007 Heston Blumenherbert Update!

007 Herbert is now in Jakarta and is now, as we speak locating and reporting back to us rather special culinary delights from Indonesia.

Heston Blumenherbert is his undercover name for this dangerous food tasting mission, and as you can see, to sample the delights of "Chicken Porridge" takes a firm constitution and a stiff upper lip - Best of British with that one!

Sheeps Placenta Vitamin Update.

These were seen at the Airport as 007 Heston Blumenherbert was looking for Melatonin to offset his jetlag, however on viewing the £75.00 price label decided against it and took no doubt to the time old remedy of lager.

We are hoping to hear more of his exploits as he continues his "Grand Tour" of the far east and all things not British.


Till later..............

Halloween! And 007 Herbert's Vitamin Recommendations!

It's not my cup of tea at all, Halloween that is and not "Hobgoblin" ale! Thankfully we are in the back of beyond and the chances of a trick or treater banging on the door of our caravan is remote to say the least!


It would take a brave child to walk down our track at night, we are rather remote where we are at the moment!


I must admit that even I can be a bit scared sometimes, especially if we have been watching a scary film!


Sometimes, when out walking "China" in the dark we scare the pigeons in the trees, as they fly off hitting branches as they go. Doesn't half make me jump!


I used to know a bloke called Dave "Griss" Sanders (as in the bear), now he was called "Griss" for a number of reasons, firstly he was the size of a bear and secondly he was as hairy! So a quite formidable character. However, "Griss" was scared of the dark, and would walk around at night whilst out on exercise in Germany waving a machete in front of him! Not the safest of things to do, so we tended to keep well clear of his vehicle just in case he was out, which luckily for us was rare.


We went out for a walk today, just around where we are pitched at the moment, so not a long walk at all, but on our wanderings we found the biggest mushroom/toadstool I've ever seen!

If there really are Hobgoblins, this is where they would take shelter! It was as high as "China" dogs back which happens to be 12 inches!


007 Herbert


Some of you who have been following for a while may remember our intrepid explorer and secret service agent 007 Herbert and his reports from strange places.


Well, he is in Singapore at the moment, and doing what all good spies do and that is to blend in with the local community. Now, he does struggle with this being well over 6ft tall and blonde haired in a country where the average height is 5ft 2 and predominately dark haired! 


Never the less, he reported back that he can buy 3 beers for £7.00 in down town Singapore and then sent us this picture!

Yes, it does say "Sheep Placenta" Not too sure how he came to be looking at herbal remedies, sometimes you just don't like to ask. However, I did, so we will hopefully hear back as to how he came across these pills and what they do exactly!


Till later.................

Changing Weather - Change Of Plans

Today should of been my day to visit a pub where I mow their extensive lawns. But as the ground was water logged from two days of near constant rain I thought a change of plan was in order.


We woke to sunshine and its been sunny all day here in Bournemouth.


So I decided to go and finish taking down the shed I'd started to dismantle on Tuesday and get the job done.


It took the morning to get the last half of the back wall and the whole floor broken up and carried through to the Landrover and trailer out at the front of the house. I got 95% of it in the back of the Landrover and the rest which were a couple of bags of loose wood and the door strapped to the trailer.


I was surprised to find that a concrete base had been laid as a foundation, this was a surprise as the whole floor had rotted out, along with the sides. I think what had happened was that the accumulation of pine needles and debris had just built up around the shed. The damp causing the wood to rot.


If the sides of the shed had been kept clear of debris, I think it would be still standing know, as the roof could of been repaired, even though it was in a bad state.


So there is a lesson to be learnt from this, if you have a shed, keep the sides free and let air get around the base!


Tomorrow, as its supposed to be dry I'm off to mow the lawns at the pub.


"M" has been off today and has spent the day visiting friends and family. So Ive had the afternoon to myself here at the caravan.


Must admit I've been rather lazy and not done anything! I should of been out enjoying the sunshine, but just mooched around instead.


I noticed on the news that they are expecting snow over in the USA, it has been known for us here in the UK to then get a repeat of the same weather approx 10 - 14 days later. So that makes it around the 11th November.


I quite like the snow, or rather I like the challenge that it gives us! This year we have the new addition to our vehicle fleet of the Pajero. With All Terrain tyres, we should be ok. We have also found out since owning it that it is fitted with the "Winter Pack". This does vary from vehicle to vehicle but we have a heated front screen and mirrors, it is better insulated and the fuel pump has a pre-heater before the filter which warms the fuel.


