After getting up at 0430hrs every day last week, I was more than ready for a lay in on Saturday morning.
However, it's amazing how quickly you bodies time clock gets used to that time and I found myself awake rather early! "M" was not working this weekend so we lazed around and eventually got up around 9ish, a real luxury!
Saturday evening we went to a Christmas party, yes I did say Christmas party, we had a feast of Turkey with all the trimmings. I think there were 35 of us sat down at Whichampton Club. The food was excellent. Personally I think it's a good idea to have a get together then, as the run up to Christmas can be a little hectic.
We also caught up with other folk who attend the same vintage rallies as us. All in all a good night, and I woke up on Sunday morning feeling a little worse for wear.
Sunday we didn't do a great deal.
We have been planning to move down towards New Milton as that is where "M" comes from and her son who is expecting their first child lives there and so does "M"s daughter. We have checked out a couple of sites which meet our criteria. So we may well be down that way by the end of this month.
We have also received a lot of applications for the various vintage rallies that are taking place this year, so they all have to be filled in and returned. I'm not too sure which one's we will be attending this year due to work commitments, we will just have to wait and see how things pan out.
As I left this morning it was snowing hard, but I don't think it will come to anything, however, it does look as if the temperatures are going to fall rapidly over the next few days.
We thought we would get away without wrapping up the aqua rolls, so far this winter we have not had a problem as it simply hasn't been cold enough, but anything below -4 and they tend to ice up. "M" could well be called into action to make a new cover out of a hot water cylinder jacket. We still have enough wrap around pieces left to make a jacket for the aqua roll.
One of the things I had to do in my leave of absence from blogging was sort out our water pump. It's still not completely fixed, but it's a lot better than it was. The flow of water was almost non existent and it rattled like a pebble in a metal bucket.
The plan was to strip out the inlet filter and see if that would help, I did this, and to be honest there was very little debris in the filter, connected it back up and it still wouldn't work. After a lot of swearing, I found that the casing to the pump was very loose, hence the rattle, tightened it all back up, bled the system and we now have a good flow of water coming through. In fact the shower is now excellent! The pump is now very quiet!
Sometimes though, the pump kicks in, which means either that we have a leak somewhere, which so far I haven't been able to find, so I really don't think it is that. Or, the sensor needs re-adjusting slightly. This is what I think the real problem is, so will have to get the manual out and have a play!
Till later.................
Monday, 30 January 2012
Friday, 27 January 2012
It's Been A While!
Well, things have been a little bit stressful and hectic these past couple of weeks.
Firstly we had some personal issues to deal with, most things I am happy to talk about on here, but there are a few things which are best left unsaid. These you will be glad to here are all sorted and we are stronger than ever.
The second thing being that I have started my new job, which entails early mornings, getting up at 0430 and getting back home at 1830! Long days indeed.
However, all is good, now that a few initial setbacks have been ironed out in my favour.
It really has been a roller coaster these last few weeks, but I'm hoping that all is settling back down now.
Money is coming home, "M" and I are happy and China dog is officially not a morning dog at all!
Talking about money, we may even be able to save now! It's been a while since I had good and regular money coming in, I can't begin to tell you all how much of a relief it is.
This weekend we are off out for a "Christmas Dinner" with friends. We are being picked up by mini bus, and now I won't have to worry about being able to afford to buy a round of drinks!
Thank you all who have emailed in asking if we are ok, as I have said before it is humbling to think that people we have never met worry about us!
Normal service will now be resumed as long as I can stay awake long enough, as this was my first full week of getting up at 0430 and I was tucked up in bed and fast asleep by 2100 last night!
Till later..................
Firstly we had some personal issues to deal with, most things I am happy to talk about on here, but there are a few things which are best left unsaid. These you will be glad to here are all sorted and we are stronger than ever.
The second thing being that I have started my new job, which entails early mornings, getting up at 0430 and getting back home at 1830! Long days indeed.
However, all is good, now that a few initial setbacks have been ironed out in my favour.
It really has been a roller coaster these last few weeks, but I'm hoping that all is settling back down now.
Money is coming home, "M" and I are happy and China dog is officially not a morning dog at all!
Talking about money, we may even be able to save now! It's been a while since I had good and regular money coming in, I can't begin to tell you all how much of a relief it is.
This weekend we are off out for a "Christmas Dinner" with friends. We are being picked up by mini bus, and now I won't have to worry about being able to afford to buy a round of drinks!
Thank you all who have emailed in asking if we are ok, as I have said before it is humbling to think that people we have never met worry about us!
Normal service will now be resumed as long as I can stay awake long enough, as this was my first full week of getting up at 0430 and I was tucked up in bed and fast asleep by 2100 last night!
Till later..................
Friday, 13 January 2012
A-Z Challenge April 2012
There is however a theme, hence the A-Z. Each day has to start with a letter of the alphabet spread out over the month.
As you may well expect, my theme will be caravan/camping related, but I must admit I'm struggling with a few of the letters. So may have to use artistic licence when the time comes and just go off on a tangent! No change there then!
The idea was first used to inspire writers and to get them thinking about writing when their minds were blank. Thankfully I do not suffer from that. My head is always swimming with thoughts, just that sometimes they need armbands to keep them near the surface.
