Progress Pics!

 Curly is now big enough to go frolic freely in the pasture with the other cows!

She was dancing and rolling in the hay stacks.

 This is the decking.  One side is painted with this thick decking paint that is made with sand that makes a hard water proof coating on it.  More will be done on this side as we go.

 Beginning floor framing.  The large square in the middle will have the decking cut out. It will eventually be a drop down box in the floor.  So the floor will have a door and we'll have extra storage in the floor.

All of this is bolted down to the trailer too.

This area is in the front.  We're planning on a murphy bed in this spot eventually.  It will be the bed/living/dining area.  We visited a murphy bed store for ideas.  I saw some pretty nifty things that we may incorporate when we build it.

Though they do not come with us during our day trips, it seemed our pups were pooped this weekend too.

Let sleeping dogs lie, hehe.

Purple Peanut getting the love

Here she is as we began to put on the rust converter/primer.

You can kind of see what it does on the front end.

Our new axels that carry more tons!

New bigger tires and leaf springs.

Our friends are taking the old axels, tires, springs, etc.

He may make some sort of trailer for use around the farm.

We changed out all of the parts and connected up the brakes and made sure they worked.

This is all being done with the help of our friend.

He is a godsend with his knowledge, versatile supply of tools, and his willingness to "play" with us while creating the Peanut.

Since these photos, we have also painted with a "rustoleum" type metal paint.

I will have to get new pics this weekend.

By the time we got done this past weekend, the sun was going down and my feet and hands were frozen puppies!

We went in and enjoyed a little music and refreshment in front of their fire.

We are still waiting for the new stands to come in.

Three of ours are busted.

We're happy though because we are getting closer and closer to the really fun part!

And as usual, Curly says "Hi!"

She's chowing like a champ now!

I love getting to play with her and feed her.

This weekend!

Well, our new axels, tires and jacks came in!

We got a neato rust-converter primer to use.

We bought the paint too.

This weekend we should be back on it hardcore!

YaaY!

I have been working on the plans and materials list for the framing.

We have a long way to go, but it's nice to get back on it.

Pictures will be coming again.

Waiting...

We're at a little stall at the moment.

We've got the bad boy down to just the metal frame.

Now, we're waiting on the new parts that we've ordered to come in so that we can get back working again!

Hopefully, some of it will make it here this week so that we can move forward.

Then, the fun of framing will begin! 

YaaY!

Killing It

We banged it out yesterday.

We left the top strip because we were scared the whole thing would collapse before we came back next weekend.

The frame is so shoddy and rotted out.

Ya know what's on the roof?

Just cloth, yep, that's right, not even canvas, just cloth.

Weird, but whatever.

We'll have it all down next weekend.

Plus, other exciting news, El Sammy Beasto got a 1979 GMC doolie truck.

It's a beast, but will be sure to be able to tow this sucker when we're finished.

We're trying to decide on some basics so that I can draw more plans and get better materials lists going.  We're thinking a murphy bed.  Just an idea but it would give us so much more space during the days!  I actually took out a Sharpie and drew outlines on the floor to give us ideas of space with what we do have planned so far.  It's nice to walk around and "see" what space and storage will somewhat look like, even if it is just in black marker lines.

But here's what we did this weekend (just Saturday).

This is what all of that aluminum siding looks like taken down and after I have folded and stompted it.

Off to the recycle center again tomorrow.

We're hoping to give away the 3 windows that actually have glass left in them to whoever needs them.

 

 Stripped.

 Close up.

There it is, skeleton, future Purple Peanut.

Afterwards, we hung out with our friends who own this awesome place.

El Sammy Beasto got taken on a tour, where there was an old, stone, falling down building that was a Pony Express Stop, a ravine where horse smugglers used to hide the horses, and a few other cool sites.  I'm going next time!

We sat, had a brew, and I got to feed Curly!

She's awesome and does the happy calf dance, much like a ferret who does the happy ferret dance!

Right now, she's about the size of our German Shepherd, and she's only 2 weeks old!

She did wind up slobbering all over the front of my shirt while we were snuggling.

What a love muffin!

Then, all four of us headed up the road to a going away party.

Another friend of ours also lives down that way.  We ran down to her basement, jumped in the shower and changed before the festivities.  I gorged on grilled stuff and a few Oktoberfest brews.  Lucky for me, El Sammy Beasto was DD.  Nice change for me, haha!

Weekend pics.

Curly headbutting me and looking for her bottle.

 

Sam was next for her affection.

 

Finally, Momma Kay.  Kay is Curly's "mom."  Her cow momma didn't want her and tried to kill her, so she's been adopted by her human caretakers.

 

This is one of our babies, Heidi.  This is at our house, just chillin'.

 

One of the weekend visitors, one of the barn kitties.

 

 Now, some pics of the trailer.

Sitting against the barn.

This is where we were when we got there this past weekend.

