Roland Ladley's Blog, page 26

Peace, at last

It’s been a cathartic couple of days after the collision start to our five weeks away. We’ve made it to the Peak District, having had tea with Bex’s husband’s mum and sister in Penkridge. The route here was rainy and hilly and the small site we’ve stopped at (£10 a night, no electric) is on the side of the hill, but we eventually got Doris straight.

[image error]we eventually got Doris straight

We’re just north of Buxton and, although the public are out getting their fill of the countryside before the summer ends and the pandemic forces us all back inside, it does feel like we are well away from everything. We have far-reaching views across the hills and yesterday we cycled into Hayfield, up to Kinder Reservoir and then did a 7.5 mile circuit (600m of climb) which included Kinder Scout, the highest point in the Peak District. By chance we chose a route less travelled until we got on the peak and then it was busy, but not unpleasantly so. The weather is cool and we did have some rain, but the views were tremendous and we surprised ourselves by not being completely shattered at the end.

[image error]hats in August – on top of Kinder Scout



[image error]looking down to the reservoir where we parked the bikes

Today we were going to do nothing but, bless C, the hill opposite had her name on it so we made up another picnic and this time walked from the campsite up Lantern Pike and a round and about for a bit – back in time to eat our picnic sat outside Doris. Sure, the weather is still cool, but no rain this time.

[image error]another day, another walk + Doris in the distance

That, my friends (and I know I have rehearsed this argument many times before), is the wonder of owning a motorhome. As my pal Richard said the other day, ‘at least you can get away in your own bubble’. And I know he meant it in terms of covid-19, but it’s bigger and wider than that. When we go away we are completely incognito. We always say hello to people, but we don’t go out of our way to. Doris encourages us to walk – to trek. To travel, in her, on our cycles and on foot. There is no way we would be doing what we do now if we were ‘away with the car’ – I just can’t see it. And that’s why I love it so much.

Anyhow, we’re off to the coast tomorrow, to the sticky out bit at the end of the Humber river. We’re heading that way because we’ve plans to meet up with old Army friends of C’s, who recently bought a motorhome. They’re going to be in Bridlington at the end of the week and we aim to join them for an evening.

For the record, I’ve finished the final edit of Of Black Bulls and White Horse, which will be the last thing I do until I send it away for proofreading. I’ve had two rejections already and have three more in train. Once they’re back I’ll get it out there.

Stay safe everyone.

Not without incident …

[image error]we made it to Penkridge, by the canal

We’ve made it to Penkridge (it’s where Bex’s husband comes from and where they married). We’re parked in the same pub carpark we’ve used before, right by the canal. And it’s cost us a couple of drinks. Last night we had a lovely evening with our travelling friends, Hilary and Steven on their beautiful boat. They are away in their narrowboat for an extended time and our paths crossed. I’ve mentioned them before. We met them on our extended European tour in 2014 … us in a camper, them in a caravan. When we bottled it and took the ferry back to Italy from Greece, they took their caravan through Albania. Hats off to them. Anyhow, they now split their time between their house in Hampshire, their lovely boat and taking the caravan to Spain. As such, whenever we meet up with them they are a bit of an inspiration. [Note to self: we’re definitely going to Spain in the Spring.]

Getting here hasn’t been without incident. I hit Doris’s drop-down coach wing mirror as we left Asda having filled up with gas. A small scratch and no damage done. Then, on the way to our first night stop by the Severn (along with Storm Francis, bless him), I ran over a twig which turned out to be a branch. It was soon very clear that we were taking is with us and, on inspection, it had lodged itself in the front fairing, broken through a mesh and was millimetres from the radiator. No harm done – just.

And then yesterday, as we left home again (we’d forgot a couple of things!) and leaving the main roundabout in our town, I had an altercation with an old Landrover Discovery. The man didn’t stop … which was really annoying, so I followed him into the industrial estate and we had a chat. I have to say I was furious. Whilst nothing other than the indicator light was broken, paint had been scraped off and poor old Doris looked a mess. The long and the short of it, the man was old and lovely … and he gave me his details – clearly contrite. The accident wasn’t my fault. There is only a single lane off the roundabout, which looks like two but also includes a bus lane. And he was obviously trying to slip past us at speed. Well, that’ll teach him.

