this weekend i attended a meet up organised by natural Bushcraft in cornwall,its the first time in seven years that ive been away on my own for a weekend,and boy what a weekend it was!
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once set up i went and met the crowd who were all busy chattin and whitlin ,Ashly was busying about making the stew for the evenings meal,
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as night fell the temperature dropped to zero c :
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but the group fire was roaring away and kept us all nice and warm:
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after many hours happily chatting and having just the best time i made my way to my hammock with my new hand made under quilt fitted:
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but not before a bit of supper cooked on my new tree shelf,the sausages must have smelled good because i cooked 18 and only got 3 myself,a chap with sausages at near 1am is a popular chap!
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The night was cold but i was reasonably warm ,though i did suffer that hangers problem of 'i need a wee but its so cosey in here' , at about 4 am i and most of kernow were awoken by a chap having a fight in his sleep (naming no names!) .The following morning breakfast was cooked and out day of sharing anecdotes and knowledge started,and what a knowledgeable lot they were.
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heres a view of the camp area from the 'long drop ' bog:
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Int afternoon Ashley entertained us all with his bow drill fire making using a hazel hearth and drill:
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A few members made their way home in the early evening and it was sad to see them go,now with a smaller group left of chaps we could get down to discussing Phils genital topiary whilst the rabbit stew was cooked expertly again:
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after this was devoured a game of truth or drink was played by the others,and well can you guess which member has ever tipped a disabled chap out of a wheel chair? lol (answers on a post card!) .If i said that Sunday evening was the best of my life i would be under stating it,we all laughed ,joked and told tales,at times i was near tears with the tales told by former military members who have been through hell and back,and other times i near wet myself at some of the antics this lot have gotten up to.
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it was another late night and in the small hours i made my way back to the hammock and enjoyed a warm and comfortable nights sleep in my uk hammocks hammock.During the night it rained like hell ,the drops beating on my dd tarp enough to awaken me,but all the gear stood solid and nothing got wet .
By the morning the sun was out in time for breakfast:
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The communal area was already abuz with chat and activity with the waft of coffee and bacon in the air!
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All in all a very fine weekend ,just cant wait till the next meet up,i came away feeling that i had made some lifelong friendships ,many thanks to Ash ,Phil and all the others.
