As for the comments on our story. I don’t like focus on the negativity of others, especially  if they know nothing about me or my story. It is counter-productive and there is enough negativity and hatred in the world without having to submerge myself into it, so apologies if our story offended you in some way? It was never meant to offend, only to inspire others to use up unwanted junk for good, to clear up our scrapyard of a farm a bit and to give ourselves a bit of extra living space. Somewhere along the line this was lost?
However, for those who had encouraging words to say and cared to share their stories with us, thank you profusely  for your kind words and encouragement.

Below are some quotes that help me to stay straight on the road of good mental health and to maintain the kindness I have always had asserted in my by my family and upbringing. Treat others how you would wish to be treated.

BONKERS

I have mixed emotions for today, almost like Christmas. You’ve waited so long for this one day to come for the approx 15mins worth of surprise then its all over. Part of me wants to sit in a room alone and watch/cringe at the editing of the show, see how they have portrayed us, and the other half thinks, you know what?! It’s not everyday you get to be part of something big! Something that only a few get to do. And God damn it I am proud of what we achieved. It wasn’t bloody easy, in fact I hated a large percentage of the process. But much like I would imagine childbirth, you go through so much pain and tears and anger for the magical end result. A sketchy drawing on a scrapy piece of paper to it being there. In front of us. There. Our own cabin. We built it. We spent every last penny on it. Our own money. No scrimping off family. So yes, I am nervous of how it is going to be portrayed but fuck! I am proud of what me and my man Montez achieved, with a little help from our friends

P.S. I have absolutely no doubt that child birth is ten times harder btw, (for want of a better comparison)

Our story came out in the Hereford times today! A week earlier than we anticipated but hey! Our first (and hopefully only time) of reaching page 3 in a newspaper! It gives a rough outline of what we’re trying to achieve.
Although I must correct one thing, we have not stolen all of the doors and windows from Christian’s Nana’s house. Just a set of glass sliding doors, of which the whole cabin was designed around.

Due to the relaxation of planning laws, anyone with a garden can build within permitted development rights. Our cabin resides within the garden, taking advantage of this law, we are lucky however in that we can can take our cabin out into the fields for 28 days consecutively without planning permission.

By using the amenities of the house for cooking and bathing it is classed as an ancillary dwelling. The cabin doesn’t have a kitchen yet, but we do hope to do some home improvements over time, including  a composting toilet. We do have a log burner, we just need to install it fully and get it HETAS Safety checked by a professional.

The plan is to build more cabins and provide the facilities for people to experience the tiny house phenomenon and even create a ‘build your own tiny home’ workshop.

As for us living in this space, all of our family and friends think we are nuts to attempt it. We are currently in the process of minimalising our possessions into what we actually need, not what we think we need. This is an on going process….a very looong, hard process, but it is a very fulfilling feeling, almost like an ex-foliation of your life, getting rid of dead skin (not literally, we don’t have a tin of dead skin Austin Powers’ Goldmember styley). All of this, so that we can afford our own ‘home’.

Before & After:

This weekend we had Christian’s uni mate curly and his lady Kirsty come to visit and lend a hand. We’ve almost finished cladding the longest sides now. Loving the patchwork appeal about it now. These sheets were bought about 20 years ago by my father, in his wisdom to separate each sheet he put a feed bag between them. The rusty brown patches is all that is left of said feed bags.

We managed to get the tin on the roof with some help from family, but unfortunately we were three sheets short so a visit to Thomas panels and profiles at Leominster was needed. Very helpful people there to give us advice on how to fit the windows and the flashings around the joining sheets. Luckily we had some old land rover blue paint, although a shade to light compared to the existing panels, it’s probably my favourite colour. Also Christian surprised me with this beauty in the same paint.

Storage seating to be continued..

I came back from Dursley to find Christian had been a busy boy and not only fitted the oak floor (quite literally pinched from under his parents feet), he had also managed to clad the porch and lay the decking! I should stay away more often I think!

We took advantage of Christian’s parents coming to check out our progress, by roping them in to manoeuvre the sliding doors in place. Very precariously standing on open joists whilst lifting them in place at silly angles. It is amazing the difference it has made to the space. The doors were rescued from Christian’s Nan, and everything was designed around those dimensions, so it was a real relief to see them slot in place so well. *happy sigh*

Miss Mogwai Montez the building inspector 

Mogwai inspecting our handy work