Preparations

Along with most of the population, I'm finding Lockdown 3 extremely challenging. Things were much worse when I was without my hearing aids. Now that I have them back, I'm beginning to take control of my daily routines again.

They are very weather-dependent, so the first few days with the hearing aids working were spent on housework and cooking. Yesterday, I made my Saturday Facetime meeting with my old school friend, for the first time in a couple of weeks. We've both been through a rough patch, so it was good to be able to talk about it. We chatted for over an hour - the longest since before Christmas.

The weather forecast for today was very good. It was chilly but sunny. I wrote a letter to a friend yesterday, and the first job after breakfast was to take Alf for a walk and post the letter. I met a neighbour with her dog on the way back home. Normally, the two dogs (both male, both terriers) do not get on very well. But this morning, there was a very quiet, civil greeting, giving their humans a chance for a chat.

After lunch, I had decided I would do some preparation of Levant II for her trip to the workshop tomorrow. I vacuumed and cleaned the interior, and turned the engine over to check that the battery was charged. I needed to reset the calendar/clock after the last time the battery went flat.

Then it was time for tea. It took me a while to remember the procedure for getting the gas hob to work, but not as long as the maiden boiling of the kettle. The view from my seat beside the low table is lovely. The Viburnum Bodnantense Dawn is covered with fragrant blossom on bare stems. 

Alf took up his favourite position, checking out passers-by. The whistling kettle startled him - it's very loud. Water boils quickly on the hob but I am still a little worried about the capacity of the gas bottle.

I have almost decided to ditch the expensive non-working Eberspächer  heating to free up the starboard locker for a spare bottle. I would then be more confident about pitching without electric hook-up and running the fridge  (visible below the hob) on gas as well.

I'm going to ask the workshop to do some major refurbishment of the roof in addition to fixing the leaky rear door. I might as well have the heating removed at the same time, or perhaps they might be able adjust the port locker to take a larger gas bottle? 

While the van is in the workshop, I am going to plan my first road trip. I've decided a tour along the coastal path from Southwold to Cromer, would be an ideal late Spring adventure. I'm not keen to be on my own for the whole tour so will have to do some creative thinking about how to include some company. More on that next time.