Unexpected Birthday Pressie

[watervole]

I've been away the last week visiting friends and family.

Played football and tennis with my two young nephews, which was great fun, though I did turn my ankle...

Fortunately, the ankle seemed to survive the next day with the help of a bandage, hiking boots for ankle support and a borrowed walking pole.  This was a good thing, because my sister, auntygillian, and I had decided to celebrate our respective birthdays by climbing a mountain.

I'm not sure if it fits the technical description of a mountain or not, but we climbed Kerridge Ridge to White Nancy.   The view from the top was absolutely wonderful (see the links at the bottom of the White Nancy page for photos).

The next day, Gillian had a real surprise for me.  Possibly my best birthday present ever!  A one day narrowboat hire with the family.  My parents, Gillian, her husband, my brother-in-law David and my two nephews, Toby and Alex. 

Wonderful!

I had a fabulous time.  I love being on the canals and limited finances have made it impossible for us to afford a proper canal holiday for several years now.  Teaching my nephews how to steer the boat was the icing on the cake.  (Well, Toby thought he was steering.  My hand was coincidentally on the tiller all the time as well as his)  Alex, a few years older (but still needing to stand on a crate to see over the cabin), pretty much got the hang of it, but still needed a hand to navigate bridges successfully.  His dad managed it instantly - he's been sailing even if narrowboats were new to him.

All in all, a great two days, not lessened by the occasional shower and cold weather.

Comments

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

This must have been really a wonderful experience! Climbing and a day on a canal! Glad you enjoyed it.

[auntygillian.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed the surprise day out on the canal. I think everyone got a a big thrill in their different way from it. I know how much you enjoy the whole canal experience - natural history, scenery, relaxed travelling, northern industrial history. For Mum, I think it was most valuble as a way to have everyone together on a 'shared day', even if she was freezing. For the nephews, a new experience and hopefully a glimpse of mine and their mother's beloved Peak District. For the yank, also a glimpse of the dark satanic hills and mills. For David, an enjoyable day where he could take his eyes off the kids for once and walk/boat more or less by himself for a while. For Dad, some local history and technical engineering. For me, it was fantastic to see a lot of my family together and chatting away in different subgroups at different times. It's a shame Richard couldn't come.
Oh, and I would like to point out to readers that I am not *Judith's* aunty, which would make me positively ancient, and in fact my significant birthday is less significant than hers, if you see what I mean.

[the-ladylark.livejournal.com]

Heh... not only is White Nancy less than two miles from my house, I actually climbed up to it on Sunday for the first time...

Small world?

[watervole.livejournal.com]

LOL! My sister, auntygillian, lives in Bollington, can't be very far from you at all!

[the-ladylark.livejournal.com]

We live in the little estate just behind the co-op...

[the-ladylark.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if i'm reading right and your nephews are also in Bollington and of the right age/interests... i've just been baking biscuits for trick-or-treaters and we've carved some fancy pumpkins.... ;)

[watervole.livejournal.com]

No, the nephews are the offspring of Gillians twin sister, Rosalie. She died several years ago, but their dad still keeps them regularly visiting all our family. They live down south.

Otherwise I'd take you up on that biscuit offer! They're just the right age.

[decemberleaf.livejournal.com]

The panoramic pictures are marvelous, especially that rotating 360-degree turn at http://www.kap.toadstone.com/html/local.html. (It worked!) And so are your "Five Reasons to be Happy," http://watervole.livejournal.com/334879.html: "It's well established (seriously, they've done the research) that one of the things that will reduce your stress levels is to think at the end of each day about five things that you have to be happy about. So, in an effort to counter all the doom and gloom on much of my flist, here are my personal reasons to be happy today." That August 5th entry made me grin when first I read it, and it makes me grin again right now, and think Huzzah!! (as quoted in the transcription of the Declaration of Independence)...and...Happy Birthdays to Judith and to Gillian. What a great day you had, whether more significantly or slightly less so.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

It's a long time since I ascended to White Nancy, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't fit the technical description of a mountain! It sounds a very respectable climb with a dodgy ankle, though.

And hurrah for the birthday present! It must have been wonderful to have your hand on the tiller again. Were there locks?

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Sadly the hire boat insurance didn't cover locks - though it would have been pushing it timewise anyway. It took us several hours to get to Marple marina and I'm not sure we could have reached the actual flight and still got back again by 5pm. (Is that Henry steering in your icon?)

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I've forgotten the name of the flight. We were there quite early in the morning, and waited for a while in case there was another boat to go up with us, and there was some discussion of whether this flight was available as an embroidery pattern...

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

What a lovely week! Especially the mountain and the narrowboat - that was a brilliant idea.

I hope your ankle is ok!