Category: Uncategorized

April 25th 2020.

At the start of our European trip last September we drove across Belgium in torrential rain, when we pulled upon an aire late that afternoon it became obvious that the bathroom roof light/ vent was leaking. Not a lot could be done that evening other than place a bowl under the drips. The next evening we were on a motorhome stop over in Holland and I managed to borrow a long ladder from the owners. Upon inspection there was no obvious reason for the leaks but as a precaution I used some waterproof tape to seal around the roof light where it met the roof. There haven’t been any leaks since so this obviously provided a temporary solution to the problem.

Last month when installing the solar panel I noticed a long crack had appeared in the outer skin of the roof light so I applied a smear of mastic as a temporary measure and made the decision that it was time for a new replacement. I purchased a replacement one on line, only method in these Coronavirus times, using a company called Leisure Outlet, delivery time was 5 days.

So a combination of warm sunny weather and time on my hands led me to tackle the replacement. Taking out the old one was relatively simple, removal of four screws on the inside, then use of a sharp knife and flat scraper on the roof.

When measuring the size of the old vent it was 40cmx40cm however the profile of the new vent was slightly different and meant there was a need to enlarge the hole by approx 10mm on two of the sides. Out came the trusty jig saw and a few minutes later the hole was the correct size and the new vent dropped into place.

I lifted the vent back out and applied a layer of Soudaflex 40FC to the underside and repositioned it, when in position I ran a bead of Soudaflex around the outside where it joined the roof. I could have done with an extra pair of hands to fit the inner skin, holding it in place, and realised later that I should have taped it in place to make it easier to line up the screws.

The new roof light is white not cream and has a white inner fly screen not brown and it has certainly made the interior of the bathroom lighter. Of course the other half has commented that we need to replace the one over the kitchen so that they match! Watch this space.

Wed 1st April 2020.

This evening we should have been travelling from Portsmouth to Caen with Brittany Ferries to spend a few weeks in France, but as we all know Coranavirus has put paid to everyone’s travels. I recently read an article and wrote a thread on another blog site about “Fernweh”.

All my life I’ve enjoyed travelling and like most motorhome owners am always looking forward to the next trip I’ve always believed I suffer from wanderlust. However after reading the article I realise I don’t have Wanderlust but Fernweh.

Wanderlust is the opposite to home sickness and could be defined as the desire or urge to travel, whereas Fernweh elevates that urge to a need to travel.

So having to submit to the current lock down conditions with very little hope to be able to travel in the coming months is very difficult to come to terms with, our trip to a Scotland in May that we had enjoyed planning is now cancelled and there is little point in planning a different trip. We are complying with the social isolation, not too hard when you are used to spending time as a pair in a small motorhome! To keep busy we are decorating areas of our house and the past eight days has seen us transforming the kitchen from pine to grey.

On a positive note all our extended family and friends and readers of the blog are currently virus free and fingers crossed we will all come out of this with out too much trauma. Stay safe and healthy everyone.

Thursday 19th March.

Over the past few weeks in between dodging the heavy rain showers that have plagued us I decided to add a few additions to Homer to ready us for this years touring season.

Firstly I fitted a wireless reversing camera that I purchased via Amazon, the model I decided on was a Boscam K1 Wireless Reversing Camera. I chose a wireless version as I couldn’t with my limited knowledge of motor electrics see how to wire a normal one. There are reported possible problems with “ interference” to the signal on a wireless version but so far on my few reversing trips up and down our drive it has worked well. The camera and transmitter are powered by connection to the reversing light whilst the screen is powered by plugging into the 12v supply ( cigarette lighter). It took me about 2 hours to install on my own, most of which was spent getting under the motor home and back out again to decide where to drill the entry hole for the cables, I stayed under there for 5 mins at one point whilst it snowed. Time will tell how useful it is.

Then I installed a solar panel as we intend to do a lot of free camping on a trip to Scotland in May (see later comment). After research I opted to purchase from Sunstore a 120w solar panel kit complete with all wiring, solar charge controller with twin USB output and a tube of Soudaflex for attachment to the roof. There are good downloadable instructions onSunstore’s site plus a video on YouTube showing how to fit the panel.

