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!)

:) MisSal

I found some brilliant earplugs in TK Maxx (you lot must think I'm on commission, but I do find some fab stuff there), Moaning - they were called Skoots and have 2 different inserts - one to block high frequency room noise, the other to block low-level frequency snoring noises. DH snores like a drain so I need them - they do work!

And the fact they come in a little silver tin so I can keep them nice and tidy with my camping kit (anal, me?) is a massive bonus :o

Losing either of my parents is stuff of nightmares but I can totally see that it was a blessing to happen when it did. Alzheimers is a terrible disease - just slowly destroys the person you love . In some ways I am sure you were relieved when it was all over and he is now at peace.

Moaning glad there is hope for me then - mine and 5 and a half and nearly 4. To be fair the 5 year old isn't so bothered by bad weather as long as we can keep him warm and dry but ds2 is more pathetic cautious of bad weather especially wind (although he jumps in streams / rock pools in his wellies / crocs way before his big brother!). MissSal your comment about him stopping dissolving when he is 18 did make me laugh!

Ooh!!! Cheers for that. I noticed there was a TK Maxx in Truro when we went the other day so I will have to try and persuade DH to go there again. How are they with hearing other noise like your children calling out?

It's started raining again and is drowning out next door so if I can get DH to stop snoring for 15 mins I might have a chance to get to sleep tonight

Oh and my thoughts are with you.. We lost my darling MIL 18 months ago and it is still raw.

They're actually really good - the yellow insert only blocks low-level noise - which snoring is, apparently - so you can still hear higher-frequency noises like children crying/calling out to you. If you want total silence the white insert is the one to go for, but I found that too unnatural to get to sleep by!

Thanks again for hugs etc., guys. Much appreciated.

Morning all :)

Lovecat- when we lost my grandfather it was a similar mix of grief but also relief, for him and us all. We were so relieved he was no longer in pain. It sounds all a bit wierd (I'd have giggled ) at the interment, but its done at least!

Moaning-I hope my dc grow up weatherproof!

Oh and yy Alzheimer's is a horrible disease. Dh's grandmother is starting to look like she has it-her paranoia and anxiety is very hard to deal with, so my heart goes out to your family x

lovecat - too early for wine so here's a cup of tea and a hug/manly pat on the back (whichever you'd prefer). I think it's harder to deal with these things without some sort of ceremony to guide our way a little, otherwise we feel totally out at sea. Glad it went alright for you.

How comfy are these marvellous earplugs. Used some foam ones in Filey and my ears really started to hurt so gave up. I think these could be classed as Slubberesque technical earplugs as they sound ever so clever being able to do more than one thing.

Moaning - sorry to hear about your MIL.

Seashells - it must be tremendously difficult watching someone you love be taken over by such a horrible disease.

That looks a lovely cookbook Yellow. I think DP would weep if I bought another cookbook I shall add it to my wishlist on Amazon though so that if it gets bought as a gift it can't possibly be helped

I'm sorry about your Dad lovecat. Nan has alzheimers at the moment and it is very hard. Sometimes very funny but mostly very hard. I now completely understand the memory like a sieve - Mum was going over the other day & rang to see if she needed anything. She said bread at which Mum pointed out she had plenty when she was there the day before. Nan leaves the phone and toddles off to the kitchen, comes back and says "No you are right - I have 2 pints" . Last week we were at the park & she took a few gulps out of DD1's bottle of bubble mixture when I was helping DD1 on the slide. She said "Whatever was in that green bottle - it tasted AWFUL" - she said she thought it was a drink & was thirsty - you would have thought that unscrewing & removing the 5 inch plastic bubble wand would have given the game away. But those little daft funny things are pretty few & far between, the rest of the time it is crap for everyone.

F1lthy - I am coveting these Japanese door curtains at the moment - they have similar at our local restaurant and they are fab.

Thanks for the home brewing link Funtime - there are some great kits on there. I think our friend might enjoy a bit of micro-brewing

Morning folks, the neighbour snored all bloomin' night and they are early risers and don't seem to have a volume control. It's just talking and laughing but you can hear it between there tent and our canvas.

Moaning - bloomin inconsiderate campers - there should be some sort of unwritten camping code that we all adhere to, especially about noise - noise, bathroom & pot wash habits.

So it happens that MIL has a couple of old canvas ridge tents. DP just dug out a couple of slides (yes he is that old). From the age of his younger brother on the shot we reckon the newer of the two is maybe 25 to 30 years old. I think we may need to have a look - hoping it won't be moth-eaten or rotting. Could be quite an exciting find

Hello. In case I forget to say later: I've been browsing (see my moan upthread!), and I see there are a couple of the Thermarest sims on sale at Go Outdoors. I've seen a couple of different types now, so if you're looking to buy, it might be worth searching their site.

Lovecat - hope you're okay...

