Direction Home

I returned to Elterwater for the third time in recent weeks, but this time brought the children along for the walk.

Initially my plan had been to go to Keswick for a wander about the outdoor shops, but it was such a beautiful winter’s morning and the children were so very much in need of some exercise that Elterwater became a bit of a no-brainer.

So beautiful was the morning that it was practically impossible to take a bad photo of it, but I had a jolly good stab at it (see extras). I plumped for the plump robin because if truth be told, by the way it flew down as we were walking and stared at us for a little while, it seemed to be the only thing that actively wanted its photo taking. I was happy to oblige.

I love seeing the children out in amongst it all, for all their grumbling about leaving the house, they love it when they’re out and about. There is always something they want me to look at, always something to be found on the floor and invariably always something to argue over.

To complement their fancy new rucksacks from Father Christmas, and to ensure that they could always find their way home, I’d bought them a compass each and it was very sweet watching them watching the needle move and having them shout out our direction of travel at various intervals. 

I tried to remember that sweetness when later today we played a game of Fart and Matilda gave an audible demonstration of what a “Wet Rasper” should sound like.

There are some things that once heard you simply can not un-hear.