Witch o't Woods

Tag: campervan

Home Improvements and Adventure Packing

Last weekend, I finally bought the paint for Noah’s new front wing, which was damaged a few weeks ago when the gate blew into it while I was driving through.
I’d already sourced a new wing a few weeks back at the painful price of £119.00. I was initially quoted £90 when I called up to enquire, but when I arrived to pick it up, the price had jumped for some reason.

With few options nearby, I decided to just pay the money for an easy life. It was annoying because the man behind the counter was also rude. I would have preferred to give my money to anyone else but him.
But I really wanted to get started on the fix, and it felt like a lot of effort to source a different panel, so I paid the extra money.
The place I bought it was called Mount Panels over in Leeds, and although they were rude and gave me an initial false quote, the panel is perfectly fine.

The new panel. Apologies for the poor picture quality. New panels come ready coated in black primer.

I sourced paint from a shop called Soll in Kirkstall. The guy there was really friendly and helpful. He asked for my fuel cap cover so that he could match the paint to my van exactly, and the paint was ready in under an hour.

My dad gave me some lessons in spraying because he’s done this many times before. I can’t afford to spend too much on this, so we’ve had to opt for spray cans over a spray gun.

Dad giving me spraying lessons. This is the back of the panel. Apparently if you don’t spray this side too then it’ll rust really quickly.

I went for paint with lacquer included, hoping it would make the job quicker and easier, but it hasn’t worked out as well as I’d hoped. I could have done with one more can of paint, as the finish is not brilliant. I need to sand the whole thing down with fine wet and dry sandpaper, then buy a tin of spray lacquer to go over the top.

Part of the issue was how sunny it was on the day we sprayed the panel. There’s a slight orange peel effect in places, which is apparently where the paint is drying as it comes out of the can. Very annoying, but I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy job, and it’s also a bit of a learning curve, so I expected a couple of issues along the way.

After consulting YouTube, I now have a clear idea of how to fix it, so I’ll pick up some lacquer when I next have time to work on it and have another go.

In the meantime, Dad used a piece of wood and a hammer to beat the dinted panel back into place so that I can at least open the driver door properly. It’s made things easier for now, which is good because I won’t have time to work on the repair this weekend due to the walking adventure and family plans when I return.

Still looks rubbish, but at least I can open the door now.

In between waiting for the paint layers to dry, I removed the awful blue stripes, which I’ve wanted to get rid of since buying Noah almost a year ago.
I have nothing against stripes per se, but they were not to my taste. They were also not applied very neatly, which meant bits were coming unstuck, and there were places where they hadn’t been trimmed very well, and even some rips which had been stuck back together overlapping. It just looked cheap and nasty.

Noah with his blue stripes

I removed the top stripes a couple of months back. These went along the roof’s edge and down the front of the doors to meet the stripes on the front wings. It took me ages to clean off the sticky residue they left behind, so I’ve been procrastinating over removing the rest of them.

While watching a random van conversion video on YouTube recently, I found a product that made the job much easier. It’s called G&T Glue and Tar Remover by Car-Chem, and it just melts the glue in under a minute. It was still a grim job to wipe off the jellified glue after it had melted, but it was much faster, and I got all of the stripes and glue removed in one afternoon.

Glue and Tar remover by Car-Chem

Noah now looks very neat with just his black stripes on either side. I plan to get a couple of nice campervan stickers from Etsy, but first, the whole exterior needs a proper cleanup. There are a few chips in the paint, which I need to learn how to repair. There are also marks on the side panels from where the old business stickers were when Noah was a plumbing van. The paint, in general, just needs brightening and polishing.
I’ll have to consult YouTube again for lessons. What would I do without it?

No more blue stripes

I plan to get Noah looking nice and neat inside and out by the end of summer and then post him online for sale in the spring of next year. Spring is the best time to sell a campervan because that’s when everyone starts thinking about camping and enjoying the sun.

Overall, I’m enjoying my home improvements and learning how to fix things rather than paying others to fix them. It’s quite satisfying when a job is finally completed, and Noah is a little more improved.

Found this little guy on my van while I was removing the stickers. I’ve never seen a green spider before, but apparently he’s a Cucumber Spider and they’re quite common in the UK.

