Monday, December 12, 2011

Wind In My Fur



Harley was ecstatic to go riding in his buddy's car.  He could feel the thrill of the wind in his fur with the window down.  His pet parent was holding tightly to his harness, so he didn't fly right out the window.  He only weighs 6.4 pounds. Well, that was before he was neutered last week. After surgery, he only weighed 6.3 pounds. 


We've been enjoying howling at the full moon lately. Since we're in the country with the wildlife, there is no one to really disturb us while we sing in the choir. Harley sings a bit higher now. 


Anatomy of a copilot's life.  Well, an off-duty co-pilot's life. He is supposed to be the navigator, but we still get lost often. This has lead to all sorts of wild adventures.  It has sometimes forced us into different campgrounds, than the ones we were aiming for. 


It reminds me of my sailing days. Sometimes the weather just pushes you somewhere different than where you thought you were going. 


I like to think I travel like Mark Twain's quote:



“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”





Everything must do double duty in a mini motorhome. When I park, the cab area is converted for use as a puppy living/napping area. The console that sits on the floor holding Kleenex, keys, notepad, lists, drink, bits of garbage, sometimes an errant dog toy, is moved to the dashboard, to make room for Harley's triple sectioned feed station. One of his fans gave him a beautiful china bowl with a puppy face drawn on it. He uses it for his drinking water. 


For RV-ers traveling with pets that sit on your furniture, I find it helpful to have a soft sided pet bed, to help keep the upholstery clean. Harley has two soft-sided beds. He loves them both. They get moved all over creation, but he always finds them to curl up in when he is sleepy or chilly or both. 


My project pictures...




I wrote about sewing up two jumbo pillows from the original quilted bedspread.      The square green pillow on the left was covered and shown on the right in the  middle of the bed. The other big pillow held three sleep pillows worth of stuffing, so it is huge, though you can't really tell that in the picture. My bed currently has 9 pillows, 6 are bed pillow size, then the 2 odd big ones I made, then the little throw pillow that has a crochet cover. I really like my aft bed, it has big windows  on three sides. 


Sometimes I just want to lounge on it, to read or watch TV.  What?  Watch TV?


Yes. I have a TV now. I feel like a true American. I have succumbed to owning a ten inch TV. Fortunately it comes with MUTE and OFF.  I mute the commercials, then turn it off after my favorite show. Yes, I said it was ten inches. It's a flat screen, about the size of a hard cover novel. 




I like the look of my new padded cell. At night I put all the pillows around me, sleeping in padded comfort. My bed lays side to side, so the head of the bed is to the left and the foot to the right, though sometimes I sleep upside down or backwards. To the right of the bed, is an end table. On it sits a donated printer. I made a matching cover for the printer. I don't use it that much, but when I need it, I can bring my laptop to the bedroom, to plug it in for printing or copying. My big purple hat is sitting on top of it. There is still room leftover for a drink or remote. Yes, the tiny ten inch TV came with a remote. How funny is that?  


This is the before and after of the guest loft. Above my cab area is a queen sized bunk with windows on 3 sides. The two side windows have nice curtains in great shape that pull back with matching ties. They are the original curtains from circa 1994. 


The forward curtain was rose or burgundy or brown colored. Mostly it was faded, and stained. It leaked when the tree hit the roof knocking a hole in the roof but not in the window. That's all repaired now, thank goodness. The old curtains were made in such a way that they could not be opened more than an inch to let the sunshine in. 


I need sunshine and natural light in the winter especially, to keep from getting the blues. That old rotten curtain has been an embaressment when I've had company sleep in the guest loft. So this time I spent all day long outdoors ironing and sewing on a picnic table, until this new curtain was custom made. By little old me!  


I love how it lights up the ceiling and lets in lots of light by day. My dusk doesn't seem so dusky now.    I'm thinking of adding a room darkening shade that can roll up and down, behind the curtains. That is just in  case a guest wants to completely block out all light after sunrise. 


For me, living here alone, I am happy with the light that comes through the linen curtains. 


Below is the privacy curtain, that closes off the guest loft entirely. 


 They are in excellent shape and still quite pretty. I can also close them, when I am trying to heat or cool the RV in a hurry. Once the living area is brought up or down to the desired temperature, I can open them back up, to cool or heat that section too. 

One nice thing about having the Class C arrangement, is having two full sized bunks without having to fold out a sofa. There is a ladder for reaching the guest loft with ease. It stores away neatly when not in use. 


Well, today has been two years since I bought this old motorhome. I'm still living in it fulltime and still loving it. I am VERY lucky indeed!


I am trying to keep it nice, repaired and maintained. Doing all this on a ridiculously tiny  budget is rather challenging. Mostly it means I have to learn to do  much of the work myself. 


Life is grand!  Happy holidays!

2 comments:

  1. The pillows look very nice, and I like the bright look of the new curtains. Instead of a shade you want want to get that insulating Reflectix stuff that you cut and put in the window. I want to sew pillows for my RV but I need to buy a small sewing machine...or I could sew them by hand.

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  2. Poor harley, that is a tough way to lose weight;)

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Life is goof!