What are you all up to
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WN, good to hear MIL is now back home, I'm sure she will be happy to be home which is always good for the recovery.
Bright sunshine again today, more work done in the garden. We now have that many tubs to go to the skip, OH will have to do 2 trips with the trailer.
The living room ceiling was plastered on Saturday morning. He's done a good job and it's drying out nicely. Saturday evening was fun (not) it was too cold to have the window open, we kept the heating low but still we got moisture dripping down the walls. Every hour or so we had to wipe down the gable end wall. Thankfully we managed to get the worst of it done before going to bed. Wall just a bit moist in the morning. The day was good enough to have the window open again so by evening on Sunday the worst was over.
Had a call from our 98 year old neighbour late afternoon, could we pop next door and lift her off the floor 😲 we both rushed round to help to find he sat on the floor leaning against her armchair laughing. What a relief that was. Turns out she just had one of them moments, no damage done to her or the floor. We sat with her for awhile but she was fine. Will check on her again later.
Hoping to get out in the MH for the day soon, it's been so cold and wet we have not felt that inclined.
I see some 'expert' tells us that the perfect and correct day to turn our heating off is 31st March. Ha! guess he's not been to Scotland. Heating will be on until at least the end of May. Not all day of course, just first thing in the morning and then again in the evening.
Glad you enjoyed you weekend away Francis.
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David, I hope you don't mind me asking. Was there a problem with the Airbag ECU before you took it in for service or did it fail while in the garage?
We have had to replace 2 of these now, it's a very well known problem with them that neither Fiat or Peugeot are in the least interested in doing anything about it.
The first that went was on our Bailey that cost £400+ we did manage to claim half of that back from Peugeot although it was just out of warranty.
Then it happened again 2 years ago on our current Fiat based van. This time OH removed it and sent it off to Crash data to fix it at much reduced cost around £100.
It's well documented but no one has come up with a definitive answer as to what causes it to fail. Low battery is one theory as is a spike in the battery, also incorrect starting of the van. So many theory's but no answers from either Fiat or Peugeot.
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Apparently we're getting reports of a cold snap back home? Well if it's any consolation it cooled down here a bit to 27C.
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Hope you packed your winter woollies 😄
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TG
It happened a couple of days before I took the van in for service and MOT. When we are not using the van I try and take it out for a 10/15 mile run every four weeks, the last time was in January and it was fine. Lots going on at home at the moment with appointments etc so I decided to not bother with another run as I knew the service was near. A couple of days before we were due to drive up to Wellingborough I decided I should start the vehicle just to check everything was OK. It started immediately, without hesitation but I suddenly got the flashing air bag light and an error message on the dash. BTW ours is a Peugeot. I have a solar panel on the roof and the mains is plugged in for several hours a day and we have a Battery Master so coupled with the fact that it started very easily I sort ruled out that it was caused by a low battery unless they are super sensitive? The van is now five years old so don't know if its an age thing? You read a lot about this happening on forums and Facebook Groups so it does seem quite common (have you seen my post in the motorhome section?) We had to bite the bullet and have an OEM module fitted which was very expensive as we didn't have the luxury of time to sort it out. I am hoping they have kept the old unit so I could perhaps see if I can get that sorted as spare. I did ask them to keep it but it was a while after they fitted the new one so it might have disappeared!
The insurance is due this month so just waiting to see how much that has gone up!
David
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Feeling a bit "down" at the moment due to trying to sort a trip to Norway for all the family. Nothing go do with my health....I am feeling great.
My sister will be 80 in May, but has arranged a party for the family in early July in the school holidays. She has hired a venue for the party where she lives, but places to sleep are the problem. She has 2 spare rooms so we hope we and DD+children can stay with her. Hopefully DS and family can stay with my oldest nephew, who now owns my former family home.
I think my sister does not understand the anxiety not knowing where you will sleep generates! She is way too much "laid back" for our liking, and both OH and DD are getting very anxious about it all!
I spoke with her yesterday and she told me that she had booked 2 rooms with a neighbour, but that anyone staying there could not have use of their bathroom. This seems very odd, and practically not feasable.
Then there is the transport problem, she lives a long way from the town and the airport we will fly to. We will have to depend on my sister transporting us around, which is fine, but she also needs to organise for DD to borrow a car from a family member as hiring a car is extremely expensive in Norway (£1200 for 2 weeks) and outside their budget. This also involves having suitable child seats for a 3 year old and a 6 year old.
The info at present is that a car should be available, plus possibly child seats, but no detail or certainty.
So, OH has been looking at air fares, looks like about £1000 in total for the 2 of us by the time we check in luggage, more of course for DD and family.
