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. 

~~~~~~~~

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! 

MOTORHOME MODIFICATION - *F* - and BACK TO WORK!!!!

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. It's called the Flame Genie and runs on compressed wood pellets. Great for a portable campfire to take along camping!

We have 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/

Here is a little video clip of us lighting it in the driveway on Christmas:

Steve took out his Flame Genie pellet campfire unit when camping and within just a few minutes we had a nice campfire going.  No smoke and easy to burn.

No digging for newspaper, buying firewood or chopping kindling.   We hauled along three 40 lb bags of pellets because we were not sure of the availability in the southwest.  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.  It cools off fast, then it can be put away before bedtime.

Removing Adhesive from Mirrored Headboard:

It was so warm this weekend, we went out in the motorhome and started removing the adhesive goop that was used on the mirror in the motorhome.  We pulled open the blinds and let the warm sunshine in to heat up the motorhome. It was soon 75 degrees in there! 

Here is my blog post about removing the mirror a couple weeks ago. 

motorhome-modification-mirror-removal

We used a heat gun... and with a bit of trial and error we figured out just how warm to heat up each section to get it to pull off like a thick rubber band.  10 passes back and forth of the heat gun is just enough.  Not 8, not 12. Too little heat the adhesive breaks, too much is smears like putty. 

I got about 8 or 9 circles removed so far. My fingers hurt, so I quit for the day. I will keep removing it and then see if a good coat of satin polyurethane will even it out before we mount our print in a nice picture frame over the bed. Sooo much better than a mirrored headboard! 

With the sun shining in, we decided to take a break and stretch out in the motorhome in the back yard. The dogs hopped up on the bed too, and soon we all took a nap in the afternoon sunshine.  It was almost as good as going camping! 

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Here is our BIG NEWS-----  Steveio, just barely retired now by 6 weeks, decided that he has found something he would like to do.  (part time)

You have heard about Driving Miss Daisy?  Well, he is going to drive the elderly, or handicapped people in a County Program called the Commission On Aging.  He will be driving a handicapped equipped mini passenger bus or a van to pick up people. He will deliver them to their appointments, wait or pick up another, and return to bring them home again.  It is supposed to be 15-20 hours a week.  

He applied, he passed the pee test & physical and was hired to start on Friday.  It was like sending a little boy off to his first day of school! 

He completed all the paperwork and information and will go out tomorrow on his first ride along. HIs first day is only 12-4:30 and will include two patients.  From there he will see how the schedule goes.  They are short on drivers right now due to two of them being out with surgeries.  It may be more than part time for a bit. We will see.....

He will be very good at this job... he is patient, kind, courteous and his mother taught him good manners and respecting the elderly.  I am sure he will become a favorite driver for all those sweet little old ladies!  hahahaha

Plus we are also volunteering with Calumet County Historical Society and also Camphost Coordinators at High Cliff State Park, training and scheduling the camphosts.  We will also be hosting in August in the park too. 

Our relaxing quiet retirement lives are filling up! 

Another project this weekend was that our car had a wheel bearing going to heck.  I am sooo fortunate that Steve is able to just buy the parts and do the work himself.  It's an old car, a 2001 Lincoln Continental... but I love it.  Each month that goes by without a car payment on a newer one is a blessing for us.  He got the new bearing in for only $80 in parts.  wheeeeee

This afternoon he said we should take a *test ride* in the car.  Since I had some great coupons for Joann's Fabrics, he said that would be a good destination for a *test ride* !!! Can you see why I love this guy???

We were able to use some 60% off coupons for fabric

and some 40% off sales for a pile of other goodies! 

We are having the strangest weather here in Wisconsin, and almost all of our snow is gone from the front yard!  The sidewalks are dry and clear.  The sun is shining and temps were in the high 50's today. Birds are singing up a storm and flocking to our birdfeeders, which are being refilled almost daily.  It feels like spring, but heck, it is only the middle of February!!!!

I sold the loom that I posted about in my last blog.
Now there is more room in my Loom Room,
and we added an extra perch by the south-facing window.
They totally enjoy keeping an eye on the neighborhood!

It has been so warm that we are getting in a couple walks each day with the dogs. Since the sidewalks are clear, it is pleasant to wear shoes instead of boots, and wear a light jacket instead of bundling up in down filled coats, caps, mitts and scarves. 

Even our front porch has been so comfortable.
Today it was 70 degrees out in the porch,
warmer than inside the house!

We grilled up BBQ ribs and took our meals out onto the front porch to eat, and it was like a picnic. The sunshine has really brightened up our moods after many days of fog, dreary overcast and freezing weather.  This is such a great treat. It will only be short-lived, but is a promise of spring to come.