New Year's Day Molehills

2020 squelched off to a boggy start when my family and I met in Mote Park for our first welly walk of the year, on a rather gloomy New Year's Day.

I love this park in all seasons and no matter the weather, always enjoy a walk here. It was doubly special to walk with my kids and grandchildren as we entered another new year together. I used to love walks here with my kids, thirty something years ago, when they were 'nowt but a pair of cheeky mini munchkins, sploshing on the edge of the lake in red wellies and I am touched that they still recall our games of poohsticks under the old stone bridge and adventures as we searched for Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Rabbit in the woods.  The best childhood memories should always be magical enough to last a lifetime.

And now of course, my grandchildren also don wellies to explore this beautiful park with us. This year Toby decided he was hunting for bears, which involved some very muddy adventuring, not to mention a jolly good splosh in the lake with Betty. Little sis Izzy, was happy to collect sticks as she toddled through mud and across molehills, somewhat determindedly picking herself back up every time she tripped over.

This is a walk we have done countless times before as a family, but each time there is new fun to be had for everyone... and as I watch my children, grandchildren and dogs playing together in what has always been my favourite local park, the years fall away easily and fond memories of my time here as a young mum happily 'outdoorsing' with my son, daughter and our dog Harvey, can still make me smile, so very many years later.

Some walks are about more than scenery and fresh air... some walks have the power to evoke memories of your happiest times and to remind you that despite the muddy molehills of life, what truly counts is walking through it together.

:-)

The day we caught the train

Happy Easter Everyone!

After being unwell for a few days last week (the perils of looking after small children) it was lovely to take a walk on Bank Holiday Monday and have some fun with my family in beautiful Mote Park.

My Grandson has been eager to see the miniature trains in action for quite a while, so when we found out they were running over the weekend, of course that's where we headed! We all had so much fun riding the trains ... in fact, I think the grown-ups enjoyed their rides almost as much as our very excited four year old!

:-)

A gaggle of geese

First day back with our dog training group this year and already it's been eventful! Polly worked hard in class this morning, doing a great job of showing off her obedience moves in our local park, before being allowed a free run with her doggy friends. Then, after a quick circuit of the bushes, she took off in the direction of the main lake and the next thing I heard was a splash and indignant squawks from a gaggle of geese as Polly chased them into the lake,  jumping in behind them! By the time I caught up with her ladyship, she had plonked her paws on top of a large piece of wood at the edge of the lake and was waiting helplessly to be rescued. There was nothing for it but to brave the muddy bank and haul madam unceremoniously out by her collar. Needless to say, she thanked me by shaking as hard as possible and soaking me. One thing's for sure, there's never a dull moment when you are a dog owner!

It has been a lively start to Wednesday and Polly and I have had a whale of a time together. She's snoozing at home in the sunny spot now while she dries off - this time after a bath and a banana and mango shampoo.

It would have/should have, been my Dad's 82nd birthday today and I know he would have enjoyed hearing about Polly's antics. I still miss being able to share these simple things with him over a cuppa, or on the telephone, like we used to.

Happy Birthday to you Dad, 

I miss you. 

Love always, 

PJ xxx

Christmas Spirit

I don't mind admitting, that the prospect of a wet muddy dog walk on a dark December afternoon, doesn't exactly overwhelm me with enthusiasm, but as my niece and her husband were travelling up from Hampshire for their annual pre-Christmas family catch-up yesterday, I donned my wellies, grabbed the dogs and headed to Mote Park to join some of my family for an afternoon stroll.

It was wet, it was muddy and it was cold, but that didn't dampen anyone's festive twinkle ... especially our four dogs, who had a whale of a time chasing each other through the mud as three generations of our family walked and talked in the rain together.

We are a large family, so not everyone could be with us in person this year, but it did feel as though the whole family was there in Christmas spirit and it was a lovely start to family festivities.

Happy Christmas everyone, it was great to see you all! xxx

:-)

May Bank Holiday

A lovely way to pass May Bank Holiday Monday, a walk in Mote Park with the girls ...

