RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard

Motorhome Modifications- COOKING WHILE CAMPING part 1 --- and Frozen Nostrils Weather

2012-01-19T12:39:00.000-06:00

BRRRRRRRR We are soooo cold here! The air temps were below zero this morning, plus it's windy, so the Wind Chills are about 20 to 30 below. Yes, BELOW.... Frosty, Frigid and Frozen!

Poor Duke, our Shetland Sheepdog, was outside trying to do his business. He tries to hold all four of his paws in the air at the same time, rather than setting them down on the frosty cold snow. When it's this cold, his paws (an your moist skin) can actually stick to the frozen packed snow, and sting when you pull it off! Poor Duke can never figure out how to keep all four paws off the ground. He keeps looking at one paw to raise it, and doesn't realize that somewhere he is putting another paw down on the ground. Then he tries to raise another, and looks around-- dangnabbit! Then another paw has gone down... he gets so perplexed! You can just see it on his face!

We let our dogs out right from the open side door on our house, clicking on a rope to their collars. Easy Peasy to shut the door again, and we stay warm INSIDE and watch them through the window till they are done. They are pampered inside house pets, so do not have toughened up pads for the winter weather.

Even as I write this at noon, we are still 3 below, and our wind chills are still at 21 below!

But my neighbor's dogs still need to be let out twice a day too while he is at work. They are very short haired Vizsla hunting dogs. I bundled up from head to toe and headed over to let them out. They played frisbee for about 4 or 5 tosses in the snow, and right back into the house they went. I was not going to dawdle, so I was back home in five minutes too. Whew this is weather where your nostrils freeze shut, I kid you not!

With facing a long boring winter of no camping, I have been posting various Motorhome Modifications from my photo files that we have done over the years. Going from A to Z.... and I am still on C. It's "Cooking" !!! Although it is not really Motorhome Modifications, but it does use things we keep IN the motorhome all of the time for cooking.

From my past blogs where we are actually camping, you know from my posts that we do all of our cooking at the campsite. It's very rare that we go out to eat at restaurants, (not even when we are not camping) so preparing food is a highlight of our camping getaways. We do most of it in groups when camping with family and friends--- everyone contributes and we always have more than enough to eat!

Some of the tools we found to making our cooking easier, are:

Coleman Instastart Oven- Our motorhome only came with a micro/convection combo oven. There is no lower LP oven under our stove. I really really miss having a propane oven. Because we mostly camp rustic without hookups, I can not use the convection oven unless we fire up the generator. Who wants to do that for hours on end for a roast, or in the early morning for a tray of muffins or sweet rolls?

We found this to be the perfect answer to our problem!

It can run from a small 1 pound cylinder of propane, or attach the hose from a 20 pounder (BBQ grill size) that we sometimes bring along or now we can even hook a hose up from our big onboard built-in propane tank with the use of the Extend A Stay device which also has a port to use other LP appliances with a long hose.

I can cook roasts, bake cakes, warm up food or do half a pizza at a time. It sure is versatile, and even making breakfast toast is nice instead of starting up a generator just to run a toaster. Plus all the toast is done at one time, for everyone instead of the normal 2 slice - wait - 2 slice - wait - 2 slice - wait when you have more than one person for breakfast.

It takes a little smaller pan than the 13x11 size, more like the 11x9, so I had to buy a few more pans. It bakes evenly and has 5 rack heights. I do find the control knob to be touchy, and we usually fire it up and then turn the knob back down to almost OFF to get an even 375 or so on the dial on top. When not in use, we remove the propane source, because I feel the knob can be bumped ON too easily. That would allow gas to pour into the unlit oven and cause a dangerous situation. Especially around curious grandtots!

On hot days, using this oven keeps the cooking heat outside of the rig when set on the picnic table. On really cold or wet rainy days, I will even bring it inside the rig and set it on the counter or on the table. The legs are tall enough and it has a double layer insulated outside surface. It's not too hot to touch and does not heat up the underside surface where it comes near the table.

Popcorn Popper- Remember these? Steve loves popcorn and again, why fire up the generator to run a microwave popped package or a hot air popcorn popper? This works very well on the stove top burner and makes great tasting popcorn. Since I knew Steve, he has always owned one, wearing them out after a few years. I think this is the fourth or fifth one we have owned. When the popcorn is done, you can pull up the little lever and the top lifts off, and the bottom becomes a serving bowl!

(We have tried some of those long handled popcorn poppers for over the fire,

but usually end up with burnt puffs or scorched kernels)

Collapsible Tupperware Bowls- Steve found me these at a rummage sale, and wow are they ever nice! They are a bit harder to wash because of the ridges, but if we rinse them out right away after use, it makes it easier. They collapse down flat for more storage room in the cabinets.

Cast Iron Frypan- I know they are heavy for RVing, but nothing can beat a corn bread mix baked in an 8" cast iron frypan! I have a cast iron griddle too, and find nothing can replace wonderful way they bake or fry items. I do have a full set of Tfal kettles, and always do eggs in the Tfal, because I don't care for cleaning the cast iron after doing eggs.

Crock Pot- Ahh every RVer knows at the parks and social events, there is usually a potluck. I found this nice smaller oval crock pot from Proctor Silex. I think technically it's called a Slow Cooker, link: Proctor Silex 3 Qt Slow Cooker I think I got it on sale for $15. What I like about this one is that the inner crock is removable, for not only washing, but also for storing in the RV fridge with leftovers. Larger ones with removable round crocks won't fit in our RV fridge. so this is the perfect size. Plus there are clips to keep the lid on, for transport to the potluck!

Some motorhome owners will keep a crock pot going in the kitchen sink and run it from the inverter while traveling down the road. I have done this a few times and it sure makes a nice journey, smelling something cooking as you head on down the road. Like roasts or chicken n dumplings, or casseroles.... Especially on a rainy icky day when we get to a campground, and don't have to start a fire to cook supper!

Turkey Fryer- Yes, sometimes when getting together with family, we will bring along our propane stand and big turkey fryer! What a wonderful treat!!!! Exercise caution when using this appliance, because you have to be sure of the right level of oil when dunking in the bird to make up for displacement. Preheating the oil to the right temp is necessary but ALWAYS turn the burner OFF during the dunking process so there are no flames to ignite the oil if it does spill over. Re-light the burner once you are sure all is good to go.

We also use the turkey fryer base and a large deepfrying basket for crab legs! Not using oil, of course, but salted water and dipping them in for 14 minutes .. voila, perfectly steamed Alaskan Snow Crab Legs! We use this for making up 5-10 pounds at a time for family gatherings at the holidays too. Setting it up out on the deck keeps the strong odors of cooking seafood outdoors. Even in mid-winter! Here is a pic from when we took it along for a birthday dinner for me while camping in October:

And... one more use for this device, (my sister has one too) we sometimes can pickles or tomatoes while camping! Keep in mind, my sister lives about 120 miles away from me, so we don't get together other than on the weekends if we go camping. If we want to enjoy canning together like we do, we bring along all the supplies, jars, and bushels of vegetables right to the campground! We have done tomatoes, salsa, pickles, peppers, jam and other wonderful home-canned goodies. My sister and brother also do saurkraut, pickled fish and potted meats! My mother loves canning too, and while we were in Florida we set up my LP burner and kettle after mom found a deal on SIX bushels of tomatoes! Wowzer!

The caption on this first pic is kinda a misnomer. It's not a 9 quart canning kettle meaning 9 quarts of water, It means it will hold 9 quart jars! It's HUGE... and this stand works so well that even at home I use it for canning outside and keeping the kitchen cooler in the house.

My oldest daughter Erin is going to inherit my big canning kettle and our LP turkey fryer stand and kettle.. plus the crab leg bucket once we hit the road. We can still use it when we are back in the area, camping with family. And to steam crab legs when we come home at Christmas each winter for a few weeks!

Well, that is enough of camping cooking ideas for this blog post, stay tuned for the next few posts where I will cover some various grills, pudgy pie irons, pressure cooker, tri-pods over the fire and a really cool waffle maker!

I am going to pop a roast in the oven this afternoon and it will smell sooooo good in the house. Add some taters and carrots and onions and shrooms. By the time Steve gets home from work, it will be done, and helps to warm up the house too!

Brrrr stay warm out there, folks!

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Busy Birthday Weekend and Packer Loss... sigh

2012-01-16T12:20:00.000-06:00

Yes, it was a devastating loss to the Packer community around here. Not only didn't the team preform as expected, but the anticipated business of having some more play-off games in the area didn't unfold either.

Oh well, we love our Packers anyhow, no matter what. We just can't expect Aaron Rodgers to throw, catch and run for all of the touchdowns or to carry the team either. Some of the team needed to show up to play, which it seems they didn't even try. Sigh.

The rest of our weekend was delightful, because we had a grandtot birthday to celebrate! Our littlest granddaughter, Chelsea, turned TWO! And we all gathered at Erin and Mark's house to have her party.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CHELSEA...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOUUUUU~!

The guest list included all of her little cousins and one friend... the girls hung out in the playroom, doing their "Girl Things" at the little picnic table that Chelsea's daddy, Mark, built for her. How cute is this? I felt I was intruding on a "Girl Thing" moment when I snapped this picture. "Granmuddah, get out!"

All of her grandparents, great grandparents and aunts and uncles came too! It was a houseful with 18 adults, and five kids! We had a soup n' sandwich buffet, Erin put out a variety of sandwich makings and salads, and Steve made up a big pot of homemade chicken vegetable soup. Yummmmm

The little Birthday Girl had a good grasp on the present-opening-process, after just being through Christmas, she had good practice. Such concentration! Here is a shot of me with our daughter-in-law Heather, expecting our new grandson in early April, and my dear mother-in-law, Mary Ann on the far right.

Erin is also expecting another grandson for us, a week after Heather! Adding 2 more the crew!!

Our son Dan, to the left of Steveio, is sprouting a fuzzy beard, to be shaven off after the new baby comes. Why, I have NO idea! Steve did the same thing for each of his children, growing a beard during the pregnancy and then shaving it off after the babies were born. No idea why???!!!

At one point, the stinkers took out the toboggan and pretended to be going down a steep hill. How funny!

Our other two grandchildren -

Jameson busy with his party favor set of monster trucks,

and Allegra in her ballerina tutu and playing with balloons.

As Chelsea opened each present, she went around to each gifting relative and gave them huge hugs and thanks. Learning the art of "Thank You" is a good thing to have young ones understand, even at age 2.

Here she is hugging Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Pfundtner, who came all the way from Waupaca for her party. The roads were clear, and no snow in the forecast, we were glad they could make it.

(My camera has been making pink striped glares across the screen sometimes, ever since I dropped it in the Grand Canyon. ACK! Sunday I treated myself to a new Nikon digital camera, which should help the picture taking from now on.)

Yes, our Little Diva turned 2... going on 20 I am sure.

Happy Birthday, Beedle Bug Baby!

Motorhome Modifications - back to the letter C again

2012-01-13T12:29:00.000-06:00

Yup, we got some snow, but not nearly as much as they predicted. It was supposed to snow all day today too, but it looks like the storm moved on. I think we got about 5-6 inches, but with all the blowing around, it's hard to tell.

Now back to the letter C....

First on deck is a Collapsible Bucket. We picked this up last year on a sale, and it sure is handy! I think I paid $5 for it.

The extending windshield squeegee fits inside it for washing the windows on the outside of the rig. When dried out, it collapses down and slides into the little nylon sack for storage. Takes up a lot less room than a five gallon bucket we used to use. The only reason a five gallon bucket is nice to have along (if you have room) is that it can do double duty as a step stool or a seat when turned upside down.

Good for Steve's s rig-washing brush, or even just a bucket to hand wash something with a rag.
We have used it to soak sweet corn in before grilling.
We have used it to haul water for filling my canning kettle.
We have used it to haul apples picked off a tree on an abandoned farmstead.
We have used it to scoop up dog food from a broken bag in the storage compartment.

We have used to carry toddler toys to the beach, juice boxes and sunscreen too.

So that was a little handy hint for an easy RV accessory that has multiple uses.

Coleman lanterns, of course, are a staple among the camping crowd! Especially when you camp in rustic campgrounds without hookups or boondocking out in the boonies. No streetlights for miles. It is one of our favorite camping toys!

A small lantern from Coleman, SOOO much better than hauling around those bigger camping lanterns, breaking their glass lens, or their fragile mantles. For many many years, since I was a child, we had those big white gas lanterns with the thin glass circular lens. Can't tell you how many we broke, usually while in transit. We even had the big maroon cases to help with breakage on the large propane versions. But we saw this one being used by our camping buddy, Bob Senior. We had to go out and get one right away for ourselves. This one has kept the same mantle going all summer.

I LOVE clearance Sales at our local Shopko store. They had these neato containers that are rectangular in shape instead of circular. Think... on a shelf... flat sides of containers stack next to each other better than cylindrical. So we get more storage and less wasted space. I bought a set of 8 of these great containers from Gourmet Living.

MY CABINET BEFORE MY NEW CONTAINERS

They have vacuum seal lids by flipping down the little ring type levers on the lids, which create a suction. We use the larger ones for flour, sugar, brown & powdered sugar etc. The smaller ones for coffee, rice, pancake mix etc. Less cardboard boxes and bags in the cabinets is good to avoid bugs when travelling in the southern states. Here they are, all filled up and lined in a neat row.

