The Glass of Wine, The Campfire and The Awfully Big Adventure

[notwavingjustironing]

We've all blethered on pleasantly on Seashells' lovely previous thread and, with the school holidays approaching, lots of us are about to start our summer adventures( not all of which are in tents....!) This thread is for us all to check back in and generally keep in touch. So we've packed up our Icey-Teks and our Tarps and our Death Socks, gently doused the burning embers of our planning campfire and rinsed out the wine glasses.

We're ready for our Awfully Big Adventure.

Come and talk about yours here (even if you're staying put!)

Reshape glad your mini break went mostly well apart from the sleep. It was similar experiences with airbeds that led us to getting campbeds. They are fab and really comfy. I think I can cope with an awful lot in the way of discomfort etc if only I am well rested. The campsite you have liked to is really really close to where I grew up in a little village just outside Henley! So if you are anywhere near there and a similar age there is a chance I might know you! That would indeed be a small world... Oh and nice one on canvas roulette

northender I'd appreciate the tip about the gadget that tells you how much gas is left. otherwise its a bit of roulette isn't it? I'd be well p*ssed off to arrive at the campsite and stick the food on only to find that the gas runs out halfway through!

Our exciting news is that ds1 has now mastered riding his bike without stabilisers! It was scarily easy and he is very very pleased with himself! All good!

Yellow, yay for bike riding accomplishments. Dd2 learnt at whit whilst camping. Is deffo in the milestone/proud parent book.

Reshape. Oh no, bugger that Aldi sim. Is that IT for family reshape and inflatable mats or will you try again with something a bit more spenith? Campsite sounds lovely. When are you off next? Ime it always takes a few nights to settle the dc into the swing of a new in-tent routine.

Poor old Sal. For a moment there I was all 'where the chuff is she? Stupid work messing with holiday fantasies.

Well dear friends, I am in it. I am WEARING the death suit. Right here, right now I am ready deal with whatever the evil German ticks want to throw at me.

Death socks, not-quite-death-but-probably-poorly trousers, death shirt, death buff. The only bits of me that would not kill or maim an insect are my hands at face, and believe me I've got chemicals to smear on them when the time comes.

I am feeling VERY powerful, and as a suprising additional advantage also look pretty damn cool. That Ray Mears, he would want me in this get up.

I am scared of you in your death suit slubber never mind the German ticks!!!!

no no Yellow

To the casual human eye I just look outdoorsy, you know lots of zippered pockets and a buff on my head.

But to an insect...

Ah well I am Darth Vader. No scrap that, the next one up, with the blue lightening hands.

EMPEROR FREAKING PALPATINE! with pockets!

The dog is looking at me weirdly though.

'EMPEROR FREAKING PALPATINE! with pockets!' pmsl at this

I'm so tempted to take my mother to see Harry Potter in my new outfit.

Slubber I have a feeling you will be off my BFF list when I have wifi and can watch that clip.

Two nights in beds and then plan 'camp back to Wales' starts. Planning on taking 7 days starting with two nights in the south of France.

Glad the inaugural camp went well in the Chilterns. It gets better and easier every time. Last pack up we did took 22 minutes (not that I timed it or anything). I am actually really looking forward to leaving this Villa and getting back under canvas! We've already started planning next year and I'm saving up for an iceytech!

Ooh missed Emperor Fucking Palpatine with pockets, I'm developing quite a crush after that description .

pmsl slubber

Yellow-well done ds! We are just trying to get ds to ride (with stabilisers) it's surprisingly emotional to see him wobble off(he hasn't mastered the brakes so it's also wince inducing!)

I love Henley, I grew up nearish there too. That site looks good (adds to possible meet up site list for next year mn camp, if we are all still talking then :) )

WHAT is a muff buff, and how does it kill ticks?

Slubber - we're off again sometime in August, not sure where, will wait for some nice weather and then ring round. People keep on pushing the New Forest at me, saying how lovely it is for camping. I know two things about camping in the New Forest - there are predatory ponies there who will eat your tent to get at your food, and there are predatory ticks. And I have no Death togs at all. (would they work against predatory ponies?)

I can imagine it gets easier once they've settled in (and we need to settle in too) and next time we'll try for three nights.

