Ellie J's Last Camp of the Year

Halloween camp.

We decorated her up for her last showing of the year.

Hopefully, when we roll her out in the spring

she will have

a

new towing system,

a new paint job

and

an actual title and license! 

 

We have great plans to go camping a little

farther away than

three miles!!!

We actually went fishing on this trip

What fun!

 

I caught two walleye,

however,

one did get away.

Giving truth to that.

the one that got away story. 

For that handful of you that have been following along,

thanks so much for keeping up

with the

infrequent updates.

 

Ellie J

managed to camp only three times this year.

Hopefully next year

she will get out more! 



More Decor

Curtains are next on the agenda. 

Oh, how I can procrastinate making curtains!

Check out those owls.

They were a yard sale find over the weekend and covered a place where the trim was missing.

The percolator is in place!

Vintage camper magazines ready for relaxing and finally reading.

So far, I have only skimmed the pictures. 

 

Reproduction tin pop bottles bought at an auction.

The colors in these were perfect,

the red and blue ones of the set went to Shawnee.

View front to back.

And a better view of the flooring!

I was so trying to keep the old linoleum,

but that was not meant to be.

The new tiles look much better anyway!

 

There were more pictures,

Blogger is giving me fits!

Auction Night

Last night was another auction at the fairgrounds.

The fair board sells the food at these auctions,

but really

we throw out some hot dogs and french fries

and

spend

way more than we ever sell.

One of those puzzling phenomenons.

Last night,

I won the prize for spending the most.

Really, there was not a prize,

but

laughing about it made the pain at the check-out

a little easier.

This little radio,

which will be perfect in my camper,

was a deal despite the hit that my checkbook took.

Two Dollars!

 

This coffee pot...

the only thing that I REALLY wanted

and might have actually

needed,

not so cheap.

 

Apparently, someone else thought

she needed/wanted it as bad as I did.

 

She must have seen the determined look on my face.

 

Her husband told her to let me have it.

The coffee pot that is.

 

A LIttle Glitch

And some fun decorating.

The little glitch happened on Monday.

JWS was working on the door

that would not shut easily.

Hinges off, hinges on, hinges off,

hinges on and it worked.

Beautifully.

He said you could shut it with one finger.

He said you could shut it with your tongue.

Not sure I want to go there.

He checked the keys.

They worked.

He threw the keys all on the table.

Walked out,

pushed the door shut,

and...

you guessed it!

Locked tight!

We thought of scenarios,

I tried every key we had.

I mentioned taking out the roof vent and dropping Logan

through the roof.

Honestly, I think we could have done that.

He would have thought it was a Mario move

and

would have loved it!

Finally,

we ripped a screen and got them out.

Another fix on the list.

 

See the dinette above.

After much procrastination,

I finally got the covers made for the cushions.

Sometimes the apprehension of a job

is actually worse than the job.

 

 

 

A little more decorating.

Those lovely wall plaques showed up on my porch one day.

I love them and they were the perfect touch for the kitchen

Thanks so much, Bonnie and Linda!

You gals rock!

I just laid this material over the couch cushions..

and then someone sat on it.

Shouldn't I have fixed that prior to the picture?

Curtains are next

and

new cushions and covers for the couch.

My wallet needs a breather though.

I have the material for the curtains...

it is raining here today,

curtains may happen tonight.

And my pennants. 

I love these, may have to make some more.

This is sitting in our garage that we use to make signs in.

Hence, the campaign signs everywhere.

 

Last night, I started the new floor.

Decisions.

Finish the floor or start the curtains?

Paint the bathroom or keep cleaning up the outside?

 

Quite the project list I have.

 

Not Pretty Stuff

JWS calls me to the garage...

and this

is what he had to show me.

 

I knew that there was a problem with the floor.

Wow...this looked like a big problem to me.

 

 

But then yesterday,

while I was off on my own little fun thing...

I got this photo sent to me.

 

Fixed!

Now off to someplace to replace the floor.

You see,

I really liked the linoleum.

I really wanted to save it.

The carpet had been ripped up,

and the linoleum scraped

ever so carefully

and

scrubbed.

But to no avail.

I am going to have to tile it.

Now off to look for some

early 70's retro looking tile.

This is the next puzzling thing.

Where is the holding tank?

and

was there ever one?

And finally.

Some new rubber for the old girl.

Hers were dry rotted

and

cheap as I am...

and for all the farther she is going to travel..

I was not looking forward to spending that money on tires.

