Evolution of a Little House of Care
This is what our little house looked like just before we started building it. It’s proof that donkeys are messy eaters. I once sold a school bus to a man and he asked me if I would count the trailer as $100 towards the purchase price of the bus. I did.
It worked perfectly to haul hay. It was a lowboy so the donkeys could reach the hay. The only thing that detracted from the overall value is that it had not a hint of springs. Neither does your dining room table one would imagine. At the point you see in the picture the floor was rotting out.
It worked perfectly to haul hay. It was a lowboy so the donkeys could reach the hay. The only thing that detracted from the overall value is that it had not a hint of springs. Neither does your dining room table one would imagine. At the point you see in the picture the floor was rotting out.
As you can see, the donkeys did not care. Now about the same time that these donkeys were making such a mess of their meal, someone was developing a real need for that trailer.
A group of people from our church had initiated a ministry to feed the homeless in the Conroe area. It was well meaning but adding the clothing that was donated turned it into a real disorganized mess. Don’t smirk. It would have been a mess for you too. A couple of us put our heads together and building an enclosure for a trailer seemed to be the best solution.
It was so rotted that a new floor was the first order of business. Every endeavor needs a supervisor. This was ours.
Walls but no roof. Not nearly enough to work.
Carlos and Tim placing roof joists.
We tested the roof by putting the lightest body we had on top to attach the plywood. Almost able to hit the road.
This is the point where we were ready to use it while we were building. You can note the warpage on the corner . That meant we needed to paint what we had up and not wait until we were done. The inside is pretty sparse here but got a lot more complicated as we went along.
Sometimes operating like this caused strange and/or funny situations. Like driving down the road and seeing a long sleeve from a shirt flapping through the window.
Sometimes operating like this caused strange and/or funny situations. Like driving down the road and seeing a long sleeve from a shirt flapping through the window.
Painting the House.
Pretty much fully functional
One of my favorite pictures. At the Library before they decided it wasn't ok to feed your fellow man.
This is the little stool that we used for the back porch. Not so good for old folks.
This was an improvement. The problem is that if you forget and went into reverse without lifting the steps you get the chance to replace them. Do not ask me how I know.
A friend of mine donated this sign. In the same picture you can see that we have had some trouble with the jack. Putting the trailer on a concrete block only works when you can park it for a while. Bumper jacks and concrete blocks are time consuming and back breaking when the tongue gets too heavy.
This makes it super easy on pavement and something you can do on ground.
A typical scene at Roberson Park. jusrt shortly after we had it fully functional.
Manger scene by Carlos. We had this tacked on the side during christmas and we wore Santa suits.
With the back porch and porch roof installed. Lewis Park.
The back porch meant that we could carry folding chairs. Turned out to be less important than we thought but it’s possible.
Eventually the rain was going to take it’s toll on the painted wood. Someone who liked what we were doing donated these roofing panels and a roof cap. We put them to use.
Obviously they had to become Red. The roof cap on the left accepts the roofing panels with a minimum of fuss.
This roof cap in place.
We were going to be the snack station for the week of Vacation Bible School. That meant that Sally wasn’t happy with the appearance. She painted the windows before we started the cedar shingles.
We decided that it wouldn’t do without a miniroof over the window. Redneck carpentry at it’s best.
You see shingles. I see dollars.
First day of vacation bible school. Temporarily done.