Green Family Blog

Swimming Pool Gets Dug!

2010-02-03T17:00:00.000Z

Mum & Dad have taken the plunge (if you'll excuse the pun) and invested in a swimming pool. This is James Baron digging a gert big hole:

Rob Cracks a Rib!

2010-02-03T16:56:00.001Z

Here are some piccies of the upstairs of the barn before and after cleaning out all the hay. I managed to fall through a bit of rotten floor and crack a rib - idiot!

Latest Snow - Jan 10th 2010

2010-01-10T20:52:00.000Z

Snowed a bit over night and during most of the morning. Walked up to Ian & Helen's and then over to the barn:

January Snow

2010-01-10T09:46:00.005Z

At last some snow! Ok it's not much but it's enough to see our road impassable for the last 4 days except with 4WD vehicles .

Tuesday 4th Jan

2010-01-04T18:36:00.002Z

Went for a freezing cold training run - the first of 2010. Did about four miles just to ease back into it after the Christmas break.

Big day tomorrow. Amelie starts School. How grown up is she!

Haytor - January 3rd 2010

2010-01-04T18:26:00.003Z

Went up to Dartmoor for a walk on Haytor. Freezing cold but very beautiful

Christmas & New Year 2009

2010-01-04T18:21:00.002Z

Haven't updated the blog for a while.

Christmas & New Year have been and gone and we had a lovely time.

Here's a piccie of Sam & Amelie saying thank you for all their lovely presents...

Half-Marathon Training Run

2009-11-30T11:17:00.005Z

Having foolishly signed up for the Endurancelife South Devon Coastal Half-Marathon I ventured out for my first run on the course on Saturday.

First of all I'll get my excuses in - didn't go to bed until 2am the previous morning and I've got a cold. Also it's been tipping it down for weeks now and most of the course is pretty muddy!

However, despite my lungs only working at 75% it didn't go too badly.

I started from the car park at Beesands where there's a nice flat run for a couple of hundred metres. You then start up a narrow muddy/rocky lane and out on to the cliff top where the path climbs gently before dropping down to Hallsands. A short, but surprisingly energy-sapping run across the beach is followed by a short climb up some steps before dropping down again past the ruins of old Hallsands.

This was followed by a long steady climb up to the car park above Start Point. Really muddy path here which had been puddled up by cattle. Difficult to walk up, let alone run. This side of the headland it's very sheltered so was getting hot and starting to think I should have worn shorts & T-shirt.

From the Start Point car park it's a drop down the hill on tarmac before hitting the footpath and crossing over the headland. Stunning views open up here but you hit the wind. Lovely run down the coastpath around various headlands, cross a stream and then across a field.

Started to feel a bit out of sorts - lungs really hurting due to my cold. Dropped down to Lannacombe and decided to have a breather and chocolate break. Started to rain and not feeling great so decided to cut route short. After the next couple of coves I took the footpath up the valley and through a green lane.

Crossed a field between a farm and pond, onto a concrete track and then across some farm tracks. Dropped down steep field into woods and then on to the road through a small hamlet. This was followed by a long hard climb up the road over the top of the peninsula, crossing the main road and dropping down the other side.

Passed down through some sort of religious community and followed a narrow green lane down the hill to rejoin the road. Passed through another small hamlet and down a green lane before rejoining another road. Short run along the road before turning right onto track. Followed path up a long, wet and muddy climb past lovely farm. Rejoined road briefly before turning right across fields.

Nice views across to Start Point from here. Path gradually drops downacross fields before rejoing coast path. Easy drop back down the path to Beesands with a tired run back along the front to the car.

Time was well off the pace, especially considering I missed some three miles of the course out. But I wasn't feeling great and big chunks of the path were so muddy they practically sucked your shoes off making it very difficult to run. It also tipped it down from Lannacombe onwards.

However I'm looking forward to tackling the course again soon, hopefully without cold, rain and quite as much mud!

Hallsands Walk

2009-08-31T22:52:00.003+01:00

Redlap - August 09

2009-08-31T21:29:00.003+01:00

Dartmouth Red Arrows 2009

2009-08-31T09:49:00.002+01:00

Les Bordes sur Arize - Aug 08 Part One

2009-08-13T13:17:00.008+01:00

Man Truck Arrives

2009-08-06T18:29:00.003+01:00

Man Truck is the new addition to the family - a joint purchase by Greens senior & junior.