So we have just done a practice pitch of the Emperor. Dog barked the whole time, toddler was fairly good but had to keep an eye on her and we managed to put a hole in it. One of the A-frames poked a hole in canvas as I was stuck inside and couldn't hold it up anymore. and . Stupid mistake - I said that we needed to put A frame spike through the eyelet first, but husband didn't agree. Am sooo cross and very sad- brand new tent. Off to try and get some tenacious tape to mend it. Put a real dampener on our trip on Monday. Am fed up, exhausted, stressed and worried about the trip and perhaps we should not got the Emperor and gone for the 5m bell. Too late now though. arrrrgggggghhhhhhhh.

Sorry for the rant!

Precisely Jetli, half past six is to blooming early in my book. They have a tunnel tent and a utility tent that opens on to the living area of the tent and there is a gap between the two. This morning they opened up the door of the utility and the living area and started chatting between the two and cooking and banging pans.

What time does anyone think is a reasonable time to be making any noise at all. We keep the kids quiet to about eight o'clock but they do tend to sleep to then when camping anyway.

Oh Kingsroadie. Gutted for you. But don't let it ruin your trip, you'll still have a good time, and once fixed, you will soon forget about the accident as it looks the most wonderful tent - all that inside space! After you've fixed it with tape, maybe you could cut some canvas from the bag itself and stitch that over the "fixed" part for extra strength? The benefit of canvas is that it can be fixed most of the time. Good luck.

Moaning, we've never been too close to anyone, to be honest, but I try and be quiet until 8, and low key (i.e. breakfast, not running around shouting) until life around. Obviously can't always be guaranteed, but I think people can at least try.

Exceptions are babies where people can't exactly control it - we've had a campsite owner once apologize about the baby that cried during the night, which I thought was a nice thought, I guess, but completely unnecessary. Music or singing late at night (oh yes, we were furious about that, but know owners did have some strong words with and ban them) is entirely different. Children running around and kicking balls in front of other tents before 9 also not right imo. Sure, they'll be awake long before then, but go for a walk or play a little further.

Thanks for the support (and advice) MisSal! Wise words indeed - by Monday I will hopefully have got over it and be read to try again! Bloody men. More hindrance than help! Although he has since helped me work out the camping stove so I may forgive him...

Good idea re bag - in fact there are lots of canvas repairs kits - but I just wasn't sure about sewing the tent as was worried it would make it worse! Might post a thread asking for help when I get back as someone must have had to mend a hole with all the bell tents we have on here!? Right - to camping shops I go to try and find some tenacious tape - hope they have it as they are fairly small being in West London rather than outside it!

Respect to those experiencing difficult times.
Sigh for holed tents. I have a mouse gnawed one to mend
Currently on m6 with Quechua beach popup in car. Was it wrong to feel so bleddy excited about a store that is not casey's. They had camping, canoeing, archery ... Sigh.
Considers hol camping and shooting arrows at targets from canoe like some watery James bond, but without the skis and pistol.

Kingsroadie about the hole in your tent. Good advice from MissSal though... Good luck and try not to let it spoil your holiday

Moaning at lack of sleep and inconsiderate campers. I was close to murder when the ones next to us were up drinking and being loud until well after 1am. I wouldn't have minded them talking quietly, I mean we all know tents aren't well sound proofed, but you could hear the guy laughing loudly and going 'I've already been told to be quiet twice ha ha!' . At least the people with him were trying to get him to shut the fuck up quieten down a bit. Glad you make an exception for kiddies MissSal - ds2 was VERY upset on our last night (think he was over tired after 4 days of being very late to sleep) and was very hard to calm down. Did look on it as sweet revenge to the tossers who had been so loud the night before but felt sorry for the nice neighbours with the pirate flag.

Well I have about 30 mins chilling on the sofa thanks to the square babysitter then cooking an early tea before we're off to our neighbours for early evening drinks. So apologies in advance for wine induced wibbling later!

oh kings - would it look daft with a contrasting, obvious patch - like on <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=patched+jeans&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&tbnid=CfFNqUTqdrp3CM:&imgrefurl=childrens-clothing.lovetoknow.com/Girls_Patchwork_Jeans&docid=55z0nIK_SbrZBM&w=299&h=226&ei=FZBGTt6dEYW1hAfdpcijBg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=508&page=9&tbnh=133&tbnw=192&start=162&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:162&tx=137&ty=77" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">these jeans like you were customising rather than repairing?

I can top trump the noisy neighbours! We have just had 9 Malaysaian people turn up, with portable karaoke - which they are already getting stuck into, and to add insult to injury they are FILMING themselves with a camera on a tripod and everything!!

I am mainlining wine waiting to see how long they carry on for .......

DH, who has morphed into the most laid back camper ever, has already used the words "chill, it's only for one night ...."

Lordy, Lordy, Surfing USA anyone ?