Getting away from it all

I'm going to wax lyrical about the Lake District - for the first time this year.

There will be more you see, we go there quite a lot.

Partly because my husband is one of the few fellrunners that lives in the flatlands of Cheshire, partly because we have friends in Cumbria and partly because it's just so damned lovely.

This first trip of the year was probably the most civilised - the annual weekend in Keswick with the in-laws. We stayed in a hotel and everything.

We had a deluxe four poster dog room.

We saw snow on the fell tops.

We saw lots of blue sky...

...and spring flowers...

...and lovely views.

And I felt the warmth of the sun on my face for the first time this year as we sat by the river and watched the children skimming stones.

I'm looking forward to our next trip up the M6 already.