The Landrover is now only in two wheel drive as we have had to remove the rear prop, due to the  centre transfer box dying. Other than that it's still going fine Must admit it does look a wreck as it is never cleaned inside or outside! So much so that "M" now refuses to drive it, she says its full of spiders, which is true!


You certainly wouldn't want to pick up a boiled sweet if you dropped it in the car, it would be full of dog hair, the odd insect and probably some form of unknown fungus. It's as if it has it's own ecological micro climate within the car. So how can I clean it? I'm doing my bit for the planet in my own sort of strange way!


I will have to take some pictures, just so you can see how bad it really is!


Talking of the insides of cars reminds me of a road trip to Holland once. Several car loads of us used to travel the short distance from our base in West Germany as it was in those days, over the border to Holland where the the locals were all together more friendlier than our German hosts! (wink, wink)! On one such trip we were stopped at the border, and made to get out, as the car was searched. Not sure what for, but if they were looking for squaddies, beer, cash, and bad aftershave they were getting a result!


They were being rather over the top this time, normally you just drove through the border without being stopped, especially as we were in cars which were easily identifiable as belonging to serving personnel as we were issued with unique registration plates. Not sure who thought these would be a good idea, but for the terrorists (IRA) it was a bit like painting a target on the front and back of the cars!


Anyway, back at the border, we were watching the police/customs officer (they all wear guns over there) doing his bit, when he started to search under Smudge's driver's seat, his face showed a look of horror, as he removed his hand, with what looked like the remains of a 4 week old half eaten burger sticking to him! The four of us just stood and grinned, as he continued his search, where he had another grisly find!

Now Smudge had two teeth missing from the the top front of his mouth and had a plate fitted, well he did have, but he had lost it several months earlier.


Thankfully the kind customs/police officer found it as he continued his search, he pulled it from under the front seat where the burger had been lurking. The plate was covered in fluff and various other unknown objects, possibly burger. In broken English he simply looked at Smudge and said "Yours I guess"? As Smudge had a gappy smile it was a good guess. Smudge took it from him and without even wiping it off, popped it straight in!


The look on the customs/police officers face was a picture. With this he stopped searching and told us to go on our way!


Till later..................

Rain - It's Just Not Stopping!

Yesterday evening the heavens opened! A deluge of water came down in a very short space of time.


The ground being rock hard and compacted over the summer meant that the rain had no where to run except through our awning!


We had a number of good sized puddles to contend with. These have soaked away now, but it hasn't really stopped raining!


I've been off today, not that I could do anything in this weather, tomorrow is also in doubt as its supposed to be like this till Monday!


That's not good as I could do with the cash! But unless it stops raining shortly there will be no way I'm going to be pushing a mower around for 5 hrs tomorrow morning, not without the help of buoyancy aids!


"China" dog has taken herself off to bed, she hates the wet and cold! I'll have to dig out her wax jacket its in the back of the Land Rover somewhere!


The trees are rapidly changing colour, a real mixture of reds and yellows along with the evergreens we have here on site. They look fantastic in the sun, but a little drab in this weather.


I must admit I'm not a lover of this time of year, its neither one thing or the other, everything is dying off and looks grubby. Give me spring anytime or for that matter a clear crisp winter's day!


Temperatures have been holding up well, and no further frost yet, but I guess its only a matter of time before it hits us again.


All the local councils say they have been stock piling salt/grit for the roads, and some have even bought new gritting machines. They probably haven't got the staff or money to run them but that's another story! We will see what happens during the first cold snap as to how prepared they really are. 


Well, back to my chores! More washing - a mans work is never done!!!!!


Till later.............

Shed Demolition!

Its not everyday you have the task of taking down a 30 year old shed. So today was a little different.


The shed was situated in a corner of a garden, tucked up close to another shed to its left, metal railings directly behind and a rotten fence to its right.


Trick of course was to take down, and remove with out damaging the other shed or the fence.


Having only access to the very front of the shed, left me little option but to make a full frontal assault.

The glass was removed from the windows, intact! Then the tongue and grooved boarding was hit out with a hammer, to allow some light in and the up right supports remaining.

All though the shed didn't look too bad from the outside, the floor was rotten, along with the supports and to the rear, the outside of the base was shot to pieces. The roof was also leaking.

