Bring on the autumn!

Sunday I had intended to be on the road for 11 and arriving by midday but as I didn’t make it out of bed until 1030am (clearly I needed it!) our departure was rather delayed. In the event it really didn’t matter much and I left first and arrived just after 130 I think. We’d decided to take two cars. It’s less than 100 mile round trip so probably only about a tenner in petrol and the difference in being able to take whatever we want and not worry about fitting it all in is well worth that. Davies decided he wanted to go in Ady’s car so he could make use of the dvd player and Scarlett decided she wanted to go in whichever car Davies was in so I had the huge luxury of driving all the way on my own, listening to whatever music I wanted, as loud as I liked and singing along. It was lovely :).

I arrived, checked in with the guy at the cafe – which was no more than him telling me the code for the centre, checking if I’d been before and when I said I had and he looked a bit vague me asking ‘shall I just go down and pitch then?’ and him looking relieved :lol:. I parked up and having come without the tent which is really the only sensible place to start when pitching I looked around to decide where would be sensible given we are the smallest tent and then had a bit of a wander around, feeling instantly relaxed and holiday-ish. I so love it there :).

After about 20 minutes I started to wander just where Ady and the kids might have got to as they were supposed to be right behind me once Ady had put Candle in the kitchen. I rang Ady’s work phone, which I heard ringing behind me somewhere in my own car, his mobile was diverted to his work phone so just made that ring again and Davies’ phone was switched off. Just as I was starting to decide when I would begin to worry Davies rang me to say they had arrived.

There was a den or shelter built from old wood and roofed with coniferous branches which Davies and Scarlett instantly requisitioned as theirs and were adamant we should pitch right next to. At that point there were six or seven little one man tents scattered about the field which left two long strips suitable for Katy & Tim and Marcus & Michelle’s tents, with the area next to the den being smaller and less level / more stoney it seemed like the more sensible and thoughtful place for us to pitch anyway so we started setting up. Davies and Scarlett headed off to go exploring in the woods and left us to it. It was a perfectly still, sunny afternoon and the tent went up quickly and easily. After a bit of initial wrestling with it and lateral thinking including nicking two surplus guy ropes off the main tent we butchered our bargain porch and got that up. Have been really, really pleased with that, it’s done exactly what we wanted and massively extended the living area of our tent, given us a kitchen / storage / cooking / eating in the rain space and meant the actual inside of our tent has been kept clutter free :).

While we were doing this three of the little tents were taken down and carried away so we suddenly looked like lunatics pitching half under a tree when the field was now mostly clear 😆 We found out later that the occupants of the tents had been auditioning for a travelling academy of fools – we certainly got had by them in looking foolish! :lol:I don’t recall at what point of done-ness we were when Marcus, Michelle and Chloe arrived and got themselves set up too but I do know we were all already sitting round a lit fire and it was beer / cider / wine o’clock when Katy, Tim and Becca arrived thanks to Katy unexpectedly working in the morning (and them having by far the longest drive).

Ady had aimed for a proper Sunday roast with chicken, roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips but due to an unfortunate incident involving running children, falling darkness, guy ropes and the smoker going flying – along with all it’s contents (chicken, vegetables, hot fat, hot ashes, bowl of boiling water) that was off the menu unless we wanted it complete with ash. It could have been a really horrible accident with hospital visits and tents on fire though so a tray of vegetables was a very lucky escape.

We had it with bread and butter and gravy instead having fed the children pasta. I think a combination of it being hours later than planned, unaccompanied by the expected trimmings and me being on the paranoid side about it not being fully cooked due to losing all it’s heat at a fairly crucial point in the cooking I didn’t eat very much of it.

The evenings all rather merge into one big round the campfire experience but I suspect there were marshmallows, chatting and late to bedding for children.

Monday As usual I’d not slept well on the first night but thanks to being pitched on the far side of where the sun hit the field I got a lie in as the tent wasnt turned into a sauna from sunrise. Ady had taken Marcus to the station and brought back breakfasty things (bacon, sausages, HUGE baps) so I had a late breakfast, which Mich helped me finish.

