Osoyoos

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The Final Assault

Yesterday, I went to Penticton to pick up the one thing I was missing to finalize the library’s footprint. It was another case of being at exactly at the right place at the right time. I don’t want to say what it is because picture will make a bigger impact once I get the thing in here!

Today’s goal is to get the study emptied, prepped, and primed.  It’s going to be a huge job; I have to remove the valances and ugly light fixtures and find space for everything I’m moving out of here. But once that’s done, the rest of the work will come together. I’d like to get a first coat of paint on first thing tomorrow so that I can then work on the curtains. The toilet room only needed one coat of paint, so I’m hoping it will be the same with the study.

Then, I’ll get the rig prepped for my departure to make it easier for my cat sitter to do her tasks. When I come back from Montreal I will do the loft, then the kitchen. It’s funny how my original plan had me going the opposite way–kitchen, loft, study, but this new addition to the study makes it necessary to reverse the plan.

Here’s a quick before shot of a study valance, which will be undergoing a makeover instead of a removal for reasons that will soon be explained:

yuck

And here is one of the roller shades that is now in the dumpster. I have had to live with this monstrosity, tear and all, for two years:

ew

Getting this room DONE is going to be so awesome!

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A Touch of Colour

Donna wins the amazing friend award of the year.

I invited her down to Omak today because I wanted to go pick up something at the Walmart. It was a quilt. I’ve been looking for one for a few years and had thought that I would get my colours scheme from it. Time passed and I had to press on with getting paint and whatnot. Thankfully, when I finally found what I was looking for, it still worked with my paint choices.

Before Walmart, we had a Mexican lunch at Tequila’s. YUM! 😀

Once I had the quilt, it was time to make a final decision on the rest of the fabric: curtains in the study and library, a curtain to block off the cab and loft, something to recover the sofa in the study, and scraps for the kitchen stool. I had looked at all sorts of stores and decided that if I found my dream quilt at Walmart, then I was going to be satisfied with what else I could get there to cross everything off that shopping list.

I lost track of time as Donna and I scoured the bedding and bath sections, then the fabric. I changed my mind a million times and when we finally found suitable curtain fabric, there wasn’t enough. I was going to concede defeat and go with the cheap linens I got in Campbell River, even though they were never intended to be a permanent solution, but Donna persevered and found a solution in the curtain rod section (of all places! :D). She was so patient, listened to me, and was an amazing sounding board. Thank you so, so, so much for your help today!

Two of the things I decided were:

  • Reducing the colour palette

Originally, the kitchen, library, and loft were going to be different colours. I have decided to have my dominant colours be green, pink, and yellow. Accents are chocolate brown, and I will have one orange statement piece. The toilet room, being its own private and closed off entity, can stay purple. But the three rooms that flow into each other need some sort of continuity.

  • Curtains

I’ve been trying to come up with a good idea for window treatments and have decided on plain old curtains to be combined with privacy window film (which I hope to pick up tomorrow). I bought curtain rods, so window treatments are ready to go.

I am a long way from installing all the things I bought today and showing them off properly. I need to get the rooms painted first, for one thing. But here’s a sneak peak of the fabric as well as the paint I bought yesterday:

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Next, we headed to Home Depot. I recently found a two year old gift card and couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I hadn’t spent it yet. It’s because it was only good for the US stores! Ten bucks (and 13 cents change) got me a can of spray paint for my living room chair makeover project as well as an angle measuring thingy for my trim. Thanks again to Donna for thinking of that and finding it for me!

We made a quick stop at Princes in Oroville where I stocked up on Baby Ruth bars, a treat I haven’t had since I went to Chicken. Then, it was time for the dreaded border crossing. Since I was well over my daily allowable limit, I expected to have to go into the customs office and pay tax and duty on everything. This fear was reinforced when I was asked to turn off my engine, a first. The officer was a bit incredulous that two women our age could afford to winter somewhere without working, but saying that we’re writers seemed a satisfactory answer. He asked for a rough breakdown of what was purchased and then sent us on our way! I was shocked!

It was an incredibly productive day and I am now highly motivated to get this rig DONE. 😀

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Leaving on a Small Plane

I can’t believe that I’m flying east a week from tomorrow! I got an awesome deal on my tickets to Montreal from Penticton, but it’s going to be a bit of a circuitous route. To get there, I’ll be doing Penticton–>Vancouver–>Calgary–>Montreal. To get back, I’m doing Montreal–>Toronto–>Vancouver–>Penticton.

Flying directly from Vancouver to Montreal was several hundred dollars more and would have required very early morning flights. Funny how the longer route is cheaper and more convenient! I’m happy that I fly out of Penticton at 10AM (meaning I leave Osoyoos at a reasonable 8:30) and out of Montreal at 4:30PM. I’ll arrive at 11:30PM local time both ways. Long days, and jet lag’s a bitch, but this is the best flight itinerary I’ve ever put together.

