Monday 13 April 2015

The tent

My guess is that most of you will have picked up that Len is a keen wannabe Robin Hood archer. He's actually getting to be very good, but with that comes an increase in the amount of gear he needs. The latest purchase, bought with full day 'shoots' in mind, is a tent. Not just any old tent, but one of those mahoosive 'sleeps three' pop up ones:

All Tents Camping - 2 Seconds XL Air III pop up tent - 3 Man, Grey/Blue QUECHUA - Tents 
It's somewhere for him to store stuff out in the archery field while he shoots - plus has the bonus of shelter when if it rains. I could even be tempted to trot along for the day with a folding chair and a decent book :)

This is what it looked like when it arrived:
All Tents Camping - 2 Seconds XL Air III pop up tent - 3 Man, Grey/Blue QUECHUA - Tents 
Yeah, right! So - someone looked at this huge disc and decided he needed to know how to put the thing up, and probably much more importantly how to get it back down and back into the bag.

I was called from the craft room 'Di, have you got a moment please' so duly trotted in the direction of said voice. OMG, OMG - the tent was already out of the bag and half up in our lounge!! It was champing at the bit to spring fully open whilst Len - eyes popping and a sheepish grin on his face - was wrestling to keep it under control. Trust me, there was no way that beastie would have fully opened without wrecking a few things!

Once I stopped laughing, I suggested it could be a better idea to open it up in the garden. The reply? 'I wanted to keep it nice and clean'. Err, so what happens in a field? I was so concerned about an impending disaster I didn't even think to run for the camera and catch a shot of Len in his predicament! :)

Anyhow, it took two of us to manhandle the 'beast' (still straining to fully open) through the house and out into the back garden. Once safely outside we allowed it to spring into life and then it sat there looking huge and very triumphantly at us. Have to say, I was still shaking with laughter - and then it got better.

Having checked the thing, out it was time to pack it away again - a bit like knitting with spaghetti really :( The instructions which are on fabric attached inside the circular bag it comes in are useless!! It's all a knack of gathering the ribs together along the top and then doing some nifty twisting movements. We have since found a few really helpful videos on line but it took two of us what seemed like forever to put the wretched thing away.

The following day, at archery, Len told his pals about the saga - and they're still laughing about him even contemplating trying it out in the lounge :) But, he does feel vindicated as I subsequently found a comment (left on a very helpful video) by a chap who DID put his pop up tent fully up in the lounge - and then couldn't get it to fold back down again :)

Life would be very dull without my resident 'comedian cum crazy have a go at anything' chap getting into mischief! :) And his archery pals have promised to show him how it's done next Sunday at the St George's Day shoot - I might just go along for the fun.

Di 
x

27 comments:

  1. OMGosh ... I laughed and laughed reading this as I have experienced something a bit similar! At least ours is not so big as yours! LOL

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  2. ROTFL!! It would have made a brilliant photo! Testing it out in the lounge is the sort of thing my DH would have done too! LOL! xx

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  3. I laughed so hard I was crying! Even without you taking a picture I can just see Len trying to hold the beast & not sound desperate calling for help!

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  4. Men....don't they ever read the instructions!! lol xx

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  5. Fabulous Di - made me laugh as it's the sort of thing my OH would do as well!
    Kath x

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  6. Oh thanks so much for sharing that Di....please link it up over at mine so others can share your smiles.
    My face is aching now :-) :-) :-) :-)
    Hugs,
    Annie x

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  7. Oh what ARE you like . . . fancy not getting a photo! You can dine out on this tale for a little while. Snigger! xxx

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  8. Oh Di how funny!! If my DH had tried that in our living room it would definitely never have opened out in a million years and things would have been crashing all around us ..lol. it's a great idea though and packs away so neatly once you have got the hang of it. x

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  9. OMGosh, you will have to thank Len for my laugh today! I could totally visualize this tent popping open in your lounge! Yes, they are tricky to fold back up and while after you get the hang of how to hold and twist, it can be a bit challenging until you do! I don't think I ever got the hang of any of the twist things like that. We have some rafts for the pool that do this and I'll be darn if I can make them twist up and place back in the bag! Oh they make it look so easy. lol You will have to keep us informed on how it goes. lol I'm still chuckling and not at Len but with him cause we have been there and done that! Hugs, Brenda

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  10. Bwahahahahahahahaaa! Thanks Di. I needed this!
    I would have loved to have been there. Now THAT would have been funny!
    Hugs
    xx

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  11. Thanks for linking it Di.....just such a shame you didn't have a photo of it to share too ;-)
    Hugs,
    Annie x

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  12. Good heavens, tents have progressed a long way since I last went camping! This looks ALMOST like fun!

    Kathyk

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  13. Oh I'm in full on giggling mode here! I can see you watching and laughing before diving in to help. Let's hope Len gets the hang of it while in the field! Take care Zo xx

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  14. Would have loved to see your antics. I bet Len put it in the lounge 'cos he didn't want anyone in the playground to spy it.... might give us a few mischievous ideas !! xx

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  15. OMG i couldn't stop laughing after reading about you and your husbands fun and games with his tent - it's the sort of the story a comedian would love to hear about, Luv Sam x

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  16. Wow, I have a sleeping bag, looks camping in the playground takes on a different meaning and being an ex-girl guide I am I am an expert on cooking on a camp fire and digging the latrines.
    Good luck Len, bit posh for a storage area though.

    Kath x

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  17. This sounds like it has the makings of a good comedy tv show! Hilarious Di!! I think I can safely assume we've all done silly stuff like this at some point in our lives, eh? :)

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  18. ahahahaha...wish you had got the camera out! lol

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  19. That really made me laugh - that is an impressive tent!!

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  20. That is so funny, Di - I've now got an image in my head of the two of you wrestling with the tent to get it outside :) Let us know how he gets on with at the shoot - will Len have more success, I wonder! Hugs, Elizabeth xx

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  21. Hahahaha - would love to have seen that :-D What a wheeze !!! :-D :-D xxxx

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  22. Having seen Part 2, I had to come for Part 1. Our son has one of those and it is the devil itself! You have written a brilliant account of it, Di! Thank you for the snorts and giggles and, if I may, oh, yes, a smaller one would have been much better! It's just the sort of thing my Mister would do!! They're all alike, aren't they?! Hugs, Darnell

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  23. It reminds me of those windshield coverings we have here. They come folded flat in a nice disc shaped package too. Once you take them out and open them up, throw away the covering... it ain't never going back in. And they are much less 3D than this tent!!! And in case you don't know what windshield covers are the are pop open, flexible "fabric" coverings that you tuck up against your windscreen and then move the sun visors down to keep them in place. They can make the difference between 180 F and 120 F inside your car in the summer here in the desert.

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  24. I'm here from Annie's smiles, I did read your very funny story earlier and I wish there had been more pictures, but it certainly had me in stitches....
    Tilly

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  25. Hi Di....this is such a hoot to read (popped over from this weeks Friday Smiles) and I do so know exactly what you're talking about....we have one of those pop up toilet/shower thingies - much smaller but we struggled heaps to get that thing back in the bag and it's till a bit skewiff. It would've been so funny in the lounge... thanks for the Friday Smile/Laugh cheers Robyn

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  26. Hello Di,

    I can just picture Len's face and you bending over with laughter! If left up in the yard I wonder if the hedgehogs would make good use of it?!?

    Hugs,
    Kay

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