Camping Weekend?

After a 10 hour power Christmas take down and organization feat, Bill hit me with the news that we were going camping. 

  What? 

Camping is work. I was exhausted. 

However, I rallied - somewhat. 

I say somewhat because I just wasn't the most organized this trip.  

Over the course of the weekend, we made three trips to the Dollar General. 

Thank heavens that there is a Dollar G in just about every small town in Texas. I think they put the Alcoa out of business, though.  

Usually, there are Joanna Gaines inspired tablescloths and linens. Hotel china, tea cups, coffee cups etc, etc, etc. 

Not this time. 

After the great mouse caper of 2014, we decided not to store anything inside of it except Irish Spring bath soap.  

Mice love toilet paper and paper towels - FYI. They don't love the smell of balsam. 

 You may remember that I rehabbed the camper two and a half years ago. 

There is a great series of camper posts but because I am lacking in blogging sticktoitiveness so there was not really a reveal post. 

Fabulous thrifting expeditions ensued and darling black and white accessories were collected for the camper. Since we don't store anything in the camper, they got dispersed throughout our various cupboards. Some of it was congregated for this trip but not everything. 

Hence the many trips to the Dollar G.  

We didn't bring any coffee cups. We love camp coffee. 

These were the only coffee cups at the DG. 

The Good Morning Sunshine mug is mine. This choice was very ironic as I am NOT a morning person at all. 

This was my natural centerpiece.  

There wasn't a thing blooming. It was fun collecting what was available.  

I really don't love all the pantry items on display. I think I'm going to make a little curtain for this niche. A spring rod should hold it in place. 

On a whim, I grabbed this postcard in an Adirondack frame at the last minute. 

We both loved how it added a cabin look to the camper. 

I painted the log cabin watercolor. 

As I lay on the bed dozing and napping, (Napping in the camper is about the best thing ever.)

I had a good look at the inside. 

I was a little astounded at the amount of work that it took to transform it from rusty red and brown to tasteful gray, black and white. 

I tried tooting my own horn to Bill but he didn't seem as impressed with me as I was with myself. Haha. 

These are all pictures with my iPhone but here are some styling shots with the decor items that were thrown in the truck right before we left. 

There is a punch list of stuff we still need to do.

I think I'll make a list of everything we need to bring so next time we don't make so many trips to the Dollar G. 

I'll leave you with some Selfies With A Dog.

:)

These two were so excited to camp. 

I was correct. It is a lot of work but the weather was amazing. 

We also had a fun time with family. 

It was a great weekend. 

Can you see the Dollar G in the distance? 

Katie 

As Boring As Blood Pathogen Training/Carpet and The Mattress For The Trailer

Most of my regular readers know that I retired from teaching in May. 

I made the decision in January which was heart wrenching. 

In February, I realized that one the "bright sides" was not having to endure anymore blood borne pathogen training. 

I don't know if you've ever had to sit through one of these training seminars. Boring.
I guess they assume that teachers will start touching blood in between refresher sessions because this training has to be done once a year.
Maybe they know that teachers would give their own life for a student so therefore expose themselves to blood if it were required to help a child.
Who knows?
This post may be as boring as Blood Borne Pathogen Training but it is necessary to get to the wonderful reveal. 

There was carpet next to the bed. The area under the bed was chip board.
We needed to re-carpet because of the winter long mouse party a few years ago.
We wanted to put carpet under the bed as well to possibly improve comfort. 

Bill went to Home Depot and got a few samples.
We picked out a nice dove gray that coordinates with our other elements.

It was around $10.98 a square yard.
I really can't remember how many square yards we got but we had plenty.
Bill calculated how many yards we needed because it was math. Math makes my head hurt.

He did a measurement and cut it.

He took it to the trailer and tacked, stretched, and trimmed it all around the perimeter.
We stretched it as much as we could but we didn't have one of those carpet stretching tools.
We used the electric staple gun he got for Christmas.
I love this thing.

Cutting carpet is a little nerve wracking but it does have a little give if you make a mistake and need to pull it tighter to the wall.
We used a razor blade knife.



We didn't do the closets. The mice didn't have their wild dance party in there.

Next to the couch there were some very groovy drink holders made out of plywood and covered in the palm frond fantasy fabric.

They were not permitted re-entry into the trailer.
They didn't really hold anything but a bottle of water and Bill needs a spot for his coffee.

We were going to make some nice teak trays but we were nearing the point of, "I'm over it."
We decided I would carpet the area next to the couch.
I should interject at this point that I wanted to take the couch out and put in a regular loveseat but the slide out mechanism made that impossible.

The strange fold down couch bed will have to do but at least it has nice new carpet next to it.

