Level with the Earth

Yesterday I had the partition wall between the kitchen and bathroom mocked up, and today a built the wall. One of the challenges with this project is that nothing is square, and nothing is level. That's why this picture is so funny to me. I screwed a brace into the frame just to hold things steady while I screwed the studs to the sill. I wasn't trying to make it level, it just ended up that way. And I didn't set the level on to the brace to check for level, but just happened to set it there after using it as a straight edge. So if you stood back a few feet and looked at the brace, it would look crooked as hell because the trailer sits about 3 1/2 inches lower on one side than the other. But it was perfectly level with the world......

This is the back side of the completed partition wall where the tub will sit. 

This is the front of the wall, where the range and cabinets will fit. 

I also finished covering the front wall in what will become our bedroom. This has turned out to be a pretty productive use of vacation time, but tomorrow I'll take the day off and pick some blueberries and peaches before swimming in the San Marcos river!

I added a few low voltage LED's to the old marking lights. 

At night, the single emitter mounted inside the old housings adds a nice touch to the trailer. Now I need to find a very specific license plate: 1961 Texas Trailer. Finder's fee paid!

Summertime......

It's worth mentioning that we have begun the search for a place to park this heap.  It would be great to find our paradise in  the next few months. It would be even greater if we could find a bank that would give us a loan on raw land. We've got a day set aside to go sit down with a few banks and see what we can work out. I'm feeling like I am approaching the hump with this project. Sure, there is tons of work left to do, but the major tasks are behind us in large part, and it's motivating to look back a little ways and celebrate our accomplishments. 

This is the channel where the line set for the Mini-Split air conditioner will go. I toyed with the idea of using a 2-zone system in order to feed air from both ends of the long and narrow structure. I don't know why I was surprised to find out that it would cost twice as much and take up twice as much space.  I decided instead to place the single zone unit in the center of the structure nearest the common living space. The bedroom doors will be open the vast majority of the time anyhow, and we'll just need to use some fans to keep the air circulating.  

As the cabinets are being made by my buddy Steve, I've made it a priority to get the partition wall that they will back up to erected.  This meant that I had to slap a few planks up on the ceiling in order to have something to attach the wall to. This is the wall mocked up, and I should be able to complete the job tomorrow. 

I dug this out of an old shed at my Dad's place.  It was mine when I was a kid, and I plan to restore it to it's former hell raising condition. I figure that it's a good summer project to do with my daughters and all the free time I've got! 

This is where I consider my next steps.