Day 21 Week three comes to a close

The morning started off very brisk and it was as if the seasons were getting ready to make a change. This was a sign that the extreme heat of summer was ending and that fall was just around the corner.

Doug and Amy were coming over around 10:00am for fresh eggs and ham, I had the eggs and they had the ham.  After breakfast we were all going to go to church. When they arrived, we all went out to check the coop and see the chickens. There was a lot of stirring going on, but no eggs. Amy noticed that the Brown Rose Comb, or Eldorado as we call her, was acting very strange and kept heading in to the coop. We figured she was going to lay an egg at any minute and this could mean that I was going to have my first three egg day. We decided we should leave the hens to their egg laying and went about making our breakfast. When we finished breakfast, Amy went out to the coop and came back with one white egg. It was the first white egg and it was from Eldorado, very cool! We put the new egg in the refrigerator with the rest, then piled into my truck and headed off to church.

The Church service was really good.  The choir seemed exceptionally in tune and the songs were particularly appealing. The sermon was delivered by a visiting pastor and before I knew it, the hour was over. We drove back to my home and we all went to check on the chickens and this time there was one LARGE pink egg. I’m not sure which one laid it, but it fits into the "Jumbo" category by supermarket standards. We were excited about the large egg and the white egg from the morning, but it was time to get to work. Doug and Amy drove off and I went to change into my trailer clothes.

As I walk around the house I passed the Box Wood hedge and I realized I had wanted to trim them and the Potentilla hedge around front too. I decided I better do some yard work first, because I didn’t want to have that neglected yard look or any guilt going on from spending too much time with the trailer. It only took me about 30 minutes to trim them up and I was now free to work on the trailer guilt free.

The roof of the trailer all clean.

With the ladder in place I went up to finish the last quarter of the roof. It was cool and pretty windy and the tree branches kept knocking me in the head. I had to tie one branch up and out of the way, so I could continue working without getting clobbered. Within a couple hours I had finished the roof. I continued to work with the paint stripper on the trim and with a brush and putty knife I was pretty successful.  

I spent most of the afternoon on the trailer removing the last bits of silicone and paint.  At one point I stopped to look at a small hole on the roof just above the rear window.  It looked like a nail was coming up through the roof from the inside.  I decided to take a look and see if I could tell what was happening.  On the inside of the trailer there were two screws holding up the ceiling paneling and I was pretty sure the one was in the right spot.  I backed the screw out with a screwdriver and then went up to look.  Sure enough the screw that I had backed away  was no longer visible, just the hole was left.  I could see where the second screw was also pushing up on the outer skin from the inside, but had not yet worked all the way threw.  With one more trip back inside the trailer, I backed the second screw out to prevent it from making a hole too.  At some point in the restoration process I will need to address this issue.

The first three eggs in a day, and one is huge.

I was down to my last SOS soap pads, and I wanted to stop off at the store to get a few more boxes of them and a gallon of milk.  I have two birthday cakes in the kitchens and cake without milk would just be wrong.  I ran my errands and when I got home the chickens were still running about the yard, the two cats were sitting on the porch and the sun would still be up for another hour.  I needed to do a little work on the chicken pen while they were out in the yard and I could check the coop one last time.  I opened the door and there was another egg. It was official,  I now have three hens laying eggs.

As the sun was going down, I decided to play a little bit with the buffer and the Truck Box Polish.  The polish worked great and showed where I still needed to scrub.  I  have not even started scrubbing on the front and rear of the trailer, or the right side.  I also have to hand polish all the windows and around the door.  I have a ton of work to get done before I can really get to use the Truck Box Polish, but it was fun just to see how it might shine up..  

With the sun setting, I cleaned up the mess and went in side.  I took a shower and scrubbed off all the dirt and grime and I noticed a dark mark on my arm.  I took my brush to scrub it off, thinking it was SOS soap scum, but it was actually a blister.  I must have gotten paint stripper on my arm and it burned the skin right off.  My dark forearm has a one inch section of raw white flesh.  I don't know how I didn't feel it, but it didn't hurt, and I hope it stays that way.

It was nice to end the week on a high note.  I had finished cleaning the roof of the trailer and the chickens had laid three eggs in one day. The blister on my arm was just a reminder of no pain no gain.