These are normally $15-20 a container --- WHEW! But they had a set of 8 pieces, all in the sizes I wanted for the mere price of $89.99 ... so that is down to $10 a container.... still a WHEW! --- You know me, a cheapie shopper. Well, the set was on sale for only $39.99. Plus I had a $10 gift card. So $29.99 final price. That comes out to less than $4 a container. More in my budget range, teeeheeee I just googled now and they are on sale again! Here is a link to them: Gourmet Living Containers at Shopko

Well, that is my three C's of Motorhome stuff for the blog post today.

For a fourth C... Chelsea! She is feeling better today, and has her 2 year old checkup this afternoon with the pediatrician. Erin will get more reassurance from the doc that it will be okay to have the birthday party tomorrow. She will be so happy to see all her cousins and little friends, and all the loving grandparents, aunts and uncles too.

After her party, we are going to take the grandson, Jameson, back to our house for an overnight! His mommy and daddy are having a romantic date night, so we are keeping him here. Our Christmas gifts to all our kids/spouses were gift cards to a nice dinner out at a locally owned steak house called Mackinaws http://www.mackinaws.com/ and then we included gift cards to a movie. Of course, the gift also stipulated that they get free overnight babysitting too as part of their date.

I am looking out at the snow, and yes, it looks nice to cover up all the yucky brown ground. A few flakes are floating down here and there, but basically I think it's done for the day. The river is starting to ice over again.

Yes, Winter is here.

Sigh.

Winter has come to Wisconsin

2012-01-12T16:28:00.003-06:00

Arrrggghhhh I suppose we should count ourselves lucky. We folks up here in Wisconsin have dodged the proverbial *S*N*O*W* bullet long enough. It's been amazingly warm and snow-less.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Winter Weenie. I grew up in Wisconsin and spent my teen years in Michigan's UP, I know winter. I have snowmobiled, ice fished, iceskated, skied and sledded with the best of them. But I think once I have reached that ripe old age of 50, my fear of slipping and breaking bones has overtaken the daring need to conquer winter conditions. I will still drive in the snow, but if I can stay home and avoid going out, I will.

Soooooo today it started. I should not complain, because we are usually snow covered from early November on through till late April. It looks like our getting by with 2 and half months being almost snow-free has been a freak of Wisconsin Winter habits.

I think part of it is because of last winter going for 7 weeks out west and in the desert (check my archives from mid Feb till mid April 2011) It sealed the deal on our preference for spending time THERE instead of HERE once we are retired. We will be back from May-Oct in Wisconsin visiting family and camping with everyone. And the delicious thought of being able to stay on at a campground while everyone else is packing up to go home on Sunday is enticing. We look forward to being able to stay as long as we want and move on to the next location at our own pace as purely delightful!

As I have said, winter is here. Today I watched about 15 fat old turkeys waddle along the river bank by our house. I grabbed the camera but the battery was dead. So then I grabbed the video camera (which also does digital pics) and snapped a few shots as they were wandering into the woods.

When I took these photos, the snow had just been starting. Now we have a couple of inches on the ground, and it's supposed to snow all the rest of today, tonight and all day tomorrow. ICK!

Funny how smart they are during hunting season and elusive and sneaky.... but once the season is over, they waddle around in plain sight and don't even care if you are driving into them on the road. They make the cars slow down!!!

Once we hit a turkey with the motorhome and it scared the beejesus outta us! Luckily we only bent a little bit of a trim ring around a light and had a scuff of feathers. I had envisioned shattered fiberglass and destroyed grill work.

My planned little baking session with Chelsea screeched to a halt yesterday. I went to pick her up from the daycare about 3pm and they said she was sick! She was running a fever, had urped up some food, and even her eyes were glazed and dull and her cheeks were pinkypink. Awwwwww Her little congested breathing and coughing just tore at my heart. Instead of coming to our house, I brought her to her house for her mommy to take over the care, and we put the apple pie baking plans on hold. I didn't want to catch it either! Today her Daddy stayed home from work with her, so she got a full day of being a Daddy's Girl, and tomorrow Erin has her 2 year checkup already scheduled with the pediatrician, so she will be checked out and hopefully doing good by Saturday. It's her big girl 2 year old birthday party on Saturday, with all her cousins, and grandpas and grandmas and even Great Grandma and Grandpa Pfundtner if the roads aren't too bad!

Watching the news right now, the roads are slippery, lots of accidents of people who forget how to drive on the roads in winter. It's always like that for the first storm or two. The gusting winds are making it even more slippery and difficult.

It's a big Packer Weekend this Sunday with the playoff game in Green Bay. Did you know that when it snows before a game, that Lambeau Field puts a notice on the local news to come to the stadium and hopefully get chosen to be a SNOW SHOVELER??? It's an honor! And you have to be 15 years or older. You are paid $10 an hour and they furnish the shovels. You work in rows shoveling the snow off the bleacher seats and walkways, onto long slides that loads it down into trucks at the bottom where the snow is hauled away before the game starts. Some teens even BEG their parents to call them in sick to school so they can go to the stadium and shovel snow!!! People come from miles around to be honored to be picked as snow shovelers and line up hours in advance. They are disappointed to be turned away once the 400 or 500 people are chosen. I am sure many of them would do it for FREE! Only in Green Bay, hey?

Here is video link of how it is done:

Need Cash? Come to Lambeau Field on Friday morning!

This afternoon, I went out to get the mail and trudge over to the neighbor's house to let out his dogs. Bundled up like an eskimo with boots, hat, heavy mitts and jacket. I threw their frisbees for a while and then let out our own dogs. Our dogs just do their business and run right back into the house. The whipping winds chilled me right to the bone, so once I got back in the house, I hopped in a hot steamy shower.

Steve just got in the door here from driving home from work, going 38 miles in this mess, and he said the roads were quite slippery and cars in the ditch too. Glad he is home and I don't think we are going anywhere tonight.

Ahhhh Yes, I guess I could be turning into a Winter Weenie?

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Motorhome Modification - COMPARTMENTS

2012-01-11T13:04:00.001-06:00

To get through this long boring winter, I am going through our motorhome modifications from A-Z.... This is still a blog in the C's ... COMPARTMENTS

Actually that is a mis-nomer because our rig doesn't really have compartments like most motorhomes or trailers, it's one huge storage basement wide open from axle to axle and side to side.

Some folks have asked me about how much storage we have or how we organize our basement compartment. It seems their rigs never having enough room, or they are worrying about cargo carrying capacity weight issues. When I tell them that is not an issue with us, they have a hard time believing it.

While newer rigs have multiple slides, which are very weighty by themselves, they also have storage issues with the slide mechanisms taking up valuable space. We don’t have the slides, so we have more than enough storage area in the basement of our rig, and weight is not a problem.

Even with all our tanks full, (propane, fuel, fresh water and waste water) we have almost 6,000 pounds of cargo carrying capacity. Being aluminum exterior construction instead of fiberglass makes a big difference, plus wall and roof supports are all aluminum too. We weigh in with full tanks at 22,000 pounds without our gear when we first bought the rig. Our rating is GVWR- 28,000 GCWR-32,000

The basement of our rig covers a large open area and is all carpeted space open side to side and front to rear from axle to axle. We are only limited by the width of the doors as to what we put inside.

Let’s start on the driver’s side. All of our stainless steel compartment doors rise upwards on struts and when shut, they lock securely on both ends instead of one lock in the middle.

I will go down the side from front to back, door by door. Here is door number 1.

Whoda thunk of that space above the tank as a good spot to put a long tube for stowing the stinky slinky! For those of you who do not know what a "Stinky Slinky" is, it’s the flexible 3” hose used to dump the grey and black tanks…ewwwwwww We don’t want to keep THAT hose in our carpeted storage basement area.

On to the next door…..
We bought an assortment of these gray totes with heavy snap on lids. They are made by HOMZ http://www.homzproducts.com and I see that Ace Hardware carries them.

The large totes measure 30 inches long by 18 inches wide.
The smaller totes measure 18 inches long by 14 inches wide.

We like them because they have a full handle on each side, not just a lip edge that you carry by the fingertips. Also the lid fits firmly over the top and comes way down on the sides, which does not allow anything to get into the tote. We have more than enough totes, and keep swapping out sizes back and forth as we determine our needs in the future. The extra totes we keep in our garage for now. When we are ready to full time, we will have it all figured out. (right?)

In this next photo below, if you look close to the center of the rig, you will see a white poly 2x4 Cosco table and a larger 3x6 heavy black folding table. Both tables slide in nicely under the space under the suspended fresh water tank. We use them for eating and serving food when boondocking at places without picnic tables. Also good for extra table space when working on crafts or doing some crazy things like canning pickles (see Runkle Lake campground review or Paint River Forks in my archives) I can use these tables for an impromptu craft sale if we want while on the road full time too.

Some of my totes of weaving and yarn supplies will go in this space. I am even considering a dismantled Union rug loom in this space. It breaks down to 8 pieces of wood, two beams and a stack of harnesses and treadles and one pipe. I have hauled Union looms in the trunk of a car, so it could easily fit in this space too. I can re-assemble it out under the awning if we are setting somewhere for a few days. Steve and I can put it together in about 20 minutes. Or it could be assembled inside of a rec room or community room at an RV park too. Some places might want to see a demonstration of weaving during craft days, or let me put on an impromptu craft sale?

So that is a future decision to make.

In this photo below you can see the insulated ductwork and some small vents from the main LP furnace which keeps these compartments from freezing in the cold temps. We don’t often use the big furnace, (we now use an Olympian Wave 8 heater) so the easy solution is that in the winter, we should go south where things don’t freeze!

This next door is kinda a half access on the front, but behind the water manifold section is the water pump, expansion tank and some extra plumbing. It used to be walled off, but Steveio removed the wall piece for better access. Nice to have access to that mechanical stuff instead of it being buried behind a wall. You can see the daylight from right through to the open compartment on the other side of the rig. Steve usually lays his fishing rods in this area, plus the awning rod, which is reachable from the other side. Deep in here he stashes extra tackle boxes, life jackets and oars for the boat. We won't be taking the boat full time, so those items will be removed.

Ahhhhh now on to the power stuff! This compartment is further back, behind the rear wheels. Everything electrical is in this compartment. Sometimes the cords get dirty from being on the ground, and it's nice to have this compartment separate from the clean carpeted center basement of the rig.

The generator is located in the far back compartment by the engine. It looks a little crooked in this photo because it was snapped when we were putting the generator back into place after having the rotor rebuilt. Rest assured, it is firmly bolted back into place now and works just fine. LOL
We don’t use the generator too often, but we have to run it from time to time to exercise it. Great to have in an emergency, or to run one of the roof AC units as we are driving down the road if need be during hot summer temps. But we really appreciate the peace and quiet when camping and don’t like to run it at all. So if you are a genny-fanatic, please park far far away from us?

Now that we are done with the driver's side, let's move across the front of the rig.

Inside the front compartment are all the electronic fuseboxes and grounds etc.

I had to cut and paste a few pics of it, as it won’t all fit in one picture.

In here we also have a large fire extinguisher with access in emergency because this compartment does not lock. Hope we never have to use it, but it's a great location. If we are ever needing to help on an emergency on the road, it's easy to grab.

Yes we carry FIVE fire extinguishers in our motorhome:

Now on to the passenger side photos on the front half of the motorhome:

These are the two most used doors near the passenger front between the side entry door and the front of the rig. We kinda packed them full, huh?

Someone asked yesterday on the blog about how will Steve get along without all his workshop stuff? Rest assured, he has ALL his tools along, even a vice that can clamp into the back hitch to work on items like an outdoor workshop. The only power tool he won't have is a table saw. Oh well, he can make due with a circular power saw if need be.

This one is Steve’s favorite door:

Since this photo was taken, there are two more chairs added to this stack, the Coleman folding deck chairs I talked about yesterday in the blog. And yes, they all fit. That is why we haven't culled them yet from the group.

Stacked on top of the totes are our camping sign, picnic table cloth, kneeling foam pad and whatever else don’t get stowed away properly as we break camp the time before.

Now we can move to the rear half of the passenger side.

The two interior entry steps into the rig to reach the main floor are the only things taking up any square footage in the basement storage area.

This door is located at the left of the entry door. In here, we also stow the 6 large planks for under the tires for leveling the rig.

Yes, Steve puts the large air compressor right into this compartment too. It's used for his air tools, and also in case of a low tire, it's capable of going to the 110 pounds needed for our tires.   It slides in and kind of curves back underneath the stairs in an open space usually not accessible. By just reaching in to flip the lever on, and grabbing the long air hose, he is in business! (of course when boondocking, we have to fire up the generator first to get the power to make this run)

This next compartment is for the batteries. This is located behind the rear wheels. It is open around the sides and bottom for ventilation.   There are 6 batteries in there now, but we can later move the 2 chassis (driving) batteries into a new rack in the engine compartment that Steveio made. Then we could increase the bank of coach (camping) batteries to a total of six 6volt golf cart batteries if we wish. Although with our four 100 watt solar panels that we installed, we may never need six batteries… four might be enough.

(and for those Techy Kinda Guys, here is the new head piece he re-vamped to fit the new filters that are available for our engine, now that the ones were discontinued)

So.. that completes the tour of our storage compartments and how we organize them. In the future we see ourselves adding a few more totes of clothes (in vacuum sealed space bags) some supplies of my craft stuff, and perhaps my table loom when not in use. The loom folds up somewhat and fits in drivers side number 3 quite well.