I would ideally like to drive with caravan, but looking at ferries , fuel, sites etc, this would cost £2500, so OH has ruled this out as not sensible financially. Insurance would also be a problem.Oh dear!! We do need to decide very soon what to do.
l
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Kj
This is a special occasion so perhaps the boat needs to be pushed out? Rather than hiring a car have you thought about a motorhome as that could kill several birds with one stone by providing transport and sleeping accommodation, at least for some of the party? Another idea which may or may not be acceptable would be to move the whole celebration to a town with a hotel where everything could be catered for under one roof? That is what we tend to do for family get togethers as neither of us are keen on staying with relatives, so we retain our own space but are available when needed!
David
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Just catching up with the news from the last 4 days, as we have my had any Wi-Fi signal for 3 of them and there were many posts that needed sorting yesterday. Apart from no signal, Wi-Fi or phone, the CS we were on near Abington is definitely one we would use again. Now we are on site at Beecraigs CP, which we have used in the past, and taking advantage of their low season mid week discount, 4 nights for the price of 3.
Grand news about MIL WN. Lovely to hear of how your granddaughter is doing, Debs. Belated birthday greeting, tda. Hope you are able to sort out a site for your trip up to Newcastle for the game. R&R well done in getting the roof of the van cleaned. I clean our caravan all over after each trip about 4 or 5 times a year on the first reasonably fine day after getting home from a trip, and try and polish it once a year too. Glad that the operation went well Kjell. Hope that you are able to get your trip to Norway sorted soon. Enjoy your time with your grandchildren, heddlo, fingers crossed that there are no problems when their parents are on their holiday.
Sorry if I have omitted others who have done interesting things, I will just have to go get the previous week's posts together complete picture of what all have been doing.
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It does sound a bit of a logistic nightmare for a party KJ. Staying somewhere without the use of a bathroom isn’t, as you say, practical. We don’t like staying with relatives, however kind, preferring our own space, especially difficult if children included as well. As long as you and your wife are there to celebrate with your sister maybe she could accept that it’s just too difficult for other members of your family at present. Just out of hospital try not to stress over it too much.
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Unfortunately, my sister lives a long way from the nearest town, about 80km, so moving the party there is not an option, plus the cost would be huge for that many (about 40) people. Norway is very expensive!
I would think hiring a MH would be similarly very expensive.
My other sister has a caravan....presume they will be bringing it.....as does a niece, so they will be able to house some people, and birthday sister has also hired another 2 rooms in some other place, so 4 rooms in total, but we have no idea what they are like, or the facilities. There are no hotels where she lives. There is a campsite, and she has a large garden, we have parked our caravan in her garden before.
The place where one will not have the use of the bathroom, I would think using the toilet would be OK, just not the shower. Not being allowed to use the toilet would just be ridiculous!
I expect it will all sort itself out in the end, but OH and DD are worriers.
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A sunny morning with a keen easterly wind but as I was on care duty whilst OH went into town for a haircut I wasn't able to do a great deal with it until the physio arrived at 10.30. So as she was with MiL for the next 90 minutes I set foot in the jungle outside.
There's a privet that's on its last legs so that needed pruning down to the low base before we extract it. Our brown collection starts again this Friday and we've already got 2 full ones as OH arrived back (no haircut due to hairdresser having to rush off to hospital as her son was taken ill) and she took out the dead leaves etc from a Hellebore and a now dead White Lavender plant. Sad to see that one go as it was beautiful and the bees loved it. Have to replace it. Only got about 50% of the privet done. Good to make a start on the gardening at last. The grass is still too wet to walk on never mind cut.
Must say we're really pleased with the physios and the amount of time they spend on each call. Usually a hour but we've had, like today, longer spells. There are 2 different young ladies who call on alternating days. 4 times this week. Could have been 5 but we felt MiL needed a day off. She's no Spring chicken.
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Yesterday I was another day older but still scrabbling around looking for wiser.
Lovely sunny day here so spent this afternoon in the garden including giving the lawn its first cut of the season.Really looking forward to our first trip away on Friday albeit it’s only 3 days
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We had to go into CMK this morning for something unusual. Margaret has three rings on her ring finger which won't come off because the joint above is too swollen. As its next hand "to be done" for CTS the hospital won't operate unless the rings are removed. We have a jewellers in CMK could F Hinds which I think have branches elsewhere as well. We contacted them to se if they could remove rings and they could. Fortunately all three rings removed without too much bother although the wedding ring was the most difficult and hurt a bit. Best part about it was there was no charge which surprised us. Once the operation is done, no date yet, Margaret will have to decide whether to have the rings rebuilt, perfectly possible apparently, or whether new ones are the order of the day! The former would no doubt suit my bank balance better
David
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Belated birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 greetings Oneputt. Why you want to be wiser? If you knew more you'd worry more.
