July 27, 2010

Last night, we did our first roast in the dutch oven over an open fire. We weren’t quite sure how it would turn out, but we really wanted to try. C. brought up some baby potatoes when she arrived Sunday night. There were baby carrots in the fridge.  And I’ve got the Lodge cast iron dutch oven which I’ve used quite often in a regular electric oven.

We went to town and got a nice looking blade roast that was on sale. After getting the fire going to make sure there would be some nice hot coals, I poured a couple of tablespoons in the bottom of the dutch oven.  On top of that, went the roast. The baby potatoes were washed and put inside the cast iron, all around the roast. Then came the baby carrots. Next, I cut up a small turnip (or rutabaga as they are sometimes called) and in went that. Finally, a chopped onion with some fresh ground pepper and the lid went on.

Some red hot coals were pulled out from where the fire was burning, and we set the Dutch oven on them.  Within 20 minutes, we could hear the sizzle and smell the cooking.

Normally, it would take a roast of this size to cook in the over 90 to 120 minutes at 350. But what was the temperature inside the Dutch oven?  Being the first time we’d ever done this, we weren’t sure what to do. After about 50 minutes, we both agreed we should probably check and see what was going on inside.

The bottom side of the roast seemed overdone. So did some of the vegetables. The top side of the roast however, was not cooked – a quick cut with a knife revealed lots of red blood.  Hardly even done rare.

So we scooped out the veggies into another pot, turned the roast over, and did it for another 15 or so minutes on the coals. In the end, we had a delicious dinner!

Next time, we’ll just try to remember what we did and then make some cooking time adjustments. Probably cook the roast a good half hour before adding the veggies instead of doing it all at once.

After dinner, it was a couple of games of Scrabble by the fire with the Coleman lantern.

July 26, 2010

Awesome! No more water seepage on the bathroom floor. The floor is dry!!

Before coming out to the trailer on Friday, I thought I would head to Home Depot to see if they had any similar plumbing junctions-connectors or whatever they are called that I  had picked up from Hughes RV.  The ones I had picked up from Hughes are made of plastic or nylon. Each end has a nipple that the water tube/hose fits over, and then a plastic nut is screwed down over the hose to provide compression so there is no leaking.

Well, Home Depot did have something similar, but for much larger diameter tubes and pipes. The tubing in the Glendale RV is 3/8″. As I was browsing to see what Home Depot might have, I came across something that apparently needed no clamps or external compression to join water pipes and tubes together.  I was quite skeptical that this thing would actually work and wondered if I needed some other parts. I found a Home Depot sales rep and asked him about it.

“This device, which allows for the pipe or tube to even rotate inside, will not leak” the guy told me. He showed me how they go together, and even though still skeptical, I decided to purchase the T-Junction and try it out. I didn’t want to try it until C. and I could make time to go to Hughes RV to get what they had in case this did not work. That meant leaving the water on – but for a few days, I figured the leak wasn’t going to make anything worse than it already was and I wanted to make sure C. could use the toilet at night when she was here.

I decided to give the thing a go. Do you believe it works? There is this little plastic thing that you put over the tube, and then all you do is insert the hose. The hose will turn (well, not very well in a T-junction, but it will move as much as physics will allow), and even at full water pressure, there is no leak!

I still find it unbelievable that this thing works. The hardest part was cutting the tube at the old connector. What made it especially hard was that the tubing was all behind the toilet and there was not much room to work with, reaching down and back there.

So now there is zero water seepage on the bathroom floor. And are we ever thankful for that!

There is still the issue with the slight drip of water coming from the water heater and tube connection, and I was provided something that is supposed to fix that up – but there is so much corrosion around the present joint, I’m afraid of damaging something permanently.  But I might give it a go tomorrow and see if I can figure something out.

July 26, 2010

C. and I went for a drive to Luther Marsh today. I haven’t been there often – but it was one of my favorite places to drive to years ago, when I felt like some solitude. I’ve also taken my three older boys there for hikes and walks, but that was years ago. It’s kind out in the middle of no where, and the times I’ve visited, it has not been uncommon to see deer on the road, fireflies at night, and all kinds of different types of birds.  Some years ago, when I visited in the autumn, I came across an interesting sight: Some Ontario MNR guys were trying to capture young trumpeter swans (the mother of these birds was quite angry) in order to have them transported to a location in Northern Canada with the hope of helping to increase the northern populations of trumpeter swans.

