What are you all up to
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Hi ,,,C.Y,,,The Island is SO laid back, it's my chill out zone/relaxing/wind down area !! Apart from that ,the food,beer and live music is good !!The guy's at the boatyard can look after themselves for a week,,,sitting on their mud berth's rubbing down,painting and varnishing on low neaps !! 
.Arrived at the ferry terminal just in time to see my ferry departing ,,thanks to the delay's on the M25 !!So had to wait an hour !! Grrr
.Lovely bright and sunny here ,slight breeze.0 -
He looks like a dear little chap brue. Is he the one that led you merry dance when he went off to catch rabbits? 😁
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I've just spent a ( pointless ) half hour learning, and using, some very basic Anglo Saxon.
If this blooming system gets any slower, it'll be more efficient to etch it on granite slabs and send 'em by ox cart.
Therefore I'm off kids -- Nighty Night.
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We had a nice day out yesterday.
As planned we visited the NT Petworth House, Park and Gardens. Firstly, we had our picnic lunch using the picnic bench outside in front of reception. Next, we did the Pleasure Gardens trail to start with and visited the Ionic Rotunda at the top with views over the hills. Then we took the Woodland trail, followed by the Upper Pond walk around the lake where we saw a large flock of geese. From there we went on to visit the house with its huge amount of landscape and portrait paintings. There was one of Henry VIII and another of his second wife Anne Boleyn. It reminded me of the film 'Anne of a thousand days' and also the movie that was on tv recently, called 'The other Boleyn Girl.'
Following that, we drove to WWT Arundel. By this time we decided we had done enough walking in the heat so decided to go on the boat safari. That was much more relaxing. We saw a black-tailed dragonfly and a Buzzard over the hill. It was much cooler sitting down on the boat with a slight breeze blowing over the water. We also saw some Pike in the water plus other smaller fish.
After that and feeling exhausted from the hot weather, we went back to our caravan and made good use of the air-conditioning to chill out for our evening meal.
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Lovely bright, sunny start to the day here in North Norfolk. Need to get some stuff for the van.
We visit the van on a daily basis at the moment as a couple of vans were stolen from our storage site last week. They also broke into a few.They stole our number plate off the van so they may be using it on stolen vans.In some respects the thieves seem quite 'professional', finding and removing the tracker system and leaving in another van, then the mindless vandalism cutting off the towing electrics of one van etc.. More security devices going in at the moment.
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We got up early this morning because the surgery rang me yesterday afternoon, soon after we got back to our caravan, to ask me to make a follow-up appointment with the doctor. So they gave me an appointment for 09:10 a.m. today. So we'll have to see how long that will take before we make any further plans.
The forecast says it will be very hot today, so we don't want to be doing too much walking around outside. Anyhow, we need to do some shopping at Tesco, that will be a more comfortable walk around in the air-conditioned supermarket.
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That's another good reason, Oneputt, for living in the caravan all the year round rather than leaving it unattended in storage.
We have met people both on club sites and CS sites that have told us about having sold their homes, sometimes property abroad, invested some of the proceeds into a caravan or motorhome and just live in it touring around all year. Let's face it, a flat here in Worthing can cost £225,000. So if you sold, even a small property, you could have a lot of cash in the bank to enjoy your life with!
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When the surplus from the house sale has been used up, as it surely will.
Property is a much better investment than money in the bank.
What happens then? The caravan will ultimately need replacing. As you get older you may not be able to continue in work. For your scenario to be sucessful you either need a very good pension, or some sort of exit strategy.
Folk who do what you mention, often keep the property and rent it, while touring for 10 years or so. It is then still available for use when they need it.
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That is OK if you want to be a 'Traveller' but who in their right mind would want to give up their security with no friends, no neighbours and an insecure future? What happens when they can't afford to replace the motorhome or caravan? Life in a council flat? Definitely not the life for us.
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It's a not dissimilar scenario to those who sold up and went to the Costas for a life of ease in the sun and a bit of casual labour. Many are now finding they can't afford to stay and can't afford to come home either.
