A hoard of wood

When I arrived at the industrial estate that is now my home ground, there were other caravans, two occupied, already parked there. I also had the good fortune to arrive at the same time the local Gypsy liaison officer was visiting.

I then met the local councillors and built a good impression of who I am in the community.

Eventually, the other occupied caravans became empty. So the Council stuck notices on them. I let it be known that the caravans were about to be towed. One was retrieved and one was broken into. What was left was removed.

But just before they were removed, I took advantage of the caravan that had been broken into. I had been made to understand that it was scrap and was being left for the Council to dispose of.

The first thing that I noticed was that the door hinges were the same as those on my caravan. They came off! I then ventured inside. Bingo! The original seating had been removed and replaced by a timber-framed bed at one end and similar built bench at the other. I dismantled the lot. I also found a few useful things, including a hamper basket.

So I now have enough wood to repair my doorway.

It soon became evident that I was likely to get stuck where I am for some months, so I contacted Jim, the Gypsy liaison officer and Paul, the local councillor. The message from Jim was, ”Stay put.” and the e-mail I received from Paul was a categorical, “You are welcome”!

Now I knew that I was fine and not going to be harassed, I drew up sketches of what I will try to create and Daniel brought over an old table he was wanting rid of that I can use as a workbench.

The saga of repairing my truck has become just that and as a result, still being edited! I did think about splitting it up into parts, but found that that would become confusing as things keep changing that means parts of the already drafted text has to be altered. It’s better left as a stand-alone. It will be a longer than average entry, but worth it!

So, in the meantime, I’m going to make a door to replace the battered existing one. It is the bottom half of the stable door. It incorporates a cat flap. I will give you regular updates with loads of photos of the job as it unfolds. I hope you enjoy it.

And PLEASE ‘share‘!

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