EEK EEK a Motorhome LEAK!!!!

Oh my, that bane of RV existence, a LEAK!

A couple weeks ago we saw some water in our basement compartment under the kitchen sink.  OH MY!   Steveio deduced  that it was coming from the black plastic drain pipe joints.  So he disassembled them, and sealed all the seams with TFE paste and thought he took care of it.  He put our small cube electric heater in there to dry up the carpeting.

Fixed?   We thought so....

Last week, more water again!   If you are an RV owner, you KNOW that water in any compartment or cabinet or wall or anywhere is damaging and can lead to long term rot.   Hopefully we don't have much damage, as underneath this blue carpeting is a layer of treated plywood, not pressed wood or buffalo board.

So we dried it up again with the heater and Steve checked and tightened ALL the lines and joints.   Now, in case you think this is a "minor job" ...take a look at the piping behind our water manifold:

This manifold is like a "control panel" for all the devices in the motorhome that function from both hot and cold water feeds.   On the outside, there are a series of ON and OFF levers to control the flow to each appliance or item inside.  We have 2 sinks, shower/tub, toilet, outside shower, washer/dryer, and a separate Uline icemaker appliance.     Steve contorted his lanky long frame down into this compartment and twist around behind the manifold to tighten up each and every joint and fitting.

Fixed?  We thought so.....


I have been under the weather the last few days, I think a flu bug snuck up on me.   Both dogs seemed to be sick too!  They were listless and stinky and blah... so they needed to be perked up with a good bath.  Today I had the water running for a long time, as I washed both dogs in the bathtub inside the rig.  When Steveio checked the basement compartment, sure enough, that same spot in the carpeting was wet again!  So THIS time I said let me run the water inside while he watches underneath in that compartment with a flashlight.  AHHHHHHH he found it!

It was leaking from the pressure switch on our water pump!  No wonder he could not see any leaks from any lines or joints.

Now he needed to release all the water pressure, and then remove that pressure switch.  I had to come out and play "Little Girl with her Finger in the Dike"   while he removed the switch and sealed up and tightened the screws where it was leaking.  It seemed to take ffooorrreeevvveeerrrrrr while I laid in that compartment with my finger stuck in that hole.  Finally he was done and able to slide my finger off, while he popped the pressure switch back into place.  Reconnected the wires and we did a test run.

Wheeeeee it was all done, and didn't seem to leak when we test ran the water again under pressure.  We put the heater back underneath again to dry out the carpeting for the third time.  Three time's the charm, right?


Our campsite number 100 is lovely this week at High Cliff State Park.  Everything around us is golden and yellow and orange and beautiful.

We have been blessed with warm days in the 70's and evenings in the 50's.  But that is soon to change. By the weekend we are going to drop down with overnight lows in the 20's and high winds and it will be blasting the leaves off all of the trees.  The winds are already kicking up tonight and we keep hearing acorns bouncing off the roof as they are worked loose from the trees.  So it will look quite different by tomorrow morning, I think.   For now, I will capture it on digital medium so I can remember the sunshine on my face as I sat here knitting socks outside of the motorhome.  What joy!

Oh, I wanted to write  about a few little baking and cooking things we did this week....

I used to buy these wonderful bottles of dried vegetables at the Piggly Wiggly in Oconto Falls, in their spice department.  I checked two Larry's Piggly Wiggly stores in this area and they don't have them. They are only specific to the Witt's Piggly Wiggly chain in NE Wisconsin. So I begged daughter Erin to pick me up three bottles for me last time she was in Oconto Falls.

They are dried carrots, spinach, onions, celery, bell pepper, and tomatoes.     The bottle is large, about the size of a parmesan cheese shaker bottle.  I love to put them in with rice, pasta, or in cream of potato soup.  Yummmmm

Something else we did last night was to make up some neat little snack cakes from a special blend of  boxed cake mixes.  I wrote about them in another blog in the past. after reading about the recipe on facebook...

Using a new recipe where two boxes of cake mix are blended into a zip lock bag.  One box HAS to be angelfood, (for the included powdered egg whites and rising properties) and the other box can be any flavor. This mixed up bag of powder can be kept in the cupboard indefinitely and scooped from any time you want a quick snack cake! 

Dump 1/2 cup of the blended powder into a coffee cup, add 3TBsp water and blend.  Microwave for 1 minute (10 extra seconds in my smaller microwave) and voila!  You have a snack cake!   

Last night, instead of using coffee cups, I have this cute microwave plastic tray with four hearts.  I mixed up a double batch of the recipe and it's enough for four hearts.  Yummmmmm 

Oooh we each ate two... 

we deserved it after being such good RV plumbers today! 

