First outdoor lead

Last weekend I went to North Wales to climb with C. The plan was that I'd drive up, in my little hired car, put up the old blue tent I've had for years, and then collect C from Bangor railway station, since he was working that day. I hadn't seen the tent up for about 15 years, at which point I wasn't aware of the different types of tent, and didn't know that this one isn't waterproof. My father told me later tht it was never even meant to be - apparently he bought it for summer use in a hot climate. C and I managed one rather soggy night's sleep in it, and then bought a replacement at Llanberris the next day. B and I do have another tent but it's a big car-tent, not something you'd walk with, and this is the first one I've had that's really felt like my own (even though C kindly contributed to the cost). It's made be Gelert and cost us the princely sum of £70. I know it's not the finest money can buy but it's waterproof and it's mine! We had planned to climb something around Tryfan on Friday and then move on to Lighthouse Arrete on Anglesey on Saturday. But on Saturday it poured with rain all day and we had a tent to buy. So when the weather began to clear on Saturday we decided to devote the few hours we had to a very easy beginner's route on Little Tryfan where I could learn to lead. I've done some of this indoors and on sport routes in France, but clearly placing trad gear, setting up a belay etc is a different prospect. C ran through placing gear with me at the bottom of the crag. Some of this is fairly apparent from seconded a few routes. Then we went up a route that seemed suitably easy (a Diff I think but the guidebook had got sodden in the tent). It was great fun though - all except for the descent which was steep, wet and grassy. Back at the bottom again, C showed me how to secure and equalise a belay. He got me to do it three times before he was happy that I could try leading. Well I say happy - he seemed pretty nervous. More so than I was but I suspect I don't fear climbing problems enough. So eventually I set off up the route. The weight of the rack around my hips felt quite noticeable. The best bit was looking up at the rock and deciding where to go. This was a doddle because the crag was climbable just about everywhere - very easy angle, loads of cracks and blocks to stand on, but I should have stuck to one line more, because changing my mind meant that I'd clipped into the wrong rope and they crossed over. I took my time, happily pottering up it. I felt completely relaxed and I really enjoyed it. Eventually I got to the place where C had belayed before and I set mine up in exactly the same place. I put the anchors in, equalised them with a knotted sling - and then thought, "now what?". Actually tying into it baffled me a bit. I felt foolish as I called down to C to ask, and was glad he was within ear-shot. I will be much clearer on what to do at that point next time. Next I brought C up behind me. It felt odd to be belaying someone from below me. He took pictures of the gear I'd placed and critiqued it as he went - it was all passable, most of it OK, one or two bits very good. At that point it was about an hour off the start of dusk and C decided we'd abseil down. Neither of us had enjoyed the descent path much. It would also be another useful exercise, since sooner or later we'll try a sea-cliff and that will be a much bigger deal to get down to. This was a trickier abseil than Obituary Grooves because it was far less steep so there were lots of things to go round - but it was all very easy. I went down first so that C could then remove the extra protection and leave as little as possible behind. So there we are. Not perfect, but I will be clearer on exactly how to attach myself next time; nobody diedl and I have a lovely new tent!