skates Santa had brought her – I think it might take her a little longer to master these than it did the bike we previously got her! Hilarious and slightly stressful watch though 🤣 – hope she doesn’t cause herself too much damage with these… reminded me of my roller-skates when I was a kid and hurtling down what I thought was the biggest and steepest hill “EVER” – “Northview” which was on my way to school at Whiteoak in Swanley… of course, as I got older, this hill wasn’t that steep or long for that matter but as a roller-skating kid, it was well scary! 🫣

After pressies and breakfast, it was time for the family to leave which I always find a bit sad… Louise does a fantastic job bringing up our grandchildren who both have autism and additional needs – we are proud of your Lou! You are doing a great job especially with supporting your Mum & working too! We will always be here for you when you need us!

Whilst Pete drove the family home, I went to see Mum and spent a lovely couple of hours at the Raikes talking about how big the trees are outside her bedroom window, and how they could be blown over with how strong the wind was on Sunday (the remnants of Storm Bert!)… it’s always slightly bizarre when she mentions things that I cannot see – like mistaking a leaf or branch for someone who has climbed up the big tree outside… but I put it down to a muddle of words rather than what she really thinks! God, I love that woman!

25th November 2024 – Our preparations for India have been going OK – the only thing that was worrying me was that, despite requesting my medication when we got back from Spain, delays in the delivery of Creon meant that Boots had not been able to fulfil my prescription. I have taken Creon (which is a pancreatic enzyme supplement for people whose pancreas does not make enough enzymes to digest their food) since suffering with Pancreatitis back in June 2022 – I remember the date because it was when I stopped drinking alcohol (which can cause Pancreatitis…) which is 891 days ago – not that I am counting, I just have an app that tells me! I am not really sure what the impact would be if I stopped taking this medication, although I do know, if I eat badly, then I get digestive pain! Anyway, I had enough medication to last me until Christmas Eve and, although Pete thought there was a good chance we’d be able to buy Creon in India (you can buy most things there!) it was stressing me a bit… having asked for another prescription I could perhaps use at a different pharmacy, I started calling around to see if anyone had any in stock… it was the lady in Superdrug, Keighley who told me about the Creon Helpline (who knew!) and gave me their number… I called them and they were able to tell me which pharmacies local to me had recently had Creon delivered – what a brilliant service! Certainly saved me a few phone calls and, I’m pleased to say, I now have enough Creon to last me until next March! Woohoo – that’s a weight off my mind for sure! 😅

As we collected my meds from Oxenhope – another lovely, proper Yorkshire village if you are ever visiting the area and just happens to be where the Keighley & Worth Valley steam train terminates (think The Railway Children!) – we headed to Ogden Water for a walk around the reservoir. Despite a couple of short, sharp showers (easy for you to say, try it with a lisp! 🥴) the weather was bright and sunny even if there was a nip in the air!

Yesterday (26th November), the weather was a little rainy in the morning but we decided to visit The Strid near Bolton Abbey, which is a glorious, circular walk when the weather is fine, along the River Wharfe. Leaving from Barden Bridge (near Barden Tower), it’s about a 5-mile round walk with a cafe half-way for a welcomed warm up with coffee and cake!

The Strid is actually where the River Wharfe narrows – I thought I would look this up on the internet where I found an interesting website suggesting this might be “the most dangerous stretch of water in the world” which sounds very dramatic! You can read more here if you’re interested: https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/region/the-strid-in-the-river-wharfe/.

The Bolton Abbey website describes the Strid, which is positioned in the heart of Strid Wood, as “…a natural wonder, where the river suddenly narrows forcing the water through at great pressure” and goes onto say that “The Strid was formed by the wearing of softer rock by the circular motion of small stones in hollows” adding a warning that “…the Strid is very dangerous and lives have been lost. Please take note of the signs in this area and stay well back from the edge”… Apparently, until recently, the true depth of the Strid was not known although local signage estimated it as 2 double decker buses (around 9 metres…) however, a “YouTuber” recently measured the depth using sonar equipment and suggests it’s more like 60 metres! Which is more like 15 double deckers! Either way, you certainly would not have wanted to go anywhere near it after all the rain we’ve had recently that’s for sure 😱

Well, that’s all for now… hope everyone wasn’t too affected by Storm Bert & is safe and well… I think I might have one last blog in me before we hit the beach in Goa! Watch this space 😊😘