Author: Rae

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Slowly Starting on the Loft

I have started to make a tiny bit of progress in the loft makeover. Looking at this ‘before’ picture of the loft, it seems like such a nice, bright space. But it’s not.

This space is the biggest challenge, and it is of an environmental nature. The loft is damp. The makeover’s first purpose has to be the remove the humidity in that area. I think that the main source of moisture is condensation from the windows.

I also had issues with mould and mildew because of a leak. Thankfully, I was able to fix the leak perfectly and there does not seem to be any further damage from it. There was also a problem with moisture under the original mattress. So, I raised my mattress onto pallets.

Removing the original mattress and adding the pallets made a small difference in the loft’s comfort level. I’m hoping that running a dehumidifier during the day is going to reduce the humidity to a tolerable level. I’m already noticing a difference and dumping about half a bucket of water a day. I had thought to stow the dehumidifier up in the loft and have not given up on that idea; I’m just trying to figure out how I could still make the bucket accessible enough to make dumping it feasible.

Today, I started to remove the window valance brackets in preparation for adding tinted window film to the loft windows. This film will serve two purposes: 1) add privacy and 2) add a small amount of insulation. I looked long and hard for insulated tinted window film, which I know exists, but which was unavailable locally. Research tells me that even regular film will help, so at $18 a roll and needing two rolls only, I thought the experiment would be worthwhile.

One of the things I miss in my RV bedroom is having access to my ‘to be read’ pile of books. I used to keep this pile by the bed in my previous home so that I would always know just how much reading material I’d brought in and hadn’t read. Forget doing this in the loft; anything I’ve left up there turned soggy and mildewy! 🙁 The reduced humidity makes me hopeful that I will be able to store some books up there now. I will be using part of the valances on the side windows to hold books. The tops of these valances are solidly constructed shelves, perfect for holding a few tomes, a box of tissues, an iPod, glasses, etc. I’ve been using them as such since I moved into the rig, but I have to remember to take things down when I move. So one thing on my loft makeover list is to add cup hooks and elastic to make it possible to secure things on these shelves.

Before I can do anything up there, I need to move the mattress and pallets back down, a really daunting task.  I’ll have to clear space in the library for them and move my bedroom into the study temporarily. When the loft is empty, I’ll be able to add the window tinting as well as a mildew-resistant paint. I may splurge on peel ‘n stick tiles for the floor, too.

The pallets have been working out super well, but I am really close to the ceiling. I can gain almost two inches by removing their bottom braces, so I’ll wrangle them outside and get those bottom braces off, which should be entertaining for my neighbours.

Once the pallets and mattress are back in place, it’ll be time to finally make a decision on window coverings since the tinted film won’t be enough. I may cave and just make curtains, but the cats spend so much time in the loft that I really do try to reduce how much fabric is up there. And then, finally, it’ll be time to add my new bedspread and the new privacy curtains.

Getting the loft emptied and moving into the study is so daunting that I’m having a really hard time getting going on this project. But it’ll get done in due time and it’ll be nice to have a healthy and functional sleeping space at last!

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Bur!

It’s amazing how quickly a routine can set in. Midnight has not been here long, but he knows to get excited when I bring the supper dishes into the kitchen because it means we go for a long walk once I’ve done the washing up!

I can’t believe how much energy such a small pup has. We did close to 10K yesterday and nearly as much today, but he’s still bouncing around and wanting to play ball.

Tonight was cold and starry-skied. I took Midnight up the ridge with a flashlight, but didn’t even turn it on, what with the reflection of the town lights on the lake and the few street lights in the park. He bounced along in the snow and I let him go to his leash’s limit, but no further, uttering a stern “Midnight!” when he started to pull. Generally, he was happy to gamble about at my side.

Circling back into the RV park by the front gate, he suddenly stopped and sat down. I found this curious and told him to come. When he got up, he was on three legs only. My heart in my throat, I carefully picked him up and put a hand on his paw. YEE-OUCH! There was a very pointy bur stuck in his wool-like fur. I gingerly pulled it out and put him back down. He took off at a full run, none the worse for wear. Scary!

