She's gone!

After a fair bit of confusion and delay I'm pleased to announce that LILA IS ON HER WAY TO CALAIS!! She's been picked up this morning so should be in France some time in the next week or so. I've been promised updates of her journey so I'll post them here as I have them :)

She's in the good hands of Caravans for Calais  who already have about 30 vans on the ground over there. Can't wait to see what she's used for!

Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad

I finished (mostly) the interior of The Drowned Van over the summer - it's dry! It's habitable! It smells okay! I've even been making curtains although they aren't quite finished yet. I thought I'd share some photos here, but I also wanted to talk about what happens next.

You see, I won't be finishing the exterior paint.

I won't be fixing the plumbing or the gas.

I won't ever be going on holiday in 'Lila' after all this work.

She's off to Calais, to provide shelter to a family living in The Jungle through the winter, and hopefully beyond. Like so many people I've been horrified by what refugees are going through in Europe and felt powerless to help...but I did realise that I have something sitting on my driveway which I might sleep in 10 nights a year, but which someone who needs it much more could sleep in every night.

Then I was put in touch with Caravans for Calais and the upshot is that Lila will be leaving me on Saturday, and hopefully will be someone's home shortly after that. I'm going to try to make the journey with her, to take supplies and volunteer for a few days as well as to document the latest part of her adventure, and I'll be updating this blog with more information on that as well as photos of her voyage. I'm sad to see her go, but for  van with such a story it seems appropriate that this twist in the tale should come along!

People are donating caravans and time to get them out there, but money is needed for essential repairs, ferry charges and blankets and waterproofs to go in them. If you would like to help there is a Go Fund Me Page.

I appreciate that there's an argument that people in Calais aren't refugees so much as economic migrants. Trust me, if I could get Lila to Hungary, or Greece, I would - but I can't. At the end of the day the people in Calais are human beings living in terrible conditions so I think it's still worthwhile. I hope if you've been following this insane story, you'll agree.

So for now - here are some photos before she is stripped down again for the voyage. Fans of TDM will hopefully spot some references and souvenirs as well as a guest...

Remember...

I can't believe it's already a year since the gates of Temple Studios closed for the last time. 

The Drowned Van got a little damp over the winter but is still standing. And I have finally started making some progress

The outside has some gloss on it (much more work needed!!)

And the inside has some paint on it too...and some Masonic temple style floor tiles.

The Method Works

Ceiling torn down and new timber put in to replace what had rotted away around the rooflight. 

This is a photo with the rotten wood still in place. You could actually squeeze water out of it!

Had to scrape away all the old sealant with my head poking out through the hole which freaked out the gas man. 

Most of the ceiling has been replaced now too, but no photos until it's finished and filled ;)

The ceiling has been fun, lots of measuring and cutting and power tools.  I may need to get out more!

I've also added one of the two new timber struts to the underside of the chassis to make good where some of it had rotted away. Lots and lots of sealant too to close it up. Not a pretty job but I'm assuming most people won't be looking underneath. 

And finally...more undercoat....only the top and one side of the van are now recognisable as TDM murk colour. Even with grey and white undercoat the whole thing looks much better already. Let's hope the weather holds long enough to get the outside finished so I can spend winter doing interior decorating in the warm. 

You can never go home any more

Look who's coming to live in The Drowned Van (if it's ever finished). This is one of the scarecrows from the Desert at Temple Studios. His name is Miguel, of course.

Encino, we have a problem

Today's plan to finish lining the roof came to a grinding halt as we realised that the roof light still leaks, and that the timbers around it really are rotten. So rotten that the plywood is delaminating. 

So rotten, in fact, that in some parts you can squeeze water out of it. So my one new bit of ceiling has to come back down again, and somehow some new timbers have to go up. 

My father in law seems utterly confident that we can do it and it will be easy. I was glad he was there to stop me going into panic mode. Operation timber is scheduled for Tuesday. 

 

The roof light will be coming out....

Not to be dissuaded I've already cut the new ceiling panels to put up. I also carried on with the sander and sanded all the internal wood ready for painting one day. 

FIL also figured out how to make the double bed work (though I still don't think it will fit 2 people!!) so that's one bit of DIY I don't have to work out how to do. 

With all that dust about I also gave all the surfaces a wipe down so the whole place does look a bit better. Still no idea how to decorate the inside mind. 

Look, the Sandman

Today was a pretty busy one. First I sanded down the whole van....

...and uncovered a little bit of its history...

...then I made my husband sit inside to check for leaks while I jet washed it. Great news- no leaks! Hooray for the creeping crack cure!

Next to put primer on the bare metal I had exposed...

 ...Which hubby thought made it look 'even more like a bum's van' than it had before. 

Finally, undercoat to the bottom half which I hope will dry before the rain sets in. Looking better already and I'm excited about painting the rest!

You can call me 'Dusty'. Though I don't remember the Dust Witch being quite so industrial.