Like a walk through the country side living on a small farm is full of daily surprises, sometimes wonderful and amazing, and other times puzzling and sad. I hope you will walk with me as I live out my dream of living on this tiny farm. You will come to know the dogs, cats, Shetland sheep and chickens that make up this farm and what goes into keeping them happy and healthy. Come and join the journey with me.
Showing posts with label Trailer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trailer. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Trailer-- Before and After Project

Do you all remember back almost a couple years ago, when I purchased a small ratty travel trailer, that was going to be the kittens winter home (before they went outside the next spring which never happened and we all know how that ended up which pretty much means I somehow became the crazy cat lady overnight with way too many cats in the house not the travel trailer...cough)?

Well, plan B was that it would be a wool room after the kittens got done with it. Since the kittens never used it, it became not really a wool room per se, but a giant junk drawer with a small area to store the fresh sheared wool when Spring rolled around.

Are you still with me? Okay, so now almost two years later, Plan B is actually taking shape. Only sorta different. Now it's Plan C and the travel trailer is going to be my wool room/arts/crafts/storage of materials area. At least that is the plan.

There is one sorta hitch to it though--it leaks--really bad. So, that has to be taken care of before I get too carried away with things. In the meantime I have plastic drop clothes to cover stuff when rainy days come along.

So, I don't know about you, but I always enjoy a set of before/after pictures when someone takes on a real messy project. It sometimes inspires me to tackle ugly projects. With that said, I hope you 'enjoy' my befores and afters of the little trailer.

Before we get going though, there are some things to know. I got the trailer cheap. It was full of nasty junk, and even nastier rodent droppings and debris. Lots and lots of it. I wore a mask while cleaning. It stunk to high heaven of mouse. Before it was purchased (and not used or cleaned) by the people I got it from, a gentleman was living in it full time. I don't think he was an excessive pig, but well, he was a man, and he lived in this tiny area. That being said, the kitchen area was covered--and I mean covered---with built up grease. There are still some areas that are sticky, and I had to completely remove the overhead cabinets because of the grease buildup. Don't forget those rodents either---leaving their droppings in the sticky goo. Enough said?? Not quite--there was also a small fire at one point that scorched the kitchen area. Anyway, I think you get the picture--it was a stinky awful mess.

At this point I still don't want to put much money into it, until I'm sure the leaks can be fixed. So mostly all that I have done is lots and lots of elbow grease cleaning and scrubbing, dismantling and removing non-essential things and so on. My Dad removed the stove for me (which was an awful greasy stinky mess--do I sound like a broken record yet??)

The initial cleaning all took place within a few weeks of getting the trailer. So it's been mice and droppings free for almost a year and a half and smells pretty darn good for an old travel trailer. Unfortunately it had become a catch all for everything that needing 'temporary' storage. Last weekend I spent an entire day taking everything out, scrubbing it down again, working on removing the glue from the flooring (still have a few spots to scrape up) and then organizing and putting back those things that belonged in there. I love it now. It needs paint and paneling and some repairs, but who cares!

Okay, with all that being said, are you ready for a before and after tour?

Come on in...if you dare...

This is right after I got the trailer....

And here is Cat (Ballou)--she'll be your tour guide. She's the newest member of the staff and will be primarily modeling scarves and other wool products in the future. For the most part she is pretty quiet, a bit mysterious, and sometimes just plain creepy when I forget she is there.....

Here we are at the door looking in....can you say...icky?

Still at the door glancing to the right...


And now an after shot, also taken from the door. Check out that cool retro 70s floor covering that was revealed after I tore up that nasty (shudder) carpeting! The cabinet now holds small storage bins for my wool crafts.



Before picture of the very nasty table, but it was solidly attached and cleaned up well. The curtains came down the first day (and
they didn't survive washing...)

Here we have what was the 'bedroom'--which was basically a pile of boards and paneling. I think they had tried to make the bed bigger. Once I carried all this stuff out there was a small bench area, which at one time had a fold out bed.



In this shot, Cat points out the 'new' bench, wool storage to the left, and the cleaned up table. She also wants you to note all the lovely west light that comes in, so that this area doubles as a 'greenhouse' in the Spring. (and in case you are wondering Cat is fingerless..but we don't like to talk about it).


Next is the totally gross out before picture of the 'kitchen'. It was bad, real bad, and I'll not tell you all the gory details. This is also where the fire was, up the back wall.

