Easter In Norfolk

We spent Easter in Norfolk at  Moat Farm  a small quiet but adequate site. It was also our first chance to use the new Outwell tent that we had grabbed in the January sales.An Outwell Cleveland 5.As it turned out we had been led to believe it was a poly cotton, on arrival we realized it was nylon.But never mind we still liked the look and the layout of it.

The weather behaved itself and we wandered around Thetford Forest taking in the woodland trails.  The local shops were not far away from site and were quite busy.We also ventured into Norwich and our first experience of Go Outdoors.After wanting more than needing most items, we settled on a new pan set.

Back at the site we were itching to try the new pans so we actually set to and cooked a meat and veg dinner.The pans passed the test and we use them at every opportunity.Why do household pans not give you the same enthusiasm for cooking?

We loved Norfolk and decided that we would return later in the year.

Thetford Forest

Charity Dig

Ok so the company I work for sponsor a different charity every two years.The votes have been cast and counted and the lucky charity is St.Luke's  a local primary school for pupils with moderate severe and profound multiple learning difficulties.

We have been asked to help in the removal of a small garden to enable a sensory memorial garden to be re-built.In remembrance of pupils who have passed away.

Posters are put up at work requesting volunteers to attend. Several dates are listed and to bring a spade.Monday is listed as removal of bedding plants,re-planting and general garden work.

Monday morning arrives with the rain. Myself and four colleagues armed with spades set off for St.Luke's, now none of us are quite sure where it is but we have a vague idea.The lady whom usually deals with our PR is off work ill.So we arrive at St.Hugh's school. Armed with our spades and wellies we march into the reception.We are met with some very curious stares,whereby our appointed leader asks if they are expecting us.With a look of sheer puzzlement they realize that we have turned up at the wrong school.Easy mistake to make at the moment with all the local schools currently being renamed.After being given the correct address and directions we set off again laughing at our mistake.

On arrival at St.Luke's we are met with a joyful hello come this way.We are taken to the garden only to find out that,our agenda for today has changed as the school had managed to start on Friday.Today we are expected to remove the raised beds and the soil contained within.Ok so one member of staff has just returned to work from having a back injury.We all look to one another,it's still pouring with rain and these beds that stand proudly before us must contain at least three tonnes of soil each!

We set to moving potted plants from harms way.Now who is going to swing the lump hammer,as to get to the soil we need to remove posts a meter high by twelve Cm's thick.A manager takes the first swing and the hammer just bounces back,this is a demolition crew job.Well after some heavy swinging and the obvious who are you thinking of with a big grin to match,we manage to make some head way.The soil is now reachable and we start to barrow it up and remove it to, yes you guessed right,the other side of the school.

The rain is still pouring down and we are determined to make our mark.All the time plotting not to tell the next crew of colleagues what they are really in for.From what we are able to decipher the Boss is bringing a crew of high ranking managers,later today.The camera comes out and several pictures are taken to catalogue our progress.

We stop for a brew and our thanked immensely by the school volunteers who are pottering around doing small jobs.We are shown the plans for the new garden and it looks great.

After another hour we call it a day due to work commitments,some of us are required to start our own shifts.We have managed to demolish one bed halfway.

Charity Dig

The rain is still pouring down and the school volunteers decide that they are also going to call it a day.

We can't believe our high ranking managers are going to get away with it.We slowly make our way back to work,feeling that we have done our bit even if we were misled.Knowing now what we do, we are all eager to volunteer again as the project gets moving.Just awaiting the rain to disappear.

Muddy and wet I make my way home for a hot bath, before returning to work to start my nine hour shift.

 

 

      

St Patrick's Meet

March brings with it a St Patrick's meet. Several other campers whom we have met on sites through out the last year are having a meet.

The meet takes place at keviki. A small site with basic facilities.

We also get to meet new campers,and campers we've only chatted to through the forums.

There is a good range of tents including a Tourag,Cabanon Guadeloupe,Our Sunncamp Gite,a Vango Icarus and a new Vango air beam, which we are all eager to see.A couple of caravans and a small pop up tent.

We all gather around as the Vango air beam is brought to life.Impressed with how quick it went up.Happily throwing good humored insults back and forth between us all.

Keviki

For the occasion some of us have put bunting up,and it flaps gently in the breeze.The weather is quite mild for March and we have sunshine.

We all sit around the camp fire as one camper tries out her new cobb,serving up Irish sausages followed by Irish themed cup cakes what I have brought.
Some of the campers have decided to take a stroll up to the local pub,but it's not long before we are all sat around the camp fire once again.

As the night draws in the weather turns and we are rained off, all heading into our own sanctuary's.