Without these armbands you can sink rather rapidly to unknown depths as I recently found out, and my God is it dark down there!
I think that everyone at some point suffers from a form of depression, it's how we cope with it is the key to survival.
One thing that helped me was having something to focus on, a succession of goals and achievements to get me to where I wanted to be. Of course this is on going, but I firmly believe that by having that focus I swam to the surface again.
So maybe this A-Z could help you? Give you a focus of having to do something positive.
How can a blog be positive I hear you ask? Well, from a personal point of view, we have had a number of people tell us here that we have inspired them to change their lives. Well, if that isn't a positive thing then I don't know what is!
No matter what you write about, some one, some where will read it. I myself read a multitude of different blogs, on subjects I have no knowledge of. Its amazing what you can learn from real people writing about real things!
Take a look at the challenge by clicking on the banners at the top and below, and get ready for the sign up on the 30th January.
Till later...............
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Kindle - A What? And Free Kindle Books!
It's a rare thing in life to come across something that is free! But Amazon have made available a number of free kindle books for you to download!
For those who are unfamiliar with the kindle it is basically a mini computer, no keyboard, you plug it into your existing computer via a usb cable, select the book you are wanting from various online retail outlets, pay for it and then down load it. It's simple and easy.
To take a look at one to see what I'm talking about GO HERE
It is also ideal for anyone who caravans or has a motor home as if you are anything like us, we always have a few books lying around and the weight of these soon mounts up. As an example I recently pulled out all our books on board, and weighed them - the combined weight of these books was 6.2Kg!
If you need another reason to buy a kindle then there is the storage saving, let alone the actual cost of the books in the first place which are cheaper than the printed versions.
I also discovered that nearly all of the daily newspapers can be bought and downloaded via kindle at a fraction of the cost of a hard copy!
Of course there is nothing like the feel of a real book, holding it in your hand and actually turning the pages, but like it or not kindle is here to stay.
So to see what all the fuss is about, take a look at AMAZON
to see how a kindle could revolutionise your reading!
Oh and I nearly forgot click Free eBook Collection for your free downloads!
I have informed "M" that once we have a few pennies in our pockets that this would make the perfect birthday present for me!
Till later....................
For those who are unfamiliar with the kindle it is basically a mini computer, no keyboard, you plug it into your existing computer via a usb cable, select the book you are wanting from various online retail outlets, pay for it and then down load it. It's simple and easy.
To take a look at one to see what I'm talking about GO HERE
It is also ideal for anyone who caravans or has a motor home as if you are anything like us, we always have a few books lying around and the weight of these soon mounts up. As an example I recently pulled out all our books on board, and weighed them - the combined weight of these books was 6.2Kg!
If you need another reason to buy a kindle then there is the storage saving, let alone the actual cost of the books in the first place which are cheaper than the printed versions.
I also discovered that nearly all of the daily newspapers can be bought and downloaded via kindle at a fraction of the cost of a hard copy!
Of course there is nothing like the feel of a real book, holding it in your hand and actually turning the pages, but like it or not kindle is here to stay.
So to see what all the fuss is about, take a look at AMAZON
to see how a kindle could revolutionise your reading!Oh and I nearly forgot click Free eBook Collection
for your free downloads!I have informed "M" that once we have a few pennies in our pockets that this would make the perfect birthday present for me!
Till later....................
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Tent / Awning Pegs
Little did I suspect that when I looked into sourcing some new pegs for our awning would I be faced with such a multitude of choice! So much so that I haven't decided which ones to go for!
At the moment we use screw in one's with an orange top. These are screwed in with the help of my cordless drill, the regular plastic type with the T at the top and when we use the smaller awning I use the common and straight forward metal pegs.
Our screw in pegs are starting to corrode after a year of almost non stop use. The cold weather last year also played havoc with the plastic tops. None have broken but you can see that they are beginning to go.
So I had a look at what was available.
Ive heard about rock pegs, but have never used them, guess we have been lucky so far in that the ground has always been soft enough for what we have. Either that or the screw in pegs that I have are bloody good!
We have lost a few pegs along the way I'm sure. They keep cropping up in various door pockets of the cars at irregular times! I've even got one in my barbour coat pocket, it's been in it for at least 6 months now! You never know when you may just need it, so I don't want to take it out. Mind you as there is also an assortment of screwdrivers, if I was to be stopped and searched by the police it looks as if I'm off out to burgle someones house! I don't think I look like the average burgler, not many top flap windows, cat flaps or indeed normal sized windows I could squeeze through!
So get on with it, what's available I hear you ask? If your not, then click off now as the rest is all about tent pegs and I don't want to bore you! Rock and roll hey! Go HERE and have a look through all the goodies available.
At the moment we use screw in one's with an orange top. These are screwed in with the help of my cordless drill, the regular plastic type with the T at the top and when we use the smaller awning I use the common and straight forward metal pegs.
Our screw in pegs are starting to corrode after a year of almost non stop use. The cold weather last year also played havoc with the plastic tops. None have broken but you can see that they are beginning to go.
So I had a look at what was available.
