Grapestock - the countdown

[Two_Sheds]

But isn't Norfolk windy too

Yes it is, all the time. But temps are slightly higher than you got (except this August, which
has been very cold, 14c instead of 20c)

[scarey55]

I really should have hung bunting from the walls...

Really lost any oomph now, so will carry-on tomorrow. But I managed to get the pics into an album on my profile, so anyone not on FB can get a look too:

Grapestock 2010 Album

Great pics Sarz, thanks for posting them.

Looks as if you had a great time and the location was stunning as everyone else has already said. Looked quite cosy in the barn and around the fire too. I would love to be able to come to the next one wherever it is - erm.... assuming someone is daft enough to organise it, that is

[jackyspratty]

If its not on private land, theres a great site called

Cool Camping | Bringing you the best campsites and camping experiences around.

You can search an area, type of site - price, basic, glamping, fires (ahem mention no names!!) group fields.
All the sites are reviewed with photoes etc.
We went to one in the peaks this year. Really cheap, stunning location, very basic, but what do you need other than water, loos and good company. Think it was proved that good spirit and generosity was something everyone packed with them.

[jackyspratty]

Yes it is, all the time. But temps are slightly higher than you got (except this August, which
has been very cold, 14c instead of 20c)

Doesnt it have the sunniest spot in the country too? Cant think what its called, begins with H I think and is a coastal area? Just dreaming of sunshine! Got the autumn chill nipping round me ankles in leeds!

[lynda66]

so .... i was up at some ungodly hour on friday ..... after keeping ozzy awake most of the night so he would hopefully sleep on his first ever train journey ..... nice long walk .... all packed ..... though i did forget, spare jeans, wellies, phone charger, and various other things due to having lost the list i spent ages making the night before

anyway, after all the worrying, ozzy got straight on the train, although he shook the whole of the 5 minute journey to collect my tickets at the next station.

we had 30 mins to wait for the next train, so he got busy showing the staff how cute he could be when they came out for their tea break .... poppy was just doing her .... yeah whatever, i'm actually cuter than him just not such a show off act.

all was fine till a steam train appeared round the corner, and ozzy nearly had a nervous breakdown on the spot ...... he thunk it was a big dwagon i think lol ..... was very cool i reckon .... train eventually arrived and ozzy decided he wasn't going on it, but a kind lady took the trolley and poppy on, so i could pick him up and chuck him on..... he shook for about half an hour, then fell asleep, so by the time we got on the 3rd train he was happy it wasn't gonna eat him and got straight on and fell asleep.

jez picked us up from the station, and we arrived to find a slightly stressed Sarz .... worrying about the sheep in the camping field .... i was more worried about Ozzy and Pads eating each other, so we decided to leave them to it .... i put Ozzys muzzle on, and after pads had battered him a couple of times and he couldn't retaliate he gave in and started licking her face yay .... they still had their odd moments, and ozzy got his ear pierced ..... i so wanted to put a ring in it ....

so to the sheep problem, we debated moving them into the first field, but then had visions of chaos, poppy .... pretending to be deaf ... must have heard us, and like a pro sheepdog, ran down the field round the back of the sheep, and sent them straight up into the field, so we could shut the gate ..... she definitely missed her calling ..... she was better than some sheep dogs lol.....

So we decided to put the tents up .... this is the only time i have ever come to the conclusion that small ones are better .... the wind was a little strong, and after kite flying for a while, we decided to give up on Sarz porch .... and put the kettle on ....

she did put up a stand for the cooker, which as it says in big letters this tent will burn down if you cook in it ... so we decided to put it outside, till the wind blew it over ..... so back to the non fire retardant cooking area it went ..... jackie arrived soon after, and her tent went up, then came LD and hubby and THE cutest little pop up caravan ever, we all fell in love with it, bit by bit everyone arrived and the tents went up, it started to feel like we were really camping, there was the most amazing moon popped up, and we all decided to have an early night as it was getting quite cold.

i think it was the coldest i have ever been, even the doggies were cold and shivery, but we got through it .... well mostly .... typical i needed the loo at 4am, but made it all the way there and back, in the dark, avoiding all the rabbit holes and sheep poo, and ponds, only to get back, trip over a bit of string some daft person had left there to hold the tent up and landed on the front of the tent ..... convinced i'd broke it, i just climbed in and hoped i didn't blow away during the rest of the night