Otherwise we are pretty well set for full timing, and more than adequate space inside the rig for the personal items we take along regularly and keep our kitchen fully stocked as well as the clothing and bathroom gear. So our weight load will not change much, right now fully loaded we are about 3,000 pounds under our CCC limit, so that is a good thing. We still have 4,000 towing capacity on top of that too. We currently tow a Geo Tracker that only weighs 2,200 pounds

Well, enough of all that , time to get a few things done around the house. Later today I am picking up the Chelsea Beetle Bug Girl from daycare and taking her back to our house. Her granfaddah needs an apple pie baked, so she better come over and peel/core/slice up some apples! Putting her to WORK! Later she can have a spa evening in the big whirlpool tub with bubbles, and get in her jammies before her Mommy and Daddy come to pick her up. All ready for beddy-bye.

Motorhome Modification - CHAIRS, CLOCKS AND COFFEE TABLE

2012-01-10T12:55:00.000-06:00

First note, two years ago today our youngest granddaughter Chelsea was born. Here she is just a few minutes old, in my arms.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEEDLE BUG CHELSEA!

I called her this morning on the phone and sang to her. On Saturday we will go to her party, with all her little cousins there. What fun!

Wow.. all our grandbabies are growing up fast! It's a good thing there are two more grandsons on the way in April, so we will have more babies to hold in our arms and in our hearts. Amazing how a Grandmuddah's heart can stretch and grow with each new addition!

I am getting through the boring winter months of No Camping by posting alphabetically the things we have either modified, improved or bought to make our RVing life easier.

This post is in the C's ..... Oh boy... chairs chairs chairs!

We now carry SIX chairs in our rig and probably need to cut back down to four. I will start with the first two we will keep for sure. These are the ones pictured in my post the other day about the camping mat. They are called "The Ultimate Relaxer Recliner" We bought ours about five years ago, one at Pamida and one at Shopko in Wisconsin. They are the most relaxing lounge chairs we have ever sat in. We never leave them out at night, or sitting out in the hot sun where they will get bleached or weakened. They are sure nice chairs.

I googled right now and found them for $44.99 through a deal place from JCPenny. http://dealspl.us/ultimate_relaxer_recliner_64619

We paid in the $69 range back then. We tried buying some cheaper ones at Ace Hardware for my folks (because Lowell would not get out of mine any time we went camping!) They were not quite the same. I would suggest sitting in them for a length of time to test them out before buying. Beware, you might fall asleep in the store, so bring along a fellow shopper to wake you up again.

Added to my chair, is something that is found now in many camping supply stores. Steve bought me this tray device for Xmas to go on my Ultimate Relaxer Recliner chair. The bracket portion stays bolted on the frame, even when folding the chair up to put away. The arm and swiveling top tray removes during storage or for easy cleaning. When in use, the tray stays level no matter what position the chair is put in. Great for my coffee cup, scissors, knitting stuff or a plate. The recessed area is where my taller coffee cup or water bottle sits into. But our fat wide coffee mugs need to set on the round portion of the tray.

Our next set of chairs are the ones we have had for about 12-13 years now. I made them from macrame cord on new heavy aluminum chair frames. These are wider and taller than most webbed lawn chairs, and we can not find these kind of chairs any more in the stores. Twice now our frames have broken, so for Steve's we found a new frame and I transferred the woven portion of the chair from one to another (NOT an easy task!) ...

Then my frame broke two years ago... Steve was gonna toss our chairs in the trash because we bought new ones from Coleman instead (see below) He put ours in the garage and kept saying he was gonna haul them to the dump!!! But stubborn me, I said NOOOOOO ---- I unwove the portion of the chair where the frame broke, had Steve cut a piece of pipe to slide over the broken portion, screwed it into place, and I re-wove the chair again! I like these better than the Coleman ones in the next topic below.

The tree pattern is traced from our shutters on our house, which is also repeated on our bed headboard and bronco doors to our changing room. So keeping these chairs will bring a piece of our log home along with us once we go full time. I vote to keep them!

Here are the instructions on making these chairs... all you need are 2 big skeins of macrame cord (the braided works better than the twisted) and two large crochet hooks, about size K.

www.kingskountry.com/how-to-make-a-macrame-lawn-chair.html

My sister and I have made many of these chairs over the years, but it takes a lot of oomph and hard on the hands to tug the loops around and through the previous loops along the frame. Similar to crocheting.

Here are the Coleman chairs we bought to replace the macrame ones.

Of course, Steve happens to like these better, so we now have SIX chairs in our rig. They all fit in the one compartment designated to stow the chairs, so I suppose they can ride along for a while longer. He likes these because they fold up and can be carried over to neighboring campsites, and they have the little fold out table to set things on. I find the macrame ones are taller, warmer on the butt on cold nights and just all and out prettier!

So stay tuned to the Saga of Survivor of the Lawn Chairs...

wait and see who will be voted off the motorhome next!

Next up is Clocks....

We don't have much of any wall space in our rig for a clock to hang up. (it's all windows) So we decided to buy a battery operated one and attach it to one of the smoked glass panels up front that double as cabinet doors over our electronics. We used a heavy duty velcro, so we can pull it down to change the batteries or set it ahead and back for daylight savings time. Our RVing buddy Seann has THIS clock instead... (see pic on the right) I think that is what we will change over to once we hit the road full time. Even on vacation, after the first few days, you forget what day of the week it even is. The sad part, is when you are on vacation, you HAVE to keep track because you need to realize what day you have to go home again. Sigh.

I saw a blog post the other day with a clock

that had all the numbers jumbled up at the bottom and it read: "WHO CARES?"

I forgot which blog it was one, but I think that is the type of clock to get!!!

Last on the list is Coffee Table.

Steve, my wonderful woodworking spouse made us this heavy duty coffee table for our rig. It is just the right height as a base for my table loom. It doubles as a stool to sit on for company at the table or as a step stool for me to get up high into the back of the overhead compartments. He made it with wide stance legs for added stability.

This photo was taken while we still had two couches in the rig. We removed one couch first.. then the other last fall. We now have two reclining chairs instead. And, of course, we still have the coffee table.

It even works for the wee grandtots to use for a lunch spot or an activity table!

Last topic: Prepping of the house for sale: Last night Steveio burnt the taller weeds along the river on the lowest terrace of our land along the bank... last summer the weeds took over and grew too tall for the mower.

Now while the winds were calm, and the grass is dry (no snow) he was able to do a slow controlled burn along the river frontage. And the doggers had to supervise!

Motorhome Exercise Day

2012-01-09T10:52:00.001-06:00

Sunday was a partially cloudy but dry road kinda day, so we decided to pack up a picnic lunch and take a ride in the motorhome. It needs exercise on a monthly basis when sitting over the winter. Of course there isn't any water on board, so we take along a pitcher of water for the dog dish, and load up a lunch and a camera.

Steve turns the ignition on till the preheating light goes out, then turns it off. Then again on... wait for the light to go out... then off. He does this three times before firing up the diesel engine. The outside temp was 26 degrees and the kitty-CAT engine was purring right along. We have no snow left in our part of Wisconsin.

It felt SO good to sit in the passenger seat and watch the terrain go by. The sun was peeking out so the rig was nice and warm with the dash heat, plus we had the Olympian Wave 8 heater running too.

This time we went north to the little town of Peshtigo. We parked alongside the frozen river above the dam, and settled in for a little lunch. We fired up the generator for exercise too, and turned on the little electric Lasko heater to give the generator a load. It needs monthly exercise too. The rig warmed up nicely and we were comfortable as we ate our lunch. The dogs even had along some treats.

We watched a little tv and looked around at a few more projects we might do to the interior in the next few months. Always something to tweak, build or change, huh? I had some knitting along, and we kicked back in our recliners for a while. It was so comfy and cozy inside and I was imagining that we were somewhere else... anywhere else... and not have to think about going back home again.

Peshtigo is an interesting, but sad, little town. In 1871, it was the scene of a horrific fire with a lot more lives lost than the great Chicago fire which happened the same night! Not many heard about the Peshtigo fire because of Chicago being a bigger city and bigger news. But the devastation was much worse in Peshtigo with more deaths. It has the sad record of the most deaths ever from a fire in the United States.

The fires spread for many many miles, even jumping across the bay waters into Door County and catching the top of that finger of Wisconsin that sticks up along the eastern side of the state. It also spread south 20 miles to where our land and our house is now located. Only the tallest of the white pines along the river survived on our land in 1871. Somehow the tiny town of Oconto survived, but any of the homes and farms between Oconto and Peshtigo were wiped out.

http://www.peshtigofire.info/

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wioconto/Fire.htm

http://www.peshtigofiremuseum.org/

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-forgotten-fire/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo_Fire

from Wikipedia:

The October 8, 1871 Peshtigo Fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, is the conflagration that caused the most deaths by fire in United States history, killing as many as 1,500.^[1] Occurring on the same day as the more infamous Great Chicago Fire, the Peshtigo Fire is mostly forgotten.

Amazing to think that people were flinging themselves into the river next to where we were parked, trying to save themselves as the fires raged. For the ones who survived, many had the tops of their heads burned as they submerged themselves over and over and trying to float downstream away from the flames. So sad to think about, but a horrible part of the local history.

On to nicer things-----

After our lunch, we took the doggers out for a little walk. It was a tad bit windy, so we didn't stay out too long. The dogs liked sniffing around and liked to see what they could see. This was a little man-made spit of land alongside the boat landing area, so people can walk out further to fish with poles, or to reach and load up to fishing boats in the river.

The ice was slushy with melting water over the surface. Just last week there had been ice fisherman all over this area when it was colder, and you could still see the holes they drilled for fishing. On the local news, they are warning everyone that NONE of the ice is safe in our area, and to STAY OFF....

Of course, a few stupid die-hards are needing rescue here and there, seen on the news every night. They put everyone else's lives in danger trying to save them. If they stayed OFF the ice there wouldn't be a problem. At least wait till we have colder weather? It's been so strangely warm in Wisconsin. By now we usually have a foot or two of snow on the ground. Oh well, the winter will seem to pass faster now for me, and won't have the Winter Doldrums as long?

The dogs reluctantly came back into the motorhome

DUCHESS DUKE

Steve turned the key and started up the rig. We turned off the propane heater. We drove over to the Citgo to top off our diesel tank, it was only $3.69 a gallon for diesel, the cheapest we have seen for a while. It only took about 25 gallons, which topped off the 100 gallon tank nicely. (Ouch! It was still $100!) Best to store with a full tank for condensation prevention, plus we run an anti-gel additive for the winter months. We don't rely on the additives supposedly put in by the fuel companies to have enough anti-gel in their mix.

We pointed the rig back towards our house. Steve had to REALLY wrestle with the steering wheel when it came time to turn left to home or turn right to keep going south. How much we would have loved to keep on going south... maybe east to Florida or west to the desert... or even south just to Texas?

Instead, we sadly backed it into the driveway and carried our lunch remains back into the house.

Duke didn't want to come in, and sat out in the driveway pouting, as usual.

I know how he feels.

Motorhome Modification - BLOCKS, CAMPING MAT AND SIGNS

2012-01-08T09:35:00.005-06:00

Ahhh Sunday morning, I am going to sip my coffee, eat my freshly baked cornbread (more on that later) and sit here to share my morning with you.

Wishing it was summer and camping time, I am filling up my boring winter blogs with items from our files of Motorhome Modifications. Things we have done or made or repaired or bought that make our time in our motorhome easier! These are all taken from my photo files and I am going through them from A-Z. I am on the B's and C's now, so this will take a while, hopefully carry me through till springtime?

First up:
Blocks for the levelers. Although our motorhome came with hydraulic levelers, the bottom "feet" of them are kinda concave-shaped. That is fine if you are on a cement pad, but we mostly park in gravel or dirt. Those dish shaped points of contact soon wallow out the dirt or gravel and then the motorhome is "wiggly" again when you walk around inside.

We use the levelers more as a steadying device to prevent excessive wiggling when parked overnight. We mostly park as level as possible in the first place, so we are not twisting the frame by over-use of a leveler on one side vs another. Some motorhomes are known to pop out a corner or portion of the front windshield when subjected to too much flexing while trying to level the rig.

Many people find a nice thick wooden block works well to put under the "foot" of the leveler before it makes contact with the ground. But then again, you have to get down on your knees to push the block into postion, then drop the foot onto the block and snug it up. When you are ready to leave, you have to get down on your knees again to pull the block back up. Especially our front center block which is wayyyy in under the front axles in the middle of the rig. (Safari's have three levelers as opposed to four, think steady tripod vs. wobbling table with four legs trying to level up?)

Sooooo we saw this idea in an old copy of Motorhome Magazine. Yes, sometimes we steal ideas from other people, you can't expect Steveio and I to invent ALL of these neat modifications, do you?

The eyelets are great to hook the awning rod into and PUSH it into place,

especially that hard to reach and line up center one in the front of the rig.

If we find a site too un-level, then we drive the tires up on planks instead of straining the frame or twisting it with the levelers. Steve made a set of nice planks, each of three layers of 3/4 inch treated plywood glued and screwed together to prevent splitting from the weight of the tires. He made a variety of lengths, 6 pieces in all, so we can put different configurations under the dual tires to level off the coach. Then we just snug it up with the levelers. (I don't have a pic of the planks...drat)

On to the C's now.
This first one is called Camping Mat. I suppose it could have gone under M's for Mat. But Camping Mat sounds much nicer. HAHA. I think it's 20x8. About 15 years ago I bought this at a camping store in Green Bay that has long since closed. I don't even know the brand name of it, as there is no tag. I have not ever seen them since, and I tried googling camping mats but all I find are the new woven fold up ones.

