Travel

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Another Labour Saving Device For the Kitchen

Last summer, after receiving a huge pile of zucchini from my neighbour Caroline, I needed to find a non-chocolate cake way of using it all up. I decided to try using it as a substitute for pasta and succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. I am almost embarrassed to admit how much zucchini I eat in an average week now. In Mexico, I used chayote as a substitute. Zucchini is pretty much a free food and has loads of fiber and vitamin A since I keep the skin on.

Making the ‘noodles’ was very labour intensive. I would use a vegetable peeler to cut strips lengthwise and then scissors to further divide the strips lengthwise, with the end result being zucchini pieces about the size of a fettuccine noodle. I like to prep four zucchinis at one time as that gives me three meals and making the noodles took me about 30 minutes.

I really wanted a mandoline, which would greatly reduce my zucchini prep time. My mother has had one as long as I can remember and I know how versatile they can be. You should see her shred a cabbage with one! So I’ve actually wanted a mandoline for years, but couldn’t justify the $50ish price point for a good one, not even when I’m churning out industrial-sized loads of zucchini noodles.

So imagine my delight when I decided to do just one last tour of the thrift store last week and found this:

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It’s a mini mandoline with all the attachments! The box was sealed with lots of tape and marked just $2, so I bought it without checking out the contents. Those of you on Facebook know that when I finally opened the box, I found $7.50 in it, as well as $0.10 worth of Canadian Tire money!!!!!!!!!!

This mandoline comes from Regal, a catalogue company like Avon. My friend Donna is a Regal rep, so I’ve seen some of their products and know that they are good quality. In fact, she got me a nut chopper from them several years ago that is still working very well despite all the paces I’ve put it through. So I knew that I’d scored a mandoline that was going to serve me very well for a long time. I should add that it has clearly never been used!!!

All the pieces fit into a neat little box:

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There are all sorts of attachments for doing different things like juicing, grating, shredding, and more:

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Using the device was intuitive. My only complaint is that the handle bit with prongs to stick into the food doesn’t really hold the zucchini that well. I would just hold the zucchini until I had a nub left and then use the handle. It took me only about five minutes to turn my four zucchinis into little coins:

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I could probably use the peeler attachment to make the noodles I can twirl around on a fork, but I thought these would be a nice change.

Next step, salt them very generously, add a weight (plate plus a couple of tins), and let the water drain out of them for several hours. Then, rinse, weight again for a bit, then toss in a hot pan with lots of garlic!

I am going to get a lot of use out of my new gadget and can’t wait to use it on all that lovely Mexican produce that shows up right at my door!

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Spreading Out

Now that I have to usable outbuildings, my living space has grown from 125 square feet (plus exterior storage compartments, plus loft, plus cab), to that plus about an additional 500 square feet of floor space (never mind the potential of going vertical), plus yard space.

I’ve always done a pretty good job of not keeping Miranda too over stuffed, but I’ll confess that it’s nice to be able to spread out a bit. I’m storing excess cold weather clothing in the cabin and anything related to home maintenance has been moved to the shed, which has really freed up my office overhead cabinets.

I’m also actually doing things in the buildings, especially the cabin. It’s nice to get up in the morning and ‘go to the gym.’ After work, it’s lovely to go spend an hour on the swing in the yard and listen to the birds. Laundry is so much more pleasant now that all that’s involved is bringing the garden hose from the fresh water intake on the RV to the cabin instead of having to move piles of stuff out of the way.

While I didn’t like living in RV parks for a lot of reasons, one thing I missed about them was having facilities to go to. That’s a common theme among tiny home dwellers. If you study their stories, very few tiny home dwellers spend as much time in their homes as I do. Many work away from it, have a city at their feet to use as a living room, and/or work outdoors on their property, so they pretty much only use their space for sleeping. I wouldn’t say that I’ve been getting claustrophobic living in Miranda, but since there is nothing within a reasonable distance of Haven, it’s really nice to be able to get a change of scenery once in a while.

I’ve been asked why I’m building my homestead this way with a series of outbuildings and a main house instead of just bringing in a single prefab home. I really don’t have a logical answer for that other than the fact that the proportions of a regular home are too large for me. Building piecemeal the way that I do, I can have things be right-sized for me. Also, this is how things are done in farm country. Everyone out here except folks living in towns has a main house and multiple outbuildings that go beyond a simple shed. My situation is only peculiar because my main house is an RV.

