After a hectic day, it was time for some food and relaxation. We all have different dietary requirements so I had planned to take cooked potatoes and onions to fry up and frozen peas for us all and suggested each should take come meat of fish to have with it. Being a non meat-eater I took a whole trout, Phil took a salmon steak, Simon took a beef steak and Alan brought a dahl curry and rice. Rain was forecast so I decided cooking over a fire might be difficult, so we opted for using portable camping stoves. We had just two small cast irons skillets and a slightly larger frying pan and only three rings to cook all this diverse food on. By admission I’m a pretty useless cook. I can do simple meals but this scenario threw me into a panic. How to juggle with preparing, cooking and serving it all at the same time seemed like a personal nightmare. Here comes Phil to the rescue. Calmly and efficiently he led the way with his expert knowledge and I want to say publicly, a big thankyou. It all came together beautifully and we enjoyed a fantastic meal, Sadly I took no more photos as I was too busy and preoccupied but here’s a shot earlier in the day with the guys taking a break in my woodland “restaurant”
Alan had told us how he gets a show of bats at dusk in his clearing. He has built a fantastic cabin with wood he has felled and planked from his own trees. The prospect of rain dictated we should go round to his place for the evening where we could listen to the bat chatter on his detector and relax with a few drinks. We were rewarded with some pipistrelles (our smallest bats). Alan showed us some video clips from his wildlife camera with foxes, owls, mice, a hedgehog, hare and some roe deer. One shot showed a magnificent male (buck) sporting a six point antler. Be sure to read part three for a special surprise next morning.
The rain came and we retreated into the hut. Lit by the warm yellow light of a couple of old fashioned paraffin storm lanterns, (mine is like the centre one – a German made Feurehand that I bought at a car boot sale for a few pounds). Add the patter of rain and it made a unique setting for story telling over a few drinks. Well we are all in the late summer or autumn of our lives, done a lot of mileage and picked up a few experiences and enjoy a good tale mixed with laughter. We had plenty to tell and laugh about and the evening rolled on till 2 am when we left Alan and headed back to my place to get some sleep. I opted for my in-car-sleep-on-a wooden-board set up (designed for quick re-deployment when it’s expected to rain). Simon was in his ex-army tent and Phil on the floor in his bivvie bag, sheltered by a tarp over him. It rained most of the night. Here’s a few photos from earlier.
Simon’s own design of a portable forge, firing up on small coke rather than charcoal. This design allows the steeel to lay flatter and to work on longer pieces than the bucket version. The blower is powered by a leisure battery topped up with a solar panel and airflow controlled with his bit of electronic wizardry.
Alan setting up and looking the part at least
