Thursday 25 November 2010

Cold outside, but warm in here!

Where does the time go!? One minute Im relaxing on a Sunday evening, the next thing its Thursday evening!

So, this week, as Im sure everyone is all aware of,  its bloody cold, but for us full timers it does give us a few problems. Nothing that cant be overcome but you dont have to worry so much about the cold when you live in a house!

Ive lagged the outside water pipe that connects to the aqua roll with special pipe foam, designed for the purpose, tie wrapped on, it, so far, has done the job! Having survived -5, which has been the coldest that its registered since we have started out. This weekend we are going to get a water tank jacket, and make an insulating jacket for the aqua roll with the use of copious amounts of duct tap or is it duck tape? Till then I have bungied an old floor mat around it, which again appears to be doing the job! The aquaroll is also sat on a wooden plinth to keep it off the ground. We also keep the spare full roll inside the awning.

We keep the window blinds down all the time to keep the heat in, we seem to be able to get it upto 20 degrees on only 1000w and without the blown air system on. It does go to 2000w so I cant see us getting cold inside!

Dont leave clothes on the floor, it gets to cold to put on the next day, I also place my dressing gown up against the side of my pillow as the wooden side of the wardrobe is rather cold to the touch during the night!

If we put the heating up too high before we go to bed, it gets really hot, so we sort of try and find a happy medium, but first thing in the morning it drops to around 13 degrees, which isnt unbearable, but as it only takes a few minutes to heat back up, no great shakes. He says, as "M" is first up and I dont get out of bed till coffee is made and its warmed up a bit. My excuse being that I would only get in her way as she is getting ready for work. My excuse anyway!

"M" feels the cold more than I do, probably due to the fact that I have a hefty layer of insulation around me and she doesnt! I havent had to dig my PJ's out yet!

Just been told that the winter quilt is now on the bed!

This weekend, Im also going to be looking at lagging inside pipes, (just in case) and the back of the cupboards with cardboard as the draughts from the outside vents for the fridge are making it a bit draughty. Also noticed that the cutlery is very cold! I dont want to block vents as that is just plain stupidity, but I do want to cut out any unnecessary draughts which there seem to be a few to many!

Apart from that, there hasnt been many changes to how we live, just need to think things through a little.

Its been a very busy week, non stop tapping of keys in either Shaston or Bournemouth. So busy that I havent had time to blog let alone do any listing for my own site! I know slacking, there are after all 24 hrs in a day!

I did list some amazing items, one of which is a photographic account by a Royal Naval officer whilst serving on HMS Bee 1936 - 1938. It shows photographs of the USS Panay which was sunk after an attack by the Japanese airforce, also the bombing of Shaghai, and the execution of Chinese citizens by Japanese soldiers! The photographs are of amazing quality and near professional standard. What I found amazing was the photographers ability to take a picture under extreme conditions. Im not sure that I could focus then push the button as I watched people being shot in the back of the head! These photos also show pictures of the winter and summer palaces along with other temples. They really do make a fantastic collection, so watch out for these as they will be up for sale over the Christmas period!

Talking of China!

China is off to the vets tomorrow to be neutered! She had a special meal of cooked chicken, pasta and veg tonight. Almost a last meal for the condemned! A shame as we would of liked to have pups from her, but just not practical living in a caravan, even if your awning is as big as the Albert Hall! She will be a sorry looking dog tomorrow! We have bought her a fleece which she enjoys wearing, she does suffer from the cold! When we first put it on her she wasnt too sure, she walked as if she was a puppet! But, now she really likes it and gets rather over excited when we put it on her!

The big question now is - Is it going to snow? Weather forecasts being totally unreliable, who knows! Shaston also seems to have its own micro climate, a few flakes were seen earlier this evening, but nothing since. The road I take to Shaston is a B road, 30 miles of windy twisty lanes over high ground! Will be interesting as the road is liable to drifting with only a very light snow fall! Thankfully we have a landrover, so should see me through ok, what ever the weather.

It does make me wonder how we as a country seem to fail so badly with only minor snow falls. The weather when I worked in Germany was far worse, and we had ice rain to contend with, yet, nothing seemed to grind to a halt over there!

So we will wait to see what happens over night, nothing I suspect, just a bit cold!

Nothing much planned for the weekend, apart from the lagging, and looking after a sore dog!

Over did it last weekend on the ale, so may go for a dry one this weekend!

So till later.......

2 comments:

  1. Hi!

    I'm also living in a caravan for the first time this year. I'm in belgium and got to -4 on friday without any worries...

    I'm looking forward to reading your posts. I dont really have the time for the moment but as i'll be getting mobile internet for my caravan pretty soon i'm thinking it would be fun to stay in touch....

    By the way... the fridge in my caravan doesnt work on gaz so i unmounted the vents outside and covered them with a layer of industrial plastic bag and screwed them back in. I find that blocking those vents does not cause any problems...it might be worth trying on your side as it has made a considerable difference for me...

    C u!


    Phil, 23 years old, student in lutherie (guitar building)

    philippe.grayson (at) gmail dot com

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  2. Hi Philippe, Ive done exactly that after talking to another caravan dealer, the vents are only used to help cool the fridge during the summer, so untill I can get hold of some winter covers Ive covered them in weather proof tape, and it has made a huge difference! I can now take the cutlery out of the draw without getting frostbite! And, yes, please do keep in touch either here or via our email address at bakers_cottage@btinternet.com Jools & "M"

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