Photo by Angie Quantrell
winter lace
lacy swirls of cold
spires stretch long, fingers point
frozen work of art
by Angie Quantrell
Photo by Angie Quantrell
Winter Lace – a Haiku
Category Archives: RV Life
Snow Cream
Today is it, folks. At least for the Yakima Valley. Maybe.
Time to get out there and grab a bowl full of clean fresh snow before the rains hit tomorrow. Let’s make snow cream!
Snow Cream
- Fill a cereal bowl with clean snow. If you are doing this with kids, give them each a bowl to fill.
- To each bowl add about: 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp. sugar, and enough 1/2 & 1/2 or milk to desired consistency. Mix with a spoon. This is very light sugar, as I don’t care for syrupy sweet stuff, but you can add more sugar if you want. This would also be great with fresh fruit.
- Eat, enjoy, repeat.
My mom used to make snow cream for us when I was a kid. I think she used to add eggs. But I’m not a big fan of raw eggs, and I was a kid. I could be way off base. Either way, no eggs.
Brain freeze!
A Photo Becomes A Painting
A photo tells a story.
At the end of a recent vacation, I shot a selfie of the two of us, relaxed and replete after several days of downtime and fun. This picture is one of my favorites.
Factor in one of Kevin’s co-workers, Kathy Bensch. She wanted to do a painting of us for Kevin’s office. Just because. We gave her a copy of our favorite photo.
Et voila! There we are, in living water color. Thank you, Kathy! Perfect!
Not that the painting will ever make it to Kevin’s office…I do have some ideas on how to share.
But I think this painting looks great in the RV.
Blanket Wars
No. This is not THAT kind of post. Sorry to disappoint.
This story does take place behind closed doors. Bedroom doors. And it involves blankets.
Backstory: We live in an RV. While this is fairly new, having moved in last August after selling our home and getting rid of most of our belongings, we are pretty settled – as much as a couple plus two cats can be living in an RV – and have dealt with enough RV issues to allow us to feel somewhat competent and resourceful.
Some things we’ve experienced: sub-zero temps, above 100 temps, blown fuses, broken microwave (rough, I know), broken entertainment system (again, tough to handle, right?), frozen water hose, condensation like there’s no tomorrow, broken toilet (equals running, not stopping, water), frozen closed door (with us inside), and broken window shades (thanks, kitties).
Usually Mr. Q gets right on the problem and we finagle a way to make it work or fix it. Often this involves a call to Skyler, the fabulous service manager at Broadmoor RV where we purchased our home on wheels. Skyler is on speed dial. Skyler knows Mr. Q well, and after the recent broken toilet fiasco, my respect for him has quadrupled. Mr. Q was well and ready to pull the RV plug and throw in the towel. Skyler talked him off the ledge and assured him of solutions and assistance. Thanks to Skyler, we still live in the RV.
But there is one mystery we have not been able to fix. The blankets. The moving, twisting, weird blankets.
Setting: Queen bed. Sheets, both fitted and top. Kind of fuzzy dual-controlled electric blanket. Quilt. Second quilt. Small fleece throw for kitties.
Bedtime finds us tucked in cozily, snug as bugs in an RV rug. Staggered morning wakings ensue in a twist of layers and colors. He goes to work, I make the bed before digging out my computer.
Make. The. Bed. Every. Day. While this is challenging in itself – half cupboards at head height, sharp corners, floor cupboards, more sharp corners, narrow alley around most of the bed, electric blanket cord, and doorknobs – what happens to the tucked in bedding is most confusing.
I end up with the sheet. And sometimes one of the quilts. His side of the bed has the majority of the electric blanket, no sheet, and maybe a quilt. This happens every day. I don’t know how we do it, but it’s as if Mr. Q performs some magic trick to pull out the middle layer of heat and shuffles the rest my way.
The blankets are still tucked in at the foot of the bed. The plug is still attached. Even the kitty throw is in place. But that middle layer? Totally separated as if plucked and sorted by a giant’s hand while we sleep.
The blanket wars are on! I tuck with a vengeance, both when making the bed and when I get in at night, just to make sure I still have some covers left in the morning. He settles in while firmly grasping blankets over his head. Despite our efforts, the sheets still come my way, the electronic warmth goes his.
A mystery of epic RV proportions. Who will win? Will she freeze? Why do the sheets go east, the blankets west? Does he figure a way to make them stay layered? And what about the kitties? Whose side do they stay on?
Tune in this spring to discover if the warming trends of the season solve the blanket wars, once and for all.
