The weekend and the bits either side of it

Friday
I worked in the morning. It feels like a long time ago now and about all I recall is that I did Baby Rhyme Time. I’m sure there was more but it’s all forgotten now :).

I finished work at 130pm and came home. Mum had been here with Davies and Scarlett for the morning and as Ady had packed up my car the night before I just had to chuck in a few last minute bags and bits and we were ready to go. I managed to get all that done while D and S put the chickens away and we were on our way just after 2pm. We then spent a frustrating half an hour sitting in traffic on the way to my parents house, collecting my Dad and then sitting in the same traffic between their house and ours twice more as Davies remembered he’d not picked his penknife up and being just a mile or so from home I agreed to come back for it.

We had a nice straight run after that though, arrived on site, finally found someone to check in with and get shown to our pitch. Last year it was only us and one other family pitched for the weekend, this time the campsite was pretty much at capacity and we were given the biggest individual bay pitch to share with Chris and Helen. In preparation for the Green Fair there were a load of portaloos blocking the entrance to to the bays so I had to park there and we carried all our stuff across. At the same time two other people were pitching nearby.

My Mum did most of the unloading my car and bringing it over to put on the grass, my Dad mostly stood around looking suspiciously at everyone with their bell tents and long hair muttering about hippies under his breath 😆 He did help me with holding a corner of the tent while I pegged it in but I more or less got it up on my own. One of the bracing straps across the front that holds the four main corners square has broken and I’d managed to not quite pitch it square so the back pod we use for the loo and storage wasn’t quite true but the rest of it was pitched fine.

Dad and Scarlett went off to the cafe for a drink (which my Mum was *really* pissed off about), Mum and Davies finished unloading the car and I got all the bedding set up before Ady arrived at 5ish. He looked very relieved to have missed all of that as he finds it really stressful and worries about me shouting at him – no idea why ;). I took my car back up to the carpark and we all went for a wander round the woods to show my parents the whole site.

We lit the campfire – it was still quite windy so it smoked a fair bit- had sausages in french bread and a few beers and whilst they didn’t really get it or show any signs of ever wanting to come and visit us at a campsite ever again it was a pleasant couple of hours 😆

Just before it started getting dark Chris and Helen arrived and my Mum and Dad left. We helped unload their car and get pitched up and enjoyed an evening of the kids playing DS in Chris and Helen’s tent while we chatted round the fire.

As always I had a really lousy first night of camping sleep. I’ve no idea why but I always seem to lie awake on the first night and then am fine. It’s odd because I’ve never suffered from sleeplessness and never do at home but there must be something that bothers my brain on some level as it happens every time. I drifted off to sleep as it started to get light and didn’t wake up til about 930am though so managed a good 4 hours or so

Saturday Was near perfect I think really. The weather stayed lovely although it clouded over a couple of times and looked a bit dark once it never came to anything and we spent most of the day sitting around chatting and enjoying being outside in the sunshine in great company. Davies, Scarlett and Elinor went off for over an hour on their own and we did start to wonder just where they’d got to so went off in different directions to find them. They came back and we said they could go off again but this time armed with a phone so we could contact them. They prepared properly for ‘An Adventure’ this time with rucksacks filled with food and drink and other essential supplies and went off for another 90 minutes or so on their own. We did ring them after an hour, mostly just so they’d feel very independant about getting a phonecall. Chris, Helen, Alys and I bumped into them as we went off for our own walk leaving Ady to listen to the football on the radio. I loved that D and S got to fill their rucksacks and go off on their adventure just as they’ve been longing to do since we started reading Charlie Small. It was a real highlight of the weekend for them and for me too :).

They also spent quite a bit of time with one of the blokes who lives on site – Peter – who carves wood. He makes chairs and other furniture which is gorgeous but pricey and also wooden flowers and sharpened Davies’ penknife for him and taught him how to do it too. Davies came back and taught us and we sat for quite a while whittling and making impressive looking things 😆

Davies also spent a fair bit of time with Peter on the Sunday and having checked with Peter and been assured that was fine I left him to it. I like the way he befriends people and learns from them like that :).

