Back home and some observations

 Back after 5 nights in the caravan, our longest time yet....think we had 2 nights first of all, then 3 a few days later.  By October we might stay there the whole month......😂😂

We achieved quite a few things whilst there, doing them at our own pace and being able to stop for a rest and chat with the neighbours was really good, so it's not been all work and no play.  One of my plans didn't work out which was a bit of a disappointment, but there's always next time (hopefully).  We had a couple of boiling hot days (quite unpleasant in a tin box) followed by a few heavy showers and a thunderstorm in the early hours of one morning, which Betty didn't like at all, but she soon settled down after I got up and cuddled her.  The last couple of days have been warm, but pleasantly so rather than scorching.  Having spent some time living there now, I have some observations:-

1.  I am very tidy and organised - not obsessively so, but I do like everything in its place, I don't like mess and stuff scattered everywhere.  Husband is the complete opposite of me - he is extremely untidy and the most disorganised person I know.  After being with him for 40 years, I've learnt to live with his mess at home - to a certain extent, and provided it's contained within a small area, until it gets out of hand (every few weeks) and he knows then he's got to clear it or else!  Well, in a small space like a 31 x 10 feet caravan, mess is not tolerable.  Whilst he's working, he has 'stuff' scattered everywhere - and I do mean everywhere.....there's a trail of mess and destruction wherever he goes.  I have done my best to close my eyes to it whilst he's doing a job, despite having trodden on loads of bits and having to move a ton of stuff out of the way of doorways or cupboards I want to get into.  But when he's finished, the mess has to be cleared away - I can't stand sitting down and having piles of random DIY stuff wherever I look, it drives me nuts.  He also has a habit of leaving shoes, slippers, discarded t-shirts he's taken off because it's hot, or one of his 3 hats (no I don't know why he needs 3 at the caravan) just lying around everywhere - nope, I'm not having that in the caravan either!  One thing we're not short of in the van is cupboards, so he's got no excuse for not putting things out of sight.

2.  There's only one double electric socket in the 2nd bedroom and it's in the wrong place - wish I'd noticed that before the electrician came last month.  We'll have to get that sorted somehow, need a reading light beside the pillow end of the bed (it's not much use at the foot end!).  And no I can't sleep the other end of the bed.....there's no room for a bedside table at that end.  

3.  For the last 2 nights I've slept in the 2nd bedroom and have had the best sleep, both nights, I've had in months.  Bliss.

4.  We need to fence or box in the rear part of the garden behind the caravan, asap.  Our next door neighbour, the one who was offhand at first (she's not now) and has 2 small yappy ankle biter dogs, has a nasty habit of opening her van door early morning/late at night and simply letting the dogs out loose to do their business - which they do right beside or behind our caravan!  Husband has already had to ask her twice to pick up poo - she did it straight away and was very apologetic, but that's not the point.  We don't let Betty loose to crap wherever she likes, and we certainly wouldn't do it in the caravan park (it's not allowed anyway!  It's in the park regs).  Oh and we came back from shopping the other day to find that the neighbour had tied both her dogs to our aerial pole "because it's in the shade, whereas it's too hot outside our van"!!!  Honestly, some people are just oblivious to social etiquette.  Or is it just me being too fussy?  We don't want to report her to the owner, and we certainly don't want to fall out with her.  So I guess all we can do is just to fence our rear garden in so her dogs can't get there.  Fortunately, she and her husband are going home on Wednesday and not coming back until the end of August, so we'll have some peace for 3 or 4 weeks.

5.  Our neighbours on the other side, however, and the ones the other side of them, are all absolutely lovely, we get on so well with them all, it's like we've known them for ages.

6.  Although I have WiFi on my phone, using it absolutely eats up both data and power, so I haven't used it much (hence the lack of posts and comments on your blogs).  And I have to say I haven't really missed it all that much......I thought I'd be lost without my laptop!  It would be useful to be able to take and use my laptop, however, there are things I can't do easily on my phone.  Will have to sort something out.  I did ask neighbours what they use, if anything - they don't!!  (they're mostly quite a bit older so not big internet users).  Something to think about.

I've got half a page of small jobs to do next time we go back (probably Sunday).  The list is getting smaller and smaller.....😁

Oh, and I meant to take lots of photos before we came home today and completely forgot!!  So the big photo reveal will have to wait till next time we go, sorry.