ONE of the boys drank a cup of vinegar and salt during a game of dares last weekend.

It’s almost as if he only does these things to help fill the column.

Interestingly, he wasn’t as sick as the friend who drank a bottle of Sprite and three bananas.

As parents, our initial response was to dish out yet another lecture, but as he laid on the sofa clutching his tummy, we decided the lesson had already been learnt.

On the same day, the youngest boy and I ducked out of a baby birthday party to go for a walk at Aysgarth Falls. It was cold and raining, and the boy was initially sceptical about the activity, suggesting he would rather be in the nearby village hall with the babies, sitting in a ball pool eating buns.

We were walking in Freeholders’ Wood, so-called because residents of nearby Carperby had the right to gather firewood and coppice the hazel trees. Villagers stopped coppicing the wood 50 years ago, but the national park authority still maintains it, meaning there is an endless supply of straight sticks ideal for use as a pretend sword.

It’s amazing how whacking your dad on the back of the legs three or four times can uplift the spirits of a grumpy boy. It was like some kind of sickly holiday advert.

“Oh, isn’t it nice that the father and son are bonding – wait a minute, those are tears of pain in the father’s eyes.”

The hitting only stopped when we saw a squirrel. It was an evil grey, but we still enjoyed watching it scamper about.

It seems red squirrels are slowly moving down dale from their stronghold in Raydale – where they frolic about like a Disney movie apparently. A red was spotted at Askrigg earlier this year and up Bolton Gill near Castle Bolton the previous year.

Finally, the council has announced that the Tour de France route will be closed for at least eight hours on race day. The disruption is a small price to pay for such a massive return, says county council leader John Weighell, who lives in Bedale.