A New Tent

Well as you can see, I've really caught the camping bug this year! Loving the trailer tent, but it's no good if I want to go somewhere with just me and the boys (or even just me! Huh, chance would be a fine thing!) So anyway, I started looking for another tent - just a little one, that I would be able to put up with very minimal help. And I bought this one from Aldi - £60. Very nice little tent, went up with no help, good instructions. Great! But no, not great - it is polyester. And on a warm day it is hot - very hot. And thin and rustly. Not a patch on my thick, solid, cotton canvas trailer tent. About the same time I had seen dutch pyramid tents being mentioned - canvas, small and put uppable by one. And when a lady mentioned she was selling hers I casually enquired about it. And she sent me the following picture:

Oh dear - I fell in love! Isn't it lovely? It is a Relum Izmir, made in 1994, cream and lilac cotton.
So I bought it. Hubby was not impressed, so I have to sell the poly tents - no hardship there then!

Couldn't resist putting her up in the garden - it was a bit of a tight squeeze. She has rather an ample behind!  But I did it all on my own!  She is called Izzy by the way.

Isn't she pretty? I've decided she will look nice with some lime green accessories. Those bedroom pods look a bit snug though.

So I took them out and covered the whole of the floor with groundsheet. And the boys and I camped in the garden. Although I had showered her with the hosepipe and no water had come through, I did have a slight wobble in the night when I was woken by a roar and we were hit by torrential rain!

Not a drop came through! Dry as a bone - and felt very solid around us. The boys slept soundly, nothing woke them! Then this morning when the sun came out, this was the view from my bed. Isn't it just gorgeous? Somehow I don't think it would have been quite the same in the Aldi tent.

Half Term Glamping

Well we had our little holiday, but it's taken me all week to get round to writing about it! Back to work all too quickly and then the tiredness sets in and the days fly by! But work is now finished for this week and it's time to relive the holiday. Apart from the much longed for trip to Legoland, it was a very unexciting, laid back type of holiday. Lots of time spent just sitting and crocheting and reading while the boys ran about and climbed and played and made friends. Ideal really! But I also had time to play with Connie. As you can see above the bunting looks very effective.

And once the light was fading, my little tea light holders added a lovely glow to the tent. Sadly we lost one to breakage on the way here - I shall improve my packing next time!

Trailer tents are wonderful with there rugged steel pole construction. Very useful for hanging things from. See my lovely french market basket? Perfect for wash bag and towel for the shower trips. And yes, that is my stetson - much better than an umberella in the rain!

Our bed was fabulously cosy with the addition of the airbed and my charity shop bedding. We did actually get one night that was too warm for blankets so to be able to throw off the sleeping bag but still have a cool cotton cover was bliss.

Hm, all those rugs are a bit of a hotch potch aren't they? But at least very comfortable underfoot! That tartan blanket was another charity shop find - £2. We had some additional 'junkshop' finds to add to our tent but not so pretty as to show you! An aquaroll container for fresh water (we have a little pump tap on the kitchen unit, so running water - what luxury!) and another container for waste. £3 from a carbooty thanks to my Dad. All hidden nicely away under the kitchen unit.

After a day at legoland we spent a pleasant sunny day on the Thames and wandering round Windsor. I must say we were very pleased to get away and head north again. The campsite was lovely, but it was next to the M4 and I hadn't realised just how noisy it would be! Next stop was Sibbertoft, not far from home. My friend and her family came to join us so we had a trailer tent commune. She joined us straight from work and had been given some plants that she had ordered from a colleague. Well what else could we do but decorate the tent with them?

It looked very effective and the campsite owner was impressed! But we did very little here other than laze in the sun, drink wine and watch the sun go down, then throw a couple of logs on the barbeque and sit around the fire. Saturday we were treated to a rather spectacular thunderstorm - very daunting from a tent! But it felt surprisingly secure. So now it's over and I am suposed to be refreshed and relaxed *sigh* Must start planning my next trip!