Ive heard about rock pegs, but have never used them, guess we have been lucky so far in that the ground has always been soft enough for what we have. Either that or the screw in pegs that I have are bloody good!
We have lost a few pegs along the way I'm sure. They keep cropping up in various door pockets of the cars at irregular times! I've even got one in my barbour coat pocket, it's been in it for at least 6 months now! You never know when you may just need it, so I don't want to take it out. Mind you as there is also an assortment of screwdrivers, if I was to be stopped and searched by the police it looks as if I'm off out to burgle someones house! I don't think I look like the average burgler, not many top flap windows, cat flaps or indeed normal sized windows I could squeeze through!
So get on with it, what's available I hear you ask? If your not, then click off now as the rest is all about tent pegs and I don't want to bore you! Rock and roll hey! Go HERE and have a look through all the goodies available.
Standard 17cm Long Metal Tent Pegs. These coming in a pack of 144, not sure why anyone would want 144 of them unless you are extremely forgetful or you are in the habit of loosing lots of pegs! But at under £15.00 for that lot it will take you a while to get through them!
12 Plastic Tent Pegs. 9" long but what made me laugh was that on their advert it states that they are guaranteed not to rust! They are bloody plastic - how daft do they think we are!
6 Heavy Duty Tent Pegs - These do look a little bit more meatier than the others, but once more the makers have either run out of things to say about their pegs or they think we are stupid as once more we are informed that they will not rust!
25 Glow In The Dark Rock Pegs - I do like the idea of these, many a time after sampling an ale or two my eyesight not being perfect a glowing peg could well be handy either for not tripping over or to find my way back into the awning!
8 Illuminated LED Plastic Tent Pegs - Now these look brilliant! Depending on how long the batteries last. But I do like the principle behind them. They are 15cm long and have an on/off switch.
20 Threaded Screw In Plastic Tent Pegs - We have the metal version of these, so the decision is really go for a direct replacement of go for the plastic ones? The plastic ones seen here look as if they have a thicker threaded section which would provide greater grip in wet conditions, but may be a prone to damage on stony ground?
20 Threaded Screw in Steel Tent Pegs - Our plastic tops are orange otherwise the same. With less thread in wet ground they are easier to extract without having to unscrew them! Mind you they have kept our awning anchored down so I can't complain.
We have a set of Storm Straps, which clip onto the ends of our awning. We also use a Ratchet Strap from the centre pole of the awning to a Screw In Dog Spike. This seems to work well.
The only time we had problems with our awning was when we, or I should say I failed to fit the storm straps! Other than that it has held up well to all weather conditions.
So any clearer? I'm certainly not, but if honest I do have a leaning towards the plastic screw in type, as there is life still my old steel ones, I could use them both at the same time to give them a fair test. I also like the idea of a couple of the LED pegs, these could be useful. If nothing else I could keep one in my coat pocket and use it as a torch thus avoiding awkward questions if stopped by the old bill!
Till later...........
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Get Wise! Get Yourselves A Caravan! How It All Started For Us!
A daunting prospect isn't it!? I mean where do you start? what do I look for? how much am I going to spend?
And more importantly in these times of austerity how cheap can I do it all for!
Well, speaking from experience we bought our first caravan a couple of years ago on ebay for £157.00 yes, you did read that correctly. It cost us £157.00 and that included a hook up cable and 2 aqua rolls!
It was a Abbey GT 212 - 2 Berth. OK, it wasn't top of the range or anything like that, but as we were knew to the game we didn't want to spend a fortune to find out that it was a bad idea! Mind you it had got to be better than a tent. Which is what we had used previously!
For that sort of money we decided we could take a gamble, we won it on ebay, then set off to collect it from a dark, wet, and desolate place - (Up North)!
We were that green we didn't check anything, we took it in good faith and what we were told about it.
Once being given the grand tour by the previous owner, we set off, the idea being that we would get half way down and check in to a pre-booked campsite at a pub.
Never having towed a caravan before, it was a bit of a game, is it still on the back was the constant question!
We pulled into the camp-site, got out the hook-up cable, connected up and hey presto we had electric! The fridge worked, and so did the heater! Well what more do you need!
So off to the pub, a few beers, then back to settle down for the night, where we sussed the bed out and had a good kip! Next morning we set about working out the cooker, grill and hob. We were told that there was a problem with the hob as only one burner would work properly. Not a problem we managed to cook some amazing meals on one ring, grill and oven over the time we had that caravan!
During the summer we invested in an awning, well, I say an awning it was really a gazebo that cost £20 from tesco's so not high quality but it did the job.
We bought a waste hog off of ebay for £10 and that was our only other purchase.
We had a lot of use out of the caravan, we only sold it as we went full-timing and ended up with our current caravan a Lunar Lexon 640 twin axle with an island bed as seen below with both awnings up - showing off a bit!
You know the best thing was we sold it for £250 minus the hook-up cables and aqua rolls!
My point to all of this is that caravanning need not be expensive at all, we have proved that. We turned up on many a site where a few snobby folk looked at us strangely in their £20k caravans, but each to their own. If your that far stuck up your own arse to look down on other folk maybe you should re-consider your type of holiday/hobby.