I think I paid in the $80 range for it, and it was a present for Steve for Father's Day to match our Sierra travel trailer at that time. But that was back in 1996. How lucky our newest RV is also blue!

It's really similar to the rubberized shelf liner, but much thicker and heavier. It won't tear or rip. The holes are large enough to let the dirt and sand pass through, but it's almost spongey and soft under your bare feet. It has gone through 15 years of four teenagers, all their friends, many pokey lawn chair legs, dog claws, picnic table legs, laying on dirt and rocks and tree roots and cement. And I guess, normal wear and tear. We hang it on the deck or on a clothesline, spray it down and let it dry when it gets too dirty. It dries fast. We fold it up and stuff it in a heavy duty contractor plastic bag and stuff it in the basement compartment.

Next on the list is Camping Signs. There are a bunch of crazy signs out there that people display, and we enjoy walking around campgrounds looking at them. Some alarmists say to not have your last name and your town on your sign, because someone could go to your home and rob you blind while you are camping. (anything of value we take with us anyhow) Other alarmists say to not have your kids' names on your signs because of bad people using their names to call them over. Hey Kid or Hey Tommy, what's the difference?

Oh well.

Our sign is actually the one and only thing Steve got from his wife from his first marriage (besides some tools he had in the trunk of the car and his high school yearbooks) And the reason why she gave it to him? Well... it was HIS last name, and she wasn't going to be a Pfundtner anymore! hahahahahhaha Plus, it had been a gift from Steve's folks, and she didn't want that laying around anyhow. All in all, it was nice that she gave it back to him. I freshened it up with some new paint, and added OUR names underneath it to match.

Heh heh ... she didn't want the sign OR the man... so I get them now, MY bargain!

In the photo above, we are camped side by side with Steve's folks...

so we put the sign in the middle, seeing as we were both Pfundtners!

Our daughter Erin and husband Mark bought us this sign which we hang from the awning too.

Okay, that took care of three more Motorhome Modifications for the blog today. I am sitting in the sunshine that is streaming in through the woods. Steve washed the patio doors yesterday so it's exceptionally nice looking as it glows in across the livingroom onto the couch. We are a frosty 20 degrees out there, but no snow to be seen. Perhaps next week? This is the strangest winter in a long time for Wisconsin. Our river has been frozen over twice, and is open water again today with just a few chunks of ice floating down lazily.

I baked up a corn bread this morning in a small 8" cast iron fry pan. It's a quick Jiffy mix, one egg, dollop of milk and plop in the cast iron pan. Put in the oven on 400 till it starts to smell good. Yup, it's done and plop it out upside down on a plate, then tip over onto another plate so it's right side up again. We cut it in pie-shaped wedges, dab of butter or Steve's Smart Balance, and Yummmmm Paired up with a cup of coffee from some freshly ground beans from Jamaica that the kids gave us for Christmas. Oh, life is good.

But no Packer Game today.

Sigh.

But the tv show Distant Roadtrips, an RVing show, is on RTN at 10 a.m.

That will whet our whistle to get out in the motorhome in the driveway and do some projects?

Perhaps we should take the motorhome out for some exercise later today?

Motorhome Modification - BATHROOM FLOOR REPLACMENT

2012-01-06T09:22:00.000-06:00

Today is some more of the B's.... BATHROOM!

In October of 2009, we noticed some softening to our bathroom floor, along the edge of the cabinetry on the passenger side.

So we pulled back the vinyl flooring, only to find our subfloor was rotting out from the bottom up! It turns out that the wheel well area had a leak from the outside and was exposed and it seems it was kicking up water when driving in the rain.

Combined with a possible leak from the side wall trim strip where the caulking seemed to be wearing away. Then to top it off, we also know that 3 years ago, the previous owners didn't winterize the washing machine properly, so there had been a leak at the cracked pump that added to the damage. We replaced the washing machine pump 3 years ago with no more leaks. When winterizing, you have to not only get antifreeze IN the hoses going in, but also IN the pump for the water that goes OUT. Lots of folks miss that step.

As we started to tear up the floor, we never realized the damage was this severe.

Our friends Sam and Donna at : http://samdonna-5thwheelvagabonds.blogspot.com just went through the same thing, a major floor repair/replacement job!

This was quite a project!

First we needed to remove all of the vinyl flooring. Over the bad part of the floor, it was easy to pull the vinyl flooring off of, but the rest of the flooring was stuck firm with glue! In the photo above is on the driver’s side of the rig, where it was glued down tight and firm. So it meant we had to be down on the knees and using a putty knife for a few hours to get it all torn out.

We did not have to pull out the toilet, we had to just remove the pedestal housing that surrounds the actual base. That made the job even easier!

(did you know RV washer/dryer combos have CEMENT block weights inside to help with counterbalancing the spinning action? So they are MUCH heavier than household washing machines... ack! )

Now for the messy part:

We found the wood was more and more rotten, the deeper we dug. We wore masks and gloves because of the moldy wood we are grabbing and tearing out, piece by piece. We were finally down to the chassis frame and rigid foam insulation. From the bottom up, outside, we cleaned and sealed the wheel well with spray-on pickup truck bedliner. We also resealed the side trim strip on the wall with a new bead of some heavy UV caulk made for outdoor applications. We will be sure to keep checking it for any future leakage!

After ripping out the rotting wood, we also realized the location in the cabinetry had the washer/dryer combo sitting on just ONE brace of the chassis frame! That very heavy 150 pound machine plus the weight of water when in use was only centered on one piece of frame? That meant the four corner legs were not even on any support other than the flooring and vinyl and foam insulation? hmmmmmm

So we beefed that up too with more bracing on each side before sealing all the bottom up and laying the subfloor and underlayment.

Once we got all the bad wood out, we coated the leading edge of the good wood on the remaining floor with this hardener product, just to be sure no rot would spread any further. The wood was now dry and ready to lay in the two pieces of wood on top of each other. The sub floor and underlayment are also both of treated wood. We coated the two new wood sections with a waterproof sealer on all sides and edges too.

We worked like a team, (just like when we built our house together) and it was a fun project, once we got the rotting wood out! We laid in the two new layers, firmly screwing them down and sealing in between with the layers with construction adhesive. Now the new boards brought it up to the same height as the old floor, so all was level and ready for the new flooring across it all.



Now the fun part starts! Laying on the new flooring!! It’s a laminate product similar to the new hardwood floors, but this in a faux ceramic tile design… almost a match for the previous color of vinyl we had in there, and it matches our carpeting very well too.


It was just measure, cut, click… what fun!
The angles around the shower/tub and sink were a bit complicated, but we used paper templates and transferred the angles onto the panels.. Easy Peasy!

But for extra peace of mind, now the whole washing machine was put in a heavy duty *drip pan* to prevent any future possible damage too. The rubbery plastic pan was from the local farm supply store called a "Rabbit Droppings Pan"! It allowed us to slide it in the cabinet easier without damaging the new flooring too.



It sure made a huge difference in the stability of the flooring through that whole area. It must have been rotting away under there for years, each time we drove in rain or snow!
Steve finish-nailed the trim thresholds back into place on both doorways, and added new quarter-round trim behind the toilet and in front of the cabinets. We put the base-surround on the tub again, and the pedestal to the toilet back into place.
It looks as good as new!



On other notes, today is closet cleaning day in the house. I am armed with large bags and boxes, destined for St. Vinnies and the Harbor House women's shelter. If I don't see myself wearing it in the next year, out it goes!

I did a good purging two years ago and got rid of a lot of my business suits/blazers/skirts and many many pairs of high heels, all left over from my Real Estate days... I donated those to a Woman's Closet at a local job-skills incubator program. Ladies could pick out an outfit to wear on interviews and feel good about their appearance after "graduating" from their course in job skills.

This weekend is going to be boring with no Packer Game... so Steve said maybe we will tackle the garage and do some sorting there too. It's so unseasonably warm in Wisconsin right now. It's already 40 degrees this morning at 8 am. Our propane tank usage level is loving this warm weather, we have only used 20% of our tank in the last 8 weeks! That is amazing----- sure helps on the meager heating budget.

Motorhome Modifications- BACKUP CAMERA and BATTERIES

2012-01-05T12:32:00.000-06:00

To get through the long boring winter, I am going through our Motorhome Modifications from A to Z... to help make my blog interesting to the RVers who follow me, and not have it only chock full of my fiber items I am working on. These are items we have done over the last 5 years to our Safari Serengeti motorhome.

The next mod group coming on deck starts with the B's.

First we have Backup Camera!

Our Safari motorhome came with a backup camera already installed in a cute little bumped out part of the back fiberglass cap. The camera can be accessed through a trap door panel inside a back cabinet over the bed. From time to time we had to remove the panel and clean the inside surface of the plexiglass. Finally one time, Steve realized he could wiggle the plexiglass when cleaning it, plus it was yellowing and showing scratches.... so he removed it completely, got a cut disk of real glass, and ran a bead of silicone around the edge and replaced it. No more dust and dirt getting in there.

One time a fly got in there, it was like a massive horror movie of the HUGE fly that ate the garage behind us!!! hahahahahaha

When the camera is activated by flicking a switch in cockpit, it shows through our television screen over the front driver's seat. It is very helpful when seeing behind the rig when maneuvering around in parking lots or gas stations, because usually little cars scoot around behind you if you are backing up, (when the Tracker Toad is not hooked up) or if someone tries to steal the space right behind you, not giving you any room to get out again. arggghhhhh It's also helpful to me when backing into campsites if Steve is not along outside guiding me. I like it better than the small add-on dash top models we see in cars.

Even when we replaced the old television sets with new digital/analog ones, the camera connections still worked on the new tv, but just show everything in reverse. Our new tv does not have a "reverse" mode like some do. I don't care that the view is flip flopped, just when I see ANY movement back there, I stop and check it out.

When we drive down the highway, it gives us a clear view of the Tracker Toad behind us. It's called a "Toad" in RV terms... get it? Towed? Toad? LOL We tie a white rag to the steering wheel at top dead center so we can see the rag move when turning corners, thus knowing the wheels are tracking properly and turning too.

The reason for being concerned if the wheels are turning is important. When towing, we need to leave the Tracker ignition key in the ON position so the steering wheel doesn't lock up... and if it accidentally gets left in the OFF position and locks, you can ruin your tires, alignment or possibly even start the toad on fire by dragging the tires down the highway with locked steering!

When we first take off, the camera is on and we check for the rag after the first corner to be sure it's moving around and flips back upright again. With a dark interior, the white rag really helps us see the steering wheel.

Steve doesn't leave the camera on all the time when he drives, he just flicks it on from time to time to check it. I am usually the one checking it more than he is. (worry wort)

The camera switch activates our inverter each time you turn it on, which in turn can draw on the alternator, so Steve doesn't like to leave it on all the time. (we had replaced 2 alternators already over the first few years before we started leaving the inverter OFF when driving) We used to keep the inverter on to not only power the camera and the tv, but also at that time my laptop and router too. Since then we bought DC power cords for those things so we don't normally need the inverter on anymore.

When I drive it, I still leave it on all the time.
Replacing another alternator is worth the peace of mind for me.

Next up is BATTERIES!

When we bought our rig, it had four brand new 12 volt Interstate coach batteries included in the sale of the rig. (and 2 chassis batteries for the engine) That was over five years ago. One went to heck in the first year, and we had to remove it from the group. Then two of them were not holding charge as well as they had by the next year. One of those started bulging out on the case. We were finally down to one decent battery. ACK! Also at that time, our original equipment solar panel installed by Safari was really overcharging the system, and it had NO solar controller anywhere on the system. It was only an 85 watt panel, but we realized it was boiling out our batteries and causing them to deteriorate.

We added a solar controller to the line, and learned a lot about solar in the process. At that time we planned an upgrade of more panels as soon as we could afford them--- more on that later when I get to the S modifications .... We invested in four brand new six volt batteries deep cycle instead of 12 volt ones ... right before our trip to Florida.

We found the best price to be the Werker batteries at Batteries Plus in Green Bay. Paid $87 each, but that was in 2009.

Caution: there is a difference between true "deep cycle" and what they call "marine" or "dual purpose" batteries. Do a little research and find out more before getting the wrong ones.

At that time, we really wanted to get Trojan T105 batteries, but we could not afford them right before vacation, nor did any place in Wisconsin even have them in the middle of winter. They are commonly used in golf carts, and of course in winter, there aren't too many golf cart repair shops even open. LOL We even tried calling a few golf courses, hoping to buy some they might have in stock, but nope, nothing doing in the middle of February.

Here are some helpful diagrams I found when using 2 or 4 of the six volt batteries.

It doesn't take much to make an RVer's heart warm than a new bank of batteries!

So pretty, huh?

The frustrating part was when we got home with the batteries, the pull out drawer had grooves for the 12 volt size batteries, and the 6 volt batteries are a tad bit wider. So on a winter day in February, Steve re-vamped the drawer base with treated lumber to raise them up a bit, and set them into place with screwed in wooden brackets to prevent slipping and sliding. To top it off he also strapped all around the six batteries to keep them secure. There.. we were "Good To Go" for our trip with all new batteries!

Steve regularly checks the levels of the battery with a hygrometer, and only uses distilled water to top them off. Our Heart Interface Inverter has a high level cycle called "equalization" to burn the buildup of sulfates off the plates, and he does that on a regular schedule too. These batteries are holding a charge and operating correctly now. A year after the new batteries, we added a lot more solar, and a much larger controller, so the system is now effectively powering up our rig for all our boondocking needs.

