Not racing but getting there

 Thank you for comments, it certainly doesn't feel like we're racing along with the caravan work.  In fact, it is progressing quite slowly.....but the point is, it IS progressing and that's pleasing us both.  The list of jobs I write up for us to do at the caravan every day isn't set in stone, it's more of a 'If we can do, we will' list.  Like today, two of the jobs on the list didn't get done, but no matter, they'll get done tomorrow.

Today we took a box of crockery and cutlery which I put in our new cupboard in the dining area, it's nice to be able to eat our packed lunches from now on off of proper crockery and not just out of a plastic bag.  And we took our new kettle, and had a proper cuppa, freshly made, in our lovely new mugs - so much nicer than a flask!  I had to use a socket in the lounge to plug the kettle in, as we still have no kitchen at the moment, but that was ok - we had a nice cuppa in our lovely lounge and that's all that matters.

Tomorrow I'm taking the steam cleaner and deep cleaning the mattress and headboard, whilst husband finishes off the small area of boarding left to do on the kitchen wall, then lays the vinyl flooring.  His mate has said he now feels fit enough to help install the kitchen units, so that'll be happening on Friday.  That'll be good for husband to have help - I'm not really a lot of help when it comes to DIY.  So hopefully by the end of this coming weekend, we'll have a working kitchen.

The bedroom will be next - it's only a case of decorating in there, so it should be a doddle compared to the lounge and kitchen.  Then once I've deep cleaned the bathroom and we have a working toilet and hand basin, we can start staying there overnight!  

It'll be so much better when we can stay there and finish off the remaining jobs at our leisure.

We met another of the neighbours today, he said we've done a great job as the van was in a poor state before and it's looking so much better now.  That was nice to hear.

Migraine so feeling yuck today

 I had a migraine yesterday, used to get them regularly but only rarely now, it's the first one in a couple of years.  Headache had gone this morning, but have felt washed out, knackered and nauseous all day.  Still, went to the caravan and got on with things.  When husband and I have been there together, the last thing I do before we come home is a general tidy up, bagging up all rubbish, putting all tools away in the small bedroom (husband's temporary shed!), wiping surfaces down and hoovering all through.  So I wasn't very pleased to find that husband and the electrician between them had left the van in a bit of a mess on Saturday - tools and empty packets (from all the new electrical bits fitted) scattered everywhere, mess all over the kitchen floor, dusty footprints and bits of grass (the site owner had cut the grass on Saturday) trodden all over the (new) lounge carpet.  So tidying up was the first thing I had to do.

Wiped all the windows down (beats me how they get so dusty all the time....although I guess it was probably the work the electrician was doing on Saturday) then put up new nets on all the lounge windows except one - ran out of curtain wire, bought some more on the way home so can finish the last window tomorrow.  Velcroed the sofa armrests back in place, having taken them home to re-cover them.  Husband fitted the new uplighter that the electrician couldn't do on Saturday, as it was broken inside the sealed box.  He then put some more hardboard sheets up on the kitchen outer wall, to line it prior to wallpapering.  Had a chat with the site owner re a couple of admin things we're still waiting for him to do (he's definitely on Somerset time.....as in 'sometime when'.  Life proceeds at a much slower pace here!).  Ticked off all the jobs we've done today, and wrote a new list of things to do tomorrow.  Don't know what I'd do without lists and my A5 size caravan notebook, which is already a third full.

Traffic was terrible on the way home today, took us just over an hour, whereas on Saturday it only took husband 35 minutes to get home.  Now we're home and I'm having a brief sit down, chicken salad for tea so I don't have to do anything except put it on the plates, and I shall probably have an early night, as my head is beginning to throb again.

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.

Sorry but

 I won't be doing daily updates for a while - too tired and too busy.  I am taking lots of before and after photos, so there will be a pic-heavy post at some point.

Having an easy day

 Being kind to myself today and only doing limited easy stuff - my bowel is being extremely irritable (too many carbs consumed lately, I expect, along with being a bit stressed and overtired).  And my hip is terribly painful right now, going up and down stairs is especially painful.  Waiting in for the fridge to be delivered, also the curtains which didn't arrive yesterday, think the delivery driver ran out of time.  Hope they arrive this morning, so I can get on and shorten them this afternoon.  I've got a couple of doormats to make from leftover lounge carpet, just a case of cutting them straight and binding the edges.  2 loads of washing done, husband pegged one lot on the line, the rest has gone in the dryer, the vacuuming and bed changing will just have to wait a day or two.  I'll deadhead all my roses, an easy job, whilst waiting for the curtains to arrive.

Will eat a carb-free veg and fish based diet for the next few days, and drink lots of water, to give my gut chance to recover.  And, much as I don't like taking them, I'll take some regular doses of co-codamol over the next few days, to get my hip pain under control (that'll help with the bowel stuff too!).

Yes that's it

 Viv (Wherethejourneytakesme2), I think you've hit the nail on the head:  "It will all be worth it in the end - once the kitchen is in it will all start to feel much better".

Being totally without a kitchen at the moment in the caravan is hard for me, as I do love cooking - it's also a bit of a nuisance having to make and take a packed lunch and a flask of coffee every time we go.  Once I have a working kitchen - cooker and fridge in, sink installed (which means the worktop, and therefore the base units have to be fitted first), then I will indeed feel much better, and it will make things a lot easier.  I can then fill the base cupboards with all my pots, oven dishes and crockery and paint the wall units, which we're not changing, and fit new handles at my leisure.

Cracking on

 Great morning at the caravan, with lovely weather.  The lounge carpet, just roughly cut to size the other day, is now laid properly and fixed down (well done husband) and looks really nice.  The kitchen wall has also been painted with the damp proofing preventative stuff - boy was it stinky, really overpowering, it was the last thing we did before coming home.  Hopefully, the strong smell will have dissipated by the time we go back on Friday.  We didn't take Betty this morning, of course, didn't want her breathing in the fumes.  We met the neighbours on the other side of us today, first time we've seen them, another lovely couple, bit older than us (well, quite a lot older actually, around 80).  They live in Chichester apparently, a 3.5 hour journey away, and come to their van for about 3 weeks at a time.  I'm having to write down the names of every fellow owner we meet, we'll never remember them all otherwise.

We've got the new fridge arriving tomorrow so have to stay home.  The new curtains are due to arrive this afternoon, so tomorrow I'll measure and shorten them with the wonderweb stuff.  I've also got 2 lots of washing and plenty of housework to do, along with loads of deadheading and general tidying up of the front garden.

Friday we'll get the back kitchen wall and ceiling painted, husband can't put the hardboard lining up on the front wall until the electrician's been on Saturday and put in the extra sockets and checked all the wiring.  If we have time, we'll also sugar soap the main bedroom walls, so we can start painting in there too - I can do the painting early next week whilst husband gets on with the kitchen stuff.  Oh and husband can put all the Venetian blinds back up in the lounge, and then the curtains can go up.

I reckon we'll be able to start staying overnight within 2 weeks.....exciting!

And some good news.....the gas man who serviced the boiler a week or 2 ago said that a new part was needed, if he couldn't source the part (the boiler is quite old, although still in working order apart from this one part), then we'd need a whole new boiler 😳.  Fortunately, he's managed to locate a new part, so that's one potentially expensive problem successfully solved.