Icicles!

This Winter really doesn't want to go, and so Waki has been adorned in an array of quite spectacular icicles again. The door was also frozen shut at the bottom the other morning and required a bit of a kick to get out, which proves that we still have some work to do regarding the rubber seal!

It's hard to believe just how well the insulation works though for a mere 25mm of foam + 4mm of foil/foam sandwich (and I'm very glad of it too!) considering that I sleep literally inches away from those icicles! :D

We bought a set of Milenco insulated covers for the cab windows and the windscreen before Winter really kicked in. Before these we'd just been using the previous owners' windscreen cover, which seemed to be sized for a tiny car, and some foam offcuts stuck up to the side windows with masking tape! The Milenco ones really are fantastic, they're a universal fit type but are at least actually designed for motorhomes/vans so do cover all of the glass and even overlap slightly, but we noticed a temperature difference immediately. They have the usual bubble wrap and foil combination but with a few extra layers of metal mesh and a smart fabric backing and come with suckers to hold them up. Hopefully they'll help us out in Summer too in keeping the interior cool, perhaps sunshine is wishful thinking though...

The cab in currently blocked off from the living area by a duvet for extra insulation and privacy as we still haven't done the curtains (despite having the fabric already, as usual the curtains are looking complicated to design as we want to block the cab windows but still use the seats) and there's quite a draught from the old door seals and probably a rusted hole or two!

Ryan had managed to get some protective paint on most of the bodywork before this wave of cold weather hit, I'll explain & get some pics up in another post, but for now it looks like we're back to inside work!

A Loo With A View

Ryan was tasked with cutting the hole in the bathroom wall for the toilet cartridge to go through - he’s been good at making holes in the wall so far, though not all required holes which is why I done most of the batten chiselling in the end! 

View from the loo of blue skies no less!

Our loo is a lovely little bench type with an electric flush and even has a little toilet roll holder built inside so the paper won't get wet when we have a shower. I know, simple things...

We also needed to make the roof vent hole in the shower room larger for the new vent we bought that won’t fit the old size holes that we have. The kitchen vent unfortunately got broken as the plastic was a bit brittle and we had to seal it closed with silicone as rain was dripping through at an annoyingly rapid rate! We've been waiting since summer to get this job done but just haven't had a day free without rain to do it!

So with the help of a much awaited sunny day the old bathroom vent has now been moved to the kitchen and the shiny new vent is now in place in the bathroom. We thought it would be nicer to have the new crystal clear vent in the bathroom where we need the best light anyway for applying make-up and shaving etc, and it will probably get the most use for letting the moisture out from showering and drying clothes. I'm very pleased with it, the first night it was in was a clear sky and I could actually see the stars and the moon from the er, yeah OK from sat on the loo! :)

We got a new shower head, two mixer taps and a nice little corner sink - thanks Richard! The old sink the fold down type and was far too big for the room and made from a brittle ugly orange-brown plastic so had to go! I also didn't like the fact that when brushing your teeth you essentially had to just spit in a bowl then tip it down the back.

We now need to find something to adapt into a corner pedestal to hide the pipes, and our attempts to fibre glass the old cracked shower tray failed somewhat so we've ripped it out altogether.

We've decided to make a new one from scratch with plywood and tile it as unfortunately, as with anything we do The Waki Way, we can't find a new purpose built shower tray to fit our custom loo room. A lot of this project is trial and error, but the end result will be a motorhome that fits us perfectly.

Every cupboard has a plastic lining…

Every cupboard has a plastic lining…

Well the kitchen ones do anyway! J

(This is a job that was done before I got ill, but I hadn't gotten round to taking any pics sorry!)

I like to have clean food storage cupboards, it stops smells and so discourages pests from finding and spoiling the food. Nearly everything has the storage advice ‘keep in a cool dark place’ written on it as well so for the best storage life I decided that our main food cupboard (the old wardrobe at the rear) needed to be kept as cool and clean as possible. The problem is that as the back wall was structurally ok compared to the rest of the walls which was a bonus for the refurb, but it meant that it hadn’t got the foil and extra foam lining that the rest has. Also the blown air heater is underneath that same cupboard and we have plans to have a generator in the locker which is also underneath which will generate its own heat as well!