As for SIMs, I still Believe. But I fear DH does not. A very nice friend has several times offered me her Thermarests (I didn't want to knacker something so expensive to replace so that's why I bought the Aldis) and we may use them next time, though they're not as thick. DH is welcome to make his own arrangements with airbed or campbed or hammock, but I need to be on a low mat with DS2, so I'll continue with them. DS1 was fine (apart from opting to sleep off it, but a sleeping 3 yo is easily shifted).

I didn't grow up in the Chilterns, I grew up in Surrey! We've lived at the west end of the Chilterns for about 9 years, and I love it here.

How old is DS1, Yellow? Great achievement. I keep on thinking we should get DS1 on a bike.

Not working tomorrow, so whoo hoo, I can devote my life post here again!

Hah, some great posts here today, I don't even know where to start!

Congrats with bikes, surviving first camps, and generally camping genius.

No congratulations, but commiserations instead to those poor German ticks. "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an English (wo)maaaaa...." [dead tick] Poor suckers. Outfit sounds cool though. Unless you're of the blood sucking persuasion, of course.

Ooh, the info pack from Holland arrived yesterday. It looks soooooo lovely, I want to go NOW.

Has anyone camped near Calais-ish before? I know there are some campsite recommendations for specific sites, but I'm just wondering about that general area and whether you've got any opinion on doability. Don't really want to camp in Carrefour car park. It's relatively easy for us to get to Folkestone for Tunnel, and I'm itching to do a weekend trip or two. Being a weekend though, I don't want to drive once there really. Oh and I need cheap wine pastries.

The cats are getting very excited about the ever increasing pile of stuff in the middle of our kitchen! Only boxes of our clothes to add now.... The would so have been room for a Cobb / Iceytek and huge skillet! Next year...

Seashells I'd be well up for a meetup at the site in Henley. Its still a bit of a hike for us but it would be nice to go back home - Mum and Dad don't live there anymore so its been a while.

MissSal very excited about the Dutch camp! Can't help you with sites abroad - the only camping in Europe was done more than half my life ago and then in ready set up tents mostly. Have very fond memories though! I know about wanting to go NOW! I have itchy feet about going to my parents for 5 days first and actually that will be fab because I will get to spend some time with my sister and her boys too before she goes home to New Zealand. But seeing all the camping stuff is making me really excited!

Lost hope the camp back to Wales goes well! You will laugh lots when you see Slubbers vid!!!

Reshape ds1 is 5 and a half. He was ace on a balance bike when small but has really lacked confidence on his big boy bike. When we got it it was a little too big to go straight to stabilisers off so he almost went backwards with it. We were toying between trying without stabilisers or taking stabilisers and pedals off so he could use it like a balance bike again. But he really took to it - first go and dh let go of his seat after about 5m and in about 10 mins he was able to start himself and go round bends. I'd thought it would take much longer than that. We have all been out on bikes this pm and then he went out with dh and is loving it!

Well I'm topping up the wine and then off to finish packing my clothes and stuff. Then may be back here or if not next post will be from Mum and Dads...

Yellow, if you don't post on here again before, have a safe trip! Enjoy the family visit too - always a bit sad when close family go away, so great to be able to spend proper time together.

Yellow congrats to your boy for getting the hang of his bike. DS has really got into cycling this year (he's been riding-ish without stabilisers for about a year but got going properly this year.) He was getting really confident til some woman was too busy looking at her feet and half crashed into him. He thought she would steer away. She didn't even apologise now we need to coax him back onto the cycle paths as the business has unnerved him. Stupid woman, could clout her.

Off to Humble Bee in Filey on Sat. Thought I was being totally frugal with the packing but boy does it mount up when you put it all together. Just praying for nice easy towing journey. (we're taking Jess the caravan).

Think the lovely bivouac might be waiting for me at the post office, am super excited.

I grew up in Surrey too. I was posh once!

I've somehow missed the Slubber vid. Off to retrace my steps.

Thanks MissSal - I am looking forward to the family visit. I guess in an ideal world it would be camping first visit after because now I have all the stuff out I want to be in a tent NOW!

scaryt about that silly woman crashing into your ds and not even apologising. Hope he gets his confidence back soon. Funnily enough ds1 is much much more confident without the stabilisers although clearly after 1 day I can't count my chickens! Dh is delighted too as he is massively into his cycling - he would love to race the boys up some of the big Tour de France climbs when they are a bit bigger! Hope the parcel was your bivouac stove!

