The journey to independence

From sleeping in a damaged tent on a campsite that was closing down to - in desperation - in my car with my 2 cats in supermarket carparks... to finally a room in a shared house where I will not have council officers, sheltered housing wardens or anyone else breathing down my neck!

Thanks to an interview with the local newspaper the council had finally taken notice of my plight and placed me in a B&B in mid November.

An attempt* in December to find a caravan to rent where I could take my trailer with me...

(*that went sour when I realised the filth I was supposed to put up with at £110 per week!!)

Then attempting to find an alternative... informing the council on Tuesday I had found a room in a shared house but that a cash deposit was required... no response from my housing officer but the one who checks on the 'inmates' at the B&B told me on the Friday that they could have helped!!!



After one attempt to find a room 

In Kent

Move to Sussex

Further Setbacks, pics not for the fainthearted.

http://www.thepaddfromhellinsurrey.blogspot.co.uk/

 To be organised!!!

After all the rain this winter ... too much heat to cope with the result of the rat infestation :(

My trailer had provided winter quarters for the rat population :(  2 bags of kapok meant for insulation had to be thrown out after they used them to nest in :(

Site manager asked me yesterday "what rats" when I said I still had a lot of cleaning to do before I could leave his horrid site!  He had previously told me that there was a council inspection re the rats!!! What a memory he has... not!




According to the site manager... the residents bring the rats not the numerous chickens and ducks his father keeps nor the lack of adequate waste disposal facilities for so many vans!

Had to throw away my remnant of wool carpet so will have a washable floor instead thanks to the summer sales!

Spring is coming

I have been looking forward to Springtime and a chance to escape my winter quarters!  A so-called farm on the outskirts of Egham, Surrey.

I have been living in a small caravan without mod cons.   Before Christmas the only functioning electrics:   a double socket and small fridge ceased to function.  The light fittings had either been removed or just didn;'t function.  I created my own electric supply.  An external double socket with one extension lead plugged in for inside the van... cable through small fanlight over the door.  The other one for my freezer outside and power tools.

 The horrendous weather had put the finalising of my own trailer on hold :(

Every drop of water has to be carted across a stoney yard :(  - not wonderful when arthritis is affecting the knees!  No standpipes with drainage around the site :(

The ladies' shower block: a grand name for the basics:

Entrance to the same ...

Trap for waste-water... recently blocked by the bricks - still visible on the ground - for over 3 days (although reported) until the sewage backed up into the shower :( photo depicting this too disgusting to publish.  Note trailing cables... there are 3 to avoid on the way to ladies.   Many other hazards often blocked the way ...

Scene between my van and way to ladies at night!

The Ladies' facilities!!!

1 WC*, 1 washbasin and a tatty sink-unit both without hot water supply!
1 shower that actually works! *the flush handle was broken off back in January, reported but not remedied despite this assurance in an email dated 14/03/13:  "I will make sure the handle on the door of the ladies toilets will be repaired or replaced, thank you for bringing this to my attention" This was reported by a mother whose young son actually cut his hand trying to flush the toilet :(

 
Update 30th May: still no sign of any repair :(   The residents on this pseudo farm are the cash crop*... as apart from chickens, ducks and a few geese there is no farming activity.  Scrap metal is sorted here, vehicles repaired... not the usual sounds one expects on a farm.  *Here human misery is milked... rent from people who have nowhere else to go so therefore do not complain about the lack of facilities!!

Only hot water supply for ladies: previously at an external sink outside the gents facilities - that has four showers and hot water at the hand-basins !!!!  Outside source has been cut off for some time... so to get any hot water we ladies have to 'break' the rules and go inside the gents to fill up a jerrycan.

Internal views

Window-sill former little DIY shelf from bathroom, showing home-grown cutting from my carpet rose :)

Sliding window the surviving pane of glass from a bookcaase I bought for my 21st !!

Roof arches joined/strengthened by spur brackets from former shelving

top of rear wall piece of painted pine (former shelving)

shwing 'sunlight' detail

Construction timeline

The full details will be uploaded on completion of the venture !

Trailer conversion!

