Spring began on 20 March with a blizzard and wintry conditions. Recently, the weather has begun to turn hot (still windy) and now, finally, the rain is coming (not enough). I am getting a bit worried about the lack of rain this spring.

Spring weekends mean we get busy, attend fairs and enjoy caravaning. We have an 80s caravan (Betsy - her original name), somewhat archaic but in excellent condition. We bought it at almost a steal from the lady who parted with it because she loved the Angel. If I have my way (and time and resources and expertise), I’d like to turn it into something retro or flower-power of sort. Funky pink or sunny yellow with lots of flowers. Brighten up the boring, boring, boring look that almost all caravans look.

Caravaning can be fun when the weather is tolerable because it can get very cold at night. Well, as Betsy is somewhat 80s, she has all that 80s feature, heating isn’t fantastic and size is compromised. I have been into caravans which I feel is a complete luxury compared to our humble one. Nonetheless, I’m still glad we have a mobile home that we can move around in. We once toured Scotland for a month in Betsy and apart for some wet weather, we were blessed with a lot of fun!

Caravaning can be thoroughly enjoyable if we have friends who do the same. Unfortunately, we do not know anyone who does it and from our observation, we are about the youngest caravaning family. Most are retirees who park their theirs at caravan parks dotted all over UK or even those who tow theirs are of a considerable age. I thought it should be a ‘young people’s’ kind of fun because much strength is required to push the caravan, which the alternative dad has loads of (phew!) or like he said, skill (which we have yet to acquire - tricky to reverse with a caravan in tow).

We cook, eat and sleep in Betsy. The space is pretty small, easily walked from ‘bedroom’ to kitchen to dining room in less than ten steps! A ‘problem’ with Betsy is she doesn’t come with a toilet (actually it does but it is now a storeroom) and it has a portal chemical toilet bowl that we do not use (both of us do not want to do the dirty job!). Now, the requirement of a toilet is very important now because the Angel is completely toilet-trained and at night, she wakes up to pee. For the past two weekends while we were in the caravans, I put her back in her diapers at night because we could not work out the toilet going part (too cold, too far, too troublesome)! That God she is flexible with the idea and continues to keep up with her dry nights when back home.

For the past two weekends, we were at the British Raptor Show and the Pickering Game and Country Fair. The best thing about having a caravan and attending show is we get to stay onsite. We have the whole outdoor as our ‘playground‘ ‘learnground’. The Angel gets to be exposed to lots - the latest two fairs were on falconry - she saw different kinds of owls, is not a fan of ferrets and saw live poultry for sale. There were also demonstration of traditional crafts such as weaving and wood craving. And of course, not forgetting the horses - they are her favourites and lots of dogs.

I know I will miss part of this when it is all gone. Anyway, for now, being in the cold has taken its toll on both the Angel and me. She came back with a cold and developed into full blown flu while I might have caught the virus from her. We have been sleeping so much for the past few days but we are definitely on the road to recovery! I must be since I’m back blogging!

Categories: Where We Live