Daffodil Under Wraps

It has been quite awhile since you last saw the work being done on Daffodil.  That’s because there wasn’t much that happened for several months!  Because she had no roof and because some of her exterior sheeting had been removed, we had to protect her inner workings from the Oregon rains that come throughout the year.  So, my sweetheart devised a way to keep her dry and protected from moisture and anything that might cause damage or undo what had been accomplished.  Even the neighbors commented on my sweetheart’s ingenuity!  This is what she looked like as she sat in our driveway during some of the Spring and Summer months last year.I must admit, this was not a thing of beauty – but it did what was needed.  The ‘contraption’ on the top?  One neighbor asked if we were building an A-frame!  With the roof removed, our sometimes-heavy rains would cause the tarp to sag and fill with water.  It could get so heavy that the tarp would collapse into Daffodil under the weight of the water and we would have a real mess!  My sweetheart made a plywood ‘roof’ above the tarp so the rain would run off.  Pretty smart idea!  I never would have thought of that.  In fact, I questioned the idea when I first saw it but it proved to be the right thing!

Then, when the weather promised to be bright and sunny and warm for awhile, my sweetheart uncovered Daffodil and started working on the inside again.  We couldn’t leave the tarp around her while we worked inside on warm days.  It would have been unbearably hot in there.  It was time to remove the old paneling and make way for the repairs she needed before new paneling could be installed.  (I still haven’t figured out why my sweetheart didn’t remove the piece of insulation that was hanging down over the front opening!) My sweetheart began to remove the bad parts of the old paneling in the front of the trailer. He tried to leave as much of the thick blue insulation in the walls as possible. Every trace of the old paneling had to go! I used a small crowbar and hammer to ‘rip’ off the old paneling on the back and side walls while my sweetheart worked on more difficult tasks.  It was a big job but it wasn’t long before it was all gone. All of the windows eventually need to be removed – some for repair.  All of them need the aluminum frames and tracks polished.  The front window had already been removed right after we found the moisture damage in the front roof area.  The next to go was the back window.It took both of us to lift the big window out.  Now Daffodil was open in the front and in the back.I like the little lights on the back of Daffodil.  They have to come off to be refurbished.  And I love her ‘label’ that tells who she is and where she came from.  There is another one on the front.  I plan to restore both signs.  I’m not sure I want red on the beautiful yellow color that will replace the gold. I have to think about that.  Since she isn’t going to be restored to her original condition – there will be changes – it won’t hurt to paint the signs a different color.  I don’t have to decide right now.  That might wait until she has been put back together and her exterior has been repainted.  Adding her little labels will be one of the last tasks to do!  I wanted one more photo of them in place before they came down. There’s a lot more work to do – and a lot of things have happened since these photos were taken.  We are working on her again.  We had planned to work through the winter so she would be finished and ready to roll this Spring, but life took some sharp turns and kept us from doing what we had planned. 

You will have a front-row seat for the rest of the journey.  I wouldn’t dream of leaving you behind!