The sides were all bolted to each other, but as they were all rusty I decided that it would be easier for them to just be pulled through the wood, then to try and undo them.

I then beat the sides out to see if that would loosen it all up a bit. Considering many of the supports were rotten, complete with floor and roof, it was a little stubborn!

I then managed to get it to lean over at an angle as you can see above, then beat out the front end remaining legs which let the roof collapse exactly where I wanted it to. No damage to the shed on the left and no damage to the fence on the right, result.


Once the roof was accessible I stripped it of the roof felt, as the Tip Folk would be sure to moan if I left it on the wood, then I started dismantling the roof section.

I managed to get more done that I thought I would, especially as it chucked it down with rain, and then it rained continuously for the last couple of hours.

Next time I'm there it will be completed.

I got back to the caravan to find several puddles on the awning floor, as the heavens had opened here. I was still soaked from my drenching earlier.

Nothing much you can do to stop water coming in, this is just one of the things you have to live with. Its no great shakes, it drains away quick enough, just means you have to think about what you leave on your awning floor!

A quick mention to Joanne and her husband who are going to go full time in their caravan as of this Friday! We wish them well, and a whole new world awaits you - hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Don't forget, feel free to ask us any questions you like, you may not get the correct technical answer, but we will certainly tell you how we do it!

Till later...................

Weekends Go By Too Quickly!

Saturday


"M" was working in the morning, so I had the morning to myself and just mooched around.


As soon as "M" got back a quick cuppa and a catch up and we were off to explore, looking for more campsites. We had been told about another one which is in the area that we want to be.


We found it ok, and had a quick drive in and a look around, it looked well laid out with plenty of room. I just hate being right next to someone, how folk stay on the large commercial sites always amaze me.


Not that I'm anti-social, in fact I'm very sociable especially if you visit with a few beers, but, why go away and be within touching distance of your neighbor?


Anyway, after this we headed over to see if we could catch up with "M"'s son, but he wasn't in so we dropped in to her daughter's for a quick cuppa in New Milton.


It sure does start to get dark early these days, as we drove home in the dark at around 1830ish!


A relaxing evening, a couple of DVD's and a beer.


Sunday


No alarms this morning, but still awake by 0830, no real plans for the day, but the weather was warm and sunny so off to the coast. Southbourne to be precise and a walk along the beach.

It was quiet down on the beach, a bit windy, but it was a warm wind, China dog is allowed on the beach now, but she doesn't like the sea, so no matter how much we coax her, there is no chance of her going in!


We walked for a bit, then headed back up to the car and sat over looking the sea, watching kite surfers do their stuff, dining on pork pies, scotch eggs and crisps, as we had just been shopping!


As always the weekend goes by too quickly for us, and another week is over.


This year seams to of flown by so quickly.


News on the job front!


I called up a company that I'm hoping to hear back from, as it had been 3 weeks since I last heard from them. I've got an interview, they just don't know when it will be as the man I need to see is on holiday. So progress, all be it a bit slow!


They said that it will be in the next two weeks though - Fingers crossed for this, a complete change of direction for me, but then again, what's new!


Till later...................

Wrestling With A Hose!

During the course of my gardening escapades I happened to come across an old hose pipe.


Now being the sort of person who hates to throw anything away, I thought to myself, that would come in handy, next time I do the washing using our portable washing machine, instead of rolling aqua rolls about, all I need to do is connect the hose up and run it out to the awning and hey presto, a water supply!


Brilliant!


So this morning, with a bit of washing to do, as I'm free today but busy the rest of the week, I hooked it up with new connectors which we bought from B and Q for the princely sum of £1.00 ! Yep and they work like they only cost a quid as well! False economy!


New leaky connectors on, turn the tap on, and walk back to the end of the hose. Nowt happening! Just a trickle, checked the end, it was definitely on, as there was a trickle coming out.


My powers of deduction being as sharp as knife, thought, must be a kink somewhere! I can here it fizzing in several places along the length of the hose, no wonder it was supposed to be consigned to the bin! 


I found the kink, easy solution I'll just  untangle it, as I did I heard the rush of water, and the sound of thrashing along with the sound of water escaping at speed and under pressure! It took me a few seconds to realise all was not as it should be.


You have all heard this sound, the sound of water bouncing off the roof of your awning, sat comfortably as the heavens open, sitting there smug, knowing all is well in your little canvas world.


My only problem was I had placed the hose under the awning bottom and it was in the awning by a good 10ft!