With Spring leaves and blossom everywhere, the park is especially beautiful at the moment. Polly and Betty had a great time running around, playing games, meeting other dogs and sticking their doggy noses into rabbit holes. By some small miracle we actually managed to keep the pair of them relatively clean and dry too ... but best of all, after so much fun they are now very, very, sleepy, so I think we're in for a peaceful evening. Yay!

Time now for a roastie and a glass of something chilled and white.

Happy Bank Holiday everyone!

:-)

Mote Park

I'm sure I've mentioned this many times, but I love walking in Mote Park, a place I have visited regularly over the past forty years and enjoyed in all seasons.  Over the years I've witnessed new paths being laid and fresh vistas cleared, so don't mind admitting, that from time to time, I have been concerned such 'meddlings' might change the nature of 'our' park ... and I suppose to some extent, they have, but not necessarily for the worst.

Strolling past the Volunteers Pavilion, with Betty

In fact one of the more recent projects (2010) was to renovate the long forgotten, much overgrown, 'Volunteer's Memorial', originally built in 1801 to commemorate a visit by King George III and Prime Minister William Pitt, when they paid a visit to the park to inspect around five thousand assembled troops of the Kent Volunteers. In addition to the troops, twenty thousand visitors turned out that day to catch a glimpse of their King, guns were fired, a feast held and the next day it is reported that the leftover food fed six hundred starving 'Maidstonians' ... I reckon that must have been one heck of a party!

Nowadays the Volunteers' Pavilion stands proud and the park is as popular with locals as ever it was. Families gather with picnics, children ride bicycles along the new paths, wheelchair users have greater access than ever before and of course, we dog walkers relish the opportunity to stroll in such a beautiful open space, in the heart of our town.

And if like me, you have walked in the park for many years, you will know the most peaceful areas in which to walk, avoiding children on bicycles, families with picnics, playgrounds, Segway machines (how I hate those!) and so on.  Polly and Betty love to explore the less cultivated areas of the Estate, so that is exactly what we did yesterday afternoon.  In fact, Mote Park covers 440 acres, with a perimeter walk of around four miles, so there really is plenty of space for everyone to enjoy!

:-)

Catching up for Christmas

Met with my nieces from Portchester yesterday afternoon. They drove from Hampshire to Kent for a Christmas catch up with family and arranged for us to meet at beautiful 'Mote Park' for a fun walk with our dogs.

Our Christmas family catch up in the park

Unfortunately my sister Fo and I don't get to spend nearly enough time with our Hampshire nieces now they are all grown-up and working so far away, so it was great to have an opportunity to spend some time walking and chatting with  them. They brought their mum's (our sister Tina) cheeky Cockerpoos, Woody and Jessie, with them and my sister Fiona and her husband Simon brought Autumn, their magnificent German Shepherd girl.  My son and his family donned wellies to meet us there and of course, if there's a doggy party to be had, my gorgeous goldie girls, Polly and Betty, are always happy to attend!

Cousins catch up!

In fact all five dogs had a wonderful time racing around and re-acquainting themselves.  It was so much fun to watch them enjoying their family Christmas catch up too!  

So thanks for taking the time to travel up from Hampshire to see us all Justine, Kerri and Mark. The dog walk was a great idea - we all thoroughly enjoyed it and Polly and Betty wish Jess and Woody a very Happy Christmas!

Safe trip home girls and Mark.  
Have a great Christmas ... and let's catch up again soon! 

xxx

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness..

Depressingly, our local council is currently on a mission to build houses and shops on any what seems like any available green space around the outskirts of town.  Thankfully, our local award winning 'Mote Park', bequeathed many years ago to the people of Maidstone, is still a beautiful place to take a stroll ... 

Autumn is my favourite time of year for walking in the park because that's when it flames gold and red with unabashed flamboyance. We explored some of the quieter areas of the park last weekend with Polly and Betty and I loved watching them running and playing together in the autumn sunshine.

Even though I have walked here for more than forty years, I never tire of visiting.  There are always new memories to made and misty memories of happy times, waiting for me along each pathway ...

