We have been mainly.....

camping and catching up with an old friend this week. The weather forecast was for a lot of rain this week so I expected us to be wet and cold camping. Luckily for us the forecast was incorrect and the weather was wet and warm a much better combination.

We started our week with our usual trip into the local town, for food shopping and a library visit. The rest of the day I spent getting bits and pieces out of cupboards in readiness for camping and cooking food to take with us. In the evening my eldest was meant to be attending an end of term party with Beaver Scouts at the open air swimming pool in the village, it was too cold and wet for him to want to go so we gave it a miss. Instead, we welcomed an old friend who we had not seen for a few years. We met whilst working together, around fifteen years ago and have stayed in touch since. He moved to the far east twelve years ago for what he thought would be a couple of years and has not moved back. We have not been over to visit yet, but he comes over once every couple of years. My husband and he stayed up talking, catching up and drinking whisky until the small hours.

The next day we were to all go camping together for a few days, we hoped to be able to stay out for three nights, but it was dependent on the weather. If it was really cold and wet we may only manage two. The day dawned sunny, which is more than can be said of my husband who languished in bed nursing a hangover. You can read more about our trip in this post.

The camping was great. I always expect the worse of the weather and on some trips recently it has upheld my expectations, but not this time. It is a simpler life, as a family it means that we spend more time in one another's company rather than in separate rooms in the house as often happens at home.

We returned home on Friday in the pouring rain, unpacked the car and started to put stuff away. It was a busy day of sorting, tidying and hanging stuff to dry. I fell into bed, always so comfy after a thin blow up mat, and slept for hours.

Over the weekend we had a cooked lunch before saying goodbye to our dear friend on Saturday. The rest of the afternoon we spent playing and chilling out after our busy week. Sunday was pretty similar, I think after so much activity during the week and then a quieter day the day before I was feeling really lethargic, I often find when I do slow down after a lot of activity and busyness I feel this way. So I took it easy, hanging out with the children on the sofa taking and reading books and when they were off doing their own thing, knitting. A perfect end to a great week, I hope yours was a good one too.