The Camp Out.....

Husband always winces when I say; 'I know: I've got a good idea.....' No trust, no faith!

Home Field is our play field; there was a football pitch and golf hole there earlier in the season but now its a meadow on fertilizer drugs: Sky high with feathery grasses, it desperately needs to be harvested and made into hay.... If only I could locate Land Man and his tractor, but he's super-busy managing nature on his patch. However, in line with my new plan, hubby mowed a play-lawn near the bonfire and paddling pool............

A long, long time ago my pal lent us her tent. It's two-man tent but she seems to have lost the men, as all I can find in the bags are the tent poles and the canvas.. boom, boom! Geddit? It's early in the morning, bare with me....

....... It was still about 23°, late in the afternoon, when hubby and I started to put up the tent on the newly mowed grass. It is really cool, shaped like an igloo with plenty of room for one adult and two pint-sized sproglets .... Oh, the adult will be me then?!! (Hubby's more 5* than tent!!!)

By 9pm they were scrubbed and, military style, were on parade in the house.

'Blow up Beds?'

'Check,' they saluted

'PJs?'

'Check.'

'ONE Toy?'

At this, a squabble erupted: Apparently the 5yo was smuggling in lots more duty free than his allowance permitted. The 7yo, was incensed, purely because she hadn't considered contravening the rules and was furious with herself.

Finally we got to the tent.

'You've chosen the chilliest night for ages,' Hubby helpfully noted, before zipping us in and abandoning us for a night of peace in the house.... Grrrr.

....We sang, we told jokes, we discussed life the universe and everything and then, when my eyes could stay awake no more, I screened some cartoons on my iPod.

All was well until about 10:30pm: Hubby had mislaid a chicken, probably Happy, our disabled girl. Back out of the tent we searched and searched, only to find her in the coop all along! *This is exceptionally good news actually, as it means all our new rescued battery hens have finally sussed how to put themselves to bed. We'll just lock up and turn on the fence each night from now on. Yipeee...

Back in the tent the children had a wobble.

'We want to go into Daddy now.' The 7yo began to sniff, weeping would shortly follow.

'Nope.' I bellowed. 'Go to sleep. Right now!'

Remarkably, they did! Then the rain came, and came, AND came! I'm pleased to say that the tent is waterproof, my bed was beyond uncomfortable, and later in the night the 5yo and 7yo both abandoned their beds, in favour of sleeping on me! But: We have overcome another 1st - Sleeping in a tent. We are now cheaply portable.

Back in the house this morning (it's still sodding raining) I'm shattered but happy.