I am so excited.  I had seen this on Gail's blog a few weeks ago.  And then she had a chance to win this.  I entered and won it.  Gail's blog is the only blog I read every single day. I swear I'm not stalking it. I just love her projects. Reminds me so much of my past life.  And bringing back my love of wood working.  You can check out Gail's Blog here.  My Repurposed Life

I won the Dremel Trio 

This is so flipping cool.  It does 3 different things.  Cut, Sand and Rout.   Why am I so excited about this?

Because you that really know me personally know I have been in wood working for over 30 years.  And only been in scrapping the past 6.  I have my own work shop with lots of power tools.  And I fell in love with this tool because its 3 things in one.  I have a roto zip and that thing drives me nuts.  This replaces that.  I also have a mouse sander and its great but don't get in tiny places.  This replaces that.  And also I have a B&D router that don't work, so this will replace that as well.

I just cant tell you how excited I am about this.  And have to start planing my first project with it.  I have a ton of scroll saw templates.  My Scroll saw tool a dive a few years ago and never got it fixed so never had a chance to play with them. Looks like I'm picking up my old hobby again.

Thanks again Gail and Dremel.

Sharon

This Blog was Featured!

Check this out,  This blog was featured on Blog awards.

Sharon

Manatee Springs SP and Suwannee River

Our "StayCation"  as my husband calls it when you don't actually sleep away from the house. Really turned out to be a Stay home Vacation. LOL!

Hubby has to take 3 weeks vacation in the next month and a half or he looses the time. No pay no carry over.  But good thing is he get 5 more weeks in Sept.  But cant use those till after March of 2012.

So this week, as you know.  He has been home,  So that means no scrapping for me.  It feels odd to not have been in the craft room for over a week.  But that will change next week.  He goes back to work on Monday, So I can get back to my normal schedule. LOL!

Monday we were headed to the Beach, but it rained.  So Tuesday we took a long driving trip to some where we have never been. Funny how you live in a state for over 40 years and still dont see much of it.  So we like to do day trips every few months and see things we never seen.  Tuesday, we drove to Chiefland and checked out the The Lower Suwannee River Refuge so my Husband and Brother could register to get on the list to get one of the few passes available for Hunting this winter.  They are on the list, so they are very happy.  And yes, it stormed on the way there. My head was so full of pressure, felt my my brain was a balloon ready to pop and my face was so swollen.  But It got better as the storm passed.

While we were there, we checked out this cool bat house, but man does it smell even pretty far from it. LOL. Then we did a short trail.  Its a 1/3 mile to the River.  I cant walk much and forgot my cane. So my brother found me a really nice stick to use. That helped along with several stops and my inhaler.  It was a nice slow walk.  We were passed by several people but that was okay, On the way back, it started to rain, so we had no choice but to walk the trail in the rain.  We seen a black snake just on the side of the trail.  That was scary.

Hey, Look,  I figured out how to share a Picasa Slide show. I think.  LOL!



We left there, and drove down the road about 8 miles to the Manatee Springs State Park. We have never been there before.  And wow, is it beautiful.  Its was super cloudy and raining so my pictures are kind of dark.  But you can still see how pretty it was. 

As we entered the gate at Manatee Springs SP.  While stopped at the station to pay to enter. Currently $6 a car load of 8 or less.  We were greeted by a family of deer.  A Dad, Mom and Baby.  So dang cute. Just walked across the road,  Looked at us and kept walking.  We got a shot of them in the woods as we passed.

We had packed a lunch to bring.  So we got out a blanket and hand lunch on the picnic tables right by the springs.  It was not packed at all,  We went July 26, dead of summer and there were only 4 cars in the parking lot,  And the camp ground wasnt even half full.  We then did the trail by the springs.  Checked out the canoe launch and walked along the springs to the Suwannee River.  It was so beautiful seeing all those Cypress trees.  Seen lots of blue gill fish in the springs.  

When we made it to the end of the boardwalk to the Suwannee River. We were standing on the boat dock and all these huge Sturgeon were jumping.  It was crazy.  These fish were about 4 feet long and jumping straight up in the air. And making huge splashes.  People were telling us about them jumping in your boats and Canoes. So dangerous.  Don't think we will be taking our boat out there.  I forgot my new camera has a HD camcorder on it.  Or I would of took a video.

We drove around the camp grounds to check it out, and they are pretty nice.  Some are bigger then others,  But let me tell you, The Bathroom are the cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen in a campground. Didn't see one bug in there.  The are super clean and shinny.  And have nice showers as well. 

