Castle Rock

On Friday I went down to Castle Rock with Evan where we did a few climbs. It was a bit chilly today and we wrapped up warm. The first climb of the day was 'via media' graded severe. The first pitch was simple, but it took a while setting up a belay. The second pitch was more complicated, and could have been much more enjoyable were it not for my cold hands. The top gave great views of Skiddaw, with a thin scattering of snow around the summit. We then went down and decided to leave a VS with limited gear placements, as the temperature had seemed to drop even more and my teeth were beginning to chatter. We headed over to Yew Tree Climb a v.diff. I started leading and got up to the yew tree 15 metres up the pitch ready to place my first runner around the tree, only to realise I'd left the slings at the bottom. I therefore had to down climb to collect them, before working my way back up to put the sling round the tree, before doing a long run out all the way to the the top. While setting up a belay at the top a  few snow flakes were carried through the wind, and not long after that the temperature rose again. We then did the last climb of the day. A severe+ on a slab called 'Slab Route'. I was now warm and this was by far the most enjoyable climb of the day. Easy but technical climbing all the way to the last 3 metres where the wall goes vertical and a few bold moves lead to the top.

All in all a magnificent day unfortunately with no photos though.

Ethan

What I've been up to recently.......

Have been up to various bits and bobs recently. The weather has been fairly restrictive in terms of getting outside climbing but I have been doing quite a bit at Kendal wall. Have also been doing a bit of running. I also took part in slightly different activity to usual with Calum and Fergus, camping in the forest (the natural way, despite the saucepan pasta). I have the odd photo below if you're interested.
Have also got hold of a second hand bouldering mat for when the weather picks up a bit. Headed down to Coudy Rocks in Appleby on Tuesday, but the boggy ground meant my shoes were too slippy on the rock to do anything other than easy grades, with large foot holds. Still at least I completed one boulder problem even though it was rather easy 'In the Corner' V2, I filmed it though so put it up.

An evening run across the pennines.

This is one of the joys of living in Cumbria. A 10 minute drive/40 minute cycle and I am at the foot of the North Pennines. Certainly one of the countries most spectacular and quite probably most underated mountain ranges.

Joely (my sister) had a friend over called Hannah. Hannah goes to the same uni as Joely in London but is from Norway. I took them up Scafell Pike. It was my 5th time as the highest person in the country but there first.

The mighty buttress of Sca Fell Englands 2nd highest peak taken from Scafell Pike

Preparing tea

We all decided that we would try and 'live off the land' for a night. You can tell by the photo that we weren't quite successful, as I'm pictured next to Fergus cooking pasta but it was over a camp fire though (however that was lit using a fire lighter and some dry kindling from back home)! But it was hard enough keeping it going in these camp conditions. Me and Calum finished our shelter after tea (pictured below). They were surprisingly water tight. We were quite envious of fergus at first as he had a very comfy bed of moss, while we had only fern. But I was secretly rather amused to find that our simple bed of firn had dried out by the fire, while Fergus' moss held its and then soak his sleeping bag when he lay on it! Thanks for a great night guys and the photos Calum (better late than never!).

The completed shelters

Sorry I had to remove the video to stop it messing up the page!

The rain had finally stopped, so I went to Coudy Rock in Appleby to try and use my bouldering mat, before it came back again. The rock was dry, but the ground certainly wasn't. This meant my shoes weren't dry enough to do anything too technical and grippy. But I did manage to do 'In the corner' a nice little V2 with usable foot holds. Only slipped once! 

