Of tents & Sopranos.

Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers.” George Carlin.

Some days! And it started so well because we are a slow to gear up sort of household pottering around forever before we get up enough head of steam to actually get anything done. The chaos was reduced by one because Liddy went to the mainland early with a friend. That left just Ditz & I to contend with Iss [who is feeling neglected & under appreciated] to meander around not doing much at all. Frazzled & rushed for time is not good when Ditz is performing because once we leave the island anything forgotten stays forgotten & though it is unusual for Ditz to actually forget anything [being a particularly well organised child when it comes to her music] we have had the odd meltdown over a forgotten hair ribbon [1/4" black hair ribbon].

The original plan called for Liddy to met us at the jetty & we would change over, me getting her car & Liddy getting the island car keys before going home to Issi & Dearest. Don't you just love original plans? Liddy, who had been looking at more camping gear, now needed another opinion while the last thing I needed was the sort of time deprived arrangements Liddy tends to make.

So we dropped Ditz at the cultural Centre to rehearse ~ which included the song no~one had set eyes on before. I can't believe how much faith Alison has in her kids being able to nail a song on short notice but she has & they did. Then Liddy & I went to the library so I could download forms & she could research tents. When rehearsal finished Liddy threw us all in the car & drove for an hour so I could give my opinion on her choice of tent. I was not happy. [cheap & nasty & I would not want to be in something like that in wet weather]. Liddy not happy. She is camping next weekend & was starting to feel the pressure. I wanted to know why she was considering paying 3X the money for the sort of tent she could get cheaper, larger & better made from K~Mart? If she just wanted a cheapie while she made up her mind on a more expensive tent she was better off going to K~Mart.

I think Liddy had passed the point of being able to think the issue through logically but when I stop offering an opinion Liddy knows I'm not happy with her choices & gets snarly. So much fun to play with! So she took me next door to the gung~ho camping store where the sales people actually want to sell you something, use their gear themselves & know what they're talking about ~ with prices to match but we were just looking. Looking doesn't cost anything. Nor does asking questions. Not a tent in sight but they had a big display board with piccies & info on each tent & were happy to erect anything we were interested in ~ which they did!

From the moment they tipped the tent out of its bag the difference was apparent. The groundsheet wouldn't rip to shreds on the first stray twig it encountered; the pegs were sturdy triangular ones that are far less likely to bend in hard Australian clay; the fly would actually keep the water out! And because these people use this stuff themselves of course we asked what they used & what they recommended. Naturally they promptly asked how we intended using the tent ~ something I had been asking Liddy to clarify for days! lol. Their recommendation was neither of the 2 tents we were interested in.

While we were there I asked what was available these days as a mattress & got shown these really nifty, super comfortable, self inflating airbeds that roll up pretty small & light. Liddy will need one if she does much camping but has yet to learn how hard the ground is if you spend much time sleeping on it!

Time was ticking away so we left but didn't even make it down the stairs before Liddy's math kicked in & she had worked out her 10% discount so back we went! We bought the recommended tent ~ a heavier duty tent than what we were originally considering but more suitable to Liddy's needs though naturally considerably more expensive as well. As we were paying for it one of the staff piped up; 'Oooh. Great tent. I ripped one in half!' Liddy about died on the spot, being the scrooge that she is. As it turns out the girl got caught in a wind storm & hadn't pegged the tent down properly. Lesson learnt.

Naturally, because Liddy had cut it fine to get back to the Cultural Centre, she headed up the coast towards the closest bridge with Ditz & I agitating that it couldn't possibly be the right direction & having arrived proceeded to erect her brand new tent in the Cultural Centre gardens in full view of the Police Station!!!

Meanwhile The organizers of Ditz's event hadn't sold enough tickets so gave out vouchers to the owners of performers so they could purchase tickets at half price ~ which meant Liddy & I opted for the performance over the movies. Just as well I didn't pay full price for this as it just wasn't worth the sort of money they were asking. Bits of it were excellent. Samantha Graham's rendition of My Party Dress was fantastic & our lot were as professional as always but a lot was excruciating making. Marching bands & Celtic dancers need bigger spaces & I found the acoustics really quite odd. As my ear is notoriously unreliable it may be just that it sounded different to what I am used to hearing ~ & let's face it; I'm not used to being able to hear Ditz over the top of our 2 *perfect pitch* boys, who are not only male but have really good, strong voices but hear Ditz we could & did. I am starting to suspect that in another year or two Ditz will have a really strong voice too & though she can get plenty of raunch when she wants to it is not a naturally raunchy voice.

Being on the islands, as we are, nothing irritates me more than events that do not start & finish on time. We started late & ran well over time, so didn't get home till mid~night & are less than bright~eyed & bushy~tailed this morning when Liddy has to work & Ditz & I have to head back to the mainland yet again. I am so tired & next weekend Ditz & I are off to Ipswich for the eisteddfod while Liddy camps. I would rather go camping but as she will have the car I have had to organise a lift & that at least means I do not have to drive. This is a good thing. Actually it is a very good thing. Maybe Liddy should go camping more often?