Interestingly, when we got to our current stop I was able to t-cut the damage so it is almost unnoticeable, other than a broken indicator, which I should be able to pick up for just a few quid. It was annoying though, especially as the guy deliberately didn’t stop.

[image error]before



[image error]after

Anyhow … five weeks of editing and writing now. We’re heading to the Peak District tomorrow and then to the Yorkshire coast. We’re going to have to start thinking very clearly about South Korea soon: flights; insurance etc. Going there is not without complication. At the airport the government takes you straight to a government hotel and lock you up for two weeks … for which, you have to pay. You are not allowed to leave your room and your food is brought to you by a guy in a HAZMAT suit. For C and me we could be talking about £2000 for the privilege. It’ll be worth it, though (he says choking on his tea) to be around for the birth of our grandchild.

We’re all good. I’m two-thirds of the way through Of Black Bulls and White Horses and then Sam’s waiting. Hurrah!

[image error]current spot, taken from the canal

Make the most of everything …

[image error]Jen’s ragdoll – is there a prettier cat?

I always said 2020 was going to be my year. That is the books either made their break, or fizzled out. The news is: I think it’s going to be a year like every other, where I get through, sell some books and wake up in 2021. Why do I say that? Well I told you about of Black Bulls and White Horse (of which, I am currently 6/20 chapters through a final edit) and how I’ve sent it to three other opportunities who will not come back to me before the end of November, a month, which if I remember, is very close to the end of the year.

The Sam Green series continue to sell, with the numbers up a bit to, say, 50 a month. But the extra books in the series are not, as you might think, commensurately increasing sales. It’s a modest increase and you still can’t count on it and you never know what’s going to happen next. But, in light of 2020 being my year, I have advertised The Innocence of Trust via Facebook, something I’ve not tried for four years. Advertising via FB can be very surgical, but it’s also very arcane. It took me two attempts to get £30 of advertising (last of the big spenders) right … and, so far they tell me 14 people have clicked on the link to Amazon. And, you’ve guessed it, no sales. I know this because I chose to market in the US … and there have been no US sales.

So what? Well, next weekend I’m going to try the same spend (still last of the big spenders), this time using Amazon marketing and see if I have any luck. If nothing happens, I’ll offer the book for free the following weekend … which I now will mean about 300 copies leave the shelves. That, in turn, might attract some further interest, we’ll see. Of course I still have Unsuspecting Hero‘s audio book to get out there, and I’d have hoped that would be done by Christmas. So there are still some opportunities.

But my problem is, I’m just about to kick off with book seven. And when that’s starts, there is no room for anything else; certainly no room for any deep thoughts about marketing etc. 2020 may, alas, not be my year.

[image error]mmm. Hope the grandson’s a boy …

What else have we been up to? We left Mary’s on Friday, spent yesterday getting our lives together, popped up to Jen and James for lunch today and, between times, I’ve been running and editing. We have some more admin to do tomorrow, including getting our poop in a sock for South Korea (we aim to fly at the beginning of the second week of October; Bex is due at the end of the month and we will have to self-isolate in a government facility fot two weeks on arrival) as well as prepping Doris for about four weeks away somewhere up north … but not Scotland. It’ll be Christmas before you know it.

And that’s the danger. I know this year has been crazy, but another Christmas is another year – and neither of us are getting any younger. So, deep breath, notwithstanding this shitty disease, the prospect of impoverishment from Brexit and the constant fear that we are being governed by an inept and uncaring bunch of self-interested wasters, we must continue to make the most of what we have.

So there. Make the most of everything you have, It’s an order.

I am (still) a writer

[image error]the village green at Great Bentley, where mum lives. She’s fine. Amazingly stoic and still smiling, pottering along.

