We reached it by around 4 in the evening, last saturday, after a 7 hour drive from Cambridge. We knew we were entering it when the country side began giving way to rolling hills and mooing cows and baaing sheep. We exited the motorway to go past the lush greenery and the beautiful, quaint cottages with flowers hanging from every possible corner and stopping the car every now and then to allow for stray sheep and lamb on the road. And then, we took a turn to the right and nearly had our eyes fallen out! We saw a pristine lake at the footsteps of a tall mountain, with flowers adorning her side and nothing else. No civilisation, no people and we had a ten minute drive by the side of the lake till we came to our campsite.
From then on, it was sheer fun and time whizzed by till we found ourselves home! Pitching the tent, making dinner on our small portable gas, chatting away outside the tent while the kids slept, surrounded by no other noise than the sound of the sheep, looking around to find your vision blocked by trees and mountains, waking up the next day to a hot cup of tea which I sipped sitting under a tree and watching the kids playing around, the drive to the lake, the brilliant three hours we spent there-feeling like the only people in the whole wide world, the kids throwing stones for hours on end into the water, the picnic by the lake, the scramble back into the car when thunder threatened our outing, cooking lunch, eating hot hot sambar sadam, heaviest rain we have seen in England, water seeping through our tent!!, walk by the mountain farm in the evening, the bridge across forever, the fallen pasta and eager mouths, the night in the tent with the rain outside, sitting by the lantern light and having a pasta dinner, talking into the night while the kids slept, the last day blues, packing up the tent, trip to windermere, river cruise, swans galore and the long drive home.
Suffered a mild depression after coming back, for we had left a large part of ourselves there, and we have promised ourselves another trip back there soon.
Showing posts with label Going out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Going out. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A trip to london, a car, a tv, the library, school and movies!!!!!
Yeah...thats about what we have been upto the past few weeks! Its been a whole lot of fun, getting new stuff and going to new places and putting the kids in school. But what I enjoyed the most was setting up the house! My daily activity would be searching gumtree for all the lovely second hand stuff we can get, and believe me, we got real great deals! We've been selling and reselling a lot of stuff and I am in love with some of the quaint furniture we have got! There is this lovely rattan set, chest of draws, corner table and bedside table which we got for a steal of 25 pounds, and it looks like new! We got another real antique looking pure wood chest of draws that I have converted into a dressing table, well, it does look a bit converted, but cute all the same. Sold off our old book rack and have put a few more items for sale, but no hits so far. Its so much more fun looking at the best deals, figuring out just how far is the person's place and whether the price and the item is worth all that travel and finally getting a good piece home. Its kindof addicting. I am having to drag myself out of gumtree and I thought writing a blog about it will give me a break from the 24x7 perusing of the site!
On other things, we did a trip to london a few weeks back, wanted to name the post.."London trip-part 1", cause thats exactly what it was! We went to my cousins place, had a blast with her family, she has a daughter my twins age and they all freaked out. All four in the tub, tumbling around, eating and spilling around the house and what not! And, we saw.....the london bridge. Thats about it! Took us around 4 hours finish our slow walk across the bridge and by then we were famished. Went to east ham, the Indian quarters of London and ate a full meals at Vasantha Bhawan, karthik was thrilled beyond words. So, I think there must be atleast parts 2 - 6 to finish up a bit of london.
Kids started school last week. They go to the afternoon batch, quite a lot of work for me! Getting them ready, fed and then walking for a good 15 minutes with them in the cold. It takes more than that if they decide to stop and watch the cars going, railway track, signals and other kids on bikes. We do somehow manage to make it in time. Karthik tried it a few days back and he did a hats off for me!! The challenge is in doing all this without blowing off the top. Maybe the kriya helps (meditation is making me a better mom!!). They love the school. Infact, kautu starts asking at around 11..."Amma, why are we not dressing up? We NEED to go to school". Ok, dears, I too am all in favor of you going, though the two hours you are there is hardly a break for me. It takes me another 15 min to walk with baby back, (she sits in her pushchair, thankfully). Then your dad comes home for lunch and by the time he leaves its time for me to started getting ready again to come n pick you up. So, tell me, who is having a better time, you or me? They have milk and a fruit at school and always have milk whiskers when I go to pick them up..looks sooo cute. They come running out and give a big kiss to baby and thrust their days activity paper at me. I then sit down to button up their coats which they have put on by themselves in class, and so its almost always either buttoned up wrong or not at all. Then we all start our long walk home. Only, the coming back takes longer due to either our library visit or the school stories.
