L.A.T.C. II (look at the colours (again))

Only three weeks until the longest day. The bluebells are out, and we have had a spell of lovely sunny weather. Walking through the woods in the morning, you are stunned by the carpet of blue created by the bluebells, and the gorgeous aroma, until Chess has done his thing that is.

Saturday, and it's half term. We are off to centreparcs on Monday with Rachel's father. And finally the Lady Gaga concert on Friday. We have had to wait so long Maisie has grown out of her intended outfit, so we had to dedicate Friday (an inset day at school) to shopping and a haircut - all for Maisie. We went in every conceivable shop in Chesterfield, only to return to the first shop we visited, buying the first outfit tried on. It was fun though, Maisie looking very grown up in her outfit (I'll take photos on the night) she is obviously a natural at shopping, must get that from Leanne.

We have a temporary lull in the good weather, and it's raining. We have lit a fire (only 3pm) and the dog has firmly established himself on his bed, the photo is his response to the question "Want a walk Chess?"

Horsing around

Mixing with the hoy paloy at Chatsworth horse trials. Leanne got very excited when Mark Todd was spotted, we saw Mary King and Zara Phillips riding. It was amazing watching the cross country - so scary, particularly when the riders came close to parting company with the horse.

We have been walking past what we thought was a sculpture for months, only to discover its a cross country jump. Oh well - still like it without the horse.

At one point there was a loose dog on the cross country course, we were encouraged to catch it, then over the loud speaker was telling us there's a loose horse, leave well alone. We heard it's progress announced - first the carpark, then on the path, then towards us aargh, then the trade stands...eeek. Then a motorbike buzzed past with a horsey person on the back. Drama over, naughty horse led back to the trailers.

An australian won the main international event, with a little grumbling we stood for the national anthem of Australia, when it was eventually over, we trudged happily back to the car to sit in the traffic on the way home.

Ice cream, tiptoeing through the tulips and a rather nice bench

We love Chatsworth, and as we have a membership, I suspect there may be a large number of photos. The Ice creams are huge and delicious - yes it's warm enough to eat them outside!

The tulips are out - Chess wasn't that impressed but we were.

The swan detail on the bench was our discovery of the day.

Today we went back for a walk in the field containing the scary sheep. One of the sheep was laying down, having a bit of a kip, Leanne however was convinced the sheep was dead - we had to study the sheep for quite some time to watch for signs of life - such a city girl.

Scary sheep, horse chestnuts and sushi

I just love spring, and I particularly love horse chestnut leaves when they first appear, they seem to be hanging out to dry.

We have been frustrated that the nearest sushi outlet is in a shopping mall in Sheffield, and it's very expensive. You can get a dried up version from Tesco, which almost satisfies, but we have decided the best solution is to make it. Maisie and I made a large batch of salmon and avocado sushi rolls and ate the lot - It wouldn't win any sushi good looking prizes but was delicious!

Chess met the scary sheep in Grindleford, he was terrified, and I have to say, I was a little intimidated. It completely beat us in a staring competition and we avoided the path altogether.