The kids went off and did more exploring and adventuring in the woods. I think that was the day Ady and I had a wander round the woods and burial site too and I know I had a good walk round with Tarly at one point too. We’d brought a frozen curry with us which we heated up on the smoker and was delicious. Both kids seem to have decided they like curry lately so we really must make extra portions for them when we have it now. This was the night we had a lovely singsong round the campfire along with our marshmallows. 🙂

I’d been doing plenty of knitting while sitting around doing very little else and my blanket has spent all week being very used to snuggle in around the fire in the evenings, cuddle up with in my sleeping bag at night and growing during the day as I add more to it. It is currently airing on the washing line outdoors so the woodsmoke is more a hint than an overwhelming waft!

Sadly this was the night I laid awake with dreadful stomach pains and did a half naked (t shirt, pants and Ady’s boots, while carrying a weak torch and half blind thanks to no contact lenses) run across the field in the middle of a rainy night to the compost loo. It was the start of a 48 hour bout of very nasty diarrhoea which really wiped me out and blighted my week really.

Tuesday Scarlett and I went off to Asda in search of new wellies for her but they didn’t have a single pair in her size (despite having at least 8 different designs of ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ ones). We also got various things to have a second go at a roast dinner on the smoker. Unfortunately I had to also use their toilet facilities and then lost it for remembering anything else I hadn’t already bought. I did feel strong enough to pay a visit to the Mythical Morrisons that Ady had told me about last time we stayed there in May but I’d never managed to find. I still firmly believe it moves about and is only there sometimes. I tried to take a photo of Scarlett infront of it and I think you’ll agree it has a ghostlike quality to it ;).

Back at the campsite I had two phonecalls at once – one from Ros to say she was very much on her way and another from Caz to say they’d be arriving later that day. I’d known both were due to come but had not honestly expected either to do so until they were actually there! Meanwhile I did more knitting, drank more tea, had more chats, made more use of the compost loo and the kids continued to build dens and explore.

Ros arrived complete with five children and later on Caz and Bid arrived with Archie and Elliot. I know not everyone enjoyed the changed dynamic of more people but I have to be honest and say I loved the variety of people, the different chat it brought to the campfire and I know Davies and Scarlett loved having Archie and Elliot there. They are leaving for New Zealand properly in about 3 weeks so it was fab to have some proper time with them this week before they go. It’s a real shame it wasn’t as smooth and enjoyable for everyone though :(.

It was a rowdier group round the campfire that night with plenty more singing :). Ady pulled off the roast pork dinner which was very nice but I decided I wasn’t actually all that keen on the smoked taste. This is not a problem as it’s optional rather than essential and I think it could be nice for fish or maybe something like gammon which is already smokey.

Sadly despite hoping I was better I was awake again for much of the night with another middle of the night dash to the loo and even more horrible pains.

Wednesday At 730am I was awake and in pain so Ady went off to find me drugs and get picnic food for Butser. I have to say that if I’d not been the one actually organising the day I would have bowed out there and then and not gone as I felt really quite wretched – I was 3 really bad nights in and feeling ravaged and wrung out. I tried to bolster myself and the drugs did work in stopping the d if not the pains but I know I was fairly vacant and hopeless with questions about how many people were coming, making decisions about what to do next aswell as struggling with the lack of tea!

But Butser was once again a really good day out. I didn’t think Ann, the leader was as good as Maureen who took us round last year. She is only one year out of being a secondary school maths teacher and is still very teacher-y in her approach to the children. That said she was very passionate, knew a lot about her subject and did a fine job of keeping on top of the fairly mixed group. I’d gone for different activities this year – pottery, spinning, mosaics and the archaeological digging (which was a repeat of last year but from the feedback I’d had from various children had been enjoyed lots last year). Personally I think last years choices had been better and the wattling and clunching were very good, although I didn’t miss the jewelry making from last year and thought the spinning was far more interesting.

