CAMPING IN THE RAIN

I don't know what you got up to during the bank holiday weekend but the Dendy family along with 3 other families from Arun Community Church decided, camping was a good way to spend our holiday time. Friday night was great, sitting round in the open air, drinking red wine and Jon Shanks' Sainsbury's Special Bitter (not very special - but cheap apparently!). The children stayed up and the world was great.

Saturday we woke up to the unique sound of Simon Croucher snoring even though he was 4 tents away and then it was cooked breakfast time. To be fair we did pretty well considering we were using four separate gas stoves. We had eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, bacon, sausages and half a can of last nights "special" bitter (ok - we actually had Nescafe Half-Caf Coffee which tastes similar!). Then we all piled into cars and headed of to Moors Valley Country Park. If you have never been and you have children under 11 you should go. If you have children over 11 or you are just a big kid then you should also go and try out Go-Ape.

Anyway Saturday night came along and we tried the eating outside altogether thing, but the rain had other ideas. The rain didn't stop until around 9am the next morning, by which time the Crouchers were washed out and had to abandon tent! The rest of us then packed up tents as fast as we could to avoid further downpours and headed home a little wetter than when we arrived.

Oh well - I've decided camping is great if it's dry and sunny.

MY FRIEND NICK

I received some sad news yesterday, one of my school friends Nick Flaherty died in a motorbike accident in Scotland. He was the tallest guy in the year, which was great because we played rugby together for many years and he was the guy you wanted on your team. He played second row and I played number 8, so if you know your rugby you know how close we had to be! He was always full of life and desperate to fly planes, but was unable to because of eyesight requirements, but bizarrely was allowed to fly helicopters - so he did! His parents Roger and Peggy-Anne were like second parents to me in my late teens and early adulthood. I was always round their house chatting about life's challenges. Nick was never a heart on your sleeve evangelist, but he had a faith that was as solid as he was, you know like a brick out-house kind of thing. I hadn't seen Nick for a few years but his untimely death, brings home the fragility of life and how important it is to live it to the full while you can. I'm gutted for the loss of an amazing guy, for those left behind: his wife Katie and their 2 small boys - but I am glad he lived his life to full, followed his dream and got to fly!

Below is the full BBC press release:

Family says crash biker a 'hero'
A motorcyclist killed in an Aberdeenshire crash was a former search and rescue helicopter pilot whose family described him as a "hero".

Married father-of-two Nick Flaherty, 33, died after colliding with parked vehicles at Whitecairns, near his home, on Saturday.

He had been heading to his work at Bond Offshore when the accident happened.
Relatives said in a statement: "Nick was a larger than life character who lived his life to the full."
Mr Flaherty was married to Katie and they had two young sons, Harry, six, and four-year-old Finn.
He had risen up the ranks at Bond to become chief pilot last year, and had also been involved in several search and rescue missions.

'Greatest love' The family statement said: "Nick set off for work on his motor bike on Saturday morning and was tragically involved in a fatal accident not far from his home.
"Katie, the boys and Nick's mum and dad would like to thank family, friends, colleagues and strangers for the love and support that they have given at this sad time.
"They would particularly like to thank the emergency services and those at the scene of the accident, for caring for Nick."
They added: "Nick and his family have been attending Balmedie Church and Nick had a simple faith in Jesus and the family take great comfort in the assurance that he is safe in heaven.
"His greatest love was Katie and his boys. He will always be loved and remembered by those who knew him. "

Wooden Computer

My kids have got access to the internet, interactive sky TV and a playstation 2. So what did they want to do on a Sunday afternoon? That's right make a computer out of wood! Which is probably as much use as my dead laptop at the mo...

And then they made a film out of it - this is the result:

HIDE AND SEEK

Ever wondered what mature firefighters get up to on their weekly drill nights? How do they practise becoming better at rescuing and caring for the local community? What does Sim actually do every Monday night between the hours of 7pm and 9pm?

Well last night, we played Hide and Seek - yep that's right Hide and Seek! How does it work? Well one fire engine goes and hides on a road in the local area and then radios clues to the other fire engine? It sounds like fun and frolics, but honestly we were practising local topography and radio communication technique - honest!

The highlight was probably when it was our turn to do the seeking we were given the clue "Undercover Agent" and so we went to Hide Gardens, second clue was "Brown and Furry" which convinced us that it was Penfold Lane after Dangermouse's sidekick Penfold. We were still arguing over whether Penfold was a hamster or not when we realised that Penfold Lane was too small to fit a Fire Engine down it so we had to ask for a third clue - "digs holes in the garden"! Aha, The Mole it was! We found them and then it was our turn...

It's amazing how much fun can be had with 10 grown men, 2 fire engines and playground the size of Littlehampton!!!! Next week - British Bulldog :o)