Homemaking

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Wretched Housekeeping

It’s a beautiful Sunday here in Hampton Roads, but yesterday it was pouring rain! It was perfect weather for a movie, but I was reminded that going to a movie on a rainy Saturday is not the best idea. Boy was the theatre packed!

I saw Les misérables, the depressing nature of which was also perfect for the weather conditions.

Most of the reviews of the movie compare it to the musical, which I have not seen. But I have read the novel straight through at least three times and frequently find myself rereading favourite parts. It’s one of those iconic books of a reader’s life, one whose first reading is remembered forever.

So I went in with fairly low expectations but high hope. And except for a few quibbles (like using the Thénardiers as comic relief), I felt this was one of the better adaptations I’ve seen. It got the mood right, most of the cast was perfect (Fantine, Cosette (child and adult), and Marius especially looked exactly as I have always envisioned them). And not a single one of my favourite scenes from the book was missing.

So while I wasn’t crazy about the musical style and every scene with the Thénardiers, visually this movie was a feast for a fan of Victor Hugo’s classic work. I look forward to seeing it again on DVD.

Today’s project was to rearrange the front room. I am tired of cleaning up the cat litter area every night only to step on filthy clumps in the morning because Neelix decided to have a party overnight. So reversed the layout of the room.

 

This picture of Neelix waiting in line for water was too hilarious not to share.

This picture of Neelix waiting in line for water was too hilarious not to share.

Good about the new layout is that it hides the litter box and gives me space to put my shoes.

Good about the new layout is that it hides the litter box and gives me space to put my shoes.

Not so good about the new layout, the chair looks squeezed in and the window is behind it.

Not so good about the new layout, the chair looks squeezed in and the window is behind it.

The room feels more unbalanced now.

The room feels more unbalanced now.

I’m not crazy about having the chair crammed in like that, but I’ll try it for a bit. Another thing I’m considering is getting a top-entrance litter box. I will miss my Omega Paw so much, but the cleaning is really getting on my nerves. What’s nice about this layout is that you don’t see the box first thing when you come in the door and I have room for my shoes, but the room feels more crammed and unbalanced at first glance.

I really need to do something with that styrofoam and get some colour on the back wall. I think I will stain it.

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Partial Success With the Installation of New House Batteries

It was touch and go for the acquisition of new house batteries because I didn’t want to get them until I got a battery watering system. The Pro-Fill RV edition dual 6V battery watering system from Camping World came quickly, but the Pro-Fill handy pump, which makes the system work, was back ordered. It finally arrived yesterday. With today being the last moderately nice day for the next little bit, I decided to try to get my new batteries in.

I had already done my market research and decided on two Trojan-145s, with 260 amp hours (about 156 usable amp hours), a significant increase from my old pair at 150 amp hours (about 90 usable amp hours). The week before Christmas, I called all the local dealers and was quoted over $200 per battery, plus a hefty disposal fee for my old batteries from all but one company, Battery Outlet, who told me $199.99 with no disposal fee.

So I called Battery Outlet this morning to confirm that they still had T-145s in stock. Yes, two. I had them set aside and then went outside to remove my old pair. With the way Miranda is parked, the closest I can get my truck to the rig is about 35 feet. Don’t ask me how I did it, but I picked up those heavy suckers and marched them to the truck!

I took off just after lunch to the bowels of Chesapeake, finding Battery Outlet without any trouble at all. There, I asked if they had any equivalent batteries for less money and their inventory said they did, but it was mistaken. They decided to price match the other set and I got my batteries for $169.99 each! I just did a Google check for “trojan 145 price” and it looks like I got a good deal not just for Hampton Roads, but in general. Woohoo!

The new batteries are bigger but didn’t feel any heavier than the old ones. I got one to the rig with minimal grunting, but the second one felt about twice as heavy. I am going to be sore tomorrow! But I wasn’t done lifting yet since I wanted to install the Pro-Fill system with the batteries outside of the compartment. So dropped the batteries on the ground (gently!), then lifted them into the compartment in two steps, using my E-Z Foldz stool as a resting point (as a side note, if you don’t have an E-Z Foldz stool, you’re missing out.).

Here are the batteries with their caps removed and the Pro-Fill caps installed:

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I ran out of day, so I didn’t finish the installation. The rest just involves attaching tubing to the barbs and connecting the pump, so it can be done with the batteries in situ.

And here are the batteries in the compartment:

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They are a couple of inches taller than my old pair (and, yes, I measured before buying!). Filling these manually would be almost impossible, so the Pro-Fill system is a must.

Getting everything hooked up was easy and then I tested the voltage before turning 12V power back on. Uh… why were my 6V batteries registering 12V each and 25V together?! Oh, geeze, the multimetre was on the AC, not DC, setting! I got it on the correct setting and got a combined reading of 12.1V, so I set them on the charger.

Inside, I turned the solar controller back on and it was muuuuuuch happier than it has been in a while. I ended up turning it off because it used to display readings that fluctuated violently. Now, it’s registering a steady voltage.

