Off on holiday!

The boys have been helping in my attempts to glamp Connie the Conway. They painted these little desert pots for me, I added the gold and silver embellishments. Don't they look great? I have some vanilla scented tealights to go in them. But I need to find a way of hanging them now!

We are off today for the week, firstly to Windsor to a site near Legoland as we have been promising thte boys a trip there for a while. We were supposed ot eb coming home on Thursday, but the weather next weekend is looking very promising so we will be moving to a site nearer home and setting up camp again! Hubby will then have to come home as he is back at work on Friday, but i will be joined by a friend and her family in their trailer tent. Am looking forward to some very lazy, reading and crocheting time!

See you all next week! xx

As I walked in fields of gold ...

Our favourite walk has been transformed this week. It doesn't matter how grey the skies, the fields are glowing with golden rapeseed. It cannot fail to uplift your mood.

The girls enjoyed it too, flushing pheasants and rabbits from cover and bouncing high to see their way out. But it took it's toll on their coats - Candy is now wearing green eyeshadow and Ruby is just coated with a layer of sticky sap.

Camping ... or Glamping?

I have discovered a new term - glamping, or glamorous camping. And it's become strangely appealing. Somehow I never had the urge to glamp the Vango - it was a big blue dome, with nowhere to hang anything. Cosy, but basic. 

I have seen a couple of references recently to a more appealing form of camping and suddenly I am viewing Connie the trailer tent in a whole new light. 

It started with Lucy over at Attic24 Lovely pictures of some very funky campers and caravans! And a trailer tent is almost a caravan isn't it?

Then I saw some pics of bell tents! Oh wow, now I want one of those - can't have one as have just bought a trailer tent, but oh my goodness, the possibilities that are opening up!

Bell tent

So, my head is filled with lightweight yet comfortable soft furnishings; fairy lights; bunting and lots of colourful accessories. But my wallet is empty - as ever! So yesterday I decided to trawl the numerous charity shops in our local town. 

Purchases so far: 2 cotton rugs (£2.50 and £3), plus 2 packs of tulip red dylon.

Purchase no 2: unused Ikea bedding set for £4 - opened and hemmed around the bottom opening to make a sleeping bag liner. OK, I know it won't be seen much, but I'm sure I will be able to feel all those hot colours!

Purchase no 3 was a lovely thick, wool, tartan blanket in reds and yellows for £2. Ideal for throwing over a chair, or over a bed. I also have fairy lights and scented candles planned.
So then I dug out some of my fabric and started the bunting. Husband took one look and asked "where are you planning on hanging those?" I replied "do you really want to know" he just rolled his eyes and walked away. Te he, he knows when he is on a loser. Not sure how it will all look, I can't wait to get the tent out again - half term, we will be going to Windsor so will get chance to try it all out then.

This was my final purchase. Totally not for the tent, but they were half price and are the perfect colour for the dining room - and chickens!!!!

Another weekend away ...

Thanks to our trial weekend camp last week, we were well prepared this weekend for the awful weather that we had! The tent was cosy and dry; we used an airbed on top of the foam mattresses so the beds were warm and cosy and the tent easily withstood the howling wind and rain that assailed us at night! But someone forgot the heater (doh) so we were more than a little cold at times! But there was plenty of sunshine and we had plenty of lovely long walks on some of the most beautiful beaches in Norfolk!

First walk of the weekend was Saturday morning, we headed to the coast and stopped at the first beach sign we came to. It was Snettisham. A bit unprepossessing - narrow strip of shingle, but venture a bit further, and go off the beach and there is a beautiful nature reserve. Hundreds of little tracks through gorse and goose grass. The dogs and the children loved it, but I left my camera in the car.

Short break for some fairground rides and chips in Hunstanton, then we drove on round the coast. These were taken on Brancaster beach in the afternoon. Stunning! The sun shone, the sky was blue - we just lay back on the warm sand and watched the kites overhead. Candy tried joining in the game of football and burst the brand new ball - but then she carried it around for ages! The boys found some friends and played games up and down the sides of the dunes.

That blue sky makes such a perfect backdrop to colourful kites doesn't it?

The dogs were content to sit on the sand (or on Dad's knee) and observe all the beachy activity. I think they really wanted to go and join in but were very restrained!

We drove a bit further along - to Thornham, where we found a farm shop with a fish van. And a delightful little shop - Vintage Home and Garden where I treated myself! It's a fabulous little shop if you love that vintage, shabby chic, seasidey look (which I do!)
Back to the campsite for tea of barbequed tuna and trout for us with a lemon and thyme dressing, organic beef burgers for the boys, with some fresh salad and noodles. We stayed at the Sandringham campsite - expensive, but great facilities, dog walks from our doorstep into the forest and plenty of play equipment for the children.

Oh yes, and this is what I bought - a funky red enamel teapot for the tent, plus 2 blue enamel mugs. I just couldn't resist! I also bought a lovely woven, french market basket with leather straps - well it's just what I needed to take my clothes, towel and wash things to the shower block. And it looks very pretty hung on the back of a door. So I was told. But I daren't tell my husband that bit :0)

Sunday was sunny, but freezing. And the boys wanted to go on a train!! 2 hours sat in an open carriage - erm, no thanks. So I volunteered to walk the dogs while hubby took the boys on the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway. If you ever find yourself on the railway carpark, they also do Alpaca treks, and the sandwich van makes real, proper sandwiches! Anyway, just across the road from the railway carpark there is a path across the fields to the sea. So the girls and I went that way and got very windswept and very muddy. But it was a darn sight warmer than being on that train!!

