Pop up tent folding: a new Olympic sport?

My faithful 'Des Res' for Greenbelt: 3 M, dbl-skinned,  with blt- in gsht, porch and air circulation system [front door] - aka the 'Amorphous Green Caterpillar'

 If Pop-up tent folding should be made an olympic sport; I'll not be rushing to sign up...

Spent last night - no, let's be honest - spent part of last night   out in the back garden doing a pre-GB try out of my tent.  Why do I need to do this?  I know  the wretched thing is still in one piece after its debut at GB 2011!  Come 2 am,  the insomnia prompted by the heat and  the rustling of God's tiny creatures in the shrubbery became too much and I snuck back into the house to seek refuge with Mr GP.

Quite why I've also chosen what must be the warmest day we've had for ages to check out all my other camping gear, goodness only knows, but never mind, it's all neatly folded and packed away. Apart from  my super-duper pop-up tent; here it is, 'airing.' Anyone who's read about my struggles with it last year * will know what I'm talking about and why I've nicknamed it the 'Amorphous Green Caterpillar!'   Is there a patron saint of tent folding do you know? It was never like this back in my Girl Guiding Days!

I’d no trouble ‘popping’ the tent up; but folding down…well, let’s just say that in the time it took to upend it, my cosy green caterpillar-like abode transformed into a huge, threatening amorphous mass, billowing round the back garden like a barrage balloon. It unleashed in me (and in Mr M) dark forces that no amount of watching instructional videos on Youtube could purge. And there are no shortage of them, believe me. To wrestle the sodding thing into submission requires arms the length of a gorilla, and the strength of one too.

 Miffy.wibsite.com

  

Smoke gets in your eyes

Took advantage of Mr GP's absence at a BBQ to have my own cooking session en plein air, and give my kelly kettle, (seen here at Greenbelt 2011), it's first outing of the year. For the uninitiated a kelly or poacher's kettle is simply a double-walled metal chamber, with the water kept in the chimney wall. You  fill the base with fuel, place the chamber on top,  before lighting  it. The kelly then gives a convincing imitation of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, and 3-5 minutes later le voila, tea is served! The beauty of this little chappie is that it's compact, light, can burn any fuel that's to hand  - green brownie points here - enabling you to whip up a quick cuppa at a moment's notice wherever you are, whether that's the riverbank, wilderness, even the desert... Yes, camel dung makes excellent fuel I'm told, not that I'm ever likely to be in a position to try that one out. It also appeals to the latent Girl Guide in me. After all, my patrol were awarded  the wooden spoon for best cooks 1972. (If my memory serves me rightly, lukewarm   porridge and lumpy mince of doubtful origin featured largely on our menus!)

Luckily nobody passing by the Greenpatch residence at about 5.30 this evening  caught sight of the smoke signals, or if they did, heard the cursing, blinding and puffing and had the presence of mind not to call the fire brigade. It was just me, re-discovering the knack of getting the sodding thing to keep burning. There's a certain technique to this (which I didn't quite master at GB whilst trying to brew up in a howling wind on the first day!) It Consists of pointing the kettle into the prevailing wind, blowing vigorously into the holes in the base, head down like a demented hen, whilst simultaneously posting fuel as fast as you can into the chimney. It took a few trial runs and a moud of messy ash today  before I  realised that I'd have to put  aside romantic backwoodsmen notions of scavenging for pine cones, kindling and grasses -  and settle for  using billions of little squares of cardboard;  far more efficient and less smoky.

 Not the best of timing, I must admit, kellying on the same day as having my hair done. I pong as if I smoke 60 a day. Great cup of coffee though.  However, I need to get in a lot more practice before I can fulfil my dreams  of plentiful hot water for cuppas, washing, and sneaky late night hot water bottles. at GB.