Magic Bus rides out!

My birthday is now past! Next one will be the Big Six-Oh! We set the year off in style, taking the Magic Bus over to the coast, and spending the day, and the night, at Ynyslas, in the wonderful sand dunes there. The weather was gorgeous, the bus was comfortable, the crowds dispersed, and we had a great time on the beach, looking out over the Dyfi estuary. Spring tides promised some excitement as the water came up, and stopped three feet from the vehicles! Tai Chi on the shore on Monday made this the perfect day. As a test run for these ageing hippies, it was five star.

Magic Bus update 2

For once we managed to correctly predict the weather. Yesterday was the best day of the week by far, and so a day out around the mountains and coast gave us some fresh air and sunshine, much needed after the past few days. T’s voice is returning, though she is, I think, post-viral and very tired. A alk on the beach, a stop by the lake, a good lunch , and a collection of phone numbers and details of sites we called at will all mean that when we do take to the roads in the Magic Bus, it will be a success! We do have this in common; a preference for prior research and a desire for information. Neither of us enjoy surprises, and planning ahead usually means we enjoy ourselves more. That’s not say that we don’t do spontaneous, just that we our version of spontaneous takes some planning and we like to know when and where it’s going to happen.

Magic Bus update

So, I’ve just come inside, having passed a pleasant hour sitting beside the Bus with a glass of wine, birds singing, sun going down, music on the new Bus CD player; excellent! Only problem is, we were sitting on our own drive with a nice view of the garage.

The Tigger came back from work minus voice, and plus a whole lot of other symptoms too unpleasant for me to describe to you. The weather was still foul. A phone call to the campsite confirmed that the field in question was very wet. So we chickened out and stayed put. We’ve done some more sorting and some fitting out, so that when we do go it will be much more straightforward. But we bottled out of our trip.

It's French!

Getting the bus ready for our trip to the coast; which is why it’s grey and cold and rainy throughout the country at present; don’t book your holidays at the same time as us.

The Magic Bus is back from a two week stay on the forecourt of the people who sold it to us. We had a new CD player fitted, and the water pump on the domestic system replaced. That’s about two hours work. I know. I thought boatyards were slow.

I asked the guy several questions about the Bus, like
“Why is there an irritating whining noise when you turn on the lights?”
“It’s French”
“Why is there no intermittent wipe?”
“It’s French”
And so on. Each time the answer was the same.
“It’s French”

Sorry, France.

The Magic Bus goes forth!

First outing for the Magic Bus, over to the Tuesday market. Lovely drive through the border countryside, looking its best, dressed in green, lambs gamboling, all of which we can see because we’re high up above the hedges. Down into town, and into the central car parks. A new feature of our journeying; checking which car parks have height restricting barriers and which ones will let something as big as us in. We go straight in and park, reversing perfectly into a space. We congratulate ourselves and head off into town, to the market hall where a couple of Salvationists run the café. All day breakfast and a copy of the War Cry, with giant cups of tea. Excellent. Then it kind of dawns on us all at once that …. no-one put a ticket on the Bus!

A sprint back to the car park confirms our worst fears; a black and yellow Excess Notice stuck right in the middle of the windscreen. First day out, and the Bus already has a criminal record.

The logbook summarises thus:
Miles traveled – 40
Fuel - £60 (they delivered it with less than no petrol in the tank)
Fine - £30
Total- £90
Weather – fine, turning to rain

The Escape Plan

I’ve mentioned this a couple of times. What does the Plan involve? Well, getting out of full time ministry for a start, probably in about two years time. In the meantime, putting together what we need to live reasonably freely, cheaply and independently, with some opportunities to earn a bit of money so that we don’t need to take out pensions for a couple of years. Here’s the current top five ideas:

Putting a generator and a couple of other gizmos onto the boat for long-term, long-distance cruising. Getting a good wireless internet connection

Copying our CD collection onto an iPod for ease of traveling

Downsizing furniture and belongings by disposal or storage of essentials (the Bus will help with this!)

Taking a course in proof-reading and copy-writing for me, and taking a course in teaching English as a second language for her, so that we can work wherever we happen to be

Putting my own work into a series of courses available for groups and one-to-one work, including Myers Briggs, spirituality and family history work. Registering a domain name for internet recruitment

You see? It’s all worked out ….

Too much, the Magic Bus

Far from it, the price is very good indeed and we decided to go ahead. 28,000 genuine miles, good chassis and engine, great fit-out. How could we leave it there? This is Tigger’s first retirement present (the first of several retirements, when she finishes college lecturing in July, not the first of many presents!). The guy is good and is sorting out a bit of minor work, but it should be ours by Easter, just right for a test drive. It’s passed its MOT. We’ve got a good driveaway awning. Tigger has lots of nest-building ideas and urges and we’ve been into long forgotten trunks and boxes around the house, to reacquaint ourselves with long lost curtains.