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..................