The water was hitting the inside of the awning roof and walls!


China dog did nothing to help and looked on with a bemused look on her face as if to say, I knew that would happen just didn't like to say anything.


The water pressure here is some what fierce to say the least, this resulted in 10ft of wriggling hose which had to be caught and shut off.


This done, I was a little soggy around the edges, there are puddles on the awning floor, my jacket and a trainer were full of water, and China dog thinks I'm a muppet!


Washing is now a success, even though the roof is still dripping!


The moral of the story being, always make sure the hose pipe nozzle is shut off before placing into your awning or infact anywhere unless you have it in your hands!


Time for tea - this washing lark is hard work!


Till later..................

Our Life In A Caravan - Now On Facebook!

We have finally got around to opening up a Facebook account for ourselves here at "Our Life In A Caravan"


I cant seem to get a direct link to the page, so if you type in "Our Life In A Caravan" in the search box you should find us!?


Well, lets hope so!


Till later

Wear Your Poppy With Pride

I just came across this website, I hope you all get a chance to follow the link and take a look at what this lady is doing.

Her story is one that is starting to sound all too familiar and needs to be addressed rapidly!

Ill let her do the explaining, please take a look!

CLICK HERE

Till later...........

"China" Dog - Always With Me

China is a rescue dog, we got her in early 2009 from a local rescue centre.


The idea to get her was so that she would keep our elderly dog "Chester" a Parsons terrier company in his old age. I'm afraid on this laptop I don't have a picture of "Chester" so will have to try and dig one out.


"Chester" was a real character, full of life, with a big ego and attitude! Then one day whilst at the Netley Marsh Steam Rally, he was attacked by two other dogs, shook so violently by them that his spine was broken at the base of his skull!


He was on a short rope outside of our caravan at the time, we didn't hear a thing, only a small yelp as he was flung and landed just to the rear of our caravan.


We rushed out to see what had happened to find "Chester" lying still, but alive. The two dogs involved were, well, you would never guess in a million years, they were Golden Retrievers!


We had a witness to the attack and she was distraught with what she saw.


The owners were besides themselves, the lady owner saw the attack as well!


The upshot of all of this was that we eventually had him referred to a specialist vet just outside of Ringwood. Insurance was taking care of expenses which was just as well as the final bill came to just under £8000.00 !!!!


After an 8 hour operation to reattach his head to his neck, he was in a full body cast for weeks, lost weight and got depressed. Now if you have never seen a depressed dog it is not a good sight. But with lots of care and attention, we managed to nurse him back to health, it took the best part of 4 months.


I used to push him around in a push chair to get some fresh air! I took him to work with me and he would lay in my arms looking up at me whilst I tapped keys.


We really didnt know if he would walk again, but we gave it everything we could, eventually he started to eat, we hand fed him chicken and salmon, he ate better than us!


But, he was a fighter, and he started to make progress, eventually he walked with only a slight limp! He had another year and a bit with us after his accident.


Sadly he passed away in his sleep one night, totally heart breaking for us both.


We still had "China" who kept us going, and she has been my constant companion since we have had her.


She goes everywhere with me, and is generally well behaved, but she does have a wild streak, and if she gets on the scent of something she is off. So we have to be careful with her, and generally keep her on a lead. But, to be honest she is good off of it, and will come back when called, well I say come back, she usually rolls onto her back in total submission!


She is very sociable and unless curled up asleep on our bed she wants to either be sat next to you or preferably on you!


At night she has her own bed next to ours, good job she is a small dog as there is not a lot of room, just right for her, and she has several cushions and a blanket over her at night. She doesn't like the cold at all!


Unless the duvet slips off our bed and covers her, keeping her roasty warm, she stays put, but I can put money on it that if it doesn't she jumps onto our bed in the early hours and snuggles between us. I generally wake up to find her snoring in my ear, for a little dog she sure does snore loud!


"China" is a cross breed - a cross between a Chiwahwah and a Corgi, an unusual combination, she is an unusual dog!

A pretty little thing, well, we think so!


When she came to us she came with the name of Sandy, which was obviously not her real name as she didn't react to being called it at all! So we had to think of a new name quickly.


Sat in our local Chinese restaurant, called "China Cottage" we came up with the name of "China" went home and said the name and she immediately looked up! So that's how she got her name!

Time now is 0945 and she has still not moved from our bed! Curled up and snoring away! She is not a morning dog.


