There was a very nice setup for art projects and the kids spent many hours making and decorating beautiful shapes such as this heart:

River and I collaborated on this hula hoop.

My capoeira group did a demonstration and workshop at the festival.  It was fun to play capoeira in the sun and I enjoyed hanging out with the folk from capoeira outside of our normal training routine.  Sage really enjoyed the workshop.

There was also some elaborate costume making and a semi-successful theatre workshop.  River transformed into some sort of purple monster.

Another thing we particularly enjoyed was the giant hammock constructed in the woods.  Easily big enough for the four of us, we rolled and bounced and played and relaxed.

There was some very good music at the festival as well, ranging from punk to old-time Appalacian and Irish tunes to drum-and-bass and electronica.  In addition to listening to these high calibre musicans and djs, I managed to have a little jam at the campsite with a friend from capoeira who is an excellent violin player.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable weekend.  The weather was amazing, for England.  The moon was almost full and there was hardly a cloud in the sky revealing more stars than I’ve seen in quite some time.  It might have been even better without the mud, but perhaps that’s just part of the experience.

The kids were ready to go before we finished packing and spent some time on the swings waiting for us.

It isn’t particularly far to Hartington from Derby, but the kids made themselves comfortable and passed the time singing along to music.

The campground is in a field on a farm, apparently typical for camping in England. Molly brought her hammock, but was unable to find any suitable sturdy trees. The grass does provide a nice, soft surface for sleeping, though.

There were a number of our home educating friends who were there as well and the kids had a wonderful time romping through the meadow.

It threatened to rain just before dinner, so the kids got out the umbrellas. The clouds passed without any precipitation and the umbrellas became dens for some sort of game.

Not surprisingly, there were plenty of ungulates in the vicinity. I estimate that there are about 45 million ruminates (sheep and cattle). While this doesn’t approach the shear volume of countries like China and Australia or the ruminate/person ratios of New Zealand and the Falkland Islands (only 0.7 per person compared to 15 per person), it is a remarkable number of grazers in a relatively small area and they have a huge impact on the ecology and the landscape.

Here we are walking through one such landscape. The remarkable thing about this photo, besides the number of buttercups (apparently they aren’t tasty) is how tall River is compared to Molly. I think she must be having another growth spurt.

This is actually the same River Dove that we explored previously, only further upstream. An idyllic spot for a picnic and a swim.

The water was actually very, very, cold. The kids didn’t seem too bothered by it, though. I managed to get in for a few seconds, but it was too shallow to swim any distance and it was too cold to just lie there, so I gave up fairly quickly.

This patch of mud was nice and squishy!

River walked across the stepping stones to get across.

It is a beautiful time of year in England right now. Everything has been very green recently. Flowers are blooming everywhere.

I can’t resist taking wildflower pictures. This thistle was an amazing color!

Mayflies were abundant as well.

The kids spent a lot of time exploring a tunnel through the limestone cliff that connected the large cave opening with a smaller opening off to the side. Molly sent Sage through with the video camera. Needless to say, a video of a dark cave is not visually stimulating, but I found it fascinating nonetheless. You can hear the camera banging into the rock walls. Conversing while traversing this dark world apparently helped distract them from what might otherwise have been frightening.

One of the kids had a bat detector and we listened to some Chiropteran conversations as well. I think the bat detector works by frequency shifting the short wavelengths used by bats to communicate into pitches that our ears are capable of discerning.

Some of the folk we went with are planning to stay for the week. If the weather cooperates, we’re thinking of going back next weekend for another go.

After the knitting group, we set off for a music festival in the Peak District. As part of the celebration, there was a green parade. The kids enjoyed the festive atmosphere, marching all around the stage and through the camping area.

I was a bit disappointed with the music at the festival. England seems to be enjoying a renaissance of 80’s / punk culture. Overall, though, the festival was very nice. There was a friendly atmosphere, loads of kids, and the weather was beautiful. We enjoyed the storytelling by our friend Rachel who we’ve seen perform several times before.

Sage found a comfortable spot to listen:

You might think that three people wouldn’t be able to fit in one sleeping bag, but I hope you didn’t bet too much on it.

On Sunday, we packed up and went for a walk at Dovedale.

The kids were fascinated with these logs studded with coins. Perhaps they were left as offerings for the wood folk?

We climbed up through the archway to Reynard’s Cave.

This time I remembered to bring the headlamps and we explored the dark tunnel which was very exciting.

The trail is very popular, especially on a bank holiday weekend, and there was a queue at the stepping stones.

Despite the steady drizzle, it was an enjoyable walk and a nice way to end the weekend.