Day 45 – Pinch, Punch, First of the Month!

As has become the norm in our house, the first of the month is usually greeted with cries of ‘pinch! punch! first of the month, no returns!’ along with a good natured assault. This month Alexander woke before Lucy, so he got everyone. They both slept in the blanket fort (and they’ve gone back for another night).

Lucy inside the blanket fort built by Alexander (Photo: James Kemp)

This morning breakfast was made by the children, camping style. Alexander boiled water on the trangia in our camping kettle. They also toasted marshmallows to go with the hot chocolate that they forgot to make yesterday evening.

Alexander toasting marshmallows with a blowtorch. (Photo: James Kemp)

I don’t think either of them got dressed over the course of the day, although it’s possible that Alexander might have changed before joining in the Explorers zoom session this evening.

Lucy made her own breakfast, a toasted waffle with a mini-marshmallow in each square. (Photo: James Kemp)

Tracy and I were both working, neither of us had the most productive day. Tracy’s was way worse though, because she didn’t make it home from the hospital until after seven. I fed the children before she was in because I didn’t want them to wait any longer. Dinner was good, we had a chicken crown roasted, and fresh bread that was 50/50 white and wholemeal. We forgot about it and it spent longer in the oven than we’d planned. It was taken out with a very dark brown crust, and on eating it I think this was a huge improvement on our previous breads.

Alexander preparing to boil water to make hot chocolate on the trangia. (Photo: James Kemp)

I went for my evening walk on my own. Luckily it was in a gap in the rain, and so I didn’t get wet. My walk took me to the scout hut where I collected a couple of badge books. I took one round to the assistant leader candidate for the new troop we started a couple of weeks ago. We can’t meet fact to face until at least September, and maybe not even then. So we need to do some planning for teaching scout skills and doing badge requirements online. ALthough all the info is online, have a physical book is much easier to flick through and get inspiration from.

Day 44 – Camping at Home

Another Thursday, which was similar to Monday. While Tracy did sterling work we stayed home and I endured back to back meetings for most of the day while Lucy largely avoided doing school work when I wasn’t watching and Alexander attempted to complete several hours of school work in less than the expected time.

Outside the rain fell, at times so hard we could heard it banging on the patio furniture and the windows. At other points it was so dark we needed the lights on at lunchtime. On days like this you can feel happier being inside all the time.

Camping at Home

Today there’s a world record attempt by Northumberland scouts to have the most people on an organised camp. We’ve signed up for it. The rules are that you can’t sleep in a bed. Ideally you’d camp in your garden, but building a den indoors is allowed. Given the weather that’s exactly what Alex and Lucy have done.

Lucy asleep in the blanket fort she helped Alexander to build. (Photo: James Kemp)

After I finished work Lucy and I went into the garage and got out sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and a cooking stove and kettle. In the morning they’re going to use the camp stove to make breakfast.

I also found the gas to test the trangia cooker that I picked up on an evening walk a few weeks ago (see Day 26).

It worked really well, with a strong flame that sounded like a jet engine. The only downside was that the pan has a couple of tiny holes in it. It looks like a staple gun has hit it at close range. So when filled it leaked significantly. I either need to figure out how to patch it or replace the pan.