And then there was the library membership. Ahhh.. I have been binging on books the past few weeks. Would finish up a book a day and they have such a huge collection (well, its free too, that counts!). We usually go there on the way back from school as said above and the kids sit on the engine in the kids section while I finish up my selections. Then we take a book for them and start back. Got caught in a blizzard last week (full with the snow and wind and all!). Luckily for us we had popped into the library, else would have landed up in no mans land during the blizzard, can't imagine what it would have been like with the kids stranded on the road.
Well, we finally bought a car two weeks back. So, I do drop them to school if its raining or snowing in the car, but I really prefer walking as parking is quite a pain, have to keep doing rounds to see if someone is taking the car out. Car is a boon, and the one we got is quite similar in controls to the one I used to drive in bangalore, so its quite a breeze (esp. the lovely roads and well behaved traffic.). If you can drive in any of the metros in India, you can pretty much drive any where else!
And the movies! Got a 40" tv and a blu ray player, so, its been a movie a day for the past few days..seen revolutionary road, volverine (or is it with a W?), curious case of benjamin button, kung fu panda, hangover (awsome!), knowing (terrible, bah) and more on the way. Kids sleep off at 7.30 these days, so we chill out after that.
Enough of my yak, yak? I'll get on with the snaps.
The leashes are not visible in this snap, but we had two leashes for both the boys which joined their hands with mine! Thats what saved our sanity that day.
Finally, a family snap.
In front of their school .. the first day.
By the river cam, on a sunny day
Feeding the ducks n swans, we all love this! Last week we finished up two entire loafs of bread. You should see how fast the ducks can swim when they want to catch that bit!
On other things, we did a trip to london a few weeks back, wanted to name the post.."London trip-part 1", cause thats exactly what it was! We went to my cousins place, had a blast with her family, she has a daughter my twins age and they all freaked out. All four in the tub, tumbling around, eating and spilling around the house and what not! And, we saw.....the london bridge. Thats about it! Took us around 4 hours finish our slow walk across the bridge and by then we were famished. Went to east ham, the Indian quarters of London and ate a full meals at Vasantha Bhawan, karthik was thrilled beyond words. So, I think there must be atleast parts 2 - 6 to finish up a bit of london.
Kids started school last week. They go to the afternoon batch, quite a lot of work for me! Getting them ready, fed and then walking for a good 15 minutes with them in the cold. It takes more than that if they decide to stop and watch the cars going, railway track, signals and other kids on bikes. We do somehow manage to make it in time. Karthik tried it a few days back and he did a hats off for me!! The challenge is in doing all this without blowing off the top. Maybe the kriya helps (meditation is making me a better mom!!). They love the school. Infact, kautu starts asking at around 11..."Amma, why are we not dressing up? We NEED to go to school". Ok, dears, I too am all in favor of you going, though the two hours you are there is hardly a break for me. It takes me another 15 min to walk with baby back, (she sits in her pushchair, thankfully). Then your dad comes home for lunch and by the time he leaves its time for me to started getting ready again to come n pick you up. So, tell me, who is having a better time, you or me? They have milk and a fruit at school and always have milk whiskers when I go to pick them up..looks sooo cute. They come running out and give a big kiss to baby and thrust their days activity paper at me. I then sit down to button up their coats which they have put on by themselves in class, and so its almost always either buttoned up wrong or not at all. Then we all start our long walk home. Only, the coming back takes longer due to either our library visit or the school stories.
And then there was the library membership. Ahhh.. I have been binging on books the past few weeks. Would finish up a book a day and they have such a huge collection (well, its free too, that counts!). We usually go there on the way back from school as said above and the kids sit on the engine in the kids section while I finish up my selections. Then we take a book for them and start back. Got caught in a blizzard last week (full with the snow and wind and all!). Luckily for us we had popped into the library, else would have landed up in no mans land during the blizzard, can't imagine what it would have been like with the kids stranded on the road.
Well, we finally bought a car two weeks back. So, I do drop them to school if its raining or snowing in the car, but I really prefer walking as parking is quite a pain, have to keep doing rounds to see if someone is taking the car out. Car is a boon, and the one we got is quite similar in controls to the one I used to drive in bangalore, so its quite a breeze (esp. the lovely roads and well behaved traffic.). If you can drive in any of the metros in India, you can pretty much drive any where else!
And the movies! Got a 40" tv and a blu ray player, so, its been a movie a day for the past few days..seen revolutionary road, volverine (or is it with a W?), curious case of benjamin button, kung fu panda, hangover (awsome!), knowing (terrible, bah) and more on the way. Kids sleep off at 7.30 these days, so we chill out after that.