But all is not well as my batter monitor is not working. I had disconnected at the same time I turned off the solar monitor and it’s not coming back on. Connections look good, so I’m thinking (hoping) I have a blown fuse.

Once I get a good charge on the batteries, I am going to unplug from shore power for at least a day with my inverter running to make sure everything is good. It looks like sun for Sunday and Monday, so that will be a good time to test to make sure the batteries are charging well with solar and holding the charge.

Getting out of this spot will be very tricky as I am on a very, very, very, very busy thoroughfare. The best time to get out of here will be late in the day on a weekend, so I am going to tentatively schedule departure for next Saturday. That should give me time to troubleshoot my battery monitor some more.

Battery monitor notwithstanding, my day made me feel very accomplished!

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Few Jobs Are Too Big For the WonderWash

The night before last, I was awakened to the delightful sound of my boy hacking up a hairball all over my bed. I won’t go into any details, but you’ll get the picture when I tell you my Neelix is not a cat but a proverbial pig (proverbial because there is no way pigs really are that messy).

When I got up in the morning, I assessed the damage to see if I could spot clean the comforter. Had it been Tabitha’s mess, sure. Neelix? Nope. If it wasn’t the comforter I’d spent so much time looking for, I would have just thrown it out it was that bad.

I used paper towels to get rid of the solid mess and to soak up as much of the wet mess as possible. I then applied a generous amount of stain remover to the soiled spots and let the comforter sit in a bucket for a day.

I thought of taking it to a laundromat, but I really don’t have time to waste at one these days and I also am loathe to put my comforters in anyone’s machines as they are very furry because I then have to spend ages defurrying.

I checked the forecast to see if there was good weather ahead for line drying outside and seeing that this was the case, I decided to just hand wash the comforter, but not too sure how as it was probably too big for my Wonderwash.

This morning, being the apocalypse and all, the forecast changed from hot and sunny and perfect for laundry to damp and cold and miserable and windy and nasty and omg I need to run the dehumidifier full blast if I don’t want mushrooms to grow out of my ears. Never mind, I needed to get that comforter washed!

I crammed it in the the Wonderwash‘s drum, surprised that it fit with enough room to spare for me to believe my plan could work. I added detergent and water (lots of water, that comforter sure soaks up a lot!) and spun the load for about three minutes, about three times longer than I normally spin a load. I then drained some of the water, added more, and spun for another minute or so.

Then, I inverted the drum with the comforter in it to let as much water drain out as possible. That done, I wrestled the now very heavy and waterlogged comforter out of the Wonderwash, beat it to death to get more water out, then rinsed and wrung with two buckets of clear water.

It is now spotless, still very furry, and dripping away in my shower.

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Total time spent so far: 30 minutes. Drying could take a couple of days, of course. But this was a lot less work than packing off to go to a laundromat and sit around!

I love my cats, but boy do they keep me busy…

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Great Clothes Drying Rack For an RV

Even with access to a washing machine, I prefer to do a good part of my laundry by hand.

The problem with doing hand laundry in an RV is where to hang the clothes after. I have a big drying rack, but there’s no good place to put it now that the dinette is gone (I’d set up the rack between the seats).

I sometimes put my Swiffer across the top of my shower (a standard broom is too long) to hold hangers, but most of the stuff I wash by hand is underwear and socks and draping everything over hangers doesn’t work that well.

This week, I found the solution to my drying needs, a 24 clip drying rack that I can hang from the Swiffer in the shower:

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What I like about it is that it holds 24 items, which is about a week’s worth of hand laundry for me, and that the items are spaced apart to dry quickly. The clips are built in, so when my clothes are dry, I can just fold the rack and tuck it out of the way. A clothesline would not have given me as much space to hang things in such a small footprint.

If I want to use the shower, I can just grab the rack by the hook and place it in the sink in one step rather than wrestling with a bunch of hangers or taking down a clothesline.

If I have overflow, I can hang a few extra items from the Swiffer itself and I still have room to hang about 10 tops on hangers from the door frame. It’s so nice to finally have found a way to contain my drying laundry. I’m less tempted now to let it pile it up!

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I Found Good Hummus!!!

I don’t think it’s a secret that I love hummus. I can go through three, four, even five containers of the stuff a week.

I’m too lazy to make my own and commercial hummus generally isn’t great. There are a few Canadian brands I like, but I have never been able to find good hummus in the States. As for pita, forget it! Here, like in western Canada, I eat my hummus with Triscuit crackers or homemade pita.

Until today. Today, I found the best commercial hummus I have EVER tasted. Really, it’s a game changer. It’s so good I will never again be tempted to make my own!

I got the traditional type and except for the usual additives for freshness, these are the ingredients:

-dried, not canned, chickpeas for an authentic taste

-tahini

-canola oil

-sea salt

-garlic

And it comes topped with what you’d expect hummus to be topped with, including sumac and zaatar!

I’ve had hummus prepared by a Lebanese chef and this hummus is at least as good as that one was.

What brand is this miracle spread? Marketfresh, which is a Walmart brand!

Walmart houses me and clothes me and now feeds me. I guess that makes it home! 😀