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..........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)