Someday in the future we will upgrade to Trojans T105's and probably go to six of them. Steve made a study shelf/bracket to move the two driving batteries into the engine compartment, so there will be more room in the drawer for six Trojans. But for now, the four Werker batteries are doing just fine.

On a fiber note, last night I was sitting and knitting, getting a lot more socks done and stocked up for my online stores. I was watching my new favorite show.... called "Revenge" on ABC. This year's lineup of evening television viewing has not been of any interest to me at all, but this one show is getting good. I have enjoyed Emily VanCamp's acting since her days on Everwood, and then on Brothers & Sisters, so I have been making a point of watching this one show. It's either that or PBS, or the old reruns on MEtv like Cheers, Taxi and M*A*S*H.

With no Packer Game this weekend, I think we will have to find some projects to work on.....

Motorhome Modifications - AWNING LIGHT CLIPS, CLEANING AND SUN SHADE

2012-01-04T13:05:00.000-06:00

Let's see... today we are still on the A's in my motorhome modification stuff...

So here are three topics on awnings.

The first is awning lights. Yes, some folks think they are tacky, some folks think they are bright and gaudy, but some folks enjoy them and add to the festive look of a family camp-out. I have some pale ones that give just enough of a glow without being intrusive. We can be moving around the rig at night without having to turn on the bright spot lights when using awning lights instead. We only use them if we are camping at a campground with electrical hookups. To run them from our batteries and solar, we would have to set up the inverter. Could be done I guess, but we just haven't. Yet.

Our awning is a fabric type, not the regular vinyl types you see on most travel trailers and motorhomes. Because of this, the edge of the awning valance does not have a thick "hem" to clip on lights with clothespins (the most accepted way to attach them) I found these clips a few years ago at Camping World on sale. They are very much like the old mitten clips we wore as kids to keep our mittens pinned to our cuffs so we wouldn't lose them. They hang on nicely to our awning valance edge and I leave the bottom portion permanently clipped to the string of lights.

We also have a few of those little tabs that slide into the awning track that you can attach lights to, but then the lights end up behind the valance. Our awning is so long we needed three sets of ten to go the entire length.

Since I took these photos, a portion of these particular lights stopped working. Even with changing the tiny fuses and all the bulbs, nothing helps, so something is shorted out in wiring or in the plug. The little metal leaf units would not transfer over to a new set of xmas lights, nor could I find xmas lights in sets of 10's (needed 30 total) So last fall I found some cute soft pastel butterfly lights on sale at Steins Garden Center and bought them to use in the future.

Next up is the awning cleaning. If you camp regularly with a campfire burning , or roll up your awning when it is wet, you know it needs to be cleaned. This is a project we tackle a couple times a summer.

The vinyl type of awning material can best be scrubbed with Wesleys Bleche White tire cleaner, found in the automotive sections. Works GREAT on the white vinyl and doesn't leave any damaging residue.

But remember, I said our awning is a fabric type, not a vinyl. It's a Fiesta awning by Carefree of Colorado. We have found a dollop of laundry soap or Dawn dish soap works just fine when we scrub our awning. But don't get that Dawn dish soap on your RV walls because it can remove any wax coating you might have on your rig. It removes soot, grease and wax very well! LOL

We first scrub the underside of the awning, and I even fold a bathtowel over the end of a broom, secure with rubber bands and use that for a good scrubbing.

Here is a good hint the works on most RVs... when your awning is fully extended, unhook the two side arms of your awning from the bottom brackets on the wall, and let the ends of the arms slide down underneath your rig. The angle is now much lower than the normal 45 degrees or so and it lets you reach the top surface of the awning much easier. Less reaching and stretching, and also lets you rinse it off easier.

It looks darker when it's wet, but dries back to a lighter silver when done. we also pull out the three smaller awnings over the windows and give them a good scrubbing too. At this time it's a good idea to lube up the ends of the rollers on all the awnings which allow them to roll up and down easier with less binding on the mechanical parts. We find most awnings are made with the cheapest of white metals and aluminum fittings that can easily break or wear out. The less strain and tension, the better, on all moving parts with proper lubing. White lithium grease in a spray can with the little straw works very well, as well as LPS silicone spray. WD40 seems to attract dirt so we avoid using that.

Okay.. third A and then I am done with the Awning Topics... this is an awning sun screen that came with our rig. We never realized how nice it was until we were camping in desert last winter. When the sun comes down at such an angle in the winter months, this really helped keep the light off the sides of the rig. Some days it was 95 degrees out there and this really made a difference during the days! These shots were snapped after supper, so the sun is even lower in the sky and kinda on an angle now. But it was great for mid-day use!

The screen slides in the extra unused awning track on the bottom surface of the roller. It is thin enough we could possibly roll it up with the awning each time, but can also be removed and stowed it away in it's bag in a compartment.

I had a cute fiber customer yesterday... A high school friend of our youngest daughter emailed me. She said that she needed some presents for a friend at a birthday a party that night and didn't have time to run to Green Bay for shopping. She wanted to shop in my online Etsy store for something handmade and buying local! haha It turns out that she STILL has a pair of thick wool socks I gave her when she was back in high school, she is now 26 or 27. She still wears them and thought of me! She picked out 2 pairs of socks and a shawl from my shop. I wrote back and said I had to drive within a block of her house on my way to the bank and post office, so i would drop them off! FREE DELIVERY! How neat is that?

Well, one more pair of socks to do this morning for a guy with size 14 feet, and then i am going to get some weaving done... for sure!

Brrrrr, handwoven towels, and Motorhome Modification Post - AWNING LOCK

2012-01-03T08:21:00.000-06:00

Brrrrr we woke up to a bitter 3 degrees this morning, and wind chills of 11 below. I am not sure I am ready for this, after such a mild November and December. It's been unseasonably warm here in Wisconsin until now..... and our snow covering is only a scant dusting. Normally we have a foot or more of snow on the ground by now. The problem with lack of snow cover means the frost is driven even deeper into the ground, without the insulating layer of snow to protect it. This means frozen water pipes and troubles with septic systems... not to mention lack of moisture from melting snows for springtime. Later we could see drought conditions in Wisconsin if we don't get enough snow during the winter months. So I guess I won't complain if we get buried in snow, huh?

Our river is finally freezing over, and soon it will become a racecourse for the snowmobiles running up and down it if we do we get the snow. It's a wide enough river to become a winter "road" for the snowmobiles and it's always startling to see the first few machines of the season come roaring up at night with headlights bouncing and engines revving --- when previously it's been quiet and peaceful along the river. But this too shall pass when the spring temps melt the ice and snow, and our river is a quiet border to the south of our property again. Then we only see a silent canoe or kayak slip on past, or a fisherman in waders flyfishing the shady spots along the banks.

So now the sun is coming up as I write this, glinting gold between the frosty frozen dark trunks of the trees, but the sky is blue and it's going to be a nice (but cold) day here in Wisconsin.

Let's see... on to a Motorhome Modification. I am going to post one per blog entry to get me through the winter and try to make this blog interesting to my readers, many of whom are RVers.

Since I started allowing the 3 Adsense ads by Google that appear on my blog, I can see how many people click on them that are of RVing interest, and I can earn a bit of income when the ads are clicked about various items. I guess that Google tries to match the ads to the content of my posts. I don't see the ads myself, so I don't know what is posted. If any are of "questionable" content, please advise me and I can request that certain ads are blocked from my blog.

Here is my Motorhome Modification for today:

A lot of RV folks have had their awnings unfurl when driving in windy conditions. The arms may stay locked and upright, but the awning could release and unroll right at the top of the roofline! It will billow out off the side of the rig and flapping and tearing in the wind and can cause an awful accident!

(this happened to my folks on the interstate one rainy stormy night on their motorhome.. what a SCARE!)

Although our awning has a nice aluminum cover for the first foot or so, called an awning wrap, so I think that may protect the awning moreso than the type where the awning fabric runs right up to the roofline. But a bit of insurance is well worth the risk of having it unfurl accidently.

We have seen various awning locks on the market, some are straps that you drill into the roof and wrap around the center of the awning roller, some are little snap locks that stick up and into the roller once you are lined up correctly. But Steve saw this idea and made our own. The front end of our roller has a lever type lock, (which are known to sometimes release and fail) so he added this bar device to the rear end of our roller for extra measure. It prevents the roller from unfurling outwards with a strong steel rod that goes about 8 inches into the roller end cap. And it can be reached from the ground to insert or remove it.

And there you have it.

Time to finish my second cup of coffee here, and get my butt back to work. Now that the post office is open today, I have shipments to get out and more towels to weave.

I join a weaving exchange group each year where we send in either 6 or 12 handwoven towels and in return we get other towels back woven from people all around the country and some from other countries too! I have 2 done and 4 more to go for that project and would like to get them finished up soon and out in the mail.

I like making each one different, because they are all going to different people anyhow.

The variegated colored yarn is from my weaving friend Rosie in Missouri. The colors are kinda Southwestern, of a terra cotta, teal, rust and rose. The cream sections is rough bumpy cotton boucle yarn that is a favorite of my weaving friend Linda in Tennessee. We used to get that at R&M yarns in Tennessee, but they are out of it now and may not be able to ever get it again. So these are my last cones of this lovely product. Sigh.

A New Year and Motorhome Modifications posts - ADAPTER

2012-01-02T09:36:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!

Steve and I managed to stay awake till midnight, and then someone upriver of us started lighting off fireworks into the night sky. Well, the booming and thumps woke up the dogs, who started to bark furiously. That in turn woke up sleeping Allegra, who was upset and crying! Once we got her calmed down, then she was WIDE AWAKE and ready to party! We popped her into bed between us to get her back to sleep. Reading stories, singing lullabies, saying ABC's and 123's, even turning on a boring tv show was not enough to get her to konk out again till almost 2 am! Once asleep, she flips and flops all over the bed. At one time Steve got feet in the face and another time I got a diaper butt in mine! Oh, the adventures of sleeping with a toddler----- She slept in till 7:30 which was nice for us.

After a pannycake breakfast, we got her changed into her Clay Matthews jersey (after all it IS a Packer Game Day) and we went over to join her little cousins at Erin and Mark's house.

This is how we spent New Year's Day... getting in lots of hugs and cuddles!

The wee ones all got together for a Toddler Party... and enjoyed the visiting and playing together.

We wanted to get the two stinkers delivered back to their Mommies and Daddies in Green Bay before the roads got any worse. It was snowing, freezing, blustery winds and gusts were going to increase up to 40-50mph later in the day. Plus, we wanted to get back in time to Oconto to watch the Packer Game at noon. We drove them home carefully. I glanced back at them and quickly snapped this shot over my shoulder to the back seat. It's so cute when they impulsively clasp hands in love and companionship. We adults need to learn from them!

We got back home safe and sound as the winds picked up. I wanted to watch the game out in the motorhome in the driveway. It was quite cold so we decided to sit in the house to watch the game rather than heating up the motorhome at the last minute. Of course, the Packers won, even with their second string players taking over most of the game, so the first string can stay healthy and uninjured for the playoffs. Steve made up a pot of homemade chicken soup for lunch and we were cozy and comfy as the weather outside blasted us into winter. Later for supper he even went out and grilled some burgers on the lee side of the house! What a nut!

Because we are going to face a long cold winter here in Wisconsin, my blog will be pretty boring to the RV readers. I decided to post one Motorhome Modification in each post, going through my files one by one. Hope to make it interesting. Some will be items we have changed or altered in our rig, others will be handy items we bought that make RVing easier.

Today's Motorhome Modification is starting the A category.... ADAPTER

When we are parked in our driveway, the only available electrical service is a 20amp plug from the garage. Why bother taking out the huge black heavy 50amp cord for our motorhome when this will do? That heavy cord is also a target for unscrupulous folks looking to swipe them for copper. A Wisconsin RV dealer once had ALL their cords from all the rigs on their lot cut off and stolen! The orange cord you see in the photo is still a heavy #10 wire, not a cheap thin orange utility cord. We are able to run one electric heater or one AC unit if nothing else is on using this setup. Good for when we are packing up to go somewhere, it's nice to have power available. 30 amp versions of this adapter are available too. I think we got this one from Camping World.

Poor Steve drove all the way into work this morning on icy roads at 6am, just to sit in the parking lot and wait for the bosses to come in to unlock the building. Nobody came except the workers. The bosses never bothered to tell the workers they were off today. With all the disorganization of the state workers in Wisconsin right now, nobody tells anyone anything.... so the workers showed up and all had to go home again. That is a 76 mile commute round trip and wasted gas just to come back home.

When the unions were in charge, the workers knew what days were on and what days were off, designated floaters or mandatory days off, and had printed schedules of what was expected of them. ARRRGGGHHHHHHHH

Imagine my surprise when 2 hours after he left, he is back home again!

Today my plans are to be taking down the tree, tucking away the most precious holiday ornaments into my steamer trunk and the rest will be put into boxes for a rummage sale this spring. As we go through the house now and prepare it for the market in April, we are going to neatly stack boxes of rummage sale and Ebay items into the garage. We do not know if we are here in the house for just a few more months or for a whole year. All depends on the market. If the house sells fast, we will quick rent a storage bin for the remaining items until they can be sold. The only things being kept will fit in my steamer trunk and sealed up and stored at Erin and Mark's house. I found this steamer trunk on the side of the road destined for garbage pickup, and I restored it myself. It's one of my "Precious Things" that I will be keeping.

Interesting to note, INSIDE the trunk was a set of child play dishes of Fiesta Ware, and some old paper dolls from the 40's and 50's. I sold them all on Ebay for a tidy sum!

