The life outside

The long view of life outside, VARDOFORTWO is simply a dab in the reality of just how much surface we 'claim.'

Two of three raised beds are pau. Pete used reclaimedwood from The Ledge, mostly 2x4s and 2x6s left over from the original building of Pellet and Turtle's home.

That's a small screen we use to shake out the stones and debris from the soil we'll use for planting.

Mid May and the soil's still pretty cold for planting. Maybe in the next couple weeks or so we'll put some organic seed or starts into the raised beds.

Never take for granted the utility of the clothes line. Thanks to Pete's ingenuity and the support of Tutu the grand lady fir, we have a large clothes line. Clean and clear from chemicals and toxic smelling detergents, and getting clothes safe to wear are major challenges and a many stepped process for folks like me living with MCS.

Cottons and wool are the only choices that keep my sensitivities calm. My long-time passion for thrift shopping is tempered now ... though not eliminated. My trips inside those shops must be well-thought out: I must be covered with hat, and clothing that can be removed before I get in the car again (my hair and outerwear will absorb the perfumes and smells from the shop); A mask is a must (though sometimes I don't need it, I carry it); A 'clean' heavy plastic bag will encase all my 'finds' and the bag either bundeed to the roof or safely in the rear of Scout.

Where does the clothes line come in? A typical thrift shop sweater (that's one of the wool sweater in the photo above) or flannel sheet requires at least 6-12 HOT,HOT WATER washings in baking soda and milk (to absorb and neutralize the formaldydhyde. Then, the clothes line or dryer ... Seem like a lot? Um, hmm. Baking Soda and fragrance free detergents two great solution to de-stinking the Earth!

Kitchen Camp on The Ledge. Tucked into the shrubs from a couple steps from the front porch is our kitchen. Two coolers = refrigeration cooled with blocks of ice we buy once or twice a week from the QFC in town.

A single electric burner heats a kettle for the venerable dozen cups of tea (hurray!) The old toast oven loyally serves up fresh barley bread, roasted sweet potatoes and other concoctions.

That table is another reclaimed from a life in the dump table, a former art table Turtle no longer wanted ... Pete the tinker does it over and over again.

In the far right-hand corner is our latest design from The Ledge creation. A by-the-side-of-the- road porcelain and cast iron double sink has become our kitchen sink on The Ledge. We wash vegetables, dishes and our hands there, and the water collects in a bucket we take to the compost. We found recycled tiles at Habitat for Humanity in Seattle (the yellow and green checker-board design = the hand-made tiles). We paid 20 cents a piece for them. More reclaimed wood was used to build the table. We had to Denny Foil and thumb tack part of the wood because though it is OLD cedar, the cedar is still very aromatic and I react ill to the smell. Denny Foil is our friend.

The camp tarp is the same tarp Pete used throughout the winter in White Center when the VardoForTwo needed to be protected from snow, rain and hail. Metal conduit (like we used inside for the wall and window coverings) is the tinker toy construction that holds up our kitchen walls and roof.

The romance of a wanderer's life was definitely part of the fantasy involved in dreaming up something that would transform the insanity of diaspora from a chemically threatening world. While we lived through the roughest of road life ... sleeping in Scout parked in driveways and parking lots, fleeing one more pesticide spray poisoning ... the romance of a mobile life fed us.

We have made the dream of a safe and mobile haven come true. The wee bedroom on two wheels houses our bed, keeps us snug from rain and wind, and provide respite when the world overwhelms.

The reality of these two old wanderers includes continuing being constantly resourceful and conscious of the ways we put the life outside together now. Reassembling a life that soothes our souls is not a romantic dream any more ... it is the grandest of dreams Mother dreams for more and more of us.