Enough of my yak, yak? I'll get on with the snaps.
The leashes are not visible in this snap, but we had two leashes for both the boys which joined their hands with mine! Thats what saved our sanity that day.
Finally, a family snap.
In front of their school .. the first day.
By the river cam, on a sunny day
Feeding the ducks n swans, we all love this! Last week we finished up two entire loafs of bread. You should see how fast the ducks can swim when they want to catch that bit!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
It sunned today!!!
Yippeeeee.....the sun showed itself today! After days of rain and snow, the sun came out bright and beautiful for the entire day..and could we sit at home??? No way...we lugged the kids and a picnic hamper along and left early in the morning (an hour after sunrise, at 10.00 am) for some exploring. Went to another part of the river stretch, the one next to Kings college and the museums and had a lovely time sunning ourselves and feeding the ducks n swans again! Kaustubh was in his element today, crying for cake the moment we started the walk. Had to struggle to get him to a bench and then cut the cakes we had taken along. A few pieces went to the ducks as well. Had lunch in an indian restaurant nearby, and was thrilled beyond words! The food was amazing. Pure Kerala cuisine at a very reasonable price, and was infact more tasty than some stuff I have tasted in Kerala. The proprietor was very sweet too. The kids got a complementary dosa which they promptly attacked and devoured in a minute. Went to a friends place from there and spent a very nice evening with their family. They have a baby near Krithika's age and the kids loved playing with all her toys, while karthik n I loved the conversation and the onion pakodas! A lovely sunday...hoping for more sunny ones like this!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
eating out
Yesterday we took our kids out for dinner, rather, we took them with us for dinner! I went for a swim and rushed back to change and pack their diapers and bottle. Husband was already ready in his office clothes, babies were fed and happy, so all was fine. We rushed to the basement, me carrying Kaustubh and Kashyap safely tucked in his dad's arm, with their carry cots dangling from his arm and their bag precariously placed in mine.
He started the car to exclaim loudly 'Oh...the headlights are not working'!! Great. But I really wanted to eat out and I said 'Thats fine. We'll rush to the nearest hotel'. Now, we have a real steep incline at the exit of the parking lot. He took our 96' model maruti 800 up the steep with the AC on and it came straight back. Picture this...I am sitting in the passenger seat with Kashyap on my right leg and Kaustubh on my left. I try holding them tight, but they wriggle and stretch and try to take the steering away from their dad, and in the meanwhile, their dad is fighting a lost battle keeping the car in the incline. So, the four of us head backwards towards a pillar and he breaks in time. Does a tricky reverse and accelerates in full force towards the exit, throwing all of us a few centimeters in the air. The kids have hit themselves in the head a few times both against each other and the window. I gulp and look to see if they are alright...a lot of claps and a cry of sheer delight from Kashyap and Kaustubh looking as though at me saying with his eyes ' any problem?'!
And we go on....in a street enveloped in darkness, yes, it goes to say a lot for our luck that the power cut began just then. We move slowly to realise that the intersection ahead had been mowed in the afternoon to make way for a subway and we have to take a big detour. And we trudge along, trying to contain the two brats on my seat when all Kashyap wants to do is stand on his dad and get hold of the steering wheel and Kausubh is hell bent on pricing the Ganesha statue from the dashboard. Still, we manage to make it to the restaurant close by, though it became rather far now. Ah..but the dust due to the mowing enveloped the air as even a thick fog would not. No way I was taking my kids out in this and so, we turn around to go to the next 'nearest' hotel.
Lots of greenery, supposedly famous restaurant and we felt that our trip could still be salvaged. Entered the family quarters to find we are the only other family there. Found rat shit on the seat and torn papers all around. Still we decided to go ahead. We had not suffered all this for nothing. So, with Kachi clinging on to me and Kautu to his dad, we ordered our starter and soup. By now, they started their raucous, dancing on the sofa, Kachi climbing onto the table, kautu climbing down and crawling on the floor and hubby decided its high time to give milk and settle one guy down to sleep. We drew lots and kautu was decided to be packed off. So, milk was prepared and fed and he settled down peacefully in his carry cot. Aha...still the rest of the evening left to enjoy...Kachi was handed over to a waiter and it broke my heart to see him clinging onto to him and staring around as though we had abandoned him forever. Still we were both hungry by this time and attacked all that was placed in front.
