Thursday, December 9, 2010

the happy campers

I've been wanting to share this book with you. The Happy Campers by Tess Carr and Kat Heys (they're sisters-in-law). It's so lovely and inspiring. I got it last spring and I've been pouring over it ever since. It's a beautifully photographed, mostly inspirational, and a little bit practical, camping book. It's written by two women (they're British!) who have loved camping since childhood and have never stopped doing it. It's full of suggestions for camping trips, camp food, different locations and fun things to do whilst camping.
I just love the concept of girly camping--taking everything but the kitchen sink and making the campsite so pretty and comfey.
The authors advocate making a camp bed big and fluffy and inviting. Doesn't this look cozy?
I love this camp kitchen scene with the kettle. Warm drinks outside are so nice.
I knew I would love the book when the first page I opened to was this --instructions for knitting a simple scarf. Love!

We haven't actually gone camping with the boys yet (because they are not good through-the-night sleepers), but I'm dreaming of someday all going camping together and making a cozy little home away from home.

10 comments:

nicole said...

i am adding that book to my growing list of must reads!

Sarah said...

looks fun..I'll have to look for it at the library tomorrow. As for camping, we did our first backyard adventure this summer and it was perfect - all were back in our own bunks by midnight without too much of an effect on overall sleep needs the next day :)

tam said...

Great book - yes I love camping with my darlings - no washing and less cleaning!!!

Diane said...

Looks like a lovely book... I haven't camped for ages and I'm looking forward to taking K someday.

Today I wrote a post on my blog dedicated to you Mary Beth! I hope that doesn't sound too scary and stalker-ish, and I hope you'll pop over and have a look :-)

www.monkey-magic-blog.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

This book looks great! Every summer we have grand plans to camp and then they somehow fall by the wayside.

Andrea said...

How nice! Looks like a really fun book. You should definitely take the boys camping--they're the perfect age for it.

8760 said...

Lovely book, I have seen it in the bookshop. We have camped in the summer since Sam was 11 months. It's such an easy option with children as you can come and go as you please, at your own pace, and children love to be outdoors all day. We've camped in glorious weather and we've camped in horrible weather and it has all been good fun. I thoroughly recommend it!

Its_Lily said...

Mary Beth - please, go camping with the boys as soon as you can. It's a wonderful, bonding experience and I can almost guarantee you they will sleep through the night in the out of doors. It's something about the air. Oh, the memories, the adventures, the experiences. Don't wait. We camp with the littles as much as we can.

JIW said...

I'd love this book. I love the simpleness of camping...down to basics and this books seems like it would just add a bit of "comfy and cozy" to camp life. Love that!

Debs said...

I have this book already! It is lovely and inspired us to go camping. They have a website, too: www.thehappycampers.co.uk
We have even added our review of one of the campsites we visited on it. (Senlac Wood, Sussex)