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| My Christmas in a nutshell - cosy and relaxing! I started rereading the Harry Potter books on the 23rd and am almost done with book 6 now. |
But now - finally! - things have started falling into place! I am officially declaring January 18th as my lucky day. Everything went right on Friday, from the nice guy who came to pick up an item I had sold on eBay, to a successful dog walk (dog owners will understand what I mean), to the bus arriving on time, to the great deal on 'driving shoes' I found (two pairs for £6!), to Exeter miraculously being the only place in the country without any snow that day (just a bit of rain to contend with during my driving lesson). Then things went from good to great: After my driving lesson, the instructor told me to book my driving test (yay!!!), and that evening, the settlement amount (or most of it anyway - another long story) for my share of the house went into my bank account! Oh happy day! ;o)
Lately I have been spending a lot of time thinking about what kind of vehicle I want to travel around Europe with. I used to be adamant that I wanted a proper motorhome, not just because they're purpose-built but because it is going to be my home for an indefinite amount of time, so I want to be as comfortable as possible. There are many reasons not to get a motorhome though, and now I have decided I want a van conversion instead. They are safer (more difficult to break into and sturdier built), easier to drive and most importantly SMALLER. And I find myself wanting one of the smallest vans as well, oddly enough. I would love to convert a VW T5. This is the van my ex has, and I have driven it twice now with no problems. Back when it was 'our' van and we used to talk about converting it, I always felt it was far too small. But for one person, a very short person, a person who can actually sleep comfortably across it rather than requiring a bed along one of the sides - well, then it gets interesting! You can't fit a bathroom in them of course, but as I am planning on staying on campsites that isn't a problem at all. And I'm still living fridge-free and TV-free, so that saves both space and electricity. So I got the measurements off the internet and 'built' a T5 cargo hold in what used to be my office. I planned everything out and bizarrely, it fits! There's room for a (what I call) permabed, a kitchen unit on one side, storage behind the seats and under the bed, and, using the bed as a chair, there is room for a table in front of it for working, eating etc., and still room for a doggie bed on the floor. And unless I am much mistaken, I should be able to fit all my belongings in there as well. Inspired by all this, I have got a second wind when it comes to selling off stuff I no longer need on eBay. It makes it easier to see what I'm actually planning to keep and need to find room for, and it also helps add to my funds. T5s are popular for many good reasons, so finding a decent T5 at a price that fits my budget that also just happens to be left hand drive could be a bit of a tall order. I'm leaving this one up to the universe - I've decided on the what, now the universe can sort out the how and the where and when. ;o)
In other recent news, I moved out of the living room today. "You what?", I hear you ask. Yes, I know. It's weird. But I have to get used to living in a much smaller space, and it is very helpful to be able to keep most of my things in one room (the aforementioned 'office'). So now I have no stuff in the living room, nothing in the hallway, a few towels and a spare set of bedlinen + a few jackets, shoes and wellies in the conservatory, one small shelf of bathroom products in (you guessed it) the bathroom, and in the kitchen I have managed to fit all my food + three recipe books on two shelves, my crockery takes up about two shelves as well (this will include pots and pans when I get round to buying a camping cookset) and my utensils take up about half a drawer. In the bedroom I have managed to fit all my clothes into just 2.5 drawers and I only need one laundry basket now so I have sold the little one on eBay (I actually had a set of three - and I got £8 for them, which paid for my bus ticket to Exeter on my lucky day yesterday). ;o)
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| In addition to these 2.5 shelves I've also got two laundry bags full of 'seasonal' clothes in the office - one for summer and one for Norwegian winters! |
That just leaves my pillow and duvet plus some fairy lights in the bedroom - everything else I own is in my office now and I think almost half of what is in there is stuff that I am in the process of listing on eBay. Tomorrow I think I will nip into the local Londis and ask for a few cardboard boxes so I can start selling all my kitchen appliances - I'm getting rid of my blender, juicer, high tech water filter and a giant, ingenious citrus press (I don't really want to get rid of that one but it weighs a ton so fuel economy comes first. I remember very well the Top Gear episode where Jeremy Clarkson calculated that having a moustache would add £5 to your annual fuel consumption - and fuel prices have rocketed since then.). I have also finally decided to sell all my photo equipment because I just don't use it. I transferred some photos from my digital SLR to my computer today and found that several of them was from the summer of 2010. It was a present and I love it dearly, but it's not being used so I'm better off selling it so someone else can enjoy it. Oh, and I'm also going to sell my beautiful glass desk - it weighs all of 66 kg so I am not sure how well it will do on eBay, but fingers crossed!! ;o)
Right, I think it's time for bed now so I better wrap this up - thanks for reading my random ramblings!
Love Neens xx
