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>

Isn't Dutch just the best language EVER.

What the chuff is a Brillenzakjes?

Who cares.

I want one.

Blimey. 33kg verpackt. And that's without the binnentent or the stokken/haringen. Heavy.

Actually, I had a Belgian (Flemish) boyfriend for a very short period of time and actually attempted to write him naughty billet-doux in Dutch. Not sure they were intelligible.

Sal, you're going to that lovely site to stay in a de waard - brilliant...what a fabby dh.

love the idea of fitting one either under or in pants

lovecat - well done on roofbox for all the tut. My dh managed to roll his eyes when I said I wanted some low boxes for storage around the edge of the tipi. Must say he has since stopped rolling when he realised the same low boxes could fit under the bed.

It's my birthday today, which is a bit underwhelming especially as I have a poorly boy wheezing pitifully in his sleep with a horrid chest. Celebrations at the weekend I think. And maybe a bivouac purchase?

Arf. This is before the days of google translate was it Reshape? However did you do it?

The dds and I watched a pantomime in Dutch twice at the campsite when we last camped in Holland. It was beyond surreal.

Happy Birthday scary

Sorry to hear you have a poorly boy

Bivouac will almost certainly improve your spirits.

Happy birthday, Scary! Sorry to hear about ds though, hope it's not too rough a night.

I can read (most) Dutch, not too great with understanding spoken Dutch though.

I think brillenzakjes are spectacle cases (bags), but I might just be directly translating.

PS: Just messing around with being smug when understanding - my first language is very similar, which helps.

what????

They store the tent in (2) spectacle cases.

Must be a giant's spectacle cases.

How odd, and yet in keeping with the Middle Earth Elves etc

Impressed at Dutch knowledge tho Sal.

Happy Birthday, Scaryt! Here's hoping your poorly DS is feeling better soon and that the weekend celebrations bring bivouacs and more :)

what's your first language, Sal? My dad spoke Afrikaans, which was quite similar to Dutch, but all he ever taught us was the swear-words...

Hahahaha. Uhm, Dutch knowledge might not be up to scratch. Or these tents might be magical after all!

Ah cool Lovecat - yup, it's Afrikaans. Makes visiting Belgium and Holland easier.

Swearword knowledge is essential, of course, your dad had his priorities straight!

What is your first language Sal (just wondering if I should know this)? It's funny how you think you're beginning to 'know' people and you don't at all really.

I think de waard's should only be stored in a giant's spectacle cases. It's obvious.

Thanks for the ice cold icey-tek gin. Delicious.

One more day before my summer of adventures can start. Any suggestions for NW Wales/Midlands within 2-3 hours of Derby (well Ashbourne to be precise) or 2-3 hours of South Yorks? Am very excited about summer hols this year.

poorly boy now whimpering and thrashing around in sleep, sweaty head but goose pimply cold body. poor child.

oops cross post...I see you've answered!

Oh poor thing, Scary. Do you have anything you can give him for fever?

He's had calpol but the lovely orange ibuprofen is in the caravan. In Ashbourne. He's having a quiet moment now, I added a layer to his bedclothes, so I hope that lasts.

Sorry about your poorly boy, Scary. How old is he? Can anyone go out to get more nurofen, in case you need to spend the night alternating doses? Oh, and happy birthday!

Slubber - a Dutch phrasebook and an English-Dutch dictionary. He appreciated the effort, in any case. mad as a box of frogs, though.

Hope he'll sleep, sometimes only think that really helps, isn't it. Ds here coughing too - nothing serious though, he's asthmatic, so half a cold and it goes to his chest. No fever, luckily, and I've just switched on the humidifier, sometimes it helps with the coughing.

Hopefully it'll work its way out tonight.

That's interesting about the humidifier Sal, ds is asthmatic too and used to cough a lot until he got his inhalers but things do go to his chest. He's 5 btw.

Thanks, ladies, for your concern. This really is a lovely thread.

scary, poor thing. Let's hope he sleeps through and is feeling better in the morning

Aww, poor little love.

DD isn't asthmatic (but DH is and so are all my family but me) and always gets a chest with her colds - we found those little plug-in menthol/eucalyptus evaporators that look like the mosquito killer things you get abroad work wonders when she can't sleep. Plus a liberal rubbing of vick on her chest and back, known in our house as 'tickle mixture'...

Hope the temperature dies down and you all get some rest. No suggestions for those areas, I'm afraid, but I like the sound of a Summer of Adventures - very Famous Five!

Forgot I'd got Vick. Like the sound of the menthol/eucalyptus things. Hmm. Although all medication is mute against the power of the jedi.

Yes, I do have a hankering to be part of the Famous Five or Swallows and Amazons.

I need happy packing vibes, if you please.

All the gear is ready to trip over in the hall. It's the blardy paperwork and techno-crap that's getting on my nerves. Ipods to load, nintendo DSs to charge, camera cards to empty, and charge, DH asking for the millionth time whether he should take a radio, torches, laptop, DVDs etc etc. DH has forgotten to arrange the travel insurance, lost his driving licence, etc etc ad nauseum.

Then my parents send a text saying are we bring the kids' bikes? So I spend an hour pondering the removal of front wheels with a 12"adjustable spanner, and jamming all the other clobber around them. Then the DC say no thanks, we don't want to take them .

Grrrr. Roll on Friday.

I always wanted to be Errol Flynn. Or Robin Hood.

Which is why as an adult I learnt to ride a horse, joust, tilt at a target, do archery and fencing... the only thing left on my 'to do' list for that particular fantasy is have a bird of prey on my big leather gauntlet as I ride along. A merlin for preference :)

Ooh, mad x-post! :o

Chippy, I feel your pain. Am currently compiling my own packing list and desperately trying to dry the washing in the pissing, sodding rain!

Life was so much simpler in Swallows & Amazons. All you needed was a tin opener for the pemmican and an oil lantern