Storm Katie

endless pounding

Good Friday food

Arrived late Friday afternoon and pitched a couple of tents, got the fire started, ate dinner and feeling a bit smug at our achievements without the boys, we chin-wagged til the moon rose high above the clearing. It was a beautiful night, dry, but a little chilly. However, come Saturday morning (about 430am) I realised the tent was on a slope and I had left the front zips open! cold and sliding around inside the tent didn't afford me much sleep. So we started the day erecting an A-frame canvas bed with a tarp over the top and left the tent for Ant to sort out later. I clearly am not good at tents and much prefer the comfort of the canvas stretcher - I think it's way warmer being off the damp floor too.
That job done, we emptied the stagnant and stinking water butt, cleared the guttering and put up a small tarp over the fire - rain was definitely on its way. Thunderous clouds and the wind picking up didn't bode well. The weekend task-list mainly consisted of getting the clay base down and level and ready to actually start making the oven on. Despite our fear at getting it wrong we couldn't really put it off any longer and made a start on pounding the clay to compact it as much as possible with a heavy sledgehammer. It was hard going.

clay, water and sharp sand mix

Thankfully Mungo, Rain and Megan arrived after lunch to lend a hand and we were soon mixing clay slip with sand and ready to trowel on the first layer. On account of the rain we also rigged up a temporary tarp to keep the worst of the rain off the work area. Seemed to do the trick for while.

first slip layer down

Ant turned up shortly after, followed by Flee, and unfortunately the bad weather arrived as well. It became seriously cold and very wet; hail stones hit the Yardarm and we spent the evening moving back and forth from the Yardarm which was relatively dry to the fire to keep warm in between rain showers. Camp quickly became a 2 inch deep mud bath. However it didn't dampen our spirits as we drew names for the fancy dress characters we would each be on our next boating trip - all from the Wizard of Oz!!!! and giggled the night away.

Sunday saw all the girls hurdle making as two more (Simon and Helen) turned up to lend a hand. Flee did some more work on the dam before replenishing the firewood pile, and Ant and Simon resumed the Rhodie clearance.

lazy Sunday afternoon

Unfortunately despite moving the sloping tent last night to a flatter spot Ant hadn't managed any sleep at all and went home drained and cold to thaw out in the bath. Simon took Helen home and returned with a fantastic fire-pit-dish-thing - the answer to our prayers. He had checked the weather report on his venture out of the wood into the land of phone signals and discovered storm "Katie" would be arriving around 7pm. In preparation, we transferred the fire to the new dish which we placed in the Yardarm and erected yet more tarps to block the wind. Tents were tied to trees, the gaffer tape holding my bivvy tarp together was inspected and we checked the whiskey supplies were all within easy reach. Bring it on Katie - we're ready for you!

The night was indeed wild. The noise was incredible. Like nothing I've ever heard before.
Around midnight I went to check on the dam - the pond area was almost half full and the water gushing through the middle of the dam with such force and noise it was really quite exciting.

Excitement turned to apprehension as everyone went to bed and I was alone in my bivvy with the wind howling and debris landing all around me - pitch darkness really does strange things to your hearing. Surprisingly I think I got off to sleep around 2am and woke again a few hours later... Katie was still venting her anger and something had hit the tree I was sleeping against - I felt it through my bed-poles. I didn't dare get up to look in case I dislodged something else - it was still raining hard and the deep darkness kept me in my bed, even opening my eyes I could not make out a single shape in front of me. I must have dozed off again because when I next woke it was light enough to see. The ridge pole holding the tarp over my bed had come down and was resting on the golfing umbrella I had rigged up over my head. No drama, the umbrella wasn't even bent, the rain had stopped and all was well. Time to get up and inspect the damage elsewhere in the wood. I feared the worse and was keen to check everything and everyone was ok. First things first though.... sausage sarnies for breakfast, on the new fire dish.
Then Mungo and I headed out for a look around. All seemed in order. A dead standing tree had fallen and was balancing on another in the camp area which Simon took down with the chainsaw but nothing major at all. Remarkable given the force of the wind.
We tidied up, cleared the wood of tools, tarp and rubbish and returned home for an overdue date with the bath tub. Exhausted, but happy.
The now-flooded clay base will just have to wait until another day.