I really do think I’ve found the compromise that I didn’t believe was possible, a way to reconcile my two very different yearnings for both an exciting nomadic life and a mundane sedentary one. I can’t have it all at one time, but I can have it all. I’ve got my cozy domestic summers in Canada and my urban winters in Mexico, with a bit of exploring in between. I really wouldn’t be surprised if a few years down the road, after exploring Mexico as thoroughly as I have Canada, that I buy property in the heart of a city the size of Mazatlán and then spend my retirement years going between these two extremes. Time will tell. 🙂

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Taking It Easy

It’s quiet at Haven today. I’m just enjoying my space and taking a breather. I went to the thrift store in Willow Bunch this morning to drop off some donations and hoped to find a dresser or other item for starting on the shed organization project. But I came home with some puzzles and magazines, a sign from the universe that it’s okay to actually take a day off once in a while!

I came in and spent some time on the swing reading and then my neighbour from last night pulled up in his truck with “something for [my] gym.” It’s a Gazelle exerciser!

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Before the comments start, yes, I know that the Gazelle isn’t much of a workout. But it is perfect for my off treadmill days as it will still stretch out the muscles and get me moving without there being any impact on my knees. I am very happy to give this piece of equipment a good home!

Now, to find some weights!

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Finally, a Comfortable Place To Sit Outside

I’m been looking for outdoor furniture for Haven for ages, but it was only in the last month that I realised that I was looking for the wrong thing. I don’t like eating outside, so I don’t need a table and chairs. But I do like to lounge outside, especially after a long day indoors. So I needed some sort of lounger, preferably with shade. And it was at this point that I discovered patio swings and I knew that was exactly what I wanted for Haven.

Before buying new, I put an ad in the paper saying that I was looking for one and I got two responses! One was free, but didn’t have a canopy, which was a must. I did some research and couldn’t find the frame for a canopy, just new canopies as in the fabric bit only, so I knew this one would take work and money to get just right. But I didn’t turn it down.

The other one was $40 and had the canopy. I decided that I would get both so I’d have a place for a guest to sit (not that there is any socializing going on this summer; we’re all busy!) and I could also have spare parts.

A neighbour said he would help me pick them up, but he’s been super busy. The lady with the free one said there’s no rush, but the $40 had to be gone by this weekend. So I asked the seller if he thought it could be taken apart and put in my truck. He took some measurements and called back to say that he was pretty sure it could. We planned for me to drive to his property today. It is about as far northwest of Assiniboia as I am southeast.

I left early so I could hit the bank, the bottle/can return place, a restaurant for linner, the grocery store (I’d brought a cooler and ice), and the gas station for propane. I then had a really nice drive out among the rolling hills of canola, except for some really bad construction that made me take a detour on a very long gravel road for the trip home. SK gravel roads tend to be in better shape than the paved ones!

The swing wound up being exactly what I wanted, colour and all! The canopy is really ratty, so I will bring it to Mexico with me and see about having a new one made. The cushions are faded, but otherwise in good shape.

The seller, his wife, and I dismantled the whole thing. I got bitten by a spider for my troubles!!! I also got stung by a wasp his morning, so I have a swollen and sore right wrist and a swollen and sore left index finger. I’m glad I don’t have any typing for this weekend!

After a bit of trial and error, we finally got the swing more or less into my truck:

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The seller got some rope and made sure the hatch was tied up securely. Then, I paid and I had an extra $5 on me, so I gave it to him as a token gesture for the extra trouble

When I got home, I unloaded it on my own since the individual pieces weren’t heavy, not even the bench.

A neighbour heard me hammering the top piece into the sides (it wasn’t even 8PM yet so I really don’t think I was doing anything rude) and came over to see what was going on. I was just at the point of putting on the bench and canopy and was glad for the extra hands.

Ta-dah!

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I’m not sure if it will stay there, but it’s not heavy so I can move it until I’m happy with the position. I promptly collapsed on it lengthwise (adding a pillow to the side to hold my back) with a cold beer and my iPad for almost an hour. Mosquitoes notwithstanding (mosquitoes, really, here, in dry country!), it was just so lovely and peaceful. The cushions are super comfy!

