Day: May 25, 2013

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Garage Saleing

I went over to Laura’s at about 9:00 this morning and we headed out to Willow Bunch to check out the garage sales. There were several and there was a map available so you could cross out the ones you’d been to.

I didn’t bring any Canadian cash with me, but left $7 in US bills and change in the wallet for an emergency situation. ‘Emergency’ was clearly defined here: if I found something that I absolutely need and was planning to spend full price on when I got to a town with real stores.

First garage sale had some goodies, but I was happy to window shop. Second garage sale threw my whole ‘just going to look’ plan out the window. Sometimes, you find something you REALLY need and you just have to pull out the wallet:

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Jody and Gary have one of these port-potties and I knew that getting one of those would buy me a lot of time before getting the black tank replaced. They are perfectly sanitary and work just like an RV toilet, except the holding tank is smaller and you can take the whole thing to the dump.

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It’s scratched and dusty but otherwise impeccable. I imagine the seals will need a little lubrication.

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The toilet flushes with the handle. You can attach a standard RV hose to the unit, upright it, and then dump it.

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You put water into this part and then pull up the knob to pump the water into the bowl.

The RV toilet is so low that I’m hoping I can just set the porta-potty over it and use it that way.

When the unit is full, I’ll dump it into a five-gallon bucket, and when the bucket’s full, it’ll get dumped at the lagoon.

The porta-potty was marked $10. I said to the lady, “I have a 5USD bill on me. Would you take that for the toilet?” She thought about it for a bit and said, “Oh, sure.”

I was going to pick up one of these toilets at Canadian Tire next month. They are about $100. I can be forgiven for breaking the ‘just looking today’ rule, right?

The wallet being out once, the promise was broken, and then I shopped up a storm! Cooking yesterday (parsnip fries), I once again got frustrated that I don’t have a slotted serving spoon or a grease splatter guard for my pans. I found those items at two separate sales, for 10 cents each. I am such a big spender!

By the end of the tour, I was feeling rather parched, so I spent a whole 50 cents on a cold glass of lemonade being sold by an entrepreneurial little boy. Got to encourage those kids!

We finished our morning at the thrift shop where I picked out a bunch of clothes and then put them back. I did grab two magazines for a total of 50 cents.

Grand total spent this morning: $6.20. Grand total saved, at least $100. I guess some promises are just meant to be broken.

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Toasty

Not having had dinner, I came in from canasta feeling rather peckish. Toast was definitely in order.

I eat quite a lot of toast. It’s usually in the form of English muffins, which I like because one English muffin equals a slice of bread, but you get two pieces, plus the texture is just divine. I’ve been having an English muffin for breakfast at least 15 days out of 30 for the past 20 years or so.

When I am plugged into power, I use my toaster to cook my English muffins. I might even replace the toaster if it ever goes out. What’s nice about it is I’ve found the perfect setting on it for my English muffins, so I can just put one down and go do something else until it pops.

Not so when I’m boondocking. Like when I’m stuck cooking rice on the stove, making toast while boondocking means I have to stay in the kitchen and watch my cast iron pan very closely. It doesn’t taking long to go from delicious to charred beyond salvation. This muffin is not quite done, but oh, so close.

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I prefer the taste of my toast made in the cast iron pan, although the texture isn’t quite as crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, as you get with the toaster. So both methods have their pluses and minuses. I don’t care as much for toast made in any other sort of pan.

For those wanting to try toasting their bread in a cast iron pan, heat the pan until very hot and then put the bread on it. My pan is well seasoned, so I do not add any fat to it. If the pan is hot enough, the bread won’t stick. I let it get brown on one side, flip it, let the other side get brown, and then repeat the exercise to get a little charring on both sides, but that’s optional.

End result, with a little peanut butter and some of Laura’s jam:

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I’m off to bed. Laura and I are hitting the Willow Bunch community garage sale tomorrow. I’m only going to window shop and to get a change of scenery. 🙂