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grapestock 2010 part 2
so sunday morning dawned, and we mostly had a bit more sleep than the night before, but the wind and rain were horrid well, i think thats why Sarz got up and covered all the tent pegs with lumps of dry stone wall
..... me .... i noticed she wasn't there but saturday night is meds night, so very hard staying awake ...... anyway, at some point we got up ... no idea what time, no watch and only one bar left on switched off mobile which i forgot the charger for...... went to the canteen for a brew ..... to be greeted by Ollie looking like a hero gangster with a nicely blackening up shiner ..... made him look all ... erm .... heroic 
...... so after HW took a piccie, he went off to teach tricky's boy how to cook his breakfast for him ..... i'm sure bacon butties featured somewhere, but actually that may have been the day before lol .....
so bit by bit the arrival of the Sunday grapes got under way, I did get to say hi to a few of them, but must apologise for my disappearance ..... i was sat hugging a brew, when suddenly i lost the ability to stay awake ..... and knew that if i fell asleep i'd wake up with only one eyebrow or something ...... so anyway, i made it back to the tent, and fell into a coma for a few hours ..... unfortunately by the time i woke up ..... nearly everyone had gone
..... was gutted i didn't get to say bye .... or even hello to some of you
anyway, i woke up and headed down to the stables, where sarz was scratching her head over what to do, as there were still 2 campers, so she couldn't go home to her lovely warm comfy inviting bed ...... and she really wasn't sure she could manage another night under canvas ...... there was mounds of rubbish, far more than anticipated, and the tip would be closed Monday.
so first things first, BBQ chicken and chops bread rolls and a cuppa, around this point Barley sugar popped her head over the door, with No2 son, who assured us he would be joining the vine now ..... to tell us they had decided to go after all, as the tent was dry, and it wasn't too late to get home ..... i think most people were put off by the 1 degree forecast.
Sarz and I finally gave in to temptation after the desertion of BS, and as we had to stay there for the last campers, the decision was made to go sleep in the cottage ..... even without heat, it was like it was centrally heated compared to outside .... poppy and Ozzy were very grateful too..... good move sarz ...... so we got a fairly decent amount of sleep (compared to the previous nights) ...... (we'd need it for the cleanup operation)
so Monday dawned, first things first the kettle went on ..... sarah went to request the presence of Gogiberry and his wife, but found they had gone out for the day.
so we got the bin bags out and began to chuck stuff into it ..... before Jez arrived in the landrover ..... got most of it bagged up, then went up to the tents to dismantle them, (no way were we doing another tent night, we desperately needed our beds) ..... if only they went up as easily as they came down ..... we even managed to get all 4 tents back in their bags ... thats some feat i can tell you...... so with everything packed up, Jez went off home to unpack, whilst Sarz and i set about finishing off removal of all traces we had been there ...... which we mostly succeeded with, except for the bit of the field where LD's hubby got a bit stuck (someone else will have to tell that bit, i was asleep) ..... and the rubbish in the stable that was staying there till the next day, when sarz had to be back there for the toilet men.
so after Sarz friend had been to pick up the BBQ and boards from the field and other stuff she kindly lent, we had another brew, then checked train times ..... we cut it fine ..... the grumpy old cow was in a strop cos she wanted to go ..... but we made it with seconds to spare ..... will spare you the details of the heathcliffe moment between me and sarz as the train pulled away
ozzy was really good, till another dog got on, thankfully down the carriage .... and everyone poo'd their pants, cos he has a loud bark at the best of times .... but within the confines of the train .... i went a bit deaf. ..... anyway i hid it behind the trolley ... i think they got off at the next stop, or moved carriages ..... cos ozzy stopped trying to get round the trolley to see it .....
got to Leeds, and there was a train (not my scheduled one) .... at the platform with 3 minutes before it departed, so we charged down the platform ..... Ok I hobbled with the trolley and ozzy trying to go the other way, and poppy too tired to lift her legs ..... we got there with a minute to spare ..... just as they drove off ..... GRRRRRRRRRRR, so with ages to wait for the next train i decided to get on a different train and get off at huddersfield where the platforms are less complicated, and i could nip outside for a ciggy ..... it also happened to be nice and sunny, and i wanted to show ozzy the fountains ...... he liked them .... and got a good wash down in the process.
by this time i was starving, so went back on the station and spent £20,000,000 on a sandwich drink and crisps .... Real hand made crisps with sea salt and cider vinegar ...... Bleurghhhhhhhhhhh they were gross. sandwich was palatable
train arrived, ozzy and poppy were asleep again before the door closed, I probably would have too, but knew if i gave in to sleep, i'd be spending the night at Manchester airport.