However, the work will be put on hold for a week or so. I head to Redcar with my sister tonight, where we’ll begin our two-and-a-half-day walk along the coast. We’re very excited to be doing our first camping walk. I think I’ve packed everything I need, but I’m sure I’ll have forgotten something.

I got a great deal on a hiking tent from Mountain Warehouse. I decided to have a go at putting it up immediately after collecting it. I was at my mum’s house at the time, so it went up in her back garden.
It’s not the most spacious of tents, but it’s very light, which is the most important thing, and it was also easy to put up.

It has doors on both sides, which makes for a great through-wind. This is good, because the temperature inside felt like 100 degrees within two minutes of putting it up…

Mum did all of my washing for me while I was there. She’s such a good egg. Washing is always a pain when living the van life. Usually, I have to go to a laundrette or book into a campsite with washing facilities to get the job done, so the laundrette of mum is very welcome!
We had cups of tea and admired the tent from the patio while my clothes dried.

Admiring the tent. Also using the tent as a cardigan dry rack.

My sister also came over, and we decided to tackle the issue of the security tag on my walking rucksack.
I bought it from Go Outdoors a couple of months back and then realised they hadn’t removed the security tag before I left the store. I don’t remember the alarm going off, but I was concerned that it would set off other alarms if I went in and out of stores while on the walk. Also, I didn’t want people to see the tag and think I’d stolen my walking bag.

At this point, I had no idea where the receipt was, and I didn’t fancy trying to convince the checkout assistant that I hadn’t stolen the bag, so I again turned to my good friend YouTube for advice.
We were assured that the tags are easy to remove with just a couple of forks and some light pressure. We also needed to cover the whole thing in a plastic bag because the tag contained dye capsules designed to explode if the tag is tampered with.
I’d imagined masses of dye exploding into my eyes as I tried to prise the thing off, but then I watched a video of one exploding and realised it was only a tiny bit of dye and would probably not blind me.

Two forks, a garden fork, a hammer, and two screwdrivers later, we finally succeeded in removing the tag. Without breaking the dye capsules, which was a nice achievement.
I would not recommend this method, though. It was a lot of faff. It’s definitely better to check your items for security tags before leaving the store!

The little dye capsules look really cool. I didn’t want to throw them away, but also had no idea what I’d do with them if I kept them.

My bag feels quite heavy now that it’s packed, and my back is about to have a rude awakening. The last time I carried a pack like this was when I went on a month-long trip to Hawaii. That was back in 2018, and I’m nowhere near as fit as I was then. The pack is a bit lighter than that one was, though, and I’ve been doing a lot more walking this year to build the strength in my injured leg, so hopefully, I’ll manage okay.
My walking boots are rubbing on one of my ankle scars, so I’ve packed my trainers just in case it gets bad.
I’m looking forward to the trip and will be recording the route on the All Trails app, so I’ll share the map next week.

Wish me luck!

Fox
xx

June 17, 2025
Leaky Lids and Growing Chicks

The weather this week has been awful, and I find myself wondering where the summer has gone. Of course, this is not unusual for North Yorkshire, but it would be nice to have the top up on the van again.

When I bought a pop-top campervan, I did so with the thought that I would still be able to fit under those annoying car park barriers but also enjoy headroom and being able to stand up while parked.

When the top is up there’s ample headroom and its a different space entirely.

However, the pop-top is not quite the handy solution I thought it would be.

To start with, the thickness of the pop-top lid, plus the solar panel, makes the van still just too high to fit under the barriers. We’re talking a cm. Most annoying.

The other annoying thing about having a pop-top is that it’s like a tent.

In a heavy downpour, the water eventually starts to seep in. It’s also really cold because it has zero insulation. I have a diesel heater, but it feels wasteful to run it with the top up, as the heat just escapes, so you have to run it continuously.

Then there’s the wind. You can’t have the top up in heavy wind because of the risk of it blowing off entirely or, worse, tipping the van over.

There are more windy days than you realise. Trust me.

Even in mild wind, the noise of the tent sides billowing and flapping is quite annoying.

Pair all this with the fact that whoever fitted the pop-top didn’t seal things properly, so rain seeps in through the fixings when the roof is in the up position.

An outside view of Noah with the top popped. And a Cockrill called Barney, because all the best campsites have chickens.

When I first bought the van, the roof leaked even in the down position.

