Tullie House is one of my favourite places in Carlisle, great coffee, a gift shop in which to get lost for at least an hour, a gallery, museum and a lovely garden to explore.

There are lots of coffee shops all over the place where I could take a pit stop; my favourite in Carlisle is at Tullie House.  This wins my vote because as well as being in the centre of Carlisle, beautiful building and serving great coffee; it is also a place where I can stop for lunch wiht my boys and they get the kind of food I like them to have and it is the kind of food that they enjoy.

When we first moved to Carlisle, one of my neighbours recommended Tullie House as a place for keeping the boys satisfactorily entertained. And it was free for children. We have all enjoyed attending workshops from making Chinese lanterns, drumming and even a workshop on archaeology. The staff are really helpful and make taking part fun for both adults and children.

The garden at Tullie House is very inviting and full of historical references, don’t ask me though as I find historical facts difficult to retain and share. I love the building, which I can remember is Jacobean (1689) and has a fabulous “Gone with the Wind" staircase, great for that facebook profile photo. Whilst you can admire the grade 1 listed building from the garden, you will have to go inside to pose on the staircase and there will you will also see an exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite art.

From the Tranquil Otter you may just be able to make out wind turbines close by; these are at Watchtree Nature Reserve, a former disused airfield and now the biggest man made nature reserve in Europe. Well worth a look.

You are really missing out if you have not had an opportunity to visit the Solway Firth. It is rightly categorised as an area of outstanding natural beauty. Prone to flooding, it is used primarily by local farmers for feeding their stock at various times of the year.

Horses are such a big part of the countryside. Jon did have a riding lesson on his 5th Birthday and we have a little hazy picture of him on Wimbledon Common. In Cumbria riding is part of life and our boys have just joined the ranks of she-riders at Ride it Rite stables.