The Snooze Palace

It’s been so long since I had a chance to write here. Half term holidays have meant that there’s been hardly any chance to sit down and write. It was a good break though and I managed to keep a wonderful secret which became a wonderful surprise for my children and partner.

For years I have hankered after a camper van. Before I was ill I had beach huts where I would spend time and work and draw and paint. After The Illness that all went awry. There was no time and energy to go and paint and repair the poor old hut and I had to sell it. That was in the day when I was incapable of walking further than about 3meters let alone driving and the hut was 30 minutes drive away.

That was all 4 years ago and since then I have managed to visit the sea maybe 4 times --- and most of those visits in the last year. I still cant drive more than about 30 minutes without becoming tired and foggy. In the past few months I hit upon the idea that if I could find a way to have a rest at my destination I could drive to the sea and back alone ---enter the camper van –my beach hut and snooze palace on wheels.

The van is 30 years old. I was just going to College when it was ‘born’. It’s left hand drive so we can take it to see relatives in Belgium easily and my children ( and partner) love it. The day after we got it the children were up and dressed by 6 a.m. (unheard of) and wanted to go out. By 7.15 we were sitting in the van by a local lake watching the ducks and geese and drinking tea and eating breakfast. I was completely shattered by the time we got back at noon but it was worth it. The amount of pleasure the van has already given us is worth it.

After all the trials and tribulations of the past 10 years I think we all deserve a bit of ‘jolly’ and to fly a little and this van fits the bill.

Someone has resprayed the poor old girl in red with a white ‘Starsky ‘n Hutch’ stripe down the sides . All I need now is one of those brown and white cardies they used to wear.