Sunday 31 August 2008

tent


A few days holidaying. I went down to South Devon and met up with some Bristol friends. Somewhere west of Start Point, where I've not been before. So before I left I looked at Google Earth and peered down on the area from high up, to get an idea of where I was heading.

And I saw a field with bell tents in it and thought, "That must be the place".

I was right.



There were several of them, which had survived the storms surprisingly well. In the corner of the field was a pile of mangled aluminium and heaps of nylon, where wrecked tents had been dumped. Other tents had simply disappeared in the direction of Dorset, never to be seen again.


Here's M with her van. I encamped with her and A. They are seasoned outdoors types and I felt extremely minimal by comparison.

I noted happily that they are not averse to using make-up in the field, as it were, as a few people had expressed amusement that I was described as doing so in "Becoming...". So there. Real campers (or is that "glampers", as A described herself?) use make-up.

Walked, swam, ate, socialised. Holidayed.



5 comments:

  1. What a wonderfully painted van!

    And I'm amazed at your dedication at wearing make-up daily, let alone, whilst camping... I just couldn't do it...

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  2. Women and make-up are always a bit of a mystery; the when and where. At work there are some who, by the nature of their work, wear the lot; the complete works. Others, such as my manager, forty something, nice skin, never wears any apart from a light touch of lipstick. Me, I just use nail polish, Estee Lauder, smooth, doesn't run and no blotches - only joking. My daughter has been giving me strange looks recently - she spent the weekend in a tent near Bath - must be crazy in all this rain - doesn't get it from me.

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  3. It's partly vanity and partly insecurity, Caroline; as time goes by I tend to wear less than I once did. These days I use just a bit of eyeliner unless it's a special occasion.

    I knew a woman in Portsmouth who would not allow herself to be seen by anyone at all before she was fully made-up. I imagine that, had her house begun burning down, she'd have kept the fire brigade waiting until she'd finished applying it.

    Good for her, Neil. Camping in the rain can be quite nice, listening to it pattering on the flysheet while lying snug inside.

    Getting up and going out into it, though...

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  4. Sounds like it was a great way to spend the 'last weekend' of the Summer :)

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  5. There is camping and camping, isn't there? If you are a makeup type of person, why not? I love the van.

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