Preparing for colder weather

 It was lovely coming back here to the caravan yesterday, we were met with big smiles and friendly greetings from our fellow vanners, asking me how I was feeling following my migraine....so kind of them.  We feel so welcomed here, finding this place and buying a caravan here really is one of the best things we've ever done.  And it was a lovely sunny day so we could spend time outside chatting.  So nice.  

Apparently there had been torrential rain and thunderstorms during the previous night - I must say I'm glad we weren't here in the van, I don't really fancy being in a tin box whilst a thunderstorm is raging.  Betty wouldn't like it either, she's not a fan of thunder.  We did have the thunderstorms at home too, but, amazingly and a first, I actually slept through it!  Our van neighbours' skylight leaked during the rain, so before we arrived yesterday morning, 83 y.o. Charlie had been up on his van roof resealing it!!  Honestly, he's Superman in disguise I think.

Showery this morning, we're nipping out in between showers (hopefully) to get a couple of things - I need chicken breasts for a recipe this evening.....what I thought were chicken breasts in our home freezer turned out to be skin on, bone in thighs.  I could have adapted the recipe or done something else, I suppose, but I can't be bothered!  And husband needs to buy another pair of tracksuit bottoms - he only brought one pair with him, thinking he's got some here, only he hasn't - only shorts, and it's not going to be shorts weather for the next few days.  I might get another couple of fleece blankets too, can never have enough fleeces.

It was chilly overnight here in the van for the first time, although with fleece blankets on top of our summer lightweight duvets we were toasty warm in bed.  Husband had the electric oil filled radiator on in the bedroom for an hour before bed, it warmed the room up nicely, the electric fire in the lounge does the same.  I'm glad we're here experiencing what it's like living here when it's cold and raining, we can see what we might need to do to improve comfort levels.  There's a chill coming from the single glazed windows in the lounge, so we'll have to think about that.....thicker thermal curtains, or some kind of secondary glazing, perhaps.

A big shop (and opening husband's eyes!)

 We're back to the caravan this afternoon, once Betty's back from the groomers, having had her bath and brush out of all the loose hairs (she moults constantly) and claws clipped.  We're only staying a few days this time though, back early next week probably.  We'll have to nip home Saturday morning, as we have our flu jabs booked.  We've not really had bad reactions to flu jabs in the past, other than a bit of a sore arm, so hopefully we won't this time either.  Our van neighbours (two sets) are both going home early next week and won't be coming back till next year.....we've got on so well with them throughout this summer that we'll miss them for the next few months, as much as the caravan 😕

Went shopping yesterday morning and got fuel on the way (we last put fuel in about 10 days ago) - the first garage we came to had petrol (no diesel, but our car is petrol anyway) and hardly anyone queueing, no limit on fuel purchase either.  So husband filled up (we were on 1/3 of a tank), this will last us at least a fortnight, more if we don't make unnecessary journeys.  We passed Morrisons on the way, there were queues for fuel there.....Sainsburys where we shopped had closed the garage as they were out of fuel altogether.  What a ridiculous situation, all caused by the media's totally irresponsible reporting, publishing pictures of huge queues and people fighting at fuel stations.  They'll do anything to sell papers!  And then it causes idiots to panic buy.

Husband came into the supermarket with me, for the first time in ages....he was very surprised to see so many shelves with big gaps, and positively shocked at how prices have risen.  I've been telling him for ages how much food has gone up in price, I reckon he's been thinking I've been splashing the cash left, right and centre on frivolous things (he always asks how much it cost and exclaims how much?!).  Well, now he knows I haven't!!  In view of the fuel situation, I did do a big shop, stocking up on meat and fish for the freezer, and tinned/packet stuff for the larder, so won't need to go shopping for 2 or 3 weeks.  I've got plenty of milk, bread and veg in the freezer too - frozen veg isn't as nice as fresh, obviously, but it'll do, it's just as nutritious, and there are ways of making them taste better.  I've found out that roasting frozen Brussels sprouts is much better than boiling them, frozen baby carrots taste nice cooked in just a very little water with a big knob of butter, tsp honey and some fresh parsley, e.g.  And frozen cauli and broccoli, boiled then pureed and mixed with cream and soft cheese make lovely sauces to stir through pasta.

I did some baking yesterday afternoon, to use up some bits and pieces in the freezer - a sheet of puff pastry, some sliced apples from our garden, and a small amount each of Mediterranean roast veggies and some pulled pork in bbq sauce.  I made 2 apple turnovers, and 2 pasties using the combined veg and pulled pork, with a bit of grated cheese added.  Easy things to take to the caravan.

Home and a bargain

 Got home early afternoon yesterday to a pile of post - nothing important though, and certainly no hospital appointment letter.  I unpacked everything, got the first wash load on and then went upstairs for a lie down, as my head was beginning to pound again.  I'm alright this morning, just tired.

We've really enjoyed this last period at the van (other than the migraine), think we were there for almost 2 weeks.  We had pretty good weather, did a few touristy things, had lunch and coffee out a few times, planted up the rear bank garden, in conjunction with our neighbours, and a couple more pots and some winter pansies.  Had lots of lovely chats with our fellow van neighbours and had a really good time.  I got quite a bit of my crocheted blanket done, and made several cards, whilst husband sunbathed (well, slept) in the garden.