After a delicious sandwich lunch, we set off again. This time to see Holkham beach. We managed to walk out to the main beach and back through the forest - it was very beautiful, but so cold by then that we just wanted to get back in the car and get warm. Sadly things didn't improve and the tent was so cold (I hadn't adjusted my storm flaps properly) that it was warmer to go to bed. At one point I was wearing a tee shirt, a sweatshirt, a micro fleece jumper, a fleece jacket, a kagoule, a woollen shawl and had a blanket across my knees!

Despite the cold, it was a lovely weekend, and we missed far more than we saw! I can't wait to go back again - but maybe when the weather is just a little warmer.

Connie the Conway's Maiden Voyage ...

 

Well Connie the Conway turned out far better than I anticipated. Until it went up, I was having nightmares about the canvas being in a terrible state. But it was fine! Two small holes in the roof, but it rained in the night and no leaks (except through a zipper that hadn't been properly covered when we were setting up, so our fault).

The nasty paisley cushions look very smart in their blue check covers and I even found co-ordinating blue and orange blankets for the bedrooms! It is now fully kitted out with our own equipment and ready for it's next outing - off to Sandringham for a short break next weekend. I just have a little shopping list for this week - pegging and window rubbers, metal buttons and replacement springs for the poles and fabsil to lubricate the poles.

My only gripe was the beds - I am used to a comfortable airbed and layers of blankets in my tent. And fairly level ground. We didn't check just how level the tent was last night and it wasn't - Al and I ended up slithering down the bed in the night, with the boys nearly slithering out of their own bunk! I know he thingks it a bit obsessive, but I am taking a spirit level with me next time. And some thin airbeds to go underneath the foam mattress - boy was that bed hard!

My latest project ...

Oops, is it really that long since I last blogged? *blushes* Well if you are reading this you deserve a medal for persistance in the face of very negligent blogging!

We discovered camping a few years ago and you will have seen previous posts showing our fabulous, huge tent. Well due to various factors (creeping age, need to take more short breaks instead of fewer long ones, need to include two mental spaniels on our hols etc) we started looking at the possibility of 'upgrading' to a trailer tent. Well we found this one on ebay, got it for a reasonable price and got it home. It needs a bit of work and TLC - hence it is a 'project'.
This was what we collected:
Decent canvas, green manky storage box (containing a broken fridge)

The trailer cover is ripped and holey and the kitchen unit was dirty, mouldy, with broken brake lights. I forgot to take a 'before' picture of the kitchen. This is it now cleaned up and bleached, with new brake lights. Ideally it needs new formica tops cutting, but that will have to wait a while.

The fabric is a pretty blue and orange/terracotta, but see that little strip of greyish paisley? That is the seat cushions, they have been recovered at some time in the past. Not a good match is it?

Work is in progress already - kitchen cleaned, new trailer cover arrived today, seats have been recovered, that manky storage box has been scrubbed to within an inch of it's life. Providing the weather holds we will take it to a local campsite this weekend and have a go at setting it up. More pictures will be taken and you will hopefully see it in all it's glory, rather than this sorry state! And 'it' needs a name. I don't know why but it does.

The Snow is back!

Oh I have been so bad about keeping this blog up to date! I do apologise if you do happen to venture on here for updates occasionally!

Anyway, we have had a new addition to the family. We enjoyed having a new dog so much, it seemed a shame not to find some company for her - especially as she didn't like being on her own at night. So we registered with some springer spaniel rescues (we had to be a bit more careful with this one - it is one thing bringing a single dog into the house, but a second dog has to be family and dog friendly!) At the beginning of December we heard about Ruby, went to visit, and 2 weeks ago she came to join the happy family.

She is another liver and white girl, 6 years old - 2 months younger than Candy! Very different circumstances to Candy's - Ruby was a much loved pet whose owner made the sad decision to part with her as she was having to work long hours and Rubes was being left alone far too much. In 2 short weeks she has become part of the furniture and has gone from a little pudding to a pocket rocket!

She sure likes her food - she has not learnt to be gentle yet and the boys have to watch their snacks (and their fingers!)

They get on very well together - lots of playing and racing but no overt affection. Two girls together was always going to be a bit touch and go! Hopefully that will improve with time - I can't wait till the day they actually snuggle up together!

She is far more spanielly than Candy - which just makes me think even more that Candy may actually be a sprollie! They are very different - but equally as gorgeous. Feels like we have had them forever!

It is nice to go on familiar walks and watch how they respond to their surroundings. Today it was Ruby's first time at Wistow - perfect on a sunny, snowy day. The ancient church of Wistan:

Across the fields to the canal - which was frozen!

Candy surprised me - she is the least confident of the two, but she braved the ice!

The boys had fun finding things to throw onto and trying to break the ice.

Finally managed to break a little bit at the side!

Making snow angels had to be tried as well.

Great way to tire out two boys!

We were very fortunate to be given a super duper dog crate when we collected Ruby. Very handy for the car, otherwise they climb about all over the place! Two bonny girls after their walk: