Getting some new junk for my trunk!

Hello again everybody! It's me, Mercy! A lot has happened since my last post but tonight I think I will concentrate on telling you about my tush! 99 has been waiting for some decent weather in order to repair me. To do this she had to remove my rear window, take off the back skin, take apart the framing and rip out my old wall.  Well, she did it! There were so many stripped screws and to top that off the sides of the rear skin folded over the the back edge. These fold over parts were full of little tiny nails that all had to be removed before that skin could come off. Here is a photo of me exposing myself....

The curbside was not at all bad. In fact neither was the framing which surprised 99. She swears I must have been stored underneath a roof. The damage to the inside birch was mostly just surface moisture under the window. However, the left side was not quite as pretty. The furring strips needed to be replaced. First, 99 cut a piece of birch to fit across the open area. Once that was in she cut out the window, made sure the window fit, replaced the framing, and replaced the furring strips on that left side. The lower portion still needs to be attached at the bottom but 99 ran out of light and she will do that bright and early tomorrow morning. The new wall is attached firmly in place though and it's not going anywhere until then! I wasn't quite done in the next photo but you get the picture. 99 gets so busy she sometimes forgets to take them so she snapped one at this point before she got back to work.

Like I said, darkness fell. So, in order to keep up with progress 99 continued to work on my rear end from the inside. First, she decided to start shellacking. She had also rebuilt my back shelving unit. She had ripped it out, sanded it, replaced the face on the left side and put in new shelves. It was all sanded and shellacked. That old formica was replaced that was on the top and in it's place will go either a piece of tile that will match the floor there or a piece of birch to fit. She made some new trim for the edges and put in place my original aluminum trim. It's not  attached yet, but it will be tomorrow. Here are a few before and after photos...

 This is the shelving unit on the day I arrived. If you look closely you can also see the moisture damage around the window area.

 Here is a photo of my shelves ripped out with a little bit of sanding done to it...

You can also see that 99 started to remove some of that back wall before she took the skin off. With this NY weather you have to do whatever you can while you wait for a good day.

 My shelves were in pretty bad shape. Sanding was not going to help them, so 99 replaced them with new birch. 

This is what I look like as it stands. It is not attached yet but it gives you an idea of what's to come!

This is a before picture of my back wall area. It's pretty dull and you can also see the water damage under the window and why that sheet needed to be replaced...

This is what it looks like today. 99 says one more coat of shellac and the top and bottom should match nicely. She also tapped out the dings and dents on my window trim and polished it up. This silly camera she is using doesn't do it justice either, but her good camera isn't working right now so thanks for bearing with us. We hope to get up some better photos in one of my final blogs that is more true in the color and detail departments. 

Here is a before and after...

99 also laid out some tile so she could get an idea of how my floor might look eventually. I can't wait for that!!

 And just a few more shots...

It's been a long day! Tomorrow might be even longer. I am going to get my framing tightened up, have everything properly attached and then have my skin and the window put back on! 99 is doing everything she can to get me ready for a new family. She says they will want to add their own special touches to me, but that I am going to be downright solid and ready for them to have at it! I can't wait to meet those new people, whoever they might be. They are going to take me camping. 99 promised me that. That's what I was born to do and it's been so long! I'm starting to believe it is really going to happen and the sooner the better! I think I might make someone real happy someday soon and I just know they will do the same for me. 

I think I will sign off now. I got my rear end kicked today and that's a lot for a New Yorker! Especially an upstater! Before I go I will leave you with this...

Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.

Wilma Rudolph

Keep your dreams alive everyone. I am, and I just know someone out there is going think I am absolutely, totally and unquestionably GREAT!!

See you next time! Merci beaucoup to all of you for stopping in.

Inside on the Curbside

My curbside is coming along and I would like to say it has gone nice and smooth without a single hitch, but that wouldn't be true! There is always going to be some kind of hitch in everything you do. For example, the other day 99 was wandering around outside and she just so happened to walk underneath a ladder. Well, let me tell you there were some Lord Have Mercy's flying through the air. She got all kinds of nervous. That isn't even the half of it. Keep reading...you will see. Like I said before...women, and all humans for that matter, are strange creatures. 

Anyway, back to the business at hand. Let me take you back to what I looked like when 99 first laid eyes on me...

Condition wise my curbside area is not too bad. The cushions will have to be replaced, but the original light is still intact. The closet still has the ironing board too. It's the back wall that 99 is having nightmares about. She told me so. Apparently she is not too fond of the condition of my inner tush and thinks it will have to be lifted. Hey, I am jiggy with that! 

Ah, again I digress...back to the curbside area. The couch/gaucho slides out for a double bed. One of the legs is not attached to the slider part so that will have to be fixed. Then there is the normal, dry, dull, dirty, scratched up wood that needs tending too. Under the bed is a storage space and it was loaded with lots of crapola from days gone by. 99 emptied it out in a flash. It brought back so many memories seeing some of that stuff. It's all junk now, but I have high hopes someone out there is going to store some pretty neat stuff under there again. When 99 was done I felt so much lighter! Kind of like I went on a trailer diet!

In the next few photos you can really see how dirty and worn down looking my lower bed frame was. Hey, I have been sitting around a campground for years doing nothing but collecting dirt and dust...what do you expect?!

You can also see that some of my rear wall has been ripped out! 