so we eventually got to the station where the taxi i'd booked was waiting, he stopped at the shop on the way back for me and nipped in to get milk ..... bless him .... i walked through the door, made a brew, drank it and died, (didn't even make it upstairs for the long bath i'd promised myself) .... along with 2 of the tiredest doggies i've ever seen
...... Sarz you're a miracle worker, was the most fun i've had in a weekend for years thanks so much for having us, and for working so hard to make it so fab xxxxx
so sunday morning dawned, and we mostly had a bit more sleep than the night before, but the wind and rain were horrid well, i think thats why Sarz got up and covered all the tent pegs with lumps of dry stone wall
..... me .... i noticed she wasn't there but saturday night is meds night, so very hard staying awake ...... anyway, at some point we got up ... no idea what time, no watch and only one bar left on switched off mobile which i forgot the charger for...... went to the canteen for a brew ..... to be greeted by Ollie looking like a hero gangster with a nicely blackening up shiner ..... made him look all ... erm .... heroic ...... so after HW took a piccie, he went off to teach tricky's boy how to cook his breakfast for him ..... i'm sure bacon butties featured somewhere, but actually that may have been the day before lol ..... so bit by bit the arrival of the Sunday grapes got under way, I did get to say hi to a few of them, but must apologise for my disappearance ..... i was sat hugging a brew, when suddenly i lost the ability to stay awake ..... and knew that if i fell asleep i'd wake up with only one eyebrow or something ...... so anyway, i made it back to the tent, and fell into a coma for a few hours ..... unfortunately by the time i woke up ..... nearly everyone had gone
..... was gutted i didn't get to say bye .... or even hello to some of you anyway, i woke up and headed down to the stables, where sarz was scratching her head over what to do, as there were still 2 campers, so she couldn't go home to her lovely warm comfy inviting bed ...... and she really wasn't sure she could manage another night under canvas ...... there was mounds of rubbish, far more than anticipated, and the tip would be closed Monday.
so first things first, BBQ chicken and chops bread rolls and a cuppa, around this point Barley sugar popped her head over the door, with No2 son, who assured us he would be joining the vine now ..... to tell us they had decided to go after all, as the tent was dry, and it wasn't too late to get home ..... i think most people were put off by the 1 degree forecast.
Sarz and I finally gave in to temptation after the desertion of BS, and as we had to stay there for the last campers, the decision was made to go sleep in the cottage ..... even without heat, it was like it was centrally heated compared to outside .... poppy and Ozzy were very grateful too..... good move sarz ...... so we got a fairly decent amount of sleep (compared to the previous nights) ...... (we'd need it for the cleanup operation)
so Monday dawned, first things first the kettle went on ..... sarah went to request the presence of Gogiberry and his wife, but found they had gone out for the day.
so we got the bin bags out and began to chuck stuff into it ..... before Jez arrived in the landrover ..... got most of it bagged up, then went up to the tents to dismantle them, (no way were we doing another tent night, we desperately needed our beds) ..... if only they went up as easily as they came down ..... we even managed to get all 4 tents back in their bags ... thats some feat i can tell you...... so with everything packed up, Jez went off home to unpack, whilst Sarz and i set about finishing off removal of all traces we had been there ...... which we mostly succeeded with, except for the bit of the field where LD's hubby got a bit stuck (someone else will have to tell that bit, i was asleep) ..... and the rubbish in the stable that was staying there till the next day, when sarz had to be back there for the toilet men.
so after Sarz friend had been to pick up the BBQ and boards from the field and other stuff she kindly lent, we had another brew, then checked train times ..... we cut it fine ..... the grumpy old cow was in a strop cos she wanted to go ..... but we made it with seconds to spare ..... will spare you the details of the heathcliffe moment between me and sarz as the train pulled away
ozzy was really good, till another dog got on, thankfully down the carriage .... and everyone poo'd their pants, cos he has a loud bark at the best of times .... but within the confines of the train .... i went a bit deaf. ..... anyway i hid it behind the trolley ... i think they got off at the next stop, or moved carriages ..... cos ozzy stopped trying to get round the trolley to see it .....
got to Leeds, and there was a train (not my scheduled one) .... at the platform with 3 minutes before it departed, so we charged down the platform ..... Ok I hobbled with the trolley and ozzy trying to go the other way, and poppy too tired to lift her legs ..... we got there with a minute to spare ..... just as they drove off ..... GRRRRRRRRRRR, so with ages to wait for the next train i decided to get on a different train and get off at huddersfield where the platforms are less complicated, and i could nip outside for a ciggy ..... it also happened to be nice and sunny, and i wanted to show ozzy the fountains ...... he liked them .... and got a good wash down in the process.
by this time i was starving, so went back on the station and spent £20,000,000 on a sandwich drink and crisps .... Real hand made crisps with sea salt and cider vinegar ...... Bleurghhhhhhhhhhh they were gross. sandwich was palatable
train arrived, ozzy and poppy were asleep again before the door closed, I probably would have too, but knew if i gave in to sleep, i'd be spending the night at Manchester airport.
so we eventually got to the station where the taxi i'd booked was waiting, he stopped at the shop on the way back for me and nipped in to get milk ..... bless him .... i walked through the door, made a brew, drank it and died, (didn't even make it upstairs for the long bath i'd promised myself) .... along with 2 of the tiredest doggies i've ever seen
...... Sarz you're a miracle worker, was the most fun i've had in a weekend for years thanks so much for having us, and for working so hard to make it so fab xxxxx
Lack of sleep always hits me hard - Friday night I had about 2 hours, and Saturday less than 4, and the previous week of organising and worrying took it's toll too... 
When we all started getting a bit chilly, we wandered off to bed, and realised that it was more than a little bit windy 
Oh, what a night! The wind howled, and battered, and whipped, and whined... At 2.16am, lying awake praying that the tent would remain above our head - TWANG!!!! Oh feck! I struggled out of sleeping bags, blankets, sheets and dogs, shoved on my wellies, and dashed out to find one of the guy-lines whipping around in the wind, and 3 others looking distinctly loose... A quick plunder of the adjacent dry-stone wall and all the pegs were weighed down, plus Lynda's tent secured and Jackie's checked, and I stumbled back into 'bed' and finally to sleep for a few hours!
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