Five P's

The summer holidays have begun, the children have finished school and have nine weeks (I think) of unbridled freedom to do whatever they want. Well, almost whatever they want. Of course we grown ups want some time to do the things we want to do too. And some time to do the things we perhaps don't necesarily want to do but never the less need doing anyway. So my better half and I sat down and made a list. Well that's not strictly true. She made the list. I watched. The football. Anyway.... As an old mate of mine used to say, probably following on from his many years of disciplined Army training, "Planning and Preparation Prevent Poor Performance". Five P's. Actually I'm sure he had a sixth between Prevent and Poor but I'm going to refrain from swearing! So now we have a list. And a very long list it is too. Lots of important jobs like completing our UK tax returns, booking Christmas flights back to England while it's still cheap, and of course, making sure that all the children have new school uniforms ready for September. Perhaps that last one is a bad example because the kids are bound have a summer growth spurt between now and then. More urgently on the list is the disposal of our dead Clio which still sits morbidly outside our house. That's a "three pointer" on the list though since it needs the full tank of petrol syphoning out, formally de-registering with the proper paperwork and then finally disposed of, so it could take a while, but I'm sincerely hoping not all summer. The list goes on. And on. I'm hoping to get a lot of it out of the way and sorted fairly quickly though, so as to leave plenty of time to enjoy the summer.

So, a couple of nights ago my wife and I stayed up late and started to plan the camping trip that I mentioned to you in my School's Out blog a while back. I was on Google Maps planning routes and she was trying to locate a suitable campsite located smack bang in the centre of Utopia, which for those who don't know is a small region on the Portuguese - Spanish border. I think I had the easier job! We don't want much from a campsite really. A clean shower block is essential, but swimming pools and games rooms would simply be a luxury that we would quite happily do without. She managed to find three or four sites and sent some emails off to them asking about availability during August. The following morning I went out shopping for essential camping items. Cascais Shopping was decidedly unhelpful and I could only find some very expensive single stoves stashed away at the back of the Sports shop up on the top floor and in the farthest reaches of the penultimate isle of Continente. Decathlon across the other side of Alcabideche was similarly stocked to cater for the "young couple's camping holiday" having only single stoves and small berth tents. Next stop was the hardware shop in Estoril, where I hoped to pick up a rubber mallet for banging in tent pegs and suitable gear to enable syphoning of petrol from the deceased Clio. I came away with a mallet. And that was it. A whole morning trooping round shop after shop and all I had to show for it was a 3 Euro hammer. "Tomorrow, Jumbo", I though to myself as I drove home.

The following morning, fresh and ready for a new day of supremely successful shopping, I set off for Jumbo.  After some time going up and down the isles, loading up on the way with some much needed bread and fruit, I was about to give up on my quest for Camping gear. Then, I suddenly spotted a small "end of isle" section with some paddling pools and inflatable armbands. Co-incidentally my wife and I had been discussing the night before exactly what kind of swimming aid our youngest might require on our holiday and hence steered my trolley straight for them. And what should I find just a little way along the row but a stash of reasonably priced Camping Gaz stoves and fuel canisters. I'd hit the motherlode! One double stove, two canisters and an inflatable life jacket later I was heading to the checkout.

That afternoon I phoned a friend of mine who lives down the road a little way and has a lawn, to ask him if I might borrow a portion of it to experimentally erect the tent. I wouldn't want to bore you with a pole-by-pole description of putting it up, but suffice to say that I quickly assertained that (a) it was clearly large enough for my family and (b) it definitely required two people to put it up! Twenty minutes later, there it was, in all it's majestic splendour; A canvas palace! Thinking back over the shopping trips of the last couple of days and seeing the tent up made my heart sing in anticipation of the holiday.

The list is getting shorter by the day. Today the car is in for a service and the nice man at the garage has told me that he can make arrangements for the disposal of our dead Clio too. The UK tax has been dealt with as far as is possible for the time being. The majority of the camping holiday is planned for, shopping done, and my wife waits anxiously at her inbox to hear back from the campsites so we can book a pitch at the aforementioned Utopian Campsite. And so we wait. Unfortunately waiting is not something I think I can do much of right now, and if I'm honest, I don't think my wife is in much of a mood for it either. And so the conversation over lunch today turned to our weekend pre-holiday camping trip 10 kilometres down the road at Guincho....