By: Blonde Two
Hammocking for women
I would love to know how many of the UK women who turned 50 this year (I did look for statistics) were given a hammock by their husbands. I hope it is many and that they all have a lovely, peaceful #GetOutside time hanging around in woods all over Britain.
Wait a minute, maybe I have struck on another program idea for ITV here… how about ‘Britain’s Favourite Hangs: Top 100’? Other famous people (and yes, I do think that 4 minutes of prime time TV talking to a man-shaped rock constitutes fame) who are going to turn 50 this year include Will Smith and Hugh Jackman, despite this pair being of a reasonably attractive frame, I won’t be inviting them to join me in my hammock. Mr B2 would be invited but he has his own, lightweight hammock version and therefore doesn’t need to join me.
This hammock is mine and it is for me, I am going to hang and hang and hang, as often as I can find trees (I am under firm instructions not to try hanging from the washing line posts).
I have wanted my own hammock for as long as I can remember and this specific hammock, the Hennessy Jungle Explorer XL (the XL stands for Extra Lovely) ever since Six-Foot-Blonde (son) who is also known as ‘Hammocker‘ and something of a hammock expert, took us on a ‘family hang’ hammocking trip in the snow.
I could tell you lots of thing about my new hammock, that it has a special place for my Thermarest sleeping mat, that it has its own bespoke tarp, that it has a mosquito (or midge net) or (best of all) that it has a little hanging bag for my glasses and head torch, but what I really want to tell you about it in this blog post, is that I spent the afternoon of my 50th birthday swinging happily from the trees and that this made me very happy, very happy indeed.
I am certain that Hennessey the Hammock is going to feature widely in my 2018 #50Sleeps challenge. 50 outdoor sleeps for 50 years so I will have plenty of opportunity to tell you how marvellous it is. For now… I have become, not a tree-hugger, but a tree-spotter!
#GetOutside
Dartmoor Wild Camping Weekends
We Blondes are lucky enough live near Dartmoor, which is the only place in England where you can legally wild camp. We have a few, very sensible camping restrictions and no-go areas. You can check out the wild camping map here but if you are a wild camping novice and fancy joining the Two Blondes on a wild camping workshop, August 25th and 26th 2018 are the dates for you and the cost will be £90. Email us to make your booking… we’re famous now so you had better be quick!
While you are here, check out our other navigation training workshops and guided walk dates.
Enjoyed the Top 100 program, reckon they could have spread this over more episodes as personally I’d have like more detail. As a follower loved number 57. Love Dartmoor but Bodmin moor has much to offer as well. The program inspired me to dig out my compass but sadly the fluid within seems to have disappeared out of my old Stesco. Any recommendations on a replacement there seems so much more choice than when I last purchased. Which ones do you use on your workshops? Regards Meg
Hi Megan, good to hear from you. We Blondes often say we must explore Bodmin a bit more. We had a lovely walk from Minnions once but that was ages ago. Great news that you are feeling like using your compass. We usually recommend Silva compasses but these are proving tricky to get hold of. We have been pleased with the ones OS donated for our workshops (OS 15 Compass), have a look on their website, they are Suunto compasses and we have recently been given a pair of their more advanced (OS 35 Compass) to try out, which look great. If you click on the OS Maps advert on our site, we will get a little bit of commission from the sale. If you are getting back into navigation, do take a look at our navigation workshops, we offer beginners’, improvers’ and night navigation courses and are particularly keen to encourage ladies to get out there navigating.