scotland

Floored

Kevin JohnstonLeave a comment

An afternoon of flooring Bernie the Berlingo today. Another task that I thought would take minutes, took hours, but the difference it makes is huge.

Started by going to the shops for lino and double sided carpet tape. I decided on a wooden floor look. This will hopefully match the wooden walls I intend giving her. Back at the ranch I started clearing the van and hoovered any dust away. I laid the lino out in the back and trimmed it to size. The tape was then placed on the ply and the yellow protective paper removed.

Starting at the back, I rolled the lino back down over the tape.

With my shoes off I walked about the flooring to ensure it was well stuck down.

And now the flooring looks so much better, less liable to mark and will be a bit warmer to sleep in. Beautiful.

Stob Ban and Mullach nan Coirean

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I haven’t been up a Munro in more than a year, so yesterday I went a wander up Stob Ban and Mullach nan Coirean in the Mamores. The weather was warm, but what you don’t see in the pictures is the 40-50mph wind.

The Salomon Skyline race was on this weekend too, I could see the runners over on the Ring of Steall from Stob Ban. I definitely wasn’t tempted to join in…

Berwickshire Coastal Path: Berwick to Eyemouth

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A few pictures from a recent walking trip with our new van.

Sunday morning rear view at St Abb’s harbour.

Berwick Coast Watch building.

A sea cave near Berwick.

Needles Eye formation.

Old Smugglers cottage at Lamberton Skerrs.

Partanhall at Burnmouth.

Bernie getting tucked in by the sea on Saturday night.

And the Sunday morning sunrise.

and the film…

Early AdVANtures

Kevin JohnstonLeave a comment

Bernie has been busy. Our newest addition has been running us around a lot over the last couple of weeks of our summer holidays. A smooth ride, and Sam loves riding in the middle of the three (well, two and a half) front seats, telling us where to go and looking out for birdies and sheep.

I bought Bernie with the intention of her becoming an adventure wagon, to take us out into the wilderness, give us a place to escape the weather and even sleep. There’s lots of conversion to do, but the upcoming return to school means we only have time for some simple sprucing. New clothes rather than a facelift. A tidy up rather than a spring clean. This was our starting point to stage one of the conversion.

Kirsty and I got our workie gear on. First job was a clean of the driving area. Then the bulkhead was removed. Which gives us a greater feeling of space and has removed a huge weight from the van.

Next up was the removal of the ply. We cleaned the van up in the back, sweeping out a forest of leaves and sticks and dust and wiping down the surfaces. We left Bernie looking naked. She didn’t seem to mind.

I’d been to B&Q earlier in the day to buy some paint to update the ply. Some new clothes for Bernie. The warm, sunny day made two coats a breeze.

The grey paint I bought to compliment the dark grey of the van was lighter than I imagined. But we think it looks good.

Before the painting I also added a lip to the back door end of the ply. There had been a gap left between the ply and the van floor, and I was worried that someone’s big arse (mine perhaps) would be heavy enough to break it. So I screwed on a lip of timber to strengthen it.

By the end of the day Bernie’s new clothes were impressive.

A good day’s work, and a lesson learnt about what can be achieved in a day. Not necessarily as much as you hope. But stage one is complete. She feels like our van now. And plans are already coming together for what stage two might look like. One part Van Morrison, a little Van Gogh maybe. Some Vanny De Vito sense of humour and she’ll be as tough as Van Helsing.