Obviously my internet phobia is alive and well!  Would you really recognize me if I actually had a  regular posting ethic?
Anyway, I wanted to share with you the beautiful cabinets my friend Chris made.  I think I've told you about Chris, his is the owner of the shop I have taken roost in.  I was going to have the Pork Chop ready in for 6 weeks---remember that?  That was last July!

Here are some before and after pictures.  Sorry that they're not in more coherent order--I couldn't figure out how to place the pictures.

over head

overhead

 

sink

sink/stove area

right of sink

right of sink

Original Closet & Fridge

left of sink

desk/eating area

close up of wood grain (bed

Re-design of Closet & Fridge

Living the dream...

Well I'm entering the big time here on Blogspot by attempting my first video post.  "Will this work?"  If I could only express to you how many times I've said that over the last 10 months!  Now, the question not only applies to the work I'm doing on the Pork Chop, the questioning of my life path but now add to that my quest to become a bit more internet and social media savvy.  (The video appears to work but there is some background noise.  I'll have to work on that.)

So I've revealed to you the fact that this six week project is now about 10 months in and still going strong.  That means that you will be seeing a portion of things in retrospect along with some current progress.  Let me tell you about the last couple of weeks...

We started checking the trailer lighting and promptly blew a fuse on Pokie.  (Pokie is my car.)  My "nearly neighbor" Eikem (sp) has more 12volt wiring experience than me (which is none) or John, my camera man/cheerleader/?, and he suggested we pick up some spare fuses.  "You'll probably go through a few."  I laughed.  I could have just bought a decent trailer or stayed in hotels the entire journey but noooooo, I had to buy a "fixer".  Do you think it's a metaphor for my life choices?  Always needing to "fix" something...Don't people go to therapy for this?

We also worked on the cabinets.  The we is Chris and I.  He is a cabinet maker and my Pork Chop is propped up in his shop.  "For just six weeks."  Anyway,  with any luck the cabinets will be in and sealed, and the counter tops installed by the end of the week.  This is incredibly exciting because then I can begin to put on the exterior aluminum skin.  If I get a stiff tailwind like the tornado force winds that blew through Nashville last Friday, I could make a test run before the end of the month.  Secretly I was planning a trip to Florida...but I guess it's not so secret now that I've posted it on my blog.  Hmm.  But my friend Bob said, "You ought to make a trip to the Bowling Green KY Hardee's for a burger.  That way if the trailer blows apart on the road you're close enough for someone to come help you."  A hundred mile burger trip...better be a damn good, organic, grass-fed beef burger.

My big house

 I've been cleaning the house in order to take some pictures so I can continue the process of closing up shop here in Nashville.  I'm excited about the changes coming up but it doesn't make letting go any easier.  I love my house.  I designed it for lovers, lovers of the arts, gardening, pets and each other---Like I said, I hate to let go but I look forward to meeting the young lovers who will enjoy this home.

the middle of the beginning of the end

 The "Pork Chop" is only the vehicle.  The real adventure is getting rid of my stuff.  Today I am making a flyer in order to sell my beautiful piano---this sucks!  I mean really?  Couldn't I just get a real job, pay the mortgage and go on with business as usual?  But Nooooo.  Rent my house?  Store my stuff?  Be measured and logical?  Only if I had a lobotomy last night.

So here I am trading this...

For this...                                           this...                                                    ...and this.

Introducing the Pork Chop

"I'm selling my home, selling my stuff and taking to the road in a 12 foot trailer I call 'the Pork Chop'...or at least that's the plan."

Hello and welcome.  This blog is a written and pictured account of a resurrection, actually of two resurrections, that of a vintage trailer and of yours truly.  At the half century marks we both find ourselves in need of some repairs.  I had a plan.  I liked having a plan.  I felt secure having a plan.  But I suppose you can imagine what happened to my plan.  Now here's the choice, try to rebuild what had been and cling to a lifestyle that was or let it all go.
 

So let me tell you a little bit about the "Pork Chop."  She is a 1954 Shasta trailer.  I'm guessing a little at her exact year but it's pretty close according to what I could find out online.  These Shasta trailers have affectionately been called "canned hams" because they look like...a canned ham.  Hence the nick name "Pork Chop".  I found her in a town outside of Nashville in need of a little lovin',  actually in need of quite a bit of lovin' and heaven knows how I like a project!  Even if she didn't need all that much to make her road worthy I would have found any number of reasons to fix her up, it's just my nature, the way I process changes in my life.


Anyway, my idea was to clean her up and have her ready to hit the road in 6 weeks.  Yep.  That was 6 months ago.  She needed way more more work than I had realized.  But my thoughts went along these lines, "I remodeled a house in 9 months so how long could 70 square feet take?"  Yep, that was 6 months ago.  Did I mention that?  My friends certainly do admire my optimism or delusions.  Take your pick.  In any case here are a couple of pictures of the exterior of the trailer the day I picked her up.

Next post I think I'll show you some pictures of the original interior or perhaps some video.  My plan, ooh there I go again with the planning thing.  Anyway, how about going with the idea that the universe may inspire me to put up another post next Sunday but then again, the "Pork Chop" was only going to take 6 weeks.