And here you have an after shot--stove removed (thanks Dad), a few pretties on the wall to cover some of the mess, wool storage where the 'frig was, and wool craft supplies on the counter.

Alright...we are almost done, I promise. Here we are standing by the table looking back towards the door (door is to the left) we came in.... The chemical toilet (surprisingly clean when I got it) is to the right, and a small wash area straight ahead. There is the cutest tiniest little sink in this nook.

And..an after of basically the same area, slightly different angle--you can see the door in this one. That is a tiny closet there next to the door.

And that is the tour. It is a quiet, rather peaceful area now. I'm looking forward to using it to draw and craft in. If the leaks can be fixed, I can leave projects out, instead of having to bundle everything away (remember the whole reason for the trailer, again? Cats--cats that are in the house instead of the trailer...)

Oh...and here is the mess that waits for me when I step out of the trailer.

Can we come in too, please??
(sorry girls, this is a no fur zone...)

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Making Progress..


Phew..I'm not sure who is gonna win this battle, me or the trailer! I am making progress though, and it's smelling lots better after today.

Last weekend, I worked on carrying out all the debris, pulling the carpet and pulling out some of the old wood from the 'bed'. I also removed about a ton of foam cushion that someone had used for insulation around the pipes and wheel wells. You can imagine how that smelled after the mice infestation. Tuesday I took a vacation day to go and do some Christmas shopping (something I do every year on the first Tuesday of December..) and I bought a shop vac. I could not think how in the world I was going to get all the bits and pieces of mice nests and poop out of the cracks and crevices of the trailer, without something like the shop vac. I'm so glad I did. Sometimes I just don't take the 'easy' route for various reasons, and regret it later. This time I did and I'm so thankful for that miraculous machine.

Yesterday I vacuumed for a couple of hours. Every inch of the trailer that I could reach got vacuumed. In case you missed it the trailer was infested with mice at some point, so that is what all the fuss is about. The smell was pretty rank, but it's getting much much better. Today, I worked on starting to do the 'real cleaning'. Lots of scrubbing and disinfecting. I got sidetracked a little when I discovered I could take out another part of a cabinet and get behind it. I'm sure glad I did, as it was probably the worst spot I've found for mouse debris. Now, I'm pretty sure there aren't any more places that I haven't exposed for vacuuming and cleaning.

I got several really bad spots that are hard to reach done today, and hope to spend a little more time on it tomorrow afternoon. Once I get the heavy duty scrubbing done, then it'll get easier with just washing down the walls and floor. I was hoping to make more progress today, but it just takes awhile when so much grime is built up. The kitchen area was a real mess. I'm listening to Steven Havill's Posadas County Mysteries books on tape while I work, which helps it not be such a drudge.

After it's cleaned, then I'm going to get some plywood to box up some areas I don't want the kitties to go into, and then it'll be ready to move them in. I'm hoping maybe next weekend. Right now it doesn't have to be pretty, just clean, safe and functional.

The weather has been bitter cold here, quite a shock after a mild start to winter. The highs have been 40s with low 20s at night. In between working on the trailer there are other chores that have to be done, like carrying in wood for the hungry stove and water to the thirsty sheep. It's just been a shock that winter arrived so cold and harsh!

I managed to get Jeff to let me get his shield off so I'm glad that is done. Now if he will just behave...we shall see. I had to put tarps along one section of the ewe's fence, as he had a direct line of sight to them and it seemed like a good idea to nip that in the bud.

I had quite a shock coming home from work yesterday. I usually come home the back roads on Friday since I get off at noon. As I came down off the ridge and around the corner to where the river is, I saw a truck parked on the bridge. Then I saw a man walking along the gravel bar next to the bridge...then I saw.. Boone.. walking with him.

I totally freaked and came to an almost complete stop as I looked at this dog, thinking someone had stolen Boone, while at the same time telling myself it couldn't be Boone. Honestly the more I looked the less sure I became it wasn't Boone--it even limped on the same foot Boone does when he gets stove up. The dog was wearing a choke chain and seemed pretty unsure about running around on a gravel bar. Then it came trotting back and went right in front of my truck and at that point I realized it wasn't Boone, because it had all it's boy parts still intact. I'm sure the two guys with the dog thought I'd probably never seen a dog like that, due to my gawking face. What they didn't know was I see that dog every day!

And while I knew it wasn't Boone, it was still with great relief that I saw him and Ashley at the yard fence as I pulled in the driveway.

Hope you have a great weekend!