She settled well into living in a caravan full time well, all though I don't think it would of been so easy for us if she had been any bigger!


She is not keen on small kids and if anyone runs by her she wants to eat them. Some times she just doesn't like someone, even if bearing treats and will just bark at them. That's the same with dogs as well, she is quite black and white with her likes and dislikes. Strange dog.


Do we spoil her? What do you think! We try not to, but I guess she is, but she is our dog, and a big part of our lives.

You can also see that when we got her (1st Pic) she was very young, and she has since filled out a little! We were told she was 2yrs old, clearly not, she is almost twice the size from when we first got her. Personally I think she was very young, maybe only a 3 or 4 months old.

That's "China" a small dog with a big personality.

Till later...............

Dale Farm Comments From A Full Timer

I haven't mentioned anything about the goings on in Essex at Dale Farm before, but now that it appears to be all over then I have a few comments.


Firstly how about taking a look at the term "Traveler" by definition the word traveler means "persons with a cultural tradition of nomadism or of living in a caravan, and all other persons of a nomadic habit of living, whatever their race or origin". I agree with that statement.


Now, from what we are led to believe that the "Travelers" at Dale Farm have been living there for 10 years! That to me suggests that they have given up their nomadic traditions?


Also to live in a mobile home, with electric, sewage and water, some with brick attachments can hardly be described as a caravan! These 40ft mobile homes are not by any stretch of the imagination called caravans or indeed mobile!


I  appreciate that they had legally bought the land, this is not in dispute, the fact that whether you live in your caravan/mobile home on your own land or on a site, the rules are the same. I go back to the 28 day rule!


What has also happened at Dale Farm is a multitude of planning laws have been broken. This is by far the biggest problem that the local council faced.


Obviously laws are in place to protect all of us from over development and should be maintained, without them in force or in this case upheld we see with dismay the amount of money spent on getting the result that the council wanted.


I have watched with interest, via the news and through social networking sites the attitude towards these people.


In my view, they are not travelers, those who choose to live in mobile homes with full facilities cannot be classed as the same as those who have a caravan that can be towed legally on the roads.


The true travelers of Dale Farm we saw drive away, with some rather splendid brand new caravans attached to their new Ford Transits! I priced one van I saw around £20k


So lets not get the two confused.


This is mainly in my view down to the media and how they word their reports. A few weeks back there was a mobile home park that the council has served eviction orders on the residents as they are for holiday purposes only and not for permanent living. Ok Im not going into the rights and wrongs of this as most of the residence were elderly and retired and possibly mislead at point of sale, but you could hardly call them travellers/Gypsies/Pikeys or any other discriminatory words could you?


But some of the exact same laws were broken! So whats the difference?


Funny how we choose to only see what we want to see!


So my point behind all of this is that if you choose to live in a mobile home, please dont call yourself a traveler!


Oh, and play by the rules and regulations which protect us all.


Anyone can comment on this post, of course I will edit out any seriously bad language but will publish all that is sent in.

My Caravan Design Top 10 Wish List

After living in our caravan for just over a year now, you tend to come up with ideas that you would of thought that the manufacturers would of thought of.


Now, I realise that some of these ideas may well of been addressed by now or are in place on other makes of caravan.


So I can only go on what I have at the moment which is a Lunar Lexon 640 twin axle with a fixed island bed.


Don't get me wrong these are not complaints, but you would of thought that this information would of been sussed out by the makers and pushed through to the designers by now. Most are easy  to fix and would be great to see them built in as standard.


1. Our caravan is just over 7 metres long, in old money that's over 20ft, our door is to the front of the caravan. This is where the awning light is situated. However, when we have the full size awning up the rear of the awning is like the black hole of Calcutta! Its dark down there! Another awning light situated down that end of the caravan would do just the trick.


2. If you have ever had to change gas bottles in the front locker in the dark, you will know exactly what I am talking about now. I use a head torch, but even with that sometimes the angle of the dangle is not quite right. A light attached to the underneath of the locker which can be manually turned on or off or if your really posh to turn on when the locker is opened would make a big difference. I now have a battery operated circular LED light attached.


3. Fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors as standard fittings. I know some may well do this but I haven't seen many that do.