Unfortunately a less than impressive arrival was made at midnight on the back of an AA recovery lorry having broken down on the M5 - who said they were industructible?

We're hoping it's just a problem with a water pump!

Living Coasts

2009-07-26T17:16:00.004+01:00

Sam's birthday treat was a trip to Living Coasts in Torquay with Jo

Crabbing

2009-07-26T10:43:00.005+01:00

Strange Children

2009-07-26T10:38:00.006+01:00

Amelie's Birthday Party

2009-07-26T10:28:00.003+01:00

Sports Day

2009-06-13T13:57:00.005+01:00

The New Treehouse

2009-06-13T13:46:00.006+01:00

Cool Camping in Devon

2009-05-25T09:43:00.012+01:00

Richie, Natty & Nathaniel

2009-05-25T09:32:00.004+01:00

Richie, Natty & Nathaniel (what a cutey!) were over from Japan and came to stay for a night.

Check out their bar and yoga studio "Recife" next time you're visiting the south of Japan!

Three Wise Monkeys

2009-05-25T09:23:00.000+01:00

Shelterbox Dartmoor Challenge

2009-04-24T17:21:00.002+01:00

Myself, Nik, Martin & James successfully completed the ShelterBox Dartmoor Challenge last weekend.

Check out the blog at http://ourshelterboxchallenge.blogspot.com

The Kids go Blading!

2009-02-19T17:01:00.002Z

Snow! Feb 2009

2009-02-08T13:28:00.006Z

For the first time in years we've actually had some snow!!!

Nana Visits - Feb 09

2009-02-08T13:13:00.008Z

Some More Sunrises

2009-01-14T21:37:00.006Z

New Year 2008-09

2009-01-14T21:17:00.008Z

Sam's New Kite

2008-12-29T10:44:00.003Z

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T10:37:00.004Z

Sunrises in December

2008-12-29T10:31:00.001Z

Sam's Nativity Play

2008-12-29T10:17:00.006Z

Early Dec Walk - Blackpool Sands

2008-12-29T10:02:00.003Z

Nik & Lou's Big Day

2008-12-07T20:35:00.012Z

Wales - December 2008

2008-12-07T20:05:00.008Z

A quick trip up to West Wales via Hereford. Freezing cold on Saturday with a really heavy frost.
Took the mountain road which was beautiful!

Little Dartmouth Walk with the Plumbs

2008-11-02T11:46:00.005Z

Halloween Disco

2008-11-02T11:44:00.004Z

Yasmin,Sam & Amelie on their way to the Haloween Disco!

The Greens hit the Big Smoke

2008-10-13T19:57:00.007+01:00

Windy Bantham - A Walk with the Harts

2008-10-13T19:44:00.004+01:00

Sam's Little Puma Grading

2008-09-23T22:30:00.004+01:00

Sam had his latest Little Puma grading today and passed with flying colours. He is now an orange & white belt!

Little Dartmouth Walk

2008-09-23T22:05:00.008+01:00

3 Peaks Conquered

2008-09-10T11:17:00.006+01:00

Well we managed to do it - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike & Snowdon in under 24 hours (23 hrs & 36 minutes to be precise).

The whole experience was incrediby physically demanding but really enjoyable.

Rough timings looked like this:

Ben Nevis
Started at 4.30pm
Summited at 7.00pm
Back to base at 8.50pm
Total Time: 4hrs, 20 mins

Scafell Pike
Started at 3.00am
Summited at 05.45am
Back to base at 07.35 am
Total Time: 4 hrs, 35 mins

Snowdon
Started at 12 noon
Summited at 2.15pm
Back to base at 4.06pm
Total Time: 4 hrs, 6 mins

The conditions varied considerably. Ben Nevis was stunning. Beautiful clear skies and lovely sunset. Very breezy but that kept us cool. Scafell Pike was very different. Very windy, and conditions deteriorated badly as we got higher. At the top it was horrendous - cold, wet, foggy and very very windy. Snowdon was windy, foggy, wet and cold but at least it was in daylight.

Overall I was pleased with my fitness but my knees took an absolute pounding and I was in a fair amount of pain coming back down Scafell & Snowdon. Bizzarely it was easier going up than down!