This afternoon, as we were heading toward the entrance of Luther Marsh, we saw the birds in the above photograph near the road in a field. We stopped to take pictures. When we got back to the trailer, I hoped I could identify them. In the National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, the ones in my photo have exactly the same profile as the Sandhill Crane. But the colours are not the same.

In the Field Guide, adult sandhill cranes are supposed to be grey, with a a red head. Young sandhills are brown but have no red on their head. If you look closely at the photo above, you will see that two of these brown coloured birds do have red on their heads.  So I’m not sure if they are just young sandhills that have developed the red and haven’t turned grey yet, or something else entirely.

Hopefully a crane expert will find this post and be able to advise. Regardless of what they are, it was really nice to see them.

July 25th, 2010

After all the rain yesterday and stacking firewood, not only are my clothes filthy (“boggin’”) as they’d say in N. Ireland, the trailer needs a good sweeping out with bits of mud and grass I tracked into it all day yesterday.  So the first thing on the agenda was laundry. It’s nice that this trailer park does have a small laundromat and the price is reasonable – two loonies (2 bucks for American readers) for a wash, and a loonie for the dryer.  I’m not much of a “sort clothes out before wash” guy – so I just threw the pants, shirt, towels and sheets into the washing machine. They’re all dark anyway.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about having to remove the carpet from the bedroom due to the water leaks – the carpet was soaked.  Sadly, we discovered that some of the floor had rotted in there. Today, I found a pillow had fallen onto the floor and when I moved it back, there was a stink of mildew on it.  Yuck! Might as well fill up the washing machine with the pillow cases and sheets to make a full load. I can kind of smell mildew in there, and hoping it’s not right in the bed sheets.

And while we’re at the cleaning, the ceiling screens needed to be cleaned. There were dead flies sitting on the exterior – and it’s pretty gross.  I wonder when the last time the screens were cleaned? Thankfully I have a good brush with stiff bristles and lots of dish soap. The frames didn’t come completely white – still some yellow stains on them, but they are looking much better than they were. I didn’t get to them all, but got two of them done.

Laundry, sweeping, screen cleaning, and lawn mowing! I also tried to replace the “living room” ceiling fixture. C. and I picked up two 12 Volt RV ceiling fixtures when at Hughes RV – “reclaimed fixtures” for only 9.99 each. But I don’t have the best tool kit with me and have no crimping pliers, so I’m not sure I got a solid connection on one of the white wires. One light works, the other does not, and it’s not the bulb. Maybe some electrical tape will work for now, if only I had some…

July 24, 2010.

But I missed the wood delivery guy. A little embarrassed by that, but as I wrote last week, campfires can be a relaxing time when talking with friends and you don’t even notice the time fly by.  After talking with C. (she’s had to work), I was sitting at my firepit at about 1AM, thinking about hitting the hay so I could be up and at ‘em for the wood delivery.  But G. dropped by with his friend Chris and being a good host, turned on some Great Big Sea as G. asked. We talked and chatted and laughed and the next thing I knew it was 5AM!!

I crawled into bed after G. went on his way and when I awoke just after 10AM, discovered the wood had been delivered – dumped in the “driveway” of the site.  There was a bit of work ahead of me and had some bacon and eggs along with fried Irish wheaton bread. Have you ever had fried Irish Wheaton? It’s very delicious! The weather was not conducive to a day of stacking wood with pouring rain – but it had to get done. I wished I had a wheelbarrow too!

Finally, I got a good pile of it all nicely stacked along the fence. I was pretty happy with it but didn’t want to go any higher and decided to start another stack along another perimeter of the site.

The rain didn’t stop, and I felt like an overloaded sponge – my clothes and hair dripping wet with rain and sweat mixed together.

Finally, all the wood had been stacked. Time to put the tarp over the one large pile to keep more raining from drowning it.

If you look closely at the photo of the wood on the left above, you might notice that the “fence” on the right hand side, which was previously attached to a tree with nails and screws, had let loose. As a result, it was pushing out against the wood. I didn’t think it would be much of a big deal seeing as these pieces of wood are 16″ long. I should have known better.

