A glass of wine sat around the campfire...

[SeaShellsAndTheInlawInvasion]

so I am fed up with the rest of MN (this whole mamazon shite really is the ,last straw), so I am assuming that if any of you are trolling you are showing extraordinary persistence by delving into the thrills of iceytec and are worth chatting to.

So anyway, hi, I am SeaShells, I have 2 dc and have been camping and trapsing through the Great Outdoors all my life. I hang out here as my love of camping is more a love of the countryside and life, and you lot have a similar outlook.

< admires well made fire and tastefully arranged logs with throws>

Poor you notwaving, that's one rough day, sounds like you need the wine! Look at Slubber's cool bedding, then all the other things she's showing off about ( ), and finish off with a good stare at DeathSocks. The wine-DeathSocks combo is bound to cheer anyone up!

lost! Hooray. Posting from forrin parts . Decathlon nearby sounds v dangerous.

Welcome Amapoleon.

Right off to look at Sal's droolsome link and then Must Go To Bed.

Slubber, sweetie paper tipi - I'd steal this one if I ever see it.

Cor, doesn't that sit look lovely Sal. Just google mapped it to see if it was anywhere near the Rhine. It isn't [bugger].

Sheer lusciousness of tent photos.

Those de waard's are something else. Had to close the link sharpish as I was getting drawn in to the many, varied and beautiful configurations you can set up. Am so glad there wasn't a price list, I would probably have started hyperventilating.

sorry not de waard's...de waards...what was I thinking with the wrong use of the apostrophe.

what? What is that tent? What?

Too tired to work out if it is real or not.

Night all.

Harumph. So forrin's ok when you're in a tent then?

Lovely stuff Slubber. I must have missed the 50% off Choc Labs ( with discount card) at Go Outdoors

Have snarfed down a ham cheese and pickle and a glass of wine and feel much more human now. How bad are some of those comics on Show Me The Funny?

Hi, I only camp in Spain because it's where I live, nothing exotic, hahaha

In two minds over whether I should show dh the De Waard photos - he was so proud of how our tent were pitched well the other day, no droopy bits, etc etc. However, compared to a DW, most other tents have the potential to look floppy!

Ooh show him. You don't need to make him feel inadeqate

Oooh... that promo tent has blue and white Delft designs all over it! I know it's just for promotional purposes, but ...phwoarrr. (Am lover of B&W china, tiles etc etc. This is clearly an advertising campaign aimed squarely at me.)

I'm rather proud of myself for recognising the Delft.

Off to dream of de waards and other canvas loveliness. Night all.

Uhm, yes, of course, Delft.

:) Night all.

Morning all!

I have posted elsewhere about my bell tent mildew nightmare so won't dwell on it here...

Happy birthday to Reshape, glad the party went well, sounds fun!

Notwaving, hope everything went ok for you.

Need to go out and re-erect bell tent in chuffing horrible weather to try and dry it out (laughs bitterly).

Latitude was great apart from the weather, we all ended up in the bell on Saturday afternoon as it was so godawful, Dsis has an Outwell Nevada L but they didn't fancy sitting in that, so everyone piled into ours...

We are bad, bad parents. I thought DD's rainwear was in DH's car (it is usually either in my car or his, and it wasn't in mine), DH assumed I was looking after all the packing, when we got there and it was spotting with rain... no waterproofs for DD. Waaah! We bought her a small women's cagoule thing (smallest thing we could find) and she wore it like a dress all weekend. I however got my comeuppance as my cagoule is NOT waterproof (well, not in the torrential rain that we experienced) so I am off to Millets this morning to buy the North Face jacket that someone recommended on another thread, what they have got in their sale, reduced. I also need to buy an outfit for a wedding on Saturday. My first civil partnership, and the do afterwards is at the St Pancras Hotel, so v. swish... Need to look a little less like something pulled backwards through a bush - spent an hour in the bath yesterday and toes still look muddy!

Love the way that lost has interupted her wine to tell us about a Decathlon shop !

lovecat - I've just bought a North Face waterproof, having got soaked in my old jacket and it's great.

Bell tent is up and drying beautifully. Hope it gets dry before the promised rain arrives...

