You won't believe this

I am out with the girls having tea. I'm wearing a cute hat!

"my barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon" masahide

Http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com

Porcupine misadventures

a couple weeks ago mutt came to the door with a face-full of quills. i was astounded. this is the dog that is afraid of birds and rabbits up close....i can't imagine what possessed him to bite a porcupine. i spent several hours pulling the big quills out of his face, only to discover when i could finally open his mouth that it was full of tiny and broken off quills. bazillions of 'em. so off to the animal emergency hospital we go....he never EVER needs medical attention when his vet is open....to have them taken out under anesthesia.

an hour and several hundred dollars later they delivered him back to me with a bandage where his IV had been, and prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medication. they told me that 2 quills remained, and would have to work themselves out. i was a little annoyed that for all that money, they coudn't get them all.

i am even more annoyed 2 weeks later when i have pulled about 18 of them out of different parts of his nose and face, even near his eye, as they work forward from the inside out. he has been pawing at his face today, so i'm not sure we're down with them yet.

the pics above are him pre hospital, and immediately post-op with his little bandage on his leg. what i didn't get a picture of was when he lifted his leg to pee, and toppled over like a drunken sailor. i had to laugh, rotten mother that i am!

"my barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon" masahide

http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com/

Sprouting

i had to repost my sprout blog, cause i am still essentially computer illiterate, and deleted the last one. i mean deleted, as in had to reshoot the photos and all. these are sent from my phone, and i have no control over the order in which they publish, so if this post seems all mixed up, consider the source!

above is the finished product after 2 days of sprouting.

these are the items i carry in the van that i used:

a hemp sprout bag, a collapsible tupperware bowl, my copper cook pot, an old mini strainer, water, and seeds.

the hemp sprout bag is 10" x 7" of a heavy hemp fabric that absorbs lots of water to prevent drying out to fast, yet still allows good air circulation necessary for sprouting. the cd is for size reference. cd compliments of my musical mastermind, micheal... he provided me with 3,000 miles of great music :-)

the seeds are an organic stir-fry mix that i picked up in port angeles last summer at sweet mike's. they are crunchy and just a bit spicy! i ate them right out of the hemp bag....after sprouting, of course.

the tupperware collapsible bowls are perfect for me in the van. they pack flat and can be opened just to the size you need. multipurpose at it's finest....mixing bowls, soup bowls, storage, wash basins.....

and seed soaking bowls! these seeds were soaked overnight, then placed into the hemp bag, which was thoroughly soaked with water.

at home i would have hung the bag over the sink. in the van, i used a mini strainer i found in my mom's stuff, which just happened to fit perfectly into my copper pot, as a place to allow the initial drainage of water from the bag.

see how perfect it fit?

here it sits on my dashboard, the bag hung from the rearview mirror. after all the dripping is done, i can hang it from a cuphook on my cupboard where it will get good air circulation. when the bag begins to dry out, rinse and repeat. your climate (humidity, temps, breezes, etc. will affect how often you need to rinse the bag. just make sure the seeds stay moist.

http://sproutpeople.com/grow/sprouting.html click here for basic sprouting info

http://sproutpeople.com/grow/travel.html click here for travel sprouting info

"my barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon" masahide

Http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com

Move over Bocephus

sock pig is here!