The previous owner drilled holes in the roof to fit the solar panel and didn’t use adequate sealer. In fact, on a couple of the bolts, he didn’t use any at all…

The first time it rained heavily, I suddenly found myself scrambling to find enough pots to catch the water.

That issue was easily solved with some gutter seal and a ladder, but the leaky fixings have so far resisted treatment. I plan to make another attempt at this next month, weather permitting. I’m also planning to reproof the tent material to help with the water seepage.

During the winter, the van spent a lot of time in cave mode. Top down, me moving around like a hunchback inside. I longed for summer when the roof would be up continuously, and I could even sleep on the upstairs bedboard!

Noah in his winter cave state. He was lovely and toasty inside though.

However, I forgot that I live in Britain, so even in the summer, there are a lot of rainy, windy days.

Honestly, I regret my choice, and I will definitely go with a high-roof van next time. I dream of cosy rainy days in the van, walking around upright like a normal person. I watch YouTube videos of van lifers walking around in their high-top vans, and I get the envy.

Such is life.

Anyway, enough about the van; it’s time to move on to more positive news.

The Ugly Babies are growing fast!

There are five chicks in the nest, and they all seem to be thriving. I expected a couple would die off along the way due to insufficient food, but the mum is doing a fantastic job keeping up with five hungry bellies.

When I peek in now, the little eyes are open and staring back at me.

If I make cheeping noises, they all stand up, beaks open and ready for food.

Look how tall they are!

The mother is still not amused with my nosiness but is tolerant.

I forgot how fast the baby birds grow. Soon, they’ll be flinging themselves out of the nest and causing the mum lots of stress, I’m sure.

They almost have all their feathers now. Surely, it’ll only be another few weeks before they learn to fly. I wonder if they’ll hang around the garden or fly off to new territory.

I’ll keep you posted.

Not much else has been going on this week.
I achieved a new front panel for the van to repair the damage from the gate. This Friday, I need to buy the correct paint to spray it.
It’s a long and faffy process and one I could have done without. But that’s van life.
The bad weather has ended my gardening plans, and the cottage has been very cold due to the lack of sun. I’ve been holed up in the van for most of the week with the heater running, although I did have a lovely movie evening in the cottage, in front of the TV with the fire burning, which was nice. Hopefully, the sun will return soon, and garden work can resume.

Fox

xx

June 4, 2025
Grumpy Spiders and a Power Upgrade

Great things have been achieved this week!

The Big May Clean is almost complete.
It’s taken longer than anticipated, but I’m on the home run!

All but the highest Alien Spiders have been evicted, and the Juicy Window Spiders are grumpily rebuilding their webs after I cleaned the windows.

Just one of many pans of dust and dirt removed from the cottage. I really don’t know how it all gets in.

For anyone wondering, the Alien Spiders are those weird, uppity-legged ones with rice-shaped bodies and hair-thin legs. I think they’re called Basement Spiders?
They started appearing inside the cottage a few years ago and quickly took over, killing all of the juicy spiders and not even earning their keep by catching flies.
They catch the poor juicy spiders, wrap them into a ball, and lay their eggs in them. Then they sit in the corners, holding their dead eggspider ball until it hatches, and the cycle continues.

I’d never disliked an insect until I met this kind. I think it’s the fact that they kill the poor juicy spiders who do nothing to deserve it.
So now, every time I spot one of these guys, I evict them immediately.

However, even with a ladder, the eaves are too high for me to reach. This gives the Alien Spiders a place of safety, and so naturally, it’s absolutely covered in their webs.
I plan to devise a long stick with some kind of duster on the end to clean up the webs—another task on the great cottage to-do list.

I found this giant Juicy Spider out in the porch, eating an Alien Spider. How the tables have turned!!

Anyway, the bulk of the dust and alien spiders have now been removed, and the cottage is starting to feel like her old self again. I even picked a small selection of wildflowers from the garden to brighten the place up.

My dad came over on Friday afternoon and cut the grass while I finished things off in the cottage. Then we cooked some burgers and sausages on a small disposable BBQ I found in the outhouse. I don’t remember buying it, but it must be left over from a camping trip, as cottage BBQs have traditionally been done over a garden fire.

We cracked open a nice bottle of dessert wine, which we picked up at the Camping and Caravanning Club show earlier this year. It was the perfect amount of food and drink, and it felt good to sit out in the garden with the freshly cut grass, listening to the birdsong.