4. More electric sockets. In this day and age we use a multitude of electrical sockets in our everyday lives, we both have mobile phones, and both have laptops. Very often all four are on at the same time. We have one socket at the front end of our caravan, along the window ledge behind the front cabinet. We have installed a 4 way extension cable, its hidden from view, but still, would of been better if it had been a standard fitting. Even a double socket would of been a better idea.


5. A small tool kit, thankfully I cart around a full tool box and socket set, so can lay my hands on most tools easily. But before we went full timing I was lucky to have a screw driver on board. It doesn't need to be anything special, a bit like a car kit for your caravan, but a couple of screwdrivers, pliers etc would make all the difference.


6. A First Aid kit? We have one, but how about one as standard?


7. If you have ever been in a position to buy a new car, when you go through the sales process more time can be spent on choosing your accessories than the actual buying of the car itself. But, what you don't see is branded accessories from caravan manufacturers. In this  day and age, selling the metal is just not enough. How about branded clothing or branded kitchen ware as an obvious example. One of the things us campers like is our gadgets and bits of kit that make our lives better or easier. Camp site shops are like sweet shops to kids! So brand your goods at point of sale and create some loyalty to your marque. You  are losing a fortune guys!


8. How about a warning buzzer to let you know when your EHU supply has been interrupted either by you or your neighbors tripping out the supply. During the summer its never been much of a problem, but in the middle of winter and its freezing its not fun to wake up freezing cold as the supply has gone off during the night!


9. Warning stickers! My own personal pet hate. However there appears to be some very daft people in this world, so for the fools, how about a sticker on the tow hitch that reads "If you drive fast you are likely to kill yourself, your family or others - slow down"! 


Finally - If money was not an object -


10. A self leveling caravan! Unhook, press a button and the legs adjust to the right height and level automatically.


So now the questions is what improvements would you like to see? If we can get a good response I'm happy to pose the question to the relevant manufacturers and see what their responses are.


As I don't tend to be active on the forums these days, please feel free to ask the question and let us know here what responses you get back, it could make interesting reading?


Till later................

Sherlock Holmes And Dr. Watson Go Camping

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal, they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. Holmes said: “Watson, look up and tell me what you see”.

Watson said: “I see a fantastic panorama of countless stars”.

Holmes: “And what does that tell you?”

Watson pondered for a moment: “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.”

“Why? – What does it tell you, Holmes?”

Holmes was silent for a moment then spoke: “Someone has stolen our tent.”

Till later.....................

First Frost And Caravanning Medical Complaints And Conditions!

We had our first frost this morning, all though I didn't see it! "M" was up early as she has been working extra hours trying to get a new computer system at her worked sussed. She is up with the sparrows.


Looking back at the diary, it is exactly one year to the day that we had our first frost last year!


All the signs are that we are to have a severe winter again, but they said we were going to have a scorcher of a summer. It ended up being below average temperature wise! So who knows!


The caravan has its lagging on, I'm still to find some thin sheets of polystyrene to lag the inside of the front locker, but other than "M" working her magic with some gaffer tape and a roll of hot water cylinder jacket to make a coat for the aqua rolls we are all set! I've even got a new pair of welly's! No more campers toe for me!


Campers Toe: When you walk through wet grass on site with normal shoes on you tend to get wet feet/toes, even if you are just out to change/fill up aqua rolls!


Other ailments I've suffered from is Awning Knee - this is down to banging in or screwing in, depending on type, pegs around the awning base. I find kneeling down is easier on the back but a killer on the knees!


Tow Ball Shin - walking into the tow ball on the back of your vehicle whilst loading or unloading, especially in the dark!


Front Locker Scalping - Taking clumps of hair from your head as you are too lazy to support the front locker with the stay as you retrieve items from the locker. The locker always managing to catch the back of your head as you stand up holding equipment with both hands and dragging front locker lid over your head!


Gas Bottle Thumb - When changing over the gas bottle supply, spanner slips usually resulting in crushing thumb against handle, can also be associated with Front Locker Scalping.


EHU Elbow - As we don't have a posh reel to wind in our EHU cable, I wind it in by wrapping it around my hand and elbow, thus resulting when wet in a damp or wet elbow!


Fridge Finger - Forgetting that the fridge door is locked after moving and trying to open it to retrieve milk for a brew, can result in a broken nail!


Jockey Wheel Ball Crush - Straddling the jockey wheel to get from one side of the vehicle to the other whilst hooked up and misjudging the height and location of wind-up handle can result in this serious incapacitating injury!