As I reached up to cover the wood with the tarp, I hollered in fear.

The stack of wood began to fall on me. I ended up on my butt in the fire pit with wood all around. When the wood began to fall, I didn’t think I was a dead man – but I did have fears that I was going to end up with a broken leg, ribs or arms or something. In the end, I just had a few minor bumps and a sore right leg.  After wondering if anyone had seen the incident, and assured that no one was laughing at me (it must have looked hilarious), I got up from the wet fire pit, dusted myself off (or rather, rubbed in the dust and ashes to my soaked clothing), and started restacking wood.  All over again. I was already sore and tired and wasn’t sure if I’d have the energy, but I got it done.

Eventually, the rain stopped! After changing out of the soggy clothes, I gathered up some dry kindling and was able to build a fire with some of the new wood, and it was a very accomplished feeling to sit there, looking at my fire with stacked wood around me, contemplating life.

July 20, 2010

As I’ve written previously, I had a leak from where I thought was from under the bathtub in the Glendale trailer. I had checked, and looked, and tried to figure out the path of the plumbing as much as I could, and after realizing it was going to be a big job to take out the tub, I finally decided, on the advice of Roger over at My RV Talk, I decided to try something different.

Instead of taking out the tub, I thought I would bypass the water leak with new plumbing tube.  So, C. and I went over to Hughes RV where I showed them a photo of the water tube and discussed my plans. The fellow there thought from the photo that the tube was 1/2″ and I bought several feet of it as well as these nifty compression fittings. When we got back to the trailer, I discovered that the tube size and fittings were too big! So, we headed back to Hughes and got the right size – 3/8″ tube and fittings.

All set! removed the bathtub faucet and that is when I discovered that there was more tubing in the back – but someone had sprayed insulation all over it so it could not be seen. Under the insulation, it was damp, and there was a T-Junction that was leaking. From the T-junction, water lines went up to the bathroom faucet (which I had already removed) and then fed the kitchen and bathroom sinks as well as toilet.

So with C. helping, I cut the water tubes (hot and cold) before they entered the T-Junction and then attached new hose, leading it through the two holes in the bathroom wall where the bathtub faucet was. We replaced the T-junction with a straight through connection as we can’t see using the bathtub or shower anytime soon. And then, two new straight through connections into the water tubes that feed the toilet and sinks.

Turned the water on and no water leak!! At least not at the new connections.  But we still had a water leak – and after further investigation, discovered that the T-Junction that split off to feed the toilet was leaking! Grrrr… that was a discouraging discovery, and we’ll have to now return to Hughes RV when we have a chance and during their hours of operation to pick up a T-Junction to fix this leak.

And we have to get it fixed. Water leaking onto the floor is going to rot the wood underneath. Quite likely with how old this leak appears to be, there is already some rot going on.

First, I want to say that I highly recommend the services of Hughes RV. They are awesome people! A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I discovered that one of the hoses from a propane tank to the regulator has a gouge in it. After turning off that tank and just running from the other tank, things had been fine until a few days ago, when I started detecting an odour of propane the odd time.

I decided that I may as well replace the regulator and the rubber hoses. They are probably original equipment and the hoses are showing signs of old age. The local hardware store did not carry this type of regulator and that’s when I discovered Hughes RV.  C. and I took a run over there and when I described what I needed, Peter Hughes helped me get the hoses and regulator I needed and even went so far as to put goop on the threads before putting it all together for me.

However, when we got back to the trailer, I realized I had described the connection to the metal pipe that feeds the stove and hot water heater incorrectly. The connection they had provided me was a compression thread, whereas I needed a pipe threaded connector. I called them up about half an hour before they closed and explained the problem. “How soon can you get here?” they asked.

“Probably about the time you close,” I told them.

“No problem. Come on over, and we’ll get you straightened up.”

C. and I headed back, and the staff at Hughes RV managed to find a part that would enable me to get the propane running again. And they did stay open late for us too. And because the part was an inexpensive used part, it was given to us at no charge.

