51 Try archery.
B recently became a Beaver Scout. He loves it. They have a very full and varied programme of events, which seems to necessitate a fair bit of hands-on involvement from parents: on my part, so far, an evening wander up to the Pepper Pot, an orienteering event on Sizergh Fell and, last weekend, on a gloriously warm and sunny day, a trip to the Scout’s camp ground near Littledale on the edge of the Forest of Bowland. None of which has been a hardship; all very pleasurable in fact. Little S is not old enough to be a Beaver Scout yet, but was allowed to tag along – that’s him struggling to pull back the bow string in the photo above.
47 Cook on a campfire.
Okay, that’s already on the list. They cooked marshmallows, squished them between chocolate digestives – hot Wagon Wheel sandwich. (I’m not sure that Wagon Wheels are quite the staple that they were in the seventies – I don’t think the kids got the reference).
Here’s another one which is already on the list:
46 Try bouldering.
The campsite is idyllic, woodland with open, grassy camping areas and the beautiful Artle Beck running through it.
52 Make and sail an origami boat.
Hmmm…paper boats: I suppose Thor Heyerdahl’s boat Ra was built from Papyrus. Ours soaked up water in an alarming way. S enjoyed sailing it though. He even insisted on bringing it home, despite my protestations that we could make another one if need be.
Did B enjoy his day?
Yep!
We all did.
There was some mention of a return visit for a lad’s-and-dad’s camp. Can’t wait.
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Later that day, after our evening meal (we call it tea: Henry Higgins types will now be able to place our origins both geographically and socially) the kids insisted on a walk to the Pepper Pot.
On the way up we spotted this round, shiny beetle on some cow parsley…
Being rounded and shiny it’s probably a leaf beetle. There are over 250 British species. I have no idea which this might be.
Three more to tick off but one to add – can’t ever remember making a paper boat although my mind isn’t what it once was
Don’t think paper boats would have fared well in the Wye yesterday!
My parents had to abandon their caravan site over the weekend. Most of west Wales took a real hammering and their caravan site came close to wipeout but it’s survived. Loads of riverside caravan sites have been destroyed down that way, some pretty dramatic pictures.
I gather that they are OK? Is their caravan OK too? Some people have clearly had a very rough time of it.
Everything is fine and the caravan survived. I might post some pictures one day if I can get them off my dad