LOVE This Blue

Howdy.  Hope all is well with you. 

Today I wanted to show you the curtains I made to cover Freedom's skylight windows.  Our 1998 Ford Conversion van has long, narrow windows in the high top portion of the roof and they are set at an angle.  Boy do they let in a lot of heat. And that can be useful or brutal; I needed a way to regulate it. 

The solution was a long narrow strip of Reflectix for each of those strips of windows along both sides.  Reflectix is so useful, but it's so ugly; some curtains were in order.  I also wanted a way to let the sun shine into those skylight windows should we be caught in a cold spell somewhere. Reflectix fixes both problems. 

If the sun is shining and it's cold out, the Reflectix comes down along with the curtains. Lots of warming is on its way. If it's warm outside, the Reflectix goes up as well as the curtains and that brutal heat is tamed.  Put 'em up, take 'em down....   Rawwhhhhhhide!!!!  OOPS!  Sorry go carried away.  But hey, do you  remember Clint Eastwood playing Rowdy Yates?  Oh my....    Where was I?  Oh yes, Freedom's  curtains.

Once on the road there may be need of adjustments.  Or the curtains may get an overhaul at some point but for now they are working and I like how they look  (I LOVE that blue!). 

This is Reflectix, being used here in the windows of the side doors to reflect heat. I used this photo because Freedom is in storage and basically I am too lazy to go over there and get a different photo :-)   If you look closely you can see the skylight windows at the top left corner. 

If you remember from a previous post the other side of the Reflextic is covered with black, tightly woven fabric.  That side will be used at night if we need to be in stealth mode.  That post is here https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3720370496126944301#editor/target=post;postID=916008398565535451;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=7;src=postnameERE.

Below are the curtains I made for the skylight windows.  It's just a long, long strip of fabric (did I mention I LOVE this blue?) with a casing sewn along each long edge, top and bottom.  Florist wire was used in the casings to hold the curtains' shape and position; I didn't want them hanging straight down, but rather held in place up against the angle of those windows. The florist wire along the bottom edge does the trick by helping to keep the bottom resting on the ledge just below the windows.  I used small drapery hooks to hang them up.  I attached a safety pin to the curtain from the back, going in behind the florist wire and then back through the fabric and then closed the safety pin.  The pin was then hooked over the pointy, straight, open hook part of the drapery hook.  (EW, too many hooks in that sentence, but I don't know how else to explain it.) Then the part of the hook that would normally attach to the drapery rod attachment is hung over the strip of wood trim that runs along the top of those long, narrow windows.  It's a bit saggy, and I need to adjust where the hook is attached to the fabric and/or add more hooks so it will hang just along the top edge of the wood trim like it does ion the right side of this photo. These hooks will make the curtain easy to take down and put up.

 

Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs today.  We appreciate your interest in reading about the process of getting Freedom ready to roll and our planned future of adventure. 

 

The Chiweenie Brothers, Burger,  and I wish you a lovely day.

 

Hugs, Shawna

YUMMY!

Hi there!  Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs.  It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  Spring is upon us in a big way and the The Chiweenie Brothers, Burger, and I are all enjoying it. 

The flowering quince is in full bloom

And the bleeding heart is beautiful this year. 

I have a recipe to share with you today -- van dwellers don't leave -- that makes the possibility of roasted vegetables a reality in the hot days ahead when you don't want to heat up your kitchen.  Have been wanting to try  roasting some vegetables in my crock pot and since I had a sack of brussel sprouts in the fridge, I decided it was a good day to try this.  NOTE:  I am not a huge fan of brussel sprouts, but I have to admit the sauce in this recipe makes those little cabbages uber good, not to mention healthy. Those two words usually don't go very well together!  Throwing in some carrots made the whole thing even better.  YUMMY!

SPICY ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS FOR THE CROCK POT  adapted from PureWow.com

Ingredients
1 1/2 Pounds brussel sprouts
1/2 Cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 Cup rice-wine vinegar  (I've used plain ol' wine vinegar and it works just as well)
1/4 Cup honey
2 Tablespoons Siracha  (If you don't like super spicy, cut this back to 1 tablespoon)
Salt and pepper to taste

Use some of the olive oil to coat the bottom of your crock pot. You don't need a lot, just enough to keep the vegetable(s) from sticking. Turn your pot to high.

