C-O-L-D Comfort!

Nick worked in stages to repair the back of the van.  The first step was to remove everything stored beneath our Princess bed and shift it to the back room of the tent.

There was a definite draught coming in from the back of the van.  I was very aware of it when doing my nightly back stretches.  To combat the cold I hung a blanket across the bed frame, tucked in along the mattress.  

(You can see how cold it is some nights, there is a photo at right showing my tent kitchen looking like a steam room from the cooking)!

We made several trips to Bunnings to acquire a pop rivet gun, rivets, a length of aluminium and a strong drill bit.

There was very heavy frost earlier this week.  Nick had checked the tent thermometer at around 5:00am and the reading was -6 degrees!  It was 2 degrees a couple of hours later when we roused ourselves for the day.  There was ice on the tent and frost everywhere. Bandit's water bowl had iced over - the world was definitely C-O-L-D!

When the ground thawed, Nick worked on the caravan.  He riveted the metal cladding and also replaced the edging band.  The next day he installed three aluminium brackets to further anchor the cladding in place.

Nick had taken out the back interior wall lining while working on the repair.  It seemed a good opportunity to fit some insulation, so we went back to Bunnings to see what might work. Sheets of black corflute (thinner and far more flexible than the white variety we'd used for the window insulation) were on sale for $7.00 a sheet.  We bought two.  They were cut to size and sandwiched around layers of leftover bubble wrap (which had been used to successfully cut the cold coming off the van door).  The interior wall lining was replaced over our DIY insulation sheet. The van is much cosier now the repair is done and insulation added - hooray!

During our Ballarat trip a hook for the door blind came loose. It has now been replaced but for a week or so, the door was without it's blind - and we really noticed the difference. However I was heartened by the fact that we'd all coped with the -6 overnight temp with the draught from the back end and the missing door window blind. It gives me hope for our comfort as winter advances!

Blinded by my brilliance?!

At the time of fitting a lace panel to the door window, I spoke of an almost-finished blind I'd made soon after making the curtains.

Given our current insulation project, we bought some plastic hooks while at Bunnings yesterday.  Nick mounted them above the door last night, to give them the recommended 12 hours before use.

I worked on the blind today.  It had started life as a never-used tea-towel bought at an op-shop for $2.00.  (I'm sure you can see the appeal given our Lightning Ridge and many great Yowah adventures).

The background was very close in colour to the gold curtains, so I used that and some of Erin's curtain fabric to frame around the tea-towel.  It was backed with some pre-quilted fabric (left-over from our drum bags).

I'd first thought to sew some ribbon into the header of the blind, so that it could be rolled up when not in use.  As I rummaged in my box of sewing supplies today, I had another idea.

Rather than have to tie several pairs of ribbon each morning, I decided to use elastic loops instead.  I had a small selection of buttons and thought to sew them in stacks of three - to create a better hold for the elastic (when in use).  It's been cold and wet today, not conducive to sewing under the gazebo.  I've pinned the blind, ready for it's final row of stitching.  Fingers crossed I'll be able to achieve that very soon!

In the meantime, the blind is hanging in place.  While I was doing that, I realised how cold the door was.  I was already aware of how much draught was enabled by the bottom door vent - cos I lay on the floor each night to do my back stretches.

Prior to our Bunnings expedition, I bought two rolls of bubble-wrap as I thought they might be useful for insulating the windows.  The rolls were still intact and I opened one today.  I used two layers of bubble-wrap on the door today, each taped individually.  The metal of the door is far less cold and I've covered the bottom vent also.  (There is still plenty of bubble-wrap left and if necessary I could add another layer, just from the remainder of the first roll).  I'm so impressed with how much difference this simple measure has made!