The following day is pretty much the same, with everyone swapping tales of their travels.The weather is behaving once again and the children are enjoying the trampoline on site.It's not long before the adults are vying for there turn on the trampoline.

We end the day sat having a good old chat around the camp fire deciding where and when our next meet will be.

The following morning goodbyes are said as we wave each other off .

 

Tents for all seasons

Well so much for our New Year's resolution. Both the hubby and myself have been laid up with one injury or another through January and February.

So we decided to put the time and camping pennies to good use and bought some more tents along with other camping goodies.

Sunncamp Gite 5

Our first purchase is a Sunncamp Gite 5 frame tent, for quick weekends through the summer,loving the attached canopy. Again it's canvas and very bright.The kitchen area is just adequate enough though  the two bed pods are small (five people never, with just the two of us it was tight). Removing the smaller bed pod gave us a bit more room, but It's not doing it for me......maybe it will grow on me.

Our next purchase is from the great makers Cabanon.The Cabanon vis-a-vis an older version of the much loved bora-bora . Again a fantastic piece of canvas with removable sun canopy,two separate good sized sleeping pods.A good sized living area makes me think this tent will get lots of use.On the plus side it is a lovely shade of green.

Cabanon Vis-a-Vis

Our third purchase is a bit of a hasty bargain buy.An Outwell Cleveland 5 now this tent has space it's well thought out,goes up quickly.But it wasn't Polly-cotton as I was led to believe.We did however use it just the once though before we sold it on.Had it been Polly-cotton it would of been a keeper for those weeks away maybe even stretching it to weekends.I do like Outwell, so we kept searching for our perfect week away tent.

Outwell Cleveland 5

We have found it, though it is an older model again. Boy it ticks all the boxes for us.Purchased from a young couple who had just invested in a caravan,there was the usual marks from a second hand tent.These were soon rectified and all but one have gone.This mark was pointed out to us "the wife went mad with fly spray". Well we have tried most safe methods of removing it to no avail,so we now live with it.After all it's not the end of the world,or maybe it is for me.It can't be seen from outside but on stepping inside I'm drawn to it.One day it will be gone!

Kampa Holkham 6

After trialing all our new tents we have decided that the Kampa is for weeks away,the Cabanon is for summer weekends and Bella is for winter camping.          

New Year Camp

This is our first ever New Year camp and the hubby didn't take any persuading.I was expecting to go into full debate mode about staying home,in the warmth with Television,computer etc but no he wanted to go.

We booked Walesby Woodlands for three nights with Ehu.

On arrival we were met by the owner who was rushed off his feet, with his wife laid up ill and a toddler to look after.We were quickly booked in and shown several pitches to choose from.We were also invited to use the cafe on an evening.The owners had decided to open it up to the campers,as a meeting place to sit and have a drink ( fridge available to cool your beers) and would be holding a disco on new years eve to bring the new year in with all their customers.This was a lovely idea and many people took up the offer.

We was the only tent on site,the remaining pitches all took by caravans.
The pitch we chose was between two trees as to give a bit of shelter.The weather was chilly but not overly cold or windy.The night sky was clear and full of stars.The owners also placed a couple of reindeer shaped led lights on the site to make everyone feel christmasy.

The weather held out on us and no snow was forthcoming,maybe this year we will get snow.

We both made a new year's resolution to have more nights camping in 2013.

 

December Camp Meet up for the Brave

  Ok so a few of us decided to camp in December 2012,much to the amusement of other camping friends and family.

We chose a site that backed onto a Pub,just in case emergency shelter was needed.Skipton Arms.
 Learning that the pub was also haunted just added to the adventure.

Below is the story as reported in the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph.

 WHEN it comes to watching the World's Most Haunted, it would take more than a dark room and a puff of cold air to freak me out.
Even a creaking floorboard would not have me rushing for the light switch.

5. ​
   MAKING CONTACT: Medium Susan Drury and researcher Steve Dinsdale outside the Skipworth Arms in Moortown. Pictures: Rick Byrne
   

So in a bid to find out the truth behind the torches and whether it was possible to talk to the dead, I was inquisitive enough to join Steve Dinsdale, investigator and audio-video researcher, and Sue Drury, medium, investigator and researcher, for their sixth investigation at the Skipworth Arms in Moortown.
Heather Chuck, 54, has been landlady of the pub for the past four years and she has experienced activity since the day she moved in.

