# Taking things in his stride...



## KateXXXXXX (Jun 19, 2011)

He's a bonny lad, our GMNT.

Was out for large chunks of yesterday, being a tin sojer at the Lord Lieutenant's retirement do at Detling (Kent County Show ground).  The cadets were lining routes and stuff.  They had a lunch break (we sent him with sarnies), and they gave them tea and cake later in the day.  He came home tired but fine.

Next weekend he's off somewhere for 'pre-camp' - the pre-anual-camp weekend with the cadets, in preparation for annual camp.  The first year he went they were in the Brecon  Beacons, last year was Salisbury Plain, this year they're at RAF St Mawgan!  He didn't even ask if he could go: just informed me of when it was, and assumed I'd cough up as usual!  Well, yes...  It'll be a good test of what to do and to look out for, for him and his mates.

He missed his Three Star Induction weekend: that was the weekend after he'd been in hospital.  He won't be able to do his three star this year, so he's going as a junior instructor for the one stars.  

He was also thinking about what he wanted to do for the rest of his working life: something in engineering, and he's more or less reconciled to having to go to uni, so is booking a talk with the school careers adviser in the near future, to see what courses look attractive, where they are, and what he needs to get on them.  He's looking for something that leads to a career rather than a purely academic course.  Civil engineering, maybe?  We shall see.

Switch him on, light him up, and watch him go!


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 19, 2011)

Well done that Lad, he will be fine enjoying himself whilst Mum sits and worries 
I used to go to the air shows at St Mawgan. Lovely place. Have flown with the Navy pilots as well from RNAS Culdrose. (That was good fun) 
Even though at the other end of Cornwall I will give him a virtual wave


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## KateXXXXXX (Jun 19, 2011)

I tended not to worry about him doing things like hiking in the Alps, rafting in France, yomping across Wales...  I did stuff like that myself as a kid, so I know what it entails (my first taste of camping as a student involved sliding down hills with an ice axe and a dose of hypothermia!).  But now...  Yes, I will requite some delicate handling and decent distraction while he's out of sight!


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 20, 2011)

KateXXXXXX said:


> But now...  Yes, I will requite some delicate handling and decent distraction while he's out of sight!



Perhaps you could introduce hubby to the art of retail therapy


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## KateXXXXXX (Jun 20, 2011)

Ye glods, no!  I LOATHE shopping for anything other than fabric!   He does the weekly groceries, or we might starve.  Last time I was in Asda, I bought bananas and half a dozen T shirts.    He'd be bored to screaming in ten minutes.  It took him all of five to choose his watch the other week, and that was a ?170 purchase! (Mum's legacy: we decided that we really wanted decent watches.)  We did what would take other couples all day in half a morning: watches, shoes, a pile of T's and jeans for him and the lad, coffee, and lunch!  All done by 1:00pm.

Let me loose amongst the fabric stalls and shops of Walthamstow Market, in cahoots with my sewing partner Su, and we are DANGEROUS!  Took us half an hour to spend the best part of ?100 on stuff for the business.  We got about 60m of fabric for that!  Oh, and ?4 for 4m of fab fabric for an Elizabethan kirtle for me!  Best bargain was 4m of pure cashmere suiting for under a fiver a meter... We went back for the last two meters.  There will be a Dracula cloak and  pirate coat from that one.

No, I think Muttley and me will do some of our own walking while t'lad is off being a tin sojer.  Maybe Hadrian's Wall again.  Or maybe somewhere in the west country for a long weekend.  Not because *he's* there, but because we haven't been down that way for the best part of 30 years.  Distraction is the name of the game!


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## Pumper_Sue (Jun 20, 2011)

KateXXXXXX said:


> Ye glods, no!  I LOATHE shopping for anything other than fabric!   He does the weekly groceries, or we might starve.  Last time I was in Asda, I bought bananas and half a dozen T shirts.    He'd be bored to screaming in ten minutes.  It took him all of five to choose his watch the other week, and that was a ?170 purchase! (Mum's legacy: we decided that we really wanted decent watches.)  We did what would take other couples all day in half a morning: watches, shoes, a pile of T's and jeans for him and the lad, coffee, and lunch!  All done by 1:00pm.
> 
> Let me loose amongst the fabric stalls and shops of Walthamstow Market, in cahoots with my sewing partner Su, and we are DANGEROUS!  Took us half an hour to spend the best part of ?100 on stuff for the business.  We got about 60m of fabric for that!  Oh, and ?4 for 4m of fab fabric for an Elizabethan kirtle for me!  Best bargain was 4m of pure cashmere suiting for under a fiver a meter... We went back for the last two meters.  There will be a Dracula cloak and  pirate coat from that one.
> 
> No, I think Muttley and me will do some of our own walking while t'lad is off being a tin sojer.  Maybe Hadrian's Wall again.  Or maybe somewhere in the west country for a long weekend.  Not because *he's* there, but because we haven't been down that way for the best part of 30 years.  Distraction is the name of the game!