So I got rejected by Bookouture – Of Black Bulls and White Horses is ‘written strongly and atmospherically’, but not what they want. It is what I expected and, as a result, I immediately sent it to an agent and two independent publishers. It is now another waiting game. What is interesting is that I sent the whole Sam Green series to three publishers/agents in March and not a squeak of a response. This is very common in my world, but also very annoying. I know these people get masses of submissions, but it wouldn’t take them too long to have a quick glance at your covering letter, realise I’m an elderly white bloke writing espionage fiction, discount me out of hand and reply, ‘no thanks’. A stock, polite reply would be easy, so people like me could cross that particular avenue off their list. Ho hum.

But, never mind. My plan now is to work through the OBBAWH script, make one or two of the more substantial changes which were suggested by my beta readers, wait for 12 weeks to see if I get a response from my latest submissions and, if not, get the book proofed and published for Christmas. In the meantime, have I got a plot for book seven in the Sam Green series. Think Balkan War, eugenics, organ harvesting, Middle East, Serbia, a decommissioned UK power station, Sam, Frank, a Serbian journalist and his sister, maybe Holly, the senator’s daughter from The Innocence of Trust and, well, a whole load of mayhem. I was thinking it through when I was driving back from Mum’s on Tuesday and, wow, I got excited. Really. I am looking forward to it. I can’t wait to start.

I reckon I’ll be into it all starting at the end of the first week in September, And 130k words later … hey presto, another Sam Green book.

Which is interesting, because you would have thought that a rejection would have hacked away at the underpinnings of my love of writing, but no. It has inspired me to do more. I’m still selling books, still getting great reviews and, although I’m making next to nothing, there is an appetite. Interestingly, yesterday I found this web page: https://spyguysandgals.com/sgShowChar.aspx?id=1904. Yes, Sam has her own page (as do I), on the ‘Spy Guys and Gals’ website. And it’s very positive … what fun!

[image error]what fun …

And, whilst talking of ’employment’ I have been doing some more work with the MoD. Yesterday I took a zoom team-building session – which was fun. And a second MoD team is putting together a business case to employ me to do the same sort of thing: team 360, followed by leadership coaching. That may come to something.

But, I am so excited by the plot for book seven, I fall back on my original premise: I am a writer first.

We’re at Mary’s at the moment and will be here until tomorrow. And then we will turn around (not sure how quickly) and head off up north for a month or so, trying to get something like a summer break. It is funny, isn’t it? It’s just not the same. 2020 has sent everything into a bit of a spiral. We will not travel on the continent because of covid-19. And now we will not venture into Scotland for the same reasons. We don’t want to go somewhere we don’t think we’re welcome. So, northern England it is. Let’s hope for some decent weather.

Keep safe. (And dry.)

It’s all a bit techy

It’s a funny old year? We’ve still got four months left and you’re not really sure how that’s going to go. There has been so much calamity, so much news, it does make you wonder whether there can be any more surprises.

[image error]the only certainty is that I will continue to run

As an ex-teacher I could go on about the A-level fiasco, but I’m so dreadfully tired of it all. What flattens me about this latest debacle is that Gavin Williamson has had more than enough time to see this coming. And if he did ask for, and have the stats in front of him, what was he thinking? Leaving aside the unfairness of it all, he must have seen the optics weren’t going to go well? Surely? It’s either incompetence or down right bloodimindedness – after the two fingers we got with the Cummings affair, it might well be the latter. Whatever – it tires me out.

We’ve made it to Mary’s, having popped in to see Jen and James and then picking Mary up from her brother’s. We’re here until Thursday, although I am going onto mum’s tomorrow for a couple of nights. When we get back, assuming all is well, we’re thinking of packing up Doris and heading for the north of England for at least a month, with no particular ambition, other than I want to start book seven.

[image error]couldn’t not take a photo

Before we left yesterday, I finished a major electrical upgrade on Doris [warning, techy bit coming]. You may remember that the main 240v ring trips easily (it’s 10 amps, which should give you 2300 watts, but I’m not sure it does). This is a problem because the inverter kicks in seamlessly and whatever has been drawing the 10 amps then gets fed by the inverter, which comes from the batteries. For the old batteries this was a real issue and I’m pretty sure used to cause them all sorts of harm. With the new li-ion ones, they’d have no problem pushing out 10 amps until they ran out, up to 20 hours later.

