The first delivery and training for a Jurte in the year is always a, how can I put it?, cold moment, but this one was different; it was cold and wet. And muddy. And I had a sick Giraffe in tow who refused to get out of the car and get her hooves dirty let alone expose her poorly neck. 
We were on the Yorkshire Moors at a lovely little place called Birch Hall in Langdale End (which is all near Scarborough) meeting up with the 15th Middlesborough Scouts to deliver the last pieces of their 8m Jurte and do the training. It was cold and damp underfoot but luckily the sun also shone down and took the edge from the day. We arrived just after 10 and I will admit to being quite impressed that the free sat nav app on my phone got me there without any problems (apart from the wonderful ‘Make a U-turn and then a U-turn’ as we drove up the M11 – huh?). The scouts welcomed me in the time honoured way with a cup of tea which was gratefully received. We emptied everything on to the flatish ground, pulled our boots out of the mire – don’t stand still too long – and soon had the tent flying up. This was, I have to admit, an easy training session as the scout leaders gathered already knew their knots and lashings. Luckily, almost like I had a cunning plan, we managed to make a mess up of a few things so the centre had to be dropped and relashed and sorted out before it was up properly (a training session with no problems is no fun!). The small matter of 4 missing guy ropes didn’t help but that was entirely my fault.
Once the roof was up they were introduced to the joys of buttoning
which proved to be no match for the 15th Middlesborough and soon it was sitting proudly in the weak sunshine wanting for nothing except maybe a nice fire to dry out the ground and warm the tent up. Luckily they’d also bought a lovely 60cm fire dish and had the foresight to bring along lots of dry wood. After a couple of attempts (it was one of the leaders first try at lighting a fire using proper techniques) there was soon a fire crackling away, sending sparks shooting upwards – don’t worry, they were too cold to do anything by the time they got to the roof – and sending out lots of lovely heat. And that’s where I left the, enjoying their new tent, sat around a nice warm fire, planning and plotting the year ahead.
Gina and I had to get back down to (almost) London so we said our goodbyes and set off. Via Scarborough of course as Gina wanted to see the sea and didn’t think sand would be as bad for her as mud.
Scarborough is, I would say, almost a typical traditional seaside resort – especially in the winter! A bit if sun, a nice sandy beach and everyone wrapped up against the cold but enjoying themselves. We had a quick stop for photo’s and then my phone fell apart in such a way that I couldn’t be heard talking to anyone. 2 months old and kaput! ARGGGGHHH!!!! Luckily a friend suggested a reboot as modern phones are all software and he was right, it helped. And here I am, a product of God knows how many years of IT support and I didn’t do the one thing we always tell people – “Have you tried rebooting?” Duh!
So, a few photo’s later we did the long trek back down the A1 with Gina still poorly – she’s got a very bad neck in case you’re wondering and I’ve now sent her off to the Giraffe hospital (they have extra long beds and pillows, just for Giraffes) to be made better. She’s already informed me that she expects me to make or buy her an exotic scarf to protect her neck in the future and it’s never wise to ignore the demands of sick Giraffes. Hopefully she’ll be better for the next trip away and more inclined to be sociable.
Well, now he’s finished ‘complaining’ I shall give you my side of the story and trip! I’ve hurt my neck! and he STILL made me go on a trip around the UK despite being ILL!! Git! So when I saw the mud at the site (which is a lovely place btw and a great base for Scout groups) and the size of the mole hills – about 50 times bigger than normal which means moles 50 times bigger and moles like to eat Giraffes! – there was no way I was getting out of the car. Plus the wind was freezing! I expected snow any minute and Giraffes don’t do snow. Ever. I was, as you can tell, not in a very good mood, and maybe I was a bit stroppy but I am a girl Giraffe and I am (still) ill with a very bad neck – if you think humans get bad neckache, try being a Giraffe! Hopefully I’ll be sorted out soon and back on my feet ready for the next trip where I will be more friendly. Promise. Gina xxx
I have to say that it was quite a drive and we ended up in the depths of Suffolk meeting and greeting a bunch of very nice scouts who had a huge field with lovely green grass – I wanted to run and roll all over it but Inga said I had to behave – spoilsport. Instead she made me sit quietly and behave myself while they unloaded the car and Mark started the training. So dull. I wanted to run and play and get to know the scouts!
insisted that I behave like a demure Giraffe and not like a trollop – I still don’t know what a trollop is but I’m pretty certain it isn’t a compliment (unless you come from Essex but I don’t understand that comment either!). Luckily she got distracted by the training session and left us alone – so we escaped and had fun on the grass. HA HA HA I got away from Inga and played! Nyeh nyeh!
It’s a pity really as he has been to some fascinating places in his time and it has done nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for getting out and about and seeing the world (as you should do too – feel free to send me pics if you do, too!). We lazed around the entire afternoon while they finished training and had a barbeque. Eventually though we had to go and everything was packed away so we could drive back to the birthday campsite. I was sad to leave my new friends (especially one of them) but that’s the lot of a Giraffe on the road. Inga made some dark comments about multi-coloured babies and Giraffe’s with lots of legs. I think the sun may have affected her as I have no idea what she was talking about.
where they were setting up for some strange event called Maelstrom (almost certainly one of those odd role-playing things Mark likes so much) and did some very rapid training. Luckily they are pretty switched on folks so didn’t need a great deal of assistance. As they’re planning to use it for a lot of events this year i have no doubt they’ll be pretty good by the time I see them again at Drachenfest in July. We got away as quickly as we could cos I was excited to get to our next appointment with The Folk Trail to deliver an 
The porch we had delivered, and even modified there and then so it was even more useful, was to both provide shelter for the front of the bell tent that they were using and a space for Cara to sleep if she was too muddy or smelly to be in the tent. Quite mean of them really; we animals deserve our luxury’s for putting up with you lot!
too. The people walking the Folk Trail were lovely and I hoped we’d be able to see them again before they finished and maybe even walk a few miles with them but it ultimately turned out not to be as we just ended up too busy this season to squeeze another visit in. Breakfast was served and everyone said their goodbyes while tents and gear were broken down and quickly packed away. I waved them goodbye as they headed off on the next leg of their journey from Glastonbury to Emborough. We then had to pack ourselves back in the car for our next long round trip – Glastonbury to Birmingham to Peterborough. Phew, we really rack up the miles when we’re in the country these days.
I was a tad dubious but it was somewhere new so I wasn’t going to stay at home. We headed off down the autobahn (that’s German for motorway, I’m finally starting to go native!) in the car with everything we were supposed to need packed into a trailer and hung out at a service station for a while waiting for more people to show up so we could go in convoy – safety in numbers, obviously. Eventually Alex and his friends turned up in a a cloud of steam (well almost) and after one of the engines had cooled down enough we drove slowly into Cologne and found the Conference centre. It’s huge! Enormous! And, when you’re going in the back entrance, quite hard to fins out where you’re going. So we got lost and had to go back and start again. We found ourselves in a strange encampment out the back of the main conference halls and near the music stage, opposite the food stalls and without a blade of grass to be seen anywhere – it was all concrete; so how were they going to put up a tent to use as a stand? Alex was fine, he had those funny Viking style tents that you put together with a mallet and lots of cursing but we had bought a 
and, for once, the brainless wombat – as he will henceforth be known – remembered to take quite a few pictures. Normally they all work so hard that they forget and end an event with nothing to use for marketing or, even worse, my blog! Humans! Love ‘em to bits, but really, there are limits even for a mild mannered not temperamental at all giraffe like me!