About Me

My photo
Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Saturday December 21st 2013 - The 12 Months of Camping

Inspired by a recent post on someone else's blog, today I put my thinking cap on and came up with another song. I had to read back through all my blog posts for this year to find the numbers, and I changed the sequence of events round to make those numbers fit, but finally I got it - The 12 Months Of Camping, sung to the tune of Twelve Days Of Christmas.

                                                    THE 12 MONTHS OF CAMPING

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - a 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 6 gooey cream cakes, 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 7 days in July, 6 gooey cream cakes, 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 8 days with grey sky, 7 days in July, 6 gooey cream cakes, 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 9 days in Norfolk, 8 days with grey sky, 7 days in July, 6 gooey cream cakes, 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - A 10-metre cable, 9 days in Norfolk, 8 days with grey sky, 7 days in July, 6 gooey cream cakes, 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me - 11 days in Scotland, 10-metre cable, 9 days in Norfolk, 8 days with grey sky, 7 days in July, 6 gooey cream cakes, 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

In 12 months of camping, fate did give to me  - 12 days in Wales, 11 days in Scotland, 10-metre cable, 9 days in Norfolk, 8 days with grey sky, 7 days in July, 6 gooey cream cakes, 5 days in May, 4 tent carpets, 3 packs of tent pegs, 2-night winter camp, and an invite to meet up with friends.

                                               
                                                    The inspirations behind the song - 

An invite to meet up with friends - came via email in January inviting me to join a small group of camping friends for a weekend in February.

A 2-night winter camp - The aforementioned February weekend, when it was bitterly cold and it snowed just after I'd put the tent up.

3 packs of tent pegs - bought to replenish my gradually dwindling supply of usable pegs while I was searching various camping stores for a new tent.

4 tent carpets - not 'proper' tent carpets but large plastic-backed picnic rugs with a blue and cream pattern and which would look great on the floor of my new tent, and would also be easier to wash than one huge 'proper' carpet.

5 days in May - The number of days I camped that month.

6 gooey cream cakes - The cream-filled Belgian buns I had in Lathams cafe at Potter Heigham while camping in Norfolk.

7 days in July - The number of days I camped that month.

8 days with grey sky - Out of a total of 47 camping days this year only 8 were really cloudy, all the rest were full of sunshine.

9 days in Norfolk - My camping holiday in September.

10-metre cable - An ehu extension cable on a reel, which I was given by the wife of another camper who sadly passed away in late September.

11 days in Scotland - My camping holiday in the Highlands in early June.

12 days in Wales - Made up from various short breaks at Anglesey and Abergele.




The idea for the song and its following explanation has been taken from here - 
http://a-fly-on-our-chicken-coop-wall.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-longest-most-obnoxious-christmas.html
If I hadn't read that I probably would never have thought of this, so my thanks must go to a brilliant blog writer, Christine, for giving me the inspiration in the first place.



    

Friday December 20th 2013 - A Camping Christmas Carol

As Christmas is almost upon us, and having nothing much to write about just now, I thought I'd turn my brain to composing an alternative carol - one about camping in winter. Once I'd got the first line in my head the rest followed within five minutes, and all while I was loading the dishwashers at work! Sung to the tune of Hark The Herald Angels, the words obviously are all my own -

                                          
                                                     THE WINTER CAMPING CAROL

Hark, the hardy campers sing
Winter camping's just the thing.
Ring the site to book your pitch
And hope your journey has no hitch.
Peg the guy lines nice and tight,
Plug the ehu in for light,
Fill the kettle, make a brew,
Maybe even heat some stew.
Hark, the hardy campers sing
Winter camping's just the thing.

Stoke the camp fire nice and warm,
Pray that you don't have a storm.
Wear extra layers, gloves and hats
And sit with feet on square foam mats.
Fleecy blankets, thermals too,
Don't forget your camping loo,
Heat the tent with oil-filled rad,
Winter camping's not that bad.
Hark, the hardy campers sing
Winter camping's just the thing.


Wishing all my blog readers a very happy and fun-filled Christmas and New Year, I hope it's a good one for everyone  :)



Monday November 18th 2013 - Packed up just in time

I woke that morning to another very grey day and lay for a while trying to decide what to do with the few hours I had left before I had to leave for home. I was in no rush to go so I did consider going back to Cleethorpes and maybe having a look round the shops, but the local weather forecast for that day said there was to be rain from lunchtime onwards. Not wanting to pack up a wet tent then try to find a way of drying it out once I got home I decided to stay put, so after a dog walk round the site and a leisurely breakfast I made a start on sorting things out and getting them into the van.


Finally, with only the tent to take down, I transferred the dogs to the back of the van then went round and pulled all the pegs out. As an experiment I'd left the bedroom pods in situ - it would save some setting-up time next time I camped - but when I eventually got the tent rolled up it was so bulky that there was no way it would go back in its bag. Luckily I had some bungee straps stashed in my camping box so a couple of those wrapped round and hooked to each other kept the tent in a reasonably neat bundle, and the unused bag was tucked in the camping box.  I'd just folded up the footprint groundsheet and was putting it in the van when the first drops of rain appeared - it seemed that for once the weathermen were right, and my decision not to go back to Cleethorpes had been a good one. 

