The DufferDen

Well how the hell are ya?(was trying to think of a new intro, might need some fine tuning yet,) but seriously, hows it going? I'm still busy restoring the old trailer into the frisky new "DufferDen". For those of you who don't yet know, I inherited a 1969 trailer,(yes insert trailer trash/red neck joke here...I've heard them all,)its about 10ft. wide,(on the outside,) and a whopping 100ft. long! So when I first saw the trailer, it had been used as a dog kennel for some time,(years,) so it was hard to understand all the mouse shit, don't dogs eat mice? But after a good cleaning, it looked much better!(of course now, with the renos, it looks like dirty chaos!) I started in the bedroom bathroom area, and because the hall was so narrow,(my joke was, it was to small to fall down when I got drunk, except if I fell on my face!)I decided to just re-move a couple walls here and there, and make the bed room into a master bedroom with an en-suite! This has several advantages, like its easier to jump into bed after a shower, and theres no wall to slam into in the middle of a bleary eyed night,(no, but there is a dangerously low ceiling fan, oh, this will be fun, if I thought the couch demon moving the coffee table for me to slam my toes with was bad, just wait till the demi god of the ceiling fan decides to move it 8 inches to the left, just as BlearyEyedKev, comes wandering through, zombie like, on the path to "whiz now, and be back to bed before you wake up,"land, right untill the fan digs a furrow in mybrow! oh this will be fun! the words I'll say, in the middle of the dark and lonely night...)and of course, theres so much more room.

So I was working on the ceilings for the last while, and almost have it finished, here are some during and after shots, these after shots, have only one coat of spar varnish on them, they will get two,(very shinny, oh and should be used in a VERY well ventelated area, saddly, my area was all sealed in plastic, and it was too cold to leave the door open, so it was VERY unventelated). Some parts of the ceiling, were dented in,(like maybe santa was double parked with the easter walrus or somthing,) not good, so I had to brace up portions, to make them level. Soon it will be time for it to be moved to its final resting place, then it will be time for the re-skirting,(insulating the bottem to keep every thing nice and toasty=re-skirting, now you know, and knowing is half the battle!)and of course, hookng up all the utilitys. But for now, I'm just taring out the old wood style panel, and beefing up the old insulation. I will be dry-walling after the move, afraid it might twist loose during the move.(drywallings not quite enough fun, to want to do it twice.) I will write more updates as things get finished. This is my first home that will really be mine, maybe its a case of manopause,(the male version of the mid life crissis, and thats assuming I'll live to 80! seams like a kind of big assumtion to me!)but it sure feels good to work on my place.(even if its as old as me! no kidding, the trailers from 1969 as well, little did it know, after its unglorious accention into mediocrity, some 40yrs would pass, before its triuphant rebirth as the dignified "DufferDen"!) I'm goin for a classly little bachelor's pad,(no, not the zebra striped, round bed, and disco ball, approach!)but will have to see how it turns out. Trying for the 3 C's of design, Cozy, Comfortable, and of course, Cool!(with maybe just a dash of Crazy, thrown in for spice!) When I'm moved in, then I'll resume the "Bachelor Tips of the day,". Iv'e been told by some, I must have rocks in my head, to fix up an old trailer, but heres what I say about that, A)the older stuff is usally built better,(although, I might be the exception!)B)Most of the insulation was in real good shape, plus I'm adding like an other inch of styrofoam to all the exterior walls, so it WILL be cozy! and C) I recently had a catscan, and as you can see, no rocks!(so there!)

After I finished the ceiling, I deicided to panel the wall behind the toilet in the same pine board as the ceiling, and for some stupid reason, I decided to do it at 22.5degrees,(because like 90 or 45, would have been way too easy or somthing!)not the quickiest choice maybe, but hey, I like it. Here is a before and after, of the same wall.

So the banner shot at the top is the view from where my frount window will be, and the second shot is of where my back window will be,(my moms trailer, is some where on the left, so I'll get the morning sun first! oh, and beening back there means I'll be closer to the gas, and power hook up, closer=cheaper!) About an hour after I took these shots, it started snowing hard again,(while I was busy finishing the wall,)and made every thing look so pretty, unfortunletly it was too dark to redo the shots, so just imagen it all with 3inches of fresh, clean snow blanketing all the scenery,) I was afraid it was gonna kill me, the first snow, or -8,(-12, with that ever persent north wind, blowing up my back,)but other then the foot warmer part of the Blaze's heater not working at all,(seriously, I wore my slippers driving on the way to town today, the ones from wallmart, with the cute little skull-n-cross bones on them, very macho, I know,)I think I'm doing alright, it seams to be warmer, here, then in Van. even when its colder, I was born even farther north then this, so may be more use to the dry cold, as oppossed to the VERY wet cold of the coast.(Although I could,(did)golf in the wet cold almost every week, now, not so much!) Any way, hope you all have a great week, Iv'e got a little more to do to prepare for the big move,(across the yard,) and will be sure to get some shots of the event, will keep you updated, more exciting tales of the reno next week, Latter, DufferKev.