So to stop any generator fumes from creeping into the cupboard and living area it has been thoroughly sealed with silicone, and then insulated with our magic foil and foam sandwich. That is now topped with a lovely white wipe clean plastic the same as for the spit and splash zone wall in the kitchen, with an extra bead of silicone to seal the edges of the plastic lining.

The shelves in the big cupboard are now in, though they need painting and an edge putting on the fronts to stop everything ending up at the bottom in a pile when we move!

We have two excellent spice racks on the inside of the door, bought from Amazon (see the bottom of this post for the link if you want some too!)  which stop them from rolling around the cupboard when we’re on the move. And also crammed cupboards are frankly irritating when you have to unload your entire food stock just to get to one can at the back which will probably be past it’s expiry date anyway as it’s been hidden for so long.

I also ordered another rack for the kitchen wall which we can keep our cooking oil in. They’re the type of item that happily live on the kitchen worktop in a regular house without mishap but definitely need to be secured on the road. Unfortunately I accidentally ordered the wrong size :/ but luckily it fits perfectly in the shower room for our shampoo, we're still yet to find another solution for the oil!

I came across a beautiful set of hooks on ebay which looks stunning up in front of the cupboard holding our utensils. Bargain at under £2! The spoons rattle a little when driving so we're likely to fit some form of securement for them up there - my mind's heading in the direction of some sort of elastic strap but you'll have to wait and see...

I've been trying to pretty things up where I possibly can as we won't be able to have big pictures hung up or ornaments etc to decorate like we would in a house. Little things like that matter to me and I think that's what makes a place feel like a home, it's gradually becoming our home. :)

3 Months of Silence

Wow, three whole months of silence! Sorry people but I have been somewhat distracted from my writing duties recently due to a number of things. Doesn't it just seem sometimes that whenever you think you're getting somewhere you get sent back to the start?

We have still being doing odd jobs around the Motorhome, well when I say we I mean Ryan's been working hard and I've managed mostly cleaning and sawing the occasional piece of wood for shelves etc!

I've recently discovered that I have a form of Arthritis, I often joke that I feel like an old woman sometimes despite being only 26 but this is just silly! My back will often ache which it's done for years and I can happily live with that (apart from the odd spasm that had me bedridden for a day over the past couple of years), but my knees and ankle joints have been the worst of late. I'd been getting up for work and feeling like I was walking with broken bones for a hour or so until I got moving enough for the pain to ease off! Then to top it off a few weeks ago I developed painful swellings and hideous bruising around my joints and feet that the Doctor reckons is actually Cellulitis (which the blood test seems to confirm) so I've been taking a mixture of Antibiotics and Ibuprofen daily to get over that.

Needless to say I've been feeling very sorry for myself of late and have not felt like socialising or writing anything either, but lets face it there's always someone out there worse off so I need to just suck it up and try to move forward - again.

So I pledge now to write about the things that we have been doing during the silence, and get myself up and out and about. Thanks for your patience and support, and see you soon... :)

The Camper Van Cook Book

I was given a brilliant book for my Birthday given to me by my good friend Becca (the author of ‘Does Becca Love?’ blog and the same person to inspire me to do the Day Zero project 101 list!), so thank you Becca even though you shouldn’t have! :) Despite feeling under the weather herself she is always doing things for other people which is why we love her so!

The book is The Camper Van Cookbook and is an excellent read, it’s actually so much more than a recipe book and actually gives you tips on owning and servicing a camper as well as places to stay and things to do! It’s really aimed at VW camper owners but then the same principles apply to any vehicle, and we sympathise with the issues of owing a ‘classic’ camper as Waki is now 27 years old herself!

The book shows you games to play and songs to sing when bored on the journey or if the weather is bad, it lists the authors (and friends’) favourite camp sites, ‘pick your own’ farms, tips for attending festivals or going surfing amongst so many other topics! Oh and of course there are some great looking recipes designed for easily cooking in a camper or outside.

Happy Halloween, The Night of Endings & Beginnings!

Halloween brings change, it is traditionally the end of the wheel of seasons and the beginning of another turn and that has certainly been the case this year. I use it as a time to analyse what has happened in the year, and to think what I am going to do next.

I also carve cooking apples instead of pumpkins! Well, we already know I'm a bit weird! :)
They're excellent for spookily-lighting small spaces.