:-)

A Changing Season

I have several new bears in the proverbial pipeline, but as we didn't find time for a holiday this Summer, I decided to put work on the back burner last week and instead, enjoy some early Autumn walks with family and our goldie girls, Polly and Betty.

A special little man was left in my care on Friday and I couldn't have been more delighted to have his company on our first walk together in Mote Park.  I have very happy memories of walking with his daddy and auntie in this very park thirty years ago!

When his mummy returns to work in the next couple of months, Toby and I will be spending a day together each week.  I am so looking forward to switching off from the rest of the world on those precious days and just being Nana.

Stuart and I took off to Leybourne Lakes for a walk with Polly and Betty on Sunday.  The lakes looked beautiful bathed in early Autumn sunshine, so much so, Polly couldn't resist a quick dip.  She's a pretty good swimmer it transpires!

The weather was mixed when we took the girls to Riverside Country Park in Gillingham earlier in the week.  Warm sunshine as we walked along the coastline to start with, then our very own black cloud overhead all the way back to the car!  Thankfully it didn't actually rain. I always enjoy this walk with its starkly contrasting landscape - natural shoreline to one side and a power station on the other.  Polly and Betty loved following all the new scents and had great fun splashing in huge rain water puddles on the jetty.

We also took fun daily dog walks from our doorstep, through the local fields and woodland ... while we still can.  Sadly developers have recently been granted permission to build houses on our favourite field and others in the vicinity.  This will alter the landscape forever, threatening the natural environment dramatically.  It breaks my heart to see all the contractors vehicles driving along our sleepy lane, making ready to destroy yet another significant chunk of local countryside, in the so-called name of 'progress'.

As Autumn touches the land with gold and fills our countryside with wild berries and sweeping grasses, it seems to me, this most spectacular season will be granted one final blaze of glory before Winter this year, but thanks to man's unerring greed, it is unlikely we will witness the tender touch of Spring on this beautiful area again.

Pride in the Park

When I first read about the 'conservation and renovation upgrades' planned for our lovely local park, I confess I shuddered.  As those of you who read regularly will know, I have enjoyed walks around the lake in Mote Park for almost forty years.  It is my favourite local haunt and like many local people, I feel very protective of it, a sense of ownership ... so reading news of change in the local paper, filled me with what I am relieved to say has proved to be, an irrational sense of doom.

Walking in Mote Park with my niece 

... almost quarter of a century ago

When Stuart and I visited a few months ago, ground work was well under way for creating new access routes throughout the park, trees had been cleared and much of the park resembled a building site.  We began to see possibilities, but couldn't help but wonder whether the rather radical ground clearance could be of benefit to the park, given the amount of tree and plant life that had suffered ...

View of the lake

We've since been back quite regularly to watch the park recover. New paths now guide the visitor gently, providing natural platforms for spectacular, long lost views.  This photograph of the lake above was taken from one such vantage point.

The Volunteers' Pavilion

The neglected circa 1800's 'Volunteers Pavilion' has been transformed, making a proud statement on the landscape once again!

Visitors to the park now soak up wonderful views from well positioned benches, one hundred fresh young trees flourish, the little 1840's waterfall, once long overgrown, has been restored and a smart new bridge ensures safe passage across the lake!

There is still work to be done of course; the icing on the cake would be new toilet facilities and I look forward to the day when scummy rubbish from the river no longer collects at the foot of the pathway where families gather to feed the ducks ... but all in all, I am happy to say my fears were unfounded, the improvements to Mote Park have been sympathetically planned and carefully executed for the benefit of those who love the park and those who have yet to discover its charms.

Boating on the lake

Here's to many more Mote Park walks for years to come!

Up, up and away!

Up, up and away?  Well maybe if my vertigo would permit me the freedom to cut loose and soar, but given that I'm the kind of girl who finds herself clinging desperately to handrails whenever she climbs the ramparts, it's unlikely I'll ever find myself in the basket of one of these ...

It must be an amazing sensation to float on the breeze and watching this hot air balloon rise majestically towards the beautiful clear blue sky in Mote Park yesterday afternoon, was quite a treat in itself!

Autumn Gold.

