Countdown to chaos.........

Arghh..... only 4 more sleeps till our inaugural tow and still so much to organise.  

Going away for a caravanning holiday is supposed to be calming and relaxing and I'm looking forward to the point, which currently feels way, way ahead in the distant future, when we are no longer complete novices and can feel calm and relaxed.

For the moment however we resemble nothing so much as headless chickens, doing random stuff and achieving next to nothing.

Thank goodness we unpacked the full awning which came with the caravan at the weekend.  It took us well over an hour just to get it out, check it over and repack it.  At the end we were so exhausted we could hardly stand.

IT IS SOOOOO HEAVY!

There is absolutely no way we could erect it ourselves in less than a fortnight.  For weekend trips it is completely unfeasible, and even if we were away for a week we'd think twice before putting it up.

So, we will be selling it and have ordered a smaller, lightweight porch awning, which, we are reliably informed by a seasoned caravanning friend, takes no more than 15 minutes to erect. Granted it is smaller, but it could probably seat 6 for dinner, and if the diners weren't intimate friends at the start of the evening they would definitely be by the end!  I prefer to call it cosy rather than cramped. 

Of course for just Perfectionist Partner, Small Dog and I, it is perfect and so we have bitten the financial bullet and thrown yet more money at the caravan experiment and ordered one, which hopefully will arrive before our 'test run' at the weekend.

Small Dog, understandably, is very keen to get away for the first time in her new 'van.  We haven't been camping since last August, which is the longest time we've abstained since we bought the previous motorhome 6 years ago.  It's been so long I've forgotten the joys of waking up to the sound of the birds singing, sometimes even while they're sitting on the rooflight peering in at us.  Ducks especially, make a real racket on the roof when they're tap dancing.

Predictably, after days and days of almost tropical, balmy weather, it's set to get Siberian towards the weekend.  Must look out my thermal undies and polar fleece..........

In other news, Small Dog has her X-rays tomorrow.  Fingers crossed please.......