It must be. It just rained on my washing. Twice.
Actually, it’s been glorious this week. I’ve even picked and eaten ripe wild blackberries in the garden. I’ve no idea where they came from, but I’m not complaining – I love blackberries, and I love home grown fruit. Even better that it’s grown without any input from me at all.
Which is kind of how the children are getting by at the moment. We’re never particularly tightly scheduled, and when the rest of the child population is on holiday, I’m very relaxed about what mine get up to. I like it best when the weather is good and they can be outside, not least because it means it’s nice and quiet for me to watch the sport indoors 😉 Although I do like to be outside myself too. I find it difficult when we’re at home though – I’m better at outdoors when we’re living in a tent.
I love camping. We’ve done two weeks at Kentwell so far this summer, and sadly don’t have anything else planned. We used to do a big group home ed camping trip every year, but they’ve dropped off recently, everyone going their own ways more and more. I miss them. I find myself browsing websites looking for holiday resorts for a relaxing family trip before I remember that we don’t all fit in the car and it would be just me and the four kids. Probably not quite so relaxing.
But I do wish that Smallest was getting the same tenting opportunities that Small got. He grew up on campsites. Took his first steps in a field. While she hasn’t woken up to ducklings paddling outside the tent or had the chance to make friends with children rescued from nearby flooded accommodation.
So maybe I should have a serious think about how to do this. We’ve already got all the kit. Years of experience have taught me what you really need for a week in a British summer with children in a tent. So I pack wellies and sandals, raincoats and UV suits. (Easier than suncream by far.) Warm jumpers, shorts, fleece blankets for under sleeping bags, self inflating mats to prevent the slowly deflating airbed scenario. Thermos flasks mean you can boil the kettle in the evening and have your quick cup of tea in the morning. Paper, pencils, couple of books per child keep them happy if we’re tentbound in a storm (I love being tent bound in a storm!) and a tent with sewn in groundsheet and tent carpet makes for a pretty luxurious experience, certainly compared to our early family tents which blew a gale under the edges.
We even, a couple of years back, splashed out on the electric hookup kit. Not that we use a lot of electrics in a tent, but a camping kettle lifts the week from being a slog to being survivable when you can get a hot drink to warm you through easily, instead of crouching over a stove with rain dripping down your neck. Having a good stove helps too – we moved from a gas stove to a petrol one around the same time we upgraded to our Outwell tent and as long as you remember to pack all the bits, it really is a cut above.
I’ve made myself all nostalgic now. I think it’s time I made plans for a trip. Do excuse me.
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