Firstly you have to attach the feet to the panel, here the dining table came into use, then after deciding where to site the panel came that moment where you have to overcome the hesitation and drill a hole through the roof for the cable.

I had just drilled the hole when the weather decided to instantly change from lovely sunshine to heavy showers so I hurriedly had to feed the cable through the roof and fit the entry gland to prevent ingress of rainwater. Internally I fed the cable through several wall cupboards and down to the position for the solar charge controller, next step is fit the cables with inline fuse to the battery and following instructions/ sequence to wire everything together. Unfortunately the rain became continuous and the wind strengthened and I was unable to glue the panel to the roof, I spent a restless evening concerned the panel would have blown away overnight!! Fortunately it hadn’t and the next morning I used the Soudaflex to attach the panel to the roof and tidied up the wiring. It appears to be working but as the battery was fully charged there has been no need for it to be recharged, I will obviously need to run something in Homer to drain the battery a little and see if the panel tops it up. I have used a multimeter across the terminals and it is showing the panel is providing power.

Now with reference to the title, no action, and the message in brackets. We were due to join friends Peter and Alison this weekend at Bolton Abbey Motorhome and Camping Site in Yorkshire but unfortunately I have developed a cold that I don’t wish to share with others so we have sadly had to take the decision to cancel. Of course we are also at the beginning of the Coravinus epidemic with the strong advice not to undertake unnecessary travel and I’m also in the age group that has been advised to stay indoors for ones own safety. Who knows then when Homers wheels will be moving again, we can only sit and dream. We are also unable to travel to our French house in 2 weeks time as all passenger ferries are now cancelled to Spain and France. We do hope that a solution is found as soon as possible for everyone’s sake.

Sunday 23rd February 2020

It rained heavily all night last night but thankfully had stopped by the time we got up. To either side of Homer there were standing pools of water and I’m glad we took the decision to park on the hardcore area.

We had decided to visit Dagfields Antiques Centre this morning which was approx a 30 minute drive, driving there and driving home later was a challenge as many of the roads were flooded with rain running off the fields.

At least it was dry as we walked around the numerous units and Michelle was very happy as she added 2 Poole Pottery pieces and a piece of Anita Harris.

Saturday 22nd Feb 2020.

We had a very stormy night last night and Homer was rocked back and forth all night we and Layla had a disturbed nights sleep. However when we set off at 10.30 am to walk into Whitchurch the weather was dry and the wind less blustery.

Whitchurch is situated in N Shropshire about 2 miles East of the Welsh border, it has been inhabited since Roman times and was known as Mediolanum ( middle of the plain) and was situated on the Roman road between Chester and Wroxeter.

The current church of St Alkmund was built in 1713 and is the third church on the site, the second being built of white stone ( white church) giving rise to the current name of Whitchurch.

On this stone it refers to the Battle of Bordeaux, it actually took place at Castillon where we were just over 3 weeks ago.

There are over 100 listed buildings in Whitchurch some dating back to the 1500’s.

We found Whitchurch to be quite dog friendly with at least 2 cafes that welcomed dogs, we had a good mooch around the antique centre and the charity shops in one I was the big spender of the day buying 2 engraved glasses for £1.50.

During the afternoon we were joined by our youngest daughter Steph and her partner Will who live 6 miles South of Whitchurch.

We spent the evening with Peter and Alison planning a trip to Scotland in May a trip we are looking forward to.

Friday 21st February 2020.

We’re parked up for the weekend at Whitchurch Marina on the outskirts of Whitchurch in Shropshire.

We were due to be here last Friday to meet up with Peter and Alison in Fluffles, however Storm Dennis put paid to that and we wisely postponed the meeting. Mind you it’s pretty windy at the moment with Homer being buffeted by strong winds.

The standard pitches are on grass but as it’s been so wet we have opted to park on a gravel area alongside the narrow boats moored here, the staff are very pleasant and welcoming and were happy to allow us to decide what’s best.