The day seemed to be much enjoyed by everyone. We started with a chat in a roundhouse and some observations about how it was built and how celts lived. We moved onto the archaeology next which they did in pairs this year and Ann moved round the group talking to everyone about what they’d found. Next was pottery which gave most of the adults our favourite moment of the day when she tried to do some ‘fill in the word I am thinking of’ style teaching and got some funny responses back to her ‘what is a warrior head?’ ‘where would you find a warrior head?’ questions :lol:. We got to make warrior heads, bowls or roundhouses. Scarlett and Davies both made roundhouses – Davies pushed some straw into his to make a thatched roof, Ady made an ‘anniversary bowl’ for me in honour of it being our tenth wedding anniversary that day and I made a warrior head. There was altogether too much lining up in pairs for everything for my liking which always makes me want to be rebellious and act silly.

We then visited the shop – they make a big deal about their ‘unique’ shop and how it is ‘all part of the learning experience’ and in fairness I think it is quite a good shop with a good range of sensibly priced stuff which is not just plastic tat but is relevant to Butser. She did do a hard sell to me and at least 2 other adults about their ‘Educational leaflet’ which is ‘invaluable and covers all areas of the curriculum and is perfect for following up the visit once you get home!’ Don’t think she had any takers… Davies and Scarlett both bought a lamb and Scarlett also bought a little piglets in a basket thing for Chloe who hadn’t come in the shop.

We all had lunch and then regrouped for spinning. This was led by Maureen who had taken us round last year and I asked about the clunching we’d done then and had the now finished building we’d helped to clunch pointed out – cool :). Spinning was harder than it looked but everyone had a go despite them offering lamb pictures as an option for some of the littler children. Scarlett, Maisie and Lorna also made lamb pictures but Tarly did spinning too. It was very sheepy smelling and all lanolin-y so although I did make a length of wool I doubt I’ll be knitting with it. Would like to learn how to do it properly though and actually make some wool to knit with.

Lots of pictures of people all with the same facial expression!

We were shown the recreated outdoor fridges and then into the Roman villa. Lack of tea and general exhaustion caught up with me at that point so I ducked out and sat in the sunshine instead. I personally think the Roman bit is the least interesting at Butser. The children did mosaic pictures to finish while I was gradually joined on the grass by more and more adults – all needing tea!

I’ll definitely do another visit to Butser next year but will try and negotiate in advance for something a bit different and maybe open it out to more people to allow one of their resident experts to come in and do something more specific with us.

Various people came back to the campsite – Ros came back to pack up, Alison and co came for a visit and Tora came back to stay. We drank tea and some of the children created a game lifting each other up on a rope tied to a tree. Various adults were not happy with the safety around it and there were many voice of doom proclamations about it ending in tears / injury / hospital visits but the children did a fab job of listening to each other, working cooperatively and responsibly and they all really enjoyed themselves. I thought it was ace and it never did get out of hand or become about scaring each other. If I’d not been feeling so rough I may well have had a go myself!


We waved goodbye to everyone not staying the night and Ady and I decided if I wasn’t feeling better by morning I may head for home the following day for a bath, some home comforts and a night in my own bed. I had a really bland dinner of pasta and virtually no alcohol and an early night. Not very anniversary-ish but I had very much enjoyed being surrounded by lots of lovely friends in such beautiful surroundings – stark contrast to our actual wedding! ;).

Thanks to liberal doses of the tablets Ady had got for me I actually slept well and was feeling far better by morning :).

Thursday A lazy morning sat round the still smouldering campfire (we’d burnt a *really* big lump of wood the night before ;)) chatting while Katy and Tim, Caz and Bid and Tora packed up and one by one headed off. We were so lucky with the weather and Davies, Scarlett and Chloe fell back into playing together again so the rest of us did more sitting around chatting and I continued to add to my blanket. I negotiated an upgrade for a new phone which I arranged to be delivered to the centre the following day. Ady spent a fair bit of time with Davies who has suddenly become interested in kicking a football and hitting a shuttlecock – neither of my two have ever been sporty in terms of ball games before but I think part of the motivation is getting to spend time with Ady doing it ;).