I have now left my job as a salesperson (Hello to my loyal Rajapack followers! I do miss you already!), and am starting a new part time job picking plumbing parts! The intention is to use the extra time I'll have to go and make my crafts and create my artwork, and getting selling at some local fairs and markets. Ryan is also making the switch and will be putting his mechanical and crafty talents to use, and it will be great to spend the time with him again.

Our plan is that The Waki Way will be our chance to really enjoy life and do what we've always wanted which is to be ourselves, together, and to work for ourselves. This past year I have really come to understand that life is so short and we can't waste a second being unhappy or resenting anything at all! It's scary yes, but then it's a fun challenge and I'm stubborn enough to make it work!

So if there is anything that you resent doing or being, change it - FAST! Who knows if we will ever get a second chance at anything we let pass us by?

Another Weekend Away

Ryan got us free weekend tickets to see the Phoenix Derby Championships at Cadwell Park courtesy of Comma Oils' promotion, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip away!

We stopped at the same camp site as my parents near Skegness again on Friday night, I managed to forget to pack some towels (oops!) so we stopped at a Tesco on route and I bought us a pair of black bath towels. We needed some nicer towels anyway so it just prompted the purchase!

We spent a nice Saturday morning wandering the discount stores and markets in nearby Ingoldmells where we bought a lovely new stainless steel stove top whistling kettle (we'd so far still been using the small aluminium one from my camping set!) and also an excellent shagpile rug for the living area. No more cold feet in the mornings from stepping on the bare floor! :)



We also come across a stall selling some funny signs and my Mum bought this one for us, with the state that Waki is still unfortunately in it was too suitable to pass by! 



Cadwell park is fairly close to Skegness so we only had a little way to go to reach Cadwell Park, though we didn't quite expect the amount of really steep hills we'd have to struggle up to get there! Poor old Waki really got pushed on that journey, and there was only one hill where we got down to a rather embarrassing 25 mph! Sorry to the drivers behind us, luckily it wasn't too busy! :S

We had a minor issue on the journey in the form of a leak from our water tank where the pipe had come off, which was actually a relief as in the side mirror Ryan said it looked like smoke billowing out and our hearts sank for a moment! But we were soon back on our way though low on water, but we had plenty of bottled water on board and there were taps at Cadwell for the washing up water.

We were surprised to find on arrival that you are allowed to camp anywhere you like around the track, though I can imagine that it’s a lot more restricted during bigger events like British Superbikes.

We initially checked out the facilities in the main paddock area and took a wander down to Club Corner just in time to see the start of a race and some wheelie action over The Mountain. We then took a drive around the track and found a good level spot by the tree line with a good view of the track, it’s such a bizarre feeling looking out of your home window with such a view! We spent a little while on the roof as it gave us a better view of the track, though the wind was pretty cold so we retreated before too long.

Waki parked and level. The front of the over-cab section looks much neater
now without the leaky front window but she still needs a paint job!

The view from the cab window when we arrived

A very happy Ryan and the roof view. Motorbikes, cider & bacon
sandwiches - what more could a guy want?!

The new generator got a good run and worked a dream (a post will follow on this but it means persuading Ryan to write about something!), having that running outside was actually quieter than the gas heater is currently. It can handle running a surprising amount of electrical gadgets at once, although this time we just had the batteries charging and run the laptop and TV.

We watched the film ‘Closer to the Edge’ following Guy Martin and some of the other main riders for the Isle of Mann TT road race which seemed a fitting way to spend an evening next to a race track. I'd say I also had the most peaceful nights sleep I've had in a long while as we was so far away from the roads (or any other campers! :D), though I did wake up the the commentator 'testing-testing' the speaker system around the track but it meant we didn't miss anything!

The hardest part of the trip was making ourselves go home, (especially as we knew we had enough tinned food on board to last a week and plenty of fuel!) but I had to be back at work so we had to go.

The scenery around Louth is quite spectacular farmland, and for our journey the beautiful rolling hills were set off nicely by the setting sun. I managed to get some photos on my phone but the phone can never do a scene like that real justice so I allowed myself to purely enjoy the views instead. Sometimes you just need to look around and smile at what you see :)


By being out and about we've come up with more ideas and of course found more things that need attention – like the knackered battery that was in charge of running the thermostat for our gas heater which needed swapping with the lighting one halfway through the night when we woke up cold! And we now also have the supplies to begin installing our wiring system (an early birthday present for Ryan from my Stepdad!) which will allow us to actually use mains hook-up when on site in future.