Piper and I walked down to the allotment yesterday afternoon to pick some leeks for our supper, and came back home to fetch Pete because we’d seen other plot-holders burning bonfires and wanted to do the same.  We scurried back down there with a number of newspapers under our arms to start our fire, but alas, even I, a seasoned African girl with many braais (BBQs) and campfires under my belt, was defeated by the slightly damp, still very green vegetation that required disposing of.  The kindly allotment society chairman, Gordon, even tried to help things along a little with his weed-killing blowtorch, but to no avail.  Our heap stubborly refused to become a bonfire!

I now realise that we took the wrong approach to bonfiring.  Number one rule: be prepared!  We should have taken kindling (lots of it) with us, and folded lots of longer lasting firelighters out of newspaper before heading off to plot.  Rest assured, next year will be a different experience entirely.  We’ll be prepared, oh yes we will!