1/4/20

An RV Day

There's time to get off one more post before we head on down the road this morning. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access at our next place, but I do know we'll be without electricity. Sometimes lack of electricity is the deciding factor. Before we left on this trip, Mike installed solar panels on top of the RV. It makes sense since the goal was to head for sunny and warm locations. I'm not sure if they'll put enough charge on our batteries to run the laptop for any extended period of time, and so it's all an experiment at this point. We have a generator too, but it burns propane, and that can be expensive. It will all play out over the next week or so, and I'll have a better idea of my abilities and limitations blog-wise.

There is a quilt shop about 25 minutes away, and I'd wanted to visit when we arrived. Then, we ended up driving all over the place to get medicine and seek medical attention, and we haven't really had a single day to relax since we left home. The quilt shop sounded less appealing than just hanging out. The day wasn't wasted though.

Everything was already out for the snowflake blocks, and so I made up the next one. You'll recall from my post yesterday that the red ink from my ink-jet printer didn't wash out when I rinsed away the Sticky Fabri-Solvy. It's a small section of the whole, designating the size of the blocks. (The pattern includes snowflakes in all different sizes, and I'm doing the largest ones.)


Knowing that, it was simple enough to cut that tiny section from the printed page before applying it to the background.


And there we go...ready for stitching.


I'm enticing myself to continue on with the big stitch hand quilting on Mulligan Stew with the snowflakes. I'll stitch on the big-stitch project for a week, and then get started with the next snowflake, and just keep switching back and forth. Even though I think big-stitch quilting is the right choice for Mulligan Stew, I do not enjoy this process, and so I need some incentive. Here's where I left off before, and where I'll start up again this morning.


The kitties enjoyed having us home for the day. There was lots of time for snuggles, lap-time, and napping. Smitty likes these seats, which are heated.


Sadie curled up on her window seat. Also, yes, that is a red, white, and blue RV through the window and across the road from us. No idea what would motivate someone, but it takes all kinds of people to make a world, doesn't it?


We'd planned a kind of celebratory meal for our New Year's Day celebration. But then, I was really too sick to make it. Before we left to head for the 24-hour pharmacy that day, I started some Maple Baked Beans from scratch in the crockpot. We also had a small Flame Craft ham to heat up. I'd intended to make a 7-layer salad and a bourbon pumpkin tart as well. When we got back from the pharmacy, I was feeling so poorly, I didn't get the rest of it done.

So that was okay. We had a pork tenderloin thawed in the refrigerator, and there were leftover beans from the first night. Yesterday, I tried cutting down my Bourbon Pumpkin Tart with Walnut Streusel into a tart for two. This is ordinarily baked in an 11-inch tart pan. I think mine is about 6-inches, but a little deeper than the 11-inch pan. I measured the volume difference between the two, and then cut the recipe in half. I ended up with an awful lot of streusel, but made a deeper layer because of the added depth. It was baked in my RV convection oven, which gave the streusel a nice crispy texture. It turned out just fine.


It was supposed to bake 30-35 minutes. It looked set and done at 30 minutes, and so I took it out. It probably could have used the extra five minutes of baking time though because the pie dough was a little underbaked.

Also, I made my mother's 7-layer salad recipe. And so we had pretty much the same meal I'd originally planned for New Year's Day, only with pork instead of ham, and reheated leftover beans. It was all tasty. I love RV cooking.


That's my homemade apple-pear chutney there on the plate with the pork. Mike roasted the pork on his small Traeger grill. Yum.

Okay, so today we're off on a short trip to a county campground along the way to Death Valley. We're limiting our driving days to around 200 miles this trip, and it's nice to be on a more leisurely schedule. I'm feeling better day by day, although I think I've caught a cold in the middle of all of this. Still, I'm much better than when it all started.

So, I'm signing off, hopefully for not too long. I'll be back as soon as I'm able.

8 comments:

Karen said...

Please don't over do . That asthma and breathing stuff is important. You are on vaca. Not visiting as many hospitals and pharmaceutical places as you go. Goodheavens! Please take care.

Kate said...

Glad you are feeling better. Take care, hope you continue to improve over the next week. Safe travels.

Louise said...

When we were full time RVing 7 years ago, our internet came from a giant dish on the roof of the rig. Finding a campsite with a clear view of the sky was our priority! Tricky to do in some really wooded places and we often drove around campgrounds peering up into the trees for a hole. I don't miss that old technology, but I'd love the heated seats technology. Better hope the cats don't figure out how to turn them on :)

Snoodles said...

Relaxation and kitty snuggles are the prescription from Dr Snoodles. Feel better soon!!

piecefulwendy said...

Well, maybe your neighbors got that RV cheap because of the design - ha! Definitely makes it easy to find in a crowded lot though :-) Glad you are getting better bit by bit!

Janis P said...

I love that hobo quilt with the big stitch quilting! I think it makes the hobo theme so authentic. Thanks for taking me along on your vacation, again. Don't forget about the vitamin D for asthma. Hope you feel better soon.

kc said...

Looks like I need to back up a bit and read your previous posts. I've missed several, due to some kind of Mexican crud I picked up, but it sounds like you've been ill as well. :(. Also, sounds like you are on the mend? Tart looks yummy, if and when I feel human again, I will check out that recipe.

That is some paint job, for sure. We found a bus in Myrtle Beach that was painted a flat, Coca Cola red, awnings were red, chairs were red, rug mat was red, cooler was red, Jeep was red, all the same, flat red. Definitely not my style and not in the least bit attractive, IMHO but then they didn't consult me nor ask me for payment, so, whatevs.. feel better soon!

Lyndsey said...

I think the big stitch definitely suits the quilt and it will look fabulous when done. Your tart looks yummy as does the meal. Take care of yourselves.