Making the ol' gal earn her keep

Well, both ol' gals if you include me :)

My son Joshua has helped me set up "Pearl" at the Farmer's market on Tuesday mornings.  I sell jams and other preserves for the Thornton Burgess Society to benefit Green Briar Nature Center.  Some of you may know that I worked in their jam kitchen.  What a treat!  The kitchen dates back to the early 20th century and many of the recipes are from the first proprietor, Ida Putnam.

Photo by Eric Hurwitz

Thornton Burgess, a naturalist, conservationist and author of many children's stories including Peter Rabbit and his friends, used to visit Green Briar to deliver the mail.  The animals he observed along the way inspired him to write his children's stories.  Today, the Thornton Burgess Society owns the property operates natural history education programs for children and adults.  The jams help fund their mission.

Pearl was a big hit at the Farmer's market!  Many folks came over just to take a peek inside.  Under her pink and white canopy is the perfect place to spread out vintage linens and sell Apple Pie Jam, and Martha's Mustard pickles, and Sun cooked Strawberries...... YUM!

Baby moons - check!

I ordered the baby moon hubcaps for the Pearl and they arrived today.  I measured as well as I could and put in an order with Vintage Trailer Supply, crossed my fingers and held my breath.  Our wheels are original, 4 bolt, 13", 3 nubs.  They fit like a glove - just popped right on!  Hopefully they won't just pop right off too :)

Dome Hubcaps from Vintage Trailer Supply VTS-595, $17.94 each

How about these tow vehicles?

Ford Crown Victoria
A little poking around on the web brought up these delicious tow vehicles.  I neeeeed one of these for the Pearl.  Oh well, I can dream.....

Edsel Bermuda Wagon
Photo from Kennebunkporter Classic Rides

Photo from Paintref.com

Ford Thunderbird
Photo from Scotty's Classic Cars

Vintage Valentines wall art

The Pearl reminds me of nothing more than a big valentine.  Maybe its her color, or the fact that my hubby, children and I slaved on it as a labor of love.  But whatever the reason, there she is, my big fat 1200 lb. valentine.

Sooooo, I was thinking it would be fun to hang vintage valentine's day cards over the bunk rail on each side of the dining area.  In the interest of saving money (being cheap), rather than buying real vintage valentines, I ordered the book "Vintage Valentines" by Dover which comes with a CD full of high resolution pics.  My plan is to print my favorites on card stock, laminate them and hang them from a string with mini clothes pins or clips.

Some of these bring me right back to my childhood classroom valentine's day parties (I know, I'm old)!

Those finishing touches...

Detail of trailer restored by Joe and Robin Lyons of Santa Barbara

There are signs of spring in the air.  I just noticed the sprouts of daffodils poking out from the brown leaves on the side of my house.  So, of course that means it is high time that we start working on the Pearl again.  Last year we completed the bulk of her renovation, but there are a few things that we have left to do.  Well, maybe not have to do.

I really would like to add some baby moons and white wall tires.  If anyone out there knows what size and a source for these that would fit on a Shasta Compact, please let me know.

Another wish list item that I have is an outdoor mat for camping.  Having some trouble here.....I would love a mat with a fun fresh style, but alas, the mats seem to be designed by the same crusty old man that designs the paint scheme on the sides of contemporary rv's - broad strokes of analogous colors.  Someone should really clue the RV industry to the fact that this design was dated 15 years ago.

So here is a possibility:

From www.solutions.com

I also thought it would be fun to make a mat by clicking together these fake grass 10" squares (they come with the daisies):

Artificial grass mat with daisies and clover from Tradeage.com

I also want to add some fun party lights, like these from beau coup:

lantern party lights

Ok, yeah, we still don't have the water tank installed, boring.  Just need to set my priorities - fun stuff,  first, then water tank, electric heater, and fix that "cam over" problem that we had last summer (see our blog from last summer's cross country trip)

Happy Glamping!