Tag Archives: loading caliburn

Thursday 15th December 2011 – A WISE DECISION …

… staying here.

Not the least of reasons being that I’m warm and comfortable and at a reasonable price too.

It means that I can load up Caliburn a lot earlier than I would otherwise have done. And so I’m not rushing around panicking at the last moment like I always seem to do.

Having picked up the scaffolding yesterday I can run off to Manchester today, do a trip around Trafford Park for Screwfix and Toolstation for more stuff. Including a 35-litre plastic water tank.

As you might remember, the metal drum for my home-made immersion heater melted through while I was in Canada in the autumn. I’ve decided to build the next one with a plastic container. This is a cold-water container, it’s true, but I’m hoping that it will withstand a regular 60-70°C heat without too many problems.

I’d love to find a copper container somewhere, but I’m not sure how I’m going to do that. Eventually though, I’ll be lucky enough to find a good 50-litre copper immersion heater, and I can then make a new mounting plate for the element.

Later on, I went round to rescue Percy Penguin from work, and enticed her back to my lair to see where I was staying. She doesn’t live too far away from here. I had thought about taking her out for a meal, but when I asked her if she fancied some coq au vin, she got into the back of Caliburn.

But tomorrow I’m back on the road. I’ve a long way to travel and a lot of things to do.

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Sunday 17th July 2011 – NEXT MORNING …

… after a good lie-in (well, it IS Sunday!) and a leisurely breakfast, I drove round to Marianne’s for lunch, which was very nice of her to invite me.

bois de la cambre belgium july juillet 2011It was heavily overcast today just by way of a change, but it was reasonably warm and so in the afternoon after lunch we went for a walk in the Bois de la Cambre down the road.

It’s been a couple of years at least since I have been for a good perambulation in the park and there have been some considerable changes here in that time. They seem to have been spending their money quite considerably.

But the most important change is over here.

chateau robinson bois de la cambre belgium july juillet 2011The old pie hut on the island that burnt down a while ago has now been completely rebuild and is now a magnificent chalet – the Chateau Robinson – doubtless named for Robinson Crusoe.

Access out there is by a boat, which you can see mooed up to the quay just to the right of centre. It costs €1:00 to take the boat out there, and the return trip is free, which is just as well given the price of the coffee out there.

prince laurent chateau robinson bois de la cambre belgium july juillet 2011I would very much like to say that I took my coffee this afternoon with Price Laurent of the Belgians, and I bet that you are thinking that I’m joking too.

But far from it in fact.

Although he wasn’t acually sitting at my table, he was close enough – and he wasn’t surrounded by armed policemen and crowds of bodyguards either. Just out en famille for his Sunday afternoon cuppa.

Mind you, I bet that the two or three people at nearby tables who stood up discreetly to leave just as he was leaving “had some interest” in the matter.

Then Marianne came back with me to the flat, I dismantled the bed in Caliburn and Marianne helped me load the heavy stuff that was remaining.

We had a really long chat and what with it being Sunday we went out for pizza, seeing as how she had given me a useful hand. However we were sidetracked by a new restaurant advertising, would you believe, a Vegan section. And I had the most magnificent penne al arabiatta that I have ever eaten.

rue de la loi brussels belgium july juillet 2011Dropping her off, I was back on the road. The plan was to head home as rapidly as I could and go as far as I could before stopping for the night somewhere, but I was rather side-tracked.

I’d noticed once or twice over the course of the years that the Rue de la Loi in Brussels looks magnificent at night with all of the street lights and vehicles that flood the street.

One of the things that I had wanted to do was to take a few photos of the place before I left. So off I went, and took about half a dozen. Here’s one of them to titivate your palette

Having done that, Caliburn and I bounced happily all the way to near Auxerre where I crashed out for the night at some silly time of the early morning.

And wasn’t that uncomfortable? It seems that Bane of Britain had forgotten that he’d left his sleeping bag and pillow back at the apartment.

GRRRRRRRR!

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Saturday 16th July 2011 – HAVING SPENT THE NIGHT …

… parked up on the Motorway Service Area at Drogenbos, a good (for once) sleep led to a major shopping expedition and I have finally found a new whistling kettle – I’ve been hunting one for ages.

And then after lunch it was round to the apartment.

You might recall that back in the winter we tried everything that we could to undo the lock on the cellar to empty it. And nothing we tried would make it work. This time, I took a couple of enormous extensions and a drill and angle grinder. And of course, trying to unlock the door just one more time “for old time’s sake”, it came undone with no issues whatever!

Just like Sam Gamgee’s rope in Lord of the Rings in fact.

And so that was emptied and the racking dismantled in no time flat and all loaded up into Caliburn. I don’t know how people can function without vans, I really don’t.

And so with plenty of time to spare, another shopping trip, this time to IKEA where I discovered a few exciting items in the sale.

Having called at the Simonis Fritkot for my assiette falafel, I headed off to my motorway service area for a kip. But in fact I spent quite a while fixing a car for a British guy returning from holiday with his family and whose electrical charging circuit had broken down.

No peace for the wicked, is there?

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Monday 30th May 2011 – I’M NOT HERE.

Well, not all here anyway, as people have been telling me for years.

caliburn river eure pont de l'arche franceI’m on a car park on the banks of the River Eure at a town called Pont de l’Arche.

And you can admire the brilliance of my infra-red night-time lens that enables me to take such a good photograph at 04:00 in the morning, can’t you?

Well, actually, it was Tuesday morning when I took this photo.

My crossing of the Channel isn’t until tomorrow night but I didn’t fancy fighting my way north during daylight hours tomorrow so I set off after tea this evening.

Today was spent loading up Caliburn with the stuff that I need to take with me and then tidying up the place before I leave. I’m going to be away for two weeks so I don’t want to come back to a tip … "never bothers you usually" – ed.

And then, a chill out and a relax. No point in tiring myself out or untidying the place, is there?

So after tea and washing up, which was now about 22:00, I nipped round to Liz and Terry’s to borrow their sat-nav and then I hit the road, Jacques.

The Sat-Nav didn’t half take me on a tortuous route. I came round via Orleans, Chartres (and sightseeing in Chartres at 02:00 is different, to say the least) and Dreux and finally to here where I was pleased to be able to lay my weary head.

Plenty of time tomorrow – I’m not in a rush, so I shall be doing some sightseeing.

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