MOTORHOME MODIFICATION - *F* - Flame Genie, Valentines and Coffee Quilt

I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER F

Flame Genie Pellet Campfire:

This is Steve's favorite toy that he got for Christmas a few years ago. Steve saw this product and wanted to try to make his own.  He kept figuring and planning, but never got one made. Sooooo  I made sure Santa brought him one!   LOL ..... It's called the Flame Genie and burns compressed wood pellets. Great for a portable campfire to take along camping!

We have an emerald ash borer infestation in Wisconsin and cannot transport firewood for camping. But transporting compressed pellet bags is totally legal and safe.  It is also good to use while camping in the desert where firewood is scarce.

It lights up in just a few minutes. Full flames in 20 minutes.  It is safe to cook on and smells like a real campfire but no smoke!  Nice....   we got it via Amazon from http://www.pelletfirepit.com/  It is made in the USA.  Ours is the original 14 inch version, but now they came out with a larger 19" model with an ash catcher on the bottom.

Here are some little video clips of ours:

Here is how it works video from the factory:

Steve takes out his Flame Genie pellet campfire unit when we go camping and within just a few minutes we have a nice campfire going.  No smoke (unless you put in too many pellets)  and easy to start and keeps burning nicely.

No digging for newspaper, buying firewood or chopping kindling.   On our trip to the desert, we hauled along three 40 lb bags of pellets because we were not sure of the availability in the southwest. But we did find it at hardware stores in the bigger cities. Our friend Seann hauled us 6 bags from a store in Deming when we were down in Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, MN.

 Just a few scoops at a time, about every half hour.

What a way to spend great evening to sit out and unwind

It produces a nice fire for the evenings.  When you are ready to head to bed, it cools off fast, then it can be put away into storage.  No more leaving smouldering embers overnight or dangerous winds that could whip up a fire again. 

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My quilt is finally done on the frame with all of the free motion stitching. All I have to do now is trim the edges even and attach the binding.  It sure came out cute, if I say so myself.  I am going to list it for sale in my Etsy shop in the next week or so. I think I am going to call it "Coffee Break".  I think I have enough fabric left to make one more very similar, but perhaps a bit smaller, a queen maybe.

I really like the hooks and swirls of the stitching,

reminds me of steaming hot cups of coffee. 

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Valentine's Day is special for us....  

In 1996, after a year of dating, 

Mr. Steveio PROPOSED  to me! 

this is how we looked back then! 

Yes, back in 1996, after I treated him to a romantic home cooked lobster meal in my diningroom, he came around to my side of the table to lean over and give me a kiss.  RRIIIPPPP!  He pulled a velvet ring box from underneath the table that he had secretly taped under there with DUCT TAPE!  (I am NOT kidding!)  

He bent down on one knee and asked me to marry him!  I was flabbergasted and speechless... yes... me... speechless....  as we had not even discussed marriage.  Yes, I fell for him and we have had 21 years of wedded bliss coming up this June.

From there, we combined our families, 

we built our home together, 

we bought various RV's through the years to travel 

and enjoy life! 

For our gifts to each other this year, we bought all new pillows and two new sets of soft cotton flannel bedsheets!  How romantic is that? We are marinating some tenderloin steaks for on the grill tonight, plus Steve cooked us a great breakfast this morning. We brought our coffee cups out in the front porch.  It's going to get over 40 degrees today, but right now it's only 26.  In the sunshine out there, it's almost 60 and quite comfortable!

Happy Valentine's Day 

for each and every one of you!