a hard habit to break....

Well it was a really successful Sagga Camp.

The weather was variable but good on the days when it mattered, ie. The day we walked along some of Hadrian’s Wall. It is a lovely site that we stayed on and having the indoor facilities was a real bonus, without really detracting from the Sagga camp feel – the indoor marquee was just as messy as the outside one would have been, and the only real difference being you didn’t have a constant nagging fear that you would be hit on the head by an errant tilly-lamp succumbing to gravity!
The kitchen facilities were a real bonus, and despite the odd “issue” arising, it led to a much more relaxed and less antagonistic cooking experience. The fact that you couldn’t have too many people in the kitchen at once probably helped, and also not having to bend down or sit on tiny stools to cook eggy bread for 80 made a big difference to those with aging bones (including myself on this one!). The change also removed a few of those necessary but ultimately irritating rules about the position of flasks and the eternal rinsing debate. But before we all start freaking out…. It was good to know that some things remained….. so in summary –

Lost for this year
- Flasks – up or down? Who knows who cares..
- Rinsing –do you or don’t you?

No chance of losing these….
- To bang the pan lid/ring the bell in the morning or not to? (Surely the old people are so deaf they won’t hear it anyway)
- Porridge –salt or not? (Who cares, it’s tastes like shit either way)
- The numerous eating disorders seem to be multiplying, with Mr J’s inability to eat concrete causing no end of culinary challenges.

Hey look it’s some new ones…
- String on squash bottles. Why? If it tastes too strong, it’s probably not diluted!
- Just because a man is wearing a suit doesn’t always mean he knows what he’s talking about
- Forget colour coded plate stacking, lets get into “adult plates” and “children’s plates” – except it doesn’t work when you have adults with tweenies and miffy plates……
- The phantom early morning bottle-recyler – who’s the culprit?

Anyway, I digress. It was great to see so many ex-SSAGO people and they all worked bloody hard. I tried not to work as usual and spent most of my work day falling over in the mud rather than actually shifting it. The dancing on the Friday night was a bit of a risk but it paid off, with only a few not joining in. Heather and I experienced the basketing skills of Hugh and Swedish Scout number 1 (or was it 2?) which led to a near shoe-flying incident and aching arm-pits the next day – that took me back to SSAGO rallies of old!

So in all a great camp and I’m looking forward to Sweden next year. Looks like quite a few people are keen to go which will make it a real laugh. Perhaps we can rent a big red bus and drive it over there, Cliff Richard style…