I spent the morning going over Kitty with a fine tooth comb, looking at her damp problems and checking her out ready for the trip home.

The floor near the door has de-laminated and might actually have some rot, although I won't know until I have a good look at her on the drive, the door frame is completely shot, rotted in most places to nothing, the damp appears to be coming in from a couple of cracks above the door, having done some reading it appears to be a common fault on early caravans as there is no support behind the aluminium. When I repair her, I'll bond a new piece of aluminium over the cracks and then a piece of timber over that to create some strength.

The damp in the front right corner is very bad, but I'm hoping its just damp and rot hasn't had a chance to set in. There also appears to be mould on the inside of some of the roof panels, this just could be because she is damp or because the roof is leaking. The roof trim has been screwed in place using normal steel screws so I'll remove the trim, reseal it and replace the screws with stainless steel ones.

All the running gear all seems to be in great condition, no damage to the chassis etc all the rear lights etc work although they will need to be dismantled and fully cleaned, I'll probably replace the actual bulbs with leds or if I can find a suitable led light cluster replace the whole cluster as they appear to be fully sealed so could be bonded the the body and prevent any future leaks.

I've removed the awning and other items in the storage lockers to make her lighter when I tow her home and have planned a route that avoids the A6 as it can be a bit of a nightmare when you approach Stockport.

Below are some current photos of her inside, the wood is a light oak colour which makes her very light and spacious.

The bathroom needs to most work as its just an empty room at the moment, I'll fit a shower tray, a cassette toilet. I'll probably extend the wall to create more of a square room and provide a little extra space. The room is a little dark so I might fit a roof light, but we'll see.

A couple of photos of the outside, I'll repaint the green stripe and replace the front running lights as they have rusted beyond repair, the gas locker seems a little fragile, but it could just be that the lock is broken, worse case I'll get another one from a caravan breakers, or reinforce it using some fibre glass "battons".

Hopefully I should pick up Kitty early next week, I plan to pop over on Wednesday and give her a good going over and making sure she is ready for towing, need to check all the lights etc, plus one of the tyres looks a little low. Once I'm happy she is good to tow I'll bring her home and pop her on the drive and start the work.

I noticed she has a couple of soft spots in the floor, some rot by the door and also some damp at the front, on Wednesday I'll check it out in greater detail. I have some marine ply left over from doing up my boat (see sabrinaswan.blogspot.com) so the floor shouldn't cause me too many problems.

Currently Kitty has 5 berths, with part of those being a converting rear seated area into bunk beds, I plan to convert that to a fixed 3/4 double as at most only Karen and myself will be staying on her.

I might be contracting again soon so the idea is to use her instead of staying in faceless hotels, somewhere to call home as it were. Karen made the point that I would be better getting a larger caravan so that I could have a proper bed, as opposed to having to keep making a bed each night. Kitty currently has a bathroom with a sink and room for a porta-potti, I plan to move the wall slightly as the room have an angled door to make a slightly larger space and have a cassette toilet, with a full shower as the newer Lunars have.

Below is a mock up of what the layout will be once she is done:

More details once I've spent the day on Wednesday drawing up lists.

The daydream will become a reality for our dear Kitty.

Well, a lot has changed since my last post. Big news regarding the delightful Kitty VanDerCamp - 

She has been adopted and re-homed! Yes you read that right, I am sad to have lost her from my life and what I had planned for her but its for the best.

I have a new job working weekends and am unavailable during the week so this seemed the only option as I would not have the time to invest in her as I had at the time of taking her on. But wait there is good news!

She has been taken on by a lovely couple who plan to also renovate her and give a little TLC to get her up to the beauty that she once was, they even decided to keep her name so thats a sign that this was meant to be! Keen on vintage and things that aren't mass produced they seem like the perfect new parents : )

I would like to thank you all for reading the blog and subscribing by email, its been a pleasure. The new owners of the van may well be keeping this blog on so watch this space as the daydream will become a reality for our dear Kitty!

Vintage kisses and farewell,

Dolly xx

Until then the tea, cakes and merriment are on hold.

All quiet on the caravan front so a little reminder of the fabrics, soft furnishings and kitsch style ornaments I have planned for Kitty when she is done (below). I plan on having lots of ice cream 1950s colours with everything having a fresh lick of paint, retaining of course some of the original features, my favourite the tiny blind in the kitchen area!

I am doing some detailed sketches of the colours and where they will go along with any structural changes, I hope to get a graphic designer involved (you know who you are! lol) to maybe do a computer image of the ideas so it can be previewed as a finished thing.

I am planning a lovely tea party for friends and family when the move is complete to celebrate and to raise awareness about her vintage greatness!

Until then the tea, cakes and merriment are on hold.

Dolly xx

Not bad for a van of the 80's.

Below are some new photos of Kitty and my is she starting to look simply divine! (Thanks to Antony for the photos x)


I drove up to see her today and, as you do with this kind of thing, thought on the way, 'ooh..Why am I doing this again?' there seems so much to do but, as with most visits, once we reached her - stood under her tree in her usual spot, those feelings soon lifted and it didn't take me long to be pottering about while humming merrily.


I had taken back a lot of the interior seating pads but was a tad ambitious in bringing them all home to sew at once, having less at a time means I can work away steadily but have done enough to see how the changes will look (See below) Kitty has a new neighbour so of course I had to go for a nosey! It looked small as Kitty is a larger lady housing/sleeping 5 people - Yes folks she even has bunk beds! Same sort of age and very cute, Im sure they will get along.


I was so pleased to see that even with the lashing wind and rain we've had recently she seemed unaffected by it, windows still gleaming, sides still white and inside still dry, not bad for a van of the 80's, she had also been treated to an exterior cleanup in the way of a hedge trimming, racking of leaves and branches cut back, after all that work done by the site manager she seemed so small but very pretty.


So a few bits done and a chance to take photos of the bits that are changing, view older posts for what she looked like before even a clean and already the difference is clear, this however is a smidge of what she will look like when she is done so stay tuned as I have big plans for this little lady!


Dolly xx

Kitty VanDerCamp says hello.

'..It will start to look so much fresher'

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I guess that is potentially getting old now but it had to be said my dears.


So a brand new year and already it is getting off to a good start, the vintage business is growing (Check it out at facebook.com/dollysdelights if you haven't done so..) I'm loving fashion and how I am wearing it at the moment and really enjoying shopping for new vintage items.


I am doing a photo shoot soon with a friend for Dolly's Delights new stock which I am very excited about as we hope to do it in an old school chippy which would look so good! We do plan however in summer to do a shoot at the caravan which brings me onto the subject of the delightful Kitty : )


Having such bad weather at the moment, the good news is is that she is still where I left her and hasn't been blown away, I only know this as I spoke to the site manager today. He had planned to move her across to a nearby pitch only to discover that he needed a key to hook her up to the truck - Whoops.


This Saturday I get to pay her a visit (along with the key..) which is good news as I can take down some of the stuff I have been working on for the interior and clear some space within the house. I'm also planning out the colours now for the inside which means it will start to look so much fresher!


xxx