Bring your own shade - The idea

I know this whole thing makes me look pretty silly, but be kind to me, I'm an old lady. And at least I'm trying.
2:51 PM 10/6/2005

After 44 years of driving around town with a dog in the car, hoping to find a shady place to park, or leaving the dog home because there probably wouldn't be a shady place, I finally decided to bring my own shade.

Why didn't I think of it sooner? Beats me. I know there have been many times I've wished storeowners would make special shaded parking places reserved for vehicles with dogs inside. There have even been a few times I've asked special permission to park on private property (and always received permission when I asked) .

So finally I got out my sketch pad and designed the simplest thing I could think of to let me park in the shade, wherever I happened to be.

Will it work? that remains to be seen. As I write this I'm about to head for the hardware store to get the things on my list and see if I can do it. I'll be leaving the dogs home because it's hot out there.

1:38 PM 10/26/2005

I got the supplies on my list. Funny how things seem so simple until you start doing them.

The original plan I had was to make a framework the approximate size and shape as the roof of the van, and put a tarp over the framework, then have the whole thing on top of the van, with bungee cords holding the edges of the tarp down.

So I made the framework and put it on top of the van, and I made a fascinating discovery. I didn't need it because I already had something shaped exactly like the top of the van. In fact it WAS the top of the van.

So now I have this nice collection of plastic pipe and fittings in case I ever decide to put in a sprinkler system.

I put the tarp on the van and tied it down with ropes and bungee cords. The dogs thought it was great fun helping.

When I finally had it on so that it was at least somewhat shading the van it looked very ugly and it wouldn't hold if the wind blew even a little bit. Plus it took me at least 10 minutes to put it on.

Back to the drawing board...

I put away the tarp and the plastic pipes and bought myself a couple of bedsheets. Plain, white, twin flat sheets. Cheap ones.

They aren't as heavy as the tarp, or as ugly. They'll probably be as hard to manage though.

I need to figure out something to hold the sheets above the top of the van so I can have an airspace for cooling. And something to hold the sides away for the same reason.

Gotta go think some more...

To be continued.

4:26 PM 10/26/2005

Well, part of thinking some more was to put the sheets on the van and see what it looked like.

First lesson. Measure things!

Or be prepared to go back to the store yet again for another sheet. I should probably measure now, just in case one sheet won't be enough. Nah. No need. One more will surely be enough.

So I'll get one more sheet soon, and figure out some sort of spacer device, and then I'll be all set. Right?

2/25/2006

It's been a while. I haven't given up yet.

Since we last met I bought another sheet, a few styrofoam pool toy thingys, and a sewing machine.

I haven't been motivated to continue this project because it's winter, and I don't need my shade yet. If it isn't the last minute I don't work very hard.

But I decided to start up again, just to see how my latest ideas will work. I love my new sewing machine. It was the very cheapest one I could find. Besides the machine I bought one spool of thread and a package of pins. The whole thing cost me a little under a hundred dollars.

I figured out how to thread the machine, pinned two of the sheets together, ans started sewing as if I knew what I was doing.

I got them almost sewed together, feeling rather smug, when things began going wrong. The thread broke and I had to rethread the machine. I can remember helping grandma thread her machine many years ago. I didn't really understand why she needed help but I was a nice little kid so I just threaded it for her. Now I understand. I not only can't get the thread through the tiny hole in the needle, I can't even see the hole. I finally got a magnifying glass and that helped tremendously. Good thing because the thread broke several times.

Once I got the machine working properly again I managed to get the last of my seams done. I had overlapped the ends of the two sheets and sewed both ends of the overlap, leaving a channel for my pool toy spacer to go. I learned another lesson. If I leave the spacer room to lie at the bottom of the channel it won't hold up the sheet. I figured out how I can take a tuck in the sheet to hold it up. But that's it for now. I'm tired. I'll get back to the project when I find some more energy and enthusiasm.