Beautiful Bathroom

Who says that you can't have a little luxury in a 1m square bathroom? I've been longing to have the bathroom finished and properly working and I got to use the shower for the first time on Saturday night - this girl knows how to party huh?

We had ripped the old shower tray out after a failed attempt at repairing it, and decided to make a new one from scratch. In a way it was best that we did as it worked out that the floor was more rotten than we had previously thought in there, so now it has a nice new and much more stable plywood floor.

Ryan done a fantastic job tiling it all using some mosaic sheets, and even included a swish little strip of tiles behind the toilet to finish it off :)

We have a little cream bathroom mat which is normally left in the shower tray to keep our feet warm and dry when we're not using the shower, and when we are it's simply popped outside the door so that we can step out onto something drying when we're done.

There was a bit of a gap left next to the toilet which needed to be covered with plastic sheeting, and not wanting to waste any precious storage space I discovered it was just about big enough to fit a toilet roll into! Ryan devised a platform inside and a little door on the front so we can get into it when we need to, it turns out that we can store perfectly 9 loo rolls in there - how lucky was that?!

My birthday present mirror is now in place on the wall and beams some colour into the room, along with the bamboo pattern shower curtain. As it was a full size curtain I had to cut it down to size and re-hem it but with plenty of fabric left I also made a small curtain for the window for some extra privacy. The bathroom window is very well frosted but I still wanted something else there just in case - we don't want to get into trouble for public indecency when we're on the road!

To top it all off we now also have a neat little corner sink in place, a wire rack to hold our shampoos etc, a shiny new shower set and beautiful mixer taps to run it all (big thanks to my Step-Dad Richard for gifting us those!). Ah luxury!

Paintwork

We had the good fortune of a few days of sunshine late in March and April so Ryan got to work on Waki's paintwork. She was literally peppered with holes and we have been gradually filling and protecting areas with duct tape which had left her looking very shabby indeed. So Ryan bought a compressor and smoothed the fillered areas down and applied several layers of white metal paint with a roller. He also managed to get another coat of paint on the roof so that's finally got a good weather seal on it.

This is really a base coat to protect the body and there is still much more smoothing work and dent removal to be done. The immediate result though was fantastic! No more grubby beige and brown flakiness but an expanse of clean fresh white!

We plan to use a nice white car paint for the final finish, and Ryan's already very handy with a spray gun what with his previous experience painting cars and aeroplanes :) We both agree that she needs some sort of coloured stripes or a design down the sides to break up the white a bit, but we can't yet agree on what yet...

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. :)

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.

Introducing Kaa

I’d like to introduce Kaa to all of you who have not met him yet, the charming and quite oblivious passenger to The Waki Way of life. He is a Californian Corn Snake approx. 12 years old, (named after the Jungle Book character) and almost 5ft in length though trust me that makes him sound bigger than he really is! Sorry Kaa! He’s been a bit of an ambassador for snakes throughout his life and converted many ‘haters’ to admirers with his charm and hypnotising ways and I'm sure he will continue to do so on our travels.

He’s such a cutie and very friendly, and yes of course reptiles can be cute – look at him! He started life at the Japanese Koi centre near Henlow and was the ‘resident’ snake that they would bring out to show prospective customers so when I got him he was already around 4 feet and about a year old. I think all of the handling he got there is what has made him so relaxed around people, and he’s even been to visit the cadets at our St John Ambulance headquarters who were equally charmed!

He is still settling into his new vivarium in the house for the time being but will be transferred to the motorhome when the cupboard/sideboard area is built for him. I don’t want him to get stressed out by us building things next to him as well as being in a new vivarium with odd smells etc so we’re trying to get him gradually acclimatised to all of the changes.

Kaa’s new vivarium is a flat packed one by Vivexotic I bought it from a company called Seapets for a very reasonable price which arrived in good time and condition too, I actually wish I'd found them before I hand built his last viv as it probably cost me double the price in materials alone! They do seem to be the cheapest around for a great many pet supplies so I’ll definitely keep them bookmarked for our future requirements.

