A Short Break ... Part 1

Oh dear, I've just seen the date of my last post! I really must try to do this more regularly LOL

Anyway, the tents are now packed away for the winter. But we had one last break to look forward to. A celebrated a rather important birthday this year and our lovely stepdaughter booked him a surprise break to our favourite hotel in Derbyshire. So the children were duly packed off to the Grandparents for 4 days and we enjoyed some grown up time together. We enjoy walking so decided to take the dogs with us - a walk just isn't the same without the hounds for company!
We had a lovely room - and the hotel geese like to sit on the lawn outside our window. Which kept the dogs entertained!

We only had one full day to do a really good walk - no need to worry about whether the children would cope with it, so I planned a route about 7 miles/3 hours walking. From the hotel door a round route taking in the village of Hartington and then following the River Dove before heading back up Biggin Dale and home. After several lovely sunny days I was really looking forward to it. But the weather had other ideas.

 It started raining as we left the hotel, and continued unabated. So bear with me as I show you lots of dripping foliage and grey skies. I didn't even attempt to get the camera out until we had passed through Hartington and were heading down to Beresford Dale.

It was slightly better under the trees!

We started off wet, and got wetter, and wetter. A commented that we must be crazy to be doing this for fun! But it was fun, really!

 Despite the awful weather, it was quiet and peaceful. And around every corner the scenary changed revealing new delights. I loved this little bridge! It was very narrow and Candy was very wary of it! She could have paddled across the river here as it widens and is shallow as it is also a ford, but no, she had to cross the bridge with us.

 Ruby demonstrates the depth of water.

So does Candy. Paddling across would be easy.

 But Ruby thinks the narrow bridge is more fun!

 Candy doesn't think so, but we walked across it, so that must be the way! Eventually she plucks up the courage to follow us across. Just look at that hang dog expression on her face!

 I love the glimpse of history - at some point in the past, the stepping stones were the main crossing point for foot travellers. Horses and carts would have used the ford.

 The bridge marks the end of Beresford Dale and the start of Wolfscote Dale - a very picturesque part of the route.

 Limestone cliffs with caves. We didn't venture up to them though - we were so wet, it was easier to just keep plodding along!

 Despite the rain, this was a very pretty walk. And lots of easy walking pathways.

 Despite waterproof trousers, gaiters, coats and very good boots, the rain got through. Even the rucksack got wet inside. I picked the wrong one for the walk and should have taken the time to get one of our proper rucksacks out of the loft.

 At least we still had reasonably good visibility. It would have been very frustrating to climb a hill only to find the view obscured by low cloud.

 I have decided Derbyshire stiles are designed for very slim people only. Even the dogs struggled to squeeze through them!

 

Eventually we left Wolfscote dale and turned up Biggindale. We left the river behind us. Luckily it was a very gradual ascent - by this time we had been walking for over 2 and a half hours without a break and the old legs were beginning to feel it!

 

 A realised that he could get phone coverage (there was none in the hotel!) and decided to do his daily phonecalls (Mother, teenage son left at home to chicken sit)

 There was a lull in the rain - and suddenly a patch of blue sky appeared. What a welcome sight!

 Another cave. I contemplated exploring, but it would have meant climbing a wooden stile and when I tried climbing, the water started running down inside my jeans. I decided it wasn't worth it!

 A bit farther on and the sun finally shone on us. Time to take a short break and eat something!

 The hawthorns were glowing with berries. Autumn is a wonderful time for seeing the countryside at it's most beautiful.

 The final walk up Biggindale was lovely, warm and sunny. Our clothes began to steam!

 When we got back to the road this had appeared - it wasn't there when we set off! No wonder we got wet.

 The welcoming party - the geese outside our room window.

The walk took us 4 hours in total, not bad considering it is many years since we walked that distance! We hobbled into our room and the first thing I did was run a hot bath and have a soak. Ahh that was bliss! I will finish off in another post - better go and feed my children now! xx

Sort of disappointing day ...

... because I really need to get another couple of chickens. Our nearest supplier has recently stopped selling, so hubby offered to take us to West Lodge rural centre where they have had some lovely pure breeds in the past (brown and exchequer leghorns in particular). But no, now they are only selling hybrids - speckledies and bluebells. And I so wanted something a bit different. So to assuage my disappointment I decided to play with the new tent.
I wasn't sure it would fit in the garden, but once the poles were up, I realised it would. So the canvas went on  and it was pegged out. Ta dah! My £20 tent - isn't she a little beauty?

The emphasis however, does have to be on little. This is not a 4 berth tent at all!

See those bedroom pods? They will comfortably hold a single airbed! A double is just too wide.

But despite that, it is a very lovely tent. Nice thick groundsheet. And you can just see the little kitchen section to the right.

This is it from the outside.

I love the way the canvas can be pegged out nice and tight - it feels very solid!

But of course, now it is up, the boys want to sleep in it. Thats how I found out it was too small for all 4 of us. I managed to squeeze our large double airbed into one pod for the boys, and I have to put up with the single airbed in the other pod. There is definitely no room for a 4th person though!
Never mind, I will keep it for those times when it is just me and the boys - and invest in a smaller double airbed for them!
Will try to track down new chickens tomorrow.

More Tentage

Well since buying Izzy, it has been possible for us to go on more, short camping trips than before. Izzy is very simple to pitch, but a bit of a faff to fill - but that is my fault because I don't do simple camping! Here is Izzy's luxury interior - lots of rugs and blankets, extremely cosy.

We spent a couple of nights at a local campsite with friends and had a lovely time - real campfire and starry nights!

Izzy was ideal because the weather was nice so we cooked and ate outdoors and just slept in the tent.
We also used it for a couple of one nighters, joining a group of friends for campfires and friendship.

This is Izzy with homemade awning, in case of rain!
But the other night my hubby spotted an advert in the Co-op - large canvas frame tent for sale, £20.
Well, I just had to go and look didn't I?

It is about 20 - 30 years old, in immaculate condition. Made by a german company called EA Camping, and it is a Java. Looks like a bungalow style tent. Somewhere in size between the TT and Izzy. Just look at those retro orange and brown stripes! I am very frustrated now as I have no room to put it up and no time to nip away for a weekends camp!

I will instead keep getting the canvas out of it's bag and lovingly unrolling it in the kitchen, and rolling it back up again. It has some rather unpleasant looking gold, nylon curtains so I am dreaming of colour schemes and new fabric!

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!