  

And this is what we were doing this past weekend.

I brought that aluminum to the recycle center.

Got a little cash and found out that they will also take all of the electrical wiring, and tons of other stuff.  So, I guess after every weekend, I'll be making trips with truckloads to the recycle yard too!

Weekend in Pictures

We spent the weekend down at our friend's property working on the Purple Peanut.

We drove down and back home everyday this long weekend.

I am loving it down there.

It reminds me of my youth and how I spent every weekend with my parents on their country property.

Only now, S and I have to find our perfect little wooded paradise.

 The sad part is that I neglected to take pictures of the Peanut at all!

Instead, in my breaks of demolition, I snapped photos of the cuteness of the country.

I'll have to remember to shoot it this coming weekend!

But here is the awesome-ness that was just a tad of this past long weekend.

Snapped this on our stop at the hardware store.

He just came in from the pasture to say "hey."

They have like 5 horses and a mule.

One of the barn kitties.  He was a super purr-machine and just hung around for pets and holding.

We did spot one of the older gals after she caught a wild baby bunny.

Even with all the cat food available, I guess their "wild" instincts still take hold!

This was one of the momma cows and her new baby.

They have miniature cows!

So freaking adorable.

We have decided to change the axels and tires once we have it stripped completely down.

This will give us more leeway in our plans, which I am changing once again, lol.

Hopefully, after next weekend, I will have more pictures....

including Peanut!

And

Things have worked out once again!

Someone else we know has offered to let us park and work on their acreage!

He even provided us map and directions to his place.

Anytime, we can go plop it!

YaaY!

We will be buying a vintage truck.

El Beasto has always wanted one.

We need a vehicle that is able to tow this bad boy.

We like older vehicles that you can work on and do maintenance yourself.

After we buy one, we shall sell our current vehicle.

I am hoping that where ever we eventually wind up that I will be able to use my bike and walk conveniently too.  That will be our next plan, finding land.

And on with things continuing in an upward manner!

Oh Well...

Our plans fell through once again.

This is the third person who told us we could move our trailer to their farm, ranch, land and work on it

who has now backed out.

Back to the drawing board...

We have even offered each money as a sort of rent and to make sure and keep their place clean while we worked.

I'm sure something will work out eventually.

We've Been Working on It, Promise!

And since this picture was taken, all those cabinets and more have been ripped out.

We've (by we, I really mean El Sammy Beasto) has been doing the work all stealth like right now.

However, we have a person whose father owns a bunch of property and told us that we could move it there to continue demolition and then rebuild.

WooHoo!!

He's even going to tow it for us.

Super lucky.

This is going to be a slow process for us.

We're going bit by bit as we will do things as we can pay for it out right.

The goal is no debt once we make the move.

We've been playing with plans, looking at different materials, and just plain old day dreaming of what can be.

I am very, very, very slowly reducing at the house.

I try to remove at least one item a day.

The garage is filling with bags that need to be donated.

Trying to sell my vintage clothes on etsy and ebay hasn't really gone quite as planned.

C'est la vie.

I have some friends who may enjoy them and give them a good home if I gift them to them.

We hope that once we are able to connect up and get the Purple Peanut moved that we will be able to make quicker progress on her.

Oh gypsy vardo, we look forward to our lives together!

We seriously have a bunch of crap

I'm expecting a friend from out of town for this weekend.

What did that mean?

It means cleaning up our "extra" room that is just wall to wall packed with crap.

Oh and the ferrets run around in there from time to time.

It's a huge adventure for them.

So, here I am, moving around Rubber Maid containers to the empty closet, crawls space, garage....

I begin browsing through the mountains that are beginning to close in around me.

What do we need 50 backpacks or duffle bags or just bags for?

Isn't one for  each of us sufficient?

Hey, here's five sheet sets and a bunch of mis-matched pillow cases.

Look, it's Halloween decorations that were stuffed with newspaper to hang from the tree.

By the way, we haven't hung them in the tree in over five years.

You don't even want to know how much burlesque crap there is shoved around the house.

Fans that are beyond repair, cardboard props that are ripped and taped up....

they went in the garbage yesterday.

I've already put together about 5 bags to donate.

Once this weekend ends, I'll dive in voraciously.

If we want to live in a tiny house, we better size it down considerably....

I've begun selling some things on ebay and etsy.

If that goes well, perhaps it will be incentive to get rid of even more.

Though, El Sammy Beasto still wants to rent a storage unit for things/furniture that he just can't part with.

At this moment, I'll look at it as our personal store.

It will be a place to go to when we need dishes, utensils and other housewares to replace broken ones.

It will be our library because I can't seem to be able to part yet with the 100's of books that we've collected over the years and still have not read.

I will not purchase new ones though.

Maybe in time, we'll be able to give all of that up too.

This is going to be a learning, growing, changing process.

(from here - The 3Rs Blog)

Not the room, but could be!