Getting rid of stuff

The house re-do is going along at a fast clip.  

Bit by bit, box by box, room by room, I am decluttering.  My goal is to make the house look like a magazine and stage it for showings.  We can move our clutter and extra stuff into the motorhome, once we put the house on the market in April.  Then we can just live in the house with little impact on it, and be ready for showings hopefully at the drop of a hat.  

I am going to leave my weaving studio intact as much as I can, because I work in there almost daily if possible.  People can look beyond that and imagine the room as a big family room, or work area, or divided back up into the two original bedrooms it once was.

As I go over things, I decide if they are good enough to be sold on Ebay.  I listed five adorable wooden canisters I have had for about 15-20 years.   They are too cute-sy for "staging" a house for sale, but had been favorites of mine.   None of my kids wanted them, so it was time to list them on Ebay.

A lovely lady named Lisa won them.

Cookie Cottage, Flour House, Sugar Shop, Cafe (coffee)  and Tea Room

I am so glad someone wants my beloved cutesy kitchen stuff!  In corresponding with Lisa, she said she was just redecorating her kitchen and loved the little village theme.  Well, did I ever have a deal for her!  I sent her the following pics of the rest of the items I hadn't gotten around to listing yet, included 30 ceramic knobs from the cabinets and drawers.  Whew she was flabbergasted!

Done Deal!  

I shipped it all off to her yesterday!   

She is going to start following my blog, 

as she is also a camping person, 

and perhaps someday we will meet in a campground in Nebraska.  

Due to the lack of knobs, now we are opening up the cupboards and drawers with our fingertips!  Guess we have to get over to the hardware store and buy some average nondescript knobs that won't stand out so much.  

Little Chelsea came over on Wednesday night.  Her mommy was relaxing in our whirlpool tub (so comfy for a preggo momma in the 7th month)  and I kept the wee one busy ---- we were baking. 

We are using a new recipe where two boxes of cake mix are blended into a zip lock bag.  One box HAS to be angelfood, (for the included powdered egg whites and rising properties) and the other box can be any flavor. This mixed up bag of powder can be kept in the cupboard indefinitely and scooped from any time you want a quick snack cake! 

Dump 1/2 cup of the blended powder into a coffee cup, add 3TBsp water and blend.  Microwave for 1 minute (10 extra seconds in my smaller microwave) and voila!  You have a snack cake!   

Well, little Chelsea the Baker Girl was helping me mix up a double batch and put them in a heart shaped cupcake pan for the microwave.   

Gotta take the time for a lick or two of the fingers.  She made a fine mess, but enjoyed the project immensely.  Once she was done getting coated in chocolate, I popped her into the tub with her mommy!

Shhhhhh this treat is what all the kids and grandkids are getting for Valentine's Day!

The carpet guys are due back to finish the loft, hopefully today!   We need to get our things back into place so I can continue on the de-cluttering and staging.  We have been sleeping downstairs all week (which is fine with me because it's a nice squishy bed down there)  

I called yesterday to be sure we were on the schedule for today, and she said yes.  It's 9:30 a.m. and I have not heard from them yet.  Hope so.  Keep your fingers crossed?  It would be great to put the house back in order for the weekend. 

Our livingroom is piled high with the stuff that needs to go back up in the loft, and I want to finish the photo-scanning I have been doing which takes up a lot of space.  I have about 10-12 shoeboxes and ice cream buckets, all set out with name labels on each one as I scan and sort and pile up the pics for each person they are going to.  I have piles for our kids, my siblings, my cousins and my friends.  I am about 2/3 of the way through and want to get them done and out of my space. 

I have painting projects lined up for this evening and early tomorrow morning.  Jameson is coming for Saturday night because our daughter Heather is singing on stage at a formal venue up in Marquette, Michigan for an Alzheimer's Benefit.  She is releasing their debut CD of music she has been helping to record 2 songs.  She made it with some friends and her 5th grade school teacher that she reconnected with a while back.  Then on Sunday they are having an album signing.  How exciting is that?    

We said we would keep the little Jameson grandson overnight as they are going to have a late night and hotel getaway and it's about 150 miles from here.   I might get him to help bake the rest of the heart shaped cakes!   Then sometime this weekend we have to run to see little granddaughter Allegra.  Our son Dan works at a glass and window factory, and he cut us a new piece of mirror for the downstairs bathroom.   We get the mirror AND hugs from Allegra, what a deal!

Looking out the window right now, I am watching the birds all hunched up and clinging to the branches near the feeder.  Their feathers are all ruffled up against the wind which is blustery and gusting the snow all around. It's really snowing to beat the band out there today, but that shouldn't have any impact on the carpet guys.  I hope.   

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