After a cuppa and quick chat we went for a walk along the towpath of the Llangollen Canal, it’s quite muddy in places which is not surprising after all the rain we have had recently but it was good to grab some fresh air .

This evening followed its normal course with us joining Peter and Alison in Fluffles where a few drinks were imbibed and we began discussions on a joint trip to Scotland in May.

Thursday 30th January 2020.

We set off on our return journey in the pitch dark and heavy rain, the first 45 miles of the journey is on country roads and through villages so that was a challenge. Then for the whole of the rest of the journey approx 30. miles it is dual carriageway or motorway so the journey is swift but still challenging in the rain and road spray. Thankfully the French motorways weren’t busy.

We had one bizarre incident on the journey back. just south of Tours there is a Tollpay station with about 15 booths, as we have a device in the car that automatically opens the barrier and charges us later I headed for an empty one of these which was the second from the right. The device beeped and I started forward when suddenly a man clad in black body armour wielding an automatic rifle lept out in front of us and forced us to stop. He didn’t communicate just pointed the gun, after a minute or two he stepped back about 10 paces and I assumed it was OK to go but he soon made it clear I couldn’t . Now if I was “Jack Reacher” (read the books) I would have immediately known what kind of gun it was, what it fired, the velocity of the bullets and how long it would take to leap out of the car and disarm the man, but as I’m not I sat still with my hands in clear view on top of the steering wheel. Shortly afterwards two police cars with blacked out windows came through the barrier and took up place one in front of two trucks in front of us and one behind, they then took off in convoy. Our armed gendarme then walked backwards about 10m keeping the gun trained on us, I again assumed wrongly it was OK to move, but the wave of the gun taught me otherwise. At this moment a third police car came through the barrier and swerved at an angle between us and the armed policeman, 30 seconds later it screamed off and our armed man had disappeared!

I then assumed it was OK to go, a few minutes later I caught up with the convoy which was travelling below the speed limit and overtook it, only to find a moment or two later that the third car shot past us swerved across the lanes and blocked a slip road onto the motorway with two armed men leaping out of the car, this happened 3 times before we got to Tours when they must have driven off the motorway. Who knows what was going on, I’m sure we will never find out, at least the adrenaline kept me going for a while.

When we reached the port at Caen the computer software at the check in booth wasn’t working so we had to go in the terminal, after checking in and getting our cabin keys we decided as there was an hour before sailing we would have a coffee in the cafe. As we sat there a young woman approached and introduced herself as a journalist from a local newspaper and asked if she could interview us for her paper about how our travels would be affected by BREXIT. We explained our main concerns especially the uncertainty of travelling with Layla and length of time we could spend in Europe, she took our names ( including Layla) and took our photo. Will we be in the paper, who knows? All Michelle was concerned about was that she hadn’t brushed her hair before the photo!

The ferry crossing was choppy with lots of rocking and rolling but at least the UK part of the journey was dry and we were home by 1am.

Sunday 26th Jan 2020

Even if we don’t have a vide grenier to head for we like to take the opportunity to go out for a ride on a Sunday, roads are pretty empty and it’s easier to park in towns.

Today we headed South West which is not a direction we take very often and we ended up in the 12th century town of Rauzan in the Gironde department. It’s a small town and doesn’t take too long to walk around but it does have a smart town hall and a historic castle/ chateau built during the hundred years’ war , unfortunately it wasn’t open today but it gives us somewhere to revisit in the future.

The town also has the Celestine Cavern which is part of an underground river, the cavern was discovered in the 19c when they were digging a well in the centre of the town. At the right time of year you can descend 13m dressed in caving gear and walk 250m through the cavern in water 5-15 cm deep.

On the way there we drove through Castillon la Bataille which was the site of the last battle of the hundred years’ war in which the French triumphed. It is perhaps then no surprise that each summer for several weeks, 600 volunteers re-enact the battle each evening and have a mock up Middle Ages village with people acting out roles. Funnily we recently discovered whilst taking part in a quiz that the hundred years’ war actually lasted 116 years, you live and learn.