Abandoning any ideas of taking the dogs for another walk I checked quickly round the pitch for any forgotten tent pegs then set off on the drive home. The rain became quite heavy after a while and I was glad I'd managed to get packed up before it had started, though as I drove across the M62 it started to clear up and by the time I was within twenty miles of home the sun was beginning to shine. Having left Willow Lakes earlier than I'd intended I was home before 3pm so I had plenty of time to download the weekend's photos onto my pc before I went to work, and sorting through them later on I was really pleased with most of the shots. It was a shame in a way that the weather hadn't been brighter, but in some instances sunshine isn't everything and just being able to see and photograph the seals had given me yet another weekend to remember.

Sunday November 17th 2013 - An afternoon at Donna Nook

I woke that morning to a very grey sky and no sign at all of any sunshine. As I wasn't in too much of a rush to go out and the dogs were still curled up in their bed I made a brew and some toast and retreated back to my own bed for another couple of hours, hoping that the sun would eventually break through and give me a lovely day to see the seals. Unfortunately though it didn't and the sky was still grey when I finally emerged from the tent to take the dogs for a walk round the site.

It was late morning by the time I was ready to go to Donna Nook; stashed in the van were a couple of extra layers of clothing for myself and an old duvet for the dogs to snuggle under, and after saying my goodbyes to MissE, who would have packed up and left the site by the time I got back, I set off for an afternoon of seal photography. It took about forty five minutes to get to Donna Nook and as I drove down the single track lane towards the dunes I could see that the overflow car park field was choc-a-bloc with vehicles; Donna Nook was a very popular place and it was obviously a very busy day. I had no trouble finding a space though and when I got out of the van I was pleasantly surprised to find that contrary to the usual bitingly cold wind which I was expecting, the weather was very mild and there wasn't even the hint of a breeze; it looked like my extra layers and the dogs' duvet wouldn't be needed after all.

Although this was by no means my first visit to Donna Nook I was still blown away by the sight which met me when I reached the top of the dunes; literally hundreds of seals dotted across the wide expanse of sand flats and dunes, with many of them close to the viewing area fence and almost within touching distance. It looked like my recently-purchased new camera would be getting a lot of use over the next hour or so.


Even though the viewing area was very busy I still managed to find several gaps in the crowd where I could get right up to the fence at different places and I was rewarded with many opportunities for photos, including seeing one pup which was obviously less than an hour old; with its wet fur still drying out it looked rather like a sheep gone wrong. It was a pity really that the day was so grey; a bit of sunshine for my photos would have brightened things up nicely, but I still got well over a hundred good shots.


After a chat to one of the wardens, and having satisfied myself that I hadn't missed anything out photo-wise, I made my way back to the car park. By that time I was feeling quite peckish so I stopped at the nearby catering wagon to get a cheeseburger and a coffee to take back to the van, then with the edge taken off my hunger I let the dogs out from the back and took them for a walk right round the perimeter of the field. Of course a visit to Donna Nook wouldn't be complete without calling at the nearby Ark animal sanctuary so I stopped off there for a quick look round before hitting the main road and heading back to Willow Lakes.

The daylight had been fading fast when I left the Ark so by the time I got back to the site it was completely dark; with nowhere else to go I put the heater on in the tent, made a brew and settled in for the evening, only venturing out later on to take the dogs for their last walk of the day. It was a dry night, still very mild with a clear sky and a full moon; with only one other pitch occupied by a caravan the site was certainly very quiet, and as I snuggled into my bed a while later the only sounds were an owl hooting somewhere in the nearby trees and Sugar's gentle snores as she chased rabbits in her sleep.


Saturday November 16th 2013 - Lincolnshire seal weekend

The promise of a bright morning saw me leaving home at 7.45am  for a two-night stay at Willow Lakes in north east Lincolnshire and a visit to the seal colony at Donna Nook. The drive eastwards was easy and trouble free and I arrived at Willow Lakes in glorious sunshine soon after 10am; the site wasn't busy, with the only other residents being two people in a caravan and MissE from the camping group, so it looked like it was going to be a very quiet weekend. 

After a quick dog walk and a chat with MissE, who was just getting ready for her own visit to the seals, I made a start on putting up the tent. It didn't take that long but by the time I'd knocked the last peg into place, put the bedrooms in and made a brew the sun had gone in and the sky had clouded over, so not wanting to waste any daylight I decided to pile everything into one side of the tent and take myself off to Cleethorpes for a couple of hours - I could sort things out later on.

It didn't take long to get to Cleethorpes and after finding a parking space towards the north end of the sea front I got a ticket for two hours from the machine then set off with the dogs along the long promenade. With it being out of season there wasn't really much to see; everything was more or less the same as when I'd been there in February though it was nice to see that this time the flowerbeds were full of winter pansies which gave a bit of colour to the promenade gardens.


When I'd walked for quite a distance I crossed the road and headed back to the van, looking in various shop windows as I went, and when I saw a cafe advertising home made steak pie with veg, mash and gravy for a very reasonable price I decided to leave the dogs in the van and treat myself to a very late lunch/early evening meal - it would save making myself something when I got back to the tent. This was the same cafe where I'd had coffee and cake earlier in the year, and though it didn't look much from the outside the staff were very friendly and the meal was lovely; the pie really was home made and the veg perfectly cooked, and at only £4.95 including a mug of coffee it was very good value for money.

When I got back to the van I only had ten minutes left on the car park ticket and as there was nothing else I particularly wanted to see I thought I may as well head back to the site. It was almost dark when I got there, and leaving Sophie and Sugar in the back of the van I went to sort out the inside of the tent. With the bed made up and everything else in place I went across for a quick chat with MissE then released the dogs from the van, and with the heater on to keep the tent cosy I settled down for an evening of tv and reading and eventually an earlier-than-usual bedtime.