Monday 28 January 2013

Exciting news!

Well, having sent that email to the channel 4 show last November, we're quite excited because it seems they may want to feature our project! I've been trying not to be too excited until we know for sure if they'll use us, but I can't help it!
I had an email back asking for more details and photos, which I sent, and then a couple of phone calls and emails back and forth. They have been asking all sorts of questions that I can't really answer yet, like who is going to do the work, how much it will cost, what the layout will be etc... But hopefully my enthusiasm and the unique vehicle we're working with will be good enough.
Today a girl called Kirsten from the production company came to see me, and Bertie, for a recce. She seemed to love Bertie - his character and quirkiness - and I had to do a test piece to camera to show how I came across. Nervewracking! Kirsten then takes this film back to their production meeting to see if we would be right for the next series. She seemed really positive, and said we'll know by the end of the week - exciting!
And - bonus - the house is now super tidy as I did a mega job before she came!

Saturday 12 January 2013

Continued...

... The guys at Awesome said they have a carpenter, Thomas, who they use to do their cabinet work, so they will put together a quotation for us once they've spoken to him. Let's see if we can afford them! In a way it seems odd not to be shopping around to look for different companies, but on the other hand Jonathan and I both liked the vibe from these guys, and I think personality is going to count for a lot on a project like this.

The return journey was also a little awkward, as the passenger door decided to keep swinging open, so I spent the majority of the drive hanging on the handle to stay in the vehicle!

We've had loads of people looking as we go by, and two sets of people came up to talk to us in the carpark of the service station - I love it!



Bertie on the road

Today was our first long drive in Bertie Blue. We took him down to St Ives to meet Glenn and Greg at Awesome. It has been a bitterly cold day today, and we were SO cold! We left here at half 7, leaving the children with Granny and Grandpa, and I had hoped that the engine would soon warm up the cab - but not a bit! I was very grateful that I had taken a blanket.
We had a few teething troubles with the engine on the way down - in that it kept cutting out whenever the revs were low. It made for an interesting job for Jonathan at each roundabout and junction, but he learned to anticipate it as the journey went on.



We had a really positive meeting with the brothers Glenn and Greg. In fact, we ended up being with them for nearly four hours! They seem very keen to do the project, seem to understand what we are trying to achieve, happy to take our ideas but also to make suggestions too. We talked all about our ideas, the style and feeling of what we are hoping to accomplish, and I think it helped that I took along several photos of the sort of things I like.
We chose the vinyl for the seats and the dashboard, flooring for the back, and agreed a layout.