Away with Maud...

A visit to Dorset... Maud was a star sadly my body not so and then there was a stone in the spinach ouch... so I had to cut the holiday short coming back home for two chipped tooth fillings... I couldn't eat without getting an electric shock...

I did make it to a bootsale and saw two stunning gardens, one was next door to our cottage but the rest of the holiday was spent in bed with.... can you guess... yes... migraines...  my neck was catching a nerve again....

The bootsale outing, the first for me this year, was very successful... thank you Elaine... huge so I didn't make it to every stall but I came away with...

Two splendid blankets the blue one is a perfect fit for covering Maud's bed and the other needs a bit of tlc...

I picked up a few other things...  and met some lovely locals too.

The linens could do with a soak but I seem to have run out of ecover bleach powder...

Some more embroidery hoops and a couple of pretty embroidery pieces

And a thin long hanging you may have spied in Maud?

Oh yes and a rather useful National Trust walking stick... all in all not bad for just under £10 and I was back in the holiday cottage before 9 o'clock for breakfast...


Next time a post about the trip around Cranbourne Manor Garden now if you haven't been there you are in for a real treat..


Here's the entrance to the gardens just to wet your appetites... and yes they are chives!!

Thanks for popping by till next time smiles Cass x

Little Maud update...

So here is my van Maud, bought April 2013... you can see more in a previous post here

My old enamel cooker turned out to be a little past it's best so sadly had to be removed... I finally tracked down the same model, a slightly later version through Ebay.. It came all the way from Ireland... hooray... but was 1cm wider... boo hoo so I had to persuade my ex to take apart the pod top, I had to remove the rust again and paint it all up,  then  design a stainless steel piece and get it made to enclose the sides and back of the cooker...  then the gas fittings were all different and had to be changed then it all got put back together this all took months...                                                                                

I find it so frustrating nowadays things that I was easily capable of doing before now with this               blooming spine I can no longer do. ..                                                                                                            

The table is now actually supported so can be used, an extra portable table and my lovely found cool   box tuck neatly underneath.                                                                                                                   

                                                                                         

                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                   

She has two big round press lights that can be put where ever they are needed ( I do hate florescent lighting and they give me migraines too!)                                                                                                                      

Oh yes a new hanging area, I found some rather fab hooks on Ebay and my glorious map duck trio...       

Close up details of Ducks for EE from whom they were bought...                                                              

She also had a lovely new tinted windscreen put in last week after a long mysterious crack appeared overnight...



But then...



Maud had her MOT today and failed...

She needs a pair of new steering boots fitted... and few other small things...

So I'm selling things again to pay for the work to fix her...

Bang goes any hope of buying a new washing machine anytime soon... the current one floods the kitchen floor every time I use it... which is very, very dull! I may have to phone a friend...

Sorry I've not been around...
I'm not in the best of shape either, had flu for 8 days and my spine is keeping me fairly housebound with migraines and blooming vertigo caused by nerves catching in my neck.... I'm rather fed up...

I just want to have adventures with Maud, make my own clothes, grow my own food and well just do normal things that most take for granted really but my life has been far from normal for 10 years for now I'd settle for being pain free and not having vertigo...


Thank God that Spring is here... I have a garden full of natural beauty and a pond full of tadpoles...

Thanks for popping by...

Smiles Cass x

I have been very patient... I really have...

But now please welcome My little van...  Maud

Yes I really did want a turquoise van!! no boring white for me...

Old she maybe but she is also bright and cheerful... and I will be able to find her easily in a crowd... hooray!!

I couldn't afford a VW T4 or T5 so have gone for the Mercedes Vito... she is an automatic 12 year old, no frills of electric windows etc, with 3 seats up the front...

Currently she has a dual passenger seat, but I am considering swapping that unit for a single so I can put a swivel on it which will allow me to get into the back... without anyone knowing to have a rest.

I saved up for 2 years, sold stuff and had some help from my parents then two months ago I took the plunge and bought this van... it was then sent to a chap called Clive to interprete my designs for the insides and put in a roof vent...

I finally got her back a week ago....

She will allow me to have a mobile bed and that is what I need to lead a more normal life....

A single bed frame, that can be shorten at one end and made into a seat at the other, was made from an unwanted double futon frame...

The two thermal window covers were bought from SW Campers and are fantastic... blocking out the light when i want to rest and easily removed when they are not needed..

I made one curtain to cover the shelves, gas bottle and water container... access is from the sliding door behind...

and found hooks to hang this one I made years ago... I think I may put some applique on it in time but for now it is fine...

The pod has my little cooker and tap out of my old sprite caravan...

I've had a roof vent put in, that has a useful mossie screen too... but that is leaking at the mo...

With sliders the table can be used in two positions, I'm still waiting for one slider which is why the table is a tad wonky in the photo below.

There is plenty of storage under the bed...

I've done a fab swap with the lovely Amanda at http://vintagesheetaddict.blogspot.co.uk   for some vintage fabric and wallpaper...

I will be attempting to make a cotton duvet cover from an old white sheet with some patchwork or applique from the fabric below...

And soon some funky wallpaper will be lining the shelves of the pod too...

Other retro things I've found for the van are...

this lovely tray

I was thrilled when I found this slim line cold box in aqua for £4 and finally one of my crochet blankets, not made by me but by a lovely elderly lady way back in the 50's...

It has seen better days (haven't we all)  but it is perfect for the van... I've been busy sewing up all the holes...


I've gone for a retro scandinavian feel, can you tell??

We have a few more problems to overcome but...

So there we are my little van...

I will be sorry to see my little old faithful golf go on Friday but I can not afford or indeed need two vehicles so I embrace this change and hope it does indeed open up my world again...

Till next time I send you all smiles Cass x