Yesterday, before we came home, we had a stroke of luck.  As I've mentioned before, the plumber said our gas boiler (which is a water heater only, as we don't have central heating in the van) is around 20 years old and will no doubt need replacing, sooner rather than later.  Anyway, the site owner's partner told us that another resident, one we hadn't yet met as he and his family haven't been much this year, had a newish gas boiler they didn't use, in fact they'd taken it out.  Turns out they have an autistic son of 13 who is terrified of naked flames, even the pilot light on the boiler, so they'd had to take out the boiler and change to an all electric system.  The resident turned up yesterday morning, by himself, to do some decorating work in his van, so husband went to see him and offered to buy the boiler.  A price was agreed, which husband is more than happy with, and the very nice man even threw in an almost full gas bottle and a CO2 detector as well, for no extra cost.  The boiler just happens to be the exact same make as our present one, just a much, much newer and more up to date model - which is good, as the plumber told us our make of boiler is actually a very good one.  So we have a boiler ready and waiting now, for when it's needed, at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one - just needing fitting by the engineer.

We've decided we're going to eat less meat and less often from now on, no more than 3x a week.  The rest of the time it'll be fish or vegetarian dishes.  I've always liked fish and over the past couple of years have realised I actually prefer fish to meat, although husband is a big fan of steak.  We do both like veggie dishes too, preferably cheese based, we really like cheese.  So I shall be meal planning now based around more fish/seafood and veg meals.  Husband has said he wants smaller lunches too, as he wants to lose some weight....but we'll see how long that lasts, he does have a big appetite!

Migraine

 I've had a migraine the past couple of days, it floored me.  I used to get migraines a lot during my teens/20s (lots of stressful things going on then)....they tailed off though and nowadays I hardly ever get them, just on rare occasions.  They usually only last a few hours, a day at most.  This one, though, started on Saturday afternoon and raged on until now - I woke up around 5 am to torrential rain and thought thank goodness, the searing pain is gone, it's just a manageable dull pain now.  It's one of the worst I've ever had, the pain was ferocious, the slightest hint of light or noise was excruciating, I felt dizzy if I moved at all, and very nauseous, light and noise were agonising.  Spent most of the time lying on the bed with the curtains and door closed and a cold wet flannel on my head.  After 3 doses of co-codamol I gave up taking any more tablets, they just weren't touching the pain at all.  The only thing I could do was lie perfectly still and try to do relaxing breathing techniques (not easy when every muscle in your face, scalp, neck and shoulders seems clenched impossibly tightly).

The searing pain may have tailed off to a dull ache, except for a thudding pain when I bend over, but I'm left feeling absolutely wrung out, like a limp rag.  I'm guessing the migraine was down to the stress and tension of the past few weeks - not only the family stuff, but other things going on too.  I've been bottling it all up and trying to put it out of my mind - obviously it's got to come out somewhere though.  I've also had trouble with blocked sinuses for the past few days, so that's not helped I don't think.

We're going home today, I just want to be home whilst I'm not feeling like doing anything much.  And we're running out of food here at the van, we'd have to go shopping today if we stayed and I really don't feel like doing that.  At home though, we've got a well stocked freezer and cupboards so I wouldn't need to go shopping for a few days at least, except for some fresh veg which husband could go and get.  I don't know when we'll be back here to the van, it depends on how I feel, and the weather to some extent.  And also whether/when husband finally has his long awaited prostate op appointment (he's been waiting for this op for 2 years).

Friday and Saturday

 I slept very deeply last night, for a very rare change.  Woke up just before 6 am in the middle of a dream where I was on a small boat.....can't remember any details but I did feel panicky.  No doubt it means something profound in dream language, but I'm not googling to find out!  It's now an hour later whilst I'm typing this and still not properly light....I really don't like these dark mornings.

Going to a plant sale in the neighbouring village this morning, apparently there will be stalls selling garden related things too and, somewhat bizarrely, sailing related things.  Well, not that bizarre I suppose, as it's in aid of the RNLI (lifeboats charity, for overseas readers).  It's dry, if a bit grey, at the moment...showers forecast this afternoon though.  Some sunshine forecast for tomorrow, then showery for the whole of next week.....good job we're going home on Tuesday.  We've had very welcome good weather for our last long period of time here at the van - we will be back at some point in October, for the last time this season, to do the draining down and all the other things associated with closing the van up for winter 😭

Husband went home to do a few things yesterday, I had a lovely morning here at the van with Betty, who slept virtually the entire morning, apart from when I took her for a little walk.  I made a couple of cards - one for my nephew's wedding, I'm really pleased with it, the other to say thank you to our lovely van neighbours for helping us settle in here and making us feel so welcome.  I'll put up photos of them in due course.  I've got baby congrats ones to do next.  I also did a few more rows on my crochet blanket, which is coming along nicely.  Not too much to do on it now.  I love the colours, it was Lucy Attic24's sweet pea blanket pack, although I'm doing my own thing, not following her pattern:-

Husband's still waiting for his prostate op appointment letter (one of the reasons he went home yesterday, to see if it had come).  They'd told him he would get an appointment within 4 weeks....well, that was 3 weeks ago.  He's been told to ring up if he doesn't hear within the 4 weeks.  