Here's a couple of caravans under £200 - Caravan A Caravan B Caravan C Well they were when I wrote this!
We may of been lucky with our first caravan, but really, a couple of hundred pounds on something these days is not a lot to spend, you spend more on your monthly food shop! Who cares if it smells a bit like a damp dog, there's a leaky skylight and there is a hole in the floor in one of the cupboards! It's all part of the fun!
So if your looking for a cheap holiday with the kids, and want to get out in the fresh air and enjoy the countryside, get wise, get yourself a caravan!
Till later....................
And more importantly in these times of austerity how cheap can I do it all for!
It was a Abbey GT 212 - 2 Berth. OK, it wasn't top of the range or anything like that, but as we were knew to the game we didn't want to spend a fortune to find out that it was a bad idea! Mind you it had got to be better than a tent. Which is what we had used previously!
For that sort of money we decided we could take a gamble, we won it on ebay, then set off to collect it from a dark, wet, and desolate place - (Up North)!
We were that green we didn't check anything, we took it in good faith and what we were told about it.
Once being given the grand tour by the previous owner, we set off, the idea being that we would get half way down and check in to a pre-booked campsite at a pub.
Never having towed a caravan before, it was a bit of a game, is it still on the back was the constant question!
We pulled into the camp-site, got out the hook-up cable, connected up and hey presto we had electric! The fridge worked, and so did the heater! Well what more do you need!
So off to the pub, a few beers, then back to settle down for the night, where we sussed the bed out and had a good kip! Next morning we set about working out the cooker, grill and hob. We were told that there was a problem with the hob as only one burner would work properly. Not a problem we managed to cook some amazing meals on one ring, grill and oven over the time we had that caravan!
During the summer we invested in an awning, well, I say an awning it was really a gazebo that cost £20 from tesco's so not high quality but it did the job.
We bought a waste hog off of ebay for £10 and that was our only other purchase.
We had a lot of use out of the caravan, we only sold it as we went full-timing and ended up with our current caravan a Lunar Lexon 640 twin axle with an island bed as seen below with both awnings up - showing off a bit!
You know the best thing was we sold it for £250 minus the hook-up cables and aqua rolls!
My point to all of this is that caravanning need not be expensive at all, we have proved that. We turned up on many a site where a few snobby folk looked at us strangely in their £20k caravans, but each to their own. If your that far stuck up your own arse to look down on other folk maybe you should re-consider your type of holiday/hobby.
Here's a couple of caravans under £200 - Caravan A Caravan B Caravan C Well they were when I wrote this!
We may of been lucky with our first caravan, but really, a couple of hundred pounds on something these days is not a lot to spend, you spend more on your monthly food shop! Who cares if it smells a bit like a damp dog, there's a leaky skylight and there is a hole in the floor in one of the cupboards! It's all part of the fun!
So if your looking for a cheap holiday with the kids, and want to get out in the fresh air and enjoy the countryside, get wise, get yourself a caravan!
Till later....................
Monday, 9 January 2012
Paperwork Nearly Complete And Where Does It All Stop?
I've been waiting since before Christmas for two pieces of paperwork to come back so that I can start my new job!
These are my provisional licence for coach driving and my CRB check which is a check done to make sure that I am a fit and proper person (debatable in some folks eyes)!
Well, my CRB check has come through with no problems. But we had a bit of a technical hitch with the licence as I was supposed to include my current licence with the application.
I had a letter from them explaining my mistake so that was sent off "Special Deliver" on Friday, so they would of got that today! I'm hoping that with a bit of luck and a fair wind that it will be returned to me by the end of the week.
All I have to do then is contact the bus company and get a start date!
So, at last the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!
Now for something completely different
I read a well put together article in our local free paper called the Blackmore Vale Magazine by Mathew Manning he is on blogspot so easy to follow. He wrote a piece titled "Give Wild Meat A Try". As you can imagine it's about pigeon and rabbit, shooting it and eating it. As a country lad who by the way has never held a shotgun licence, but as ex-services know how to use one! This is right up my street. I've had pigeon and am partial to a bit of rabbit! The only trouble with pigeon is you need a flock on your plate to fill you up!
But on reading his blog I was "not" surprised to see a comment left exclaiming that the author should of put in a disclaimer about hurting animals and all the what if's you could imagine. Well, call me old fashioned but how the heck is this guy supposed to do or say anything that will help! There are more birds/wild animals killed/injured as a result of road accidents than shot with an air rifle. Perhaps we should take care and dodge the on coming moths when driving at night? "Save A MOTH - Drive Daylight Hours ONLY"! as where does it really stop? All God's creatures etc.
Of course, there will always be the minority scum who use air rifles to hurt animals, but this is a minority. If you start cracking down on all and making it illegal, a) you will drive it underground b) the morons will just do something different!
We just have to accept that in life there are those who are responsible and those who need to be put into the stocks and flogged! Simple! God I'm sounding like Clarkson!
However, I respect any one's right to make a statement, but not to have a dig at the guy for doing what he does responsibly!
I must also point out that I have no connection with the author Mathew Manning, I've never met or heard of the bloke before reading about it in the paper. However I do support him!