This is a blurry picture, but it gives you an idea of how nice and fresh the wood is starting to look after sanding.

My legs for the slide out bed need to be doctored up but I know when 99 is through with them they are going to be nothing short of sexy!

 To the left of the under bed storage area is my wheel well. 99 cleaned this, sanded away the rust, and then pounded out the dents with her trusty aluminum hammer and tools.

Then she cleaned me again and painted me with Rustoleum black paint, put some shellac on the wood trim around me after sanding it, scrubbed and washed the floor which was filthy I might add, touched up some other areas and wha la....I think it looks awesome. 

 99 says I must have had lots of boys inside of me at one time because I am so dirty. She says, "you know how boys are!". Well, I bit my tongue, but I wanted to tell her to go take a look in the mirror at that moment in time. She was covered in all of my dust and dirt and grime! Oh...speaking of mirrors....

The mirror on my closet door was removed in order to sand and shellac the door. Now I know it is hard for some people to believe this, but we vintage travel trailers sometimes send messages to our people. That's what I did! Behind that mirror was a message from me to 99! She smiled when she saw it! Real cute like and everything. Made my heart flutter!

Now I told you about 99 walking under the ladder. Well, it wasn't half an hour from the time she took off the mirror until the time she broke it! Oh she was just beside herself. I wasn't too worried. This is going to be my time to shine regardless of any obstacles. Nothing is going to keep me from coming back.  I'm gonna do it! Real soon. I'm a New Yorker. I've got umpf. And the best part is when this is all over....someone is going to take me camping this spring. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps the size of Texas....wherever that is! 

Here is my upper cabinet starting look like it did back in 1961!

My window has been given an initial polishing as well!

The side wall of the closet is driving 99 bananas. My wood is so dry and rough here that she has had to sand and shellac it so many times. She is still not done, but it is starting to look much better.

Here is the "mirrorless door"....tee hee! That's okay, either 99 will replace it or she will leave it up to whoever decides to take me on as their pride and joy. Come on camping season, hurry up and get here! Oh, wait, I'm not ready yet! Hurry up 99!

Starting to feel a little cozier inside of me already!

We are getting there!

There are still lots of touch ups to be done to these areas when I get closer to being ready to fly the coop. Cleaning and more polishing and probably more shellac to be spread too, Not to mention all the other stuff that still has not even been started yet. For now, I am feeling dang good about myself.  As a matter of fact, I am starting to sort of feel like my old self again and that's pretty cool.

This is Mercy signing off and wishing you all a merci beaucoup for joining me on this blog. I have lots more to show you! I am so excited too. Every day brings me one step closer to living the dream! Until next time, I leave you with this....

We all have dreams. Sometimes we hold on to them and sometimes we question whether or not to let them go as they might just be fantasies that will never come true. Pay attention to how you really feel about that dream. If you feel it deep down inside of you, and it makes you smile just thinking about it, if your endorphins are released because of it and if you want it so bad you are willing to work for it no matter how hard or how long it takes...then it's a dream worth holding on to. One you should never give up. Fight for it with all you've got and one day something wonderful will happen. It's true. It's happening to me!

Hey good lookin'...check out what's cooking!

Mercy here, back to fill you  in on some things that have been done in my honor. Lets start with the kitchen, shall we? This is what I looked like when I arrived  here...

The cabinets are pretty beat up and the wood has lost it's luster. Some parts were worse than others, especially the lower section. 99 wasn't sure if she could save the drawer in the photo below and thought she might have to rebuild it.

 Drawers and doors were all removed, hardware taken off and sanded over and over!

After what seemed like eons of sanding starting with coarse paper and slowly graduating to fine I started to get my shine back. Amber shellac was applied in several coats with some sanding in between.Seems the camera lens got dusty but minus those orbs floating around this is what I look like now.

 The section below took lots of elbow grease!

It turned out way better than expected though!

The side panel below was too far gone so it was replaces with nice new birch. It has since been sanded and shellacked.

My upper cabinets needed some tlc as well.

Once again, door and hardware removed followed by lots of sanding!

 The aluminum trim was all brought to a beautiful shine. 

The window has since been polished and it shines too!

In the photo below you can see part of the ceiling has been ripped out. More on that later...

My stove was cleaned also.

The counter and backsplash were given a good scrubbing!

The faucet and aluminum trim were brought to a nice shine also.

As you might have noticed I have lots of counter space which is rare and a big plus in an old travel trailer. Maybe whoever adopts me when I am all done will love to cook and take advantage of all that space. I can't wait for that moment! Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmm...I can already smell the bacon! No, wait, sausage gravy and bisquits....no bacon, no....oh, I can't decide! I will just be happy to have someone enjoy me again. It's been so long and I have been so lonely. I need a cook in my kitchen!

I hope that you enjoyed checking out my kitchen area. As always there are lots of touch ups and odds and ends still to be done, but I feel like a million bucks right now! 99 and I worked real hard on this and lucky for me it wasn't too terribly painful. I am tough so I think I can handle whatever 99 decides to throw at me. Did I mention I am a New Yorker and we are survivors? I did? Oh, well, a little reminder now and then never hurts.

In my next blog I will show you some more work that has been done. For now, this is Mercy signing off with a big merci beaucoup to all you for joining me. Until next time, I leave you with this quote by Julia Child.....

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” 

This holds true for cooking and for life in general. Learn, be fearless and never, ever stop having fun!