But, especially as we leave a electric fire on overnight (it is easily the biggest continuous draw), we still don’t want that risk. We could change the inverter (£1000) or … and this I have now done … I split the incoming mains electrics before the fuse box and run a couple of sockets off the split, which we can run our electric fire off. This means that should the main fuse box trip, then the two remote sockets keep delivering power.

You’ll be pleased to hear that the new circuit is professionally fitted including its own fused switch. I have to say that getting the wire fed from the where the electrics come into the van (rear right) to where we wanted the sockets (front left) wasn’t without some Houdini work in the gap between the two floors. But I managed … and kept all my fingers. What was interesting was that much of the non-Hymer wiring which was post-fitted (£10,000 worth of extras were fitted by the previous owner), was poorly done, including some bad/thin wire choices. Anyhow, it’s done now.

[image error]OK. So the fused switch on the left is mine – it feeds two sockets. The fuse box does everything else and is wired through the inverter. The socket on the right was an extra one fitted, which I have sorted again (wire is upgraded and is now neatly stowed).

I think that’s it for Doris improvements. Sure, with the trike gone and the trailer likely to go on Thursday, should we decide to buy a moped I’ll need to do some work in the garage, but other than that she’s never been better.

That’s it from me. I’m still waiting on Boukouture to get back to me on Of Black Bulls and White Horses. If the answer is ‘no’, which I suspect it will be, then I’ll need to decide whether I’m just going to proof and publish, or put it out to a couple of agents. Not sure yet.

Have a good weekend. And keep safe.

And … relax

Build a wall, get the French to pay for it. That’s the answer. I’m not sure where you’d build it, but it’s the principle, right? I mean what are we going to do about the invasion of a few thousand refugees – many of whom are women and children – who are fleeing places like Syria? They should have stayed where they were … or in the camps in Turkey. Why should we have them? Haven’t we already done enough? OK, so we haven’t taken the one million or so that Germany have taken, but we’re a small country. And we are an island, so that gives us more reason. After all, we have our own poor to look after, the ones living on the streets. I know we’ve conveniently found accommodation for them in hotels during the pandemic, but they’ll be back out on the streets soon enough and we’ll have to worry about them then.

It’s not as though we’ve got the room. I know just a month ago the government offered to take 3 million Hong Kong Chinese because of the democratic situation there, but that’s different, isn’t it? And I know we’ve got a bit more room this year because of the covid deaths we weren’t expecting, but most of those were old and, and I don’t want to sound racist, people of colour. The old people and the disabled who succumbed to the disease were going to die soon anyway, so I’m not sure we can use that as a reason to accept these illegal immigrants. Shouldn’t they have stayed in France? I know the rules say that you don’t have to register in the first country you enter, and even if you do you can still seek asylum elsewhere, but it’s still not right.

I’m really glad they’ve got the navy involved and that RAF bomber command aircraft flying 450 feet above the Channel trying to put them off. It’s a sort of a reverse Dunkirk, but if they’d stayed where they were, or if the French had done more – what are they playing at? – then we wouldn’t need to employ these tactics. A sailor pal of mine tells me that, like doctors, it’s their duty to rescue those in peril, but when you take the risk you have to accept the consequences, surely? The message will soon get passed around. We’re no pushover. And I know that over 25% of our National Health Service, for which I clapped loudly every Wednesday, are foreign nationals, but that’s enough, isn’t it? 

If we’re to accept foreigners, it’s to be on our terms. We want the brightest and the best, not those who have given everything and shown utter resilience to make it to our shores. They’re only after our benefits. And they’re all Muslims. I may not go to church, but I don’t want those fanatics practising their religion in my town. And, frankly, I’ve had enough of my Polish neighbours taking my job. I know I’m not a carpenter and joiner, but if I were they’d better at it than me – more efficient and reliable. So we don’t want any more of those. 