If you want to get on a high horse about animal welfare, try European Battery Hen farming or Veal production! Did you know that the living space/cage for a battery hen is no greater than the size of a A4 piece of paper! But leave the guys that shoot pigeons and rabbits (technically classed as vermin)! alone.
I feel better now, haven't had a rant in ages!
Till later..........
These are my provisional licence for coach driving and my CRB check which is a check done to make sure that I am a fit and proper person (debatable in some folks eyes)!
Well, my CRB check has come through with no problems. But we had a bit of a technical hitch with the licence as I was supposed to include my current licence with the application.
I had a letter from them explaining my mistake so that was sent off "Special Deliver" on Friday, so they would of got that today! I'm hoping that with a bit of luck and a fair wind that it will be returned to me by the end of the week.
All I have to do then is contact the bus company and get a start date!
So, at last the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!
Now for something completely different
I read a well put together article in our local free paper called the Blackmore Vale Magazine by Mathew Manning he is on blogspot so easy to follow. He wrote a piece titled "Give Wild Meat A Try". As you can imagine it's about pigeon and rabbit, shooting it and eating it. As a country lad who by the way has never held a shotgun licence, but as ex-services know how to use one! This is right up my street. I've had pigeon and am partial to a bit of rabbit! The only trouble with pigeon is you need a flock on your plate to fill you up!
But on reading his blog I was "not" surprised to see a comment left exclaiming that the author should of put in a disclaimer about hurting animals and all the what if's you could imagine. Well, call me old fashioned but how the heck is this guy supposed to do or say anything that will help! There are more birds/wild animals killed/injured as a result of road accidents than shot with an air rifle. Perhaps we should take care and dodge the on coming moths when driving at night? "Save A MOTH - Drive Daylight Hours ONLY"! as where does it really stop? All God's creatures etc.
Of course, there will always be the minority scum who use air rifles to hurt animals, but this is a minority. If you start cracking down on all and making it illegal, a) you will drive it underground b) the morons will just do something different!
We just have to accept that in life there are those who are responsible and those who need to be put into the stocks and flogged! Simple! God I'm sounding like Clarkson!
However, I respect any one's right to make a statement, but not to have a dig at the guy for doing what he does responsibly!
I must also point out that I have no connection with the author Mathew Manning, I've never met or heard of the bloke before reading about it in the paper. However I do support him!
If you want to get on a high horse about animal welfare, try European Battery Hen farming or Veal production! Did you know that the living space/cage for a battery hen is no greater than the size of a A4 piece of paper! But leave the guys that shoot pigeons and rabbits (technically classed as vermin)! alone.
I feel better now, haven't had a rant in ages!
Till later..........
Read All About It!
Four books were reviewed recently with the latest edition of the Caravan Club Magazine were Britain's Best Historic Sites, The Hairy Bikers Perfect Pies, Frozen Planet and The Real "Dad's Army" - The Diaries Of Col Rodney Foster.
Each one I took a look at to see if I could get them cheaper, no real surprises then! I've done it again!
Im not going to review each book, if you want to find out more about each one just click on the links.
Britain's Best Historic Sites: ISBN 9781847739841Hardback Book - RRP £14.99 but check the link to see that it is a tad cheaper, mind you it is in paperback version.
The Hairy Bikers Perfect Pies: ISBN 9780297863250 Hardback Book - RRP £20.00 but under half price if you click on the link!
I've also been able to track down The Hairy Bikers Cookbook Series 1 and 2 on DVD as well!
Frozen Planet: ISBN 9781846079627 Hardback Book - RRP £25.00 Once more by clicking the link you will see that it's roughly half price!
The Frozen Planet Complete Series is also available on DVD. This is actually cheaper than the RRP of the hardback book!
The Real "Dads Army" - The War Diaries Of Colonel Rodney Foster: ISBN 9780670919826. RRP16.99. Once more half price!
In case you are unfamiliar with the term Dad's Army it was a term given to those who were to old or had protected jobs during World War 2 - This was our last line of defence against Zee Germans! It also spawned a fantastic comedy series called "Dad's Army" who will ever forget the lines of "Dont Panic" We're Doomed", "You Stupid Boy" and my favourite said by Captain Mannering when being quizzed by the captured U-Boat Captain of "Dont tell him your name Pike"
I've tracked down the Complete Series - it is absolutely timeless comedy!
Till later...................
Each one I took a look at to see if I could get them cheaper, no real surprises then! I've done it again!
Im not going to review each book, if you want to find out more about each one just click on the links.
Britain's Best Historic Sites: ISBN 9781847739841Hardback Book - RRP £14.99 but check the link to see that it is a tad cheaper, mind you it is in paperback version.
The Hairy Bikers Perfect Pies: ISBN 9780297863250 Hardback Book - RRP £20.00 but under half price if you click on the link!
I've also been able to track down The Hairy Bikers Cookbook Series 1 and 2 on DVD as well!
Frozen Planet: ISBN 9781846079627 Hardback Book - RRP £25.00 Once more by clicking the link you will see that it's roughly half price!
The Frozen Planet Complete Series is also available on DVD. This is actually cheaper than the RRP of the hardback book!
