Thursday 26 May 2011

A happy camper

I said I'd have something exciting to post about soon, well here it is. It's exciting to me at least, last weekend we went camping. I was terribly excited to be going on our first camping trip of the year, hardly sleeping excited. We were going somewhere I'd never really been before (I'd passed through but never actually spent time there) which made it doubly exciting. We went to Derbyshire.


Much to my mother's amusement (as I was a child who had to be forced out to play and spent even the hottest months in my thickest jumpers) I love getting outdoors. There's something about being out in the fresh air that's just wonderful. Unfortunately the UK weather has been very UK-ish of late and I'll admit it was rather soggy...and windy, oh my goodness it was windy!
This is the tidiest our little tent ever looks, all set up ready for me to move our "stuff" in:

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Once we were set up we were ready to explore. On the walk out of the campsite we saw this little guy up a tree, no idea what he was doing up there but he did make me laugh and reminded me of my childhood when all my friends had these little monster toys:

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I don't remember what they were called but I recall you could swap them between a cuddly, cute appearance and a monster, I wanted one very much but never had one...what a cruel woman my mother was ;-)


For some reason I didn't take photos of our nosey around Ashbourne on our first evening there but I did take pictures of our day out on the Saturday when we went to Buxton. Buxton is just lovely, if you get the chance to go then do so. The Pavillion Gardens were especially beautiful.

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There were many ducks and other water dwelling birds which made Mr.NM very happy as he is very fond of ducks.

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I did find Buxton's yarn shop, of course! I was very restrained though, I didn't buy anything. They had a nice selection of Sirdar, Sublime and Rowan as well as some Noro and some sock yarn.

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Whilst I was very restrained in the yarn there was a shop I couldn't resist a purchase in. Possible the most exciting bookshop I've ever been in. It was spread over 5 floors and sold books on every subject imaginable including some of the oldest books I've seen (and touched) outside of museums and libraries. There was little order to the books which made it all the more exciting, hunting for hidden treasures in the shelves.

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There was even an organ to have a play of the sheet music before purchasing

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Possibly the best bit was the little kitchen to make your own cup of tea or coffee to drink as you browsed

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I did buy a book, a little book of narrative poems from the 1930s, for some reason (I'm a dimwit) I didn't take a photograph but it's very special and I'm happy with my little purchase.


After a lovely day in Buxton (and some delicious fish and chips) we had to head back to the campsite and settle down for a relaxing evening. We set up our chairs, got out some beer, lit the BBQ and relaxed for the evening.

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I'm not going to lie, it was cold but it was OK. I had two very important things to keep me warm. The glowing remnants of the BBQ

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And the most important keeper-warmer...WOOL!

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7 comments:

  1. Looks like you had a lovely time. We usually leave it until June to go camping, it is wonderful being outside! I'm really touched you took the green shawl. :-)

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  2. Wow, that is a fabulous bookstore. Pretty town, too. Thanks for sharing! It's 95 degrees in Baltimore today, so I am happy to hear it is chilly somewhere.

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  3. Oh, I love Buxton, and especially that bookshop! I didn't know there was a knitting shop there too though - I may have to put it on my list of places to go in the near future... I won't be camping though, you must be hardier than me!

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  4. It sounds like you really enjoyed your camping trip. I've never been camping, hubby won't go, spoil sport. I love that book shop, I would have spent hours browsing in there.

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  5. Mr JK would dearly love to go camping, but I like my home comforts too much! That bookshop looks great!

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  6. Hi Northern Monkey. Just down the road from you in Dewsbury. Didnt realise you were from Leeds. Love your pics, thanks for sharing them with us all.

    Im a bit similar to you in that I would rather play indoors and watch Disney Films rather than play outside when I was a kid, and still love to be wrapped up in jumpers or in my favourite clothing - PJs! But about 4 years ago, went on a camping trip with partner after being invited along by his auntie and uncle, wasnt too excited about going, but when I got there and in the tent and the realxed evenings, i decided i loved it, and actually enjoy being outside :) Never looked back! Cant wait for our first camping trip of the year, not sure where to go yet.

    The book shop you went to looks very cosy indeed! Which campsite did you go to?

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  7. I love Buxton, haven't been since I became a craft addict though so maybe I need another trip! Next time you're in Derbyshire, you should go to Cromford, it's near Matlock. There's the most amazing bookshop, spread over about 3 floors, massive with loads of nooks and crannies and they sell a mixture of old and new books. Oh, and they've got a caff!

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