Until next winter.
The Welcome Mat is Out – RV Life
The snow that has fallen would easily reach the second step, but diligent shoveling makes finding the welcome mat possible!
The welcome mat is out. Snow covered. But out.
Bundle up, jump in the one-horse open sleigh, and drive over the river and through the woods to Nana’s house. I mean Nana and Papa’s RV.
First, we’ll visit and catch-up. Of course, in our tiny space, this may require sitting in shifts or booting a cat off the chair. Speaking of cats, the floating fur is free.
For the exercise portion of our gathering, shall we shovel some snow? As it seems to fall continuously, there are a couple of acres ready for your attention. We’ll add in a bit of slip-sliding our way up the hill to the irrigation ditch, view the wildlife, and sled back down into the pasture.
To conclude our fun times together, toasty hot tea or coffee and perhaps a snack or two shall be served.
As we wave you out of sight, know our hearts and RV are warmer and happier. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.
Just aim for the welcome mat.
The Christmas tree that shall stand in place until probably March – or until the snow melts enough to get to the base. It’s still beautiful, so I shall enjoy it until then!
Snow, glorious, snow.
Falling, drifting, growing
Into mountains
And triathlon driving adventures.
Snow, fabulous, snow.
Beautiful, peaceful, blanketing
Covering all
And putting to bed those who live under.
– By Angie Quantrell
Window Cleaners
Mabel considering which drip to consume.
A Haiku Poem
unexpected help
nose, tongue, whiskers, nimble paws
cat window cleaners
Monet removing frozen condensation from the window
by Angie Quantrell
The Sweater of a Thousand Photos
The sweater of a thousand photos joins me as I corral and snuggle our 5 grands!
New beginnings.
January always brings fresh hope and promises of renewed dreams, goals, plans.
View the sweater of a thousand photos.
This wardrobe piece awaits my beck and call all hours of the day and night. Menopause requires layers. And this, my Goodwill find from years past, is perfect. Cold? Snuggle in this button-up baby. Hot? Fling it across the room without any answering complaints. Fold it. Wad it. Wash it. Toss it. Wear it. Love and hate it.
From my viewpoint, the sweater of a thousand photos matches every item of clothing I own. Because I wear it with any and every thing. Coordinating or not.
As evidenced by photos. At least 1,000 of them.
Life in the RV has finally taken its toll. Laundry facilities are stranded across compacted snow and ice trails inside the stick house of our son and his family. Sometimes one forgets to empty the dryer on time. Usually that is ok. But just this once, it was not.
For the sweater of a thousand photos has been damaged. Heated too long and too hot. The yarns melted into permanent wrinkles. Never before static cling haunts attempts at layering. What once was fuzz and softness is now thin and bare. The sweater of a thousand photos, MY sweater, the $2 deal, is nearing the end.
My heart is sad but realizing the futility of wearing holes and wrinkles held together with bits of yarn. It is time to move on. Let it go. Wave a fond farewell, not looking back.
Unless it is in photos.
New beginnings come in different forms. Out with the old, in with the new. Or maybe new-to-me.
The hunt has begun. This year, I resolve to capture the next sweater of a thousand photos. The search will be in reverse order, according to hunting aficionados, but this works well for clothing.
Hunt. Bag. Shoot.
What will you be hunting this year?
Stocking Number 5 (Or 11) – Christmas Traditions
I just completed stocking number 5. Or 11, depending on how far back you want to go.
Autumn, the youngest grand princess, wore her Christmas stocking just in the nick of time, since all other stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and mommy and daddy were patiently waiting for Nana to finish sewing for the fourth family member.
Christmas is a very short time away, right?
Making Christmas stockings became a tradition as soon and my honey and I were married. I strip-pieced matching stockings for both of us about 31 years ago. They have been used every year, except this one, when they are hiding in storage. And maybe next year, which will most likely be the same.
After each of our two children were born, I made them giant strip-pieced stockings. Somewhere (again, in the storage unit) are pictures of them wearing their stockings. As adults, Taylor and Chelsie both have their stockings in their own homes. Spouses (and child-of-our-hearts) received their own stocking. All that was missing were the baby pictures in stockings, but, well, they are just too big to wear them!
Jump forward to the next generation of grands.
First came Hayden, our 4-wheelin’ boy. Nana got busy right away to make him a stocking.
Next came Khloe, Princess of the Blue Eyes. Nana stitched and sewed to get her set for Christmas.
