Zippity doo doo

Vanessa made me go camping again last weekend, and we even had a new extra-small tent which you can see above.

To be fair, the kids loved every second of it.
  

Including the cuisine.

And do you know what?  So did I (apart from the tent bits, obviously).

That was entirely down to the fine company we had. 

And the opportunity to have a few well away from the campsite.

But back to our new tent.

One the reasons why I wasn't falling over myself to lie in a field inside a big canvas bag was because the British and Irish Lions were playing the All Blacks on Saturday morning and I didn't want to miss it.

However, as rain was forecast on Friday evening, we waited until first thing on Saturday before travelling to said field - enabling me to listen to the game on the way.

But we arrived before it ended, and there was no way I was missing the dramatic final moments.  So fellow camp mates were kind enough to put the tent up on my behalf.  That's Jane below.  What a gal.
   

However, once the job was done, a problem quickly presented itself when Charlotte somehow managed to break a zip on our new "pride and joy."

I tried to fix it but that was never going to happen and we were forced to muddle through.

Once we got home, Vanessa carted the tent back to the shop.

And the shop woman was very accommodating, offering a choice of a full refund or an exchange.

"Feel free to have a look around, we have some very good offers," said the shop woman.

Vanessa's response - which she only confessed to me this morning - was, well, make your own mind up.

"Oh," she said, "I wouldn't want to choose another tent without my husband being here.  He's the camping enthusiast in our family."  

Divorce papers will be on their way to Mrs White very shortly.