I've lost count of the number of times I have walked around Mote Park over the years.  The first time must have been at least thirty five years ago.  There are 450 acres of open parkland surrounding the lake and every inch of this great outdoors is enjoyed by young and old alike; dog walkers hurl sticks for 'Rover' to chase, small children wobble along pathways on bicycles, families picnic, couples stroll hand in hand, lads kick balls and gaggles of girls giggle on benches, admiring lads.

The lake

As a teenager I would often wile away the hours, gossiping with friends on the grass in summertime and as a student, would avoid tedious economic history lessons by sitting on a bench with my nose buried in a novel, when I should have been in class.  When my own children were growing up, we would tramp around the park in all weathers, feeding ducks, stuffing anorak pockets with acorns and conkers, playing 'Poohsticks' under the old stone bridge and puddle jumping on wet afternoons. 

Of all the seasons to visit, I love Mote Park best in her Autumn golds.  She puts on a wonderfully flamboyant show before Winter steals away her colourful landscape with his frosty chills.

When Stuart and I visited for a breath of fresh air yesterday afternoon, work had been actioned to 'improve' the park.  Muddy pathways had been widened, levelled and tarmacked, lakeside areas stripped clear of unruly foliage and construction of a smart steel bridge was in progress across part of the lake, all in the name of progress. 

I'm sure when we visit again in Spring next year, these upgrades will be ready for the public to use and will look less harsh with the season's new growth to soften the manmade edges. I just pray the planners won't diminish the essence of our natural parkland by over titivating, because I for one love the freedom of muddy, meandering walks around this beautiful park and hope future generations of local townsfolk will continue to enjoy that special sense of freedom too.

Christmas 2008, in a nutshell

After all the festive plans and preparations, I thought you might enjoy a peek into my 2008 Christmas family album ...

Firstly, a photograph of my very own Christmas Elf ...

Yes, this is my daft daughter dressed in her best Elf outfit, all ready for the Christmas Eve celebrations!

We had over twenty guests on Christmas Eve, but guess who forgot to use her camera?! Doh! Ah well, this is Christmas morn instead, taken just after the big Xmas Eve clean up and just before the next big clean up - unwrapping the gifts Father Christmas brought to our house!

My son, still a big kid at heart!

Stuart opening his pressies

Lunchtime - flamin' the Christmas pud with brandy! Yikes!

Boxing Day was soooooo cold, but very beautiful ...

The Christmas Elf donned zebra wellies and snuggly hat to come walking with us ...

Cute eh?

We tramped round the muddy lake ...

But even 'Elf and Safety' couldn't prevent the Zebra wellies being plastered in green goo by the time we returned to the car!

Urgh!

Elf food

Elfin' around with Stuart

 

Watching the ducks ...

Which is something this little elf has been enjoying since she was a baby - an entire quarter of a century ago!

Well you didn't think I'd be sitting doing nothing did you? Snapped by my son on Boxing Day evening ... knitting a little birthday surprise for a special someone ...

Last but by no means least, we shared my lovely niece Leah's birthday. Leah turned 21 the day after Boxing Day ... pictured here looking very embarrassed as seventeen of her nearest and dearest sing 'Happy Birthday' in the restaurant, raucously!

My two tucking into the Chinese food (not to mention the beer!) at their cousin Leah's birthday bash

Proud mum Fo enjoying Leah's birthday pics

Enjoying Leah's birthday celebrations with my Dad, (Leah's Grandad) ... thanks go to my son's super girlfriend Hannah for taking this rare pic!

I SAW THREE SHIPS

I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;And to close my 2008 Christmas celebrations, a Victorian Christmas carol I first learned many years ago, as a little girl in primary school ...I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day in the morning.
And what was in those ships all three,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?And what was in those ships all three,
On Christmas Day in the morning?

The Virgin Mary and Christ were there,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
The Virgin Mary and Christ were there,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

Pray, wither sailed those ships all three,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
Pray, wither sailed those ships all three,
On Christmas Day in the morning?
O they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;O they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas Day in the morning.And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,On Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;And all the souls on earth shall sing,On Christmas Day in the morning.

Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day in the morning.