Thankfully Brexit will sort all this out. We’ll get back our sovereignty and be proud to be British again. I’ve applied for my blue passport – my pal’s got one and says it’s black and made in Poland, but at least it’s no longer that awful burgundy colour. It’s different; exceptional, I’d say. I’m looking forward to waving it in the face of the customs people at Malaga when I’ve eventually made it to the front of the queue. Although, they do tell me that holiday insurance is going to be very expensive and, apparently, I may need to buy a Spanish SIM card. Thankfully, Rex died a year or so back so there will be no need to get one of the new pet passports. 

But think of all the duty free I can bring back! Yay! A couple of bottles of spirits and 200 fags. Rachel is getting married in the Spring, assuming we’ve got this Chinese virus under control by then, and now they tell me that a booze cruise is out of the question? Whatever next? It’s the bloody French again. First it’s the migrants, then it’s stopping us bringing back a boot full of booze. I’ll be glad when we can share a beer down the pub without signing in (I can only think of so many Disney characters) and stick two fingers up at Johnny F. And, as for the bloody boat people, you wouldn’t catch me in a rubber dinghy in the second busiest seaway in the world arguing with all those supertankers. They must be bloody desperate. I’d definitely get rid of the patrol aircraft and bring in some fast jets. That would teach them.

And, relax …

Home today. Some photos:   

[image error]our lovely site … for doing very little



[image error]Berkeley castle … mmmm

(Hopefully) the trike has gone

[image error]our favourite river … in searing heat

Goodness, it’s hot. We’re back in our field and enjoying the sunshine – and the quiet, although the local fishing lake has a generator thumping away at the moment, which is a bit annoying. 

I reread some of the blog from 2014/15, when we went on our long European trip at the beginning of our 4.5 years’ worth of full timing. What a scream. It really did make me wish we could just pack it all in and push off into the sunset, leaving our cares all behind. Life, inevitably, is not as simple as that and, on reflection, we were so lucky to have had the chance to live like we did for as long as we did. I do sense that sometime in the future we will do it all again, this time in our current Doris which would give us slightly more room and comfort (I had to stop typing for a second as I was joined by our friendly wasp who was with us most of last week and has become closer friends this time round. Yesterday I fed it part of my nectarine, for which there was no ‘thank you’. Oh well. Anyway, it’s gone now. Doubtless it will be back later). Yes … we will be on our way.

[image error]morning tea

We have run, walked (6 miles today), cycled and tomorrow, all being well, I’m cycling home because a scooter company in London is driving around the southwest buying, picking up and then selling scooters. I advertised the trike for £4300, with a fall back of accepting £4100 – a loss of £800 over two years. the man I have been dealing with sounded very genuine and I will cycle home tomorrow (about 15 miles), pass over the bike, and then cycle back again. The trailer will go – once I can be bothered to advertise it. The plan, as a reminder, is to get a 50cc moped (£1600) and a towbar bike rack (£250) and rearrange things in the back. I’m hoping that will sort us out once and for all.

Nothing back from Bookouture ref Of Black Bulls and White Horses. As I said last time, I’m taking that as a more positive thing, than negative. I had a lot of conversations with them over the Sam Green series, so I know they will respond. If the answer is ‘no’, which I suspect it will be, then I’ll need to think through carefully what I do next. We’ll see. I have, in the meantime, started plotting for book 7 in the Sam Green series. I’m thinking eugenics and organ harvesting – Balkans-based, but worldwide distribution. My son-in-law, Steven, helped me with the plot of Blood Red Earth, and I’m already having a discussion with him about this next one. Plan is to start writing in September and have the first draft ready for Christmas Day. For those of you who keep up, that is business as usual.

 

[image error]no streaming TV, so we raided the charity shops in Thornbury

Other than that, things are fine. We’re both having good days, and not so good days, when it comes to how we feel. I don’t think either of us realise how much covid-19, other commitments, getting older and life in general plays on you and wears you down. I guess most people our age have the same ups and downs. It is, as his Donaldness said when he was asked about the US virus death rate, what it is. What an utter bast*rd.

Until midweek. Stay safe everyone.

Boiler – fixed!