Trim the base away from the brussel sprouts and discard.  Cut the sprouts in half.  Put the sprouts in your crock pot and stir them around to lightly coat with the oil. Place a paper towel over your crock pot and place the lid on top.  The paper towel will absorb the extra moisture.  You may need to change it out once.  Cook for about 1/ 1/2  to 2 hours, maybe more.  It all depends on your crock pot and the size of the sprouts you are making. 

Once your brussel sprouts are tender, mix up the remaining oil with the rest of the ingredients and pour over the sprouts, mixing well.  Cook for another half hour or so.  Dig in!!

I made this with fewer brussel sprouts and added carrots (cut in small chunks).  You could use any assortment of vegetables that you normally roast in your oven and it would be wonderful; any of the root vegetables, sweet potatoes, onions, bell peppers, etc.  Use whatever you want, but I'd try it with the brussel sprouts first.  And I gobbled this up so fast I forgot to get a photo.....you will have to be content with the flowers.  Sorry! 

WHY I WANTED THE VAN DWELLERS TO STICK AROUND -----

As many of you van dwellers know -- or maybe you don't -- they make a 12 volt crock pot that you can plug into your vehicle's cigarette lighter.  How cool is that?  It even comes with a cord to secure the lid.  One of these is on my wish list!!  So, if you are planning on changing camps, just going for a drive that may last an hour or two,  or travelling to another destination, make this recipe and let it cook while you are on the road.  And just think of all the other things you will be able to cook while you are driving down the road enjoying the scenery.

Next, I want to try roasting these little gems in a solar oven.  But that's down the road.  Why?  Because I haven't put one together yet.  It's on my To-Do List :) 

Hugs to you,
Shawna


 

Blind Spot No More

Hello there!  Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs.  I appreciate that you take the time to read my blog(s). 

Today I wanted to show you that I got the little mirrors  I bought for Freedom's side mirrors installed to help with keeping track of anyone that may be cruising in or around her blind spot.  Please forgive the terribly dirty van.  It's still a bit too cold overnight to give me enough confidence that the faucets won't freeze, so the vehicles are a mess.  Such is life.  SPRING is officially here, but another week or two before I drag the hoses out and get the faucets turned back on.  Then the old girl-- the VAN, not me!! :) -- is getting a good washing and a new roof coating; more on that roof coating at a later date.

Patton is telling her teddy all about grandma's van and what's been happening to get Freedom ready to roll.  :) 

 

For a Tiny Kitchen

More little things for Freedom.  It is so satisfying to get even the smallest thing done for our future "we-are-on-the-road-and-living-the-life" day. 

The small colander, enough to drain a can of vegetables or fruit or enough pasta for one person, [No boys (AKA The Chiweenie Brothers) you do not get any pasta]  caught my eye because it is "my" color and I just had to have it.  The grater--in paddle form-- was a no brainer.  I prefer a box grater, but it would take up too much room, so this was a good purchase I think.  The tiny spatula was already in my sticks and brick's kitchen as was the paring knife. 

I also bought these "blind spot" mirrors and this little pouch to store flash drives and extra  SD cards. 

These items are all over the place in relation to each other, but what I buy is dictated by how much in household goods I have sold, so it depends on what my 'budget" for the week can handle.  I am putting the biggest chunk of dollars earned by selling items from the S/B (sticks and bricks house) into my solar fund, you know, so we can be off-grid and have a way to run all the electronics, etc. :-)

That is what has been happening this week for the great escape plan.  Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs.  Have a good one.  Hugs, Shawna
 

Tape Won't Work

Well, as life would have it, things need to be re-done because a good idea went south.

I posted a couple of weeks back about several things I had done in Freedom to make life a bit easier, and one of those was a couple of LED lights attached to the ceiling to make it easier to find our way inside after dark.  The whole precept was open the door, step up, push the light tab and voila' LET THERE BE LIGHT.  It worked very well until the heat from our current day time temperatures (and it's March, so even though it's warmer than usual, it is not that hot) made the inside of the van warm enough to render the glue on the sticky tape unfit to hold the lights up. I found them on the floor. 

Experienced van dwellers know what they are talking about; tape is usually not a good choice for adhering items to any surface inside a vehicle.  It just gets too hot inside. 

Sooooooo........  these terrific little lights will be reinstalled using screws.  Fortunately there are holes already drilled on the back plates so it was an easy fix.  And interesting that the company knew about the tape situation! Perhaps that's why they caution against using the tape. BWAAAAAA.