Funtime, that's really great to know - I could not believe how wet it was in Suffolk this weekend! You know when think it's raining so hard it can't possibly last and will die off - nope, it stayed raining at that force all bloody weekend, on and off (on all day Saturday and most of Sunday). We left after Suede (who were amazing, but OMD stole the show[stuck-in-the-80's smiley]) on Sunday night rather than stay over as planned and were bloody glad we did - we got stuck in the mud leaving the car park and needed a strapping bloke to come help us out... God knows what it was like Monday after another night's rain!

We saw a bell at the festival with one of those Malu tarps attached to it - DH was rather interested in it and actually made vaguely appreciative noises, so I may be able to persuade him that we need one...:)

The Aldi SIMs were amazing! Really comfy and warm. The only drawback I found (and I'm hoping you experienced peeps can point me in the right direction here) was that their shiny surface coupled with a shiny sleeping bag meant both DD and I ended up sliding off/down them in the night and ending up down the bottom of the mat! DH stayed put - he has a denser field of gravity, tho' :o I can't think what would not slip, though...

Also - Trangia - wtf am I doing wrong? Or are they just the slooooooowest cookers known to man? I was royally taken the piss out of all weekend for the kettle taking 10 mins to boil and the scrambled egg not scrambling for 20 mins.... I had the thing full open, it was definitely on, the pan was hot... it just wasn't cooking! However, at least it did work in the wind, unlike DBIL's gas cooker, which kept going out :o (although when it wasn't windy he was super speedy at getting a brew on, the bastard!)

Our cheapo tesco folding table/stool thing bit the dust (one of the stools warped so much it was unsafe to use), so I took that as the perfect excuse to go out yesterday and buy a proper folding one with separate stools. Result! :)

Anywaaaay..... the wine box stayed cool (yay!) and DH was forced to admit that my flat-folding faux-leather storage ottoman not only looked fab in the tent but was v. useful and 'you can bring that again'. Which for him is high praise indeed.

5 days to go til we go camping again....:o And this time we can park on the pitch, so I'm larging it on the glamping gear!

Tee Hee, glass of wine round the campfire was rather more like a carafe last night .

The boys are playing ping pong and table football, which seems a good traditional French holiday occupation and the campsite have thoughtfully provided wifi for the parents watching .

It has been a bit rainy so I persuaded DH we NEED to go back to Decathlon to have a through look round and see if they have a tarp.

Glad there were some good camping weekends being had. I agree the Aldi SIM s are good but slippery. Our Tesco table is holding up ok but then I have kept my ample behind well away!

Foot of the Alps tomorrow night, beautiful looking site by the side of a chilly looking lake. I will have to have aswim though, got to look tough in front of the boys.

you get even more marks for free forrin swimming

Glad you're having a lovely time.

Think of us. In the rain. Drying out mildewy tents and looking for bargains in Milletts' waterproof coat department.

Although on a lighter note, my consultant has just rung and put my mind at rest. She told me to "enjoy my holiday too"

So it had better not flipping well rain next week....

Got proper forrin rain here as well. Just had a most unexpected thunderstorm. Fortunately already in a building as I wouldn't have liked getting to one in the rain that was bouncing back about a foot. The sun is out now and mesmerising the boys as there is steam rising from everywhere.

Fantastic news from your consultant. Lovely of her to phone. You had better enjoy yourself now!

:) fantastic news Notwaving-now you really can enjoy your holiday!

Lovecat, think I need something like that too. (am thinking of our own, presumably wet and miserable, festival looming) All I currently have is a crappy old no-name cagoule, the sort that packs into its own pocket, which is fine for shrugging on if it's spitting on the way to pre-school. Sale at Millets, you say? Civil Partnership sounds v swoosh! Wish the weddings I go to were in really posh places...

oops, lots more posts before I remembered to click 'post message'.

Great news, Notwaving!

I would just like to say how disappointed I am with all the rain in Forrin Parts. You lot are striking out on our behalf, so that we might all enjoy Forrin hols vicariously, and are being treated very shabbily.

(Alpine swimming sounds bloody cold fun though!)

Re. Aldi SIMS being slippery, it's annoying me too and we haven't even slept on them yet (maybe just a wee doze in the garden). They move apart as well as slipping you about. I was planning on getting some strips of adhesive Velcro and putting some on the SIMs and using long strips of the fluffy side of the Velcro to anchor them together, so we can have them butting up together. Otherwise poor little DS2 is going to end in the gap all the time! And them put a blanket and fitted sheet over. Maybe there's something that you can apply to the surface to make them grip a blanket or oversheet?? More velcro??