Bella rolling on the lawn

Bella has been rolling on the lawn where we had taken the tent down. I think the hedgehog might have left some scent on the lawn. See my other blog post here http://keswickrambles.blogspot.com/2010/07/bella-loves-to-chase.html  Anyway, she rolls in something which she sniffs first! Lucky for us it is not discernable to the naked human eye!

Tomorrow we go to Cannich near Inverness it's a long journey for us and we need to pack the car with the tent and stuff tonight so we can have an early start.  Our aim is to go up at least three Munros which are on our ever decreasing list :-)

Not enough room to swing a cat....

We ventured briefly into the world of vw campervans only to discover their greatest fault which is no room. When you consider their are two of us + Bella the Border Terrier (who has a thing about comfort) and that we will often be in very wet mountain boots and rucksacks etc you begin to wonder where it will all go??? Not on the seat which turns into a bed..nor on the sparse cupboards or the very limited floorspace..

So the answer was simple Carry On Camping!.. But with a bit more style perhaps? Read into that the fact that for once we both decided it might be a good idea to be able to stand up in the thing instead of crawling about all the time and we thought having a sit on our new camping chairs in the outer 'lounge' might be rather jolly too.

http://www.vango.co.uk/tents/aruba-400.html

Luckily as we live in the adventure capitol of the UK (Keswick) we found a team of real experts who happily showed us the latest in tent technology. So if you need advise about a tent go here http://www.thetentteam.co.uk/

So this delightful, large, roomy and Border Terrier friendly edifice sits as I write in the back garden and will shortly be packed up and taken to our next adventure in Scotland next week. When I get back I will let you know how it behaved itself.......and, more importantly, if Bella approved.

Good News - Bad News

The good news is that after searching for days on the internet, I think I have finally found a campervan converter who has a van that might suit us. We decided to look for a van after our camping trip in May to Tyndrum in Scotland when it was soooooo cold the tent froze over for 4 nights running, this caused us so much discomfort that we thought it was time to go for a little luxury in our lives, hence the van idea.

The photo above is of one of their conversions and it looks superb. We needed a firm who were not too far away and I found them in Bolton Lancashire and this is their site. http://www.leisuredrive.co.uk/

I will get DH to contact them tomorrow and see what he can glean.

The bad news is that I am itching like mad at the mo. No it's not midges again, I have broken out in a rash of very small itchy spots on my hands, arms, back and even my face......It started yesterday morning so I rang the surgery and was re located to Q Doc or whatever it is.....The nurse was very patient and asked me loads of questions but simply said I had either a viral infection or had an allergic reaction to something. In either case I was to take some anti histamine. Well I have bought some and I am doing as she said but the itching is miserable and more spots arrived today....It's worse than midge bites because at least you know what they are and what causes them.....The trouble is that they are distracting my attention from other jobs and so hence the internet hunt for a campervan, it took my mind off them for a while. I hope they go away soon.

Meanwhile on a happier note I was sent this photo of a view from the pool by DD in Palm Springs, I wish I could be in it and soothing my bumps........

The summit of Hellvelyn with our victorious charity walkers

I have been busy this last week and it was not sewing which is taking a back seat at the moment because of that four letter word - work.

I don't mind when the clients are really good sorts and also buy a meal afterwards. In this case it was an Indian in Ambleside as that is the way they always celebrate when they have raised more money for charity. Yes I was out guiding a group of people up Striding Edge and the Fairfield Horseshoe who were all excited at the prospect of completing the climbs so they could raise lots of money for their charity challenge. I was so impressed with them that I donated too. Bella came as well and we spent one night in a wild camp at Patterdale with a special marquee set up for a BBQ. Now Bella loves anything to do with grilled fish or burgers so this was right up her street....

It was also very well presented and cooked by Dan and Dan who work with the owner (Peter Sidwell) of the 'Good Taste' Cafe/Deli in Keswick. On a personal note I can highly recommend the Wild Boar Burgers! and the salad with the mango in it was delicious. Well done lads..........

The weather was kind to us last Wed and Thurs too so it all went off smoothly. This next shot shows Striding Edge in all it's magnificent glory just after we had ascended the difficult section. Once over this we had quite a long way still to go; 22k eventually was our final total that day and all from an early rise at our wild camp!

Just incase you thought they would have to camp wild a second night, let me reassure you. After we finished the challenge they were all safely installed here. Now I can honestly say that it does not get much better than the Low Wood Hotel and the rooms are lovely. If you wonder how I know, well ask Bella what it is like :-)

A very brief glimpse at the exhibition on Friday if you missed it.

A rug made by Verena in superb colours and yes I seem to have picked out the items which showed our diversity as a group and not those which are strictly embroidery.  This is deliberate because I don't want you to think that we are not multi talented.......

A real eye stopper of a felt bag and I don't know who made it, sorry, but if you know perhaps you will comment on the blog. I imagine it was made during our felt bag making workshop with Marilyn Hughes.

And to finish a small part of a sampler just incase you really wanted to see loads of embroidery. I think it says it all really; and so I take my leave before I become verbose.