It’s so funny to see him run. He’s so tiny and moves so fast that his legs blur, just like Road Runner. He’s truly a droll little boy and I am glad to have had a chance to know him so well.

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Another Way to Heat Up the Rig

My rig smells like heaven right now.

Dinner was awash with the taste of north Africa thanks to rice, veggies, and chicken cooked with Taboo’s Moroccan spice blend. It wasn’t my first time breaking out these spices, purchased the Kelowna art show, but it was my first time adding them to rice. The scent was diffused into steam by the rice cooker and has wafted into every corner of Miranda. I added browned chicken, veggies, and raisins to the rice cooker to make a pretty decent imitation of a tagine.

The spice blend has only a faint touch of heat and is mostly sweet, but it is evocative of the desert and a scorching sun. It had a profound psychological effect on me tonight. It wasn’t really that cold and damp in here before dinner, but all of a sudden, it feels like there’s a blazing fire in here. Lovely! And YUM!

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Trying To Wear Down the Dog

Midnight has been really excitable today and no amount of puttering around outside with me seemed enough to soothe him. So, I finally pulled on his sweater and took him for long walk up the ridge into the desert, out to the main road that leads to town, and back, a distance of several kilometres. When we got home he curled up in his bed by the heater, so I think I succeeded in tuckering him out! Little does he know that a long afternoon walk does not mean forgoing the longish after dinner walk. He wanted exercise today and he’s going to get it, bwa ha ha!

(I’m not enjoying having a dog around. Not at all. 😀 )

It was pretty warm around noon, enough for me to be able to fill up the fresh water tank, but it’s since gone down considerably. We’re entering a stretch of very cold nights and above zero days. Suits me just fine!

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Living Off the Fresh Water Tank

During an unrelated discussion on a forum, I had a revelation about the fresh water tank.

I forget how we got on the topic, but I found myself saying that I don’t like to use my fresh water tank because the water is musty and I’m pretty sure there is some algae growth in it. I shock it with chlorine twice a year before filling it for my travels between locations, but that doesn’t seem to make a difference.

What the person said in response to that was that if I filled and emptied the tank regularly, that is actually used it on a day to day basis, there would be no time for water to stagnate and grow organisms. So obvious, but that completely escaped me!

So, I’m definitely living off my fresh water tank this winter. I’ll fill it up every time we go above freezing and use the weather forecast as a guide to how much I can use. We’re supposed to go above freezing for a stretch starting Sunday, so I need to make my current half tank last. That means showers every other day and being frugal when I do the dishes. But when we’re on a long stretch of warm where I’ll be able to fill every day, I won’t ration myself.

One of the things I will do when we hit the warmest day of the stretch is to work on the non-repair of the fresh water tank intake. What I did in May of ’09 has held up well enough, but it’s getting harder and harder to fill without getting a significant leak. I catch that leak in a bucket and use it to flush out the black tank, so there’s no waste, but it might be time to bite the bullet and do a proper repair.

For drinking and cooking, I am still using a BPA-free plastic jug, which I love, and which I fill with tap water. I’m so glad the tap water here is as good as it is. I fill up the jug every three or four days and getting water from it is no more effort than getting it from the tap.

The only downside to this plan is that every time I go out and fiddle with the water, a ‘helpful’ person comes by and tells me that I should invest in heat tape and insulation for my hose or that I’m welcome to string hose from their tap to my intake. The first few times this happened was fine, but it’s getting repetitive. I explain the reasons I’m not doing heat tape, such as my having to ration my amperage, but folks of a certain age have a notion about things needing to be done their way even if it’s not the right way for someone else. I did the heat tape thing back in Oliver and, frankly, I found that the expenditure wasn’t justified; I still had issues with the hose freezing. If I felt it to be a good solution I would spring for the $70 or so, but it doesn’t seem worth my while. Living off the fresh water tank is no hardship and now that I’m in the habit of doing it, I’m guaranteed running water to about minus ten, a luxury I never experienced while running heat tape.

With the water pump getting so much use, I wonder if I should be getting a quote for having it replaced. Just in case. 😀