Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[chickencam]

Make sure you have plenty of warm fleeces for the evenings and a wooly hat to wear in bed, because having a warm head really helps keep the rest of you warm and I tend to throw something like a coat over the foot end of my sleeping bag to keep my feet warm.

 

Sun screen It will be sunny and you will catch it because you will be outdoors from dawn til dusk.

 

Have fun, the evenings are lovely

 

Edited to say don't bother with PJ's, we just sleep in our clothes, much warmer and then get changed when you have a shower in the morning.

[Seagazer]

Thanks all.

[scarlettohara]

Haven't read the whole post but you can hire motorhomes, Just Go in Herts is one but they are quite pricey

[Seagazer]

Funny you should say that Scarlettohara, my hubby has already told me how much they cost to hire for the weekend! I think he found one for about £90 a day Lots of people that do the kayaking and therefore do lots of travelling and used to do camping, now have motorhomes. I will admit to watching a few on ebay yesterday.

 

We'll have to see how many trips we end up doing with YS. I don't think he's going to be giving it up any time soon. We currently go to our local lake and pool 6 times a week and now hubby has just started to learn.

 

The tent that our friend is lending us is a Khyam Freelander and has 2 bedrooms and a bit of a living room so should be fairly comfortable.

 

Still praying for the sun.

[whoopsie]

Have a great time. We love camping and have now upgraded to a trailer tent!

[Seagazer]

My sister has been through about 2 or 3 tents. They started out small and cheap and they've now got a bigger one. I don't think theirs is a trailer one but the transport it all in a trailer.

 

My brother had a trailer tent and has now got a 2nd hand touring caravan.

 

Watch this space, OH was planning on a visit to Blacks camping store. I wouldn't be surprised if he came home with a tent.....

[Tutti Frutti]

We have one hard and fast rule - SHOES OFF before you get in the tent! Otherwise mud and grass gets everywhere...

 

You're gonna have a fab time

[scarlettohara]

Fingers crossed for nice weather for you Camping is great fun if the weather is nice and a tent you can stand up in a must.

[Seagazer]

Thank you - I've just washed all the cooking equipment so its nice and clean. Nearly managed to gas the tortoise (cage in dining room) as I moved the camping equipment to the dining room as you couldn't move in the hallway (always full now of kayaking stuff). I went in to put Jeffrey away in his cage and there was such a strong smell of gas YS insists he hadn't touched it

 

This is the tent that our friend has decided will be ok for us for one night. YS will be in a tent with some other boys from the club.

 

http://www.penroseoutdoors.co.uk/acatalog/Khyam-Biker.html

 

I hope that works - not sure whether it will. I've got a feeling said friend is probably looking to sell it and seeing as its a 'biker' tent thinks that we would probably buy it

 

I am getting quite excited now.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Guest

[chickencam]

Looks good and easy to put up

[Chook n Boo Mum]

We have a Kyham 400 Tourer & absolutely love it as a brand...the huge Espace version also resides in our shed & is just too big for anything less than a fortnight

 

We always carry a packet of pasta, jar of sauce & a lump of cheese, along with eggs & bacon & a loaf for breakfast & buy fresh as we need it.

 

I think everything essential has been covered..I always wear jammies in bed & have my clothes very close by so they can be tucked into/under the sleeping bag for warming before I get up .......it gets very cold between 3 & 5 in our experience, so keep an extra layer nearby to pull on when the temp drops, though as has been mentioned if you are in a spot where the early morning sun can get to you, you will bake

 

Hope you have a great time.......we camped last week & would go again this week given half a chance, but life has to carry on & camping wouldn't fit in with my plans..nor would all the kit fit in the diddy car I'm using

 

Sha x

[BeckyBoo]

don't forget tea, coffe and sugar, I can manage most things once I've had a cup of tea in the mornings Crocs or similar to just slip on and off as you go in and out, and lots of layers to put on and off - 4 in the morning can be chilly any time of the year. Don't forget a chair to sit on, makes things all right with the world if you're not always balanced on an air bed to eat and drink.

