Life in a small space & missing buttons. . .

”dig” out my sewing machine or choose manual labor with a needle & thread?

I absolutely love our full-time RVing lifestyle and living in a 429 square feet space. There very few aspects of living in a house that I miss but I do dearly miss my sewing room!  My precious 1969 Elna sewing machine was always ready and waiting for me to do large and small projects, like replacing buttons.

Replacing a button with the sewing machine is so quick and easy EXCEPT when it comes to digging into the back of my closet to retrieve the Elna and then making room for it somewhere in our rig, most likely in the way.

See the Elna in its Navy carrier surrounded by my clothes and buried under other bags in the back of my closet?  TOO much trouble to bother with for a few buttons!

So I’ll do it by hand!  Do you know how to replace a button using a needle and thread?  I do!

Of course the original buttons got lost so out came my zippered button bag and I dumped them out to pick out the correct size and color.

Buttons all selected so I’m ready to go.

Thread needle and knot at the end. Bring thread and needle up through the back of the garment and back down through a hole to the back, then back up through a third hole and back down keeping the thread loose.  Slide a straight pin through the two threads and continue to sew the button. The straight pin is serving to add space between the button and the garment, making it easier to fasten.

End the procedure by bringing the needle up through the fabric behind the button.  Then wrap the thread 3 or 4 times around the back of the button to fashion a shank.

Finish up with the needle and thread on the back side of the garment.

Knot the thread and clip it off with scissors.

And there it is…a neatly sewn button replacement on my favorite shorts!

And I did it two more times: my silk Chico’s pants and GET’s favorite cargo shorts:

 

 

After replacing three buttons by hand I thought about how much time this had taken and then about how long it would have taken to simply set up my sewing machine and quickly use a zigzag stitch to replace the three buttons. 

Ummm…the machine route may have been faster in the long run!  But, digging into my closet and then getting the Elna wedged back into the corner afterward…maybe it really is too much hassle?

Life in a small space=compromise.

Strawberry jam for breakfast…

Einstein Bros bagels from Costco are always really good but this morning they were extra special.  What made them special?  Homemade strawberry freezer jam compliments of J.V.!  Yumm!

Earl Grey tea for me and coffee for GET rounds out our breakfast.

Thanks for a great start to a beautiful day!

Tacos, tacos, tacos…

GET is a Native Californian who grew up eating Mexican food, especially tacos.  I am a Native North Dakotan who, back in the 60’s, had NO clue about Mexican food so when I tasted tacos on our 30 day leave to California I was hooked!  No matter where we went or what we ate I had to have a taco every day.   He thought I was pretty funny.

And, my favorite taco stop that summer?  The Big Do-Nut Drive-In on Imperial Highway in Inglewood.  (Big Do-Nut was later bought out by Randy’s Donut)  Another favorite haunt was The Red Onion on Hawthorne Blvd. with Linda and Clif.  “I’ll have #1 please: one enchilada, one taco with rice and beans.”

GET and I on leave in California with our first born Rusty…that’s our ‘56 Ford.  Don’t we wish we still had it!?

Last night I made tacos which included lettuce and tomato from my container “garden.”

Small leaf lettuce in a hanging basket.

The plant looks a little bedraggled but the tomatoes are delicious.

My tacos are pretty basic: 

• Fry up ground beef, season with cumin and chili powder
• Grated sharp cheddar cheese
• Lettuce
• Tomato- chopped or sliced
• Ranch dressing-maybe sour cream too
• Taco sauce
• Optional: Avocados sliced (if the price is right and the store has ripe ones)
• I use flour and corn torts. I wish I could say I made homemade tortillas but these from LaTortilla Factory are pretty good! Fry the tortillas one at a time in hot oil (I use my small cast iron skillet,) fry flat for a bit, flip over, fry flat a bit more, fold in half and brown a bit.  I don’t let them get too crispy but not too soft either.  (Sometimes I just throw them on the gas burner and turn to soften and then fold in half.  Of course this won’t be happening anymore because I now have an Induction cooktop – no flame!)

GET complained about the price of avocados at Safeway but agreed that they tasted pretty good.  Nothing like a taco made at home with fresh ingredients.

First taco eaten in 1963…no end in sight! I wonder how many I’ve eaten and made?

P.S. I got so hungry for Mexican food while writing this that I convinced GET to run out to our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch! 

And a note:  While I dearly love tacos, I feel almost as strongly about enchiladas, huevos rancheros, burritos, taquitos, tostadas etc. etc. etc… and don’t get me started on ALL New Mexico Southwestern food!

For my deck--a pallet project. . .

I saw this pallet countertop project on Pinterest and thought “I can do this!”  And, just now, as I was looking for a photo to post here, I see that it is for sale on Etsy for $148.00. 
The Pinterest project used more perfect pallets and is painted white.  Our deck is unpainted rustic so we wanted our countertop to follow the rustic theme.
First order of business is choosing two pallets. Luckily we have a huge stack to select from over in the maintenance yard.

“How about this one?”

Two pallets were chosen and loaded into the truck bed.

The pallets are a little too tall for our deck so we cut one board off the bottom of each.  Then GET used his drill to screw the two together.

