Our first wheeled cup of tea

LOOK! Our home is being born! In between the raindrops Tui has been hammering and sawing and building and chiseling and cursing and fixing and making our nest. Here for you to see are some moments from our recent doings. The truck's tailgate has been removed entirely and replaced by the front door and another little welsh chapel window. The windows have latches, the floor has beautiful wooden floorboards, the back of the truck has expertly built wooden walls, and most excitingly of all, our home has a fire! The flue pipe needed a little encouragement to fit but is now elbowing its way nicely up through the roof.

We had our first cup of tea on the stove yesterday whilst imagining the next stages - kitchen and seat building, pictures on the walls, cupboards galore and bookshelves.... Somehow lighting a fire in our truck-home makes it really seem like we are getting there. For someone who hasn't ever built anything with wood before, Tui is doing a superbly superb carpentry job and is thoroughly enjoying it too. He has taken gentle care over every last detail and trundled round to the truck every wet day, slurping through puddles to work away at making our lovely home, while I join him in painting breaks for cups of tea and sandwiches and the odd little accordion serenade!

And don't you think our bedford-nest looks beautiful? :)