Every Needful Thing

I've always said that I could live in a dirt shack if I had to 

as long as...

I lived there with Mr Mossi

and 

our children were warm and safe.

Well, the children have all grown up and moved on.

That makes dirt-shack living less complicated.

But Mr and Me aren't living in that mythical soddy* or dugout*.

*you know what I'm talking about if you grew up crazy about Laura Ingalls Wilder like I did*

We are, however, living out behind the Bungalow (what's left of it) in our 23.5 ft camper-trailer.

Compared to a dirt shack, it's rather swanky.

Anyway,

I know y'all are itchin' to take a peek inside at our current living arrangements.

I mean...

I'm perfectly aware that there's a certain unspoken curiosity about crazy people 

and the crazy things they do. 

So, come on in and I'll show you around.

But only a few at a time, please...

it gets crowded rather quickly.
Speaking of crowded...
to start off today's tour I'll share with you a recollection I had
just a few days after we settled into our little gypsy home.
It's this...

My Grandma Beth always had these around, especially on road trips,
for us to play with when I was a young girl.
As Mr and Me were shuffling around each other between the range and dining table,
a vision of one of these puzzles popped into my head.
It pretty much sums up how we live right now.
It's awesome fun -
especially if you like cozy.
And we like cozy.
*wink*wink*


Our "Front Room"

Our 'front room' is literally out front.

If y'all decide to be neighborly and come for a visit b'fore noon or just b'fore sundown,
this is where we'll sit and enjoy your company.
And p.s. - we have plenty of extra chairs.

Our "Back Parlor"

But iffin ya come fer a chin wag b'tween those hours, we'll do our vis'tin here,
in the 'back parlor' under the walnut tree where it's nice and shady.
(ever once in a while my 'Arkie' blood starts a talkin' out over my regaler way o' speakin' and I jus cain't hep it)

Our Kitchen

With the exception of a dishwasher, it's fully equipped, but
everything is obviously on a smaller scale.
I'm not much of a dishwasher kinda gal, anyway, so I don't miss having one.
We have all the dishes and kitchen-ware we need to get by with in those small cabinets.

Most of our kitchen appliances are in storage, but there are some that I'm especially fond of
such as
my little waffle maker, my citrus juicer, the toaster and a little crock pot.
They're all in there and with a bit of room to spare which makes me
regret not keeping my panini grill out too instead of storing it away.
The microwave that belongs with the trailer burned out on us, so Mr replaced it
with the little one we bought back in December to use when we moved here.
(we left our nice big one at the PV home as part of the sale)
This one sits cockeyed  in the cubby-hole and that irritates me, but there are too many
other things to take care of right now, so I try to just ignore it's obvious slant.
The pantry is to the left of the fridge and is plenty big for all our boxes,
 bags and cans of  edibles.
I've even got toys and books for Cowboy and Cupcake stored in there
along with our scanner/printer.
The fridge/freezer is miniature, but we manage with just the two of us.

But we do have what we call "the red-neck fridge" out back for overflow...

cuz ya can never have enough bottled water or Diet Coke on hand.

I must say that I do enjoy the view from our trailer kitchen window.
It looks right out on my hen house and coop.
I can't tell you how many times I've stood at the sink washin' up the dishes
and laughed out loud as I watch Pearl chase her sisters 'round and 'round
their hen house. She such a bossy bird.

Our Dining Area

Truthfully, we don't do much dining here unless we end up eating really late.

We prefer to eat 'al fresco' at our picnic table.

This is more like our office,

but I also do our ironing here...

I think I'm one of the very few women left on the planet that is a die-hard ironer.

I really don't mind ironing. 

I like the smell of  hot steam coming off his collars (always smells faintly like his cologne) and 

I've always taken pride in sending him to his 9 to 5 in a pressed, wrinkle-free shirt. 

PLUS I get the added bonus of watching a conference talk or two while I iron. 

Our Bedroom

 It actually can be a room, but we took the retractable divider down for convenience sake.

Above the bed is a large storage compartment where we keep our 

pants, shirts, pj's, athletic gear, etc. neatly organized in individual baskets.

And for the first time since I was a little girl, I keep my current pair of pjs under my pillow.

Yeah. You didn't need to know that. I have tendencies to over-inform. Sorry.

On the right is my 'closet'. It's a snug fit with a dozen of my skirts 

and a few other items hanging up in there.

Shoes we wear most often are kept out of the way under the edge 

of the end of the bed. Shoes we wear less are kept in the cabinet next to the

 door and I recommend you bridle your urge to snoop cuz

 that cabinet doesn't have the most pleasant aroma.

Know what I mean?

There's also storage space directly under the bed that's a little hard to get to and

 we have random things in there like several of my books, 

a bucket of our favorite rice, an extra blanket and I can't think of what else right now.

Our bed, a queen size pillow-top, is very comfortable.

Oh, yeah...

and Ally's bed is on the floor at my side of the bed just like 

when we live in an actual house, only much closer.

The Bathroom

A couple of Sundays ago Karen Coleman told me she wondered where on Earth we keep all our clothes. 

The thought had occurred to her as she was sitting in ward counsel earlier that morning with 

Dean, who was all dressed in his Sunday best.

I laughed out loud.

See, Karen...the closet in the bathroom is all his.

Well, I do get one of the drawers in the stacked Sterilite unit -

his 'unmentionables' are a little bulkier than mine.

Truthfully...

the bathroom situation was my biggest concern as we anticipated living in our trailer.

It isn't like I'm not comfortable or familiar with it because it's been our  

Mossi Hollow bathroom, but that was never for more than a week at a time.

It has taken some adjustment, but it's working out just fine.

I have had to make several other adjustments and improvise how I do some things -

things like cleaning, for example.

I don't have room for a mop bucket...

so when I mop I pull the liner out of the little wastebasket in the bathroom, 

fill it with mop water,  do the moppin', empty it, rinse it, wipe it dry and replace the liner.

I betcha you're completely mesmerized by all this, aren't ya.

#whoamitryingtokid

Well...

there ya go.

That's life in our trailer.

And we are happy.

We've got each other and we are in this together, Mr and Me.

We have complete trust, belief and confidence in each other.

That, combined with our faith in God, will make this experience nothing less than a good, fun memory. It's actually quite comforting and satisfying and thrilling to realize how little we need to get by, live comfortably and feel secure. And when we kneel together before we crawl into bed every night, we thank Him for our little Gypsy home and the opportunity to rebuild Our Retro Bungalow and for lovingly providing us with every needful thing.