Taking It Back To Simple

Caravans are designed to have lots of storage, no wall surface it seems is safe from shelves and cupboards, no bed or seat is safe from hidden storage beneath it.  But here at the Van even living in it for lots of the time as I have been doing I don't need storage ... I  simply don't have lots of things to store,  nor do I need them.  The spaces beneath the seats in the living room are empty,  and the space under the king sized bed will be virtually clear once I have made up the twin beds in the little second bedroom.

The cupboard in the dining area bugged me from day one.  It looked terrible if left empty and only marginally better with things on it.  The cupboards being less than four inches deep were neither use nor ornament, except as a place to hang our keys. 

So it had to come down.  It weighed a ton, well 17kg ... who knew that caravan walls could take that weight on four little screws!!

We lived with the bare wall for a while to get a feel for it, and to make sure I had done the right thing in removing the cupboard.   Then needing to keep busy the other day I just went for it, my original plan ... wallpaper.

I'm really pleased with the result.

It brings a sense of calmness to the area and gives us a feature to look at without any clutter.  It's not quite finished yet as you can see the strip that joins the wall panels together running just over halfway up the wall, I couldn't remove this, although I did tempt fate and remove the foot long piece that was above the cupboard.

To make this look less visually obtrusive I have replaced the screws in the lower of the two screw holes that held up the cupboard.  These will hold brackets for a shelf which will sit just at the top of it, which along with a mirror will hopefully add just enough of a decorative touch to the wall.

I'm thinking just a narrow shelf holding a little wicker basket for our bingo pens and membership cards ... and a plant.

All the storage that I need.

I sat down with a cup of coffee after finishing the wall and putting the table and chairs back in place ... and realised what I had to do next to balance out the room.

Yep, just a little bit more wallpapering.

We both think it looks much better, and adds a little bit more individuality to the Van.  Now I know that caravan walls take wallpaper so well ... who knows what is next 😃

Bella News

Bella is still being looked after at the vets.  The vet I spoke to this morning said the night nurses had noticed a slight improvement in her condition.  She is on two kinds of antibiotics,  intravenous and oral, to try and kill off whatever infection she has picked up, and also anti-inflammatories to reduce any brain swelling.  She is still a very poorly little pup,  but at least she is in excellent hands.  They seem to be a great team.

Thank you for all your concern and good wishes.

Sue xx

Challenging Times

Sorry to have been missing from here for what feels like ages, but I have a new Challenge that will be starting on the 16th of this month and I've been doing a but of research into it.  

You can find out more about on my other blog HERE, and also on my Ration Challenge page.

This week I've packed up and brought the equivalent foods that I will be living on for the week to the Van with me, so that I can have a bit of a play and follow some of the recipes from my challenge pack that are completely new to me ... would you believe it but I have never attempted to make flatbreads ... ever!!

In other challenging news my beautiful 'Smaller' dog Bella is currently very poorly and at the vets.

  Suky cleverly came to wake me up early this morning as Bella was having cluster fits, it was very scary to watch.  She'd been off colour for a few days and had already seen the vet on Friday.   I'm trying not to worry too much, she's in safe hands at the moment on intravenous antibiotics and fluids at the vets,  it turns out she's somehow picked up a massive infection, I'll find out more when they ring again.

Sue xx

Ditching the Plastic

I sorted all these out of the awkward corner cupboard at home this week, and managed to sell every single one at the car boot sale on Saturday.  I will use the money I made to buy a couple more of the glass bottomed silicon or plastic lidded ones instead.

I kept for re-use all the plastic tubs that were either Chinese takeaway tubs, large yoghurt pots or simply to old to warrant selling.  These will be used and re-used for as long as possible before going into the plastic recycling box.  I have two glass bottomed boxes already in here and I found two that I thought were missing in the tall larder unit, so I will put them in here in a few minutes ... before I lose them again  😉

In my bid to ditch as much plastic from our lives as possible we are phasing out buying large bottles of sparkling water and once our current 'stash' of four bottles is gone that will be it.  

I have been getting used to using a fridge jug for tap water ... it's so much better when it's nice and cold ... and I have two glass bottles that I keep topped up with diluted cordial, as Alan likes his water to have some flavour.  I have also invested in a thermos style water bottle for when I'm out and about and this one actually fits in the bottle holder in my car ... something my last one didn't do.

It's a shame that most of the reasonably priced cordials come in plastic bottles, but at least our recycling here in North Wales is top notch and they can go in there once they are empty. 

It feels like we're turning over a new leaf, and moving more into our smaller and simpler life one baby step at a time.

Sue xx

And Then It Was Gone ...

This was the interior of our truck as we arrived at the Mary Hughes Memorial Playing Field Car Boot Sale ... known to most of us here in the valley as The Taly y Bont car boot sale.