Blencathra

Mum on the summit of Blencathra  

It seems that Sunday is the only day of the week that I have free. The oppurtunity to head out on the fells is often closed by accidently lying in too long or having to do something else. This Sunday though was different. The skys were clear and the rain hadn't been seen for a few days, I was up at 8:45am and I had persuaded Mum to come up Scafell Pike with me the night before. I went down stairs feeling excited. I hadn't been high up for a while and it was beggining to get to me. However my plans seemed smashed when I soon realised I was the only one up. Dad came through 10 minutes later and explained that Mum hadn't slept well and she wouldn't get up untill 9:30am.
        I was lounging around waiting for Mum to show her face. She didn't get up untill something like 10:10 and considering we had been planning to set off at 9am a trip to Scafell Pike seemed less and less likely. We both now seemed half hearted about getting out the door. Mum was tired and I was doubting the time we had to do it all in. For about 30minutes we had decided we weren't going out. I was now annoyed I knew that i could have spent the day doing something constructive but now I was sat in the house at 11:30am doing nothing one of the best oppurtunities I would have in a while to get out and do something. I then had a burst of energy that stopped me self-pitty. I told Mum we could go to Blencathra and soon we were ready and off.
       We had arrived at 12:20pm and I felt an increasing amount of impatience and irritation building up inside me. This soon passed once I had taken my first few steps up the mountain. I tried to stick to Mums pace as best as I could as I didn't want to race off and risk putting her off coming with me again. I used the rests Mum took as oppurtunities to take photos. The weather was clear but the fells were a little hazy in the distance. This made a fantastic veiw to the eye but to my new camera I was trying to work out settings on, the veiws weren't quite as rewarding. After stopping for lunch and warming up our hands as best as we could we soon travelled on up until we got to scales tarn. Sharp Edge was looking even more notorious with the odd patches of snow on it and it didn't seem a great option considering it was slippy and I wasn't quite sure how good Mum would be with heights. About 20 minutes later we had arrived on the summit and the veiws of Thirlmere and Derwant Water were astounding in the mist. Descent was quick and it wasn't long before we were back at the car. I was refreshed. I had lost the stress I had built up from life lower down and shown Mum the beauty of the Lakeland fells. All in all we had a great day.

Conniston to Grasmere August 29th-30th

View of Low Water

Windermere and Conniston

Dad dropped me off in Conniston, just after 10am. I made my way along a field until I came to the path up to ‘The Old Man of Conniston’ (that’s the name of the fell by the way). After Some hard work I was on the summit in about an hour. The views showed Windermere, Conniston and the coast rather nicely, with the morning sun shining through the high clouds. This didn’t last for long. I was in the shelter of the cairn and knew the other side of it was gonna be a whole lot worse. I set out onto the wide ridge between The Old Man and Brim Fell where the winds suddenly picked up. I didn’t bring any gloves as my cheap ones just get wet and cold anyway. As I got to Brim Fell I sheltered from the wind behind the cairn and put my waterproof jacket on to keep the wind off. Rain was bound to come as well. It wasn’t long before a mean looking cloud started sweeping in from the coast. The rain started and visibility became minimal. As I headed on to Swirl How, I had begun to lose track of where I was on the map, I asked another walker and they told me. Great Carr was my next destination where I was told the path to Grey Friar was clearly marked. By this time the fog was thick but I could see the cairn of Great Carr so took a bearing on my compass and made my way over to Grey Friar with a little uncertainty. It is at these points where I wish I had a friend with me, just to talk to when I feel the most lonely (best start trying to make some). The fog cleared to my right to show Wynrose Pass running behind Cold Pike and Pike o'Blisco. This was where I was heading down to after Grey Friar. With newly found confidence I continued walking towards Grey Friar when the path cleared to reveal some Land Rover Tracks in the grass. I wouldn’t call it a “clearly marked path” but once I found it I was able to make my way up to the summit with a much calmer feeling. I gradually made my way down the hill and crossed the Wrynose Pass to make my way up the Public Bridleway west of Cold Pike and Crinkle Crags along the Moesdale beck. After a long lonely stroll through the boggy ground and the rain I came to the path leading up to Ore Gap (the col between Bowfell and Esk Pike). It was about 5:30pm and I was ready to pitch my tent and have a good nights sleep. I was glad to have a signal so rung Mum and Dad for a quick chat, before descending to angle tarn where I’d camp that night. After having tea I went to sleep at about 7pm and had a good nights sleep.

