Why I love camping

I adore camping.I love tents. I'm fairly sure that many of the reasons that I love camping will be the reasons you hate it.

I'll start at the beginning, I love the smell of a canvas tent, I like the anticipation of packing for a camping trip. The look at the list,checking the food and the booze. Packing the car,(I have a Fiat Panda so it's car Tetris every time)

And then the drive, either to a site I know and love or to a new exciting site where who knows what I will discover.

Arriving, unpacking, laying out the tent, pitching, happy in the knowledge I can do it all by myself! Sending DD to fetch water, and other small chores. The sun (or rain) and the knowledge that as soon as we are finished I can cool off with a beer or warm up with a tea.

Sitting in the fresh air,watching the other campers, listening to the sounds of nature, the wind in the trees, bird song, bees. Walking around the area seeing what is going on. Snoozing on a rug, reading  a book, sipping a Pims. Playing Frisbee with DD...

And later cooking outside on a BBQ or my camp stove, eating sausages or stew, more booze, more tea, hot chocolate and then bed...

Snuggled warm (with many layers plus hat) in my mummy style sleeping bag, on the mattress next to DD. Listening to the animals outside, the tent flapping, rain on the canvas, the smell of the tent.So peaceful, sleeping from dark until dawn. Waking to birdsong and the thought of a fully cooked breakfast, with local produce if I'm lucky...

And sometimes all of that is combined with the added fun of a festival. Sitting here now I'm making myself yearn for my tent...

Camping, total relaxation, and always plenty for kids to do, from exploring to chores....what's not to like?

Very random rants

Weird. this week I bought a laptop so here I am, tapping away, in the lounge, hubby is listening to the radio and muttering 'well at least I see you while you are obsessing on the net' so I'm not sure if this is an improvement!

and now I'm here with the whole world at my fingertips what to rant write about?

oddly i don't really know!

Today I finally realised I'm totally bored of politics. Bored of the name calling, the constant new discoveries of indiscretions, the moralising, the stupid ideas, the good ideas that never come to fruition, the way each party takes umbrance at anything the other party says. I'm over it.totally. I may just draw a rabbit on the next ballot paper I'm given.

Second tiny rant, and one that many have ranted about much more effectively than me, is bloody pink. I have a daughter. We are drowned in pink. Need a new T-shirt, pink! Fancy a pair of knickers? Pink! Purse? Handbag? Hairties? Pink! Toys...PINK! every damned thing.

 I have noticed for ages that 'girls' toys are packaged in pink but now I'm noticing that all toys are being given gender and packed accordingly. Today's horror was aV-Tech Camera. Blue (for boys) or pink (for girls). And notice the boys will warp faces (what fun!) while the girls will add (pink) wigs (how girlie) I was horrified, genuinely revolted and angry. Why not just make fun, primary coloured toys and let kids CHOOSE a colour!? Later DD wanted to buy a hoola hoop. I refused to buy one in Tesco, you guessed it, they were deemed girls toys, so only available in sparkly pink!

Jubilicious

Well, the Jubilee was a bit of a wash out in our house. DH is failry anti-monarchy so the bunting was subdued (allowed on 'my side' of the house only!) and poor DD came down with a horrble cold on Sunday afternoon causing her to want to stay in bed (on a holiday!!) 

The cold also meant that there was no chance of a trip to the Arundel Lido on the Monday. A Monday where we also had a street party invite which due to cold and rain we also didn't attend. All in all a rather sad Jubilee. 

We did however, find time to bake some jubilee cakes, and make most of a sock bunny using instructions from here, although we are out of stuffing now so he is pathetically skinny until our ebay order arrives.

Red(ish), white(ish) and blue(ish) cakes

 

We also found time to watch the rather fun Jubilee Concert, causing merriment in the house when DD said "At least Cheryl Cole isn't on the bill" only 3 minutes before Miranda Hart announced that Cheryl would be singing with Gary Barlow! Our fave bits were Jessie J, Tom Jones and the light and firework displays, we also enjoyed Grace Jones (talented on the hula hoop) and Madness who are just always fun.

How was your Jubilee? What did you get up to? Did you love it or loathe it?

An Olympic Meme

Crank up the national anthem, get out your gold medals because I've been tagged for the latest meme sprinting round the block. No list of rules for this one, just a list of Q & As and MelkshamMum has passed the baton to me so here we go...3,2,1 and they're off

If everyday tasks were an Olympic event what would you get a gold medal in?

Sleeping, absolutely without any doubt. I can sleep through practically anything. Storms that destroy our garden shed, radios blaring, toilets flushing, 11am coming and going, movies, I once fell asleep in a nightclub. I'm a Gold Medal winner for sleeping for sure.

As a child, or now even, did you excel at a particular sport?