Then I spotted that Alan had already unloaded five demi-johns ... gosh he was quick off the mark  ;-)

It was a brilliant morning for us, luckily the rain held off apart from a few threatening big blobs and then a bit later on there was the smallest of showers, which with the heat of the day was soon dissipated and no stock was spoilt.  

And we sold, sold and sold some more.

Our new favourite blog readers/car boot stalkers Gill and Mike, came over to say hello and make some more purchases, and everyone on the field was in a buying mood ... which as a seller is always very refreshing.

Of course it helps that our stuff is clean, well presented and priced to sell.  If we take something to a car boot sale it's because we actually do want to get rid of it to someone who hopefully, will appreciate it, need it and will make good use of it.  There are always some stalls that you see at every boot sale through the Summer with the same stock, over priced and gradually getting dustier and dustier throughout the season and they seem happy to keep transporting it around.  Maybe it's just a day out for them and a chance to make money, each to their own and all that ... but we pay our pitch money and want to sell what we have brought.

So we have a haggle with folk, let people have bargains, explain how to use things ... and at today's car boot sale I seemed to be giving out a lot of vegan advice.  Having some vegan books and magazines for sale helped people strike up conversations and today quite a few of those were about eggs!!  Oh well I hoped I helped in my own small way.

My one purchase of the day, a book for 50p.  I've seen the film and loved it.

When we're there to sell we do sometimes have a little wander round, I like to do my wander at the start of the day so I can see who is behind each stall and the sort of things they are selling.  Mostly because you find other stall holders will come over and make offers for things and then literally ten minutes later they have your items for sale on their table for twice the price (or more).  Now I really  don't mind people doing this but if I'm asking £5 for something and they offer me £2, and then I see it for their stall at £8 I do get a bit annoyed.  If they want to buy to resell then fair enough ... but pay me what I'm asking you are still going to make a profit, if you can get the £8 you are asking that is!!

A case in point today was a lady who wanted some as new Hotter shoes that I was selling for £12 a pair, she offered me a real knock down price ... but I said no.  I'm so glad I did as a few minutes later I walked past her stall on the way to the toilets and spotted that she had boxes and boxes of shoes all being sold at £20 a pair.  

The back of the truck at the end of the sale.

I will sort through the clothes that are left and keep the very best for next time, add the ones that I intend to sort out this week while I'm here in Wales to the rail ready for the next car boot sale and give the unwanted ones to the charity shop for either selling or rag weight.

And what was our grand total ... well we beat last weeks money easily and came home with £182.80.

Not to be sneezed at.  

Now I have a couple of empty large boxes and space on the hanging rail.  So I think it's time for a few days of sorting and pricing in our bid to move from the cluttered and hectic life we seem to have to our newer smaller and simpler one.

Sue xx

So What Went ...

So ... what was jettisoned in my cupboard clearout?  Put straight into a box for the car boot sale on Saturday.

 Basically anything that we don't use.

  No matter how pretty  or potentially useful, if it hasn't been used since it arrived here at the Van it went into the box.

A duplicate Pyrex jug, some plastic fridge boxes,  some travel drinking cups that I have never used ... and will never use.  The cheap bowls that are surplus to requirements, a pretty jug and bowl set and a couple of tins.

I kept a few plastic containers that I will use over and over, they won't sell and I'm not going to recycle them just for the sake of it.

My main fridge boxes are going to be this sort from now on, glass dishes with silicon or plastic lids, not perfect ... but better.

Morning snuggles with Bella.

After her breakfast we retire back to bed so I can drink coffee and surf YouTube or read a bit of my book.  After a quick play with teddy she curls up and falls asleep.

Sue xx

Van Life

Van Life 

🌻 🐕 ☕ 🌞

Yay ... The Cupboard is Done ...

I've finally got the cupboard how I want it.

  It only took an hour or so to empty it out again have a quick wipe around and once it was dry I stuck a few hooks to hang things at the back and sides.

The spare plates went onto the shelf at the back.  We don't use them but if we had guests or family were using the van they might come in handy, and the things that are in day to day use are now all within easy reach and I don't have to lift things out to get to anything.

What works better in the bottom cupboard is to have the shelf unit the other way round, so once again everything is within reach and the only things stood in front of the items on the shelves are my potato bag and the cordials for making up drinks.

The back, hard to get to corner is empty ,.. just a big empty space ... which makes me very happy 😁

Almost as happy as Bella relaxing in the garden next to the pansies.  

She's being a very brave little girl this week as she is the only dog here with me.  Giving Suky and Mavis a break from lively puppy antics while she learns to meet and greet other dogs on our outings without big sisters to hide behind.

Sue xx