Sunday, August 19, 2007

We made Lemonade.....

Isn't that what you do when you are handed a bowl of lemons.!!!(Please notice our smoldering firepit in the middle of a lake of rainwater!!!!)

Camping at Blomidon.... Our first, and possibly our last, camping weekend of this summer season. We camped with Jilly and her family and between darkness, wet wood, smoke, rain, wind, cold and stinky bathrooms..... we had a blast. The weekend started off with the trip to Blomidon, over hill and dale and up and around every farm field in the valley. When what do our wondering eyes see.... A pack of Poodle Cows?




This started my weekend off just perfectly, and I giggled all the way to the camp ground. These are newly sheared alpacas. But just too funny to see them all in a field when your not expecting them. The farmer watched me get out of the car and take these photos and didn't even bat an eye. Guess I may not have been the first "tourist" to stop. But I bet they didn't laugh as loud.


OK Back to camping. Poor Jill, Mel, Meleigha and Tyler arrived at the camp site, a little before dark and we worked at a group and got their camp up and functional before it was pitch black. We had a wonderful supper and a fire and then retired for the night, ready for a fun filled day on Saturday. Early Saturday we woke to the lovely and soothing sound of light rain on the "tent". I love that sound... which, after a pee in the aboved mentioned "stinky outhouse", I was lulled back to sleep by the gentle rain. At 7:30 we awoken to the not so gentle sound of rain... ugh. Our day began.... Mel, the optimist, started a lovely morning fire, after much difficulty (above mentioned "Wet Wood") and we were hopeful... for a few minutes. But then the heavens opened up... and the rains came. (see first picture.... firepit island).
Jill made a yummy breakfast, and I enjoyed all the new camp equipment. I loved the modern stove, nice camp dishes, the heater... very cool stuff. Our stuff... every bit of it... 20 years old. ewwwwww... And I learned the value of a dining tent. Although, the breakfast situation didn't work out for eating in (two hours of pounding rain sort of soaked everything) but great for cooking in. Once Terry and Mel, tarped the tent.. it seemed to dry out for afternoon games and a great supper.
We "old campers" taught the "newbie campers" how to play a game we love called "Dice". Not very inventive... since the whole game consists of 5 dice. The game was a great distraction during the afternoon of constant pounding rain and miserable cold. Tyler and Jill were the big winners for the afternoon... Tyler winning twice. Mea and Jill were excited to teach Mel the game once he got back from the Tarp purchasing trip to Canadian Tire. Tyler and Mea spent part of the afternoon, cruising the camp ground and picking up firewood that wimpy campers left behind when they abandon ship for the comforts of home.!!! We were very well stocked for our mega fire we would certainly have that evening. Sadly, the wood was absolutely soaked, and was very wet before it even started to rain!! Oh well....

We laughed all afternoon, playing dice, eating junk food, and watching the rain pound down all around us. Mel's wonderful propane heater kept our rather cold legs and feet warm under the table and there wasn't a better place to be than in that dining tent, playing cutthroat games of dice by the glow of bright blue tarps that covered the entire tent. We worked together to made a yummy supper of sausage on buns, corn and coleslaw and then on to a rematch. Tyler was looking for his third win, which would give him the ultimate bragging name of "Hat Trick Ty Ty".... Mel and Meleigha were bound and determined to not let that happen. The game was delayed, though, not due to weather... but a sudden change in Mea's health and we decided to wait and finish the game in the morning. The rain stopped, and we enjoyed a smoky fire and some peanut nibbles. We were all very tired and headed to bed much earlier than the night before, but not before we witnessed some terrifying fire lighting techniques by our camping neighbours. AHHHHHH....... The stars were out by the millions when we turned in, and our hopes were high for a bright and sunny Sunday morning....


11 degrees...... (that's 54 degrees Fahrenheit) That's what we woke to. And the winds of fall. Brrrrrr. But there was sun...no rain and no clouds. Terry had saved a bit of somewhat dry wood for the morning fire, and he jumped on that pretty early. We enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate while Terry wrestled with the fire. Our morning entertainment was our little squirrel friend who came to explore our belongings for leftovers. He was a hoot, and ended up to be quite friendly. Of course, he had already been in our tent the day before, and got his little busy hands on some sticky buns that were in my "kitchen". He was banished from the tent yesterday, but returned Sunday, figuring his cuteness would wipe the slate clean. Well, it did, and I gave him a few peanuts. This was a good choice because he ended up being our morning entertainment which took our minds off of the cold!!! He flittered around the camp site the entire morning, while we cooked, ate another champion breakfast, fit for a king. He joined the kids while they did the dishes, and then he bustled around, helping us break down our camp.



We got tired of throwing the peanuts, so we sat the bowl on the ground. He moved at lightening speed to get them hidden all over the place for the winter. Tyler had a way with him and after some patience on Tyler's part, and braveness on the squirrels part... Tyler was hand feeding him. Then, they got bored with that and started playing games with the little rodent. Meleigha waited patiently, while it skittered and scurried around her, just not sure if she was like his friend Tyler...but finally after a while, he came to Meleigha and accepted yet another Peanut!!By noon, the sun was directly over us, and warmed our chilled bodies. We finished packing up and sat at a sunny spot on the site, and finished our game from the night before. And after some hugely disappointing rolls and greedy decisions.... the game came to a sudden end with Tyler claiming his third win!!!! Hat Trick Ty Ty won the prize and got to take home the 5 dice. !!!
Thanks guys for a fun weekend despite mother nature's nasty tricks.

2 comments:

cpm said...

FUN FUN! Too bad about the rain but it sure sounds like you made great lemonade! lol! I want to learn how to play dice!

ancient one said...

I would have been one of the wimpy campers who packed up and left with all that rain...LOL