I love the look of the irregular sized boards on the front. That’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s control tower in the background.

I used three reddish-tone pavers (again, maintenance yard finds) for the top.  After this photo I gave them three coats of spray varnish which gave them a little sheen.

• time spent, about 1-1/2 hours including pallet search
• cost $0

I originally thought I would use it as a buffet table for barbecues but I think it will have a double duty as a potting bench. Umm, I love blue, maybe I’ll stain or paint it later?
Love it! Now, what else can I make with pallets?  Saw some with plants between the slats at T & A Café in Spreckels last night.

Valentines live on. . .

It was roses for me and to satisfy closet chocoholic GET’a pot full of chocolate turtles!   (Someone said that Valentine’s Day is only for the ladies.  I don’t agree.) A few days later the roses had wilted and the red ribbon was saved in my ribbon box for use another day. I really liked the narrow oval shape of the vase. . .AHA! perfect for another beachy arrangement!

When we travel I carry kitchen storage bags to collect a bit of sand from the beaches.  Inky was quite positive I was out on the deck to pet him rather than take photos of my beach sand stash.Here I layered sand from Galveston, Texas, Orick, California and Jalama Beach, California.  The shells and sand dollars were found on various beaches across the country and the long narrow stone caught grandson Jorden’s eye in Bar Harbor, Maine.The chocolate turtles have been eaten and bright red cellophane removed and the terra cotta pot waits on the deck for its next use.This arrangement in my kitchen is in a clear glass pitcher I found in a thrift store.  Sand, shells and sand dollars are from places such as Maine,  California, Washington, Alaska and Florida. This beautiful crystal vase was another thrift store find and also contains shells, sand, stones and sand dollars from many states.  I like to collect clear glass and crystal items. 

The vintage Bauer pot contains items to be used in the future.  See the little  glass tray?  Kelle said she couldn’t resist buying it for the  Queen “B” of our family!  Funny girl.

“The rose that you gave me has faded, and wilted away. But, the love tucked in deep inside remains in my heart forever.” Unknown

Happy Valentine's...love is in the air

My daughter's twin kitties, Johnny and Gizmo all snuggled together - I think they look like a Valentine's heart!
These two crows have been outside my Sound booth window at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during all three days of this event....love at the race track?

Fresno 5 & Morro Bay, a fitting wrap-up. . .

We’ve come to the end of our latest “on the road” adventures with our case of itchy hitch syndrome temporarily put to rest.  Tomorrow it is back to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca where we happily resume our race track duties.

Back in November our first stop was an overnight visit with the Fresno 5 (the Fresno 5 consists of our son Russ, daughter-in-law Denise and three amazing grands Stanley, Mary and Will.)  Something incredible happened during these two months: they ALL grew taller than their Grammie!

Fittingly, we figured, we wrapped it up with meeting them for the weekend in Morro Bay, California.

That’s Morro Rock behind our Fresno 5.

Sandpiper feeding on the shore of the Pacific Ocean.

No time in Morro Bay is complete without fish and chips at Giovanni’s Fish Market. The three smokestacks (locally known as the “three fingers”) are part of a now closed power plant.

What I’m sure is an unusual site for this threatened species:  five Mama California Sea Otters all with pups!  Some latched themselves to Mama and both napped, some were tumbling in the water with their Mamas.  When a Sea Lion showed up he/she proceeded to play and tumble with the otters.

While we were enthralled with the otters two dolphins swam by, a hummingbird landed in the bush below us, pelicans flew over and, of course, sea gulls everywhere!

AND, we looked down in the rocks and noticed this lizard doing push-ups.

Pure joy!! Brothers and sister enjoying a run through the dunes.

Will said we should probably go back to Fosters Freeze! His choice was called something like “worms and dirt.” Not many other than a twelve year old boy would choose this! Selfie with my Nikon camera --- harder to manage than with a cell phone camera.  I have wild hair but the wind on the beach made it really wild!

Since Will was taking an interest in photography I let him use my Nikon. “Keep the strap around your neck so it won’t fall and break.”  I am channeling my favorite cooking host The Pioneer Woman?

The end of a beautiful day.

Papa, Grammie and Dulee flop into chairs and enjoy the campfire.

P.S.   Its Super bowl Weekend!  We end the weekend with a photo op of the Thomas guys in football jerseys.

I think life is good!

Port “A” from my window. . .

This Great Blue Heron has come to the same spot on the dunes near us every day that we’ve been in at Gulf Waters RV Resort.  Wonder if he is as grouchy as he looks?

Yesterday this one flew in and stayed awhile, never getting close to the big guy—another Great Blue or maybe a Grey Heron?

GET & Dulee enjoying a little sun.

In general Dulee is a slug but in this stance he looks like a real guard dog!  (A few minutes later he was curled up inside on the back of the sofa.)

Ever since we hosted at Island RV Resort during the winter season of 1998-99 Port “A” has had a special place in our hearts.  We regularly stop during our travels.  I accidently got this shot a the Wetlands Birding Center during our 2005 stop.

Port “A”----another of our many very favorite places in the U.S.A.  Another reason we continue this lifestyle!