We have had another busy week, decorating the second bathroom, lopping and pruning the fruit trees, having several bonfires and visits to the tip as we sort out each area of the house and storage sheds and thin out the mass of items that has accumulated here over the past 28 years.

Having said that we did actually acquire some extras this week. Virtually all the furniture we have here had a previous life in the UK and has continued to provide extra service here, however in the longer darker nights when we are indoors we were having trouble getting comfortable.We didn’t wish to lay out a great deal of money so we went to visit a warehouse that is run by a charity and here we bought an armchair each for a total of 20 euros. They don’t match but what is important is that each is of a size that fits us individually.

Of course no visit to France can occur without a visit to our favourite vineyard where we stocked up with wine to bring home to keep us going until our next visit.

Sat 25th January 2020

Any visit we make during the Autumn, late winter and early spring involves keeping the house warm.

This trip we have been lucky as for January it has been quite mild, we have eaten lunch outside in the sunshine on every day bar two since arrival, albeit wearing a thick jumper or a fleece.

This has meant on most days we haven’t lit the house fires until late afternoon, when there are just the two of us here we have two fires we fire up, an open fire in the dining kitchen and a wood burning stove in the small lounge. In our large lounge we also have a very large wood burner capable of pumping out 14kw of heat, this is only in use when we have guests.

We buy the wood by the cubic metre and it comes in 1 metre lengths, the kitchen fire and large lounge fire can take 50cm pieces but the small lounge wood burner we are currently using only takes up to 40cm lengths. This means I spend a considerable amount of time cutting the logs into either halves or thirds. Thankfully we have two petrol chain saws that can tackle the work but there is still a lot of graft required in the lifting, cutting and stacking the cut logs. So far this holiday we have cut up a cubic metre of logs and as many of them are seasoned oak it’s been quite hard work.

We do also have a number of electric convector heaters that we bring into play as and when necessary in areas such as the bathrooms and bedrooms.

Sunday 19th January 2020

Another Sunday another vide grenier and brocante. It has been beautifully sunny today but with a cool wind so we wrapped up warm to go and visit a place we had only driven through before.

When we arrived it was extremely busy, there were cars parked all along the road and down side lanes for hundreds of metres and large numbers of people were walking towards the town as though going to a football match. When we arrived we could see that the main road through the town had been closed and traffic diverted down a narrow lane around the town. It was very busy there must have been over 200 stalls selling items from one euro to hundreds of euros, slightly more upmarket than the usual car boot effect, that being the addition of the brocante element. Unusually for us we didn’t buy anything!

Over the past week we have occupied ourselves with numerous tasks and as the weather, apart from yesterday, has been sunny and dry most of the work has been outdoors. The area has suffered some storms with high winds over the past few months bringing down many trees, we discovered two trees adjacent to our fence in our neighbours field had blown over and were leaning at 45 degrees over our tractor tunnel, so they took half a day to cut down in sections, we also had one of our trees split and I had to cut away half of that. A few hundred feet from the house on the edge of the lane a large ancient oak tree had split and been blown down.

It also came to our attention that there was an area of our roof that needed the tiles realigning, so out came the ladders and scaffolding tower and muggings here spent a day on the repair. It was very windy that day, some of you may remember a character called Fred Dibnah who was a T V personality and steeplejack known for demolishing mill chimneys, it seemed no matter how high up he was or what precarious position he got into, his flat cap stayed glued firmly to his head, I can’t say the same for me, twice I had to rescue mine as it blew away across the roof.

Twice this morning and again all afternoon we had a power cut, this isn’t unusual in this area as cables are strung between trees alongside the lanes and often come down. We are well set up,to deal with it, with torches, candles etc, the wood fires keep us warm and we cook on a gas hob so we can manage quite well. At one point Michelle pointed out that even if we wanted to go out in the evening should the power cut continue, there was nowhere to go! It’s Sunday and there is nowhere open in this area during the evening to go and sit, have a drink etc there’s something to be said for a British Pub.