We had barbecued sausages and burgers for dinner and enjoyed the feeling of being a smaller group again. 🙂

Friday Our last full day. We’d debated various possible excursions for the afternoon including the Spinnaker tower or Portsmouth’s historic dockyard but on checking out the prices we decided against both as very pricey. We also talked about heading to Southsea to watch the hovercrafts but in the end all the adults were just as happy to stay on site and not have to drive and the three children were engrossed in their own games and adventures so we hung around the campsite again. My new phone was delivered and so Ady and I had a quick jaunt into Havant to try and buy a case but failed (I’ve since ordered one off ebay).

I also pulled off what I thought was the smoker’s most impressive feat and baked a cake while camping! I’d meant to weigh out flour and sugar and bring it from home to just add butter and eggs to but had forgotten so rather than buy bags of flour and sugar which would have gotten damp in the field and had to be chucked away aswell as needing weighing out I went for ‘just add egg’ cake mixes. The girls enjoyed licking the bowl and they cooked to perfection (better infact than our failing oven at home) in the smoker. I left them to cool for a while and then iced them and added candles for the perfect camp cake 🙂



The wind picked up and prevented us from lighting the candles around the campfire so we retired to a tipi instead for the actual singing and blowing out of candles but gathered back round the campfire to eat it. Aside from a disappointing ‘packet mix’- ness to it I was pretty impressed and would definitely try again with raw ingredients next time :). So the birthday celebrations began, just 4 days early ;).

We had takeaways for dinner (fish and chips for us and curry for the ManorBorns) and listened to the echoes of a mother and toddler group who were communally camping in one of the yurts in a not very peaceful manner. Last year our last night was a pleasant evening with the addition of Fun Dad and friends but a dreadfully disturbed night thanks to a very waily child in the middle of the night and parents who failed to deal with her. This year we had an evening still more or less to ourselves as they were camped in a different part of the site to us so we had the fire pit and field to ourselves but our night was even more disturbed thanks to various cries and tantrums through the early hours 🙁 – I really think Sunday to Friday is the way to go next year!

Saturday A perfect morning for striking camp – still and sunny so the tent and everything else was dry and aired to be put away for the winter (we have one more potential overnight but won’t be using any of the kitchen stuff or the big tent for that). We packed up fairly leisurely with plenty of tea stops and deciding we were bored so sitting down in the sunshine for half an hour. The new porch disgraced itself by being harder to pack into it’s teeny bag than the whole main tent and I finally sorted out the tent pegs so we have not brought any bent or otherwise unusable ones home with us. We really need to invest in some pegs actually, must remember for next season.

The kids went off on one last adventure, we loaded the cars up and had one last cup of tea with Marcus and Michelle before leaving them to their last few bits of tent dismantlement and heading for home. This time Davies came with me and we chatted about all sorts of things, none of which I can remember now. Scarlett went with Ady.

The kids both had baths and hair washes and hair brushes which were very needed after no washing or showering all week (Ady and I did, I hasten to add, the kids just chose not to and to live the authentic field-living lifestyle). Ady cleared up comprehensively after the cat who my Dad had decided shouldn’t be kept in the kitchen for the week and let out the very evening we left, which necessitated rather a lot of clearing up after. I made pizza dough, cooked eggs and toast for Scarlett, changed the sofa covers and then we emptied the two cars and put everything away.

It’s amazing how quickly you feel at home again in a house. I do always come back and take a while to readjust to how much ‘stuff’ we have though and we’re not even particularly minimalist campers!

It was a truly lovely week. It’s a testamont to the company, the weather and above all the stunning location that I still had a fabulous time despite feeling really quite rough for a large part of the week. I think it was Bid who commented that The Sustainability Centre was ‘a real find’ for camping and after four, equally lovely stays there, with large groups, small groups and just the four of us and continued plans for more in the future I think he’s right. And even better I really can go there after I die!

Thanks to all who came for all or part or some of the week :).