A very productive day at the caravan

 We took Betty with us yesterday and spent almost the whole day at the caravan, we got quite a lot done in the 5 or 6 hours we were there, makes such a difference when we don't have to rush to get back home.

3 drawers in the big lounge unit were falling apart, so husband repaired them all, then I took off the old handles and put the new knobs on.  All knobs in place now and I'm so pleased with them (little things make me happy).  Had a good look at all the Venetian blinds we took off the windows prior to decorating - they're not in very good condition so we're scrapping them, will have nets instead.  I'd rather not have nets at all, but Betty is woofy when she sees anyone outside the caravan, so it'll cut down on her noticing a bit, hopefully.  As the van is south facing, it gets all the sun, so hopefully the nets will help to shield the inside a little bit as well - it's been like an oven in there during hot days.  Must take a fan over.

I made a couple of doormats from leftover lounge carpet - just a case of cutting to size and then binding the edges with tape.  Made one as a splash mat for Betty's food and water bowls too.  Husband made some adjustments to the various bits of pipework in the kitchen, prior to beginning to fit the kitchen units (which will be next week).  Oh, and big news - we have electricity!  Husband wasn't going to use any power tools or anything until the system has all been checked by the electrician (today), but it was lovely just to be able to have the radio on while we worked.  We painted the kitchen walls with the undercoat, just the ceiling to do now, then the lovely aqua colour top coat.

We then moved outside and made a start on the very overgrown shrubs at the front of the caravan:-

Since that photo was taken on the 2 June, it's all grown a lot more, halfway up the windows in fact (most of it is a jasmine, although there's some Rose of Sharon and a couple of other things too).  We pruned it heavily to half the height and breadth, filling 3 large black plastic bags.  I forgot to take an after photo, sorry.  After some discussion, we've decided that eventually we'll have all that shrubbery at the front out completely, will lay paving slabs along the front instead and have pots of flowers and small shrubs.  Having done all that pruning, I've now got several insect bites....funny how you don't notice them at the time, the itchiness woke me up in the night.

Husband is about to go off to the van by himself, he'll be meeting the electrician there and doing some more gardening whilst the sparky does his work inside.  I've got some things to do here at home, including trying to locate a gazebo for the van garden, everywhere seems to be out of stock, and getting caravan insurance organised.  It's good to know that very soon we'll be able to start staying overnight at the van.