Day 5, Which came first the trailer or the egg?

Friday, the most beloved day of the week and today after work, chores had to take priority over tinkering with the trailer.  Living on 10 acres, with nearly an acre of lawn, requires steady attention to detail, or the weeds and the back log of chores can get out of control.  I have a small orchard with apple and pear trees and I have a rather large garden.  I grow tomatoes, onions, lettuce, beans, corn, pumpkins, zucchini, rhubarb, carrots and a variety of squash (or is that squashes), and I'm not even much of vegetable person. I grow all the usual garden stuff and usually end up giving most of it away. I've been asked, why do I go to all the trouble if I don't eat it?  First, I just grow way too much and secondly it's just what you do when you live on a farm.  Luckily I have a neighbor who does all the farming for me and he grows grass hay and he pastures horses on the back 3 acres.  Despite this, some of my friends seem to think that, since I don't have a barn full of animals I don't qualify to be a farm.  I do have a barn of sorts, well, it's actually more of a shop that looks like a barn and I keep cars and tools in it instead of animals.

The first egg

I believe I told you about my folks laughing at all my strange quirks, well one of my most recent strange moves, besides buying a trailer, happened in May.  My mother grew up on a farm in northern Iowa, so I figure I came by this decision more naturally, after all I'm the son of a farmers daughter. With the help and influence of Amy, I decided that I wanted chickens. Not only would it boost my farm authenticity, eggs are just amazing in their own right.  Besides, shouldn't everyone who lives on farm have chickens?  Well, after months of feeding, watering and cleaning out their coop (i.e. mountains of chicken poop) I got my first egg today!  My enthusiasm for this prize almost outweighed my enthusiasm for the trailer.  Hmm, which does come first the trailer of the egg?  I think I was pretty awe struck by finding an egg, but finding a 1950 Trveleze in Central Oregon was pretty spectacular too.  I think I mentioned that first love was cars, so in keeping with that theme, I keep the chickens, all 11 of them, in what I call the "Coupe Deville" complete with a 76 Cadillac hood ornament above the doorway.  Anyway, these feathered little friends are quite entertaining and today I got one good egg.

Fresh mowed lawn a trailer, life doesn't get any better!

With the lawn mowed and the chickens out roaming the yard, I did find some time to work on the rear window a little bit more.  When they glued the window shut, they had removed a few pieces.  The window is missing the part that hinges it at the top.  The side brackets that allow you to swing it out and latch it open were gone also.  I found the brackets in the drawer under the dinette and I was able to reattach them.  It only required 4 screws and two cotter pins to put them back in place. I figure this should hold the window securely in place until I pull the entire window assembly completely out for repairs and cleaning. This will also give me time to identify what the missing window hinge looks like and to track down a replacement part.

Night Time at the Trailer

With the sunlight fading into the night sky the trailers charm seemed to be magnified 100 times over. I'm not sure if it was because it was Friday, or because after months of waiting, the chickens rewarded me with an egg, but all seemed right with the world.  I started to wonder, "is life just better with a trailer in it?"  The retro shape of this little canned ham reminds me of simpler times, like when my mother would be gathering eggs in Renwick, Iowa.  

There I was, sitting by my trailer, with the glow of novelty trailer lights hanging from the branches of the Honey Locust; the warm summer air passing through the leaves and the sound of Margaret Whiting's, Time After Time drifting through the open windows of the trailer.  This little trailer is making a lasting impression on me and life on a farm is good.