The first summer at Haven, I just camped here. But now, with all these little luxuries coming in, it’s starting to feel like I’m building something permanent.

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Antenna Day

Today was the day to mount my booster antenna onto a 20′ foot pole and get the pole mounted to the cabin. The goal of this was to improve my signal stability, get my antenna off my neighbour’s property, and get the antenna cable off the ground.

Croft and I have been working on this project for a bit and I really owe him a bottle of good Scotch! He’s helped me work through all the steps and solve issues, like the fact that I couldn’t actually wrangle a top heavy 20′ pole and get it vertical!

It was a lot of hard physical work, mostly while balancing on a ladder, but I got it done!

For the pole, I used the two 10′ sections of chain link fence top railing. This was perfect because the pieces are meant to fit into each other, making for a 20′ foot pole that I could actually fit in my truck!

So here it is:

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Croft suggested I secure the pole in the ground with cement, but that was too permanent with impending construction, so I dug a hole and then wedged the pole in between a bunch of rocks. It’s secure!

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To get the pole vertical, I laid the two pieces on the ground, with the antenna end against the building. I then slotted the two pieces together and secured them somewhat with duct tape to keep them from separating:

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Croft suggested I secure a rope to the pole, climb the ladder, and then use the rope to pull up the pole until I could grab it. What worked better for me was to lift the pole as high as I could and lean it against the building, climb up, grab the pole, and then very, very, very careful ease it up. It was very top heavy and it wouldn’t have taken much for it to pull me off the ladder so I was extra cautious!

I had already secured a block of wood to the eave to bring it flush with the roof, so once the pole was almost vertical, but still angled enough to stay in place on its own, I quickly secured the top with strapping.  Croft had also suggested a U-shaped clamp to secure the top of the pole to the eave, but the home stores in town didn’t have the right size. One clerk suggested I use flexible plumbing strapping. Croft thought it would be too flexible for the job, but I believed that it could be molded to provide a much tighter fit. Hate to say it, but I was right. 🙂 The pipe is completely immobile. For this step, I just secured the banding loosely to hold the pipe while I adjusted the antenna’s direction, and then I went back up with several more screws to get the tight fit.

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After doing the preliminary securing at the eave, I went back to the ground and gently pushed the pole up so I could get it into the hole and secure it with the rocks.

Croft also advised me to secure the wire to the pole to take a load off the connector. So I gathered up all the loose cable and secured it with a zip tie and then secured the bundle to the cable with another zip tie.

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Finally, how did I mount the Yagi to the pole? As it turned out, I had what I needed, I just didn’t know it! I’ve been using a U-shaped bolt and a clamp with teeth to secure it to the broom handle I’ve been using for years, but that didn’t give me enough grip for mounting onto a metal pole. Well, I found another clamp with teeth while I was emptying out the junk drawer the other day! I forgot to take a picture while the pole was on the ground, but my camera’s zoom is amazing:

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(Here’s another view of the materials, but there’s only one clamp with teeth. I wound up with two since I had to buy several antennas to get one that worked well.)

My signal strength is now going between -83 and -88 when I was getting between -87 and -110 before (usually sitting at -95). Before doing all the final securing, I tested a download, ie. some critical system updates. I went from an estimated download time of +4 hours with the download timing out every five to ten minutes to an estimated download time of 30 minutes and no timeout! I’m not seeing any improvements while surfing the web, however.

This was a big job but worth it! My internet setup looks a lot less hillbillyish (with all due respect to hillbillies).

My only concern about this is that I’ve lost the ability to bring the Yagi to Mexico as there is no way I am taking this apart! I have another antenna that I think will work well, so I’ll have to get some coax cable for it and find the necessary connectors. I didn’t use my phone much on Isla last winter, but I was always glad to have the ability to do so thanks to the booster since service in the heart of the village was poor.

I am still not going to promote the booster I am using because I am not impressed with it and don’t want to give Wilson any more publicity since they are such a horrible company. Let’s just say that I should have plenty of range to use my phone anywhere within a 125′ radius of my office and that I go from -87 to -120 when I step two feet away from the inside antenna. Well, at least I get that -120 now. I was getting no signal when I did that before today’s exertion. 🙂