Literally just landed back indoors from lovely week in Teesdale. Not been since son finished uni that way. Good journey back. Hold up on A1 for roadworks not too bad apart from stupid drivers who are in a hurry for a wooden overcoat. Hazards on down the hard shoulder to get in front.
Daffs are out, grasses long. Lovely smell of mown grass so someone's was dry enough.....
KjellNN I hope you get Norwary sorted. Time to splash the cash regardless 😉. Family time's important who knows how much longer you'll get the chance? Health as much as wealth.
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Happy belated birthday for yesterday Oneputt. Good that MIL is getting good treatment from the Physios, Wherenext, sometimes the elderly don’t get the care they really need but clearly not in her case.
Dry here, such a change, so I grabbed a gardening day as well. Seems Ive lost a few shrubs probably due to the wet, but I’ll leave them a few weeks yet just to see if some green comes through. One clematis in a pot isn’t showing any signs of life and it’s matching ‘sister’ is greening up well so that may have gone as well, shame as it usually gives a beautiful show. Grass still rather waterlogged so trying to stay off it. One thing I did find was that I couldn’t get up and down so easily, puffing a bit as well, generally slower and couldn’t stay out so long. Hopefully just the long winter more sedentary life and I’ll shape up soon. Or it could be age, which would be a b#*”^r as OH hates gardening and refuses to do it. He says he would concrete it over or move to a flat! I just love a well kept garden.
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David, there doesn't seem to be one common denominator that causes the ECU to fail. Not sure about age, our first one on the Peugeot based Bailey went at just over 3 years and our current van went at the 6 year point. We've always thought it was the dealer who caused it to happen that time. The van had been sat under trees outside his workshop for 9 days while we were away in the caravan. IF he didn't start it correctly then it could have caused the issue. We of course cant prove anything but when we went to collect it, on start up the light was lit on the dashboard. Getting it back from your dealer would be good as they are coded to the MH. You could send it to the likes of Crash Data to fix, they would tell you what the problem was that caused it to fail from the codes they get on the test rig.
Our friends went when we were all in France last May, he had RP cover who helped source a garage near Tours who could replace it, it was much cheaper in France. They gave him his old one back which he will get repaired and keep as a spare.
Not looking forward to the MH insurance this year either, though we did get a good deal with LV direct on a dual car policy with them last year. It's in for a service prior to going away, at least that shouldn't be as bad as last time when it was cambelt and water pump change time.
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We had occasion to call into F Hinds in Boston when there last autumn DK and we were impressed with their friendly service.
I think at your age Oneputt you should be grateful to keep the sense you already have!
Hope you enjoyed the day.Don't forget folks that its Mothers Day on Sunday. Mothers, don't forget to let everyone know!
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We are on site here near Blackpool left home just after one and arrived on site just after 5 easy tow down here roads very quiet. Lovely sunset when we arrived here hoping it’s going to be decent weather over the next few days. Looking forward to relaxing hopefully. Wandered down to the pub in the village tonight and had a couple of beers.
Glad MIL if progressing well WN
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Belated birthday greetings, OP, hope you have a good trip across to Barleywood.
Glad to hear that you got hope safe and sound after a lovely week up in Teesdale B2.
WN, it sounds as if you have the right people helping your MIL. Fingers crossed that she responds well to their efforts.
Enjoy you time down on the Fylde Francis.
We have been very fortunate with the weather so far on this trip with sunny periods and no rain while we have been out and about. We did have a couple of nights when snow fell but not enough to be of any problems, although it looked good on the hills. Had a walk along by the shore at Bo'ness this morning and another around Kinneil Estate after lunch. I then had a stroll from the van up Cockleroy to Wallace's Bed ( Hill fort). Here are a few photos from trip so far. Linlithgow from Cockleroy, two from Bo'ness/Kinneil Estate and the Beam Engine at Wanlockhead.
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The cash has now been splashed.......OH has booked tickets for us. DD and family cannot stay away so long, so they will sort their own tickets. Son and family not sure if they will be able to come as his wife has her dad in hospital due to a stroke and a broken hip (recovering slowly), and her mum, who lives beside them, has Alzheimers. They will have to wait a while and see how things are, so by then every seat may already be booked.