woke up in the morning to a nice brew ta Sarz ..... and we decided to set up a canteen in one of the stables ..... worked a treat, and people started popping in for a brew, and more people arrived ..... including HW and mrs HW and bean and Ollie..... many hands to the tent, we finally got it up, but it was definitely a Rhombus *giggles ..... and after much twisting of poles and panicking the tent was broke, we decided to move it next to the wall where the wind stopped blowing it and it went up in a proper square shape *grins ...... by this time Sarz looked exhausted, and after much persuasion, she agreed to go have a lie down, ..... so time to rally the troops, some of the girls went off to find firewood .... and brought back a couple of trees, and tricky and ollie set about chopping them into fire sized lumps ...... Ollie looked so manly holding onto the chopper and trying to impress us *giggles ..... but we were very concerned when the tree jumped up and battered him ... honest and none of us giggled or anything ..... (oops sorry Ollie, i mean he was brandishing the axe, when we got invaded by the zombie apocalypse and he saved us all and got a heroic war wound on his eye for his trouble *GRINS* ..... the BBQ was lit, and we were all set for a night of camp fire stories ..... well that was the plan if only the fire would light. in the mean time, LD was doing her cow impressions to the neighbours, i have never heard such good cow noises .... although we never got to hear her other impressions, cos apparently, doing a horse gives you a very sore throat .... so we decided not to insist on a demonstration.

the fire drum was filled with soggy leaves, but rather than chuck them all out, i decided to set fire to the top so it would dry out and make a nice fire, so after much, will it stay alight this time stressing, it finally got underway, aided by a very helpful Jack who was most impressed by my fire lighting and firework making capabilities .... which is more than the little one was after i made him cry, and he wouldn't come near me again ..... whoops .... apparently he was ok later. The bouncy castle was a big hit with all the kids, and was a brilliant idea , as was having the canteen and the BBQ down at the stables ..... so bit by bit the ones with littlies sloped off to bed, and we sat around the fire when i remembered we had marshmallows ..... so how do you cook them with no sticks .... you find an all metal spatula that had been used for the BBQ .... ok, so sausage flavoured marshmallows aren't as good as after i went and washed it *Giggles* so we swapped stories and chatted round the fire .... before all going off to bed exhausted and happy

more later, off to docs now xxx

[Jeanied]

And breathe.

Jeanied signing in on her own lappy, safely back home now in London (didn't you just know I would, Ginger?) having had a fairly vine free weekend - making up for that with meeting a lovely bunch of Grapes!!! This was so worthwhile and I do hope one can happen again next year!

[Jax]

Just thinking outloud here, I actually have a freind that has a campsite in the middle of nowhere here in the fens. Im pretty sure they would give us a discount aswell. It doesnt usually get too windy here and is usually quite warm. Would that be any good? They have a bar and toilets etc but its a basic site in a lovely place. I can speak to them if you like??

Oooh just remembered I know someone else that has a campsite aswell so there are 2 people I can speak to if it would be any help at all??

[gojiberry]

Got back about 3.30 this afternoon after a fab weekend. You can tell the hardened campers as we didn't pack the tent up till this morning and it was freezing last night. Really nice to see every one. I didn;t know what to expect from the weekend and wished I had taken a few more bit and pieces for swaps and givaways. Good weekend Sarah and thanks.

Ian

[gojiberry]

Norfolk sounds good to me, but think an ordinary weekend in the more summer months would be better. An ordinary weekend means not getting held up in bank holiday traffic and summer months may give us a better chance at some better weather.

Ian

[jackie j]

Got back about 3.30 this afternoon after a fab weekend. You can tell the hardened campers as we didn't pack the tent up till this morning and it was freezing last night. Really nice to see every one. I didn;t know what to expect from the weekend and wished I had taken a few more bit and pieces for swaps and givaways. Good weekend Sarah and thanks.

Ian

It was only meant to be from Friday to Monday at the longest. Originally only one night, but was extended by some people cos of having to travel so far. To stay till today wasnt meant to be.

[jackyspratty]

Norfolk sounds good to me, but think an ordinary weekend in the more summer months would be better. An ordinary weekend means not getting held up in bank holiday traffic and summer months may give us a better chance at some better weather.

Ian

Summer months??? Whens that then????

[lynda66]

Summer months??? Whens that then????

a week in may and one in june i think

[zazen999]

Got back about 3.30 this afternoon after a fab weekend. You can tell the hardened campers as we didn't pack the tent up till this morning and it was freezing last night. Really nice to see every one. I didn;t know what to expect from the weekend and wished I had taken a few more bit and pieces for swaps and givaways. Good weekend Sarah and thanks.

Ian

I must have missed you on Sunday....or wasn't I paying attention?

[SarzWix]

I missed them on Monday too, when Lynda and I were clearing up. Pity because I'd found them a free, en-suite B&B room for the night, so they didn't have to freeze! Ah well, hopefully it was a nice day out

[zazen999]

Have I put my foot in it?

[How rude!]