The Real "Dads Army" - The War Diaries Of Colonel Rodney Foster: ISBN 9780670919826. RRP16.99. Once more half price!
In case you are unfamiliar with the term Dad's Army it was a term given to those who were to old or had protected jobs during World War 2 - This was our last line of defence against Zee Germans! It also spawned a fantastic comedy series called "Dad's Army" who will ever forget the lines of "Dont Panic" We're Doomed", "You Stupid Boy" and my favourite said by Captain Mannering when being quizzed by the captured U-Boat Captain of "Dont tell him your name Pike"
I've tracked down the Complete Series - it is absolutely timeless comedy!
Till later...................
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Essential First Aid Kits
Do you have a first aid kit on board?
We have a kit that has been called into action a couple of times now for cuts and sprains. So reading through the Caravan Club magazine I saw a two paged article on them which made me think that all though we have one, it could really do with being updated or at least re-stocked.
So guess what? You can find some of them below and a couple of extra ones as well, so if your own first aid kit comprises of a couple a plasters, paracetamol, and a grubby old bandage, read on!
The Reliance Medical First Aid Kit is a good all round first aid kit which comes in a strong fabric bag. It contains an assortment of plasters, tape, sterile wipes and scissors. A pair of gloves, and a number of bandages and dressings. Its also a couple of quid cheaper here than in the book!
The AA Soft Pouch First Aid Kit is easily stored in a caravan or motor home locker. There is room in the bag to add other bits and pieces such as pain killers and the like. This kit also includes scissors and safety pins. Though if you are like us the scissors soon got taken from our kit and put into every day use. There is also a foil blanket, essential for keeping an injured person warm until help comes or in my case to wrap myself in after completing a marathon!
The Touch Of Ginger Urban First Aid Kit, is housed in a solid plastic container, great for handbags or day sacks as it is pretty robust. A good kit if you are into adventure sports for cleaning up minor injuries. You won't be able to perform open heart surgery with this, but a handy thing to have whilst out and about. The case itself measures 15.5cm x 8cm x 4.5cm.
The St John Ambulance First Response First Aid Kit is not your average first aid kit. Designed more if you are holding a rally or an event where a good kit is necessary. As kits go it is really comprehensive as you would expect from the St John Ambulance!
The Mr Bump First Aid Kit, aimed at little kids or big kids like me is just great for soothing those bumps and scrapes that kids get whilst exploring the great outdoors whilst on a camping holiday after being wrapped up in cotton wool at home! It even has Mr Bump printed plasters! Its a very basic kit, more psychological than anything else but could be the difference between a screaming child and a pacified child!
Finally, how could we forget our four legged companions! The Warwick Pet First Aid Kit is comprehensive as you can see from the picture, what I liked the best was the paw print badage!
We have a kit that has been called into action a couple of times now for cuts and sprains. So reading through the Caravan Club magazine I saw a two paged article on them which made me think that all though we have one, it could really do with being updated or at least re-stocked.
So guess what? You can find some of them below and a couple of extra ones as well, so if your own first aid kit comprises of a couple a plasters, paracetamol, and a grubby old bandage, read on!
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| Reliance Medical Travel First Aid Kit |
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| AA Soft Pouch First Aid Kit |
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| Touch Of Ginger Urban First Aid Kit |
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| St John Ambulance First Response First Aid Kit |
So if you are an organiser of any event then this would be a good kit to have around, and what's more the price is under £30.00 so a real bargain, especially when you compare it with some of the smaller kits available.
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| Mr Bump First Aid Kit |
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| Warwick Pet First Aid Kit |
If you have never been on a First Aid course, maybe it's time you did. Just knowing the basics can save a life! So why not take a look at St Johns Ambulance web site to see how you could get the knowledge to save a life.
Till later...............
Till later...............
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Caravan Club Shop Front
The new magazine for the Caravan Club arrived today, one of the things I tend to look at is what new gadgets and goods are available.
One of the things I find is that you have to go to each individual maker to buy these, I would rather go to one place and buy from one source and preferably on line.
So with this in mind I have taken a look at the items featured this month and found that nearly all of them can be purchased from one place. That place is here, yes, right here from this very page!
The other thing I found is that I could nearly always beat the price displayed in the magazine or at least match it.
Well, here they all are:
Ladies Wellies by Wedgewellies, these first came to light on BBC2's Dragon's Den and have become one of their success stories. The boots in the mag are for young girls, but if your past your teen's then there is a whole selection of colours and patterns for you to choose from. As worn by many celebrities, you too can splosh through to the loo or fill the aqua-roll dressed in the height of fashion, even if you do still have your leopard print PJ's on!
Swedish made Urbinista's new Copenhagen mid-size headphones which are lightweight and can be folded up and stored within their own storage/carry case. No tangled leads to contend with when trying to stow everything away!
I couldn't find the exact shoe, but there is a complete range of Hanwag Trekking Boots for ladies and gents with different styles and colours available. These are not cheap, but they are a top of the range boot and are highly regarded as one of the finest boots available.
The Ricoh CX6 multi-function camera is brimming with functions but briefly it has a 10 Mega Pixel LCD monitor with a magnification of 10.7x (28-300mm) zoom lens which can auto focus in 0.1 second! For the full spec just click on the link to see more.