For all the pictures visit http://penhaligonspeaks.blogspot.com/

France - Aug 08 Part Three

2008-08-16T22:19:00.006+01:00

France - Aug 08 Part Two

2008-08-16T21:59:00.007+01:00

At Nana & Mike's in the Ariege

France - Aug 08 Part One

2008-08-11T14:07:00.009+01:00

3 Peaks Training Day

2008-08-04T11:47:00.009+01:00

Saturday 2nd August. Taining day for the 3 peaks challenge. 18 miles of beautiful Dartmoor hills including 11 tors! Great day out but hobbling around like an old man afterwards. I've come to the conclusion that the 3 peaks challenge is really going to hurt however hard you train!

Walking down to Dit'sum

2008-07-16T15:42:00.003+01:00

We took the kids for a walk down to the village on Sunday...

Birthdays at the Beach

2008-07-13T22:33:00.009+01:00

At last the sun has come back out just in time for the joint Sam/Amelie/Otis/Jemima birthday party at the beach. Check out the mini winos!

The Ben Nevis Trip

2008-06-29T10:17:00.020+01:00

At the Beach with the Plumbs

2008-06-15T22:17:00.006+01:00

Weird weather today. Beautiful morning but started raining as we left to go to the beach to meet the Plumbs. Tipped it down all the way but by the time we got to Bigbury it was lovely again. With apocalyptic clouds behind us and blue sky in front it was all quite odd.

Sam's School Sports Day

2008-06-14T08:25:00.005+01:00

Sammy's sports day (thankfully not rained-off like last year!). Sammy managed a very credible 3rd place in his race. We'll be upping his anabolic steroids for next year!

Nana comes to visit

2008-06-14T08:16:00.003+01:00

For once it sounds like we've got better weather in England than they have in France! Nana has escaped the deluges to come and visit.

A June Morning in Sunny South Devon!

2008-06-11T13:51:00.008+01:00

I took Finch for a walk this morning at about 7am. It was such a lovely morning I took a few piccies:

Success for Sam in his Little Puma Grading

2008-06-11T13:39:00.004+01:00

Sam had his first grading at Little Pumas yesterday.

He managed to pass with flying colours, gaining his Purple & White belt and getting a badge for the 'Stranger Danger' theme.

He also picked up a special prize for being the most improved beginner in his class!

Manky Lapin

2008-06-08T07:37:00.001+01:00

Hi - I'm one of Amelie's rabbits. I go everywhere that Amelie goes - mostly hanging out of her mouth!

Knights & Princesses

2008-06-08T07:19:00.001+01:00

Brave Sir Sam & Lady Amelie at Sir Albert's birthday party

Prague Trip

2008-06-03T22:16:00.000+01:00

Sarah's latest ELF meeting was out in Prague, capital of Bohemia and the Czech Republic. Rob joined her for a few days:

Woody Woodpecker

2008-05-24T20:35:00.000+01:00

A couple of pictures of Woody (in fact I think there may be several Woodys). He's an increasingly persistent visitor to our bird-feeder and very noisy - he wakes us up in the morning and irritates Sarah all day long whilst she's trying to work. He also scares off all the other birds. Nature... don't you love it!

The Tractor has arrived

2008-05-24T20:24:00.000+01:00

At long last Dunc's new tractor has arrived, and very shiny it is too!

Not only is it able to mow grass at twice the speed and ten times the incline but it also has magical healing powers - witness the curative effects on Dunc's back. He looks ten years younger, not that we've seen him much as he's been out mowing non-stop for 48 hours!

Amelie is shown modelling the vehicle in question. She is available for mowing contract work at very reasonable rates.

Walking the South Devon Coast Path with Little Bro

2008-05-18T11:43:00.000+01:00

I'm finding that this blog is increasingly becoming an online photo gallery!

Here are some piccies of a walk Nik and I did along the South Devon Coast Path from Plymouth to Wembury earlier this year:

In a Techno-Daze

2008-05-17T11:49:00.000+01:00

I've just spent the last couple of weeks trying to catch up with all the techno-stuff that the yoof of today are into. This has included:

- Setting up this blog via blogger

- Setting up the inspiringholidays.com blog via Wordpress

- Updating my own Facebook Pages

- Resurrecting Sarah's Facebook Pages

- Setting up a Facebook page for inspiringholidays.com

And frankly I've now got a headache!

Anyway, in case you're interested you can now become a 'fan' of inspiringholidays.com. I'm not entirely sure what this means but why not give it a go and we can embark on this particular little techno journey together. Just click here to sign up

If you could share some details of your own inspiring holidays that would be great!