She said: "It was happening straight away. When I'm with somebody I'm not bothered, but when you're on your own it's a bit scary. "There's definitely some- thing in here. I had a barmaid who worked here and every time she worked, glasses fell off the bar. We thought she was making it up, but we saw it on the CCTV."
Heather's presence attracts the orbs – a glow of light that shows the energy of a spirit and is only visible on digital photographs.
She said: "Something happens at least once a month. A customer was stood having a pint at the table and when he went to take a drink it exploded. He thought somebody had shot a pellet through the glass window. It wasn't a warm glass and it wasn't ice cold. The top of the glass was still complete.
"I also got grabbed on the arm last week. I shouted 'Oi' because I thought it was someone winding me up, but there was nothing there."
Among the spirits present in the bar area are believed to be Jim and Mary Parker. They used to own the pub 40 years ago.
Heather's husband, David, 43, said: "When I was cleaning the pipes one day, I thought there was a little lad or lass in a baby walker and it came whizzing past me. There's lot's of noises and stuff like that going on."
Grimsby medium Sue has had spiritual powers from the age of five, but she has only explored her abilities over the past 10 years.
" We use glass tipping on the table top and the rods to call the spirits to come forward.
"Most of the spirits are grounded, they're not hostile, but they don't want to move on, but we can move them over if we want them to go.
"On our investigations, we get people to join in and feel it for themselves."
Steve said: "You don't have to be a psychic or a medium to pick up spirits, you can just be sensitive to it.
"When we use a yes-no board, we place a glass on top and put our index fingers on it, and ask questions. The spirits use our energy to come through.
"A lot of the spirits, when present, have a massive drop in temperature, so we register it with a digital thermometer. We also measure the electro-magnetic frequency that spurs them to come through using a ghost metre shipped in from Singapore."
So with the chance to experience first hand the reality of making contact with the spirits, I was passed the divining rods.
Unsure of what was going to happen, one thing I was definitely going to do my utmost to keep the rods still.
We called for Jimmy to come forward.
Sue said: "Jimmy, if you're in the room, can you cross the rods over for us please."
And in less than 10 seconds, the rods were moving. I was stunned, but still sceptical.
Jimmy was asked to use the rods to point to where he was in the room and with that instruction, my heart almost leapt into my mouth. The rods swung round from pointing forward to touching my shoulders facing behind my back. But they didn't stop there. They continued until they crossed my neck in a headlock.
At that point I could sense something behind me and was in no doubt the spirit had moved the rods.
Then things started to get even weirder, when Jimmy moved the rods independently of each other like he was playing a game – at which point I was quivering in my shoes.
To further strengthen my new-found beliefs, I had a go at contacting the spirits myself.
"I asked for Billy, the young boy, to come forward and cross the rods if he was four years old.
A slower movement saw the rods cross over in front of my very eyes and I had no control over their movement.
My arms were a good 30cm apart, so I knew I wasn't crossing them. But the motion was a softer one, as you would expect for a young child.
In a bid to trick Billy, I asked him to do the same if he was six years old. And with every mental power I was trying to get the rods to cross and contradict the previous answer. But there was a strange force that was firmly keeping the rods apart – even if I tried to give them a helping start. Seeing is believing.

So with five tents set up,we were ready to visit the pub.
No we didn't bump into ghosts,though we did witness the constant re-fill of our glasses,but didn't complain.

The only complaint we did have was it didn't snow!

Skipworth Arms

Donna Nook

   It's now early November and I have no trouble choosing where to camp this weekend.I'm looking forward to taking the hubby to Donna Nook Nature Reserve. I remember going, way back when I was knee high to a grasshopper but hubby has never been.

Booked into Pigeon Cottage a quiet little site,with good shelter.
The weather is rather chilly but dry. We pitch Bella with no problems,I'm happy now.

Saturday morning we have a good breakfast and set off for Donna Nook. It's very chilly on the coast, so we head to the onsite vender.The coffee is surprisingly good for only £1. Clutching our coffee's we head onto the small walkway.

The sight before us is not for the squeamish,though you wont get much closer to nature.With coffee finished the cold wind becomes forgotten as we click away with our camera's,oh and awe -ing to what lay before us.The hubby is impressed, pointing out the huge protectors of their young bouncing and sliding to an approaching predator.We spend a good couple of hours just watching nature unfold.
On the way back hubby asks me what seems like a daft question.I look at him gone out,with a cheeky grin he repeats his question."I have no idea " I reply.With my response given hubby points down towards a wooden sign. Where he slowly lifts the small wooden panel, beneath his seemingly daft question .Here lies the answer.Which he refuses to tell me.We notice the walkway is dotted with these Q & A signs and race each other to read them. At the last one there is a small hut where you can read lots more information or purchase small gifts.

Feeling the cold once more we opt for another coffee ,welcoming it's warmth to walk back to the car with.

A good morning out for so little cost as entry is free,but car parking is a small charge.We both agree that this will become a yearly visit.

Donna Nook