Living in an RV-A Tour

We've been living in our RV for couple for weeks now. And so far, we are really enjoying it. Ours is a 2008 Jayco Jayflight G2 31BHDS.

The BHDS is RV talk for Bunk House, Double Slide.  It has 2 bedrooms in it. One in the front, which is the 'master' and the other in the rear which has bunks that are in a slide out. When we were looking for our perfect RV we wanted Zac to have his own space. We didn't want to deal with a table that became a bed at night. He needed to have a room of his own.  This layout was ideal.

Back at the Shack

We (Trev, Freddie and I) are back at the Shack for a few days.  Trev has appointments in Kelowna to go to tomorrow and I wanted to gather a few more odds and ends for spending Christmas on the Island in the trailer.

This will be the 2nd Christmas since moving to the Shack that we have spent away from it. I will definitely miss getting out our Christmas decorations again this year. Where do you put a tree in a travel trailer? We usually have a very tall tree as our ceiling is vaulted and we have so many ornaments that it takes a tall tree to hold them all! I'm not planning on dragging our tree decorations to the lsland, but did want to grab the stockings and a few little things to make the trailer feel Christmassy.  Not too many, as space is limited and it gets crowded pretty quickly.  I know we will be sifting through the things we packed into it as time goes on, getting rid of the things we really aren't using and that are just taking up precious storage space. It's a process.

A Nativity Printable

Today is one week since we left our Little Shack on the Hill and traveled to Vancouver Island to set up house in our travel trailer in an RV park. In that week, I have enjoyed time with family, been able to help out by babysitting my wonderful grandkids, organized the trailer (still more to do!), and gone for some lovely, windy beach walks with the dogs. It has been busy, but very enjoyable.  I will post more about settling in to the trailer and the RV park soon, but until then, I thought I would share this 'printable' I created.  Feel free to share and print it out as much as you like. I found that loading it onto a thumb drive and taking it to Staples, or some place like that, makes the best print out (and saves your printer ink).  This will print as an 8" x10", and you can choose between a white shadow (1) matte or a white, black and red (2) matte.  Just click on the image to take you to the pdf. Enjoy!

Saying Goodbye to the Shack

Tomorrow morning we leave the Little Shack bound for Vancouver Island and our family. We'll be away for awhile...like, til June!  Well, actually Trev and I will probably be back in about 10 days. He has an appointment with his surgeon then and we will make the trip back for that.  Whether we'll actually be able to get to the Shack is another matter.  As winter is now closing in on us here, with the ground already frozen solid and the lakes iced over, snow is not far behind.  We've had a few flurries in the past couple of days. Threats, but nothing substantial. In the next week or so it could suddenly dump a load and that'll be it till April! If it snows, we'd have to park at the bottom of the driveway and hike up to the Shack. Not fun, but 'been there, done that'.  We'll have to see how the weather goes before we can plan on coming back to the Shack then.
So, we are leaving tomorrow with everything we 'have to have' in case we can't get back. We will be living full time in our Little Shack on Wheels.  It's actually not a Shack, it's a travel trailer, and as trailers go, it's not that little.  32 feet of wonderful, simple living space. We purchased it in the spring after an extensive search for just the right one. We are thrilled with it! I've been looking forward to going full-time in it for months and now that it's here, it's great....but I am going to miss my Little Shack on the Hill.  I think I have appreciated living here more in the last few weeks than ever before.  The peace and quiet, the birds and squirrels that visit the deck each day, the view of the valley, the sunrises and sunsets.  It is such a lovely spot to be.  I am going to miss it.

Wonderful Wednesday

 What a beautiful, sunny, crisp, fall-into-winter day. It is the kind of day that makes me appreciate living up on the Hill.
Today I wanted to introduce you to 3 very special little people...my grand kids! Each one is so precious. Children are a gift, and grandchildren are that gift that keeps on giving!

Winter Printable

This is my first attempt at making a word printable and I think I now have a new addiction.  What fun! We've had a few flakes falling in the last few days here on the Hill, and it put me in a winter frame of mind. Let me know what you think, but please, be kind.

Click the above printable to print it out. It will print out on a 8 x10 sheet of paper with a white border.

For The Love of Fonts!

It amazes me how the word 'FREE' makes so many people pay attention!  It doesn't matter what it is...if it's free, I'll take 2!
Free fonts are one way to satisfy that lust for free things!  Fonts are such a cool way to express yourself in your blog posts, letters, cards, scrapbooks...you name it!  I admit, I am a font addict.  I love the swirly, twirly ones....the blocky, solid ones....the crazy, quirky ones! I never met a font I didn't like!
I've gathered 20 fonts and the links to where to get them for you to try out.
If you need instructions on how to download them here a a coupe of links to help you out-
*Mac-
*PC-

Japanese Brush

Agent Orange

BackLash

Chinese Brush

Coming Home

Daniel Black

Berthside

Blokletters

Magic Cards

Laine Day

Efja

Today

Long Tall Sally

Colourbars

Chocolate Drops

Chiseled Open

Candles

Brush Hour

Caveman

Gabrielle

Try some out and let me know what you think! Who knows, you may become the next member of 'font-aholics'!

Give Someone a Star For Christmas!

We have friends who have a certificate and a picture of the starry sky hanging in their home. My kids have alway been fascinated by these. When they first noticed them, they of course asked about them. Our friends explained that they had a star. The wife had had a star named for her husband years ago as an anniversary present.  We always thought that was such a neat idea!

