Feeling blue about my moons...

Well, the moons are nasty.  They started out with a layer of paint (and who know what underneath), and the undersides are gross and rusty. Marc had already tried stripping one of them, but it looked like it might have rust coming up through the back.  I called around to see what it would cost to get them cleaned up and re-chromed, and it was not good.  Since I didn't want to pay $100 a pop ( ! ) I decided to try and rescue them.  I started by trying steel wool on the one Marc already stripped, and it helped only minimally.  The moon looked and felt like it still  had some paint on it, so I put paint stripper on both of them and waited.  After redoing this a few times, they are looking better.  I ran out of stripper, so that's it for tonight.   I'm going to keep trying later on tomorrow and see how it goes.

This is how they looked after Marc stripped one of them a little

 

 

And after I worked on them a bit last night...

 Still not pretty, but better.  The one on the bottom still needs several coats of stripper.

Shining up the eyebrows and putting them back on...

Just back from the paint shop!

Just got the Siesta back from the paint shop. Joe Pruneda at Precision Auto Body in Spring did a great job!  I really like it - it's a bit lemony (my choice) but that's okay.  The painter was able to copy the original stripe - YAY!  We still need to do the wheels and do something about the moons.  I don't think the ones I see online will fit.  I need ones that are really deep.  I have the originals, but I'll need to have them blasted and re-chromed.  Is that expensive?  I guess I'll find out! 

Here it is without the eyebrows

 

 

 

These are the products Joe Pruneda and his team used on the Siesta

Camping in Canton with the Taylors

We had such a blast camping with Christy and Leonardo Taylor!  We had met them (and their cute little Mobile Scout) in Santo.  Christy and I have very similar tastes as far as antiques go.  As she said herself, she is very good at spending my money!  And Leonardo always has something funny to say.  What a great couple and a great weekend!  Dan Tarno and his wife, who we also met at Santo, lives there and dropped by to say hello. 

 

Taking a SIESTA...Bah ha ha!

 

Made it to the rally!

Well, we made it to the rally in Santo, Texas.  We had a blast!  It rained a little on Saturday, but it cleared up and I got to tour a lot of other trailers.  Aren't they cute?



Here we are with the rain in the distance.  We need some outdoor decorations!  Lookin;' pretty bare!


 

Look at the little Mobile Scout amongst all the giants!

Moving her out! Santo, Texas or Bust!

Here we are getting the trailer out of the backyard.  She fits under the breezeway - barely - but we have to put on smaller tires.  We rebuilt the fence so a large piece can be lifted out and put back when we want to take the trailer out.  We are getting her ready to go on her maiden voyage to the Tin Can Tourist rally in Santo, Texas!  YAY!  She's still not painted, but we will have to do that later. 

More Glamping - Yee Haw!

Had fun decorating this weekend.  We are wrapping up work on the interior, but I still want to get the exterior painted.  Someday...

 

 

If you look on the wall, you'll see a picture of William Milam Sparks, my Great-Great Grandfather, sitting on his horse.  Several family photos and a couple of old comic books sit on the ledge.

More old family photos sitting on the ledge.  I especially like the one on the far left with the little kids dressed up as cowboys and Indians.  My dad is in that one.  I guess he was about 6.  

 

 

I got these mugs made with even more old family photos. 

I also love the tray I found with the guy taking a siesta.

 

Davy...Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier!

Storing the trailer

We had a little bit of a conundrum about where to store the trailer.  Our HOA is pretty strict about putting an old trailer in your driveway for an extended period of time, so we knew we had to do something.  (Funny, though - the guy down the street NEVER mows his lawn and it's half dead and there are huge weeds growing up through the cracks of his driveway.  Whatever.)

Anywho, we decided to rebuild the little fence between the house and the garage so that a section could be lifted out and the trailer pulled through.  To conceal the trailer once it was in the backyard, we hung flags on a lattice and hung that from the breezeway.  It has worked so far - no nasty letters from the HOA!  My favorite part is the "Come and Take It" flag.  A little Texas patriotism along with a little Chutzpah! 

Screen Door

A quick entry - Marc built a new screen door a while back and I forgot to mention it.  Here it is!  The old one was nasty and rotten.  Doesn't this look nice? 

More Glamping!

I found a wonderful seamstress to make some pillows for Sparky - thanks, Nikki!  Since I'm going for a vintage Texas cowboy theme, I thought Davy Crockett pillows might be appropriate.  As far as I know, my ancestors didn't know Davy personally, but they did know Sam Houston, and even hosted him at their Red River area home in Clarksville as he made his way to Texas.  Huzzah!

My seamstress made a quilt from all the leftover scraps from the curtains and pillows. 

Isn't it beautiful?

 

Front

 

Back

 

Why Sparky?

I have thought for a long time about what to call my trailer.  I settled on Sparky the Siesta because my maiden name is Sparks and my Sparks ancestors truly were Texas cowboys.  The Sparkses came to Texas right after the Texas Revolution and have been raising hell ever since :)

Here's the real Sparky - my great uncle Leslie "Sparky" Sparks.  Like many of my more recent Sparks ancestors, he worked the early oil fields in Texas.  I even have an ancestor who was at Spindletop! I remember my great uncle Sparky as a kind, gentle soul - a really sweet man.  I wish I could have known him better. 

 Here are some of my other Sparks ancestors.
 

Edward and Worthy "Word" Sparks

 

 



Sparky's grandpa, William Milam Sparks

Cattle driver (and sometime rustler!)

 



James Christian Sparks and Joseph Madison Sparks

 



Milam Sparks and boys

 



Sparky's parents

Arthur Worthy and Maggie Sparks