Extended Mirrors Elastic Chin Ping - Our mirrors have two wrap around rubber straps, but also an elastic noose which goes over the mirror as a fail safe device if both straps were to unclip. Forgetting to take off the noose and step backwards whilst noose is still there until it slips off at high speed can result in your chin being pinged by a taught length of elastic!


As you can see, caravanning can be a dangerous past time, these are just some of the minor injuries associated with the lifestyle!


But on a serious note:


Most accidents can be avoided with proper care and attention, like not driving too fast! This has got to be one of my pet hates. How often do you see lunatics towing big units at 70mph or greater. What are they thinking of - total morons and if you are one of these people - behave yourself!


Tyre pressures, correct loading of caravans and over loading can all result in accidents no matter what speed you are doing.


Planning ahead when driving, anticipating road conditions and others actions. You have to remember that you cant just stop on a sixpence when you have nearly two ton of caravan pushing you along!


On the radio this year, a week did not go by without an accident being reported of an over turned caravan. This really shouldn't happen at all.


Other caravan accidents are fires! Hope you all have smoke detectors fitted? Also carbon monoxide detectors?


Don't BBQ or even cook within your awning or tent, a gust of wind, and you are up in flames in seconds! If you need to cook outside, use an umbrella if its raining, you wont dissolve!

Off now to the tip, then off to collect our ripped awning as it is being replaced thanks to the helpful folk at Towsure - A full report on this once we receive our new awning!


Till later......................

No Wonder We Are All Barking Mad!

The world is full of eccentrics and quirky people, but over the years the laws of our wonderful lands that we live in, laws that guide us, and keep us on the right path, well, simply have to be seen to be believed.


No wonder there are so many barking mad folk about!


Take for example the following laws: British Law



All English Men over 14 are meant to carry out 2 hours of longbow practice each weekand supervised by the local clergy. This law dates from the middle ages when there was no regular British army and local gentry were ordered to train a quota of knights, archers, infantry, etc.

As the church was the official local instrument of beauracracy,they were deployed. The areas firing range was generally called a 'bottom' and many still exist such as Trotters Bottom in Hertfordshire.

London Hackney Carriages (taxis/cabs) must carry a bale of hay and a sack of oats. This was because they were originally horse drawn, this was repealed in 1976.


It is still illegal for cab drivers to carry rabid dogs or indeed corpses and by law they must ask each and every passenger if they have small pox or 'The Plague'.


A bed may not be hung out of a window.

It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance.

Throughout the whole of England it is illegal to eat mince pies on the 25th of December.

Any boy under the age of 10 may not see a naked mannequin.

It is still an offence to beat or shake any carpet rug or mat in any street in the Metropolitan Police District, although you are allowed to shake a doormat before 8am. 

Londoners are not allowed to keep a pigsty in the front of their homes. 

It is illegal for a Member of Parliament to enter the House of Commons wearing a full suit of armour.

It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle.



You can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight in Hereford.


But if you thought we were bonkers just take a look at some US laws!

In Alaska, the following laws apply to moose:

a moose may not be viewed from an aeroplane.

it is illegal to give alcoholic beverages to a moose.

it is an offence to push a live moose out of a moving aeroplane.

 

In Texas the following laws apply:

it is illegal to take more than three sips of beer whilst standing.

the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica is also banned, as it contains a formula for making beer at home.

a new anti crime law has been introduced, requiring criminals to give their intended victims 24 hour notice, either orally or in writing to explain the nature of the crime.

In Pennsylvania the following laws apply:

Because of the farmers Anti-automobile society, these are some of the rules of the road:

Automobiles travelling on country roads at night must send up an rocket every mile, then wait ten minutes for the road to clear.

If a driver sees a team of horses, they are to pull to the side of the road, and cover their machine with a blanket or dust cover that has been painted to blend into the scenery.

In the event that a horse refuses to pass a car on the road, the owner of the car must take their car apart and conceal the parts in nearby foliage.

My favourite is this one: In New Jersey you can be arrested for slurping soup in public.
Now I'm no law expert, and not even sure if these are still valid, but I really cant see some of these still standing up to a court of law today, however, if you have ever shot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow within the walls of Hereford after midnight, and got away with it, please let us know!

Till later...............

A Day By The Coast

Saturday being "M"s day off we thought we would make good use of the fine weather, as who knows how much more of it we have to come this year. So we headed for the coast


We wanted to check out a few campsites along the way and thought we could take a walk along the cliff top as well.