I introduced Chris and Helen to Sue’s Bench and we had a short wander round the woodland.

We’d had our fire dish taken by Hazel earlier in the day for one of the tipis with the promise that more were being delivered and she’d bring one down later but as the afternoon went on it became clear there was a potential issue and we were worried about not being able to have a fire at all. Chris and Ady had been casting around the area looking for alternative ideas and we’d decided to use a metal barbecue lid instead if all else failed but when Ady and I went off to check with Hazel that would be okay an old washing machine drum had been dropped off with us to use instead.

Ady shared Chris and Helen’s camp curry and Davies and Elinor began playing with group of much older children who seemed to be on some sort of trip there for the day. I think things got rather out of hand and Davies ended up very upset having felt he had to defend himself and Scarlett and Elinor aswell as another small boy who was being teased for having long hair. He didn’t deal with it in the best way and knew that himself afterwards but the older girls seemed fairly contrite and possibly didn’t realise the full impact of how upset he’d been. Scarlett had not really played with them as she’d said they’d scared her from the beginning. Ady and Davies went off for a walk together and Elinor came back also upset from the older girls who again came over to apologise but by that point I think it was obvious that they weren’t fully compatible playmates for our children really. 🙁 It was the only tricky point of the whole weekend though and certainly in Davies’ case easily enough recovered from to dimiss it.

While Ady and Davies were off and Helen and Alys were busy with something Chris, Scarlett and Elinor became ‘Fire Man and the Twiglets’ and collected loads of kindling and firewood. Chris has a wafting technique while Ady favours a wadding style. I think after the fire demo on the Sunday we’ll all be using cotton wool and vaseline from now on though!

The children toasted some marshmallows on our washing machine fire before being packed off for an earlier night (it was still about 10pm I reckon though). Davies and Scarlett DS’d and listened to very quiet music in the tent.

We had another very lovely night laughing and chatting with Chris and Helen round the fire with the sound of the bands practising for the next day, another large group of people sitting nearby with their own campfire and a few furtive forays under cover of darkness to gather firewood ;).

Sunday Poor Elinor awoke feeling unwell which resulted in an earlier start for everyone as the sound of Helen reading woke me. Odd how you can tell from the rhythm of someone’s voice that they are reading 🙂 It wasn’t disturbing and infact was quite lulling as I couldn’t actually hear the words but once awake in a tent it’s hard to just lay there. I tidied up inside the tent a bit and repacked all the clothes ready to bring home.

Chris and Helen had packed up in case of a need to rush off but Elinor perked up and remained fine thankfully. It did mean they were ready to get away earlier later in the day though so wasn’t a bad thing.

We really enjoyed the Green Fair although I think there was slightly less in the way of activities than last year. I love the laid back feel of it and being able to go back to the tent for a drink / food / sit down is lovely too.

First port of call was buying one of the flowers each from Peter for Davies and Scarlett. He’d told them they were a pound each and we’d agreed they could buy one each but he said they could have them for 50 pence each 🙂 He later gave them another one each for free so they were chuffed 🙂

We listened to the first bit of the storyteller who I think it pretty good. He was telling the same story as last year so we didn’t find our way back there for any more of the sessions but I love the way he dances all around the audience, handing out multi sensory stuff to pass round to support the story and getting everyone to join in with movements and chanting.

Next it was the fire demonstration which we’d also done last year but thanks to Forest School and all things wilderness related the children were even more interested this year. Davies even helped with a demonstration using a fire steel

and we bought one from them there having been looking at them online which we’ve all had a go at making a fire with back at the tent and managed, even Tarly so are looking forward to using for real soon 🙂

We watched a demonstration of friction started fires using the more traditional method of rubbing two sticks together. Davies and Scarlett weren’t as interested in this method and didn’t want to have a go themselves so we wandered off leaving The Beans still watching that and waiting for a go.