One of the things I find is that you have to go to each individual maker to buy these, I would rather go to one place and buy from one source and preferably on line.
So with this in mind I have taken a look at the items featured this month and found that nearly all of them can be purchased from one place. That place is here, yes, right here from this very page!
The other thing I found is that I could nearly always beat the price displayed in the magazine or at least match it.
Well, here they all are:
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| Wedgewelly with funky pattern - various sizes! |
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| Urbanista Mid Size On-Ear Headphones |
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| Hanwag Men's Trekking Boots |
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| Ricoh CX6 |
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| Safefill Refillable Gas Bottle |
The refillable gas bottle by Safefill can be purchased direct from themselves and you can pay via paypal! These bottles can be refilled at any garage using a normal LPG refill system. All though at 15.5 litres I would have trouble fitting that in my front locker, and having them sat outside the caravan does not go down well!
The best deal on all Care-avan products was direct from themselves, they have a massive range of cleaners which are approved by Bailey. They even have a waterless cleaner!
Hope that make's sourcing these items a little easier for you all!
Till later...................
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| Care-avan Shampoo and Polish Kit |
Hope that make's sourcing these items a little easier for you all!
Till later...................
Twitter - Do You Tweet?
I joined twitter just over a year ago.
Some say what's the point, but I find Twitter useful for making contact with other like minded souls who camp and caravan all year round.
Without Twitter we would not of got our awning so easily replaced without the help of Towsure on Twitter.
Recently we heard about an accident that had closed a road near us that we would not of heard about otherwise.
You get exposed to lots of snippets of information that otherwise you would not see, plus it's a great way to stay in touch.
My user name on Twitter is @caravanliving so if you haven't all ready said hello then please do so.
But what I wanted to tell you about was something I stumbled upon which is a way to make a few quid from Twitter.
How does it work?
Advertising on the interweb is big business with more and more companies looking to expand their presence via social media. Simply, these companies pay you to tweet for them, you have full control over what type of company is used and how often they tweet your followers. What makes it even easier is that once you have signed up you don't have to do anything else, except approve which companies you wish to work with!
It's all very simple and takes less than 5 mins to sort out! SIGN UP HERE
So take a look, if it's for you then sign up, and if not, then no worries!
Till later.............
Some say what's the point, but I find Twitter useful for making contact with other like minded souls who camp and caravan all year round.
Without Twitter we would not of got our awning so easily replaced without the help of Towsure on Twitter.
Recently we heard about an accident that had closed a road near us that we would not of heard about otherwise.
You get exposed to lots of snippets of information that otherwise you would not see, plus it's a great way to stay in touch.
My user name on Twitter is @caravanliving so if you haven't all ready said hello then please do so.
But what I wanted to tell you about was something I stumbled upon which is a way to make a few quid from Twitter.
How does it work?
Advertising on the interweb is big business with more and more companies looking to expand their presence via social media. Simply, these companies pay you to tweet for them, you have full control over what type of company is used and how often they tweet your followers. What makes it even easier is that once you have signed up you don't have to do anything else, except approve which companies you wish to work with!
It's all very simple and takes less than 5 mins to sort out! SIGN UP HERE
So take a look, if it's for you then sign up, and if not, then no worries!
Till later.............
Friday, 6 January 2012
It's Getting Lighter In The Evenings All Ready!
Is it just my imagination or is it starting to stay light just that little bit longer in the evenings?
So much for the prediction of a harsh winter. So far our only problem has been brought on by wind, and we are not talking about the brussel sprout variety either.
The last few days here in East Dorset has been spent hanging on to our large awning! Thankfully it survived the 50-60mph gusts that were recorded in these parts. Must admit to thinking several times, that the end was near, as you could hear the wind building up from a distance as it roared it's way through the tree's! Not for the faint hearted!
Plenty of tree branches down around us, and all around the caravan and awning is littered with twigs! Thankfully nothing large broke off and landed on us! We did hear some large cracks of tree's falling or branches breaking off but we have been unable to find out which ones or how close they were to us!
We did have a power cut yesterday for a few hours as a result of a tree down on the line, but after a few hours it all came back on. We do have the generator as back up in our trailer, but for the short period of time it was off it stayed packed away.
The site has dried out really quickly after the New Year deluge which saw a couple of campers here requiring the use of a 4x4 to extract themselves from their pitches.
All is now quiet and peaceful with just two units on site. Lovely!
I've had the week at the caravan where I've caught up on the washing and general duties! I think I'm up in Shaston for a couple of days next week.
I had a letter back from the licensing folk in Swansea who now say they want my old licence sent back before they issue me with my new one. That wasn't made clear on the form so that will be another week's delay.
China dog has gone into hibernation mode, and is sleeping for long periods at a time. There is nothing wrong with her as when she is awake she is like a "Thing on a Spring" and full of energy. She has just recently decided that she likes to play with our feet, the more you push her away, the more she likes it, to a point where it looks like you are kicking her!
Not always a good time to play as your putting your socks on, or taking your boots off!
