Posts that Didn't Happen: March 2025

And on to the merry month of March . . .  starting with a solo visit to family across country for a few days, helping out with various things, while Martin continued to work on Project Van.

He made some useful progress in my absence, starting on the 'bookshelf' design (between one of the overhead cabinets, and one 'side' of the bed, sitting above the electric control cupboard) - and continuing work on electric things I don't understand.

Construction of a storage 'step', raising the floor level between the front and rear seating, is also underway.

On my return (complete with cold, which Martin duly caught quite badly) I continued with 'carpeting stuff, including the over-bed areas - this time in a nice deep wine colour.

I also devised part of the solution for our sliding bed element - this is formed of four Ikea bed struts, which sit on wooden beams at either side of the van (as shown on the right).

By attaching the bed slats to the struts with velcro, the two 'halves' of the bed can now be slid together, with the slats interlocking, making more room at the back or front of the bed as required.  

The whole structure can also be easily removed if even more space is required for transporting large items.

Alongside 'decor' (carpeting and cork tiling), more serious considerations such as security were tackled - with the fitting of locks to the exterior of the sliding and barn doors.

Towards the end of the month we finally purchased some vinyl flooring for the van, and marked that up for fitting in due course.

It does feel like there is some momentum to it all now, but there's still a long way to go . . .

In other news, we enjoyed some lovely sunny Spring days, and made a little more room in the garage by selling a greenhouse we bought way back in 2009 and which had been sitting in its boxes ever since!  Also started learning / playing a bit of chess - although Martin is taking it a bit more seriously than I am.
 

We ended the month with another visit across country to meet up with some extended family, and celebrate Mother's Day and what is now a 62nd Wedding Anniversary (where are the years going?).

Posts that Didn't Happen: February 2025

February brought us a month at home, mostly occupied with 'Project Van' things, alongside some more archive consultancy work (for me), and life in general!

In the Van - Martin tackled the frames for the overhead cabinets - one of the more daunting jobs - and made panels to line the interiors, which I duly 'carpeted'.

While he was busy with actual construction, and planning, and electrics, etc., etc.  I turned my hand to some of the more 'decorative' elements.

The sliding door was stipple painted in a nice purple grey colour, and I carpeted the window surround Martin had created, applying cork tiles to the panels above and below.

Also carpeted the 'Frankenstein' plywood cladding around the window on the other side - this didn't go so well, but more cork tiling covered a multitude of sins!

Cork tiles also went on the panel under the 'windowsill', and finished off the overcab section.

So things are moving on, although it still feels like we're a long way from the finish line . . .

The end of the month brought some star-gazing, as we tried (and failed) to take a good picture of the rare seven planet 'parade' (it did look better in person!):

Posts that Didn't Happen: January 2025

And on to January 'proper' . . .

After our festive wanderings, it was home again, home again on New Year's Day - welcomed back by a (possible) view of the Northern Lights.  See picture of 'reddish' glow!

Within the week the weather began to turn really cold, and we even had a smattering of snow - which morphed into ice on our country roads, keeping us home for a couple of days or so.

Van 'planning' continued despite the weather, with various plumbing bits being ordered, kitchen units measured up for, and electrical work actually underway.  Here's a view of the 'in progress' electric control cupboard.

Later in the month we were heading back across country again, fitting in a birthday visit to Stratford-upon-Avon along the way.  A few days with family, sorting out medical appointments and other bits and pieces, and enjoying some Moo time (not sure she appreciated her Dad's attempt at hair dressing!). 

Home again to yet more stormy weather - although 'Eowyn' was far less destructive in our neck of the woods than 'Darragh', and our new prom lights made it through unscathed:

By the end of the month, there were even signs that Spring was on its way, with some early daffodils appearing in a sheltered spot down the road from us.   

Looking forward to some warmer days ahead . . .

In 2024 I Mostly Read . . .

So as a starter for ten, here's the reading list for 2024:

October - December 2024 - The ambition was to start a re-read of Charles de Lint's 'Newford' books, starting with the short story collection Dreams Underfoot - but didn't really get any further than that (too much else going on!).

September 2024 - Well I can see from my daily blog that I was reading something, but for the life of me, with my less than timely blogging, I can't remember what!!

July - August 2024 - More fantasy stuff, with a set of 99p kindle books by CK McDonnell - the Stranger Times series.  Sort of comedy supernatural - about a 'team' of oddballs running a weekly newspaper reporting on the weird and wonderful - only of course for them to find out that much of what they are reporting is actually true!  Worked my way through the eponymous first book The Stranger Times which introduces our heroes, This Charming Man (book the second with allegorical vampires), Love Will Tear Us Apart (avoid new-age retreats), and Relight My Fire (celebrity zombies anyone?).  Funny, inventive, and real page-turners - looking forward to the next one!

