Dots, Dots & More Dots...

Do you feel like you are seeing spots?...
Nope, those are just Dots! Lots of dots.... Ok, you just can't leave me along with a can of paint...I have a tendancy to get a little silly...

But like daddy always said,,, "If it moves...Salute it. If it don't ,,, paint it!

Hubby sanded and re-painted the hitch. for me..what a difference!

I luv my lil 1963 Serro Scotty Sportsman.....

Caravans, Campfires & Tales from the Road

Sister #444 Juli's lil "Sweet Sister" ...is this cute or what!?!...She even used a vintage ironing board as a hostess table.
Yep, when it comes to decorating our trailers both inside and out...we go over the top and then some! lol! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Printed by permission from Irene Rawlings...

What’s stronger than campfire coffee?
It’s the bond shared by Sisters on the Fly, a group of nearly 1,500 women
ranging in age from 25 to more than 90. They share many things: flyfishing,
playing poker for pennies, cooking food in cast iron (heavy, but you
don’t have to go to the gym quite so often), and telling tall tales around the
campfire. Their one-of-a-kind vintage trailers have iconic names such as
Sister Sioux, Rhinestone Cowgirl, and Calamity Jane and Miss Montana.
In Sisters on the Fly: Caravans, Campfires, and Tales from the Road
(Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, $14.99, May 2010),
Irene Rawlings celebrates the camaraderie and travels of this remarkable group of women who live by the motto “We have more fun than anyone!”
Started by two real-life sisters in 1999, Sisters on the Fly have been finding (sometimes for as little as $50 in a farmer’s field), restoring, and traveling in uniquely decorated “homes on the range” (or mountain, valley, desert, or beach) that transport them from adventure to adventure.

Sisters on the Fly features tales from the open road, cowgirl crafts, chic trailer décor, recipes passed down from Grandma, and plenty of hints and tips to help transform a vintage trailer from “trashed to treasured.” If you can’t take to the road, you’ll still find plenty of ways to appreciate the creative journeying of this endearing and energetic group of women.
For those women who hear adventure calling, additional information about Sisters on the
Fly—how to join, how to buy a trailer, and a list of upcoming cowgirl caravan trips—can
be found at http://www.sistersonthefly.com/.

Sisters inspire one another to step outside their busy roll of mother, daughter, grandmother,businesswoman,teacher,nurse, civil engineer or federal judge, and devote a little time to the true cowgirl within.

The SOTF cowgirl fixes flat tires, cooks meals that would make John Wayne weak in the knees, traveles and explores with fierce independence and all the while, listens, shares, laughsand loves.
Irene Rawlings not only wears a Cowgirl~Sister on the Fly hat but she also wears the hats of an author, editor, curator, and art reviewer. She hosts an awardwinning
radio show syndicated throughout the Rocky Mountain West, and is the author of two
other books: "Portable Houses" and "The Clothesline".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can hardly wait for my copy to arrive....oh & for you Colorado readers, Irene will be having a book signing in a few weeks. Check her out on Face Book to get the particulars of when & where.

Sisters on the Fly Book...

Ok, I can hardly contain myself for the release of Irene Rawlings book about Sisters in the Fly.
I bugged her relentlessly to let me have a couple of pictures from her book to post on my blog.
Thank you Irene, your a doll....
She actually sent me a bunch of pictures...but then I thought if I post them all that would take away from the surprise & glee you'd get from actually seeing & reading the book.

This is the front cover of the book and yep that's Maurrie on the left & Becky on the rt.

Here is sweet "Chantilly Lace" owned by our own sweet Denise, lil sis#760...

Her vintage awning came from England.
Denise, myself & a handful of other gals all went camping down in Prosser, WA. recently,,, well, camping, junktiquing, eating & dancing that is...lol!

To bad we don't know how to have fun! lolol!

Prosser, Washington. Apr.2010

Wahoo, YEEHAW & Wagons HO!
A hand full of us, Prosser Farm Gals, Sisters on the Fly and Spokane Past Blessings gal pals converged on the Yakima river at Karen Benton's property for a 3 day camping, shopping and Barn Dance weekend. What fun we all had.....
Here are a few of the trailers. We normally would decorate our spots outside our trailers but the winds were blowing to strong so we had to settle for just making our sweet trailers cute on the inside.

