An extra long-weekend!

Last weekend we had the treat of taking a long weekend, just for nothing! It was so lovely, it felt like Sunday on Saturday and there was still another day to go, bliss! If that makes sense.

It was the end of the school holidays, and these ones have been pretty boring for the kids with both of us working. They laid around on the lounge watching movies, getting up to eat (constantly) and go to the bathroom. Sounds boring to me after a couple of days, but they managed to get by (HA!).

So we headed off to the farm last weekend. We went with a big group, 11 all up. Miss Bethany decided to stay home and go shopping with her friend. She's old enough now to spend the night with friends and do grown up girl stuff so we let her go (squeals of happiness!).

The shed can sleep 10 easily with another on the lounge if you need to, but one of the friends set up their camper trailer for the weekend which was nice. BUT FREEZING! It was -1 degrees one of the nights and when the wind comes up, watch out because you are going to freeze to death. The rest of us were snug and warm in the shed with the wood heater which was kept stocked during the night by my lovely hubby. And so he should, giving in return for the great whopping farts he kept letting rip, gross!


Yes, this is the view. Isn't it beautiful?
We done all the fun stuff, campfires, cooking damper, baking bananas in the fire etc. The kids and the boys rode their bikes all weekend exploring the property, and I sensibly stayed inside watching TV and drinking gallons of tea.

You have to be pretty organised for these weekends away. For starters, there is no electricity. Everything is run by solar electricity, gas or by using a generator. Secondly, the nearest shops are in town, an hour away (and its not a huge town). So you need to be prepared and take everything with you.

Some of my hot tips for shed camping are:
1) Plan what meals you need in advance and then develop a meal plan and shop for it. There are so many meal bases available now that you could just take mince and cook it in a variety of different ways. Our family favourite is Dinner Winner! so 70's but easy and tasty.
2) Look for foods that don't need to be refrigerated. You would be surprised at the variety available, from tinned veggies to hotdogs in glass jars. Long life milk and custard, tinned ham. The list is endless.
3) Take a thermos, and save your hot water each time you boil the kettle. We use gas to do this and it can be slow so if you save the hot water its ready if you want to wash up, or put the kettle on again quickly.
4) Have quick snacks on hand. Its guaranteed in the country that someone will turn up for afternoon tea so have a packet of bikkys or dip and biscuits ready for socialising.
5) Take boardgames. The kids will love having something to do after dinner and you will appreciate not having to amuse them or keep feeding them.
6) Take outdoor games, like totem tennis, frisbee, soccer balls etc. They will stay outside playing instead of harassing you 
7) Have heaps of drinks, its surprising what you go through even in cool weather.
Helps to have a well organised kitchen.
We come home with a few left overs that we haven't used, but very handy for making an easy meal when you are tired out from the trip.

We love the weekends away, and try to make a list before we leave of what needs to be topped up so we don't run out of anything.

So, the old saying, Be Prepared! definitely works for us. Do you camp? or have a caravan? Would be interested to hear what makes life easier for you when you go away. But for now, I'm off to plan the next trip!

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