Well obviously we went camping… but we tried out a new site. This one is also a vineyard, so as well as buying eggs on-site, you can get wine delivered to your tent!
See how we scored it: Far Acre Farm
We enjoyed exploring this corner of Kent and we hope to go back again sometime.
R & L
One of our friends always asks us whether we sing round our campfires. The answer is always no… except last weekend the excitement of the new camping season went to our heads and we found ourselves making up a song which made us laugh lots!
Not sure whether it will be quite so funny in the re-telling, but it will at least make you smile as it has a camping equipment theme!!!
The only piece of context you need to know is that we never seem to be able to find a spoon when we want one. You’ll be able to guess the tune… it goes like this:
On the first day of camping, my true love gave to me, a toi-let in its own tent!!
On the second day of camping, my true love gave to me – two shepherds hooks:
and a toilet in its own tent!
On the third day of camping, my true love gave to me – three dutch ovens,
two shepherds hooks, and a toilet in its own tent!
On the fourth day of camping, my true love gave to me – four camping chairs:
three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the fifth day of camping, my true love gave to me – five different tents!
four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the sixth day of camping, my true love gave to me – six lovely lanterns
five different tents, four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the seventh day of camping, my true love gave to me – seven mugs for tea:
six lovely lanterns – five different tents!
Four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the eighth day of camping, my true love gave to me – eight wine goblets,
seven mugs for tea, six lovely lanterns – five different tents!
Four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the ninth day of camping, my true love gave to me – nine plates and bowls:
eight wine goblets, seven mugs for tea, six lovely lanterns – five different tents!
Four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the tenth day of camping, my true love gave to me – ten bottles of beer
nine plates and bowls, eight wine goblets, seven mugs for tea, six lovely lanterns, five different tents!
Four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the eleventh day of camping, my true love gave to me – eleven missing spoons
ten bottles of beer, nine plates and bowls, eight wine goblets, seven mugs for tea, six lovely lanterns, five different tents!
Four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
On the twelfth day of camping, my true love gave to me – twelve heat logs
eleven missing spoons, ten bottles of beer, nine plates and bowls, eight wine goblets, seven mugs for tea, six lovely lanterns, five different tents!
Four camping chairs, three dutch ovens, two shepherds hooks and a toilet in its own tent!!
As you can tell the goats are very happy to be back camping… and our new song will make sure we don’t forget to pack anything!!
R & L
Our absolute top camping tip – particularly if you’re camping at this time of year, when the nights are still fairly cold – is to pack a hot water bottle!
It doesn’t take up much space and makes the whole experience of getting into your sleeping bag so much cosier!
R & L
Last time I put the gazebo up the pump wasn’t working well. I remembered that when I’d last used it, before Christmas, I was suspicious it was getting less efficient, but this time it was clearly not right! I remember blogging saying I could put it up by myself in no time at all. It was now hard work and taking forever – the pump and I were both out of puff!!
I emailed outwell explaining that I’d bought the gazebo in 2019 and was disappointed the pump had stopped working – could they send me replacement valve to fix it? Yesterday I received a parcel – a brand new cyclone pump!
This morning I tried it out – and the gazebo positively sprung up!
This pump is better than the original as it deflates as well as inflates and somehow cleverly pumps both when you pull the handle up and when you push it down. So although I wasn’t impressed the first pump broke, I am very happy with the replacement – thank you Mr Outwell!
L
Over lockdown, in anticipation of better days, I’ve been trying out new recipes for our camping trips!
Tasty lunches can be particularly tricky to plan out. You want something light, especially if you had a cooked breakfast not so long ago! You also want something that’s transportable with ingredients which won’t go off if you’ve only got a cool box not a fridge. Warm lunches can be particularly welcome if the weather’s a little chilly.
Here’s my latest find – quesadillas!
These are super simple – you just need tortillas (the soft kind – I used wheat ones), grated cheese, any other fillings you fancy and a frying pan.
Place cheese and other fillings on the torilla, pop another tortilla on top. Lightly oil your pan and heat on a medium heat. Cook the tortilla sandwich until the bottom is crispy and the cheese is melting. The melting cheese will help hold everything together when you flip it with a fish slice. Once the other side is also golden and toasted, transfer to a chopping board and cut into wedges.
“Queso” is cheese in Spanish and you need that to help them stick together, but in terms of fillings you could try adding to the cheese how about:
slices of tomato
sliced mushrooms
chopped olives
sliced spring onions
sliced avocado
spinach (although can be bit fragile to transport when camping)
wild garlic
ham (but be careful of how you store it if you’ve not got a fridge)
thinly sliced onion
…basically anything you fancy! I’m going to make these this weekend and try adding capers, because they transport so well for camping and I think the little bit of acidic bite will cut through the rich cheese well.
Different types of cheese are also worth trying – guyere works particularly well, but for camping I usually take pre-grated cheddar as it’s easier.
I’d love to hear your favourite quesadilla fillings – leave a comment if you want to inspire me!
L
We know you are all desperate to know what was inside those mysterious black birthday packages
Well, we couldn’t wait to find out either, so we had a practise run in the garden recently…
Isn’t she beautiful – we’ll be camping in luxury this spring!!
R & L
My family of Dutch ovens emerged from their hybernation in the shed yesterday! Daddy pot, Mummy pot and Baby pot all got a sterilising bath of boiling water.
But it was more of a family day out than that!! COVID rules where I live allow us to have garden visitors, so my cousin came for lunch under the gazebo!
We had a simple lunch of sweet potato soup warmed over the fire and with the help of Paul Hollywood, we had freshly baked rolls to accompany it! Such a simple idea, not sure why I’ve never thought of finishing par-cooked rolls in the dutch oven before.
And of course food always tastes better outside!
L
I have a new challenge – 1000 hours outside by this time next year!
Here’s my pretty colouring chart to keep track of my progress – you’ll see that today I managed 1 hour!
It’s really a challenge for children – but I forgot to grow up!
We all know it’s good for us to get away from the screens, get out in the fresh air and spend some time in creation…so print your own tracker and join me!
1 down, 999 hours to go!
L
Max’s friend Rick gave him his tent before he died and made Max promise to have an adventure – so that’s what he’s been doing. Max has been camping out since 29th March 2020 and he is going to try and do a year!
Not only that, he’s raised tons of money for North Devon Hospice in the process… and he’s inviting children across the world to join in Max’s Big Camp Out today (Saturday 27th March 2021) – either outdoors if you have a garden, or indoors in a home-built den!
Goat’s love outdoor adventures – top work Max! We’re impressed!!
L & R
An early birthday present for one of the goats!
To find out what’s inside these mysterious black bags, you’ll have to await future blog posts!!
R & L