I have a few orders to get out from items that sold over the weekend, plus a new sock order from some RV blogger friends Al and Kelly of http://thebayfieldbunch.com/ I think their feet are cold out in Arizona and they need some warm socks to make them happy.

So my day is set. How about yours?

Goodbye to 2011--- sending the year out with a pan of brownies!

2011-12-31T23:34:00.000-06:00

Oh what a pleasant way to send out the old year.....

and bring in the new if I can keep my eyes open long enough?

One more hour... one more hour....

Little Allegra came to spend the night with us! We decided that she needed to learn to crack open eggs, so we hauled out a box of brownie mix, and let her have a go at it. She did very very good and cracked them both into the bowl, and didn't drop in a single bit of the shells!

She was amazed at the gooey stuff on her fingers, and promptly wiped them on her towel/apron! LOL

Next was the box of brownie mix. We needed to do this baking thing fast, because the attention span of a two year old is pretty short. No baking from scratch for these kiddos. Opened the box and showed her the picture of what we were making, and let her shake in the powder into the bowl and cover up her eggs! OH MY! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER EGGS????? She was a bit upset when she could not see them anymore.

Now she got to dump in the pre-measured cups of water and oil. Carefully I helped with the pouring so it all went IN the bowl. She was still concerned about where her eggs went.....

She carefully mixed round and round with her little red spoon... and soon found her eggs in the bottom! We squished them all up and mixed them into the batter. Soon it was ready to pour into the pan to bake, and she got the reward---- licking the spoon!!!

We make quite the team, dontcha think?

A couple of Regular Betty Crockers!!!

We had originally planned a playdate with the other two cousins for the evening, but they were petereing out as much as this little pumpkin. By 7pm she was yawning, and during her bath she was trying to lay down and sleep in the tub! By 8pm after her bath she was fast asleep. We will do some playdate time in the morning in town with Chelsea and Jameson who is sleeping over there.

Poor Heather and Jesse had planned a night out on the town, but Heather is now suffering from a sinus infection and they are staying home. She still let Erin take Jameson for the night so she and Jesse could curl up in front of the tv and watch an all night marathon of some zombie shows or something. LOL

We will bring both grandtots down to Green Bay in the morning before the Packer game starts at noon. The roads are going to be bad and the winds gusting as high as 50mph, so we will leave early, take backroads and go slow. "Precious Cargo" on board ya know.

Well, it's 11:30 and my Steveio is konking out there on the couch, and I am about all in here too.

I think in the morning, we will eat chocolate brownies for breakfast to ring in the New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012

Now these are just TOO COOL!

2011-12-29T20:43:00.001-06:00

Now these are just TOO COOL!

Dee from blog

http://tumbleweed-jimdee.blogspot.com/

sent me these tonight.

And I just HAD to steal them and paste them here in my blog. I think I will use just about EVERY one of them!!!!

(Steve just made the popcorn in the paper bag one as I am typing this!!! Ya gotta watch it really close so it don't burn, but it came out pretty good)

25 ideas to make life easier

Posted on November 01, 2011 in Bed, Bath & Kitchen, Decor & Furniture, Organise & Personalise by Simone

.

Why didn’t I think of that?! We guarrantee you’ll be uttering those words more than once at these ingenious little tips, tricks and ideas that solve everyday problems … some you never knew you had! (Above: hull strawberries easily using a straw).

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.

Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or computer screen with WD40 (also works on walls).

stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

Overhaul your linen cupboard – store bedlinen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.

Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone / iPod in a bowl – the concave shape amplifies the music.

Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.

Add this item to your beach bag. Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily – who knew?!

Attach a velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.

Look up! Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the floor.

Gotcha! Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.

For those who can’t stand the scrunching and bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.

Forever losing your bathroom essentials? Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins (and tweezers and clippers) behind a vanity door

A tip for holiday packing. Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes. And you can find them in just about every hotel!

A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy. Magnets hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.

Bread tags make the perfect-sized cord labels.

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones – so much more fun and easier for kids to eat. Definitely doing this!

Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper bag. Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.

Brilliant space-saver: install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles. Genius!

Win friends at breakfast with this heart-shaped egg tutorial. Aww shucks!

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila – you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream. Click here for recipe.

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.

Gutter garden: Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.

Use egg cartons to separate and store your Christmas decorations

Awww look what just showed up at my door?

2011-12-29T14:37:00.000-06:00

from my sweetie....

Christmas with the Grandtots

2011-12-28T10:10:00.000-06:00

Here is the second part of Christmas Day... I just had to break up the blog posts into two postings because I needed to add a bunch more photos, because they were just so gosh durned CUTE!

As we headed up from Pete's house towards the Northwoods of Wisconsin, I was feeling queasier and sicker and not having a good feeling about my belly (after 2 stomach and esophagus surgeries, it can be quite difficult at times) I took what pills I could to make it through the rest of the day. I wasn't worried about spreading anything, as this is just what routinely happens to me from time to time due to the complications from the surgeries, and I wasn't contagious.

Oh what a wonderful evening! We all gathered at Erin and Mark's house as it's the largest of all of our kids homes and lots of room for the little ones to ram around and have fun. Besides, they have a big screen tv to watch the Packer Game on at 7pm. LOL

Erin had popped in a ham and set out a buffet of foods to munch on all through the evening. The little ones were snitching from the buffet table in the dining room, so we had to move back all the sweets and only let the veggies, cheeses, sausages and pickles/olives/relishes in their reach. Those little stinkers had pieces of carrots and rims from venison summer sausage left laying all over the place.

The guys hauled in all of the gifts to place under the tree. We told the kids that Santa left these presents at our houses, so we had to bring all these over for them to open. They were very well behaved and looked and oohed and ahhhed over them, but didn't touch them until it was time to unwrap.

Soon it was time to start distributing presents, and the unwrapping began. Papers flew left and right, and the wee ones were delighted with each wonderful toy or book or game and even their new penguin jammies!

Each of the three grandtots gave their mommies special presents, a "diamond" (cubic zirconia) necklace! The mommies were quite pleased to get some BLING from their little sweeties. How cute!

Toys were everywhere and the wrapping paper was piling up, as new toys were discovered... squeals of joy and excitement were ringing in our ears. Little Jameson added to the hubbub with his train conductor whistle that came with his engineer costume for Thomas the Tank series. He is a train NUT. Little Allegra loved her new dolly set so much she hugged the unopened box! It has a stroller, crib, high chair, diaper bag, etc all the things to let her learn to be a good mommy to her baby doll. And to learn how to help care for her little brother due in April.

See the big black garbage bag crammed full of discarded wrapping paper? LOL Amazing how much we pay for paper to hide presents that will be ripped off in 2 seconds flat and crumpled up to throw away? At least it will be recycled. But who can deny the "Ooohs" and "Ahhhhs" as they discover each item while ripping off the paper?

Soon it was time for the Big Game to start on tv. It was the Packers vs Bears and if they won, it would be the cinching up for Home Field Advantage for all of the playoff games. We cleaned up a bit, and herded the wee ones into the adjoining playroom, so the grownups could watch the game in peace. I was still not feeling the best, but I was able to take a few more meds and hang on.

I changed each kiddo into their new penguin jammies (or Waddle Waddle Jammies as Chelsea calls penguins) They are just toooooo cute, dontcha think?

(the girls both leaned over impulsively and kissed their big cousin)

We got some wiggles and giggles out as they danced to some music, and we played with some of the new toys. They had things scattered all over the playroom, and then it was time to start to settle down with a few stories. I was fading fast and not doing so well, but the game went on and we tried to keep the kiddos in the playroom as much as we could.

I managed to line them up in a row to get a mug shot.... as you can see, Jameson was not happy about being made to sit still for a minute. LOL But I promised a 17th reading of his favorite story, so he sat long enough for this shot. Then all three bounced back up and flung themselves around the room like a bunch of monkeys.

We let them loose at half-time to go out by the big folks, so I could take a little break. Whew! HOW did I do this, day after day, with my own kids and four other day care kids all under the age of five???? I know, I was in my 20's then, and had a LOT more energy. Once halftime was over (the Packers were winning) I hauled them all back for a few more stories and they started to slow down a bit.... whew....

Heather and Jesse left first with Jameson before the game was over, to drive back to Green Bay.

Then Chelsea was tooo overtired and konking out so Mommy put her up in her own bed.

But little Allegra was going strong till the end of the game at 10:45!

Packers won 35-10 !!!

I was not feeling well at all, but managed to help clean up a bit and then we headed on home ourselves. It's only about 4 miles home, but I was soooo glad to get into my jammies as my stomach illness hit me full force. I gulped down more gastric and pain pills and tried to get comfortable. I was ill for the next two days, but it was made tolerable by looking back at pics like this and remembering my good time with my wee ones!

And just think, there will be two MORE wee ones in April to add to the pile.

I am sure this Granmuddah's arms are big enough to hold them ALL!

Mice? for Christmas???

2011-12-27T20:11:00.000-06:00

Our holidays were delightful, and the weather was NOT frightful... we did get a little snow to make it a White Christmas. It seems all the states south and west of us got a lot of snow, and we got missed?

As you can see in the pic below, the river far behind the trees in our woods is still open water. It had froze over a little bit in November, but has since opened back up and was glistening in the cold sunlight on Christmas Morning. We often look out on this view while sipping coffee in the early morning. Sometimes we see wild turkeys or a deer ... it's a very peaceful setting.

Back to the holidays----- Early Christmas morning, we got up and exchanged gifts between us... Steve opened his presents from me. He loved his new set of larger Craftsman wrenches he was lusting after... and I will write more in next blog about the Vortex Fan I got him for the motorhome. I will do a blog post on his installation process later.

Steve kinda pooped out on a gift for me, evidently not a lot of planning or forethought. It was just a quickie grab of a BRIGHT ORANGE UWGB sweatshirt he bought from the campus bookstore at the last minute on Thursday before leaving work. Ummm? okay.... kinda something at 20 year old skater would wear with wrinkly worn graphics made to appear aged and deteriorated. Not something I would ever wear. And ORANGE? What was he thinking???? Guess it musta been on sale because UWGB sports team colors are green and white, eh?

I guess that's okay, because now when I find something I really want, I will just tell him that THIS is his Christmas present that he owes me!!! LOL There is a weaving class tuition due in January that I go to every year in May, so I think that might suffice to replace his poor planning. LOL

Even the doggers got a good present, and ripped it open gleefully... a big big bag of doggie treats! They each got two before we put the rest away into their treat canister.

Then I set to working on creating four dozen little MICE!!! Someone sent me this idea on Facebook. I didn't want to make them too far in advance because I didn't know if the chocolate would "bloom" and get that whitish powdery coating if made too far in advance. Steve was put to the task of unwrapping the Hershey Kisses (he popped a few in his mouth too) while I drained and patted dry the maraschino cherries. (with stems) I melted chocolate chips with a tiny bit of butter in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave.

I dipped in each cherry by the stem and laid on it's side on wax paper. I then pushed the bottom side of a Hershey Kiss to the front side of the cherry, and adding two matching slivers of almonds for the ears into the soft chocolate between the body and the head. Once they firmed up, I added two miniature chocolate chips for eyes each dipped with a tip of melted chocolate as glue. How adorable!!!!

As the mice firmed up on trays in the fridge, we got ready for our holiday trekking over the river and through the woods. "Grandmother's House" was really a destination to Uncle Pete's house, and Steve's folks and some of his other siblings were meeting us there. Also, our son Dan and his wife Heather, with little Allegra were able to trek on down there too. Both our daughter's Erin and Heather had other family obligations with their spouses' families during the day and weren't able to make it down to Pete's, but we were all meeting up later when them at Erin's house for the evening.

The sun was out and the roads were dry, so it was good travelling down to the Fox Valley. Poor Pete was feeling under the weather, but held his own as he prepared a nice buffet of delicious treats for the family gathering. My little mice were a hit too. LOL

Snapped this shot after dinner of Steve's brother Mark, his mom Mary Ann and his sister Wendy, both his older siblings. In the background are Mark's wife, Shirley and his younger brother Pete.

We had a nice visit and little Allegra entertained us all with her antics, being the Life of the Party. At one point she was collecting all the ladies purses and hauling them around on her shoulders--- wonder how much she pilfered outta the wallets to go shopping with? She did get fun treats of using Great Aunt Shirley's chapstick and then some TicTac mints! haha

We tried to make all of our gift giving this year either homemade or at least bought locally. I baked up four loaves of bread, added four jars of homemade blackberry jam from berries we picked last summer, put them in baskets with a handwoven towel in each one and wrapped them up for all of Steve's family.

After dinner and spending some time with Steve's family, we needed to hop into the car and head back to Oconto, stopping off at home first to let out the dogs and load up the gifts we had prepared for our children and grandchildren. Here is a preview:

For our kids, all being Packer Fans, I knit them all a pair of Packers socks! Even the wee grandtots got a pair, and we were giving them in time for everyone to wear during the Sunday night trouncing of the Bears! (Packers won 35-21)

Our grown kids, as couples, all got a card with a photo on front of them during their dating days... it said:

Remember when you were dating?

Remember romantic dinners out?

Remember cuddling up at a movie?

Remember your lives before children?

Remember ???

(inside)

Please take the time to

have a romantic night out

on us!!!!

Rules:

Get dressed up

Guys open the car door

Gals say “thank you”

No talking about bills or work

Say something nice about each other

Take time to laugh at the dumb jokes

Order something you don’t usually eat

No talking about your children —–

Remember, you are dating !!!