Nice and Dry

At Stickle Tarn

The next Morning I got up at 8:30am and was off by 9:30am. The weather was the same as yesterday. I could see Pike of Stickle watching over the Langdale Valley. The paths were muddy and on my way to the crossroads where the Cumbria Way meets up with the path from angle tarn, my right leg went knee deep in Peat Bog. By the time I got to the crossroads I wasn’t sure what to do. I had decided I wasn’t going to go up High Raise today, just the Langdale Pikes, but a part of me wanted to take the Cumbria Way path into Langdale and get picked up there. I couldn’t though. I had to go on. If I did I would beat my self up about it all week. I took the black path marked on the map. After a few hundred metres on it I was off the boggy ground and on a nice graveled path leading up to Pike of Stickle, the first of my Langdale Pikes. After a bit more walking and a short scramble, I was on the summit and Loft Crag and Harrison Stickle had escaped the cloud and were looking quite magnificent. Elterwater and Windermere were visible as well as the Langdale valley. Crinkle Crags and Bow Fell were hidden by cloud, but Pike o’Blisco, Lingmoor Fell and Blea Tarn all stood out making Langdale look fantastic. I found and easier route of descent of the summit, which I took before making my way on to the summit of Loft Crag. Again Langdale looked fantastic. I stopped by a stream to clench my thirst and then began the short ascent onto Harrison Stickle, the highest of the Langdale Pikes. On it was a Mum and her son about 6, who asked me where I was going. The boy was keen to show me the way they came. It’s nice to see someone that young getting so much out of fells, even when the weather is bad. I made my way on to Pavey Ark where I rung Dad before descending. I made my way for Stickle Tarn to Easdale Tarn, where I met a small group of men from west Cumbria who showed me the best way off down to the tarn. At the end of the tarn I went up a small hill to get a signal to arrange the pick up time with Dad. After a 40 minute descent I met Dad outside the Cotswold shop and we then went and had Lunch in the pub next door. I’d had a good trip but there were plenty of times where I wished I had someone to talk to. 

Harrison Stickle (left), Pavey Ark (right) and Stickle Tarn

Next week, if all goes to plan I should be going on a 2 day walk with Calum (Fergus’ brother). I was thinking of going over in to the Scafell area from Langdale via Crinkle Crags and perhaps doing Scafell Pike and maybe Scafell as well, depending on the weather.

Feel free to post comments as always.

The 12 Peaks Challenge

The 12 peaks challenge was successful just to let you know first of all.

I am going to write each day out in sections so you can break it down into bits. I’ll try not to go on for too long, but I had an exciting time and have lots to write about.

I first had the idea to going up the highest 10 of  ‘Walking Englishman's’ list of England's Highest Mountains. I would carry a backpack with all my food and camping equipment just like usual and wild camp on the way. Looking at the map this route looked very manageable which was part of the reason why I decided to do it. Since then I learned about the 10 highest Wainwrights these didn’t include Lower Man, Broad Crag or Ill Crag because of their small prominence, but instead included Nethermost Pike, Catstye Cam and Pillar. To do these three would involve a lot more walking just to get to them. I decided the best way to do this was to merge the two lists together which lead to a total of 13 peaks, the ten Wainwrights with the 2 crags and Lower Man as extra. I then bought a Wainwright Hill Chart from ‘Guideus’ and looking at it realized it wouldn’t be too much more work to do the 11th and 12th highest Wainwrights on the way. So to sum things up I was doing the top 12 Wainwrights and what many people would class as the top 15 peaks in the Lake District, which if it wasn’t for Cross Fell in the North Pennines would be the 15 highest in the country. This manageable trip now looked like a tough challenge and I was beginning to wonder whether I would manage it at all.

Day 1

Bowfell Summit

I was dropped off in Langdale at 10:20 and after saying goodbye to Dad I set off up the Band to get to Bowfell, the 6th highest fell of my challenge and the 6th highest in the country. When I got to the three tarns area where Crinkle Crags and the Band both stop to give way to the magnificent Bowfell I couldn’t help notice a camera crew of 2 men with a man possibly in his 60’s being filmed going up. One thing I heard him say to the camera was “You can see why they’re called ‘Three Tarns’.” This was all said while filming me walking up. When I got to where the man was standing he said “Good Heavens! That’s a heavy load, I suppose you have to be young.” I couldn’t help but ask him “Will I be on the telly walking up there then?” and he replied “Probably, it depends if you choose the right channel.” This guy struck me as the kind of person I should recognize off other TV programs but I didn’t, so I just spoke to him like anyone else on the fells. When I walked up a bit further I saw two ‘fix the fells’ people and I recognized one of them off Julia Bradbury’s Scafell Pike episode. I felt particularly odd at this point I had set off for a week of walking through the Lake District on my own. Now I know just as well as anyone else how busy the Lakes can get at this time of year, but I hadn’t been walking 2 hours yet and I was feeling star struck with the hope of a television appearance. 