Thankfully, I’ve been through all those airports except Penticton (which is tiny), so the trip should be easy. My layovers are all only just long enough to ensure that I’ll make my connection barring a huge delay, so I won’t have too much time to kill. I’ll have the iPod on me for entertainment.

I’m getting pretty excited about this trip and it will be very nice to see my family again after more than two years away!

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Ella Greek and Mediterranean Grill, Osoyoos

The only interesting dining option within a reasonable walking distance of the RV park is Ella Greek and Mediterranean Grill.  I decided to check it out today in the hope of discovering a little gem I could treat myself to once a week or so. I did!

The restaurant is tiny; more of a take out counter, but there are a few tables. The menu is Greek, but the cook is Syrian, so there’s a bit of fusion going on with the menu. I had the falafel sandwich which came with the thin pita the Lebanese (and Syrians) use as well as tahini, but which had feta, tzakiki, and cucumber, which the Greeks add. I’m also curious about the roasted red peppers I was convinced to try. They might be a Syrian thing; the Lebanese add marinated turnips. No matter where they come from, YUM!

The cook was super busy so we didn’t get a chance to chat long, but she said that she tried to make her falafel the way the Syrians do, which is the way I like them, lots of parsley, mint, garlic, and cumin. But the Osoyoos palate doesn’t support that. So, she makes them pretty plain, with sesame seeds for extra crunch and flavour. They’re tasty, but ho hum. At least, they are fresh; it was awesome to see her scooping out falafel balls, shaping them, and dropping them in the fryer.

The falafel sandwich wound up being huge; I had a hard time finishing it! At just under $7, it was reasonably priced for this part of Canada. The lack of zing made the sandwich one that soothed my falafel itch, but did not assuage it, so I don’t think I’ll be having it again even though it was excellent, with a great mix of flavours and textures. But I will definitely go back to try the dolmads, calamari, chicken souvlaki, salads and other wonderful treats on the menu!

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Repurposing Storage

This weekend, I hope to start the final assault on the front of the rig. I want to have the kitchen, entrance, library, and loft completely done except for perhaps minor decorative touches by the end of 2010. Ambitious, much?

The focus this week has been on fine-tuning  my vision of the perfect kitchen. I started to go off on some pretty crazy tangents, coming up with storage ideas for every nook and cranny without even thinking about why I would need more storage or even if I needed it.

Finally, I decided that my biggest issue is with drawer space. Miranda has only three tiny and awkward kitchen drawers:

Over time, my use of them has changed and settled into:

  • Top drawer for cutlery and everyday tools;
  • Middle drawer for dish towels;
  • Bottom drawer for occasionally used tools.

I have had it up to here with digging through that top drawer every time I want a knife, the pizza cutter, a teaspoon, etc. The drawer is too deep and narrow for separators, so everything just gets thrown in.

so sick of this jumble!

Tonight, while working on the final layout for the study, I had an epiphany. Remember my supply cubbies? I have used them for ten years to house all my office supplies. I haven’t been able to find a home for them in Miranda. Moreover, the new desk has drawers with more than enough room for all my supplies. Why not move it to the kitchen?

pizza cutter, tongs, can opener, all easily accessible

miscellaneous stuff in one layer, easy to go through

The top three cubbies aren’t quite the right size to hold the cutlery. I put forks and spoons in at a diagonal on that row, but butter knives had to go diagonally into a larger cubby on the second tier.

My favourite part of the setup is my new coffee centre:

the canister holds coffee, a measure, and powdered milk

I don’t even feel the footprint of the cubbies at all. The counter is very deep there, but not useful for anything other than holding stuff. I’ll be removing the blind and the valance, which will give me an extra inch of space.

Once the cubbies are on skid-proof material, I’ll just need to turn them around for travel.

The top kitchen drawer is now going to hold spices since I don’t like the magnetic spice holder. The middle drawer will now house dish cloths and the bottom drawer, dish towels. This will declutter the space under the sink that was holding dish cloths and give me more room to manoeuvre in there. Getting dizzy yet?

The final thing I need to work on in the kitchen is the pantry (which is actually three overhead cabinets and a cupboard). That has been the biggest work in progress since I moved into the rig, but I’m getting close. One of the things I need to do is reconsider my storage containers so that they stack better. I tend to shop every few days and rarely  have a lot of food stored on board, but I want my staples to be more accessible to reduce the number of surprises I get when I go through the pantry once a month or so!

I have to say that my kitchen has turned out to be the biggest surprise about living in Miranda because it is so functional. I’ve always had big kitchens with lots of cabinets, so I’m a bit shocked that this tiny one works so well for me. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I know what tools I need and have pared myself down to just those essentials.

Now, I just need to organize those desk drawers in the study…