We will be away for almost 4 weeks, I had to speak to my sister first to check we would not be outstaying our welcome! Most of the flights that had reasonable departure and arrival times were almost booked up, so we have to go before the start of the school holidays here, quite a bit earlier than we had planned. OH has advised DD that they better book this week before prices go up more, or there are no seats left.
Next thing to sort are tickets for the airport bus, we have to travel to Edinburgh, and we still need to book our usual CL in Wales for a visit to our friends in April.
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KjellNN I'm delighted to read you've booked a good amount of time to stay with your family. Happy birthday to her for when the time comes.
🤞that your families here can join you. A difficult time for your son and his wife. Maybe they, and your daughter's family can snatch a few days with you. It will be lovely for all your family to be with the Norwegian family - not to mention wonderful memories.
Meanwhile you can have a different type of holiday without your caravan and let someone else transport you. 😉
The smell of new mown grass was the school playing field. No wonder it was so fresh and strong. Just produced a quick meal and did one load of washing after we got home and unpacked.
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I had my wedding ring resized last year. It had to go up about 2 sizes. It was a brilliant job and no visible join where the extra gold was inserted and not too expensive either. I’m sure it would be worth getting the rings redone, for sentimental reasons if nothing else! A new ring wouldn’t feel the same to me.
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Thanks heddlo, useful to know. I am sure that is the route we will go down if it is a possibility. Just slightly concerned that they have been bent out of the circle so much in the removal process. The ring finger, I am told, it feels rather strange at the moment as its been compressed for so long. Not sure how long it will be as not only has the finger got to recover back to normal but we have to wait until after the operation on that hand. The operation of the other hand was pretty quick and Margaret sees the surgeon next month as a follow up so he may give us an idea when she sees him how long it will be.
David
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Thanks B2, OH says she is very glad it is finally sorted .
I must admit I was very keen to drive there, with caravan, so we had our own bed and transport, but OH put her foot down and told me it was just too far ( at my age was also muttered), and not really sensible logistically or financially.
We have taken the airline's cancellation insurance for illness in the family, as that would be the only thing that could stop us travelling, EHICs are already sorted, and healthcare in Norway is free anyway, so I think we have the necessities covered.
Being there almost 4 weeks will give us time to inflict ourselves on various other family members, who also have spare beds, and we will be there just in time to enjoy the full Midnight Sun.
We have an Easter caravan trip arranged, should also manage some time away in the van in summer, and maybe late September too.
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So envious KJ. I remember as a Cadet on the Dartmouth Training Squadron in 1969 (I was in HMS Torquay), we did the 'Scandinavian Cruise' as part of our training and we sailed into Bergen and after a memorable 'run ashore', sailed the full length of the Hardangerfjord, mesmerised by the fact that it's nearly 3000' deep in places! The scenery was absolutely spectacular. Hope you have a wonderful trip.
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Good to hear that your Norway trip is sorted, well at least the flights, Kjell.
We visited both Blackness Castle and Linlithgow Palace today, both well worth seeing but one must be prepared for the climbing of multiple flights of steps if you want to view all the rooms and walkways in both. We managed to fit in a couple of shortish level walks too, one by the Union Canal and another along by the Forth at Blackness.
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Glad to hear your Scottish trip is going well Nellie
We’ve had a good day today had a relaxing morning in the van then headed to the nearby caravan dealer for some bits and pieces. Then we took a drive along Blackpool sea front along to Cleveleys for a walk around. Cleveleys is one of our favourite places it’s a nice little town with an excellent promenade so we had a nice walk along there in the sunshine this afternoon. Site here actually quite busy considering the time of year. Not too sure of the plan for tomorrow shall see how the weather is
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Trip sounds nice Nellie. My sister looks out at Blackness Castle from her sitting room window. They live just opposite across the Forth. In all the 30’odd years they have lived there we have never visited the castle! Hopetoun house is about all we’ve done on that side of the Forth.
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Lovely bit of the country Nellie, and two great historic locations. Glad your trip is kind weather wise as well.
Go for it K, great to see your family again. Let the younger generation sort themselves out on this one, you just want to be able to relax and enjoy being with your siblings.
Glad to hear others are getting out and about👍
Like Oneputt, I have clocked up another birthday, still a big kid though really. We had bikes out yesterday, took MH for a shakedown to Clumber Park. All working ok, apart from one high level little light, that only needs a bulb. Bike ride went well, not too much mud, and I managed not to fall off, although came close once. We didn’t go through the Ford, bit too deep😳Hound had a good time pottering around. Early bird arrivals parked up waiting to get onto site, which looked quite busy, guess lots are getting a stay in before prices rocket next week for Easter.
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