About Me

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Hi! I'm Eunice and I live in Bolton, Lancashire, with my two dogs Sophie and Sugar and an assortment of cats - well it used to be Sophie and Sugar, now it's Sophie and Poppie. I first began camping back in 1997 when my then partner took me to Anglesey for my birthday weekend. We slept in the back of the car - a hatchback - using the cushions off the settee at home as a mattress, and cooked and brewed up on a single burner camping stove. The site was good, the views were great, the weather fantastic and I was completely hooked. Following that weekend we got a two-man tent and some proper accessories and returned to Anglesey two weeks later, then over time we progressed to a three-man tent followed by an old trailer tent, then a new trailer tent, a campervan and finally a caravan. When my partner decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the street - literally - in April 2009 and I suddenly found myself alone after fifteen years, I decided there was no way I was going to give up camping and caravanning if I could cope on my own. This blog is the story of my travels, trials and tribulations since becoming a solo camper - I hope you like it

Saturday May 28th 2016 - Anglesey weekend

The ridiculously early time of 5.45am saw me leaving home for my bank holiday break on Anglesey. With blue sky, sunshine and quiet roads all the way the driving was very pleasant and I arrived at the camp site dead on 8am. Any hope I had of beating the crowds and getting a decent pitch with electric hook-up soon went out the window though as the site was already extremely busy - tents and caravans were everywhere, the large headland field looked like a mini Glastonbury and just like last year my favourite small field had been taken over by seasonal caravans. 

 I've never before seen the site so busy on a May bank holiday weekend - I could only assume that some schools in the north west had a different holiday week to those local to me and many of the campers had been there all week - and I was just resigning myself to spending the weekend without power when I finally found a vacant hook-up point on the family field. The nearby patch of grass wasn't in the best of places, being both close to the access track through the site and also surrounded on three sides by large caravans, but it would do, so I parked the van and set about sorting out my home for the next three nights. With that done I took the dogs for a walk round the site - they'd been so good in the van while I was busy - then made some tea and toast and sat for a while in the sun.

 It was late morning when I decided to see if the car boot sale was on at the country club just outside the village - it was, and that was where I got what must be one of the best bargains I've ever had. A good friend of mine has, for reasons only known to herself, recently decided to start collecting paperweights and as it's her birthday soon I'd thought about getting one as a present for her, though I wasn't really sure what sort to get - it was very much a case of 'I'll know it when I see it'. And I did see it, in fact I saw several on one of the stalls - they were brand new, gift boxed, very unusual, weighed a ton, looked expensive and no two were the same. And the price? Originally £18, now just £6 each or two for £10 - definitely a bargain, and they were so nice I got one for myself as well. The glass is actually clear but the light is reflecting through so these photos don't really do them justice.

By the time I'd looked round all the stalls my early morning start was beginning to catch up with me and I didn't really feel like going anywhere else, so I drove back to the camp site and spent the rest of the day and early evening relaxing. There was a lot of music and noise coming from a nearby tent, which I rather hoped wouldn't go on too late - one of the downsides of being on the family field - however it didn't, and not long after I'd taken the dogs for their bedtime walk everything went quiet, and as I settled down in bed the only noise came from an owl as it swooped over the site on its night time hunting mission.

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8 comments:

  1. Eileen H1 June 2016 at 07:22

    We haven't ventured out this weekend as we know how bad the Bank Holiday traffic gets on the A55. Glad you managed to find a decent pitch and your neighbours weren't too troublesome, we really appreciate peace and quiet too! The paper weights are lovely and I'm sure your friend will be delighted with your very thoughtful gift. It's even better when you can bag yourself a bargain (I like the second one the best).

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  2. Tigermouse1 June 2016 at 09:20

    The second one is the one I got for myself, I chose the other one for my friend as those are just her colours. I haven't a clue where I'm going to put mine though - a pink one would have looked nice in my bedroom but they didn't have that colour and the only room in my house with a blue colour scheme is the bathroom. I won't be using it for it's actual purpose though, it's too nice for that :)

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  3. Bag End Gardener1 June 2016 at 09:24

    Excellent bargain, hope your friend enjoys her present.

    I was thinking of taking the van away this week until I realised it is week two of the half-term holiday up here and the site I wanted was fully booked anyway . . .

    I came acrosss this site: http://www.halftermdates.co.uk/northern-england-counties.htm
    which should be useful in future.

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  4. Tigermouse1 June 2016 at 09:43

    Thanks Jayne, that could come in handy in the future. I do try not to camp during school holidays though obviously on bank holiday weekends crowds can't be avoided. I'll be going back to Anglesey on Saturday for my 10-day holiday, everyone will have gone by then so it should be lovely and quiet - I was there last year at the same time and I was the only camper on the site :)

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  5. nashvillecats21 June 2016 at 10:16

    Pleased you had a wonderful time and was able to get out for the Bank Holiday. Loved the pics. Here's to more wonderful outings.
    I still miss my caravanning days although it's been many years since I sold up.
    Yvonne.

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  6. Tigermouse1 June 2016 at 13:29

    Well the weather this bank holiday certainly made up for all the rain which made me cancel my plans for the last one - I had wall-to-wall sunshine all weekend, even when I was coming home yesterday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I get more of the same from next weekend for ten days.

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  7. Su-sieee! Mac2 June 2016 at 08:58

    The paperweights are gorgeous. It's been years since I've gone car camping. I used to like backpacking more because of the challenge and fewer crowds. Now, I think I'd rather rent a cabin.

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  8. Tigermouse3 June 2016 at 09:52

    The paperweights are rather lovely - every single one was a different colour and design and if I'd had somewhere to put them I think I'd have bought them all and made a collection out of them, though I've still not thought of the best place to put the one I did get.

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I really appreciate good comments - who doesn't? - but due to a recent tide of spam from anonymous readers all comments will now be moderated, and only those with a direct bearing on this blog will be published. I'm sure my regular blog readers/commenters will understand the need for this - and to anyone whose comment isn't published, you know why.

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