Day Two of the painting!

25.07.09 - Well no Mat today so just little old me. Here are the results of a 3rd coat on the green and the first coat on the blue. Silly me decided to go for a paint brush instead of a roller today. But i didnt have the intelligence to use the biggest 2inch size paint brush. Oh no there i was with a 1inch paintbrush....... no wonder it took hours!!! Also managed to make a bit of a mess and get myself covered in paint.......

Anyway here's the pics. Enjoy!!

Big Burthas sexy behind





Blue on!!! With the masking tape still on









Little whoopsie!



Masking tape is off!













I havent finished the blue admittedly and there are still more coats of the green needed. Also need to do the wheel trims and of course add the orange flowers along the side. Now sure exactly when that will happen yet!

The facelift begins!

24.07.09 - Mat came down from Nottingham for the day so that we could get and start the paint job on Burtha. We only had a few hours due to the traffic on the way down and me going out early evening!

First things first - the fuel behind team Puppy Power. Bacon butties, jaffa cakes and a good cuppa



How good does that look?! Mmmmmmm



Time for some team bonding between Mat and Quinny.



Quinny showing Mat some love



Dont they make a lovely couple?!



Now getting down to business, Burtha prior to masking



Mats masking efforts



My masking efforts



The green paint!



Mat and me messing about.
Sexy Mat in his overalls. Whoarh!



Wicked!! Aiiiiiii!



Zzzzzzzzzzzz



First coat goes on







A quick tea break and a boogie before the second coat



Second coat goes on (notice the threateningly dark sky!)







Doesnt look so good close up!





Then it rained!!! Nooooooo! Here's the results of the rain. Some very pock marked paint. Dagnammit! But too late to do anything by then cos it had already rained.





Its the end of the long day and bless him, poor Mat is shattered. Here he is passed out on the sofa. No one knows why he is holding himself rofl maybe he was having fun dreams about sexy Burtha?!

GET IN!!!!! Life is good again!

23.07.09 - Oh yes people. Gemma is back in with a little help from myself and Nobhead. Am totally over excited about it all now! Well happy! Over the moon! Super cheerful! Whoop whoop whooooooooooooop!!!!! Probably too excited to sleep now as hopefully dare i say it....... Burtha will be painted tomorrow providing the weather is kind to us (please please please!!!) x

Could this be the end..........?

23.07.09 - We cant find a fourth person who can afford to go (plenty of people saying they would love to do it but they are either all skint or already away elsewhere on the dates). It pretty clear there is a 'Make or Break' decision due very very shortly. Especially as it has already been arranged for Burtha to be painted tomorrow. Will the ill fated team Puppy Power bite the dust once and for all? Only time will tell..............

"I've got some good news and some bad news......."

18.07.09 - The lovely Mat rings me up late on Saturday afternoon and says 'I've got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?'. Give me the bad news first i say, thinking he would then cheers me up with whatever the good news is...... 'Gemma cant afford to do the rally so she's dropped out!!' He says. Not exactly what i was expecting! So we are a team member down yet again!! We start desperately thinking who we know who might like to come and who might be able to afford to do it. Many texts, emails and phone calls later and I cant even remember what the good news was or even if he told me it!

Frazer is in QUARANTINE!!!! (i kid you not)

14.07.09 - I have been informed that Frazer has contracted SWINE FLU and has been quarantined for 2 weeks!! We are hoping to all get together and finally give Burtha her make-over soon so fingers crossed poor Frazer has recovered and is fighting fit again!!
Now come on people, feel sorry for poor Frazer and sponsor us! I know it would make him feel SOOOOO much happier and would cheer him up LOADS while he is stuck inside and poorly.

A comedy of Errors?!

Well today i discovered that our V5 licensening document is incorrect (and therefore any insurance is technically invalid). Well i say today, Mat spotted it when he looked at it the other week but i hadnt really had chance to look into it. Basically the log book says Burtha is a 1995cc engine..... thats fine. Except Toyota only ever made Previas with a 2438cc engine!!! So I phone up DVLA who very helpfully tell me that they dont know what engine sizes Toyota made them in and whatever is on the V5 is right. How helpful! So i call up Toyota and after about 50mins on the phone i eventually get someone who can actually help me! So i am now awaiting a letter (on headed paper as DVLA will accept nothing less!) to tell me what i already know - Burtha is a 2.4L engine as it cannot be anything else. Cant you just see me rolling my eyes?!

I also had a chat with them about our intention to paint her up. I was under the impression that as long as the V5 states the majority colour of the vehicle that is fine. I was thinking that perhaps we could get away with leaving the colour on the V5 as 'blue' seeing as we are only painting half of her green. Well no, DVLA say thats not good enough and they will put up to 3 colours on the V5. So when i get the letter from Toyota and send of the V5 i will also change her colour. Oh i do hate paperwork!!

I also had a little panic that perhaps my passport might have run out!!! But i hunted it out and phew its got until 2012 on it hehe. But my god do i look a plank in the photo

On a brighter note, Mat, Gemma and Fraser had a meeting tonight (not practical for me to drive over 200 miles for a meeting lol so i left it in Mats capable hands) and i am informed that everyone is happy to go ahead. I've emailed Mat my home-made sponsorship forms and various other bits, he has got everyones details to send to me so i can book up the ferry and insurance! Its finally starting to fall into place! Yay! Also we are only £5 off reaching £200 so come on someone donate us a fiver PLEASE!!!

Dream or premonition?

Well last night i had a very odd dream!!! Our very own Burtha starred in it along with a very fit tall, dark and handsome man!!!!! Yum yum!! Although the rest of the team were not in my dream (sorry guys!), Quinny featured slightly. This mystery hunk had huskies i know that much and i know we had a conversation about using the Halti to walk them on. I also remember my nan being in the dream??! Then there was just lots of driving in Burtha with the fittie through all manner of stranger places and loads of flirting!!

So is this strange dream telling me that through Burtha i will meet a very very nice man??! Or am i just more insane than you thought? Who knows!! Watch this space and time will tell.........

Our confirmed route! The MAP!

Well fingers crossed this works ok! Below should be the route we have decided on including all the stops as follows.......

The official rally!
UK - Calais - Rouen - La Rochelle - San Sebastian - Salamanca - Cabo Da Roca & The Finish Line!!!!
Then the unofficial tour home!
Cabo Da Roca - Lisbon - Madrid - Valencia - Barcelona - Lyon - Calais - UK


View Larger Map

Sponsor us via www.justgiving.com/puppypower all donations very much appreciated!

The Team is complete once again!

03.07.09 - Well today i got a call from Nobhead Mat to tell me that Gemma and Fraser have booked their time off work for the run and had it confirmed.

YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE!

Mat has complained that his nickname is a bit disrespectful to the RAF and therefore will now be known henseforth simply as 'Nobhead'. Suits me cos i call him that anyway HAHAHA. Gemma i am informed is known as 'Madam Big Boobs' or something similar but Fraser is sadly lacking in a nickname. Well i am sure we can some up with something suitably amusing soon enough!

Well we should be booking up the ferry and insurance shortly so watch this space!! Now the route has been decided i have emailed all the campsites near the towns we will be staying at to see who accepts dogs and who we need to book with!

Sponsor us via www.justgiving.com/puppypower all donations very much appreciated!