This is just part of Rene's cute Aladdin trailer all dolled up in a Roy & Dale Rogers theme.

Heather's trailer, "4CHIX Only", a 1947 Silver lark. We met up in the Starbucks parking lot in Cheney WA. to caravan to Prosser.

And of course, my lil Scotty aka 'The Gnome Home'... I listened to non stop Dean Martin music on the trip to Prosser....and am still singing Dino tunes! lol!

WoHoo! Work has started Up!

Yep, you see right...No floor!
Hubby decided that the old sub floor needed to go.... Now to seal the underside of the wood before screwing it down.

On the plus side, the trailer will not have any funky smells or odors with all the new wood.

And it is comforting to know that the floor won't gave way under my feet.

Hubby loves his power tools! And so do I...cuz it makes his job so much more easy!

Next we need to lay down the vinyl floor and then onto the birch wood walls, wiring, cabinets, insulation and then button her up!

Last will be the tires, new paint & then hook her up and go Glamping!

Happy Trails!

Some Daze...

Some Daze....
Artwork by Paige Bridges of the "Sisters on the Fly" Caravan. Some Daze...
Artwork by Paige Brides of a Scotty Vintage Travele Trailer Rally.

Some Daze.....

My little 1963 Serro Scotty will look as cute as this picture. Artist Paige Bridges of Texas is a fellow Sister on the Fly~sister and a fantastic artist of vintage trailer and other works.

She has designed cards with vintage trailers on them for our Sisters on the Fly group as well as as done some special art work for SOTF.

If you ever get a chance check her work out...she has the cutest art work.

I am partial to this Scotty picture cuz I have the same sweet little Scotty...if only I had a blue 1957 Chevy BelAir to pull it...I do have a 1954 BelAir,,,,but she is just a little to geriatric to pull anything!

Happy Trails!

Trailer Daze....

Ok, so today the hubs & I went out to the ManCave to check in on the trailers....
Yep, the Aljo is still naked as a jay bird! lol! But Hubby was able to do a wee bit of work on it.
If the weather is halfway decent tomorrow we just might get to start nailing on the cross braces. So keep your fingers crossed for us.
yep, as you can see, we can see right thru the Aljo to where the BelAir is parked....

Ok, bottoms up! lol!

Hubby is checking out the underside of the trailer....if all goes well maybe, just maybe we will get to start the repairs on the floor and then move onto the walls....

So glad hubby took a gazillon photos of the Aljo as he disassembled her. The photos will come in handy when we start to put her back together.

Happy Trails & Show No Fear!

My Idea of Glamping...then....

Ok, so 6 years ago this was as close to "Camping~Glamping" as I was willing get.
My daughter & I enjoyed staying at nice Hotels for our little 'Mother~Daughter' getaways.
This was at a lovely Hotel in Pasadena, California.....We would bring our scrap booking supplies, our shopping shoes and our credit cards.....that was then....

Now I enjoy wearing worn out jeans, cowgirl boots and Glamping in my vintage trailer....
In fact my first trip of 2010 will be the end of April down in Prosser, WA....
Then come June I have 2 Glamping trips awaiting me & my gal~pals.... 1 in July and 1 in August....those are the planned ones,,hopefully I will be able to sneak a few more in before having to tuck my trailer away for Winter.

Speaking of trailers,,,,,'Gracie's Victorian Rose' is still naked as a Jay Bird....it has been just to cold to work on her...but Hubby Dearest says the first warm weekend of Spring we will throw open the doors to the ManCave and start working on the Aljo again. Wahoo!
So for now I will Glamp in my lil Scotty w/a Potty who I now call the "Gnome Home"....
It's fun having different decorated trailers for my 'many' different personalities! lol!

Trailer Pillows

What's a vintage trailer with out lots of pillows? I call this one, "A Fish Story". The wooden button was cut from a piece of wood.

Yep, another pillow case being tested by my head pillowcase testing kitty!