Anyway I think I've done all I can tonight so it will be last minute bits tomorrow, pack the car and then putting together food and other bits I have to buy over the next few days. For now its wine, chilling with dh and trashy tv!

I'll probably get online a bit at Mum and Dads so I'll keep in touch till we're off camping. Hope life is treating you all well in the meantime!

Yellow, the pub in Eskdale that does good food is The Boot. Also does (did) a fabulous cooked breakfast.
One of the reasons I love sites where they pitch everyone round the edges of a field leaving the area in the middle empty is that they are perfect for bike riding/learning purposes. Great for initial wobbly push offs but then when confidence improves you can retreat to tea drinking but still be on hand to shout encouragement/leap into first aid action.

Reshape, a buff is a pretty cool bit of outdoors clothing. Is basically a tube of fabric, like a snood, but usually made of lightweight fabric. The better buffs have wicking/quick drying technology and mine is antibacterial as well as deadly. You can stick them on your head/neck in loads of different formations: hat, headband, full on snood, scarf. The dds wear their (Hello Kitty ) buffs virtually the whole time when we camp. They keep long tangly hair out of mouths and keep sun off/ heat in depending on the weather. On cold nights we all wear them in bed at night to keep heads warm. My previous buff was a Girl Guiding special that was a wee bit small and made my eyes bug out a bit.

God that was long. Sorry.

Alternatively I just could have posted the link to the buff site

[posting diarrohea]

Slubber, if that was posting diarrohea then my recent post about our 24 hr camp should have had me hospitalised for severe dehydration.

Ah, so a buff is a crownless hat. Among other things.

grr, knit not knot.

Congrats on the bike riding Yellowdinosaur. I remember teaching my younger brother to ride a bike. My motivation technique went in the form of 'If you ride on your own as far as that lamppost we won't have another fight today.' We used to fight a lot.

Reshape glad you enjoyed your mini-adventure. Very disappointing about the Aldi sim. I'm going to try a 10cm Higear in conjunction with our two single airbeds for now. I like the look of that campsite, have added it to My List.

EMPEROR FREAKING PALPATINE! with pockets! Where's this vid of you in the death togs Slubber?

Have a good holiday scaryt.

MissSal we camped next to the hoverport in Calais once. The weather was appalling, on returning from dinner in town to our inflatable igloo we found it had gone pop so had to spend the night in the Maxi, not comfortable when there were five of us. This was in the early 70s though so perhaps not relevant to your trip...

Our Quechua is being delivered on Monday We're going to Gullivers Land next weekend to try it out. It's given DH a whole new lease of camping life, he's even talked about buying a roofbox, something I have coveted for many years. (Quick query: Do you have to pay extra if you take one on a ferry?)

Not on you BB then Quenelle?

We didn't have to pay extra for our roof box on the P&O Hull-Rotterdam ferry. Have fun in your Quechua, a pop up I presume. We have been to Gulliver's World near Liverpool. The dd's LOVED it.
Perfect sized rides for them (aged 5&6 then).

Reshape, you can turn pretty much anything you fancy into a death-something, by means of permethrin spray. It will wash out though. The crag hopper stuff is permanent so they say.

I am trying to pack for a weekend trip to Thornton le Dale.

DD1 & DD2 are making me fail miserably. Is it too early for gin? We will be pitching in the bloody dark again at this rate.

Have fun all of you heading off!

We sat down last night and tried to organise the next month-after having had a crazy 2 months we thought aug would be quieter and we could take holiday, how wrong we were it's looks like it's not just the MN camp that will be biting the dust, but just had another friend cancel a trip the weekend before-I'm jinxed this year!! I really can not justify a new tent, especially as dh took a look at the uk camp site meet up with the bell and emperor tent on it, agreed they were lovely but started discussing all the new stuff we would need

Oh, and it's alway reassuring to see I'm not the only juvenile person here that read muff instead of buff in slubber's post. It brings having a bad hairQ day to a whole new level ;)

Jetli-with small children around I find there are plenty of reasons to justify gin at anytime of day

I hope you get your packing done! Turn the tv on...