It went together well and actually comes with surprisingly strong good quality fixings, though it is only a chipboard unit so needs careful handling. I ran a seal of silicone over all of the internal joins to stop the damp getting through to the chipboard itself and also had to glue the back vents into place as Kaa would have been out of those it a heartbeat if left just pushed into place!

He actually managed to escape my homemade viv by pushing the glass and its runners apart and squeezing between the panes – luckily we were still sleeping in the house at that point and was just getting into bed when I heard him slithering across the bedroom floor! The runners on this viv are moulded from the same piece of plastic so can’t be forced apart, although the glass itself moves a little too freely along the runners for my liking so I’ll install a lock to stop him opening the doors. He is really inquisitive and surprisingly strong and likes digging, climbing and poking his nose into anything that's not his business so for now the doors just have a tab of tape of each end to stop him making another break for it!

Amazing - Eco-fi Fabric

We recently recovered the fabric ceiling of the cab as it was very grotty, and also decided to recover the curved edging covers on which the original fabric had begun to rot away! To keep it light and bright we went with cream felt for the ceiling, bought from Milton Keynes market, which took a massive amount of spray adhesive and awkward pushing and pulling to get into all of the dips and bumps. 

The light colour is a risk with Ryan around and his dirty mechanic hands but it really does lift the space so is a risk worth taking!

We wanted to keep to the brown colour for the edging but couldn't find the right shade at the market so went back to trusty e-bay. I came across some well priced felt material called Eco-fi, which also happens to be made entirely out of recycled plastic bottles made by a company in America! See below pdf about how it's made it really is amazing! I know, simple things...

http://www.kuningroup.com/dfiles/ecofi_SS.pdf

I've been showing it to everybody and no-one else can believe its plastic either so we have some good eco-karma in the project already without a compromise which is a rare thing!

I had to do some cutting and sewing to get it to fit the internal angles which I done by hand as I never have liked using a sewing machine, and it's a good way to practice my needlework. I intend on doing a lot more fabric craft work in the future and we don't have room for a machine anyway. The Waki Way is about doing things the simplest way possible, although we do joke that it's possibly about being the most awkward and inconvenient way possible which is how it's felt with the multitude of obstacles we've encountered so far but we persevere for a simpler way of life!

I can’t bring myself to throw away any fabric offcuts, especially with all of the crafty things that could be made with them so I needed a way to store them. I could just leave them in a plastic bag in a cupboard somewhere or I could have them to hand in a nice attractive bag so decided to make a cushion cover out of the ecofi fabric to hold it, and of course added a few embellishments that would complement our decor. 

I must own up to the fact that it wasn’t my original idea, I was actually inspired by someone on a YouTube video who uses her pillows for storing fabric! 

Click on the link below to view her video, she really is an amazing woman who in a similar situation to us decided to buy a trailer chassis and literally built herself a tiny house on top of it from recycled and salvaged materials!

Project Playlist

Music is an important factor in your mood, it can be relaxing, energising or inspiring. Throughout this project I have been adding songs to a playlist on YouTube that I named ‘You can do it! Do what you’ve always dreamed about!’ to help get us through the low days.

One of the tasks on my Day Zero 101 list was to get the playlist up to 101 inspirational songs , which I’ve finally done – with Ryan’s help of course. See Day Zero blog post for what the project is about and my full to-do list.

It is an eclectic mix of music for sure, from Rock, Pop, Garage, Dance, Happy Hardcore, New Age and even some Classical movie themes. I must say now though that for some reason I’ve never been a fan of the film Rocky, so there’s no Eye of the Tiger in this list I'm afraid if you were hoping for it!

See below for the YouTube link and list of tracks, put it on while you work on your current project and see what happens for you – there is nearly 7 hours of inspiration in there! All of these songs have either taught us a lesson, helped us get back up and carry on when we were down, or just remind us of a happy time and deal an awesome mood so I hope they help you too. J 

Leave a comment here on the blog if you discover any that you like - it would be nice to know we've helped someone out somehow!

