Johnstone's Junonia

Just in case you don't know, this is Alabama's state shell. 

It officially received it's designation in 1990 as the official state shell.

It is named after Kethleen Yerger Johnstone, an amateur  conchologist from Mobile. 

It is a large sea snail from deep waters. You usually don't find these washed up on shore unless there is a big storm. It was also named after the Roman Goddess  Juno. 

It can reach a maximum length of  4.9 inches!

I can only imagine finding one!

Today found us both working hard to get things done around here. Christmas presents, farmhouse table, Extra Canvas cut for trip to India, Gypsy Gal's shower and name painting,  all got our attention today. I worked in the wagon, getting the shower situation fixed to my liking now. Our bath in the Gypsy Gal is about 2 x 6 feet and half of that is shower. (It also has a chemical toilet, faucets to wash our hands, and brush teeth at night.) I did not want a wet bath, so we modified a concrete mixing tub from Home Depot to make our shower pan. I put up 3 shower curtains to protect the wood sides of the trailer as the bath will not fit a standard shower surround, primarily because of the beautifully bowed roofline. Unfortunately this bow caused the curtains to lay really funny. (not in a good way) I have cup hooks holding the curtains in place and I was concerned about the excess plastic on the floor and us stepping on it. So, I removed it all, reconfigured the curtains and trimmed one down. I then put them together using double sided sticky tape and rehung them in place. I then trimmed the bottom edge after stapling the wonky creases down. I also altered the outer privacy curtain, adding length to it. All in all after cleaning the pan and non slip rug, I am very happy with my project. Chris even moved one of the hooks that our towels hang on. (we had an issue with the towel swinging out of the door when we tried to close it after showering.)

That project done, I moved on to the next task at hand. When we first built the trailer, it was a beautiful black with wood trim. Unfortunately, the VERY expensive paint I bought at Lowes was failing miserably within a few months. Chris decided to repaint the exterior wood surfaces a beautiful deep sky blue. Unfortunately, this meant the Gypsy Gal name that I had painted around the door window was covered up. 

I repainted the name today, along with an established year. It is gold with a black outline and looks really nice. I like the wagon having a name again!

I finished out my day's work on the wagon with vacuuming out the sawdust (man glitter!)

 and wood chips created by my woodchuck named Chris. He created quite the mess while rebuilding the closet refrigerator cabinet. We also collaborated on how to carry the bikes. We will open the bed up, put down moving blankets, and lay them on their sides to transport. (I love it when we think together!) We contemplated adding a hitch and carrier to the back of the wagon, but I have memories of an almost collapsed bike carrier during our first trip to the Florida Keys. It was beautifully welded back together by a gentleman at John Pennenkamp Park in the Keys. He would not take any money for helping us, and we were so grateful. 

Camping areas and camping people are usually like that, ready to lend a hand, help with a repair, share a story, or share a meal together. It's several of the reasons we love to camp!

Johnstone's Junonia, Acrylic on canvas, 6 x6

Day 11 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019