Day 22 A new week has begun

It's a new week and with the workweek not looking to hectic, I scheduled Thursday and Friday off. This will be much needed time away from the office and a great opportunity for me to work on the trailer.

Frost on the roof, August 23, 2010

On the chicken front, I was able to come home for lunch and check on the girls. There was nothing in the nest, but figured I would get something by the time I got home from work and the gym. The day turned out to be beautiful, after a very cool start to the day.  I actually had frost on my roof this morning, but it was now 78.

When I got home from work, around 5:30pm, I checked on the chickens and there were two eggs, one pink and one white. I was a little disappointed not to have three, but I guess even the girls need some time to build up a steady production line. I was now home for the rest of the day, so I opened pen and let them run wild through the yard.

Polished up window frame.

The focus of the trailer for tonight was the waistline trim on the left side. It was fairly clean, but had clear silicone between it and the trailers side and it did not want to come off. Whatever this silicone product was, it was one tough product to get off. I tried paint stripper, Goof Off, the putty knife, steel wool and nothing would loosen its grip from the side of the trailer. Finally I broke out a fine copper wire brush and with Goof Off, it took most of it off. I then had to scrub fast and furious with an SOS pad to get it to come clean. Once that task was complete, I moved to the rear window and started scrubbing with my wire brush and SOS. I opened the window and scrubbed all around the inside of the frame as well. It came clean quick and easily with just my soap pad and wow, for the shine. This is another part of the trailer that it is fun to clean up because the transformation is so quick. Again, this was just a quick scrub.  When it comes times to polishing with Truck Box Polish the window frames should become “mirror like” with little effort.

Hooks need to go!

I spent a little time inside trailer as well, and removed a set of hooks that were mounted just inside the door on a board. They had been bolted on with very large bolts that were randomly drilled into the side of the cabinet behind it. It was nice to get it off the wall and out of the trailer.  You can see on the ceiling above where the hooks were a square patch.  This is directly below a capped off vent in the roof.  I assume, as some point or another, there was a tall gas heater that was vented through the roof at this location.  Today I received a book in the mail called, Silver Palaces and it shows a 1954 Traveleze.  The 54 looks very close to what I have and it shows the tall heater standing just inside the door where I believe mine once had one.  This might be something I have to add to my "quest to find list" and track one down some day.

Hooks gone, patch in ceiling, gas heater vent at one point?

One of the neat discoveries made last week when the guy with the trailer restoration shop was here, was that an old porcelain gas heater was located under the kitchen counter.  I had looked at it earlier, but figured it was bolted in there and I wasn't sure what it was. Last week we pulled it out to see exactly what it was.  It’s a free standing small heater unit that gets plugged into a gas propane line and radiates heat. It’s in phenomenal shape for its age, which has to be from the 50’s or 60’s. It would be fun to see if it can still be used and if it could adequately heat the trailer (there is currently no source of heat for the trailer). If nothing else it is definitely a great conversation piece.

Old porcelain propane gas heater.

The sun sets earlier everyday and the sun had just gone down beyond the mountains when I realized that the chickens had all left the yard and went back to the pen and were already in the coop for the night. I thought I should put out some feed for in the morning and close the door to the pen for the night. I had to take one more look and make sure they were all in the coop. I opened the door there was an egg and all the chickens where on the top bunk. Sometime between 5:30pm and 8:15pm one of them laid an egg. I think 3 eggs a day is the new norm.  I brought the egg back to the house and placed it in the carton with the other eggs.  I almost have a dozen again after eating the 6 on Sunday with Doug and Amy.  At some point I hope I can give a dozen eggs every other day away to friends and family.  Amy says I should sell them and regain some of the expense that I have put out, but it's more fun to give them away.  I do have to chuckle with this recent egg scare going on, having your own chickens and knowing where your eggs are coming from doesn't seem like such a bad idea any more.

The Humphrey Radiant Fire No 14, propane trailer heater.

My arm is healing nicely by the way and still no pain, so as far as wounds go, this was a good one. Paint stripper is bad stuff and as my trainer said today, perhaps I should have worn a long sleeved shirt. Now that would have been a smart idea.

I was all done for the night and it was 8:45pm.