Bed Test

I put the bed back in this afternoon.

Now the weather is turning and now we have finished moving house, it felt like a good time to get Tyrion back into micro-camper mode. I have put the bed back in and am using both the mattress (for short stops) and the airbed. I fitted the worktop, added a doormat, found a quilt and some pillows, then decided to test the bed.

I found it very comfortable initially but wondered if it was the sort of bed that would get uncomfortable after a few minutes.

Mrs woke me up two hours later. The bed definitely passed the test.

I have added an electric coolbox which will be perfect for a couple of cans, a bottle of milk and some snacks. Apart from some additional lighting I can't see anything else that is needed.

It might be time to stop playing and actually get out in it for the night.

More Curtains

The 'found' curtains I used for the front of the van have been changed. I had four large terracotta-coloured curtains and realised that if I used two of those for the front, I could cut the other two into smaller sections for other windows.

The cardboard panels in the back windows have been falling out recently - the cardboard has soaked up some moisture from somewhere and lost some of it's rigidity, so I decided that it was time for a change.

I now have hand-sewn curtains at the back windows. To attach them I used net curtain wire which I have screwed to the inside of the doors - this meant actually drilling into my van, which was something I wasn't keen on initially, but after the first couple of holes I didn't think much about it.

Mrs suggested using another wire at the bottom of each window to stop the curtain flapping and this works perfectly (please excuse the dirty back windows, Tyrion is overdue a wash).

The success of these curtains made me want to try more, so I replaced the black curtain along the offside of the van. I used another net curtain wire, again screwed to the metal of the van, and ran it above both the windows on that side. As the bed presses up to this side of the van there is no need for a lower wire, which is good because it would block access through the sliding door on that side when in 'car mode'.

This left one single red shiny window infill. I thought about replacing this with a curtain but quickly realised that this was right over the worktop where the gas cooker would sit. I don't think having a fabric curtain that close to a gas burner would be a good idea, so I removed the infill, placed the fabric between it and the window then pushed the infill back in place. A quick trim with scissors left my GMB logo still visible on the inside, but the outside now showing black fabric.

So I have terracotta fabric front and back and black fabric down both sides. A very productive day's work.

Table Still Stable

It's been a hectic time recently but I still found time to clip my worktop in place and drive around for a while to see if it stayed where it should.

I am happy to report that it did.

Feel free to ignore the cardboard boxes ready for a run to the recycling centre.

Stable Table

My multi-purpose worktop has been very successful so far, but the issue I had with it was movement while driving. It was held in by a bungie cord which stopped the top part from moving but the bottom kept sliding out.

The easy answer would have been to attach it to the inside of the van with brackets, but it has to be removable so this wouldn't work for me. Instead I have used toggle clips (I didn't know they were called that until I found them in B and Q and read the name on the packaging). I have riveted an angled piece of tin to the interior trim in the back and riveted the hook to this tin. The toggle clip itself is simply screwed to the bottom of the unit. To prevent the toggle clip popping open while driving I have popped a split pin in the holes.

This sounds fairly simple but I had to cut holes in the trim using my dremel then cut and shape the tin, drill and rivet the hook and then put it all in the van so I could accurately mark the holes for the toggle clip screws. It was time consuming and for someone as inexperienced with tool work as I am, a bit of a challenge, but I finished it and it works.

Once again the craftsmanship is well below the standard anyone would expect from a tradesman, but as DIY done just for me, it's a pleasing thing to look at and it does what I need it to do.

New Curtains

On moving into the new place I investigated the loft and found that it is going to be perfect to set up my keyboard and guitars and maybe even do some more recording. None of that is relevant to this blog, but the curtains that were left behind by the previous occupants certainly are.

I found several pairs of very large curtains - more than six foot square. Two pairs are a terracotta colour with some sort of arty writing on them. The other pair (perhaps two pairs, I can't remember without climbing back up the loft ladder) are dark brown, almost black.

I had a few metres of shock cord in the van (the stretchy stuff bungies are made from) which I had bought with something else in mind, but I found that this was the perfect solution to 'hang' these curtains. The cord runs from the hooks in the roof each side, just above the sliding doors, around the front of the cabin and hooks onto the sun visors. Once the idea had occurred to me it was a simple case of knotting a loop in each end and hooking it on. There was some playing to get the length and tension right, but that was the hardest part.

The pictures below show the original black curtain solution compared with the new brown curtains.

The black curtain ran across the van behind the front seats. This meant that when lying in the bed my feet pushed against the curtains. The new curtains run around the front of the cabin, meaning there is a lot more space in the curtained-off area. Their size means there is no issue with gaps and they are thick enough to block out a lot of light.

I am very happy with this new curtain solution and hope to make something similar happen in the back of the van, which is currently blacked out with window-shaped infills, one of which keeps falling off and is currently held on with sellotape.

Speedway Event

I have this evening booked a pitch at Pentney Park for Monday 8th June when I will be travelling 140 miles to watch the second round of the Speedway World Cup. This will be an exciting event for me for two reasons.

Taking Tyrion out for a real expedition is something I have been looking forward to for some time. I plan to pop out for a night or two locally between now and then (although there are only 43 days to go) but this will be his first proper planned expedition.

Secondly the arena where the event is taking place is one where I used to go every week to watch the home team, the Kings Lynn Stars. It will be a trip down memory lane just being there again and I plan to stand between bends one and two, just as I did every week twenty six years ago.

As well as revisiting the arena, I will be watching some of the great names in speedway - the same people I have been watching on television and YouTube, in their team events, best pairs matches and grand prix. It promises to be an extremely exciting evening.

Moving House

Tyrion Vannister has been worth his weight in gold these past two weeks. We are moving house and almost everything we own has been transported in the back of my little red van - even a two-seat sofa and a double mattress.

I know I've used this image before, but it's too damn good to use just once.

We have a van coming tomorrow to move a very small number of items that won't fit in the back, but the price difference between what we are paying these guys and what we paid the movers last time we moved runs into the hundreds of pounds.

My little red hero has certainly earned his keep this week.