If you get chance on the bottom right of the blog you will see a box which says A to Z challenge April 2012. Have a click on it and a read through. I will be taking up the challenge of writing everyday for the month of April and visiting as many other blogs as I can. It sounds like a fun thing to do, who knows what you may learn!
Till later......................
So much for the prediction of a harsh winter. So far our only problem has been brought on by wind, and we are not talking about the brussel sprout variety either.
The last few days here in East Dorset has been spent hanging on to our large awning! Thankfully it survived the 50-60mph gusts that were recorded in these parts. Must admit to thinking several times, that the end was near, as you could hear the wind building up from a distance as it roared it's way through the tree's! Not for the faint hearted!
Plenty of tree branches down around us, and all around the caravan and awning is littered with twigs! Thankfully nothing large broke off and landed on us! We did hear some large cracks of tree's falling or branches breaking off but we have been unable to find out which ones or how close they were to us!
We did have a power cut yesterday for a few hours as a result of a tree down on the line, but after a few hours it all came back on. We do have the generator as back up in our trailer, but for the short period of time it was off it stayed packed away.
The site has dried out really quickly after the New Year deluge which saw a couple of campers here requiring the use of a 4x4 to extract themselves from their pitches.
All is now quiet and peaceful with just two units on site. Lovely!
I've had the week at the caravan where I've caught up on the washing and general duties! I think I'm up in Shaston for a couple of days next week.
I had a letter back from the licensing folk in Swansea who now say they want my old licence sent back before they issue me with my new one. That wasn't made clear on the form so that will be another week's delay.
China dog has gone into hibernation mode, and is sleeping for long periods at a time. There is nothing wrong with her as when she is awake she is like a "Thing on a Spring" and full of energy. She has just recently decided that she likes to play with our feet, the more you push her away, the more she likes it, to a point where it looks like you are kicking her!
Not always a good time to play as your putting your socks on, or taking your boots off!
If you get chance on the bottom right of the blog you will see a box which says A to Z challenge April 2012. Have a click on it and a read through. I will be taking up the challenge of writing everyday for the month of April and visiting as many other blogs as I can. It sounds like a fun thing to do, who knows what you may learn!
Till later......................
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Happy New Year!
My head hurts! But self-inflicted as we spent New Year's Eve with friends of ours down in Bournemouth. A good night was had by all, with plenty of drink and food available.
Woke this morning feeling a little groggy, after not sleeping that well as it was strange being back in Suburbia with light pollution, sirens and general hum drum of living in a built up area. I even thought there was a light on outside, but it was just the street lights! It's amazing how used to get to having the total peace and quiet of living in a field!
We had tea and toast and made our way back to our caravan, home, and it feels good!
As we are sat in our caravan watching the other campers pack up, its pouring with rain, and we both feel very smug as we sit here with our cuppa's knowing we are staying!
The site is getting a bit churned up with the others attempting to get their units out through the mud! So far they have managed to do it as one of them has a 4x4. They wouldn't of done it with out it.
I was primed to lend a hand but they seem to have it all under control so I'm staying put in the dry!
It's always difficult to know what to do, do you offer to help or not, as some people don't like help. At the vintage rally's everyone pitches in and helps, you don't have to ask, several pair's of hands just turn up!
So what will 2012 bring us? More money for a start, as a new job awaits me! So that will make life so much easier.
Not sure how many vintage shows we will do this year, as I've know idea what hours I'll be working so we will have to play that a bit by ear. It will also be nice to have paid holiday! After being self-employed for 11 years that will be a novelty.
Hopefully having paid holiday will mean we can actually take a couple of weeks off and head off somewhere with caravan attached! Lots of places we would like to go and spend some time in.
I can feel it's going to be a good year!
Hope you all have a great 2012, as I keep having to remind myself, life is what you make it, so make it good!
Till later................
Woke this morning feeling a little groggy, after not sleeping that well as it was strange being back in Suburbia with light pollution, sirens and general hum drum of living in a built up area. I even thought there was a light on outside, but it was just the street lights! It's amazing how used to get to having the total peace and quiet of living in a field!
We had tea and toast and made our way back to our caravan, home, and it feels good!
As we are sat in our caravan watching the other campers pack up, its pouring with rain, and we both feel very smug as we sit here with our cuppa's knowing we are staying!
The site is getting a bit churned up with the others attempting to get their units out through the mud! So far they have managed to do it as one of them has a 4x4. They wouldn't of done it with out it.
I was primed to lend a hand but they seem to have it all under control so I'm staying put in the dry!
It's always difficult to know what to do, do you offer to help or not, as some people don't like help. At the vintage rally's everyone pitches in and helps, you don't have to ask, several pair's of hands just turn up!
So what will 2012 bring us? More money for a start, as a new job awaits me! So that will make life so much easier.
Not sure how many vintage shows we will do this year, as I've know idea what hours I'll be working so we will have to play that a bit by ear. It will also be nice to have paid holiday! After being self-employed for 11 years that will be a novelty.
Hopefully having paid holiday will mean we can actually take a couple of weeks off and head off somewhere with caravan attached! Lots of places we would like to go and spend some time in.
I can feel it's going to be a good year!
Hope you all have a great 2012, as I keep having to remind myself, life is what you make it, so make it good!
Till later................
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