The attack lasted exactly one minute. The food, other than being unpalatable, was also utterly oily and cold. We looked around, wondering how in the world is this restaurant called famous and do people actually come here, to find it filling up fast. We looked down to find a rat scurrying across. We looked on our table and found real foul food. And then, we looked at each other, ate to just fill our stomach and gathered up everything and hurried away. En route, we saw that the place was packed by now and anger swelled up in me. Are the expectations so low? Don't people expect good food, healthy food when they come out to dine? Can't they see how the pricing is against the standard of the food served? Are their wallets so big and their stomachs to used to rotten food that they can digest both the food and the cost? We were so disappointed that we didn't even complain to the manager. I mean, if it has to get this worse, they must surely know and if they haven't taken any action, then its their neck they are stretching out.
By now, even Kashyap was asleep and I held both the sleeping guys in my lap as we crawled back home. 'Well', he hold me, 'that was a terrible dinner. I am feeling sorry for the bad time you had. Kids are asleep and we can get back to a quiet house and spend some time together'. I smiled and started to relax. It started raining..so hard that it looked like a hail storm. I looked questioningly at him...why hasn't he switched on the wipers? He grins sheepishly and says 'Wipers aren't working either'!!!!!!!!
He started the car to exclaim loudly 'Oh...the headlights are not working'!! Great. But I really wanted to eat out and I said 'Thats fine. We'll rush to the nearest hotel'. Now, we have a real steep incline at the exit of the parking lot. He took our 96' model maruti 800 up the steep with the AC on and it came straight back. Picture this...I am sitting in the passenger seat with Kashyap on my right leg and Kaustubh on my left. I try holding them tight, but they wriggle and stretch and try to take the steering away from their dad, and in the meanwhile, their dad is fighting a lost battle keeping the car in the incline. So, the four of us head backwards towards a pillar and he breaks in time. Does a tricky reverse and accelerates in full force towards the exit, throwing all of us a few centimeters in the air. The kids have hit themselves in the head a few times both against each other and the window. I gulp and look to see if they are alright...a lot of claps and a cry of sheer delight from Kashyap and Kaustubh looking as though at me saying with his eyes ' any problem?'!
And we go on....in a street enveloped in darkness, yes, it goes to say a lot for our luck that the power cut began just then. We move slowly to realise that the intersection ahead had been mowed in the afternoon to make way for a subway and we have to take a big detour. And we trudge along, trying to contain the two brats on my seat when all Kashyap wants to do is stand on his dad and get hold of the steering wheel and Kausubh is hell bent on pricing the Ganesha statue from the dashboard. Still, we manage to make it to the restaurant close by, though it became rather far now. Ah..but the dust due to the mowing enveloped the air as even a thick fog would not. No way I was taking my kids out in this and so, we turn around to go to the next 'nearest' hotel.
Lots of greenery, supposedly famous restaurant and we felt that our trip could still be salvaged. Entered the family quarters to find we are the only other family there. Found rat shit on the seat and torn papers all around. Still we decided to go ahead. We had not suffered all this for nothing. So, with Kachi clinging on to me and Kautu to his dad, we ordered our starter and soup. By now, they started their raucous, dancing on the sofa, Kachi climbing onto the table, kautu climbing down and crawling on the floor and hubby decided its high time to give milk and settle one guy down to sleep. We drew lots and kautu was decided to be packed off. So, milk was prepared and fed and he settled down peacefully in his carry cot. Aha...still the rest of the evening left to enjoy...Kachi was handed over to a waiter and it broke my heart to see him clinging onto to him and staring around as though we had abandoned him forever. Still we were both hungry by this time and attacked all that was placed in front.
The attack lasted exactly one minute. The food, other than being unpalatable, was also utterly oily and cold. We looked around, wondering how in the world is this restaurant called famous and do people actually come here, to find it filling up fast. We looked down to find a rat scurrying across. We looked on our table and found real foul food. And then, we looked at each other, ate to just fill our stomach and gathered up everything and hurried away. En route, we saw that the place was packed by now and anger swelled up in me. Are the expectations so low? Don't people expect good food, healthy food when they come out to dine? Can't they see how the pricing is against the standard of the food served? Are their wallets so big and their stomachs to used to rotten food that they can digest both the food and the cost? We were so disappointed that we didn't even complain to the manager. I mean, if it has to get this worse, they must surely know and if they haven't taken any action, then its their neck they are stretching out.
By now, even Kashyap was asleep and I held both the sleeping guys in my lap as we crawled back home. 'Well', he hold me, 'that was a terrible dinner. I am feeling sorry for the bad time you had. Kids are asleep and we can get back to a quiet house and spend some time together'. I smiled and started to relax. It started raining..so hard that it looked like a hail storm. I looked questioningly at him...why hasn't he switched on the wipers? He grins sheepishly and says 'Wipers aren't working either'!!!!!!!!
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