So now we have hot water once again and are able to use the stove in the trailer. It’s amazing what you miss when you don’t have it. Although it’s not that much a chore really to fire up the Coleman stove and boil water to wash dishes in. But it is also reassuring to know that the propane leak is fixed.

While at Huges RV, we also picked up some water hose and I learned a little about Pex type hose. Along with the hose, some pex joiners – so tomorrow, I will attack the water leak that I have.

July 17, 2010

Last evening, C. and I drove back up to the trailer and planned to stay for a couple of nights.  Shortly after we got our campfire going, G. poked his head over the fence to say “hello,” and we invited him to enjoy the cracking fire we had got going. We had met G. previously but didn’t have much time to talk other than make some introductions but were looking forward to getting to know him and his family better. He’s from Newfoundland and has that typical Newfie Irish personality – friendly and funny – and enjoys a relaxing adult drink around the fire pit.

We had such an awesome time that we all ended up staying up until the morning hours! When the sun came up, we were still sitting around the campfire and enjoying each other’s company. C was the first to “retire” – at about 8AM. G. and I finally parted from the campfire at about 10AM and I slept like a baby until about 3 in the afternoon. On the one hand, I had missed most of the day but on the other hand, it was made up by the fact that we had such a great time around the firepit and we made a new friend.

Campfires are an awesome way to make the introductions of new folk and get to know them better.  It’s relaxing and laid back, but of course, you have to bare in mind that others are sleeping nearby!

July 16, 2010

Some people escape from the city and go to their cottages, trailers or head out with their tent. Me? I head to the city! A two day break from the solitude, the stars, the campfires every night, the wind rustling through the leaves, not having to change my clothes – ah, what a life!  The picnic table is my office, and I can work long hours and enjoy the campfire in the evening. But it’s tough when the carton of eggs is empty, the bacon is gone and there are no more steaks to put on the barbeque.

Plus,  I miss my sweetheart who lives and works in the city. But I don’t have wheels for the 45 minute drive.  But I have a thumb!

It did take me 2 1/2 hours and it was hot, muggy, and I was sweaty.  But it was fun to surprise C. who was not expecting me. It was also nice to be able to use a full size bathtub, washroom and shower! And along the way, some really interesting people picked me up when I had my thumb stuck out. I had my first ride in a Mercedes!

C. and I are hoping to get back up to the trailer later this evening – looking forward to a campfire visiting with one of our neighbours and getting to know him and his family better.

And believe – after a couple of days away from home, in the hot muggy city, I’m looking forward to getting back to roughin’ it!

July 16, 2010

Yesterday, I had the chance to observe a couple of grackles.  In some areas, I’ve seen grackles referred to as crows. However, they are not the terame thing. In my part of the world, the “Common Grackle” is very common and can be found just about everywhere. They are greedy birds, and will often ruin a bird feeder as it hogs the entire thing, pushing seeds it does not want to the ground, and greedily eating the seeds it does want.

Yesterday, I watched a pair of grackles in some behaviour that I found hillarious! I watched them from behind the screen doI or of my trailer. The previous day, I happened to spill some peanuts and decided that instead of sweeping them up, I’d throw them outside and let the chipmunks that come to visit have a little feast.  I didn’t see chipmunks, but I did see grackles.

A male and female grackle were walking on my site, the female walking behind the male. As soon as the male would pick up a peanut with its beak, the female would start squawking and squawking, and stand with her beak wide open. The male would turn around to her, and put his beak against hers, and drop the peanut into her beak.  She’d stop her squawking, and the male continued to look for more food – the peanuts I had put on the ground.

The same process kept on repeating for about ten minutes. The male would discover a peanut, the female would start to squawk.. the male would feed the female.  It wasn’t like the female couldn’t find the food herself!

Finally, after many times of repeating the same thing over and over, the male grackle picked up a peanut, the female did her squawking, held her beak open, but the male would have nothing more to do with giving up his food.  He walked away as the female followed him and got himself into a small space behind a fence where he appeared to swallow the peanut he had found. The female seemed to want to berate him for this, but the poor fellow ignored it, went and found another peanut and again ignored the noise of demand and open beak of his missus.

I’m not sure how it all ended up for Mr. Grackle. After watching them, I had to get going and ended up scaring both of the birds away.