Includes an overnight of free babysitting

by Granmuddah and Granfaddah Pfun

Pasted inside the card were movie passes, and dinner gift certificates to a nice steak house located near the movie theater. The steak house is owned by local people and even their meat is locally grown for their steaks. Although the movie theater is a chain, it's the only place to see a movie.

And the last gift I had prepared for the kids were these small wooden plaques. Many years ago, my friend Connie had me paint up some plaques like this to give to her grown married children. It can be set on a dresser or endtable, tucked in a drawer they both might use daily, like when reaching for a hair brush or toothpaste, or anywhere they might note it daily and read it's words. She wanted to convey the idea that marriages don't "just happen" they are a process and stages and things to work through to attain a happy marriage over the years. I wanted to pass on that wisdom to our grown children too and cherish the thought that they can feel this in their hearts too.

We grabbed our wrapped up homemade presents, and then a pile of toys and jammies for the grandtots (hard to find much of anything made in the USA in the way of toys) and we headed on over to Erin and Mark's house for the rest of the holiday celebrations.

That part of the day will be on my next blog post!

Dumb People on Ice

2011-12-21T09:17:00.000-06:00

No, that is not the name of a some new Disney skating show...

Remember the dumb people I had posted about on the blog the other day, the ones who were ice-fishing on the thin ice where we were parked on our Rig Exercise Day? Well, now our local news had THREE separate instances of dumb people dying after going through the ice in that same area. It's too thin yet this time of year. We have not had enough deep freezing stretches of temperatures to make it safe. Even our river is open water from shore to shore again, and was only lightly frozen over for a few cold days in November. Why these people insist on doing dangerous stunts like going out on the ice when it's so thin is NUTZ! I like fishing just as much as the next person, but it ain't worth DYING over! Nor risking the lives of the emergency response crews going out trying to pull your dead frozen carcass outta the ice either.

On the RVing side of things, remember last winter when we were in Arizona? We stayed a few days at the Lazy W ranch near Elfrida, AZ Here is our blog post of that time:

Blog post from last winter at the Lazy W ranch in Elfrida AZ

Our blogging friends Al and Kelly of http://thebayfieldbunch.com are there in the area now, and his blog post this morning was about a visit over to the place.

http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2011/12/lazy-w-rancha-walk-around-some-old.html

What a great post, and makes me long for getting back to that area soon! I see the pics and it immediately brings me back to wandering around the desert here and feeding the birds and enjoying the tiny little sleepy desert town of Elfrida. Looking in every direction at the mountain ranges in the distance, and feeling the sunshine and warmth on the face. Having never been there before, my senses were even more heightened to take it all in. Reading Al and Kelly's blog in advance, I knew what to expect by photos, but wowowowwzerrrrr once we got there, the photos just didn't do it justice! THAT is why we want to travel full time in the motorhome, to see, to experience, to feel, to smell, to touch, to be there.

I know a weaver gal who just bought a pecan farm nearby and hope to stop in and see her sometime when we get into the area again. We really enjoyed exploring that area, and my blog goes on for 4 or 5 days worth of posts about things we did when boondockng in that part of Arizona. Thank you, Al and Kelly, for arranging our stay at the Lazy W and introducing us to Jeannie and Ray with the wonderful donkeys!

Well, I have to face the fact we aren't there right now, and turn the mind back to frozen cold Wisconsin. The tree is up, the presents are wrapped, the out of state gifts are mailed, the greeting cards are out in the mail, and most of my customers orders from my Etsy and Artfire online stores are done and shipped. Got one more order last night, and one more customer to pay me before I can ship it out. It's been a very good year for socks, hats and scarves. Rugs, not so much. Last holiday shopping season I sold quite a few rugs. Things go in cycles sometimes, I guess.

Later today I am going to bake up some sugar cutout cookies, and let little Chelsea Beedle Bug girl help me decorate them on Friday. The day care is closed on Friday for the day care teachers' holiday, and it happens to be one of mommy Erin's busiest days in retail at her chain of stores, plus daddy Mark has to work too. Guess that means we get a play day with the wee one! Steve is going to be home too, so he can help her decorate the cookies. Fun fun fun! Then we can send a tray of cookies home with her, to serve later on the weekend when we all are gathering at Erin and Mark's house.

I heard a new term that fits for the little passel of three toddlers we have on hand as grandchildren: GRANDTOTS .... dontcha just love it?

We will be meeting up with all the other families and grandtots and everyone for the Holidays, so looking forward to lots of hugs and kisses and watching their beaming little faces. During the Packer Game on Christmas Day night (7pm game) I am assigned the arduous task of keeping all THREE grandtots busy in the playroom so the rest of the family can watch the game in the livingroom.

Ahhh such an imposition to force a Granmuddah to play with grandtots and a slew of new toys, books and jammies ... and I will be in charge of getting them all to sleep sometime between 7 and 11 when the game ends? So sleeping grandtots in their new jammies can be toted out to warmed up waiting cars for the trek home again....
Singing a few songs in my brain when thinking about it....

Over the river and through the woods....

Silent Night.... Holy Night....

Up on the Housetop reindeer paws....

With visions of sugarplums (and cookies!) dancing in their heads....

Motorhome Exercise

2011-12-19T08:33:00.000-06:00

Yes, even motorhomes need exercise!

Once a month during the winter, we try to select a day when the roads are dry and free of snow, ice or slushy road salt. We fire up the rig, drive it about 40-50 miles to get it good and warmed up, and also exercise the generator under load. We have anti-gel additive in the diesel fuel for the rig, and it fires right up after clicking on and off the pre-heater three times. Although it was only about 20 degrees, it roared right up, just like when we have started it at 10 below. What a great kitty Cat engine!!! purrrrrrrrrr

As for the generator, it's a propane fueled onboard Onan 6300 watt. It needs to be exercised too, or else the parts corrode and the electrical windings inside on the rotor go to heck. We never used it enough in the past once we became solared up, and paid the price of having to have the rotor rebuilt because of not enough use. (Steve shipped the rotor to SAM BORCK - 11392 CTY RD 5 - DELTA, OH 43515 - 419- 466-0485) We are now more cautious about using it more often, at least monthly, to keep it in tip top shape.

Sooooo since it was fired up, we hopped in, along with the doggers and a basket of supplies. We drove up to North Bayshore county park and settled in the parking lot over near the boat launches. The campground section of the park is closed, of course. We have come here other times in the winter for exercising the rig, and get all cozy comfy, crank up the antenna, and watch the Packer Game!

We have a great view out the windshield of the newly frozen over harbor waters, and then to the right is the open water of the bay where it flows into Lake Michigan. Brrrrr it was windy and there were whitecaps on the open water.

With the Olympian Wave 8 heater going on high, and the generator running, we also turned on the electric space heater too for a while to take the chill out of the furniture and carpeting. Before we knew it, it was so warm we had to turn it down. Ahhhhhh comfort! I was closing toes on some knit socks, and working on addressing the Christmas cards to get out in the mail this week. Steve was enjoying his salsa and chips, and just one beer (because he was driving).

I brought along seafood stirfry and rice for our lunch at halftime, and the dogs were sprawled out in relaxation during the game, but we brought them out for a look-see-sniff around at halftime too. They think they are *camping* so they are happy, as are we!

While we had the generator running, I started up the microwave to heat up some water for a treat. Yummmm Tom N Jerry!

We buy containers of Mrs. Bowens Tom N Jerry batter in the freezer dept. at most any local grocery store this time of year. Heat up a mug of water about 3/4 full in the microwave, then add a few big dollops of the thick gooey batter (it's like a frozen eggnog type mixture that doesn't freeze hard) and stir in the batter til it disolves into a frothy foamy hot drink.... then add in a glug or two of brandy or whiskey or rum, shake some nutmeg on top.... enjoy! I only add enough alcohol for flavor, not enough to get us drunk! LOL

All of our water lines are winterized, so we bring along a jug of water for the dogs to drink and that is what I also used for the Tom N Jerry in my cup. If we need to use the bathroom while on our exercise trips, we bring along a jug of RV antifreeze and use that to flush the toilet instead of the normal water that runs into the bowl. We already have the antifreeze in both the black and grey holding tanks and even some down as far as the valve closures and end cap, to prevent any cracking of frozen moisture that might be in those areas from the last time dumping.

Some nuts came along in the afternoon, backing up down the boat launch. At first we thought they wee going to drive onto the ice! But instead, they unloaded their truck at the edge of the ice, and set up fishing buckets and drilled holes in the very thin only 2" thick ice. I personally think that is wayyy too thin yet this time of year. We could see open water just a little ways further out where the little water way opens up into the bay. Later into January and February it gets thick enough that even trucks drive in and out from this little harbor out onto the waters of The Green Bay and Lake Michigan. But this is wayyy too early to be out on the ice.

A few people drove into the park, circling around the motorhome in the lot and back out again. Just locals being nosy perhaps? Wanting to see the crazy people trying to camp in the parking lot at the boat launch?

Sadly, the game was a bust and the Packers lost, ruining their 13-0 winning streak. But being true Packer fans, we shake it off and look forward to the next game. They are in the playoffs of course, and if there has to be a loss, have it now before the playoffs begin, right?

About 4 pm the sun was starting to go down, and it was time to fire up the rig and head it on home. It feels soooo good to be riding down the highway, and we wish we could just keep that nose pointed south and go go go. Instead, we drove back home, backed it in the driveway and packed up our gear to take back in the house again. The dogs were happy, they jumped out the door, adventure complete!

Oh, I forgot to put on Saturday's blog about what I did during the week....

Yup, chopped it off!

Here I am 33 years ago for graduation in 1978 and now... hmmm almost the same haircut!

Snitcher and the TREE

2011-12-17T15:18:00.000-06:00

I fear that my blogs are going to become boring now that camping season is over. I am thinking I will start taking one previously made motorhome modification at a time to talk about, sprinkle in a bit of the fiber arts and grandkids, and try to make it through the winter doldrums---- and keep you entertained?

First off... for those of you who get my emails or facebook posts, you already know about this, but for my blog readers, I HAVE to tell you this story:

The other day after dinner, I could hear Steve in the kitchen sputtering and choking, and then laughing! I asked him twice what he was laughing about, but he was not going to answer me because he was alternating between the chuckles and making strange faces with his tongue sticking out of his mouth!

OMG----- when I found out what he did, I was laughing soooooo hard too!

Seems he managed to snitch what he thought was a piece of white sponge candy, when, in fact, he had snitched a tablet of dishwasher soap and popped it in his mouth!!!!!! Yes, I am NOT kidding, that is exactly what he did! See the white square on the top of this photo? (can't get the photo to rotate)

Why would we leave a tablet of unwrapped dishwasher soap on the counter, you ask? We wait till the dishwasher has started the washing cycle before popping open the door to drop in a soap tablet- otherwise with this dumb bargain brand it won't dissolve properly when set in the little door compartment. So it was sitting there on the countertop, right next to the sponge candy, when he was messing around in the kitchen. The worst part is... it's HIS FAULT!!! Because HE was the one who opened the wrapper on the soap tablet and put the tablet there in the first place!!!!!!

To help him out,

I have now placed a few well-meaning Post It notes

to make sure he doesn't do it again!

Once this pack of bargain dishwasher soap is gone,

we are going back to the Cascade toss in tablets that worked much better than these.

On Friday, we went to cut our Christmas tree over at the Dicks U Dig It nursery. He has a whole slew of Blue Spruce trees that have grown scraggly and rangy and out of shape to be used for landscaping, so he lets people go out in his woods and cut them down. $10 a tree, any size or shape.

No snow right now, so we drove the car (last year we took the 4x4 Tracker) .... Steve cut it down, we stuffed it in the car with a half of the back seat laid down it was able to wedge in just enough to keep it from falling out. But I had to sit in the other back seat and hold the end of the trunk as low as possible to keep the tip of the tree from dragging on the road. It wasn't far to get home, so we didn't really need to tie it up. Good 'Nuff he said.

We listened to Christmas Carols on the radio as we drove home, and a few snow flakes were floating down, lazily making it a picture postcard tree-getting day!

Annnnnd the tree is UP!

It's about a ten footer. Just reaching the bottom corner of the diamond window. Some years, when the kids were home, we would get them to touch tippy top of the cathedral ceiling 18 feet tall!

The doggers are getting excited about Christmas too, can't you tell?

They don their musical flashing light antlers every year and entertain us with their sour puss expressions... LOL

I have been scurrying the last few weeks filling customer orders, and shipping and packing and making my lists, checking them twice. My customers have been very good to me! I am on my last custom order of 7 pairs for Vinny, but if someone still wants to order socks that are in my inventory, I can ship them out Priority Mail to get there by Christmas! This year the socks are flying out of my Estore, but I took a break to work on weaving some dishtowels in the early morning light. This is my best time to weave, and I get more accomplished in the early morning. Even in my jammies!

I am at the end of of what I was thinking about writing, and a nap might be calling my name.

Steve lit a fire in the fireplace, and we are going to relax and take it easy this evening.

RV chairs, B-G-N Network Adapters, Socks and birthday party!

2011-12-09T12:02:00.005-06:00

Oh my, it's been just NUTs around here this week, so I didn't have any time it seems to tend to my blogger friends. I am sooo sorry! So here is a quadruple blog to please ALL my blog readers... it's got something Motorhome-ish, Geek Teck-ish, Fiberish, and Grandchildish---

So... first on deck is Motorhome-ish. Our motorhome originally came with two wider kitchen chairs with arms and two nice folding chairs. We long ago got rid of the wider chairs with the arms to our son Dan, and we had been using the folding chairs. They were okay and they matched fine. They are meant to fold and stow away underneath the couch when not in use. But we took out the couches a while back.

