Erroll minus 1

How bizarre is this behaviour from the Hoppers camp last weekend? They barbecued a Ukulele. I have to stress that this is not some expensive rare, hand made musical instrument, not the Stradivarius of Ukes. These guys have got into Uke playing over the last few camps/years and are now getting quite good at it, as well as moving upwards from the cheap instruments they bought to try it out, up to some sensible quality equipment capable of producing a good toon.

The guy pictured here just right of centre is also a brilliant engineer and craftsman and has made several of his own ukes with designs inspired by the bonnet of the Citroen H-Van, or built around cigar boxes etc. This sacrificial uke was one of the first £3 Chinese made cheapo ones they owned and had long since become disgusted by as an instrument incapable of producing any music so, feeling a bit silly half way through the camp's communal barbecue, and almost for a bet, they decided to see how long the poor old thing took to burn on the barbecue.

Oh - by the way, the enormous bulbous guitar-ish weapon being twanged by the guy on the left is a Mexican "Guitaron".

Dad is now looking at his last day at the old place before Erroll cuts in for real and has been trying to cram as much info as possible into the new bloke against a viciously short deadline. Tomorrow he's in early to bid adieu to his old mates on the night shift and then to do the last day before clocking out for the last time. He's feeling very weird and disconnected. It has not really hit home yet.

Bizarre

Deefs

H Vans and a Scammell

2 more nice pics from the 2CV camp, and the associated Preston Steam Rally. The grey beast is the Citroen H Van mentioned yesterday, and the blue and red beast is considerably heavier, being a low loader / heavy haulage puller/pusher, the Scammell. Both lovingly restored and I am sure much cherished. Dad says he loves the name, but that might be something to do with Theakestone's beers.

My but it's hot. Dad's getting home at a sensible hour but no-one feels like walking till about 9 pm. The car's dashboard thermometer read 35 degrees at 3pm, admittedly in a sun-trap car park, but even moving under normal conditions we were still getting 31 degrees. Too hot to walk, too hot to type.

Love though, to Diamond, not at all well in hospital at present. Rags has been sent away "on his holidays" (a place up on the A2 owned by chums of Diamond, where Rags goes when she's in Greece. He loves it there - big garden and people around all the time to make a fuss of him and be with him. Thinks all his Birthdays and Christmasses have come at once. Won't want to come home!

Deefski

Sapeurs Pompiers

A girl knows how to stay cool on a hot day out camping - lie under some handsome French Firefighters. OK not quite. In this case it was a almost-fully-restored Citroen H-Van, now converted to a camper, but formerly a general-purpose support vehicle for the Sapeurs Pompiers (French Fire Brigade) in the town of Falaise in northern France.

Falaise is French for "Cliff", which turned out to be quite significant for the guy doing the restoration. He also happens to be "Dad" to Ben and Nellie, the collie-crosses we pictured a few posts back. Cute vehicle, cute dog, we say.

Well, now it's the weekend, and we are about to start chilling out. Mum is off with Diamond to watch "Sex and the City" at the local cinema. Meg (who adored the final episode on TV and was allowed to join the last-episode party, to sip drips of cocktail off the end of a finger and nibble minute bits of chocolate, and also seemed to enjoy (so we're told) having her toe-nails painted full-on tart-red) wishes she could go. Dad is swerving it all on the grounds of exhaustion following his adventures with the Beavers last night. Likely story!

Deefs

Scooter

Once again, apologies for not keeping this up. There's been so much on we've barely had time to draw breath, but now, at last, a shot of the rather gorgious brindled Staffie, "Scooter". She has a rather fetching fuchsia coloured neck tie - her Mum and Dad say that this is to make sure that such a butch doggie is not taken to be a bloke!

Being dogs ourselves, of course, we have no such confusion but here she is at 2CV camp (that "corrugated iron shed on wheels" in the background is called a Citroen H-Van) and I managed to get well wound up every time she was racing around and I was loose.

Regular readers may recall that at a previous camp I tested her patience to the max and then got shouted at (which they all said I deserved) - this time was a bit easier and I got used to her more quickly.

I think you'll agree she is a beautiful girl

Deefer

Five Horses

2CV camping again. September and we are still enjoying some decent weather. We dogs LOVE camping. We know as soon as we get to the field, what we're about, and we charge about, racing in circles and greeting all the old mates from previous camps. We dogs, now numbering 7 just kinda merge into one bigger pack, this time it is we three, plus collies Ben and Nellie, and then a brown mongrelly chap called Ben and a Staffie cross bitch called Scooter.

We know loads of people there too, so it's nice race about and meet them. They remember me, for some reson, as having dived under all the cars last time to cool off, and got my back smeared with sump oil. The whole site becomes our home and we are pretty much allowed to wander, except when there is cookery going on. Dad has this strange notion that we might patrol around scrounging "inappropriate" food (what ever that is) so we get restrained on leads while that's on, tied to the fence or a tent peg. Is that any way to treat a dog?

Bit of excitement this time is being allowed to meet the horses. This involved me (for some reason, Meg and the H left me to it) racing over to them at full speed, and then as their sheer height and size became apparent, skidding to a halt, bouncing a few times and then, whistling innocently, sidling up to them and sniffing their noses. Was thankful for the electric fence, as they loomed over me.

Talking of horses, oldest car at the camp, a 1924 CV5 in a smart shade of yellow. It is only just restored and put back on the road by club member JJ. So we all took Dad's 2CV round to JJ's house to provide back-up for him as he 35 mph'd from his house to the site. It was running well, so we did a couple of overtake, get ahead, stop and lep out with camera, to photo him in motion on the roads. CV5? It is fom the French - rated at 5 horse power by the French engineers in 1924, CV stands for "chevaux" (horses) in la Francais, the same way 2CV stands for "2 horses" (deux chevaux)

Coo, edumacatnial innit?

Deefer the Outdoors Girl