'Natural' roofing = rubber pondliner offcut

Previously protected by 10yr-old Khyam tent groundsheet

Rear wall lowest point will have guttering for rainwater capture

finally a rear wall

'New' floo: recycled 5-ply timber wood-preserved on underside against damp from wet roads/fields

More t/f - the mobile 'home' is taking shape :) 

Equipment

Comfort ten years on from the stint in the Khyam!

DIY roofbox !

 Roofbox finally fixed to DIY roofbars and packed with items for storage :)





Roofbars: recycled timber + 'U' bolts meant for fixing exhaust pipes (brilliant tip from AA man :) and cushioning from an old 'push-on' shower fitting!

Roofbox (in progress) for car to transport bulky camping items to free up space in boot and lessen load on trailer.

The (Ad)Venture has begun

8' x 5' trailer collected 26th June  - kept for me for weeks by a kind gent :)


Now the real work can commence: wood preserver and hammerite 'at the ready'!  An interesting stroke of fate - it was located in my mother's county of birth :)




Pics of resources/components to be uploaded !

Some wood panels preserved at the ready...

to be clad internally with plywood planks!  (cavity walls of course lol)

Plywood sheet at forefront to be used for a car roof-box!

More efforts by an enterprising Pensioner lol

Broken garden trolley provides axle/wheels

Sack truck from offcuts and recycled brackets

Lightweight but strong for moving boxes of books... then also for water cannister etc

now 'wood-preserved'

Surviving now despite short-sighted local bureaucrats

Watch this space for an update re my latest plans to show what I can achieve !!!!

I have various materials* collected via Freecycle but my council gave no permission for a decent-sized shed in my backyard, let alone a lean-to :(  I needed a workshop/utility space plus somewhere for plant propagation.  

It took about 11 months to get permission for a very small shed for my garden tools.  I was told my plans to use recycled materials were not suitable neither was the use of student help!!  My small shed was made by cutting down a larger secondhand one and not constructed by a 'carpenter'!!  

See: http://www.nomorelandfill.blogspot.co.uk - "The shed that wasn't supposed to be!"

* 2 x aluminium patio doors and 1 side panel.  Timber etc  now hopefully about to find another use :)

I just need an 8 x 4 roadworthy trailer !!!  My car is a golf estate workhorse.

Surely we should all be using resources more carefully but someone who tries to do things in a sustainable way unfortunately encounters a lot of barriers...  including being labelled a 'hoarder' :(  

Councils are only interested in ticking boxes and making the public 'compliant' !

Surviving against the odds

Homestead Sept/Oct 2002:  My then 18yr old daughter (now working as a doctor in Oz) and I lived in this large Khyam tent, seen to rear, from 12th August - 25th October.  From September we had this pitch with electric hook-up.  The kind site manager had created a hook-up cable with a board and sockets for us.  He also lent us an oil-filled radiator when it got colder.  By October 25th it was water-logged and there were gales the night we dismantled!!

We had found it difficult to find somewhere to live with our 2 adorable half-siamese cats.  Brinnie visible in front of plants I had been given.  My daughter was working to fund 'gap-year' travels so the local council had decided we no longer constituted a 'family' in need of housing together :(  A council officer had visited me the day after my appearance on the Carlton 6pm news!  [I had been interviewed by Sean Conway, footage of the tent with our other cat Tiggles was shown!] My MP had supported my plea for support for people living in a large tent as opposed to a small van!

Freecycling...

Freecycle

Freecycling not only saves things from going to landfill and provides the 'new' owners with a valued resource, it is a wonderful way of meeting other people who care :) :)

My sustainable projects

The creation of a mini 'larder' foodsafe. Pine offcuts, bargain shelf handles and the top from a broken air-purifier!

      

Food now safe from insects and possible 4-legged thieves!  Also windproof for picnics/camping :)

Novel stand for old toasting fork (waiting for an open fire) crafted from pine offcuts :)  It doesn't topple thanks to top tier of stand!

Other function - base stays on thanks to splayed outer prongs!  So it can act as a 2-stage weapon of self-defence !!

Kitchen Innovations:

Customised from offcuts: a handy shelf unit near small microwave and larder fridge.  In a small badly-planned kitchen every bit of wall-space needs to be exploited!

Storage shelf made from spare piece of w/top offcut used to make folding table

Versatile trolley/storage for small cooking appliances

Other Innovations:

Laptop tray with ventilation rack

 

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