When Daryl’s ‘mishap’ happened this summer, I learned way more than I wanted to. At the trailer we have no electricity and depend on solar panels (and a generator if we are really stuck). Normally Daryl would take the four solar panels and the wiring off the trolly before storing it all in a shed. When he couldn’t do it and I had too, it was no easy task. Also not going to happen again.
During his two months of inactivity, Daryl came up with a plan, build another structure and roll the panels in.
It’s taking shape.
And we have doors and a ramp!
Time to pretty it up with a little paint. That day was hot, 30C+ in September! I had to get the shed painted before 10 AM while there was still shade. Black for the trim was spray paint and messy.
Mission accomplished, all nicely tucked away in the trees. No more need to take the solar panels apart when we leave and set up is a whole lot easier too.
As we have such a large outside living space, we need lots of chairs and little tables so we don’t have to drag them from one end of the property to the other. The chairs we have.
We have morning coffee at the marsh, in the chill of early morning it’s sunny and warm.
Then in the heat of the afternoon this is a great place to have a cold drink.
When it is raining or very hot, we find shade. 2024 has been an incredibly hot summer and under the canopy works well for both cooking and eating. The propane fire pit was only used once!
When we sit around the campfire we definitely need some place to put our drinks and s’mores supplies.
Sometimes we just sit under a tree or the trailer canopy.
Knowing any little tables would be left out in the weather, as our stated goal was to not have to cart them around, we wanted to spend as little money as possible. Daryl ‘found’ two solid wooden chairs with flat seats, he cut the backs off and we had the beginnings of two more little tables.
So… while Daryl was busy building a shed, I got busy ‘making’ a couple of tables. The table that is left at the marsh was easier, only required removing the fabric cover and padding. Removing the many staples was the longest part of the job. Then after a quick sanding and painting one table was ready.
The other table was meant to be left at the fire pit. When it gets cool in the evening we often eat there as the fire pit becomes our smoker/BBQ. This table needed to be a little bigger. We just so happened to have a pallet sitting around.
We don’t often use the generator, but it sure comes in handy when using power tools that aren’t battery operated.
A trip to Michael’s for acrylic paints, a little pouring, and the second table was ready. The mosquitos were vicious, not sure what the coil does to a person’s body, but it worked to keep the mosquitos away.
Next summer we hope to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
Cheers
Ruth
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