the kitchen cupboard

Yesterday's shopping trip to Aberdeen went well and I now have some memory foam and heavy-duty pvc to make waterproof cushions to go on the bench seat. I'll make loose fabric covers to cover the pvc, thus combining dog-proof and comfy to sit on. I also have 60m of bubblewrap ready to insulate the roofspace as soon as my perspex sheeting arrives - tomorrow I'll phone the company and sort out what went wrong with delivery!

Today, once Charlie had been to the vet for his second set of jabs, his microchip and a general check-over, we plunged into the question of the stove. I emailed Windy Smithy to ask advice on size of stove and length of flue yesterday and got a wonderfully detailed email back with all the details. The stove I'd chosen will do fine but I need to fit in more flue length for the best draw on the stove - vital with a woodburner if I'm to have a nice clean burn, no smoke drifting back into the van and for the stove to keep 'in' over a long winter's night. Some hard work with protractors and even Gareth and I scribbling measurements and marks on the walls of the van (in pencil) was required before we figured out that a couple of 45 degree bends will allow us to shoehorn another 50cm of flue into the space available, so all is now in hand to get the stove ordered and paid for. I'll pick it up on the way back from Exmoor after midsummer!

Having cleared that problem up, the way was clear to get the final dimensions of the 'kitchen cupboard' sorted and the frame built ready for cladding. The end nearest the rear doors will take a sheet of ply on top of a small locker to make a bed across the rear end of the van, then the remainder of the free space along the nearside wall of the van, some 5 feet in length, will be the work-surface with the twin-burner gas stove let into the top surface. Snatching my chance while the weather was nice and the dog fairly settled to nap the rest of the morning away, I set to work and got the timber frame measured, cut and assembled. Two coats of varnish later, it just needs to finish drying overnight and tomorrow the tricky job of getting the top surface cut to fit the gas stove begins!

Some thought was also given to the placement of the gas cylinder. It has to be secure for travel (obviously) yet able to be removed when it needs replacing, as it regrettably does from time to time. Some brainstorming between Mum and I came up with the idea of putting low wooden 'fiddles' around the base of the cylinder to keep it stable on its shelf, with the top end of the cylinder then secured with a bungee to a sturdy eyebolt in the frame behind the cylinder. Once the worktop is done, putting in the shelves and sorting out the gas cylinder will be the rest of the day's project. If I get as far as measuring for doors before the end of the day, all the better! I still have to source some child-proof (or more accurately, dog-proof) locks for the doors, too.

I've also now figured out how to do the top-level lockers above the bench-seat, which will take light-weight items like spare clothing. I'm still mulling over how to sort out the cupboard for laptop etc that I plan to put behind the driver's side bulkhead, on top of the 'table' over the whippet's crate.