Tent Sniffing for Beginners

Early autumn and yet already I feel the gloom of the colder weather affecting me. Partly due to the weather and partly due to the lack of annual leave left to me I have packed up the tents until next year and that always makes me sad. I had a fabulous summer though, with awesome festivals. I went to the Curious Arts Festival to grab some culture in a field, Camp Bestival ( as always - and I enjoyed it all over again), Wilderness , where I gazed once again on glorious countryside filled with glitter, music and nudity, and even a Medieval festival at a castle ! I was not alone in having a great summer in the outdoors and so to help us all cope with the darker mornings, the rain, and the cooler nights here are some other great camping and festival posts to read. .. Samantha at NorthEastFamilyFun was letting her kids have a taste of freedom at the Corbridge Festival "I'm a bit of a free range parent and I'm keen to give Harry some extra independence this summer. He...

It's not all about festivals though, camping can be fun and relaxing without a crowd of like-minded individuals in a field. You can camp quietly and alone. Peace in nature can be one of the lovely things about being in a tent. Hearing nothing but the rustle of the canvas (or nylon) and the squeaks and whistles of the wildlife, laying in the sun in the daytime, and drifting to sleep to the sounds of crickets at night. So let's think about peace.

Grown ups being silly at a festival. Being silly and feeling young again, whatever our ages, can be a great reviver! I find that a weekend in a field with no rules and no set times for eating or sleeping is the perfect way to refresh myself. So on day 5 of our advent calendar - let's hear it for 'silly'.

For the first time in years we had a family holiday! Mainly as I agreed not to insist on canvas so that my Dear Husband felt able to come with Dear Daughter and I to the Brecon Beacons in Wales, in October. We rented a cottage from Brecon Beacons Holiday Cottages , we have been using the company since before we were married! So probably about 25 years (is that really possible?) and this made us confident that we'd get what we paid for.We started using them because they have a really good selection of dog friendly places, and Wales is excellent for dog walks! (Bring flexi leads though - there are lots of sheep about) As we hadn't been away as a family for years I splashed out a bit and we rented a lovely 2 bedroom cottage in Talybont on Usk, with wifi, real log fire and all modern conveniences. We were delighted to find the cottage was better equipped than our own home, with sky TV, two televisions bigger than our home one, a dishwasher (another thing we don't have) ...

I adore camping.I love tents. I'm fairly sure that many of the reasons that I love camping will be the reasons you hate it. I'll start at the beginning, I love the smell of a canvas tent, I like the anticipation of packing for a camping trip. The look at the list,checking the food and the booze. Packing the car,(I have a Fiat Panda so it's car Tetris every time) And then the drive, either to a site I know and love or to a new exciting site where who knows what I will discover. Arriving, unpacking, laying out the tent, pitching, happy in the knowledge I can do it all by myself! Sending DD to fetch water, and other small chores. The sun (or rain) and the knowledge that as soon as we are finished I can cool off with a beer or warm up with a tea. Sitting in the fresh air,watching the other campers, listening to the sounds of nature, the wind in the trees, bird song, bees. Walking around the area seeing what is going on. Snoozing on a rug, reading  a book, sipping a Pims...