[image error]Jen and James came round to the campsite for C’s birthday

I’m not quite feeling myself today. Don’t worry, I don’t have a permanent cough or a high temperature. But I just feel a little shattered. Not sure why. Oh well.

We got back from the campsite on Monday and the next 24 hours was a Doris boiler solving session. In the end all was sorted, but it wasn’t without a trial. If you remember I was convinced the boiler (which delivers both hot water and blown hot air) had ruptured, hence water was dripping from one of the hot air ducts. Well I dismantled the furniture, fired it up and waited for an obvious leak. Nothing. Not a sausage.

[image error]furniture dismantled. Exhaust and air inlet is the black tube on the left. Fawn pipes on the right are the hot air vents

So I checked all of the water-pipe work in the van, most of which is between the two floors – finding the pipework wasn’t without a struggle – and that was almost all ok. Eventually I spotted water falling from a vent under the van. The vent is for a fan in the loo to stop the place smelling. And then C joined me and pointed to a pipe in the loo compartment which looked like it had come undone. Sure enough, the outlet from the sink in the bathroom had popped apart at a join. The break was causing the water to leak out of the loo vent and also track down to the hot air vent and drip from there. It had also tracked across the van into the battery compartment. And, I found a couple of other places. Mmmm.

Fixing it should have been straight forward. Alas, no. No matter what I did I couldn’t get the pipe to connect – it wouldn’t reach; not enough to be leak free with a jubilee clip. I reckon it’s been leaking for some time. In the end I replace the pipe with a longer piece and all is well in the leaking department.

[image error]the offending article. I replaced the top grey pipe.

Ahh, but now the boiler doesn’t actually light! How does that work (or, in this case, not)? I was flummoxed as all I had done was remove the hot air ducts and the exhaust. The boiler (a Truma 4) has a hidden LED panel which tells the mechanics what the problem is. Having downloaded the manual, my set of LEDs told me that there was either an airflow problem, or a low voltage. Well, with 200 amphours of Li-Ion batteries, it couldn’t be the latter. Indeed – it was the former. When I had put the exhaust back on, I hadn’t fitted it properly and, as a result, the boiler said ‘no’. Which, if you think about it, is pretty clever. Ten minutes later and all was well. And I also fitted a carbon monoxide detector in the compartment just to be on the safe side. Phew.

What else? Not much really. The bike and trailer are on the market – I’m likely to have someone come on Monday to have a look. And, other than that my mate Kenn came round last night for a socially distant supper in the garden. And C and I made the rash decision that now we have the boiler working we might as well go back to our campsite and spend another week there. So we’re off tomorrow. (Can’t wait!)

[image error]Kenn and motorbike came round for supper

Other than that, not much. I’ve done some other bits and pieces in Doris and we’ve both been for a run. Oh … and tonight we get to watch the last episode of The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (on Prime). If you’ve not watched it, think of Ozark and then imagine something which is just as well acted, directed and produced, but diametrically opposed to it in every way … and you have Mrs Maisel. It’s fab.

Anyhow, keep safe!

Happy birthday, C

[image error]the birthday girl …

First, a very happy birthday to C – today she is a ripe old age. We have been married for 36 years this year, which is a lot of years. And I have to say, and this is an absolutely honest appraisal, every year gets just a little bit better. Who else do you know would want to spend an extended time in motorhome we me?

We’re away in Doris at the moment (home again tomorrow to fix the van’s boiler/heater, among others) and I can’t see it being too much longer before we go away in her again. Let me explain …

[image error]sophisticated camping

… We had a (lovely) visit by ex-Army pals, Peter and Karen, a couple of nights ago. They live close by, decided to go for a cycle ride and used us as a sort of sausage and mash and cheap white wine stopover. They were discussing going away – they have a place in NI – but were umming and ahhing, mostly because of covid-19. We were able to help because, whilst my work is home-based and part-time, staying at home in not the same as being away. I know it’s an obvious statement, but if you’re at home on a staycation, unless you have a cast iron will, there will always be stuff to do at home which means you can’t fully relax. In Doris, in a field, away fromn everything, there is literally nothing you can do other than do nothing (walk, run etc … but these things are part of being on hols). And we have felt that. C hasn’t been happier for a very long while. She’s sleeping well (it is so quiet here) and feeling much better in herself. Me too. So, P&K, go away!