These are (were) T-shirts from a 'Sister on the Fly' gal pal.....she asked me to be creative...and here they are....now they are on their way to Idaho to decorate a vintage trailer.

Happy Trails to you.....

Requiem to a Trailer....

Oh how sad.....Inside view as this once loved trailer sits in despair and dis-repair.

I am sure the original owners were proud as peaches when they bought this trailer that would allow them to explore 'the world' and make wonderful family memories.

She was once a snazzy jazzy trailer...

Now here she sits, sad & forlorn in a wrecking yard....

Oh if only I had the skills and money to bring her back to life, to once again let her travel down the highways and byways....visiting National Parks and camp grounds along pristine rivers....

The other day I got word of a sad looking trailer that was towed into a local wrecking yard, and having the connections that I do, was able to get a inside peek....

It was so heart breaking (to us vintage trailer nuts) to see the condition this trailer was in.

I don't want to say she is beyond repair, but it will cost a pretty penny to restore her back to her wonderful old self.

As best as I can figure, this is a mid-late 1960's Rolls Royal Phantom 16 coach built in El Monte, Calif.

As you can see she has major damage to the interior, both age & water damage have taken their toll... I can't even see the floor through all the trash.... Broken windows, gouges & holes on the exterior skins, flattened tires, and there is no telling what condition the electrical wiring is in.

I am thinking about salvaging the stove and stove top as well as hardware and her "phantom 16 " emblem.

If hubby & I weren't in the midst of a full restoration on the '59 Aljo I might be able to talk him and myself into taking on this one....but alas, only one project at a time and budget.

For those of you who have restored a vintage trailer, you know how expensive it can be...certainly not a project for the faint of heart or pocket book....lol!

Thank goodness there are a lot, (but not enough) of us vintage trailer lovers out there that want to preserve a 'moment in history' when trailers in the mid century were such a delight to own. For families to be able to own and create wonderful memories.

I love it when someone sees my trailer (and our 1954 Chevy Bel-Air) and says, oh wowzers! I remember growing up with one of those....they love to share their good memories and isn't that what it's all about, happy memories to pass down to the next generation?

Happy Trails to you, until we meet again.

The Gnome Home....

Ok, for months I struggled with trying to come up with the perfect name for my 1963 Scotty trailer.....
I was telling a friend my story of the "missing front lawn gnomes"....Years ago my childhood BFF had sent me 3 Gnomes from Germany....well I had them out under our 3 Ficus trees....
One day I noticed that one of the Gnomes was missing...hmmmm all I could think was how tacky that someone would steal a Gnome from our home....
Then several weeks later I noticed a second Gnome was missing...ok, not funny,,,time to call the Gnome Police.... then again a couple weeks later the 3rd one disappeared....ok, no more Gnomes for me.
Several days later while on the phone to my mom I mentioned the missing Gnome & she just starts laughing...finally she said, "well I wondered how long it would take you to notice!"...
My mom was the Gnome Thief!!!! lol!

Which brings me back to now..... I was out rummaging through a local Thrift shop & spotted this little Gnome,,,and for only a whopping .49cents!
Then I found some fun kitschy fabric with retro vintage trailers & Gnomes....it was meant to be....my Scotty with a potty is now the "Gnome Home"....

Welcome 2010...A New Year for Trailering Fun!

Ok,,,so here it is, the first week of January, 2010 and already I am planning some sewing fun ....
I have come across these 3 cute trailer motif fabrics which would be fun to make 'decorative' items for needy trailers...my dilemma is do I stick with just one print or go wild and buy yardage from all three and figure out later what to use them for????? (RV website)

(fabric.com)

(ebay)

I know the 1st & 3rd are from the Michael Miller fabric line...not sure who the middle one is from.

Hmmm, the first 2 are from web sites but the last one is currently on ebay so I had better decide pretty quick.... thinking, thinking, thinking!

Happy Trails to you until we meet again.....

Origional Mustang Sally Apron

The western apron is an original Mustang Sally Apron......

How cool is that! it is a retro bark cloth western fabric and will look so cute when I wear it while cooking over a fire pit while camping in my 1959 Aljo with my Sisters on the Fly group.

