Gosh - wow! Things are coming along on the Defender 130 unique panelvan pop top - the roof's a popped! To be honest, it sounds a lot easier than it was today. I had to hide inside as Jamie was NOT in good mood. The bolts were a pain to get in for a couple of reasons - the holes hadn't been drilled big enough, and the insulation meant it was a tight fit to get a spanner in there. It took him about six hours in the end. He did know it was going to be hard, but not THAT hard. It was one of those moments where husbands and wives should just leave each other to it - I went and sorted out my camera stuff and read book, making him tea and baked beans at the right moments.

Then, at last, we could roll her out of the shed. Jamie wanted to seal around the front so that the rain wouldn't get in, and we wanted to see how it lifted up. But we thought it looked pretty bloody amazing!

When we lifted it up, though, we had a massive problem. I mean, it worked fine to lift up, and the space felt absolutely great. But there was an issue pulling it down.

It's a little hard to explain but the hinge kinda clunked - it meant Jamie had to put a couple of little blocks on the inside to force the hinge into place. Lucky this little tweak worked as to pull the roof off by unbolting it and so on would have been an absolute nightmare.

But geez, just look at her! If you've been following this journey for a while, you'll know what a big deal it is. It's certainly a dream, and though we have a list as long as our arm of things to do before it's completely done, this feels like a huge milestone.

One thing that does worry me a lot is the black roof. There is insulation, but still - it's hot. We're going to have to make sure that we park her in the shade and certainly away from the sun! There will be boards on top that will shade it a little, and maybe a solar panel, so we'll see. We travel a lot in winter so perhaps it will be a good thing anyway.

What do you think?