 

The best (and sometimes worst) bit about camping, I reckon, is first thing in the morning. I always wake up MUCH earlier than normal, about 5ish, and you creep out of bed, put on your fleece, stick your head out of the tent and breathe that absolutely, fresh, clean, never-been-breathed-before air. It's like drinking the purest water straight from a glacier, absolutely wonderful. Everyone else is still snoring, and you have your first cup of tea all alone in the world (apart from all the other mums doing the same thing!! And of course it's NOT so nice if it's been chucking it down all night long! )

 

Enjoy, you absolutely HAVE to go camping at least once in your life, hard work, but brilliant

 

BeckyBoo

[Chicken Licken]

Folding chairs and a camping table are pretty essential - more so the chairs than the table - any fool can be uncomfortable!! I also swear by my ipod - years of taking kids camping has taught me to use the ipod to dull the noise they make and means I get much more sleep and am less grumpy - a win/ win situation!!! Fingers crossed that the weather is good for you. I once took a whole D of E group to the cinema and for a meal one evening as it was so cold and wet (wet weather planning!!). Hope it all goes well

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

My top sleeping fodder is: eye mask, ear plugs, those foamy roll mats for under the air beds - the cold comes from under, not above - and a woolly hat with ear flaps to sleep in.

 

And for night time wees - a small kitchen funnel, a bottle, wipes, loo roll, nappy sacks and a carrier bag to tie it all up in. Nothing worse than having to get out of your tent in the cold, damp, er, 'wee' small hours.

[Seagazer]

Thank you everyone, brilliant ideas from everyone. We've decided even if its pouring down we're still going to do the camping and be brave. As my hubby said, in for a penny in for a pound (that is unless the toilets in the park are shut and then I definitely will be going to the travelodge)

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Something which occurred to me when watercarriers were mentioned.....we've had several of the purpose-made collapsible containers & always go back to a 5l supermarket bought container of still water & just rinse out & refill it.........it's a better size for kidlings to take off & fill up at the nearest tap, and doesn't have the horrid taste of the purpose-made ones

 

We also take our own bed pillows and have discovered a set of knives which have their own blade sheaths which make packing of the kitchen a much safer proposition .....I'll look them out & try to find a link when I get home!

 

Those brightly coloured flexi buckets are an excellent investment for the camp kit...washing up/washing/storage/foot & shoe rinsing containers/emergency loo .....obviously not the same one as for washing up one hopes

 

The dawn chorus is very loud and very early..........and sound carries very efficiently after dark and in the early hours......and your sihouette can tell a story you may not be expecting when lit from behind by a light in the tent

 

Have a great time

 

Sha x

[bluekarin]

Reading this topic made me go and look at tents, again *sigh* I really want a huge one, so the kids have their own rooms, but they are really pricey

Anyhoo, whilst reading the UK camping forum, someone suggested getting a bucket from Oxfam. Its £6.99, and has a lid and a removable tap. Much easier for filling, can be used for storage there and back again and hold 14L. I will be looking in mine later to see if they have any, but it seems like a really good option. But I will say getting a large pack or 2 litre bottles from the supermarket was brilliant as no more yucky tea and coffee

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Ooh yes! A travel kitchen blade! Kuhn Rikon ones rock.

 

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuhn-Rikon-Nonstick-Paring-Knife-/dp/B00169WBV0/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1307629797&sr=1-6

[Chook n Boo Mum]

That's them .......we invested in a red bread knife (twice ), blue big blade cooks knife, yellow serrated veg knife and the purple straight blade veg one shown................it's so much nicer not to have to worry about slicing your fingers off when you pick up the knife roll & one has slipped from it's pocket............they are very very sharp though when the sheath is off , so pack plasters for emergencies

[chickric]

Reading this topic made me go and look at tents, again *sigh* I really want a huge one, so the kids have their own rooms, but they are really pricey

 

We've just come back from our first outing in our BIG tent

 

 

It's a Vango Salonga 900, nine man for only four of us but it gives us the living space for when the weather is bad.

We got it new from Ebay for £340 but it was worth it

 

We are considering getting a smaller, "easier to pitch in the wind" tent for shorter stays.

[Alis girls]

Wellies, a big mac and a huge umberella - I'm not anti camping - i've done extreeme camping where the tents (note tents) were full of water, and many were blown away. First and last time I slept in the car. Also note if you do camp in these conditions then dont drink alcohol - makes it 10 times harder to find tent door when your son sends you back for his nintendo ds before if disappears under water. The air was blue. Ifelt like Kate Winslet on Titanic- just not as glamourous and only OH to rescue me and not a hunky leading man mwah mwah

[Seagazer]

Wow Chickrik - now I could be comfy in that tent

 

Just came back from the lake and I currently have 3 kayaks on top of the car, 2 paddles inside and countless quantities of kayaking gear for the weekend. Luckily YS is going up with friends tomorrow in their motorhome, as by the time we put the camping stuff in, food and poor old Cookie, I don't think there would be room for much else

[Snowy]

Hows about this for comfy camping though? I want one!

Purple Bell tent

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Ye gods Cathy, that's not for a one night stay is it

 

Sha x

[Snowy]

No I think that was for a weeks holiday. Nice - although I don't think it would be practical for my two boys and two spaniels!