Dad brought along a new lamp, which he also bought at the Camping and Caravanning Club Show. It’s similar to my paraffin lamp but runs on gas.

I spent Saturday upgrading the leisure battery in my campervan.
Since I bought this van last year, I’ve struggled with a measly 80-ah lead acid battery paired with my Anker 500wh portable power bank, which I use to power my laptop while working.

However, with the arrival of warm weather and the removal of winter electric hook-ups, the camper fridge has frequently complained that there’s not enough power in the lead acid battery, even when the sun has been shining on the solar panel all day.
It also complains on cloudy days because I have to charge the Anker battery using the 12v socket.

Since arriving back at the cottage, I’ve been using the 50-watt solar panel, which used to live on my car, to power the Anker battery on sunny days, which has helped a bit. But it hasn’t resolved the issue with the fridge on hot days, and I still struggle for power on overcast days.

This problem has meant that I’ve had to prioritise all of the leisure battery power for the fridge and occasionally charging the Anker battery, not even using my diesel heater on cold days as the fan takes a surprising amount of power while it’s running.

But no more! On Monday, I finally ordered a brand new 150-ah lithium battery, which should give me roughly three times the power of the old battery.
It should also recharge faster on sunny days, so this should end my power struggles.

The battery arrived the day after I ordered it, which was much faster than I’d expected. I went with an Eco Tree Lithium battery, after spending some time reading reviews on the internet.
The battery charge was half full when it arrived, so I dragged out the generator and charged it fully before the installation. I’d already anticipated the need for this and had ordered a plug-in Victron charger to do the job.

Charging up the battery before installation.

In the few hours it took to charge, I moved all the connection wires and the solar charge controller to the back of the van.
The new battery is too big to fit under the driver’s seat where the old battery lived. Because I plan to take it with me when I upgrade the van, I’ve just installed it underneath the rock n roll bed in the back for now.

Before disconnecting the solar charge controller, I had to climb onto the campervan roof to cover the solar panel with a blanket, as disconnecting a live solar panel is dangerous.

Doesn’t the solar panel look cosy?

After that, it was just a case of disconnecting the charger wires from the old battery, unthreading the cables from behind the cupboards (the solar wires come in at the back of the van, and so they’d been threaded through to the front), and connecting up the cables again at the other end.

The new battery has much thicker cables going to the fuse box, so I can use things like my 12v cooking pot and 12v iron without the risk of pulling too much current through the cables.
My dad showed me how to apply the lugs needed to connect either end of the cable. It was fun to learn, as I’ve previously only used the small wire crimping tools, and this time, we had to use the big hydraulic ones.
I’m lucky that my dad is a trained electrical engineer and has also renovated a house or two, so he usually has the tools I need.

Van improvement days always leave the van in complete carnage. Here’s a picture of what happens when you have to reach the little nooks and crannies for wiring purposes!

It was hard work, but I’m already enjoying the benefits.
Last night, I made some prawn ramen by sticking everything in the 12v cooking pot and leaving it to slowly cook as I tidied up the mess in the van. So easy and delicious!
Today, I’m charging the Anker battery using the 12v socket, and the fridge is happily chugging along without complaint. Blissful harmony is restored to the van!

I’ve yet to try out the little 12v iron I found on eBay a few weeks ago.
Not only will it help me to look neater by not wearing crinkled clothing, but it’ll also help with my sewing projects.
I’ve been unable to complete many sewing projects since I moved off the winter electric hook-up. An iron is necessary to press the seams, but even my travel iron needs too much power for the Anker battery to manage.
I already have a few sewing projects in mind, so it’ll be nice to start them once the main jobs are finished in the cottage and the van.

It’s a relief to resolve the electricity problem finally.
I’m now in a position where I shouldn’t need to worry about saving power to ensure I can run my work laptop and fridge, even if there are a few overcast days in a row.
Later down the line, if it turns out 150-ah is not quite enough to run all of my things, I know that I can easily buy a second battery and wire it in series without making any more changes to the existing cable setup.

After all the hard work this week, I’ve decided that today will be a lazy day. The weather outside is windy and overcast, but I’m cosy indoors, napping, reading, and writing this blog post.
The perfect end to a busy week.

Toasting the feet.

I hope you’re all enjoying your Sunday, too.

Fox
xx

May 18, 2025