Lol you sound just like me I hate shopping as well. I food shop every 2 weeks that's it.
If you do come down to the SW make sure you go to a nice unspoilt bit as it's now the time of year to fleace the holiday makers  North Cornwall is the least pricey and the coastal footpaths are ace if you have a head for hights.


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## Copepod (Jun 20, 2011)

Kate - the only sewing I ever do is to repair clothes or make outdoor kit. Pennine Outdoor is very handy for me - mail order for small items or I call into their shop when I visit my friends who live in the same village for end or roll bargains. So, I have a wide range of oddly coloured waterproof bags, all exactly the right size I want. Worth stocking up on things like velcro in tacical colours, material for patches, D rings, buckles etc, so you have the necessary to replace / repair clothing, rucksacks, webbing etc. 

Can thoroughly recommend Hadrian's Wall, as I walked it all last September, having only done sections previously, but since launch of National Trail, it gets very busy during July / August.


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## KateXXXXXX (Jun 20, 2011)

Pumper_Sue said:


> Lol you sound just like me I hate shopping as well. I food shop every 2 weeks that's it.
> If you do come down to the SW make sure you go to a nice unspoilt bit as it's now the time of year to fleace the holiday makers  North Cornwall is the least pricey and the coastal footpaths are ace if you have a head for hights.



Love heights - and depths!  

Thanks - I shall keep your advice in mind.


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## KateXXXXXX (Jun 20, 2011)

Copepod said:


> Kate - the only sewing I ever do is to repair clothes or make outdoor kit. Pennine Outdoor is very handy for me - mail order for small items or I call into their shop when I visit my friends who live in the same village for end or roll bargains. So, I have a wide range of oddly coloured waterproof bags, all exactly the right size I want. Worth stocking up on things like velcro in tacical colours, material for patches, D rings, buckles etc, so you have the necessary to replace / repair clothing, rucksacks, webbing etc.



I've been a Pennine Outdoors and a Point North customer for many years.  I also use Shelby in Finland.  Lovely fleeces!  I have a stash of fleece in the loft!  About six crate of it!    I must try to drag the GMNT's Godmother out to Pennine next time we're up in Yorkshire visiting.

I need to find time to make Muttley a new fleece, and maybe one for the GMNT.  I need one as well...



> Can thoroughly recommend Hadrian's Wall, as I walked it all last September, having only done sections previously, but since launch of National Trail, it gets very busy during July / August.



I've done sections before: I was at uni in Durham in the 70's, and hung out with the Outdoor Ed and mountaineering club guys, Muttley's dad still lives in South Shields, and the borrowed dog's folk in Washington, so we go back frequently.

I have a great pic of the GMNT asleep on top of the wall from last summer!


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## Copepod (Jun 20, 2011)

Going off topic, here, perhaps...
I have so many fleeces, plus T shirts in cotton or technical fabric, given to me by adventure race & mountain marathon organisers in exchange for marshalling / reporting help, that I won't need to make or buy a new fleece for a decade, I reckon.  
Pennine Outdoor is in Yorkshire, but only just east of M6, north east of Lancaster - as well as visiting shop, I've stayed several nights with my friends on way to / from Lake District or west Scotland. 
I first walked on Hadrian's Wall while at Newcastle University 1989 - 92, when I was a member of Fell walking & Nordic skiing clubs. However, too many friends have told me how busy it gets these days since National trail was established, to consider walking there during July / August, except perhaps a midweek day or two.


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## novorapidboi26 (Jun 20, 2011)

Civil Engineering is brilliant, and most importantly the jobs he could do really are vast.........and the potential to travel as well..........

Everything seems to be going swimmingly, happy days............


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## fencesitter (Jun 21, 2011)

... But now... Yes, I will requite some delicate handling and decent distraction while he's out of sight! ...

Sympathies on this ... my newly diagnosed t1 boy went off for four nights camping (not that rough & ready as they were at a farm with meals provided). Thought I'd worry constantly but in the end it was OK. He didn't get in touch much, just to say he was having fun, so I resisted the temptation to ask him what his levels were!! Hope your lad has a great time.


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## KateXXXXXX (Jun 21, 2011)

Well, he's been knocking about with this lot for a couple of years now, so I've no doubt he'll have fun.

Distractions are being planned...  I have a trouser block for a customer to cut and an Elizabethan shirt for me!


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