Wednesday, Jesse levelled and anchored the forms. The pad was so soft that the braces didn’t want to stay put, and extras had to be braced in from several feet away. Thursday, the gravel came, and then the layer-cake that is a frost-protected slab took shape. Gravel, vapor barrier, rebar, solid foam, remesh. It came together a bit at a time

The concrete wouldn’t be avilable until Monday, so we had a few days to wait. We weren’t bored though. I mentioned in my last post that something rather immense had happened while I was at mom’s earlier in the week. God chose to meet our needs in a showy and strange sort of way. It was like this…..

Around 6 in the evening, my phone rang. It was one of my closest friends calling. Now, while we talk pretty much every day, it is usually text, not phone. We both have noisy lives and phonecalls are only a thing in a crisis. So, I switched to ‘handle the crisis’ mode, left the room and took the call.

“I have a strange question for you. How would you like to own a converted bus?”

It seems a friend of hers, whom I had met one time, had a schoolbus-turned-tiny-home that was no longer roadworthy or able to pass inspection without thousands of dollars of work. The insurance company had given them a temmporary permit — good for only three days — to find a permanent parking space for the bus, or else it had to be junked.

They needed a place to abandon the bus. I happen to have many many acres on which to do so and the need for a warmer, more solid place to shelter my family in the colder weather. They were offering to sell it (because GIVING a vehicle isnt legal here). For $1.

What is particularly funny is, I had been driving past that bus for months. And it always caught my eye and made me wonder what it looked like inside. Looks like I was going to find out.

The same day the gravel was poured, the bus came. The owners stayed a few hours to remove everything inside that they needed, and then they thnked us for taking the bus. THEY thanked US. They had just GIVEN us a place to live and they thanked US. May God bless them richly for their kindness and generosity.

It is a very tight space for five people, but it is warm and dry and has a kitchen. I can cook inside. What luxury!