Donavyn, the brown-eyed ducky boy, came next. Here he is wearing his stocking beside his baby sister. He barely fits!
Gage, little wild man, made his appearance over a year ago. Nana dusted off the sewing machine and created his stocking.
And finally, Autumn. Last winter, when I was making Gage’s stocking, I cut out the base for another stocking, since we knew grand number 5 was on the way. Good thing for me, as we didn’t know we would soon be shoving all of our belongings into a tiny storage unit. When my Christmas senses kicked in, all I had to do was pull out the trunk with my fabric, dig out the stocking base and Christmas fabric, and I was reading to sew.
Stocking number 5. Or 11, depending on where you want to start counting. For us, it all began 31 years ago.
Foot Warmers: A Letter to My Cats
Dear Kitties,
I know it’s cold in the RV. In fact, sometimes it’s Jack Frost icy. I realize that furry coats don’t always do the job in the warm-me-up department. I even acknowledge that though there are only 2 of you (and you are sisters from the SAME litter), touching each other often causes undo excitement, hissy fits, and flying bits of gray fluff.
We have a queen bed. In the RV. Crammed into a tiny alcove. Six-foot two-inch hubby requires most of the square footage available on said bed. That leaves me a tiny sliver, I’d even say the edge is my only slumber real estate.
I know we have an electric blanket. I admit to enjoying the toasty slide into pre-warmed sheets. The heater ducts blow comfortably hot air into our bedroom. This makes our room the most desirable location during long winter nights.
It also makes me be squished.
Sliver of bed. Closet alcove for darkness naps. Tall husband. Two cats.
Kitties. I have short legs. But even then, when you are both snuggled and sleeping like furry gray rocks along the bottom of the bed, I am left with nowhere to put my feet.
Out of the covers? Brrrr. Between you? This is one event where you allow yourselves to touch, even become glued together with your sibling. Beneath you? Your elephanty weight belies your small stature. Against the hubby? Uhm, his long legs leave no room. Up against your warm bodies it is then.
A ball. You will find me rolled on my side up near the outer wall of the RV. Sushi roll style, head wedged against the “dresser,” shoulders along the “headboard,” hands and knees tucked into the middle like bits of julienned carrots and radishes. The seaweed wrap of electric blanket coccooning me. And there the sushi mama roll will stay all night, on her less than 1/4 of the bed area.
You, my kitties, will have plenty of sleeping room. Purring contentedly, stretching at ease, lengthening and contracting with the rise and fall of space and temperatures.
Thanks for keeping us company and for blanketing our bed with your heat and snuggles. I don’t mind sharing with you. Not a bit.
Sleep well, feline foot warmers.
The Sushi Kitty Mama
RV Cooking – Tater Tot Casserole Revisited
Creamy tater tot casserole (without the tater tots)
Living in the RV, I am constantly challenged to adapt old recipes or create new combinations. With winter upon us, well literally in a few short days, plummeting temperatures – single digits next week! – care must be used when cooking in the electric skillet. As we creatively balance what can be plugged in, turned on, and vice versa in regards to heaters placed below the RV to maintain water flow, let me say the breakers have been tripped on a daily basis.
That being shared…here is a fun new way to make a classic.
RV Electric Skillet Tater Tot Casserole
(1 dish cooking)
Ingredients:
olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
a small scoop of minced garlic
2-3 small potatoes, diced
1 lb. ground turkey
1 can cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
1/2 cup frozen peas
Mrs. Dash, about 1 T.
black pepper, about 1 tsp.
dried sage, about 1 tsp.
crushed peppers, optional
chicken broth
grated cheese, optional
Directions:
1. Add olive oil to electric skillet and heat it to about 250-300 degrees. I constantly adjust my temperature setting depending on speed of cooking, so play with your temps.
2. Add onions, garlic, and carrots. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add turkey and cook until browned.
3. Add potatoes, cream of chicken soup, 1 can of water, and 1 can of chicken broth. Note: I like my casserole creamy as opposed to thick. Add more broth as needed to taste.
4. Add black pepper, crumbled sage, Mrs. Dash, and crushed peppers to taste. We love spice, so I am heavy-handed with the peppers. Stir, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir often.
5. Add broccoli, beans, and peas. Adjust liquid content with broth, again to taste.
6. Cook until all ingredients are heated through and potatoes are soft, perhaps 5-10 minutes more.
7. Serve immediately with grated cheese.
There you have it. Tater Tot Casserole without the tater tots!
Love, Laughter, and Life 