updatey

Back from the Latitude music festival in Southwold, possibly Britain's most middle-class music festival. So many small children, many of them in strange tiny tow-trucks. Yummy mummy tantrums in the (extremely congested) Family Camping area. Woman with giant all-terrain pushchair yelling at youthful security man: 'These tents weren't here this morning! HOW am I expected to get my children back to my tent now?'

This is our first time proper camping in 3 years. Oh God. Campsite is about a mile from the car park, camping approach is not minimal. We scrabbled for a while just to find a spot to put the tent up. Then...well, I'll cast a veil over the next two hours but for future reference a) never put up a tent with someone who has zero capacity to think in 3 dimensions and b) don't camp on rocky ground, especially in gale force winds. Also, the sadist who wrote the tent erection instructions (fnar fnar) wrote them in 3 pages of dense capitals, with NO PICTURES.

Things that worked:
- camping stove (a bit bulky, but wonderful)
- catering strategy of M&S tinned curry
- camping lantern and water carrier
- not showering
- EAR PLUGS

Rubbish things:
- The cooler that let in all the ants. Eww. They ate little E's melted Maltesers, and then got stuck to the chocolate.
- Inflatable mattresses in a high wind.
- Sleeping on thin foam mats. OW.
- The tent. P. would describe it as 'retarded.'

It was a funny festival experience. It was very busy and very hot. I was a bit punch-drunk from working late all week on a report, and there weren't really many bands that I was desperate to see. P. went off with his friends and little E wanted lots of company with very little live music.

Highlights:
- The Feeling did a lovely set, the first thing I saw
- James, on the Saturday, showing everyone how 'demented frontman' should really be done
- Mumford and Sons
- Tom Jones! He did an unscheduled set on Sunday, playing his new album, which is very much in Travelling Wilburys territory. Thundering blues and gospel.
- Belle and Sebastian
- On the first night, sitting outside the tent with little E., eating spaghetti hoops and hearing Florence and the Machine belting across the trees.

Little E. and I are going camping again n a couple of weeks. I have ordered a new tent, of the popping-up variety.