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Not necessarily, SteveL. You forget that living in a caravan is cheaper than living in your house. How much do you pay per month on electricity, for your home? You don't get any electricity bill in your caravan. That alone can put an extra £100 per month in your pocket. No water bill in your caravan either means more extra money. Over£1000 perhaps more in saving on council tax and if thats not enough saving for you, you could still work and earn money to improve finances even further.
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You'd be surprised, TaffyY. A lot of people do. Not everyone has nice neighbours or feel secure that the neighbour situation won't deteriorate. Neighbours can move house, so even if you do have helpful neighbours now, that might not be the case when a new neighbour arrives that blasts out rap music in the middle of the night or causes dispute over the use of shared land or driveway.
As far as friends are concerned, it makes no difference whether you live in a house or caravan. Unless they have time and willingness to meet you, you can be isolated in either.
If you are unhappy with your neighbours in the caravan, you can easily move. You can't do that with a house until you get a buyer and the value of the property can go down if some kind of problem develops in the neighbourhood and may even become difficult to sell. If you want to move and can't, you're stuck with the situation, your life passes by but you are trapped and can end feeling imprisoned in your own home.
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There is less risk when you are living in one. Whoever these people are that steal caravans; they seem to be targetting unattended storage compounds, from what Oneputt has said. If you're living in one, it is not likely to be unattended for long enough to put it at increased risk.
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If all I had was a caravan (decreasing in value) , no savings, government pension and a part time job, then I would be worried for my future. Maybe not for next year, but 10 - 20 years on?
But no one on here really knows the true personal details about contributors. Only what people choose to reveal.
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Yes but if you rented your home, that could be even more reason to worry. What if your situation changes and you can no longer afford it?
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All the things you mention Malcolm cost us about £55 per week. I think you would be hard pressed to find weekly site fees that low. Of course there are other maintenance costs in running a house but these keep or add value. We do of course also run a caravan so have these costs on top, but that is by choice. Things like insurance on both are not vastly different. Running cars is likely to be less expensive for us, as we have a fixed address and don't need business use insurance. Yes I could still work at the moment, if I wanted to give even more to the tax man,☹️ but that may not always be the case. What happens when you eventually have to give up your current life style. Which local authority will put you on there books?
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The "thing" which sparked this off was Oneputt's unfortunate event at a storage site, how easily we get diverted back to someone else.
I must go out and get some sunshine before I get lost in this chain of events....
It's very hot here, no aircon, just nice blue sky.
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We are "holidaying" about 3-4 months of the year at present, we like to visit places, see things, but we find that is long enough to spend in a area half the size of our lounge at home! When we get home after a long trip, it takes a day or two to get used to having so much space.
We have chosen to stay in our family home as we like it and had it built to our own design, so we put up with the iniquitous council tax, which is our biggest single expense. Gas and electricity are about £130 per month, it is quite a big house.
Since the house was paid for before I retired, we find we can exist pretty well on about £16k per annum, including running 2 cars, the house and the caravan. Spending above that level goes on luxuries such as holidays, hobbies, presents, the (very) occasional new car, and savings for the grandchildren
Would not consider renting out our present house to travel for longer, would possibly be different if we just had a small flat.
Even 3 months is a long time not to see the grandchildren, and children, even though we keep contact on Skype, perhaps those who go away (usually abroad) long term do not have children or grandchildren.
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You've done it again, Malc, even to the extent of getting people to reveal details of their personal finances. Good string pulling there. 👏🏻👏🏻
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Got the electric bikes out today to give them a quick spin mainly following the Grand Union Canal. It must be nine months since we last used them and it's probably the first time Margaret has felt like giving them a whirl. I have charged them a couple of times over winter but was still concerned whether they would die on us!! Fortunately they didn't and are still showing full power which is encouraging after so little use. IN MK we have a Linear Park running all along the Grand Union and where we live in MK we have some lovely parkland, it's so lovely especially on a day like today.
David
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