Kathy and Jo walking in Borrowdale.

So the Calthwaite pub gets some new life.

They've done well so far. No power for the first 10 days of ownership but managed to keep the beer flowing under candlelight. The church lends them a generator for power so they offer the pub for Sunday services. Great spirits and should do well.

Mum and Kathy in the snow.

Kathy and I are amusing ourselves on the fells whilst wait for news on our job search.

Snowy start to the day in Calthwaite.

Three sisters, Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

No power at the pub

Cumbria continues to be battered by the worst storms for 200 years. We are ok, the pub in Calthwaite is now by candle light as they have lost their electric cables to a falling tree. We have been for a walk to Askham and discovered wide spread tree and water damage. We have got off quite lightly. Carlisle is in a real mess.

Stormy weather at Askham, cold fun.

Torential downpours of rain swelled rivers to perilous levels over the last 24 hours. This bridge in Askam clearly came close to being swept away.

BBC NEWS | UK | Community spirit shines through

Whilst we coped with no power and being cut off by high waters in nearby river plus a power cut all day others were in a more perilous situation nearby in Carlisle. We have heard of people too scared to leave their homes for fear that they will be looted, apparently B&Q has been broken in to. We were able to help in a small way by providing much needed fuel for strickened relatives of a villager in Calthwaite. A sobering nearby glimpse of how it must be in Asia.

Fix the Fells - Upland Path Landscape Restoration Project

Fix the Fells - Upland Path Landscape Restoration Project is taking action to raise money and work towards restore some of the routes in the Lake District which are suffering from over popularity. It is inevitable that such a beautiful place so near to such large populations needs looking after, so please donate to this worthy cause.

Dark skies of the Cumbrian Fells in deep winter. I have left New Zealand Summer for UK Winter now, excited about many mountain outings :)

Didn't take me long to get up the fells, Kathy was ill with a cold but I managed to drag the old man up Raise. Huge gust and a little snow, very cold and nice. Beautiful mountains, I feel at home.

Moody weather greets us in Cumbria with snow on the ground for a white (belated) Christmas, wonderful!

Toi Toi and Flax. So we say goodbye to the sunshine now and onto cold, short dark days in Cumbria.