The thing is, it is exactly how we used to feel when we fulltimed in our van(s). I vividly remember living in the van like it was one extended holiday. OK, when I picked up some work things changed a little, but early on for over a year we just travelled, touristed, relaxed and slept. Of course, we could do that again. We could do it tomorrow … well, there’s a thought.

We had a lovely 7-mile walk along the Severn and inland across a deer park on Thursday. I went for a 6-mile run on Friday (the very hot day) and it’s taken me a couple of days to recover. And we have cycled into the local town, Berkeley. We’ve also taken to cider – as a replacement for red and white wine and that’s going down well. We’ll be driving tractors and chewing straw next.

[image error]a walk in the (deer) park

And, today I’m going to put the trike and the trailer on the market. We may need £1400 to pay for a new boiler/heater for Doris (actually quite excited by that … which I will explain to you next time) and we will buy a moped (can get a brand new Taiwanese 4-stroke for £1600) and a bike rack so that we can still get around, but feel safer with it. The trike and trailer would pay for all of this and a good deal leftover. So that’s a hurrah.

[image error]sweet peas from P&K for C’s birthday

We both hope you are keeping yourself safe. ’til mid-week.

What do you want first?

The good news is the commissioning editor from Bookouture was delighted to hear from me and will gladly look at Of Black Bulls and White Horses. Book sales in the Sam Green series are pottering along (still looking for 10 sales a day … managed 7 yesterday – none today, yet). It seems my work for the MoD was really appreciated having spoken to the boss on Monday, and the mentoring of a Head teacher in a school in Wiltshire, who I also worked with on Monday, also went down well.

[image error]nobody here but us chickens

And we are parked in a field not 200 metres from the Severn (£10 a night) and there is no one else here. It is quiet and relaxing and pretty perfect. We had an easy day yesterday – short runs and not much else – and today we were going to go for a long walk with a picnic …

… and that’s when the bad news came along. Doris was behaving perfectly. The new Li-Ion leisure batteries are working well and, at some point, I will stop looking at all the dials and meters. I think the batteries are going to be a game changer.

However. As we were preparing to walk I noticed a water leak coming from one of the hot air ducts in the main door’s footwell. Well, that shouldn’t be happening. Our hot water and heating comes from a Truma combi boiler. So I had a look at it and there didn’t appear to be leaks, although there was a pool of water under the boiler (it’s quite tricky to get to and the van is double-floored, which hides everything, but makes life tricky). I looked at some internet diagrams and it seems that the only way for the water to get into the heating duct is for the cylindrical water container, which sits on the outside of the boiler (middle cylinder is the hot air heat exchanger and the inner cylinder the gas boiler) to have cracked, or for a seal to have gone. That would allow water to drip into the middle air container, collect at one end and let gravity take it to the lowest point in the air heating system – the footwell.

[image error]that’s not right

That’s sounds like quite a job. A brand new system is £1600 (yikes), without fitting – I could probably manage it, although I’d have to get a gas man in to check the gas connection. There’s a Chinese company that makes the exact equivalent (sounds like industrial espionage to me) for under £1000. The stainless steel water container, if that’s the problem, is £450. £450 for a bent piece of metal.

[image error]you can just make out the bottom hot air duct. That’s where the water is escaping from

What to do? First, we’re not moving. We’re here for C’s birthday, which is on Sunday, and that’s final. We will strip wash etc … we’re both ex-Army and that will be fine. In a spare moment, of which I will have a few, I might try and strip off the casing of the boiler in situ, to see if I can discover the problem. Then, next week I shall take the whole thing out. If I can’t fix it then at least the hole’s there for someone to fill. Whatever, it could be a cheap fix, but very likely it’s going to be expensive.

Yikes!

Oh well. It’s only money.

Keep safe everyone. And enjoy the sunshine.