With 3 days to go I am at last feeling rather excited at the prospect of camping, actually, strike that, I’m feeling excited at going to a festival, camping is a necessary evil as my lovely husband refuses to stump up the price of a posh teepee and is insisting on using our tent. Humph!
Our friend, Grant, seasoned festival goer (well, he went last year for the first time so that counts) came over on Friday for strategic planning which involved getting the important things covered:
No glass on site – take wine in a box, that way you don’t have to take plastic glasses as you can just squirt it into your mouth (!) No, we’re taking plastic glasses.
Glow sticks – buy lots so you can attach them to your kids and your tent so you can find both in the dark.
Solar powered fairy lights – for tent and cart, ditto above.
No hairdryers, straighteners, tongs, and that’s just for Pete and Grant, no seriously we have dry shampoo and hats, lots of hats.
Fancy dress – medieval theme this year – oooh, very excited, I’ve found a black knight costume, the one from Monty Python and The Holy Grail, you know, with the arm that gets chopped off, this costume comes with a removable arm that sticks on with gruesome red velcro – unfortunately I’ve been banned from buying this, very disappointed. So probably down to floral garland for hair, boring.
Food – very important as I”m recording a show for Radio Oxford. Grant’s cooking for everyone Thursday and we’re eating out on Sunday evening so just been to good old M&S to buy tinned stuff, figure they probably have the best tinned stuff on the planet. My friend Ann-Marie used to be a buyer for them and she says it’s great. Small boy wasn’t impressed :
“Yuk I’m not eating food from a tin!” (proud Mum – my son’s a real foodie; real world Mum – my goodness that’s scary he’s never eaten new potatoes from a tin, this child has missed out on life, I’m actually thinking fondly of new potatoes out of a tin)
I go into raptures about corned beef hash, oooh I love corned beef hash, scarily my son has never tried this delicacy, call himself a foodie, he’s missed on this gourmet dish, need to put things right here – I feel breakfast calling.
Small boy then spots spag bol and minced lamb plus dried spaghetti; I grab hot chicken curry and vege curry, naan, and make a mental note to get boil in the bag rice. So that’s Saturday night sorted, Friday night will be risotto, porcini risotto for us and probably minced lamb and tinned new potatoes for the children, they can mash up the potatoes and make their own ‘crushed new potatoes a la canne’ with ’emince d’agneau avec jus et les petites carrottes’, love it. Chocolate bananas with toasted marshmallows to follow. Oh, yes.
Pudding – Madeira cake, carton of ready made posh custard and tinned raspberries – a positive feast,
Breakfast – croissants, toast and jam, brioche, cereal with tinned peaches, porridge with apple juice out of an individual carton, sausages and bacon frozen before we leave and kept in a solid freezer box which is NOT opened until we are to use them so they defrost slowly. Or there’s always corned beef hash.
Coffee – I need a coffee first thing in the morning to make the transformation to human being, preferably a latte, so the stove top expresso maker is coming with us but how to get the milk sorted – will it be UHT in small cartons, you can get those in France but not sure about in the UK or skimmed milk powder, the stuff you reconstitute by adding water. Any advice on this would be gratefully received? Which is best?
Toilet stuff – I am so proud of this, I’ve found this fabulous gadget so we don’t have to traipse off to the loos in the middle of the night, it’s better than a bucket, this is so sad – it’s a ‘bog in a bag’ , a sort of portable commode, a stool with a hole that you put these nappy sack things in. I used to have a port-a-potty for the children when they were little, it was fab. I kept it in the car and unfolded it usually half way home from the school run on a regular basis by the side of the road and you put these potty liners in, it was brilliant. This is similar but for grown ups.
Ear plugs – check
Blackout eye covers – to be bought
Hygiene gel – check
Wet wipes – check
Deodorant – check
Trying to persuade small boy that he does need more than one pair of boxers, one T shirt and one pair of shorts for the weekend, and ‘no’ it won’t just be quicker to wear the same clothes, sleep in them and get straight back into the action the next day as you’re fully dressed – still in negotiation
One of my friends, who is a glastonbury veteran, apparently facilities there are minimal, almost ‘dig your own hole’, suggested that we take nothing and live on chips – hmm, could always write an article totally on the quality of the different chip vendors I suppose……now there’s an idea.