Steve works at the University in Green Bay. From time to time they have auctions of items and he spotted two chairs. He was thinking they were nice and we should get them. He put in a bid for $10 and won them!

They are a little shorter and a little wider, and the woodwork matches close enough to suit us....

In case the table looks small to you, it's because it's in it's narrowest form. It also pulls out and has two more leaves to put into the space to make it long enough for six to sit around. We never do that, as then it's time to move out to the picnic table! LOL So we really don't need the extra chairs with no couch to stow them under anyhow.

I listed the two original folding chairs for sale onto the new Safari list I am on ....

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/OnSafari_Coaches and they were snapped up by fellow Rver John down in AZ. Quick as a wink, I packed them up and shipped them out to him. It's a great list where we can be friendly and share ideas, repairs, and other fun stuff... not just particular to Safari coaches, anyone is welcome to join!

Since we took out both of the couches in the past few years, and added 2 recliners that are neutral beige/tan color, we can now kinda change the overall color of our interior decor. I am a *Hunter Green* type of person, so these new chairs will really work out well! They are already hunter green! Next I am thinking of taking down the valances and lambrequins (the wooden things on each side of the windows that help hold the miniblinds secure) and cover the blue sections of those with strips of hunter green fabric. Add a few of my green rugs, a few green placemats, and voila... our decor is changed! Easy Peasy!

Next up.... Geeky Electonic stuff! Since we got our Galaxy tablet last summer, we use it as a router or hub to bring in our Verizon internet signal and send it out to our laptops. It's like a little wifi bubble of our own in the house or wherever we take the tablet and laptops (like in the motorhome) Previously we had an AT&T aircard and Cradlepoint router to provide us with internet. We had to drop AT&T because of roaming issues, and are now getting internet from Verizon. This Galaxy tablet does the same thing as the Cradlepoint router did, plus a whole lot more. We pay $60 a month for internet service to Verizon to use this device with a 2 year contract.

My newer Dell laptop computer hooks up fine to it, but Steve's older one would *see* the signal but could never hook up right. We got Steve's computer from Dee and Jim (fellow RVer friends of ours from blog http://tumbleweed-jimdee.blogspot.com/ ) and it came with two network cards, which worked fine with the old setup with the Cradlepoint router... but neither card would let us hook his laptop up propertly to the new Galaxy tablet. Arggghhh! In the meantime, Steveio was using the tablet to scour Craigslist and Ebay, the two most favorite past times of his.

But the combination of having to use his big fat fingers, and holding it up in the air at an angle all the time to see the screen, he was not as happy, and he could not see big pictures of details and information.

(and a lot of swearing when he would accidentally touch things on the screen

because of his fat finger and it would jump to new screens) .....

It was that or else let him on MY computer, and if any of you couples share a computer, you know how well THAT works out, hey? Sooooooo I decided it was time to either figure out this new network technology or get rid of the laptop if it was obsolete.

Time to learn... so I started googling ... found out there are 3 types of network signals. G, B and N. Seems the two pcamia network cards Steve already had were "G" and "B". They worked fine with the older Cradlepoint router we had. But the new Galaxy tablet is now an "N" type newer signal.... So with a hop on down to the local Radio Shack, and sure enough, they have an N network adapter and for a mere $29.99 my Steveio is one happy computing man!

(anyone need 2 older "G" or "B" pcamia network cards?)

Right now as I type this, he is over in his easy chair, on his laptop, happy as a clam. If clams are happy, I don't know, but that is a saying I guess.

He is home today because he had a dentist cleaning at 9am, and had a little discomfort with the dentist being upset about having our dental work done in Mexico last spring. I was in on Monday for my cleaning with the same dentist and he was displeased to have missed out on about $8,000 worth of business from us. Instead, we had things done by a well-recommended dentist in Los Algadones and only spent $900 instead of $8,000.

Blog post of visit to dentist in Los Algadones

Dr. Roberto Arce at

http://www.smileshoppedental.com/

tel:01152-658-517-3283

smileshop@hotmail.com

I think our local dentist was a bit peeved to have TWO patients in one week telling him he lost out on more work at his inflated prices made him a grumpy guy I guess. He keeps saying he will now have to "watch our teeth" ??? Then he tried rapping really HARD with the end of his metal tool on my two front porcelain caps, telling me they are "old" .... well, if you bang on em hard enough, they will break, whether they are "old" or "new"!!! Trying to drum up new business? And on Steve's teeth this morning he is warning about a possible cracked tooth that he will have to "watch" till our new coverage starts again in January -- and our new deductible too. ACK! Steve said we will hold off and get that one taken care of next time we are down south again. LOL

Ummmm next topic... fiberish! I am cranking socks left and right for my valued customers and the big orders keep rolling in before the holidays, on top of new customers finding my socks and hats and rugs in my E stores. Once they buy one pair, they love them so much they contact me to order more!

I have two stores on line:

http://kareninthewoods.etsy.com/

and

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/kareninthewoods

So the socks keep a cranking and I am keeping very busy bundling them up to ship them out each day.

See how I keep the laptop nearby and check messages, emails, incoming orders and writing blogs when I take a break from cranking? And you thought I just sat on the computer all day long... ha!

So that is what I am doing to keep busy as the temps drop and snows will be soon be piling up out the door. This morning it was 8 degrees, and the river is starting to freeze over ... Winter is here. ICK!

Last Saturday was the birthday party for our little granddaughter Allegra! She turned 2 years old and is into Minnie Mouse.... and had a wonderful party with all the grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles there to enjoy the day. Presents, cake, and laughter were the order of the day.... and I put a little one minute Utube video of her birthday song here:

What a delightful little lady... growing up sooo fast! Spending time with her cousins Jameson and Chelsea. Both girls convinced Granfaddah that it was time for a story, and he was all too happy to oblige!

And this blog has now grown long enough to post,

I am putting a pot roast in the oven and going to get more cranking done.

The score is now Three and Two !!!

2011-12-02T08:59:00.004-06:00

Not the Packer's score, silly, the GRANDBABY SCORE!

Erin and Mark have now found out their little bundle of joy in April will be a boy! Same with Dan and Heather.... the next two grandbabies due in April will both be boys. So they will have one of each, a girl and a boy in their families. Add in Jameson as the oldest ringleader of the group from our third daughter Heather and Jesse, and will have a Family Circus around here!

The winter will go by fast and new babies will be here in the spring. So nice to be preggers over the winter, like I was with Heather who was born in March. Compared to my being preggers with Erin who was born in the middle of summer, one of the hottest most humid months in Wisconsin in 1983... ewwwww.

Also, today is our little granddaughter Allegra's SECOND BIRTHDAY!!!

Wow that time sure went fast! We will be at her birthday party tomorrow to give her some kisses and hugs and presents! They are having a Hot Dog Bar for the meal and I am bringing my specialty, Calico Beans-- here is the recipe:

**warning** I am a dumper kind of cook, not a precise recipe person!!!
first brown up some ground beef, bout half a pound, and chopped onion, and drain.
then fry up about 4 strips of bacon, and cut or break into small pieces
now dump that and all this into a crock pot:

1 can kidney beans
1 can baked beans
1 can butter beans
a big squirt of ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
dollop of molasses
squirt of steak sauce
double squirt of BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Rays)

season to taste
let it go a few hours on the slow cooker
yummmmmmmmm
some folks add grape jelly...
some folks add mustard...
some folks add vinegar...

Well, my Christmas shopping is done and now the wrapping has begun. Erin stocked me up with paper and tissue from her stash yesterday, so I didn't even have to buy any more. She watches for the good clearances at her chain of stores after the holidays last year and stocks up then. Call her my Middle Man of Deals! haha

We are cold here this morning (about 18 degrees!) and due for more snow this weekend. I am cranking away on socks as fast as I can. I have custom orders to fill, plus I am replenishing the stock in the Estores as fast as I can to keep up with the holiday shopping demand.

We did take a little break last night for our favorite dinner out at a little tiny restaurant in Oconto Falls. It's called The Penguin Again.

Link: http://thepenguinagain.com/index.html

It had been called The Penguin years ago, and some other owners had it for a while. The original owners bought it back so the new name became The Penguin Again, because that is what everyone was calling it anyhow. We went there with my weaving friend Linda from Tennessee and fellow RV bloggers Sam and Donna here when they came to visit, blog post from that day We feasted on BBQ ribs for me and tenderloin tips for Steve. I order a full serving and take the rest home for lunch today. Steve ordered a full serving of the tenderloin tips with the same idea in mind. But somehow he cleaned his platter! Now I have to protect my leftovers so he don't swipe those for HIS lunch! LOL

While we were there at the restaurant, we used their fast WIFI signal to catch up on some UTubes that have been posted of the grandkids. I am limited to 5GB of bandwidth while at home, so if we want to do something large, we stop there for a meal and use their WIFI. Heather shot these videos of the silly grandkids at our Thanksgiving gathering. If you would like to look, here are the links:

and this one is about a special book my sister, the librarian, found one day.

It's called "Press Here" by Herve Tullet.

ISBN-10: 0811879542 or ISBN-13: 978-0811879545

This book is so much fun that I bought a copy for each of the families, so the kids know the book by heart and are just soooo excited to have it read to them and interact with the imagination of what the "dots" are doing from page to page.... notice Jameson saying "OH MY" over and over, and Allegra screeching "THE DOTS" and Chelsea flopping backwards in joy and exuberance at the page turning surprises..... Yup, and that is me, in all my Granmuddah Glory!

Well, enough blogging, back to the sock machine and get more done...

Second Turkey Day with a family of little gobblers

2011-11-28T09:22:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, we had a troop of little gobblers make their way to our house! All three grandkids were sooo excited to come and play and hang out at Granmuddah and Granfaddah Pfun's house, and of course their parents too.

This could very well be the last Thanksgiving we have in this house, as we are putting it on the market in the spring of 2012. If it sells, wonderful, and we can go to Plan B for the remaining time till 2013 when Steve retires. So making a few last memories in this house was the order of the day!

I had pre-cooked the 22 pound turkey on Saturday, then sliced off the big chunks, laid it back in the roaster with some chicken broth and seasonings and set it back in the fridge overnight. It's the first time I tried this, after seeing it on Mr. Food on a tv segment last week. Let me tell you, it was GREAT! The meat remains juicy and the hostess has a LOT more time on the actual day by not having to get up at 5 am to stuff a bird, tending it and basting it etc.

I also precooked the mashed potatoes, and blended them with sour cream, garlic, onions and butter and laid into a 13x11 cake pan. On Sunday all I had to do was set the oven on low, add the crumbled corn flakes and spices to the top of the taters and reheat them along side the turkey pan in the oven... the house smelled wonderful, just as if I had spent all morning cooking! Pans of stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and a pull-apart garlic bread wreath took their turns in the oven too... and it all was done and ready by noon when the families came!

Add in daughter-in-law Heather's famous marshmallow fruit salad, some relishes, a couple of pumkin pies and a tray of the brownies that Chelsea helped to bake and we were set .... yummmmmmm

These are our two resident Incubator Ladies..

they are busy growing and nourishing our next two grandchildren both due in April...

eat well, sweeties, and have us some healthy grandbabies!

All of the kids have good table manners and we had a nice meal with laughter and love all around.

We made the guys eat in the livingroom so there was enough room at the table for the kiddos. They didn't mind because there was football on tv... not the Packers, because they played on Thursday (and won!) but it was still football ---- so they were happy.

After dinner, we brought out the flock of turkeys!!!!!

(I posted a link on how-to make these 3 blogs back)

The kiddos were delighted and soon gobbling them down, getting high on a sugar buzz!!!

Ahhh it was all worth it, look at these Three Little Gobblers!

The afternoon was full of fun. Reading them stories, playing with toys, and doing some Ring-Around-the-Rosie. It was a delightful day to see all the little ones playing together. They needed to burn off some of that sugar high from the cookies. LOL We watched some football and enjoyed the antics of the grandkids. My goodness, where do they get so much energy????

After things wound down a bit, now the second reason for the day came. We had taken ALL the boxes of Christmas decorations out of the storage room and laid them out on the guest bed. These are items from over many years of decorating our homes. Since Erin started having the family Christmas at her house, I have not even used as many of these things in my house. I kept out the special items I am keeping for this year and special momentos that are being stored or used in our motorhome on the tiny tree.... The rest were *up for grabs*.... We had all three gals go through the boxes and choose out anything they liked, and the rest will be going on Craig's List and Ebay this week.

The little girls wanted to come and see what was going on, and they wrapped up in bright sparkly garland to be DIVAs! Jameson came to peek in and see what we were doing, but he went back upstairs to hang with the guys and watch football. Typical *MALE* huh?

I am so glad that Chelsea wanted this bear... About 25 years ago my children chose this wonderful bear to give to my grandmother, Grandma Kafehl. (who was their Great Grandmother) when we were shopping. They said it was a "Grandma Bear with a little Grandbaby Bear". After she passed away in 1996, we were given the bear back. Now it is passing on to the GREAT GREAT Granddaughter... to be loved again and learn about babies and caring and cuddling and family.

Six big boxes were heaped high with treasures... and loaded into cars, along with sleepy toddlers and big bags of leftovers! Out the driveway they all went. We are sure the little kids were fast asleep before reaching the first curve down the road.

And this tired out Granmuddah toddled up to bed herself,

and settled in for a good long Thanksgiving Nap!