Sam's First Little Puma Badge

2008-05-13T20:05:00.000+01:00

Sam got his first Little Puma Badge today - A Bronze Award.

Congratulations to the little martial arts expert!!

Worm Charming

2008-05-12T12:35:00.001+01:00

A Hole Farm Hill-Billies team consisting of Pappy, Sammy-Boy & Amelie Scramelie recently entered the Blackawton International festival of worm-charming.

A staggering 7 worms (6 worms + a grub-type thing to be precise) were quite literally charmed from the ground using nothing more than Hole Farm well-water and our patented ground-jumping technique.

Although we were a little off-the-pace compared to the eventual winners (111 worms) we feel the team will be competitive over the following season.

Phew ... What a Scorcher!

2008-05-12T10:39:00.000+01:00

Our friends in the North (Well Bristol!) descended for a weekend of tents, beaches, sun & burnt sausages:

A New Weenie Greenie

2008-05-12T10:16:00.000+01:00

At last she's done it! Lou's eventually managed to squeeze that pesky baby out.

Little Milly Arrived in the world on Thursday 8th May at 11.22pm (ish) weighing 6 pounds and 7 ounces. Mum, Milly & Nik are all doing well!

And we've had reports of a new baby Benns arriving in the world on Friday as well.

Congratulations & welcome to the world little people!

What's happening this weekend?

2008-05-08T10:24:00.000+01:00

Well we're all still waiting for Lou to get a move on and get this baby out in the open air. It definitely isn't wanting to come out in any hurry, She's been in hospital since Tuesday and they've been trying to coax the stubborn little thing out since then. Apparently eviction orders are being served today so it's coming out even if they have to go in through the sunroof!

We're also hoping for good weather as we've got a crowd coming down from Bristol to camp in our field. Hopefully it should be a fun-packed little holiday with lots of activities.

A shameless plug...

2008-05-06T13:38:00.000+01:00

I initially thought I might make this blog a commercial-free zone. But then I thought, hell no, I need the money! As the old search engines like a bit of blogging I thought I'd mention my website here in more detail in a shameless bid to get some more links back to the site.

So my company is called Inspiring Holidays Ltd and the website address is www.inspiringholidays.com. Inspiring Holidays is essentially an online directory of activity-based holidays from around the world. These holidays range from the more active variety such as walking, cycling, sailing, windsurfing, surfing, motorsports, yoga, fishing, golf, tennis, horse riding, canoeing, kitesurfing etc to more sedate activities such as painting, drawing, ceramics, music, great rail journeys, photography, spa breaks etc etc. Check out the Themes page for more information

You can use the website to search by activity or country or both. There's a page to give help you be inspired if you're not sure what sort of holiday or short break you want. You can also sign up for newsletters or use the special holiday bookmarking facility.

The providers of the holidays either pay to take out a listing on the site or I receive a commission on any web traffic I forward on to them that results in a booking. I have around 100 holiday providers on the site including big names such as Kuoni, Travelsphere, Page & Moy, Leger, Virgin, Neilson, Crystal Active, Cactus Languages & more.

So if you fancy a holiday for the mind, body or soul why not take a look at www.inspiringholidays.com.

We've also got a company blog at inspiringholidays.wordpress.com

Welcome to my Blog

2008-05-01T18:48:00.000+01:00

Hola!

Having recently set up a blog for my business (Inspiring Holidays - www.inspiringholidays.com) I thought I'd see if I could summon up anything at all interesting on a personal basis to put in my own blog. I'm about five minutes in now and inspiration hasn't really struck yet.

Frankly I find the whole idea of blogging a little strange if you're not trying to sell something, convert somebody to something, have a pop at something or somebody or just generally want to have a rant about something!

Perhaps I just lack confidence that anybody would be vaguely interested in what I have to say. What if nobody reads this? Or what if lots of people read this and think I'm an idiot?

And yet here I am tapping away at my keyboard - odd. I suppose it could be quite therapeutic in a way. Perhaps I need to find something to rant about. To be honest I'm generally a bit too laid back to get very ranty about anything.

So that's my first blog finished I think. Objectives for the future include:

Find things to rant about
Find things to convert people to
Find things to sell people. (That's the easy bit - check out inspiringholidays.com for the best activities holiday website in the world!!!)