We found a free kids activity – there weren’t so many there this year as there have been before – which was being run by some of the people from Steward Community Woodland who were also camped near us. The activity was playing with huge lumps of chalk and clay and loads of tools – handdrills, saws, hammers, chisels etc. Not really my sort of thing for obvious dirty hand and chalk dust issues 😆 Both Davies and Scarlett went for clay rather than chalk and Davies made a teardrop shaped pendant with various twigs and other bits pushed into it to form a pattern. After several false starts and a bit of an upset when it didnt’ pan out as she’d planned Tarly made a cat, well actually three cats. Ady and Davies went back to the tent before us as Tarly was still working on hers and I chatted to the man there about how the community works. I always think I’d love to do something like that and then Ady reminds me about how I get fed up with everyone at youth hostel camps by day three and have to go off and find my own space and I realise he’s probably right 😆

Scarlett and I rejoined Ady and Davies back at the tent for a while and all had a go with the firesteel and some food and drink before heading back up again for another look round. This time we stopped at a stand where they’d taken a couple of trays of pond water from the wildlife pond at the centre and were asking you to try and find some pondlife in it to identify. Both Davies and Scarlett found loads of things and we took them up to the counter where the man helped us identify them and then took a couple of creatures out of each of their pots and put them in a pot next to a microscope which was projected onto a big screen so you could see everything in huge detail. Both of them found something each that hadn’t been found before so had it written up on the board – Davies found a soldier fly larvae and Scarlett a water beetle. We learnt about toad tadpoles and frog tadpoles and the differences between them. We really enjoyed this and Ady and I were particularly interested as we’ve already got a similar type of microscope probe that you plug into the tv for the children for Christmas (I know, we’ve started very early ;)).

We got ice cream next, I bought some ointment from a stall selling this stuff to try and ease my eczema which has flared up on my feet and knees and is driving me crazy. I had to hide it from Helen of course 😉 😆 as it is all hokum! It does seem to be moisturising and easing the itching a bit though. We chatted to the people on the bat stand and cooed over the little pipistrelle bats and had a look round the bees stand where we learnt that it takes 3 bees their whole life time to produce 1/4 of a teaspoon of honey:shock: I’m still quite taken with the idea of beekeeping but it’s not a cheap hobby and we don’t really have the right space for it. Chris (Ady’s brother Chris) has started beekeeping and I might just have to indulge myself vicariously through him instead!

Ben Law (of Grand Designs fame) was there signing books but we didn’t see him. Davies and Scarlett both did a compost lucky dip (you could either rummage with gloves on or use a grabber) and got a free bookmark made of recycled plastic. We tried some cooked seaweed (which was actually quite nice) and admired the spinning wheels and rugs. Ady was accosted by Fun Dad (TM) and family from September camping who had come for the day and I caught a glimpse of the other family that had camped with them too. It didn’t feel as though there was as much to see and do this year as last year and we wondered if perhaps there was something else on locally that was competing with it and taking potential stallholders away.It was still a very enjoyable day and we’ll definitely do it again next year.

About 5pm we could get the cars down to the campsite again and we waved goodbye to Chris and Helen before beginning a very leisurely packing up ourselves. Davies and Scarlett went off to play with various other children who turned out to be the children of one of the campcraft teachers who had been saying to his partner (I got chatting to her) that he suspected D and S were Home Educated. She said it was their confidence and willingness to chat to anyone which gave them away although I suspect their rather unkempt look helped ;). They were also playing with some of the children from the Steward Wood community too – all blonde haired, Home Educated, rainbow dressed children with bare feet having a ball together :).

I took down the tent and packed everything up while Ady packed it all into the car.We were a bit worried it would be a squash as it had all come in my bigger car but we are clearly getting better at not bringing too much stuff, only having enough food to last so we don’t need to take any home, and more proficient at putting it all away again afterwards. I think the only thing we still could do with is a decent set of camping pans although I still hanker after a fancy camp kitchen.

We said lengthy goodbyes to all the childrens’ new friends and finally left just after 7pm and were home by about 830pm. The kids had a bath followed by a very late dinner. We had a bath followed by an even later dinner.

It was a fab weekend. We really love it there and it’s nice to share it with friends. The kids got to have the ‘Adventure’ they’ve been desperate for and we got to kick off the camping season with a near perfect weekend :).