Great End - South-east Gully

Scafell Pike Summit

After summiting Bowfell I then went on to Esk Pike, no.11 of the Wainwrights. My knee was a bit achey at this point but nothing to worry about. I had started using the technique of taking a picture of my brand new NB baseball cap on the summit cairn to show I had been there when I got back. I did this on every summit throughout the week and it feels like a good bit of evidence to back up my success, not that I am likely to need it. I then went down into Esk Hause and up Great End I had read in the Wainwright guide at home about an ascent up one of the gullies and made a mental note to check them out next time I was on the summit. I looked at one and thought it could be doable but would probably choose to do it with out the weight I was carrying and possibly with a friend, (it is very difficult to find a committed outdoors partner though). After Great End I went on to Ill Crag. I was the only one on it which I find a bit of a shame considering it has amazing views of the River Esk running down into the valley where Cam Spout is. However it is always nice to know that there are places to go for those of us who love that feeling of peace and wilderness. I then went across to Broad Crag where again there was nobody around. Out of the two crags I prefer Ill Crag but would Broad Crag would probably offer good shelter from the wind if you wanted to have lunch there. It was then up to Scafell Pike the highest in the country. This was my 4th time on this fell and I was pleased to see Blackpool Tower and the Isle of Man to back up the rumors.

I had the remainders of my lunch on Scafell Pike before heading up to Sca Fell; England’s 2nd highest mountain. 

Sca Fell Summit

Great Gable - On a Great Day

I was at the base of Gable just after 7 o’clock and headed up at a reasonable pace for this time of day to be on the summit just before 8 o’clock. On it were two very friendly fell runners admiring the view. One took a photo for me before they descended. I rang Mum and Dad before heading down myself and setting up camp on the col between Great Gable and Kirk Fell.

Day 2

Great Gable and last nights camping spot
from the path up to Kirk Fell

Pillar Summit

I woke up at 7:50 and had overslept. I unpitched and made breakfast with the intention to set off as quick as I could in order to get a good start to the day. After doing Great Gable last night instead I wasn’t as concerned about whether I’d manage to complete the days route. Today was more about getting over to the Helvellyn range, but I would have to do Pillar as part of my 12 peaks and on the way didn’t see any harm in doing Kirk fell and Haystacks as well. It wasn’t long before I was on the summit of Kirk Fell, as I was camped on the col already some height up it. After taking a photo or two I headed down off the fell and up towards Pillar. The first half of today’s route was very much like my first solo backpacking trip in Easter. I didn’t plan this deliberately it just turned out that way. The only difference was I did the traverse along Pillar instead of going to the summit. I was on Pillar at a decent time so rang home. I couldn’t get a signal it appeared but apparently Dad could hear me although I couldn’t hear Dad. I planned to scramble down onto the traverse and then descend off that through the forest but I couldn’t find the right way down so just went back off Pillar the way I came and on to Black Sail Pass. Quite often on these trips I do, where I’m carrying a heavy pack in hot weather I feel dehydrated. I have improved this by getting a filter bottle which means I don’t have to boil my water. However it still takes a while to get the water out of the filter so I often only drink when I feel particularly thirsty. Coming along Black Sail Pass it wasn’t long before I came upon the Youth Hostel. There were plenty of people sat outside it and I asked one of them if there was any drinking water inside. He said that there was and the facilities were open to non-residents as well so I could even make a brew if I left a donation. I went inside and filled up my bottle to the brim and drank it on the spot, then I filled it up again and drunk it just as quickly, before filling it up again to take with me up to Haystacks. I couldn’t help notice the cosy feeling this old shepherd's bothy had. The small dining room was full of old chairs and the Kitchen had many great facilities, yet it still has it’s old feel. I think that I might stay there sometime in the winter so I don’t have to buy a warmer sleeping bag in order to camp. 