Bill ordered a new Memory Foam mattress, mattress pad and sheet set off of Amazon.
We tried to shop local but they didn't have what we needed.
We got the Zinus Sleep Master Ultima for $379.48.
The mattress came all rolled up and shrink wrapped.
It needed to be unrolled within a day.

The mattress pad came from eLuxury Supply.
This company had a hand written thank you note inside and is owned by a veteran.
 They were amazing to deal with.

We really hope this is way more comfortable than the old bed which came with the trailer.
We should have gotten an upgrade years ago.
Hopefully our backs will notice that this is an upgrade from the old mattress.

That is it for now.
Thanks for sitting through this post.
I appreciate you all so much.
Thank you to those that take the time to leave a comment.
I try to eventually email you back unless you are a no-reply blogger.
If you are a no-reply blogger, please know that I always read and appreciate very comment.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Maybe you get to go camping!
Katie


Read about Primer.

Read about Paint. 

Read about Curtains. 

Read about the sofa.

Read about the privacy curtain.

Linking with,
Essence of Home

How To Make A Lettered Banner

 Do you like camping? 
My idea of camping includes toilet paper and a potty. 
If the toilet paper don't fit, the dealership you must hit. 
Did I ever tell you about the time that we went on a family Scout trip? 
There were five of us in a five passenger car. 
We packed up the car and headed to the camp ground.
We were squeezed in that sedan like sardines on a cracker. 

Several hours later, Rebekah and I had to use the scary, spider infested facilities. 
"Honey. Where is the toilet paper?" 
"In one of the blue totes."
"Which one?"
"The one that is at home because it wouldn't fit in the car." 
I had a new van before you could flush.
It was that time that I got a new car because of a roll of toilet paper. 

Rebekah and I finally found a roll in the bathroom by the canoeing station.
It was old. 
It had been rained on but
it was toilet paper!

A few weeks ago, Dave and I did our four day junking expedition.

 I saw a darling banner at one of the antique malls. 
 It wasn't for sale but I thought one like it would be adorable in my classroom.  
Our theme this year is Explore, Experience, Exclaim. 
The whole school will be decorated with an outdoors, cabin, and camping theme. 
The school already looks adorable. 

I decided to make my own version of the camp banner using my Cricut Explorer.

I know the Cricut can cut fabric but it wasn't cutting my fabric. 
I'd just replaced the cutting tool but maybe I didn't replace it with a fabric cutting tool. 
So I downloaded the letter templates, cut them out of cardstock and used them to trace the letters onto the two layers of fabric. 

The cuts aren't as crisp as I would have liked but they will do. The denim pennants came in a package from Michael's. 
This is no sew project because I used glue to affix the letters. 

Creating is so much fun.

I love old camping decor.

Wouldn't this be cute decor at Christmas?

Plaid reminds me of the jumpers little girls wear to school.

 I have a few pictures of my classroom. 
I'll get some of the halls.
The lighting is pretty horrendous in there but you can get an idea of where I spend part of my week and there is always plenty of toilet paper. 
 Have a wonderful weekend!
Katie

Our Camper Needs Some Love

I told you yesterday that we have neglected our camper for a while Bill has been so sick. 

He just didn't have the energy to get out to it. 

When he did have the energy, he preferred to go to the lake and do a little fishing. 

 It has been a while since I've been out to the ranch to have a peek at our trailer. 

It has been sitting for a couple of years not being used. 

Bill made a trip out to check on it about 6 months ago but I didn't go with him. 
 Mice had gotten inside over the previous winter.  Argh!!

He also said that the fridge and freezer doors were left ajar. 
Not a problem except that they were left on.
Condensation had leaked all over the place. 

I envisioned ruined faux wood cabinetry and mice droppings up to our eyeballs. 

The damage from the condensation was minimal. 
It only ruined an 8 by 8 cabinet door. 

The droppings are all cleaned up and were not horrible. 

That being said, we are going to put some work into it.
We are getting a new mattress and new bedding. 

The mattress that came with the trailer is ridiculously uncomfortable.
I've wanted a new mattress since we slept on it the first night. 
OUCH! 

I will also be making new curtains and reupholstering the couch.
 I wonder what is wrong with the designers that work with R.V. manufacturers. 
They seem to pick the ugliest fabrics ever made. 
This was the best of what the dealer had at the time.

I have wanted to redo the upholstery since the day we picked it up but Bill would not have cared for that idea. 

We have had it almost 7 years so it needs new tires before we can pull it anywhere. 

 Once Bill can pull it home, I can begin making some changes. 

It was a beautiful day. 
We got it emptied out and cleaned up. 

It was great to ride an ATV again.

The original longhorns are all still there.

There was a new little darling. 

I can tell Bill is feeling a lot better because he had the energy to make a trip out to the ranch. 

It is great having the old Bill back. 

Thanks for stopping by, 

Katie