Apple Butter!

I haven't posted anything new for quite some time.  I realize that most of my (seudo) blogging is directly related to Petunia, however, since we haven't had any adventures in her, and I haven't taken any new photos lately...heck, I haven't even given her a good cleaning in over a month (bad Mom) I decided to post about something completely different.  Apples!!  It's apple pickin season in the foothills above Sacramento, so last weekend I made the trek up to "The city of Trees" and spend the weekend with my beloved Sister, Mother, Sister in Law and future Sister in Law to be in Apple Hill. We purchased about 120lbs of apples to process.  My future SIL is planning on giving apple butter at her wedding to my brother next spring.  So we had the Vance Sister's apple butter factory going non stop all day on Sunday. All in all, we made 247 jars of Apple Butter. Oh and what trip to Apple Hill would be complete without a little wine tasting..we did that too!! I also managed to find a few treasures for Petunia that I will post a little later.

Packing out our haul!

Wine tasting, Oh yes..

Ready for cookin down!

Have you ever seen so many apples at once?  the house smelled Amazing!

Cooking!

My Beloved Sister and I  (I'm holding the wine glass)

Our finished product - all 247 of them

Sweet Pink Heaven I'm in Love!

I absolutely fell in love with this car the other day. I think I need it. Can't you just picture Petunia being pulled behind this baby? Best part about it...It's PINK!!!

Another photo of the Bed.

The curtains are much more "bedroomy" and it feels so much more peaceful back there..

A little rearranging!

As much as I love Petunia's curtains, there has always been something that has bugged me or "messed with my Feng su" when I look at them. So when my friend Nikki (Seamstress Extraordinaire) came over to talk "fabric and stuff" I shared this dilemma with her. After talking things through for about an hour, I got a bright idea to swap out the bedroom and dining area curtains..Tada!! Much better. So now, she is going to make me a couple of matching curtains for the larger windows up front, and use the remaining fabric for an apron and some decorative pillows. Eventually I will have curtains made that are all "girly" ..but since I did promise Mr. B that I would attempt to keep her a little more "neutral" I will have to wait on the foo foo curtains. I think these are pretty cute for now.

Petunia has some new treasures!

Aren't these the cutest? I found the Rolling pin the other day, at a local Antique store. I feel like I found the jackpot, because the man running the store that day told me about a local woman who owns a vintage trailer. She comes to his store weekly and buys up any "Pink" vintage items for her trailer. He said that the rolling pin had just arrived and it was my lucky day! Ha. She's probably the one bidding against me on Ebay all the time.

So Mr. B and I made the trek up to Big Sur for little “Glamping” with Petunia. I tell you…Hwy 1 is a killer. We’ve done it before with a smaller car, but with a large Suburban and trailer in tow, it’s a little scary, to say the least. There is a lot of construction on the road heading North just above Ragged Point, so if you are going that way…be careful.

We found a darling little campground, right along the Big Sur River, smack in the middle of the Redwood trees. Our campsite was supplied with a fire pit (and grill for cooking) picnic table, power and water. The potties (flushing and extremely clean) were only bout 50 yards way. Since Petunia’s potty situation hasn’t been rectified yet, having bathrooms close by is a very good thing. Another really great feature about this campground, is that it is not too big and there are also “tent cabins” available for those without trailers. I could totally see this place taken over by vintage trailers for a weekend “Rally“. ..now THAT would be fun.

Here are a few photos I managed to take of our little get-a-way.

Little corner cupboard

I love this cute corner cupboard.  My Petunia has so many little nooks, crannies and little cupboards.

To Paint or Not to Paint....

Ever since Mr. B and I purchased Petunia, we've gone round and round about whether or not we should paint her on the inside, or leave the natural wood. I've scoured others' blogs, websites, message board forums etc, in the hope of getting a better feel as to what we should do. I've come to the conclusion that it is purely personal preference. There are those "purist" who would never ever destroy the historical factor of the natural wood, and would do anything to preserve it. These people seem to have both time and money on their side (of which I do not). There are those who paint their darling little trailers and "glamp" them up more like mobile little cottages, complete with billowy curtains, cozy quilts, squishy pillows and charming decor. I think that we have finally come to the conclusion that we do not want a "restoration" project, but rather a "rejuvenation" of an "old gal". Mr. B also wanted me to state that the paneling in Petunia isn't "solid mahogany" but rather plywood, with birch veneer. So his feeling is that because there are a lot of stains on her paneling and it is NOT quality wood, nor do we don't have the energy, space, time or money that it will take to rip it all out and restore it, he would just rather paint her, brighten her up and call it a day. I would love your thoughts.

A little gift from Mr.B

Two more "glamping" trips scheduled in Petunia

Woo Hoo...I'm so excited, I just had to share. Mr. B and I are going "Glamping". We now have two trips scheduled in Petunia this summer. One is to Big Sur in July and the other to Santa Cruz in August. I could get used to these little monthly "get-a-ways"

Here are a Few photos of Petunia and her Brother side by side.

