Steph Bell

a cartoon drawing of a house with animals and the name bluebean on the bottom left ALT: a cartoon drawing of a house with animals and the name bluebean on the bottom left

Passed a new backfiets in the village. Gave an excited wave. There are now 4 of us in the area.

Old bones need lots of rest, preferably on mum's electric fluffy blanket.

Plenty of people out and about on two wheels in Berlin in the snow last week. After seeing that couldn't really not chauffeur cycle child 1 about today and go shopping. Sigh.

You are more observant than I. It would be good to know.

This sounds wonderful. I used to live (quite a while ago mind) in Birmingham and used my bike to get about and it was hair-raising. Navigating around Five Ways roundabout on 2 wheels is not something I want to ever repeat.

Birmingham Reveals Radical Ghent-Style Plan To Cut Car Addiction Car-besotted Birmingham wants to reduce the number of car journeys in the city.

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Staff, hotel Anna 1908. We enjoyed the slow travel experience so much we're looking doing similar trips in the future.

The ICE trains were a dream (we did treat ourselves to 1st class though, and we found they do kids sections- need to find out more about those). All on time (!) and the staff were just lovely. Public transport in Berlin is dead easy, too. Shout out to our little gem of a hotel and the truly lovely

We have made it home after our (to us) epic voyage with a 4 and 7 year old. Ferry: a cinema and a good night's sleep. Perfect. Disembarking took longer than expected and our 3 hour buffer at Amsterdam evaporated and we ran through central to get the ICE to Berlin- which was a dream.

After the ferry, lunch in the onboard restaurant in the train. Very civilised.

And we're off on our long trip from Glasgow to Berlin via ferry and train with the kids. We have a bag just for food and snacks and a bag for trainertainment. But first challenge 1: getting to the port on time.

The dogs and cats have spotted the travel bags and are hovering about them whilst throwing us reproachful glances. They know they're not coming with us. Still, guarding the bags is a tiring job and requires napping in situ in between throwing doggy shade.

That's the loan we got to buy our cargo bike. Best purchase ever. Scheme not widely known, though. Sadly poor active travel infrastructure overall (with some exceptions).

Exhausted after a marathon trip planning and booking session. Has it always been this complicated to book Ryanair and Easyjet flights? They are also not cheap at all. In the end, it was easier and cheaper to book an overnight ferry to the Netherlands and a train to Germany - even 1st class.

I'm going on a wee holiday with a friend this year. No kids or husband. Now, most people would have booked somewhere relaxing, where one can gently sightsee in the sun and read books and drink tea. We've decided to walk from Fort William to Inverness. Sigh. I suppose I have to get fit now.

OMG. There was another cycling parent doing pick up at brownies! I no longer feel like the only cyclist in the village.

And if you then add a long-tail transport bike and 2 children you get a large outing and in the evening have 2 tired and happy doggos, 2 tired and sleepy children, and 2 exhausted parents who deserve all the treats after the offspring has gone to bed.

Turns out you can use a cargo bike to give your elderly dog a lift halfway through a walk whilst echausting the younger indefatigable and excitable one. Result: two sleepy and happy doggos. Now I just need to remove the mud from the dogs, the bike, the corridor, the .... sigh. worth it.

We have creaked and limped our way into Friday only to realise that tomorrow we have to get up early to take our kids to their activities followed by multiple birthday parties. I suppose not fitting it all in around paid work is a bonus of the weekend, so that's a win, right?

It's the best thing to happen to traffic management round here in ages. And yet I hear complaints that 20mph should be got rid of because some people don't stick to it or because the roads are "too wide" for 20mph. Boggles the mind.

I didn't realise that it wasn't a done thing to use teenage babysitters. Perhaps because I am Gen X (only just) or an old parent? I'm now striking deals with my friends who are parents of teenagers to let theirs watch my much younger ones in return for money, pizza & binge watching.

I now hope that at some point in the more immediate future, the roads around us (residential) will be safe enough for my kids to cycle the 600m to school by themselves.

We are no longer the only cargo bike parents at school! Welcome newcomers! This brings the total number of cycling parents at school to ..3.. . (2 cargos, 1 trailer).

A momentous occasion. Kids now old enough to watch Star Wars with us. A perfect way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon in winter

Father Christmas brought a heated blanket. Wow. Just wow. 10/10 would recommend.

Time without kids well spent: doggy snuggles watching a daytime Christmas film. This is the way.

When they have them: the ones from lidl have so far been great. Lightly articulated knees and integrated shoe cover. Bear on mind I only cycle kids to school, go shopping and to work when I have to be in the office. I don't know how they would hold up during prolonged use on a daily basis.

Sold out!

My train journey this weekend didn't go as planned. After being chucked off the train at Preston; we had to go on a detour via Leeds to reach London 5 hours later. 'Just' a 1 hour delay in the way back after the train I originally wanted to take was cancelled altogether. Wow. London was fun though.

The British Council was instrumental in me applying to university in the UK before ubiquitous internet was available.