2012……

Its a new year. We have just been to Essex to visit family for Christmas and then to attend a great New Year rally with the EEDA…….the East Essex DA of the camping and caravan club. The event was held in the grounds of a lovely school just outside Chelmsford called New Hall.

We had a great time at New Hall with Jessica making lots of friends and really getting into the party mood. The van coped well although we came away thinking about rebuilding the heating system. We currently have a very good propex blow heater but it does use quite a bit of battery power and when you are off hook up this can be worrying. We will have to sit down and really think about which way to go but the Truma Combi looks promising

Leave A Comment, Written on January 2nd, 2012 , January 2012 Tags: , , ,
Revisiting old sites


This week I am back at thelodgecl in Colchester. We stayed here a few years back and have fond memories. Since we were here last site owners Paul and Caron have added a nice toilet block complete with laundry, ideal for the fulltimer. There is also a very reliable broadband connection included in the nightly charge of £10. Each pitch has it’s own water tap and grey water dump. I am shooting some family portraits and it’s been nice seeing regular customers again.

Leave A Comment, Written on July 20th, 2011 , August, Campsites Tags:
New tyres

I popped in and saw our friendly tyre fitter, Mark the tyreman of Grimsby and got him to fit a couple of new tyres onto the front of the van, wow what a difference, much smoother.

Leave A Comment, Written on July 7th, 2011 , Converting a van into a motorhome
Working trip to Essex

We have just been on a working trip to Essex. Shona and Jessica came to and we parked up on Mum’s drive. One of the great things about FlowerRozy is her size, she can go anywhere a medium sized car can go. Shona and I canvassed an estate called North Melbourne. We shot 7 great families (with a camera that is) and I am looking forward to heading back to deliver them in a couple of weeks. We are offering a really superb deal at the moment. We managed to get hold of some 30 inch stretcher bars at a great price so we are focussing on 30 inch X 20 inch canvasses. No idea if they will sell well but we will see.

FlowerRozy handled herself really well and we slept like logs. The new gearbox is settling in and my mind is working overtime on how to fit some external storage systems. I fancy one on the rear door that opens out into a bench to ahve a BBQ on. We would also manufacture an awning to go on the back. On the top there is room for another storage box but I also want another solar panel so I guess the answer is to manufacture a box with a flat top and put the solar panel onto that. Some careful planning to do.

I saw this post on  www.motorhomefacts.com (click here) by very well know motorhomer Don Madge. He has a storage system on the rear door of his panel van and I like this design as it still allows for the opening of the door

 

Don’s van is in at Timberland Motorhomes being resprayed at the moment but when it comes back I would love to see it.

Leave A Comment, Written on July 4th, 2011 , Converting a van into a motorhome Tags: , ,
A busy few weeks

We are getting away almost every weekend at the moment which is great but not so great is my attention to this blog, I really must do better. A few weeks ago saw us down in Stratford with a group of friends. The weekend had nothing to do with the royal wedding but that was the excuse that was used. One of the crazy things they did was a highly competitive event called “Rolling the Fray Bentos tin, a comp won by me lol!!

 

We then went with the same group to Misterton near Doncaster. I had a great game of golf there and loved the little course we played on. Then it was back to Stratford for a week at the motorhome show.

 

This weekend we are off camping with Jessica’s school which should be fun, I think lol

Leave A Comment, Written on June 10th, 2011 , general motorhoming
Our little girls first riding lesson

 

Video by our friend Shane

Leave A Comment, Written on May 16th, 2011 , Uncategorized
The Solar Panel in use

We love our solar panel. Its just so good at keeping the batteries charged up and once installed its free power, such a nice feeling. The other weekend we spent 4 days camping off grid and even though we watched quite a bit of television, used lights whenever and showered daily (uses the electric pump) our battereis spent most of their time fully charged, fantastic

Leave A Comment, Written on May 8th, 2011 , solar panel fitting, wildcamping
Lost posts

We have recently changed our internet host and in doing so lost a number of posts, darn it!

Leave A Comment, Written on May 8th, 2011 , Uncategorized
Solar Panel fitting

We fitted the 85 watt solar panel we purchased at the Newark Show this weekend. We purchased the panel and regulator from a very helpful company whose website is http://www.solarpanel4u.co.uk/Home.html. Total cost was under £300, which is quite a saving over getting one fitted (fitting seems to be about £400) and its so easy.

The planned location of the solar panel

It took about 2 hours to fit. We decided where to put it, which was at the front of the van across the roof. One of the downsides of a van conversion is the roof is ribbed and curves so a flat panel is not going to lay flat. I did not want to have any gaps which might allow wind and rain ot get under the panel and so I used bedding mastic to build upto a level platform. two small holes were drilled for the cables. Its important to use silicon whilst putting the cables through to make the holes water tight.

The panel was then lowered into place and and angle iron was used to screw it to the room, again using silicon to seal. Negative and positive cables were taken from the battery and via a 10amp fuse on the positive attached to the regulator. The cables to the solar panel were then connected.

Installed

The battery was almost fully charged but even so the panel pumped in .5 amp. I think its going to be a great asset to the van

Leave A Comment, Written on September 26th, 2010 , motorhome work, solar panel fitting, Uncategorized Tags: , ,
Lots of thinking

Since the weekend we have spoken a lot about returning to fulltiming. The place we are living in is just so nice but its in one place, its static and its not free. Jessica has started school and as part of our thinking process we ahve been discussing her schooling, would she be better of in home education.

She came home yesterday quite upset. She had run up to Mathew at school, the son of someone we know to say hello and he turned and kicked her hard. I guess it was a nine year old not wanting to admit he knew a four year old girl in front of his mates, not nice and is it an environment we want for her?

Leave A Comment, Written on September 21st, 2010 , fulltime living, jessica, rv schooling
<< Older Entries

motorhome fulltiming is proudly powered by WordPress and the Theme Adventure by Eric Schwarz
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).

motorhome fulltiming