The story picks up where we left off, an old van waits patiently in my parents backyard. Except this time, she’s got brand new leak-proof windows, shiny new taps, and a swanky silver draw-bar to show off her curves. There has also been a constant string of fiddly jobs, interspersed with Barney cuddles in the sun. There is really no limit to how much you could do with this van, one job uncovers 5 more that need doing. So it is partly a matter of knowing what needs doing and what to leave as is. With so much to do, it feels like I’ll forever be in the land of ‘making things look worse before they look better’, and that’s kind of a pain, because I’m already distracted by paint colours and soft furnishings….
Every 70’s gal needs some glorious peepers, so one of our first jobs was to clean, cut, re-seal and buff the trims of all Val’s windows. Here’s me getting gunk out of the trim and Dad pulling a classic comedy routine by ‘shocking’ me with some electrical wires. Barney was alarmed.
But the process was interesting, and I learnt to cut glass! The most satisfying part being squishing the new, soft, rubber trims into the panes, making the old girl stop leaking.
Barney, of course, is the real brains behind this operation. He’s a wiz at finding the best spot in backyard. Dad says I need to stop kissing his head or I’ll get dog diseases. I like wearing shirts that match Val.
My latest job has been re-spraying the draw-bar, the bit that does the towing. It was as easy as one…
…two…
…three!
That bit was exciting, because it does actually look pretty bad-ass now.
I’m constantly getting excited and inspired by a seemingly endless amount of amazing vans on adventures out there. I can’t wait to join them! So i’ll get back to sanding alloy window trims and generally making a mess. Hopefully next time I’ll have some interior improvements to share! That’s another story.
Adios!
adventure with val 