Black Sail Hut

I then headed up towards Haystacks, Wainwright’s final resting place. It really is very unique. Although its very safe, you have to make use of the handholds in order to get to the top. Then there is a whole fell full of life to look at. It looks the perfect place to camp and one day I’ll camp there but seeing as it didn’t fit in with my route I stopped by Blackbeck tarn to have lunch (dehydrated Beef Stroganoff), heading down to Honister Hause Slate Mine where I had an ice cream and bought a chocolate rice crispy cake. The place itself looked quite remarkable. It has a Via Ferrata course there and guided slate mine tours. It looks like the kind of place you can spend the day quite easily. I then joined onto the Allerdale Ramble for a short length of time before heading into Rosthwaite where I rewarded my body with water and cola before heading up to Watendlath and finally to Blea Tarn where I would camp for the night. Blea Tarn is a fantastic tarn. It is probably one of the biggest in the Lake District although not as visited as Sprinkling Tarn or Styhead due to its remote location. When I arrived there were a group of girls there who had set up camp. They looked like they were on a D of E trip or something. When they saw me arrive they looked concerned. I waved but no one waved back. “Are You alright?” One of them shouted “Yes.” I replied.

Blea Tarn

“Are you on your own?” another asked “Yes,” I said “Why?” What did they mean by that? Why wouldn’t I be on my own! I hesitated for a moment before replying, “I just.....do. Seeya!” I then went off to the other end of the tarn and after putting up with the midges while having tea, I went to sleep.

Day 3

I got up at 07:30 and packed up. I didn’t have breakfast because I couldn’t put up with all the bites I was getting. I set off for Thirlmere stopping to clean my teeth and zip off into my shorts which I deliberately didn’t do until I was far from the midges. I walked along the shore of Thirlmere reservoir before crossing the busy road and heading up to Nethermost Pike. I hadn’t had much to drink and a lot of the streams marked on the map had dried up.

Helvellyn - Red Tarn

Raise Summit

When I got to Nethermost Pike I was unsure of the summit. I had a quick stroll onto High Crag before finding out that it wasn’t the right one and then went back onto Nethermost Pike to do the whole cap on the cairn thing. The views of Striding Edge from it’s southern side were quite magnificent. I then went over onto Helvellyn, where taking my cap off the cairn nearly knocked the whole thing over. I then went down by Red Tarn to fill myself up with water before heading up to Catstye Cam and ringing Mum and Dad for a quick conversation. I then went onto Lower Man, the last of those fells which aren’t always classed as fells. My final peak of the day was Raise the smallest out of the peaks in the challenge. The Summit itself was very nice and had a beautiful cairn. I descended down towards Shoulthwaite. My bad knee was really starting to cause me grief. It was aching on almost every step and I was overtaken by a couple with trekking poles. I was concerned at this point as I had done all of the peaks in my challenge apart from one, Skiddaw. This was no time to give up! I stopped and seeing as I was on my own I had a good, stern word with my knee basically saying I was going to go up Skiddaw even if I needed to replace it when I came back down, so making descents painful wasn’t going to put me off any. When I got to Shoulthwaite I realized that when planning the route I hadn’t really thought about following paths and had relied on my navigational skills to get me across random fields up to the Castlerigg Fell area. This was easier said than done as it involved certain bits of fence hopping and I was carrying 15kg. Also I lost where I was for a while after switching maps, but when I found out where I was I hand railed along a stream and a few fences and ended up camping not far from Walla Crag. After pitching my tent and having my tea, I put my fleece on and walked over to Walla Crag where I sat watching the sun set over Keswick and Skiddaw with a strong signal to have a nice long conversation with my parents. My knee was feeling better and I was confident I would make it up Skiddaw the next day.

Camping on the Final Night

Day 4

Keswick in the morning

I woke up at 7 o’clock. For the first time on this whole trip the clouds were showing signs that rain was inevitably coming. I headed down into Keswick where I bought breakfast at Greggs, expecting to have a nice change from the rubbish I’d been eating over the past 3 days. It wasn’t much better, but it gave me a lot of good energy that helped lift my spirits, and at least the hot chocolate was nice. I then bought some water and headed out of Keswick and up to the car park at Latrigg. I could feel the joy of completing the challenge already and after a final lot of hard work I reached the summit of Skiddaw and rang home in celebration. There was a couple on the summit and one took a photo of me.

Skiddaw summit - A Success!!!

My challenge was now a success and I felt the trip had given me plenty of great moments with very few bad ones. I felt I could finally say I had done something to make note of. I descended into Keswick in about 1 hour and was happy to see my Dad who looked just as happy with a slight concern to how wet and tired I looked, so he took me straight into a pub and watched me wolf down a Steak and Ale pie with Chips, while I spoke to him about the last few days. We then looked around Keswick for a bit and I bought a very interesting book from Oxfam. It seems to be a first edition of John Hunt’s ‘The Ascent of Everest’. This was written in a month and published in 1953 the same year as the ascent. John Hunt was the expedition leader. I haven’t really started reading it yet but it looks really interesting with photos of the trip and a first hand account of all the dedication and organization involved in it.