1. This Time - The Verve
2. Bornslippy - Underworld
3. What a Wonderful World - Eva Cassidy
4. You're Free - Yomanda
5. Chariots of Fire - Vangelis
6. Follow Me - Uncle Kracker
7. Beautiful Day - U2
8. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
9. True Colours - Eva Cassidy
10. Tonight, Tonight - The Smashing Pumpkins
11. Today - The Smashing Pumpkins
12. Perfect -  The Smashing Pumpkins 
13. The Mission theme - Ennio Moricone
14. Lucky You - The Lightning Seeds
15. The Last of the Mohicans music - Trevor Jones & Randy Edelman
16. Everything Will Be All Right - The Killers
17. Wherever You Will Go - The Calling
18. That's What Makes the World Go Round - Sword in the Stone song
19. Thank You - Alanis Morisette
20. Devotion - Sy & Demo
21. Open Your Eyes - Snow Patrol
22. This Isn't Everything You Are - Snow Patrol
23. Raindrops & Sunshowers - The Smashing Pumpkins
24. If It Makes You Happy - Sheryl Crow
25. She's a Rebel - Greenday
26. I'm Raving - Scooter
27. Yeha Noha (Wishes of Happiness & Prosperity) - Sacred Spirit
28. I Want to Break Free - Queen
29. We Are The Champions - Queen
30. Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
31. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
32. Twenty Years - Placebo 
33. Running Up That Hill - Placebo
34. Passive Aggressive - Placebo
35. Battle for the Sun - Placebo
36. Between Angels and Insects - Papa Roach
37. Fukin' Perfect - Pink
38. Heaven is a Halfpipe - OPM
39. I Don't Wanna Be - Gavin Degraw (One Tree Hill)
40. Good Life - One Republic
41. Wonderwall - Oasis
42. Always Love - Nada Surf
43. Uprising - Muse
44. Time Is Running Out - Muse
45. Invincible - Muse
46. Feeling Good - Muse
47. We Are All Made of Stars - Moby
48. Lift Me Up - Moby
49. I'll Bring You Flowers - Sweet Female Attitude
50. The Voyager - Mike Oldfield
51. Beat It - Michael Jackson 
52. Breaking The Habit - Linkin Park
53. The One - Limp Bizkit
54. Stronger - Kanye West
55. I can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash
56. Imagine - John Lennon
57. The Middle - Jimmy Eat World
58. Dirt Off Your Shoulder - Jay Z
59. You Can Do It - Ice Cube
60. Singing In The Rain - Gene Kelly
61. Warning - Green Day 
62. Minority - Greenday
63. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Greenday
64. Now We Are Free - Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard (Gladiator)
65. Dreams - Gabrielle
66. Break Out - Foo Fighters
67. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
68. Tender - Feeder
69. Tell All Your Friends - Feeder
70. Seven Days In The Sun -  Feeder 
71. Just a Day -  Feeder 
72. Forget About Tomorrow -  Feeder 
73. Buck Rogers -  Feeder 
74. Comfort in Sound -  Feeder 
75. Reverance - Failthless
76. Mass Destruction - Faithless
77. Over The Rainbow - Eva Cassidy 
78. Long Long Journey - Enya
79. Wild Child - Enya
80. Return To Innocence - Enigma
81. Lose Yourself - Eminem
82. Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
83. I'm No Angel - Dido
84. One Way or Another - Blondie (Coyote Ugly)
85. Colours of the Wind - Pocahontas song
86. We Made It - Busta Rhymes & Linkin Park
87. Another Green World - Brian Eno 
88. 'Freedom' The Execution Bannoburn - James Horner (Braveheart)
89. Born This Way - Lady Gaga
90. Born Free - Matt Monro
91. It's My Life - Bon Jovi
92. Song 2 - Blur
93. Coffee & TV - Blur
94. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head - BJ Thomas
95. Bare Necessities - The Jungle Book
96. Pure Shores - All Saints
97. You Learn - Alanis Morisette
98. Hand in my Pocket -  Alanis Morisette
99. Everything -  Alanis Morisette
100. Try Again - Aaliyah 
101. Everyday Is a Winding Road - Sheryl Crow