We headed for Taddiford Gap near Barton, parked up and headed East.

Looking West towards Bournemouth to the far left of the coast

Looking out towards the Isle of Wight

"M" and of course "China" Dog

Erosion is causing a bit of a problem!

Just at the bottom right you can see fisherman fishing for mackerel and the concrete block is from a WW2 observation point.

Here the sea is making symmetrical patterns in the shingle 

As with most of Britain's coast line erosion is playing a big part, a number of projects are in place to try to stop the sea, but what can you do? We have caused enough problems for "Mother Nature" Too much interference has got us into this sorry mess we are in today! I personally think we are doing too little to late, no matter what we do, the damage has been done.

This is not to say that we should give up, but its damage limitation now, this is all we can do to protect our kids and their kids futures.

Some of the paths we walked along were very close to the edge of the cliff, another couple of years and the path will either have to be closed or re-routed. I hope that the later can be achieved. All coast lines are special and wonderful places, it would be a shame to loose them.

Here's a link to show more of the problems (click here)

We walked on down to  Paddy's Gap and had a cuppa, then took the walk back to the car park. It was lovely and warm, I was in shorts and shirt, no jacket even with a bit of a breeze. Very warm for this part of the year! (where's the catch)

We then went and had a look at a few campsites, we have been thinking of moving down that way for a while now, especially after what has happened recently to us. The change of scenery will do us good!

We always like to take a look at the camp sites, before we go to them, as what they say online and in the books can be completely different when you get there. I also like to make sure that the entrance is big enough to get our unit in! A couple of the sites we went to it would be extremely tight and to be honest not worth taking the risk.

This is our home, so the last thing I want to do is damage it! But we did find a couple of little gems, but as of now will be keeping these a secret!

We then headed back and stopped for a quick pint in a pub, "M" was driving as I have managed to break my glasses! Well I say break, the screw holding the arm on dropped out whilst I was gardening the other day, and that was that.

Mind you I've had these glasses long enough, I think I got them in 1999! I've had my eyesight checked and worn contacts for a number of years, but my prescription hasnt changed and as I paid over £400 for these back then I like to get my monies worth!

They do look a bit battered, but these Hugo Boss glasses have lasted well, I had the lenses thinned and a scratch resistant coating added. 

I've now managed to replace the screw so good to go again! I really should get around to getting a new pair, I will one day!

I first noticed that my eyes were a bit dodgy whilst in the Army. On the ranges one day, led in the prone position, the command goes out "A single shot to the target ahead, in your own time carry on" A cacophony of gun shot around me - apart from me - couldn't see the bloody target!  So off to the eye doc to get myself sorted out!

I always enjoyed the ranges, one of the best experiences I had was on a CQB range (Close Quarter Battle) range, you walk along a path, targets pop up and you have to decide in a fraction of a section to fill it full of lead as its a baddie, or hold fire as its a civilian! I cant even begin to imagine what that must be like to do on the streets for real! It was intense to say the least for us whilst training!

Our boys and girls are still out doing what they do best, which is doing what no normal person would do, with limited resources and poor pay. Some paying the ultimate price.

I saw yesterday that Wootton Bassett or as I should call it now Royal Wootton Bassett has now been given the title of Royal. A job well done to all those in the town and those from further afield who have paid tribute to our brave soldiers who travel through the town one last time to their final resting place.

Yesterday was a lazy day, I actually spent most of it in bed, reading and dozing! I did start to insulate the pipes around the van and attached foamed back silver foil to the inside of the seat bases on the caravan walls to try and reflect some of the heat back in.

I've read in many places now that we are in for a severe winter again! Lets hope they have it wrong. All though, we are more prepared this year for any eventuality!

I see mince pies and Christmas puddings are in the shops!  Pubs are advertising for Christmas lunches as well. Oh I do hate all the commercialism attached to the Christmas period. Not that I'm religious but we have lost the meaning of what Christmas is supposed to be all about!

Today, I'm at the caravan, doing the washing and catching up with the blog, photos and uploading music to my iphone. I've had my iphone for a while now, but thought it about time to add music to it, seeing as I do have a docking station!

The leaves here on site are rapidly falling from the tree's, it wont be long now till most of them are down. The hedges though are still quite green and the grass is still growing!


I saw what looked like daffodil leaves poking through the ground last week and an apple tree with blossom on it! Nature gone mad!


Till later...........