Giant Puzzles, power tools, and a (warped?) sense of humor

This last week has been a case study in why very few people live in a trailer while working on it.  Weather conditions, finding adequate workspace, competing uses, and financial demands make this an everyday challenge.  But a perverse streak in me enjoys that immensely.  Not that I am trying to make life harder than it should be (whatever that means), but I like feeling that I am creative enough to find ways around the hurdles.  It’s like my life is a giant puzzle I am assembling – and I dearly love puzzles!  I even have a box full of them to take on the road with me to work on when the remodel is done.  Much tamer I guess, but still something to look forward to.

For at least the last five days we have had strong winds (go figure, I live on the plains essentially), punctuated by surprise rain bursts – some quite intense.  Cutting paneling on whatever surface I could find – tailgate, picnic table, and boards on the ground - in a heavy wind is a really funny thing to watch.  Of course I was the one doing it so at times I lost my send of humor.  But with patience and persistence I got it all cut and moved into the trailer to work with on a rainy day.  Then I found a bad spot in a board and had to maneuver around it all to get it taken out.  Still working at it actually.  And in the middle of it I found nails to remove, and had to go in search of a nail cutting blade for my oscillating saw.
 
I must say I am collecting quite a respectable number of power tools! Not top of the line maybe, but not disposable either.  The lure is strong for more, but I’m not sure I can justify a portable table saw.  Hmmm. Nah.

After three months of constant blowing, one side of my pretty blue tarp for the roof has lost most of the grommets on the prevailing (?!?) wind side, so I took it off to protect it.  (Not in this month's budget to replace it.) Then I got the brilliant –I thought – idea to turn the damaged side of it to the opposite side.  So yesterday, with the kind assistance of another camper here, we covered Gypsy Lilac, and I felt kind of smug.  Well, the wind reversed direction and although the trailer roof stayed dry, I did not.  Not wanting to have to redo any of the work I’ve done so far, I stood out there holding the tarp down thru the heaviest burst we’ve had.  Cold rain. 

Silver lining, I’m getting to try out my new drying rack this morning, and the heat wave has broken!  The next 10 days are predicted to be fall weather with brilliant skies and gentle winds.  And no rain.  We shall see.

Key task for today, remove the damaged board, since everything else I have ready to do comes after that board is replaced. 

On the flip side of all this, the slow pace and setbacks have allowed me to do some of the best work I’ve ever done.  Just hope I can get it all closed back up before the first snow comes….

Enjoy your day!