The pink~n~blue one is a vintage crochet apron that will be used in my 1963 Scotty...notice the cute vintage salt&pepper shakers too!

I was in a Western Apron swap with Sally, a fellowrett farm gal on the MaryJane Farm forum.

I luv all the cool stuff she made & found for me.

Thank you Mustang Sally

SOTF Pillow

Every gal needs a monogrammed pillow case......I have mine!

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyways!...John Wayne".

Our Recent SOTF Get Together...

Well here we are, good friends, good food & good gossip! lol!
These are some of the gals that I camp with, with Sisters on the Fly.
Seated front left, back, around and front right are:
Teresa#430, Raunnie #442, Sandy #555, Tony(new) Heather #1156, Thea #525, Kelly #714, Nancy #697, me #472 and Jane #1234
Even though our sweet little vintage trailers have been put to bed for the Winter, we gals still manage to meet up and discuss upcoming trips as well as reminisce about the fun we had at past ones.

Our next meet up will most likely be in December, over in North Bend, WA...if the weather will cooperate!

Tucked in for Winter...

Well it's that time of year,,,when we tuck in our trailers for the Winter.....and already I am daydreaming about next years trailer outings.....but till then I will have to just keep dreaming and making more goodies to decorate my trailers. Speaking of which...I have crochet a pink & blue rag rug for my 1963 Scotty and I also made an(other) apron to use when in my '63 Scotty...this one is brown with grey & pink Scotty dogs...if you click on the pic you will be able to see them better.
The western album is actually a b-day gift....you have no idea how much I want to keep it for myself!
As for Peek-a-boo kitty, she is such a camera ham.... I love this wonderful book. It has all sorts of wonderful vintage trailers in fact 2 "sisters" from our Sisters on the Fly group have photos of their trailer in this book.
I love curling up on the sofa and looking through this delightful book. But even more,,,,I am looking forward to the book that Irene Rawling's is creating on Sisters on the Fly and all the wonderful events we attend as well as a lot of our trailer in it...The book is due out in April 2010.
I know I can hardly wait!

Scotty Pink & Blue

Ok, I got the little coffee pot and the metal basket painted "Scotty Pink & Blue"....
So what do ya think?
I love spray paint!

Barbwire Art....

OK, so this is too cute & would look cute in my Aljo, don't you think?
I spotted it in a model home but the agent had no idea where it was purchased. Bummer!
Wonder if I could re-create it using some of our scrap barbwire....but where can I find the iron cowboy bronc busting.....

More Trailer Crafting Fun.

Here I go again......give me a can of spray paint & I will find something to paint! lol! The next time you see these items(first warm day I am heading out to the Man Cave) they will no longer be these colors....The tall coffee pot was originally yellow, I painted it this soft green, now I think I will paint it pink just for kicks -n-giggles!

The lime green basket was white, I painted it green to match the decor in my SCAMP trailer which I no longer have so the basket will become Ocean Blue to match the blue in my Scotty trailer.

As for the little yellow coffee pot, I am thinking pink with blue polka dots! It will also go into my Scotty.I LOVE spray paint! This is my newest pillow case that I made for my Aljo trailer, Gracie's Victorian Rose. It is a sweet westerny flannel with wide ric rac & my 'Sisters on the Fly' ID number embroidered on it.

I am so glad I have an embroidery machine...now I can embellish everything I sew up for my trailers.

So like daddy always said..."if it moves salute it...if it don't..paint it".

Happy Trails to you...

My Last Post.....

Oh my Stars! has it been that long since I last posted here on my trailer blog????
We have had such a busy summer with laying irrigation lines, and house guests that poor hubby & I just have not had time to work on the Aljo, so she sits naked as a jay bird out in the Man cave....I have managed to whip up a few crafty items to decorate my Aljo with....and here are two of them....the picture frame was a white plastic faux wicker picture frame....I tossed the goofy picture and painted the frame red...I will either put a mirror or nice picture in the frame. Now the tin match keeper I found at one of my favorite vintage/antique shops, and for only $3....needless to say, I painted it, decoupaged on a piece of Roy Rogers & Dale Evans fabric and then glued on some rhinestones....pretty glammy, don't ya think?