If by any chance you enjoyed reading this entry then please look out for my next one about the Picos de Europa. It is a family holiday so I will make sure I spend most of it with Mum and Dad doing things together but I should hopefully get the opportunity to get out of our cottage and head up some of the fantastic mountains in the area some of which are over 2500 metres, though I won’t be doing too many of them!

Thanks for Reading

Ethan 

The 12 Highest Peaks in the Lake District - a bit of boring info before hand for the dedicated fell walker

I am all packed for my big challenge and will set off tomorrow (Monday 25th). I will be doing a 4/5 day walk where I will be going up the 12 highest peaks in the Lake District. I was originally going to do the 10 highest but considering Raise and Esk Pike are on the way to others I thought I might as well do them too. There is a bit of uncertainty as to what the 12 highest are. Ill Crag and Broad Crag of the Scafell range and Lower Man of Helvellyn are to some considered the 4th, 5th and 7th highest mountains in the country and the lakes but to a lot (including Alfred Wainwright) they aren't.
This is because they don't have a high enough prominence to be considered an extra peak. I can't make my mind up about this one. Quite frankly this whole prominence thing confuses me to much to make an opinion on the subject myself, all I can say is when going up to Scafell Pike; Ill Crag and Broad Crag are well worth a visit. As for Lower Man I have never been on that. I will be doing these 3 peaks as well just to avoid having to explain to anyone why I didn't go up them (when I wouldn't really know why myself). This way no-one will be able to argue that I haven't gone up at least the 12 highest mountains in the Lake District if not the 15 highest. My only concern is Ill Crag and Broad Crag go off the path a bit so I am hoping I won't have too much trouble finding them if they're in fog.
Check back next weekend to find out how I got on.

I have listed the mountains that I will be doing in height order:

Scafell Pike (wainwright)
Scafell (wainwright)
Helvellyn (wainwright)
Ill Crag
Broad Crag
Skiddaw (wainwright)
Lower Man
Great End (wainwright)
Bowfell (wainwright)
Great Gable (wainwright)
Pillar (wainwright)
Nethermost Pike (wainwright)
Catstye Cam (wainwright)
Esk Pike (wainwright)
Raise (wainwright)

The Calf & Cautley Spout

Yesterday (Friday 22nd) was my last day of school. While I was at school I thought that it would be good to make the most of spare time I had. When I got home I started thinking about doing a walk. My first thought was High Cup Nick in the Pennines, but I've been up there quite a few times recently so decided to go somewhere new. The Howgills are a big gathering of fells sitting between the Yorkshire Dales and The Lake District. There are many appealing things about the Howgills. For me it is the peaceful nature of them often complimented by the lack of visitors.

I set of from Teasdale at 3:40pm. The first part of the walk I had done twice before, over Hooksey to Randy Gill Top. My Mum had printed off a load of different routes to do in the Howgills from the internet and a few months ago I managed to persuade her to do that one with me. She was very glad she came in the end and for the past 3 months has been saying she'll go on another walk with me sometime.

When I got to Randy Gill Top I headed down west to the river that had a path alongside it leading up to the Calf, the highest of the Howgills. In the distance I could see the silhouette of another evening rambler making his way up to the summit.  I got to the Calf at 5:40 and couldn't resist the childish temptation to stand on the Trig Point. I could look one direction and see the mighty bulk of the the Lake District Mountains and then the other way to see what looked like Pennygent in the Yorkshire Dales. The motorway that I had admired the Howgills from when I was little, I was now looking at from the Howgills some years later. I had a certain feeling of magic when I thought back to just a few hours ago, being stuck in school with the frustration of the classroom, the teachers and the kids. Now I was up here with a free, clear head looking down at civilisation with little to envy.  There was no place I could have picked better to celebrate the end of a school year and the begging of the fantastic summer holiday which lies ahead of me. I descended along Cautley Spout England's largest waterfall, it was fantastic to finally meet it! When getting to the bottom I realised the time and ran the last kilometre, when I got back home we all went out for a meal to celebrate Mum's birthday.