What a lovely, relaxed weekend with friends! An impromptu lunch, a walk, tea, a fire. The Popstar spent a couple of hours with the girls from her class, celebrating her birthday, then I went for a drive with Nicole and took my artwork to the gallery to get it ready for the exhibition next weekend. Ahhhh the serenity.
My favourite time to go to the beach – in the rain!
the Popstar enjoying the surf.
Dayz in awe of the blue sand.
We went camping this weekend. Let me start by saying that I’m not a camper. However, I’ve been twice in the last 6 months because the kids just love it. We had all our gear packed up on Friday afternoon as a light rain set in. The husband assured me not to “be alarmed” at the weather; which is actually quite alarming. He was certain the rain was only a passing patch and it would clear up. He likes to browse BOM. So we thought It Can’t be Worse Than Last Year, and set out with trailer, kids, and supplies in tow. He has now informed me that he was deceived by BOM because something about the isobars not shifting for 12 hours and some trough was doing something blah blah blah blah when it shouldn’t have blah blah. Anyway…
…it rained all afternoon, all night, and drizzled a bit the next morning. The sun struggled to get a glimpse of us through the clouds in the afternoon. Despite the weather {which was 100% better than last year!} we had a lot of fun. The kids slept exceptionally well considering that the first night in a new place is always a little sketchy. They all played together really well, ran around in the light rain, ate far too much snack food, and crashed in bed at 7pm. Unfortunately the rain on the tent was pretty loud, so they woke up a couple of times during the night, and then were wide awake by 6ish. I remember when I used to be a morning person.
That day lots of other friends dropped buy to visit and sit around the campfire {it got off to a smoky start after all the rain – but turned into a beautiful fire}. We had Sabbath School with the kids – sang songs, did some crafty type activities, and had a story. That afternoon Jerry and some of the other Menfolk set up a swing and harness from one of the trees and the Little People lined up Cherub-Like for ages to take turns on it. It really was a site to behold. The lining up nicely, I mean, although the swinging was also breath taking.
The Popstar giggled her head off
Look mum, I dug a hole!
The kids had SUCH a full day Playing and Adventuring that they absolutely crashed into bed at 6.30. We sat around the campfire eating and talking. Then I heard a “mum…” from the tent and went in to check on the girls. The Popstar cried a bit then proceeded to vomit on her sleeping bag, me, and herself. It was really gross. We carried the poor little darlin’ out of the tent in her stinky sleeping bag, and put her in a warm shower to wash all the vomit off. Then we put both kids in the car and drove home. We didn’t have any spare bedding for Pops since she vomitted on her bag as well as the mattress. The tent had a horrible vomit smell in it, and we thought what if she is really sick and vomits through the night? {I suspected it was merely the result of the oodles of food she’d crammed into her stomach that day, but couldn’t be sure of that}.
Thankfully Yellow Rock is only half an hour from home, so we were home by 9.30, put the girls in their own beds. Then the lovely job of rinsing out all the clothes and bedding. Thank God it wasn’t at 3 am instead!! The Popstar woke up bright and early, cheerful as anything, so we all headed back to camp to pack everything up.
Daisy taking photos with our camera
Phew. And there goes another weekend of my life {that I’ll never get back} spent camping.
Toasting Marshmallows {arsemallows} and drying gumboots.
Although I went in with hesitation, it was a lovely day. The Olive Tree Markets at The Junction in Newcastle are really beautiful markets. They are handmade markets, so just about every stall is full of delights. And the food was fantastic too!
We had a tiny little shower of rain, but other than that, it was cool and clear. I met some other artists – check out grevillea designs {of which I am now the proud owner of a skirt, which deserves a blog post all to itself}.
I’ll be selling at the Olive Tree Markets tomorrow {Saturday, April 3} from 9am-3pm.
I’ve never done these markets before, but I hear they’re amazing. Will post an update after tomorrow!
Come visit me if you’re in Newcastle.