I have just recently discovered that we too can have a star named for anyone or anything. The company is called Star Registration. You can purchase a standard star for about $30, or one in a constellation or a binary star (2 stars that orbit each other, which would be an awesome wedding or anniversary gift!) Star Registration will send you a certificate....

 and a star chart....

My youngest daughter and my niece, who are not only cousins, but BFFs, are both turning 16 this month. I decided that getting them each a star would be a wonderful way to celebrate their Sweet 16s! Something they can cherish forever and look for in the night sky.
I thought that this was such a great idea, I just had to share it!

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Homemade Pancake Mix Recipe

I don't know about your family, but those of us at the Little Shack LOVE pancakes!  We have them a few times a week, sometimes more often! This recipe makes whipping up a batch really easy and quick.  I have been using it for years and just love it. Not only are they easy, but you save money not  buying ready made mixes.

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf- (Breaking the Rules!)

If you've been reading my blog for a while, or have gone back into older posts, you will know that I am a cook. Not a fancy schmancy chef. A cook. I love to cook for huge numbers!  My favourite jobs have been cooking for 75-100 kids at a camp I attended as a kid myself, and cooking in a tree planting camp for 60-80 ravenous and dirty treeplanters.  Both of these jobs required very large batches of EVERYTHING!

Huge pots, pans and bowls. I tend to like to make things in bigger batches at home too. So, when my daughter, Morgan offered me 2 of her lovely zucchinis from her garden at the end of the summer, I scooped them with plans for muffins or loafs.

Just a few of Morgan's zucchinis.

After peeling and grating them I ended up with 6 cups of zucchini.  I like to peel the larger ones as sometimes the skins can be a bit tough.
 I then went online to find a recipe. I found exactly what I was looking for on Once Upon a Chef with Jenn Segal.  A lovely and yummy blog to check out!  Jenn had found her recipe on King Arthur Flour's website, made some changes and posted it as a recipe for 1 loaf. It sounded wonderful and I printed off a copy. The only issue for me was it only made one loaf.  Not enough!  I had enough for 3 loaves.  So, as this is something I did every day in my camp jobs,  I just tripled the recipe. No big deal. BUT...I am also a rule breaker when it comes to recipes.  If the recipe says mix the wet, then mix the dry, I don't.  I do mix all the wet things together first, like the fat, eggs, vanilla....but after that it's time to break some rules.  I usually add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, everything but the flour and mix it up. Then I'll throw in the flour and stir it all up. I also NEVER sift.  Another tip for baking in larger batches...use your hands. Forget the spoon or the whisk. Your hands are so much better for mixing things together...and it's way more fun if you are doing it with the kids!
Let's get to the recipe.
I have tripled it here for you to use as a bigger batch (if you consider 3 a bigger batch, which I don't really. Try 12!)  I also added walnuts, as I think chocolate and walnuts are great together. If you only have 2 cups of grated zucchini, just divide the recipe by 3. I also substituted salted butter in place of Jenn's unsalted and then decreased the amount of added salt in the recipe.

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI LOAVES

Printable recipe

1 1/2 cups of margarine or butter

2 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

6 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee

1 cup cocoa powder

5 cups of all purpose flour

6 cups of grated zucchini

3 cups of chocolate chips

2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get your 3 pans ready. (8 1/2" x 4 1/2")

Place the butter or margarine in a microwave- safe bowl, large enough to accommodate the liquified margarine/butter. Pop it into the microwave for about 3 minutes.  Mine took exactly 3 minutes and the margarine came right out of the fridge.

While that is melting, measure your brown sugar into another large mixing bowl.



When the margarine/butter is melted, pour it over the sugar and stir it up until it is smooth. 

 Add the eggs and vanilla now ( it's important to add the eggs after the margarine/butter is mixed in just because the hot fat will start to cook the raw eggs.) Mix it all thoroughly. 

Now we get to break some rules. Add the cocoa to the wet bowl and stir it up well.  Don't get too excited though, or you'll end up with cocoa flying outta the bowl and covering you!  Once that is nicely combine, add the salt, baking powder, baking soda and instant coffee. Once again, stir it up. At this point, I am still using the whisk, not my hand.  Now it's time to add the flour. I added all 5 cups at once then used my hand to gently mix it all together. It will get very thick now, and look more like dough than batter.

 Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix again with your hand.  Finally, add the 6 cups of zucchini. This will smooth out the batter somewhat, but it will still be thick.

 Make sure it is well combined and then spoon it into your waiting loaf pans. Spread it evenly and then into the oven they go for at least an hour. 

You might want to move them around the oven for more even baking 1/2 way through. I have a convection oven and it took 75 minutes.

You will know they are done when you do the toothpick test...Don't know what that is? Insert a clean toothpick into the centre of your loaf, at least as far into it so as to reach the centre. Pull it back out and if it comes out clean, without any uncooked batter on it, it's done!  You may find melted chocolate on the toothpick so check to be sure it's not unbaked batter. Test it in a coupe of places to make sure it's done. When they are done let cool in the pans on a cookie rack for about 10 minutes. Then you can turn them out of the pans and let them cool off completely.

Don't want to eat them all at once? After they are completely cooled you can wrap them in foil, followed by plastic wrap, or put them into zip locking freezer bags and freeze them for later.

I loved the way the loaves turned out!  I froze 2 for another time and we enjoyed the 1 way to quickly!