van cooking gear

on vandwellers, celtic gypsy woman posted that she finally has her van, and is beginning the fun journey of setting it up for vandwelling. this is so exciting.....it's always fun to tweak your gear and your set-up (my van is an ongoing project as i do more and more shake-down trips) but there is nothing like the exhilaration of your "first time"! she asked this morning what the rest of us did for a kitchen, and i decided to get rolling on a pictorial project i've been thinking about, so here goes......
this is my newest acquisition in my quest for the perfect water bottle and it might be a winner. it is multipurpose and only cost $5. it is a zyliss shaker bottle, and has a flip spout to drink out of (the flip cap makes it easy to open while driving, and keeps dog slobber off where i put my lips). it holds 16 oz. which makes it perfect for the crystal light protein drink packets i like, and has a little disc inside the lid that helps mix the powder. it has a wide mouth, and is easy to clean and disinfect with a couple sprays of my Clorox Anywhere. it hasn't leaked on me yet in normal everyday use and shaking, although the cap does not seem secure enough to toss into a pack unguarded. it has measuring marks, so i was able to eliminate my measuring cup :-)
these are my cookpots. the hae tea kettle by GSI is lightweight and sturdy and perfect for heating a couple cups of water for tea or oatmeal or ramen. the copper boiler is a heavy but beloved rendezvous pot....as you can see it has seen alot of campfires. i can still smell the aroma of a smokey fire faintly when i heat it up :-) it holds water enough for a 2 packet ramen stew with salmon and veggies. a little harder to clean, because of the historically correct little rings around the middle, but worth the extra effort. my frying pans are the Banks Fry-Bake pans which double as ovens. the smaller alpine model is pictured, and will cook a small batch of cinnamon rolls, or a small omelet. the larger model (not pictured) will do a big batch of biscuits or stir-fry for a couple people. on the left is the riser, or scorch buster. i will be doing a seperate blog on the fry-bake pans with some cooking experiments. i had an 8" nonstick frying pan by GSI with a folding handle that i just removed in my ruthless gear purge last week after returning from the west coast. i fully intend to keep it from creeping back in. we'll see.
eating stuff.....MSR alpine plates which are smaller, sturdier and pack flatter. an insulated mug big enough for tea, cup-a-soup, 2 packs of oatmeal, or 1 pack of ramen. my hand thrown mug/bowl made by a friend at rendezvous. i have several of her pieces. they are heavy and don't pack well, but i love eating out of this bowl, so it stays. for now. the rubbermaid bowl is one of those that packs flat, and comes in handy for many things. i use this one for salads or a mixing bowl, and as a small dishpan on a rare occasion.
doing dishes......i usually wipe out my mug or bowl with a paper towel, spray with clorox anywhere, and wash it out. no need to rinse, the clorox anywhere is diluted to disinfecting strength but safe for people, pets and babies. i often respray after scrubbing the dish and let it dry for maximum disinfection. the white spray bottle with the blue top in the back is the travel size clorox anywhere. bandanas make good dishcloths, easy to wash and they dry quickly. a few sprays of clorox keeps them fresh and clean smelling. it's handy to have a lid on your dishpan, in case you can't dump it when you are done, like in a walmart parking lot....
i use backpacking utensils mostly. the gadget with the blue handles is my pot lifter that safely grabs handleless pots and pans. you recognize the can opener. the black thing in the upper left hand corner is an MSR folding spoon. it works for stirring, ladeling, and even measuring....inside lines mark off tablespoons and partial cup measurements. some backpacking recipes are written according to numbers of "MSR spoonsful". a spatula, extending roasting forks, and a mini extendable blowpipe complete the set. no Ron, not weapon type blowpipes.....this is for blowing a stream of air at the base of your fire so you don't catch your cowboy hat on fire.

igloo water cooler....keeps ice for several days....holds 1 gallon of water and 1 bag of ice. the rubbermaid narrow refrigerator bottle fits the shelf next to the igloo and holds 1 1/2 gallon. my butane stove on pull out shelf.
i traded 6 smaller plastic drawers for two larger ones after extreme downsizing. my hope will be to lower the bed somewhat to prevent knocking my noggin on a daily basis.
my new paper towel holder with a mini bungee cord! michael is so smart :-)
my old paper towel holder....a mini plunger that fit into the cup holder in back. i can now reclaim the cup holder, and have one roll of paper towels accessible from the front or back.
proof that i can't see my thumbnails very well :-)

so comments would be appreciated if you liked this pictorial essay....i will do more on other gear!

flagstaff flagstop part II

my second angel came in the form of a tow truck driver from AAA. When he arrived, I told him I didn't care where we went, but I needed to go to a repair place that would let me stay in my van. He said he knew just the place, and it would be open the next day, a saturday. He towed us to Advanced Auto Service and Tire Centers, where he introduced me to Vaughn, the manager. They put the van behind the building "away from the noisy trains". Vaughn offered me electrical hook-ups, and told me there would be coffee in the morning. The tow truck driver leveled the van with some pieces of wood, showed me where it was safe to walk mutt, and went on his way.

Well, the next morning, I found out I had a whole garage full of angels. They worked quickly to diagnose the problem and to get my estimate. They brought me breakfast, and loved on Mutt. They were patient as we took over the waiting room, where mutt entertained customers with his goofiness.

I am sorry I don't remember the name of the person who actually worked on the van, but he had me up and running in a couple hours. Before he took it for a test-drive, he asked if anything needed to be strapped down in my "mobile" home!

Throughout all this, Vaughn and Scott kept me apprised of the van's progress, made sure I was comfortable, offered me sodas, and petted mutt at the same time they gave the same attention to every customer who walked through that door. You could tell they loved what they did, and that the customers knew it. I sure did.

When I left there, I had an appreciation for whatever good karma dropped me on their doorstep, and some new friends. I felt safe and cared for, and i'm grateful to everyone there.

I am going to add their information to the database at vandwellers, and to the vandwellers webring.

Scott and Vaughn, you guys rock. Thank-you for everything!