June 2024 - Continuing the fantasy theme, and with a new Dresden novella The Law, although I had to dip back into the last novel Battleground to get the context first - good as always, and a bit of a lighter offering than Battleground itself.  There was also a new St Mary's short story in there somewhere . . .

May 2024 - Not been reading a lot, but did finally read Susanna Clarke's Piranesi - I adored Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and while this was very different (and much shorter!) it had that same immersive quality, although far more dream-like in its tone.  Very, very good.

March 2024 - Blast from the past (my Mills & Boon youth), with a couple of vintage romances I found on Google Books!  Interesting to revisit, but not something I can see myself getting back into . . .

February 2024 - Back to 'lifestyle' stuff with a Van Tulleken's Ultra-Processed People about all the food we shouldn't eat.  Expect a major change to our diet in the near future! 

January - February 2024 - Finally finished Jodi Taylor's The Chronicles of St Mary's time travel series.  Great read when I got stuck in (had a few 2am mornings on reading sessions).  Definitely recommended!  Might have to start on her The Time Police series next - at least there are only four of those (so far!).

Apologia #2

So here we are again, a new year, and at the time of writing (September 2025!) I've obviously still got a lot of catching up to do.  My only excuse is that life has been busy, with the van, family health issues, a bit of work here and there . . . and a good deal of procrastination!

As with my first Apologia I can't say that the year (in this case 2025) has been covering itself with glory - the world has never felt so uncertain, polarised, and just plain awful in so many ways.  Ukraine and Gaza, the return of Trump and what is increasingly looking like the emergence of a Fascist state in what was once termed the 'land of the free', the ongoing climate crisis, and the rise of the far right in many Western democracies.  

What happened to justice, truth, empathy and fair play?  Why can't people have honest, constructive and respectful discussions about stuff they don't agree on?

Anyway, in the absence of any useful answers to the above - and at far too late a point to be saying 'Happy New Year' - herewith are the 'Posts that Didn't Happen' for 2025.  I make no promises for how long it will take me to catch up, but hopefully at some point, normal service will resume!

Posts that Didn't Happen: December 2024

Year's end and the month of December . . .

Started the month with an early visit to family, where the remodelled town centre was sporting a (deliberately) wonky tree (in homage to last year's newsworthy effort)!

The plan had been to meet up with some old school friends while we were there, but Storm Darragh rather put paid to that, as we all had to travel to get to the dinner location.   

And while it may have been a wild night in Cambridgeshire, back in Wales the weather warning was ramped up to RED.

Travelling home the next day, it soon became apparent that our bit of Wales had indeed had a rough time - with lots of fallen trees on the road over to Aberystwyth.

Luckily the damage at home wasn't too bad - one missing roof tile, and a partially demolished bit of garden storage!

Then with the clock ticking down to Christmas, it was time to clear the front room of 'Project Van', to make room for the festive bling!

Decorating, cooking, eating - all the usual - duly followed, and we even got a sunny Boxing Day for a walk up Constitution Hill.

The end of the month saw us back with family across country for 'second Christmas',  a special birthday celebration - and more festive sights . . .

On to 2025 . . .

Posts that Didn't Happen: November 2024

And on to November - a month when 'Project Van' pretty much dominated life.

Endless debates over wall panels, ceiling panels, lighting, security and so on - and lots and lots of shopping, from automotive 'carpet' and cork tiles (for the walls), to plywood (for the ceiling), electrical bits and pieces, bed mattresses (a split mattress to accommodate the sliding sections of the bed), and even cooking appliances.

So what did we actually achieve?

 

Plywood panels, were covered with bits of old OS map for the Lake District (where I used to live) and our home 'area' here in Wales - pasted down, and varnished with decorator's varnish.

These panels were then fixed in place to form our new 'ceiling' (complete with LED lights):

 

Martin also wired up the ceiling MaxxFan (which should help keep us cool when the hot weather comes) - and got the new outside light fitted and connected - as you can see it works beautifully!

And a plywood 'Frankenstein' creation was (after much angst) fitted round one of the windows - ready for me to 'decorate' in due course.

None of this seemed to go as smoothly as we would have liked - and some days it felt like we just weren't getting anywhere.

So, when the new 'Captains' seats arrived for the front of the van - to replace the single driver's seat and double passenger seat - I was rather fearful of how the installation process would go.

The original seats were removed - and new seat bases (slightly lower to accommodate 'swivel' plates) fixed down.  So far so good!

 

The instructions for the 'swivels' were less clear, and it took us a while to work out which way up they were supposed to go, but we got there in the end.

In fact, it turned out to be one of the least stressful tasks to date - the new seats are much more comfortable than the old, and have really opened up the cab area.

They didn't come cheap mind you - the plan being to sell on the old seats to recoup some of the cost.

Still lots to do!