Walking along the shore of Bassenthwaite lake

Summary – January to March 2026

Published on by Mélodie

The first three months of 2026 have been a busy blur of kids’ parties, family adventures near and far, and some wonderful new book discoveries.

Read – October to December 2025 summary.

View of Richmond from the path around the castle
Old town of Richmond in North Yorkshire

Personal Life:

The winter months have been so wet and dark that we haven’t explored as much as we’d hoped. However, I’ve been walking to work every morning since the start of the year. I find it enjoyable, even in the rain! Skye also loves our 45-minute walk before heading into the office, and I’m so lucky I can bring him with me. We actually have two office dogs now: Skye and Viviane (my colleague’s Cockapoo). Since I work condensed hours, I have Fridays off, so Marcus, Skye, and I have been enjoying short walks around Whitehaven. Over the years, I’ve compiled a list of easy spots to visit with a baby and a dog for when I’m out without Matt to help carry Marcus. I think I’ll have to write a post with my tips for other mums wanting to explore

January – It was quiet, though Marcus stayed busy attending several kids’ birthday parties.

February – I joined friends for afternoon tea at Bassenthwaite Lake Station. The savoury and sweet dishes were delicious, and the atmosphere in the last carriage was lovely, though it felt a bit pricey compared to our visit to the Hetland Hotel in November. At the end of the month, we enjoyed a little weekend away in County Durham to celebrate Matt’s birthday.

March – It marked Marcus’s 3rd birthday—it’s crazy how time flies! We organised a little party at a local playground; he had a wonderful time with his friends, and the chocolate dinosaur cake I made was a huge hit.

Read – Our weekend in Barnard Castle and Richmond

Marcus and his dinosaur cake. Looks like he is red-haired but he is dark blond – bad light.

Walking:

We did two great walks during the winter months. The first one around Sandscale Haws Nature Reserve and the second one along the shore of Bassenthwaite. I also managed to write about our autumn walk up to Walla Crag.

View of the Lake district summit from sandscale haws beach
Sandscale Haws beach with view of the Lake District summits

Travelling:

We spent the first week of January in France, travelling back to the UK around the 7th. It was lovely to see family, visit new places, and, of course, enjoy some great food.

The highlight of these winter months, however, was our little trip to Barnard Castle. We’ve driven through the town so many times on our way elsewhere, but we had never actually stopped. We finally decided to fix that and properly explore. We all liked this town, as well as Richmond and the surrounding area. We’re already planning another trip to see more of the North Pennines National Park.

Read about our adventures in France here.

Shore of bassenthwaite with the end of Whinlatter forest
Bassenthwaite Lake

Blogging:

As you might have noticed, I’ve decided to stop writing in two languages. To be honest, I find it much less stressful, and it allows me to write more detailed posts now that I have more time. I’ve also decided to post every two weeks on a Thursday; this schedule gives me the space to create longer posts packed with as many recommendations as possible. I’ll see how this works out in the long run, but I might still share the occasional Sunday post (like this one) when I have a few miscellaneous things to share.

I have also managed to write about our visit of Sizergh castle last august but I still have some blog posts about our holiday in Norfolk in April/ May 2025 to finish writing.

Observing the castle of Barnard Castle
Stunning ruins of the castle of Barnard Castle

Books:

I have managed to read several books during these winter months.

  • The paper palace by Miranda Cowley Heller (EN)
  • Amok by Stefan Zweig (FR)
  • The Amur River: Between Russia and China by Colin Thubron (EN)
  • Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (EN) (original book in Japanese, translated in FR: Tant que le café est encore chaud)
  • Homo Sapienne by Niviaq Korneliussen (FR) (original book in Greenlanders, translated in EN with the title of “Crimson”, and in US under “Last Night in Nuuk”)
  • Butter by Asako Yusuki (EN) (original book in Japanese, translated in FR: Le beurre de Manako)
  • Corregidora by Gayl Jones (EN)
  • Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho (EN)
  • Seascraper by Benjamin Wood (EN)

I think my top three books of this winter months are: Butter, Homo Sapienne/Crimson and Seascraper.

Blog discoveries:

Winter months means more indoor time as such I have been catching-up with fellow blogger’s posts. Here a selection of the ones I have particularly enjoyed.

  • Suzanne and Pierre enjoyed some holiday in Martinique. Their posts reminded me, our own holiday in this beautiful island and our walk to Mount Pelee.
  • I discovered the little village of Staithes with Sharon.
  • I enjoyed following Corna and Berto wild camping in Waterval, West Coast, South Africa.
  • Jo reminded me about the beauty of Silves town in Portugal.
  • Thanks to Steve and Linda, I had a virtual exploration of Cheddar Gorge in England.
  • Rosie showed me the challenging Elie Chain walk in Scotland.
  • Linda and her family went to visit Quebec City.
  • Whilst Marion was in Chefchaouen, Morocco.
  • and Aiva gave us her recommendation to see cherry trees in Edinburgh.
  • Jim has been walking in the Lake District and up Harter Fell.
  • Anabel also enjoyed her visit of Richmond.
  • Eunice reminded me how much street arts there are in Manchester.
  • And I learnt about Southwell workhouse with Mick.
  • Justin tested an app to practice his French
  • Finally, I am keeping up to date with French literature by reading Audrey blog.
Admiring the waterfall on the Swale river at Richmond
Richmond Waterfall

Final Thoughts

Join the Conversation

How was your winter? Any plans for spring?

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27 thoughts on “Summary – January to March 2026”

  1. You can take your dog to work – whoop, isn’t that nice! The dino cake is a masterpiece – you did quite well! I bet you can’t wait for summer. I’m glad you enjoyed our wild camping posts – with winter around the corner, we will now have to look at alternatives … but who knows, maybe we can still fit in one or two before the cold and rainy days 😉.

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  3. You definitely have been very busy! Having a 45-minute walk to work (and presumably back again at the end of the day) is probably an excellent way to keep work-related stresses to a minimum. How great that you can bring your dog along, also.

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  6. I love your little ones’ dinosaur cake – it looks so beautiful. I hope you had a wonderful time together celebrating. My youngest one turned three at the end of October, and I find that it is such a sweet age, especially the charming curiosity that comes with it. I also switched to posting every two weeks and find that it gives me more time to write proper blog posts as well as enough time to write proper responses to my readers’ comments. Many thanks for the mention! I shall come back to all the other blog posts mentioned in your post. because I love discovering new bloggers. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

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  9. Génial de pouvoir amener ton chien au bureau ! Marcus est beau comme tout 😍. Si tu écris seulement en anglais, je commenterais en français parce que ça me semblera tout sauf naturel de passer à l’anglais avec toi

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