I won't bore you with another picture of said lights, but if you would like to be reminded of which ones I am talking about you can see the former post HERE.

Can't have a post without a pic, so here's a shot of the hyacinths that are in glorious bloom.  Ahhhhh, spring.  There's nothing like it! 

Thank you for stopping by Two Dogs today.  Enjoy your Sunday and have a wonderful week.

Hugs, Shawna

 

A Nifty Little Idea

even if I do say so myself. 
I wanted some way to be able to hang up a few pictures and notes in the van, but the interior is covered in fabric and I am loathe to stick pins in it.  Yes, that will probably change, but I haven't gotten to that point yet.  Freedom is still too new (to me) and I just can't bring myself to stick pins in her.  At this time...

What I came up with as I was lying in bed waiting for the sand man to visit and dreaming about heading out on the "Big Adventure"  was fabric-covered sheet metal attached to the little hidey-hole cupboard doors on either side of the on-board television which, by the way, is analog and useless in this digital age; but I digress.  The idea blossomed into a plan and here's how it all went down.  It has a good ending.

I called the local lumber/steel/recycling place and asked if they carried sheet metal and if so, could they cut it to size for me....and they could.  And I was happy. 

The cuts were a little rough, but I used a heavy duty nail file to smooth them up a bit. Next step was to drill small holes in the metal so I could attach the sheets to the doors. I decided to use small nails.  Only time will tell if that was a mistake.  If it was I will have to remove the nails and use screws. 

 The next step was to add double-faced carpet tape to the sheet metal, then cut my chosen material to size leaving a hefty border around all sides, remove the backing to expose the top side of the tape and "wrap" like a present.

 

Before taking my little wonders out to install on the doors, I took a pair of needle nose scissors and poked a hole in the fabric where the holes were drilled into the metal.  They were easy to find by feel.  I probably could have skipped this step because I used nails, but if I ever need to use screws instead, I don't want the fabric to wrap around the screw and I think that's exactly what they would do and possibly pull the material out of shape or pull it away from the carpet tape on the back.                                                            

 

 Here's the sheet metal, wrapped and nailed to the cupboard door.  All ready for magnets and pictures of that new grand baby!  ;-)

 

On the To-Do List will be fixing, covering, doing SOMETHING with that gaping hole left by the TV.

 

Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs today.  Hugs, Shawna

A Few New Items For Freedom

What do you do in the depths of winter to entertain yourself?  There's TV, the occasional walk, playing with the dogs, the internet, and FaceBook, reading...  Yes, there's all that, but most of my spare time has been spent dreaming about the day I get to pack up Freedom for more than just a few days' stay somewhere.  For that time when the dogs and I pull out of the driveway of our sticks and bricks home that is no longer ours and we head out on the open road to whatever adventures come our way.  The day we make Freedom our permanent home. 

Part of getting ready for that future date is the continuing work on Freedom to make her our comfy-cozy little abode on wheels.  The desk/kitchen table I made is installed, and we have several plastic drawer units in place.  The bed is more comfortable than the one in our house, and I continue working on the little things while saving for getting a few more of the big things (think solar), and some confidence to install it, but that's another post.

Below is the desk/table installed in Freedom.  In the center is the cooler cube I purchased and the cover I threw together for it.  I definitely need to make another one that is a bit bigger, or more appropriately 'fuller', and cover the cube with Reflectix, but for now this works.  It's not only my ice chest but also the seat for my desk/table.

I have an on-going list of things on my wish list at Amazon and was able to purchase a couple of items earlier this month and got them installed.  It seemed I did not have enough light to my liking, especially something that was handy and something I would be able to turn on when entering the van in the dark.  These LED battery operated stick-on lights from Amazon work perfectly and throw out a good amount of light.  These are on the ceiling, one towards the front right at the side doors and the other is toward the back near the bed.



The other item I purchased was a drink holder.  I loves me some coffee or tea while on the move and Freedom, being an older gal, did not have the kind of cup holders that worked with my to-go cups.  Searching Amazon (I love that store!) I found an adjustable holder that I was able to attach over the top of the console where the integrated holders were.  It works really well and doesn't look too bad at all. I positioned it so I have a little opening to stash a pen or two and I can put a notepad behind the holder.  Am thinking the holder on the right might be useful for the GPS.  Will try that out during the next short road trip.

Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs today and following along as we get Freedom ready to roll. 
Have a great week!  Hugs, Shawna