One of my "to-do's" on Maizy has been to acquire a curvy buffet to act as the new kitchen counter. I have mentioned this concept before and never got a "oh yeah baby!" from Peter, but decided to believe that he was fully on board with my plan anyway. I have been prowling local second hand stores looking for the perfect piece. I peruse craigslist daily and checkout all the estate sales. I needed something with personality and character.
On a side note (which actually makes sense later, I promise) we've been wanting a china hutch for the dining room in our old farmhouse for some time. Over a year ago I bought one that needed re-finishing. I turned my fiber studio into a refinishing room and started work on it. Most of the way through my project got stalled and the semi-refinished china hutch ended up shoved in a corner with fiber supplies stuck on it. It was perfect for the space, looked wonderful and my studio, aka "SharonTopia" adopted a new piece of furniture.
Today is a federal holiday and thus, I had the day off. Two days off in a row! It's like a mini vacation. Peter and I had great plans to lift the top skin of the trailer, finalize measurements and do an assortment of other Miss Maizy oriented tasks. During our morning coffee I loaded up craigslist and started my routine search and found... the most PERFECT vintage buffet. I quickly sent off a message to the owner. Just in case, I continued to scrolled Craigslist and found the PERFECT china hutch for our dining room! I sent off a message for that one as well.
After coffee, Perry Mason and morning farm chores we headed out to the barn and began the process of lifting the top skin of Miss Maizy. We used some old gutters to support the skin and the rafters to hoist it up.
During our hoisting I got a message from the lovely buffet lady that it was still available, she could meet my price and we needed to be there in two hours (and it was an hour and a half away!). With surprisingly little dilly-dally, we went to fetch Miss Maizy's new kitchen cabinet. It is now in SharonTopia, waiting to be re-painted and I am absolutely sure it wont stay there like the china hutch did.
Shortly after we left here to fetch the buffet, we got a call from the owner of the china hutch and made arrangements to check it out on our way home. Luckily he lives in the same town we do.
The hutch was nearly perfect and we scooped it up as well. Also luckily, for $10.00 and a dozen farm fresh eggs the owner was willing to deliver, as our vehicle was already filled with the buffet.
One of the things I have been troubleshooting on our project is a toilet. I have literally, lain awake at night thinking about how to fit a toilet in my very limited space. Not to get too personal here, Miss Maizy does not have, and has never had, a bathroom facility. I really believed I could manage with this but the more I think about it, the more I abhor the idea of traipsing across a campground once (or more) in the middle of the night to tinkle in a disgusting outhouse, or a creepy restroom. I considered a composting toilet, I considered a 5 gallon bucket... desperate times call for desperate measures. No matter the possible solution I came up with it was complicated by the fact that there isn't much room for a toilet and privacy in a 13 foot trailer.
I have an adorable grandson named Jack who turns 3 this year. Yesterday we went shopping for a birthday present for him and stumbled upon a sale at the Coleman Outlet store. There, on a bottom shelf near the back of the store was a lonely, discounted, "portable flushing toilet." My imagination started whirling and swirling and pondering all the ways that this amazing contraption could work. There are "privvy tents" that could be set up outside, but right by, Miss Maizy. Or.. there is a closet in Miss Maizy that could, possibly, be turned into a toilet room.
This has possibility:
With the current configuration my knees will hang out into the room, but as it turns out, with the "new" kitchen cabinet/buffet we can make the closet a little roomier and I just might end up with a real bathroom out of this deal. I am very excited!