No. As a child I was terrible at all sports and it put me off doing anything even remotely sporty for life. I was finally diagnosed at 36 with Charcot-Marie-Tooth explaining (finally) that I wasn't 'lazy' or 'rubbish' at games (as many a PE teacher had suggested) but was, in fact, mildly disabled. I'm looking forward to watching the Olympics though, and the Paralympics even more so.

Michael Phelps (swimmer) or Michael Johnson (runner) - which sport appeals to you more?

I can neither swim nor run. However the idea of watching fit young men do either is really rather appealing....hmmm glistening muscles....

Gratuitous Muscled Body Picture

How fast can you get out of bed and ready to go out the door if you miss the alarm and sleep in?

I rarely sleep in because while being able to sleep for England I am an early riser on a work day - out of bad making tea for DH at 5.30am. If I did oversleep I could be up and out in 10 minutes. I don't wear makeup and showers are for sissys (kidding I do wash, but if in a hurry I'd skip a day)

What fantasy sport would you like to see made into an Olympic event?

Extreme Breastfeeding, you know, while bungy jumping, underwater, up a mountain, while skydiving, that sort of thing. For those that don't breastfeed there would be a bottle feeding version but I think it would be harder to sterilise bottles and milk underwater than to breastfeed there :-)

Claim to fame time: have you ever met an Olympian and who was it?

No, but am attending some events this year so there is still time. Are you allowed to lick Usain Bolt?

What event in past Olympics can you remember most vividly?

To be honest I don't really remember many events - just the shock stuff like Zola Budd changing nationalities to run in the Olympics, and Ben Johnson being stripped of his medal in 1988

Tuning in at home or tickets clamped in sweaty palms?

I have tickets for Dressage (that's a horse thing ;-)) and tickets for swimming, dressage, and wheelchair basketball in the paralympics. DD and I are going (DH not so keen) and we are very excited. (Tickets not arrived yet though! *bites nails*)

Who do you think most deserves a gold medal (any walk of life not just Olympians)?

Would be slushy to say my other half wouldn't it? but he's been a SAHD for the last 12 years and does most of the housework, despite being 20 years my senior. So I think I'd award it to him. 

Now I have to pass on the baton, but whose sweaty palm is outstretched to grab it?

I pass to  The Moiderer (because she can actually run and has done the London marathon!)

and  Very Bored in Catalunya because she is lovely and is in the right place for some Beach Volley Ball

Feel free to snatch the baton for yourself if you want to answer the questions, and leave a comment here so I can pop over to look.

Why! Why? Why have I been tagged!!?

Memes, I've talked about them before, how they shout "Me! Me!" at me, demanding to be completed. I don't dislike them, not really, they give me a kick to get blogging and they make me feel ... accepted I suppose is the word. But (there is always a but) WHY do they always appear when I have no time to blog or when I have 3 or 4 blog posts already in my head (and no time for those either!?)

So no surprise that when the rather sexy Mummy Central tagged me in a meme it should catch me in the middle of both of the above situations. Luckily the Meme is about whining, specifically about whining 'WHY?' (or more accurately WWWW-HHH-YYYYY?) So I am all prepared. are you?

Why do blogging ideas strike when I have no time to blog them?

Why does alcohol taste SO good?

Why are dogs not allowed in supermarkets? (no really, why? and don't say 'health reasons', or 'safety' as the health and safety executive debunked all that and it's bollocks - oops ranting happened)

Why can't I blog without ranting? Why is my default setting 'rage'?

Why are babies feet so flipping adorable and why can't I nibble babies feet in public without being arrested, it seems so unfair.

Why are there not more beards?

Why are you allowed to put animals to sleep to spare their pain but you are not allowed to do it for people, when PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT! (that one is from DD aged 12)

Why does it rain on bank holidays?

Why are beds more comfy at 6am than they were at 11pm?

Why are young people under such pressure to look perfect and conform to an ideal?

Why is plastic surgery so popular? But individuality isn't?

Why does spellcheck on Blogger highlight, Blog, Blogging and Blogger??

Why can't people stop fighting?

Seriously, just WHY?

So, the Why meme; the rules are as follows:

1. Post your whys – as few or as many as you like

2. Link up your post at Mummy Central, and leave a comment here too

3. Tag 5 bloggers to keep this going

4. If you’re not a blogger, leave your whys as a comment below. Id love to read them

5. Show your support by reading a few others and commenting on them

I'm tagging  

ChickenRuby who is my grumpy soulmate

Marley Terrier who surely has many whys that need answering 

The Sexy MotherScuffer who's whys will no doubt shock me

Pants with names because ... because well giggles! and that! 

and last (cost that's what you save the best for )  Mamacrow who must, on a daily basis, answer a lot more Whys than I do!

Didn't I tag you? Ask yourself why? (I probably have a crush on you and was embarrassed to say) if you want to join in, head over and add yourself anyway! Why? Why not!