This year I strive to work on having a more positive outlook, although I think at times my sarcastic and cynical views are quite humors. I’m really going to work on enjoying the day for what it brings and embracing the learning opportunities that arise from the challenges…..lets hope I don’t encounter many of those. :D
James has made the resolution to once again not make any resolutions because it worked out wonderfully for him last year and he was totally content with his successes and ignored all the roadblocks…not really, but he wanted to.
Since the holiday dust has settled, we have had time to evaluate what is working beautifully in our new home and fine tuning the things that are almost how we’d like them.
The first major issue we addressed was the stuffiness of the bedroom. It is so cozy and such a perfect sleeping spot, but oh my goodness does it ever get WARM in there! For years, James has been sleeping with a fan (no, I don’t mean someone who adores him and wears a #1 foam finger with his name painted on it) to provide air circulation and white noise (although this James fan makes some pretty good white noise with her snoring).
The only problem with adding a fan to our bedroom was we had zero space for one and had a really hard time even finding a fan in the middle of winter.
Hubby is so smart and knew exactly how to fix the space problem by purchasing a shelf and some brackets to hang it on the wall. I fixed the no fan problem by ASKING almost every store we visited if they had any fans. Many said no, others had just a few and they were WAY to big, but after much searching and patience, we found exactly what we were looking for at Menards….I love that store! Mary I., I love the store, but I’m not friends with any of their employees. I only have friends who work at Lowes. :D
Another problem we had was the brightness of the bedroom and the tackiness of towels being used to block out the light. We went to Hobby Lobby and purchased some brown heavy felt and used it to cover the windows. Wow oh wow has that made a difference! There are very few gaps to allow light in and there is a double layer of felt to help keep the cool air out and to muffle the sound.
As you can see we ran out of material, so we will have to pick up some more. At least it gives you an idea of what we were dealing with having all those towels in there.
I am still struggling with the storage issue for my clothes, but someday I’ll have it figured out how I want it. Until then, I will work on my new year’s resolution of being positive and embracing the challenges that I face. :D
We also struggled with the limited space in the kitchen. The coffee pot was taking up way too much space, but was a necessity as James and I MUST have coffee on a daily basis.
First, we tried the Coleman Camping Coffee Maker. Loved the idea, but it was HUGE and wasn’t really made for a gas stovetop. It would work perfectly on a Coleman camp stove.
We scratched that idea and moved on to our second option of an under the counter coffee maker. That was another big no. And by big I mean the only one we could seem to find was the size of a small suitcase. No thanks, we enjoy having a light under the cabinet and we also didn’t want to spend $100 for a coffee maker.
Finally, we decided to give a French press a shot. That is until we saw the price tag on that lovely contraption. The press we found cost about $25 and THEN we’d have to buy a tea kettle to heat the water, another $25 and finally we’d have to buy and grind up our own coffee beans and those run about $8 and up a pound. Hmmmmmm not really something we were that into. Maybe later on down the road we’ll give it a shot, but right now we are making our coffee the financially and economically friendly way. How is that you ask? Well, we found sitting on the shelf right next to the French press, a cute little glass percolator for less than $20! It takes up very little space and once we figure out the percolating time I think we will have a fabulous pot of joe.
Now on to bigger and better things; the fresh water supply line and the fuel line. These two items are very important to our comfort and traveling plans. Now that winter has decided to show up, thanks to all the people who were whining about a non-white Christmas, the cold weather is causing problems with our fresh water supply line; in other words so cold that the hose froze.
Frozen hose means no water. No water means no cooking, laundry, cleaning or showers. Fortunately, the first cold spell was not too long so James was able to troubleshoot and fix the initial problem. This meant insulating the hose and installing heat tape which helped immensely, however it did not solve the freezing point of entry into the coach which was a metal fitting that was an original fixture for the coach. James thought long and hard about that issue and came up with a clunky, not very attractive fix, but it is so much better than no water. And as you are aware, if you point out flaws or voice your negative opinion you will be asked to leave. LOL
Earlier in the week we were blessed with a few days of wonderfully warm weather. This offered us an opportunity to see if we could fire up our big beauty. James filled the big girl with about ¼ a tank of gas (no we did not drive her to the gas station) and tried for at least 20 minutes for her to get going. The engine was turning over but never fully started up. Come to find out there was a plug somewhere along the fuel line. James made several stops to the local auto supply stores in search of the right size fuel line. Once he found the right materials and got everything installed he gave it another shot and she fired right up! We let her run for about 15 minutes and even moved her a bit so that we could fill in the hole being created by the front tire.
For our basset hound, Molly Mae, we made the most important upgrade when it came to her. We originally purchased a pillow for her as a makeshift bed. Hubby thought it looked tacky and Molly thought it made a great chew toy so we had to purchase a new bed. I was content with another pillow type bed, but hubby insisted she needed a couch. He was hoping if she had her own “furniture” she’d stay off ours. LOL Thanks to Big Lots we found what met everyone’s requirements- affordable, comfortable and fits the décor.
We are really comfortable in our space and making a list of the things we still need to tweak to make it “just right”, but isn’t that how it goes no matter if you live in an apartment, a house or an RV?
There is still no definite date for our departure. That is ok, we are going to take one day at a time and continue to do what we can to make our daily lives more comfortable.
I hope you enjoyed catching up on our blog. We enjoy all the visitors and welcome any and all comments.
Have a wonderful week!
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