One morning,

I just broke down

and told JWS to order them.

 

Later that same morning,

and before he had the chance to order them,

the

tire fairy

showed up with these in the back of his

tire fairymobile.

 

One fourth the cost of new ones!

 

Sometimes it just pays to tell everyone that you know what

you are looking for.

 

One man's junk,

another man's (or woman's)

treasure!

 

And finally,

The Really Not Pretty Stuff

 

JWS installed the refrigerator.

Well, in truth,

I helped to at least get it in position.

 

Several bumped knuckles

and more than a little sweat and tense moments

it was in and I had Ieft the garage.

 

Next thing I know,

JWS is sitting staring at me,

white faced and sweating saying...

"Something bad happened!"

 

The fact that he had just came in,

with grandson in tow

made me immediately check Logan.

He seemed happy enough.

I didn't see any blood on anyone.

My comment,

"Is my refrigerator OK?"

 

JWS:

Yes, but it was bad, come with me.

 

Off we head in the direction of the garage. 

 

He stops me at the back door and says,

"I was cleaning out the vent for the refrigerator and

I

found....

(Insert shaking voice and more sweating)

 

A SNAKE SKIN!

 

Hahaha...I just laughed and went back to work.

I think he is still sweating!

 

Camper Junkyard

 

JWS likes Craigslist.

I am not a big fan.

He finds things and tells me about them though.

I really should look at it more often.

This time,

it led us to the

Camper Junkyard

and....

we found a refrigerator for the camper!

Woo Hoo!

It was a fun outing.

Rick, the proprietor

could not have been more helpful.

His statement,

"I'll have that out in ten minutes!"

was not far off.

I managed to take some pics.

 

This was sure a cute little trailer.

 

Here are some pics of the inside.

Not in as good a shape as my

Little Ellie J.

 

And the best part of this event?

JWS is once again ready to work on the camper.

I think he was worried that he was not going to

have a place for his

food and beverages.

Another crisis averted

at

The Strate Household!

The Bunk is Done!

Three coats of paint,

one primer

two color.

A lot of sore muscles,

a few bruises,

(where I missed the ladder and came down without it)

and this...

Let's just say,

this is not easy to get out.

Considering,

I just spent how much time and $$$

to make this hair

this color,

I wasn't after a latex frosting.

 

The cupboard doors are painted and sealed,

and we are on to the bathroom.

 

Not as much painting here,

I am planning on keeping the wallpaper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A

More contortionist feats

See this bunk?

What you don't see is this 50 something year old body,

that has not wintered well

trying to figure a way to maneuver

in there to paint that bunk.

 

Let me tell you folks,

it was not a pretty sight.

And it is not done.

One coat of Kilz,

and it still needs two coats of paint.

You guessed it,

two more nights of contortionist training.

 

 I

It was tight.

Very tight.

Then I folded it back up and painted the underside.

Some more painting on the doors and drawers,

and a coat of sealer on them

so they wipe clean.

I was hoping to salvage this linoleum,

but

JWS is not optimistic.

 

I did manage to rehang this magazine rack.

I can't wait to fill it with some of my

vintage trailer magazines.

 

We have a camping trip planned for mid May,

close to home

because we are not sure how far we should try to

tow this.

and

we have no title.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on how to get that?

 

Spring is Coming!

And I really need to get back to my

 "little" project

in the garage.

It has been a bit of a rough winter.

I had such big plans to have this camper

done early in the spring.

Actually, by now.

Instead, there the poor girl sits

all lonely and deserted.

At least she is in where she is warm.

For those of you that don't follow

the chaos

anywhere else,

Starting in November,

life took some twists and turns,

and in January,

we lost my mother-in-law.

Soon after that,

we welcomed a new little baby

to our growing collection

of grandchildren

and

not long after that

I spent two weeks in Ohio.

with my Mom very sick.

I know that we can't predict the future,

but I am very hopeful

that I will have time this month

to work on my camper

and

hopefully have it ready for a

short

close to home

May camping trip.

Feet up at a campfire,

relaxing with friends,

camping trip.

The picture above

was a gift that I found on my porch yesterday.

What a great addition to my 70's decor!

Motivation I needed to get back to work!

Thanks, Bonnie and Linda!

 

This little fan was found at an

estate auction the other night.

Cleaned up,

it will be perfect sitting in the camper

and

it does actually work!

 

Not the safest thing,

I think it will be more of a conversation piece

than functional!