5 September 2005

A Bush Cuppa


Peter was fiddling about inside so Lana told all the boys, "You just need to go outside and play!"
Eric spotted a dip in the ground and thought, "That would be a good place to build a fire." This was the start of a plan. First he cleared everything flammable around the hole, then he filled a bucket with water in case there was any trouble. The other boys gathered bits of leaves and sticks to serve as fuel. We have trained him well in fire safety.
What could they do with a camp fire? Boil a billy! A "Billy" is a tin can for heating water used to make a nice hot cup of tea when camping. (Think of the words to "Waltzing Matilda") Eric found a tin we had just emptied in the kitchen, and fastened a twisted wire handle.

As the children didn't really want tea, they settled on hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. A much nicer alternative!
Once I had shown them how to build a fire where the air would assist the kindling burn, and the appropriate application of blowing the embers (photo 1), the water eventually boiled.
This was carefully poured into the waiting cups by Eric, with James in charge of stirring. (Picture 2) Eric was very careful to use a stick to lift the bottom of the billy tin, and the handle was cool enough to touch.

Finally they were all able to sit around the campfire and sip their hot chocolate. It was a fine execution of a plan.

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