It's here!

Oh yes, the Purple Peanut has arrived.

Still don't know why we call it the Purple Peanut?

Purple Peanut is slang for hemorrhoid.

And though exciting, I'm quite sure that this project will, at times, be a royal pain in the butt.

Well, it's arrived.

We knew it was trashed.

And now we know full of mold, yuck.

There are windows broken, the door doesn't close, the floor is spongy, everything that could be taken and sold was, and it's just plain gross on the inside.

It's all a.o.k., though, because we are tearing the whole thing down.

We will be getting some N95 masks and some safety glasses and going to town.

There will be a complete re-framing, changing the shape of the outside and perhaps even adding a foot to the front, rear and sides.

Maybe as much as 3' to the ceiling height.

We do believe we want a rounded roof, true Vardo Style.

There will more than likely be wacky, bright colors.

Perhaps even shaker shingles covering the part of the outside after.

The ideas are flowing.

We're looking into complete solar power, with electrical hookup as backup.

There will be tons to tell.

And pictures to follow.

For now, here is the current floor plan of the Peanut.

Well, Hello There

This is our Art/Life/Tiny Living/Bought a Trashed Trailer/Rebuild/Transition to Self-Sustainability/Gypsy Vardo Living/What In the Hell Did We Do Blog

This is going to be an Art Life Transition to Self-Sustainability Project.
If anyone would like to help, donate, give advice, just let us know!!

So if you made it that far, here's what's up.

If you have followed my previous blog, LaPetiteMort73, you may have come across my posts about wanting a mini-farm, poultry, tiny living, being off the grid and self-sustainable.

Of course, that blog has many other entries as well, including really selfish and materialistic wants.

Just to fill in, if you aren't aware, I grew up in the swamps of Louisiana, literally.

I mean, it was nothing to have an alligator in your front yard or step over Cotton-Mouth snakes while just leisurely walking about.  I mean, damn, I learned how to roller skate and ride a bike originally on an oyster shell driveway.

On a side note, I grew up with chickens all my life.  Yes, there were Copperheads wrapped around the cages trying to eat them & the eggs, but we had chickens!

Needless to say, those chickens were more pets.

We only ate the eggs, and our chickens died of old age.

Also, my parents composted and gardened.

We always had fresh veggies and sometimes fruit.

It just depended what they could grow each year.

It was always experimental.

Mom canned veggies, made preserves, cooked all the time while holding a full time job.

Dad, also held a hard labor full time job and gardened and built and did things self-sufficiently.

It's funny that I "hated" it all growing up.

You know, embarrassed about it.

I went to a Private, Catholic School.

I was, well, different.

It's funny now, because I still am.

Only, now, I've come to appreciate it......

and to learn from it.

I can completely appreciate all that my parents did and I've learned from them.

All I can say, is that El Sammy Beasto, never had such a childhood.

He grew up on the Wank.

That's the West Bank for you folks from Louisiana.

But he went to school in New Orleans,

the Big City, Yo!

He did not have quite as much experience in the "gardening/husbandry" field,

however, he did have a little more experience in the fishing area!

Though I spent a bit of time fishing in the Reserve Canal, Maurepaus area, his dad has a camp in Lafitte right on the freaking water!!!

Sweet.

So, when we moved up here, from our Third Story Condo in the Sky-y-a... 

on 17th Street Canal ~

El Sammy Beasto was kind of impressed with the shite I could grow in a desert like area (compared to Louisiana).

Since then, we both have discovered (Together) our love of Off-the-Grid-Living-Survivalist-Tactics stuff we have in common.

Thus began our infatuation of Tiny Living, Small House Love.

For the past few years we have followed many blogs about living with little, living simply, growing what you need, living off the land.....

We drool over websites,

we email each other tiny homes in awesome locales.

Well, this past weekend, what do you think happened - spontaneously?

El Sammy Beasto actually bid and won on trailers we've looked at for years.

Side Note:

After Katrina, we lived in a 70's Avion Silver Bullet for about 6 months.

We kept thinking about that.

We've looked and looked for vintage trailers.

Then, El Sammy Beasto found this site for the Emergency Response Studio Project made from a trashed FEMA trailer.

Of course this started our wheels turning.

Okay, back to the bid.

He won a bid for a trashed FEMA Trailer.

So, we're having hauled up here to be put on a friend's land.

Now, I'm going to start sketching out layouts, solar, wind, radiant heat, small cast iron stoves......

Oh the list goes on and on....

Also, the search for rural land that will let us live our dream.

Gypsy Vardo Style, Conceptual Art Style, Completely Self-Sufficient with no need for tapping into community water/electricity/gas.............?

The possibilities are endless, I tell you!

You can check out the Debris that Will Be the Purple Peanut at this link.....
http://purple-peanut.tumblr.com/

Oh and extra points if you know what Purple Peanut means!!!!