Kitchen:

Bedroom:

Petunia has a Brother!

I found a trailer, exactly like Petunia. I've NEVER found another one identical. It's so fun to see what they have done with him. I say him, because he lookes like a boy.

http://www.napavalleyvintagetrailers.com/gallery/1959%20Kencraft/default.

Here is a photo of him:

It's a Roof Vent for goodness sake!

So I never thought I would be so excited about a roofing vent, but here I am, doing the happy dance that we got a new vent. Mr. B (Hubby) decided that since the old one, circa 1962 finally bit the dust, our baby needed a new, modern, updated vent with a reversable fan (Oh the joy). So here it is in all it's glory. Now he just has to figure out how to wire the dumb thing.

The New Vent!

Since my Petunia is only one of a few Ken-Craft trailers that I see online I really aim to make her unique, like she is. I've spent hours and hours searching the internet for exterior paint ideas and I've come to the conclusion that there is not much "uniqueness" to be had. Now don't get me wrong, I think the paint jobs are all charming, but most are fairly standard to the time period. Anyway, I just want to be different. So here are a few ideas I came up with. Let me know what you think.

The Front:

The side and Rear:

Photos of Curtains

I couldn't figure out how to get these photos posted into my last blog, so here they are.

It's Curtains for you!

Since I wasn't blessed with the gift of stitch I came to the conclusion that I only had two choices. Either I could pay a ridiculous price for cheeply made curtains that didn't fit my Petunia's windows (and she has 7 of them) or I could pursuade a friend of mine who does sew, what fun it would be to make curtains for me, in trade for some spa services. I think I got the better end of the deal. Nikki and I went shopping for the fabric that I had previously looked at and fell in love with, but to my HORROR it was sold out. How could they do that to me?? My Sister was due to arrive the next week. She was to be my first official overnight guest staying in Petunia and I was in desperate need of curtains so that the neighbors wouldn't be able to see my Sister in her undies. So Nikki and I chose an alternative fabric that was equally as cute and would definitely get the job done. She made them for the front three wrap around windows and I hung sheets up on the back. I was still heartbroken that my original fabric (which was PERFECT) was gone, and so one day after my Sister left, I decided to do an internet search (thank GOD for the internet) and guess what jumping up and down, there was my fabric! Right there on LDSfabric.com. Who knew the Mormans had their own fabric company? I was so excited to be able to make the curtains of my dreams. I have to give a shoutout to my friend Nikki Carter, who made me the most beautiful curtains that were beyond my expectations and far better quality than ANY store bought ones. I told her she could have a career making vintage trailer curtains for people. So here are a few photos of them all hung up. BTW, not only did she make the curtains, but she also did tie-backs plus there is enough extra fabric to make coordinating pillows and cloth napkins.

Pink, Pink oh how I love Pink!!!

Did I mention that I love Pink? I have no Idea where this obsession with the color Pink came from, but nevetheless..it's here to stay. I wouldn't have considered myself a "girlie girl" but for some crazy reason, I've become such a princess. So here are some photos of my latest "Pink" finds. I found these darling Pink Pyrex dishes..aren't the daisys just the cutest.

I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned for days..I was high from the fumes. Petunia had been sorely neglected and was being used for storage. The good thing was she didn't smell like a musty old trailer. The previous owners has obviously cared for her enough to take the time to put indoor/outdoor carpet over the lovely original linoleum. It is almost perfect and oh so adorable. The lino has pink and turquoise "sparkles"..and when it's polished up, boy does it shine. The curtains were hideous and practically disintegrated in my hands plus there was 30 years of grime on everything. I spent several days scrubbing her from top to bottom. In the process I found an awesome but extremely rusted cast iron frying pan. I cleaned that up nicely and consider it a bonus. Here are a few "before" photos..Notice the Curtains? They fell apart in my hands, and who reupholstered the banquet seating in that hideous fabric? Everything is original and everything works (for the most part) except those disgusting cushions.

The Beginning

So I'd like to take you on a little journey into the past. Well, the past year that is and tell you the amazing story of how I came to own this little gem that I call Petunia. For the past three years, every day on my drive to work, I would pass this little charming farmhouse at the end of the short street, where I live. As I would drive pass, I caught a glimpse of this darling little trailer who looked oh so sad and tired. I often thought to myself what it would be like to own one of these little trailers, fix it up and go camping. I didn't realize that they were the hottest thing right now. So I would drive by the house and dream about what that trailer looked like inside and wondered if the owners would ever be willing to sell it. Flash forward to last spring. I was driving by on my usual route to work when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something red. Errrrrrr (those were the squeal of my breaks as I threw the car in reverse) and lo and behold, there it was..that red FOR SALE sign. So I did what any level headed, red blooded american, vintage lovin girl would do. I walked right up to the front door and knocked. I tell you, when I took one look inside that baby I knew I was a gonner..I just had to have her. So I called the hubby and did a little sweet talkin..a couple of hours later she was in my driveway.