Bodging security and balding Sassy

For the last couple of months we have been a bit concerned about Sassy as a slight bald patch on the back of her neck has not stopped spreading.  I also needed to talk to a vet about a pet passport and my nerves about cutting her nails encouraged me to ask the vet to help with this too.

Sassy and her bald patch

So on Monday I picked Sassy up (for the first time for a while) and put her in her new carry cage and we took her to the vet. She was very good, though I don't think she really enjoyed the experience and sat with her back to the door the whole way there. The vet gave her a good examination and pronounced her healthy, if slightly overweight. She advised that the baldness was probably down to either stress or a mineral imbalance. We are now rebalancing her diet to include far more hay than before, and I need to look out less sweet food for her. I also do not need to get a pet passport (indeed, they don't DO a pet passport for rabbits) but she did advise that I get her shots done, including one for mites just in case the physical exam missed anything.

She was unhappy with us for a little while after we got her home, sitting in her cage and shaking, but interestingly she has been super happy and friendly ever since; I am wondering if getting her nails clipped has cheered her up.

Last night (as you are reading this) I legged it over to the studio again after work. I have finally lost patience with the useless camper van person who screwed up my electrics and have called Chris at my normal garage (which I should have done in the first place) and he has a man he can give Julian to.

This means, however, either unpacking the whisky or making it secure. As I am quite happy with the way I have packed it I decided to put a lockable door between the main cabin and the toilet. I had also taken delivery of the generator and another book (link here) and also a kick boxing stand for J.

The uncut chipboard

In the storage unit I had previously spotted some chipboard laying around and I grabbed a piece of this and marked out the size of the gap I needed to fill. It surprised me, having measured it, just how narrow it actually was; only 500mm. I also recovered from hinges from an unused door to use to hang it in Julian.

Chipboard cut down to size

It was the job of only a couple of minutes to use my jigsaw to cut the chipboard to size; it is very soft wood and certainly this will not be a long term solution to the problem of privacy in the toilet/shower.

Whisky secure

One I offered the wood up to the gap I found that I had cut it very close to the right size, but probably slightly too large to swing. Also, the sofa was sticking out and I would need to cut a shape to allow the door to open and shut. This, combined with the fragile nature of the wood, caused me to change my mind about hanging it on hinges and I decided to just baton in it place for the time being and re-visit the door with better quality wood and more time (and daylight) to judge my plan better.

My next task was to drive Julian out of the unit to be parked behind the gate (Dan is a bit nervous of driving him) but it was a good job I did as it ended up being quite a difficult job requiring lots of shuttling back and forth to avoid scraping the drivers side on the wall. He is now parked outside so I will find out just how successful my waterproofing efforts have been. Hopefully he'll be in the garage towards the end of this week or early next week so I can finally (!!!!) have working electrics in him for the journey.

The generator

Having pulled Julian out of the unit I set to with the last task of the day; putting the generator together. This was not as easy as it should have been as there were no instructions however a couple of minutes of staring at the bits and I worked it out. I have not yet started it as I need to get oil and fuel and by the time I got to this I wanted to go home so next time I am there I'll give this a go. It looks pretty hefty (as you can see) and with the two 240v outlets should suffice for lights and power tools as is my plan for its use.

Grumpy Sassy

So now I need to book Sassy in for her jabs, I bet she'll look even grumpier than this when that happens.

A couple of other little bits of progress; I have booked the Parents into their hotel in Bulgaria for when we get there and I did manage to get the suite for them :) Don't say I don't spoil them ;) Also, it's getting closer to my leaving party at my studio in Blackpool so if you want to come along please shout and I'll send you details. Less than 9 weeks to go! woooooo.