Hot water and new life

 Betty was absolutely bursting with energy this morning (more than can be said for me!) so we took her back to Uphill beach for a run around.  Unfortunately, it was high tide (duh, should have checked!) so there wasn't a lot of dry beach available.  Being a damp cloudy day, it was also very blustery, there were several wind surfers in the sea, and the hovercraft rescue people going up and down the beach, keeping a good eye on the surfers:-

Sorry, I know the photos aren't up to much, taken on my phone as usual.

Betty doesn't like the sea much, so doesn't really go in it (just as well, being a short faced brachycephalic dog).  Considering just how blustery and cloudy it is today, with spots of drizzle, and the high tide, there was a surprising amount of people - and lots of dogs - on the beach - although there aren't any in my photos!  So we could only let Betty off the lead for a short period of time - she's somewhat unpredictable around other dogs.  She did have a little run around though.  Another dog, a retriever type which wasn't on lead, was intensely interested in Betty and kept running over to her - fortunately, she was back on the lead by then.  Now, Betty wears a bright red harness and lead with CAUTION printed on it in large letters, but people either take no notice or always say things like "it's ok, he/she only wants to play" whilst letting their own dogs run around Betty off lead.  Well, that's all very well, but they don't take account of the fact that OUR dog most likely doesn't want to play!  Several times I've had to ask people to come and collect their dogs - I do always explain that Betty is anxious around strange dogs and isn't always keen to play, and they're generally ok then.

We didn't stay too long in view of the amount of other dogs (there must have been 12 or 15, with more arriving all the time).  Betty wasn't keen on the blustery wind either, her tail was between her legs whereas, being a Shar Pei, it's normally straight up in the air.

The plumber and his mate are here at the moment, sorting out the boiler - fortunately, it's fixable, just needing a new part (luckily they had it in the van).  Will still cost over £150, but that's better than hundreds for a new boiler.  They've fixed it now, we have hot water again, thank goodness.

And the other good thing.....my elder brother and SiL have become grandparents, their son and wife had their first child, a little boy called Robin, on Monday, mother and child are well, he was 2 weeks early.  It's the first baby in our family for a number of years, so lovely to have a birth instead of a death.

Lunch out and the garden finished

 We went to the lovely garden centre in the nearby village today, to have lunch.  We sat outside the cafe - would have preferred to sit inside as they have large picture windows looking out over a beautiful view towards the Mendips, but dogs aren't allowed inside the cafe.  Never mind, it was still nice sitting outside surrounded by some of the centre's gorgeous plants, on another lovely sunny day.  Husband had a Coronation chicken baguette, I had a brie & cranberry toastie, both really well filled and served with salad and the cafe's own homemade delicious coleslaw.  They even brought out a sausage left over from the breakfast serving, and a bowl of water for Betty - how nice is that?

I bought a few plants from there (of course!  Can't resist plants), they grow their own plants rather than buying them in from elsewhere and they're all very healthy looking.  I got an anemone, hellebore and some cyclamen, to go in the semi shady area behind the caravan, now husband has finished clearing it.  The entire area there has been transformed, with the help of our wonderful van neighbour, from the dark and overgrown mess of plant growth and rubbish tip that it was previously, to a lovely partly open, partly shaded bank, with quite a large patio area beside it:-

Both the neighbours and ourselves have put plants in, once they get established and grow they'll fill out the area.  There's a plant sale in the neighbouring village on Saturday, so we might get a few more.  The bird bath is the one we found hidden amongst the rubbish behind the caravan.....can't imagine why the previous owners didn't use it, it's lovely.

The plumber is coming tomorrow to have a look at the boiler....I do hope he can fix it, it's a blimmin nuisance having to boil a kettle all the time.  How people managed years ago when nobody had running hot water I don't know, we really are spoilt nowadays.

I'm getting on quite well with my crocheted caravan blanket, another 6 or 8 rows should see it finished, apart from sewing in all the ends and doing a border.  I've decided to make another one for the van, that'll be a good project to keep me occupied during the winter months at home.  We'll also have a good look on the maps to see about places to visit next year, and will have a chat about the caravan in general, and whether there's any more work we want to do or anything we'd like to change.  Husband has said about putting shelves up in the wardrobe, which is a great idea - shelves would be far more useful than just a hanging rail.

I don't know how long we'll be able to keep the van - I guess it depends on our health (well, husband's health really) and assuming that the van doesn't fall to bits anytime soon!  Well, it is 30 years old after all.  It's in pretty good nick though and provided we keep it well maintained, which we would do as long as we are able, I hope we can keep it a good few years.  Site fees are paid up until next June, and I've already got the following year's fees saved up, so hopefully we'll have the van for another couple of years at least.  It's become such a big part of our lives that I can't imagine not having it.