Kate's Blog

Follow me if you will as I try to navigate through the ups and downs of my world.

I'm writing this blog to help me make sense of all that has happened - from my diagnosis with non-Hodgkins lymphoma while pregnant with my third child in May 2008
, through to my reflections on chaotic family life as I try to pick up the pieces of my life again.


The kids are so small, and I'm working hard to keep us all safe and to stay in remission.

Stay with me - it won't be all doom and gloom I promise!



Wednesday 14 April 2010

Camping and Kittens

We went camping. All was fine, even if it did take us a little longer than planned to put up our huge and complicated 6 man tent. I did cook risotto on our camping stove and all seemed to be going swimmingly. We went to a tiny and beautiful campsite in the Lake District. There was plenty of space for Hattie to run free and horses, lambs and cows to admire on the farm.

And then night fell. And the temperature fell... to -4!! I don't think I've ever been so cold. We realised that our sleeping bags were hopeless for such temperatures. I was really worried about the kids, especially Hattie as she's so small, I wasn't sure that she'd be able to snuggle herself in her sleeping bag through the night. But they all seemed fast asleep, while Roger and I froze through to our bones and lay awake as the minutes ticked by.

Eventually morning came - needless to say we were up very, very early. There was frost all over the tent and all over the field we were in. We headed into Keswick for a huge revitalising breakfast. Cooking another meal on our stove balanced upon the frosty grass was beyond me at that point.

And after a cold and grubby morning we packed up and came home. I'm getting better sleeping bags before we try that again.

And today we got the kittens - they're crazy, like a couple of extra toddlers. Just what we need!! But the kids are delighted. We just have to teach Hattie not to squeeze them quite so enthusiastically!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Risotto? On a camping stove?
Posh camper! :)

Tracey said...

It sounds like fun. Not 'real' fun, but a fun memory. Remembering can be warmer than camping. :)

Spring just can't seem to take hold here either. It was warm for a week about three weeks ago, but it has not been that nice since.

Vince said...

ROTFLMAO; It's before mid-April and you have just returned from Spring in Spain. We haven't Spring. Ten Daff's and twenty Primroses, all those say is it's nearing the end of Winter.
It's Spring when you need to shout at your man to get out the Lawnmower.
And Really, Risotto, is that what they are calling mushy-rice in the north of England these days. :D

Rebecca S. said...

I remember a camping trip like that - I wore all of my clothes to bed. And I mean ALL!
Kittens are lovely - Hattie might stop squeezing them when she equates that with biting and scratching.