While standing in camp spot 61.  2 more deer walked right by us like it was nothing.  A few minutes later a couple more walked by.  From what I understand after talking to the Really nice ranger lady as the shack on the way out.  This is very common for the Deer to just walk though your camp site.  You just cant shoot them in the park.  They must know this, because they just walk right by you. lol.  Hey, did you know that if you are disabled you qualify for half off camping. Wow, that so helps budget. So we can camp for only $10 a night. You cant beat that.

To make it even funnier.  My husband and Brother are hunters, And all those deer were driving them nuts.  As we were leaving,  I caught this picture of a deer just walking across the street by the check in station.  As you can see, the gate is just behind the deer. So they know they are safe behind the fence. LOL! 

My Hubby and Brother are hoping that the deer are that plentiful 8 miles up the road when they go hunting this winter.  I told them I would go with them camping at the springs this winter, But no way am I hunting Bambi. 

Rest of the week has been busy working around the house, building a pantry in the laundry area which is located next to the kitchen.  It freed up a lot of needed kitchen cabinets. How do we collect so much kitchen stuff, Jeez!  I need to declutter and save the stuff for my son when he moves out.  Was headed fishing yesterday and today,  but of course it rained both days.  So I bet you , next week, will be hot and sunny. LOL!  I'm so resting today,  I'm super sore from the activity this week. I knew it would hit me soon.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. 
Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

New Camper / Tent / RV forum

Hey y'all,   I'm glad the new year is here.  I'm determined to spend more time in my pup even if its Camp back yard.  I'm going to spend more time in the pup.

We kind of have plans to go primitive camping this weekend. But my husband has that nasty bug that is going around,  so he isn't  feeling all that great.  So might just have to make it next weekend. 

But in the mean time.  We pulled the camper out and made sure every thing is working and set it up.  Put more stuff in there.  And now its all ready to go. 

I just joined a new camping group that allows all kinds of camping.  They have sections for Tenters, Pop up Campers, Hybrid campers, RV campers.   Hey, as long as your not sleeping in your house, your camping right. LOL! 

So if your looking for a place to find camping information, Repair help, Owner manual for campers. Even old ones from the 60's to now.   And Camp cooking, and camper mods.  Wow.  You need to join this place called.   "Canvas Campers"  tell Joe that Sharon sent you.


Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

Kitchen Shelf Mod for Pop Up Camper

 I thought for sure I had posted this on my blog when we did this. But I keep getting emails asking what we used.  So im posting it now so I know its here.

I had seen this done on another website, but they had removed the link.  But I made it so here is what we used.

 2 40" tension shower rods

2 double shelf tracks

2 shelf kits (comes with shelf bracket and shelf) Or buy the shelf and have it cut, and get the brackets

2 Closet Hangers to use as support and later as guides.

2 Hose Clamps

4 Self taping screws

Several "S" hooks  For you to hang your keys, Cell phone charger, Flash light, Dog leash and stuff.


First. Level your up and raise the roof all the way.
Next.  Extend your  shower rods so that the are just tight between the roof and the bottom of the cabinet. (behind the sink) Not to tight or the roof will lift.

Next.  Screw the track to the extended shower rods. (Make sure you dong screw in the second adjusting pole or you wont be able to move it later. ( since you cant screw at the bottom of the track. I used hose clamps to tighten it after assembly.

Next. Put in your shelf brackets and shelves and make sure they are even and level.  (Note.  Do not put food on top shelf.  the heat from the roof will rot or melt the food. Only put paper goods, dishes, towels and stuff like that on the top rack)  Ask me how I know. LOL!



Next mark a circle around the top and bottom of the pole as a guide placement. Then remove the shelves and poles.   And place the Closet door hanger in the circles.  Use some really strong sticky tape. So it sticks to the roof.

Now when you put your shelf back up. You will place the shower rods in the closet door hangers so you know where your placement is every time, and it helps to keep the poles in place.

This mod works great. and holds a lot of weight. We added another shelf and we put our microwave on the second shelf.  And dished to dry on the bottom shelf.    We Love this so much. We are making another one for the other side of the pup. To store clothes and stuff.  And you know, this also acts as Roof support if your cables should happen to fail.


Hope you enjoy this mod. I know we do.

Sharon

Fort Desoto Camping Trip

We made our first booked Camping trip.  And that was at Fort Desoto.  We live about an hour away and have been going to Ft. Desoto for the 25 years we have been married, and I have been going there since I was a little girl. But do you know, I have never, ever camped there.  So I was super excited to be camping there.

In fact. We have always stayed in a hotel on St. Pete beach for our Anniversary. And again had a hotel booked for our 25th Anniversary.  But got to thinking about it, and the whole time we are at the hotel. We are usually spending our time at Ft. Desoto, or fishing on the Skyway pier.  So we thought about it, and looked online, and there was one site on the water, for the exact days we had scheduled the hotel.  So we booked the campsite, and canceled our hotel stay.

And, man, Im so glad we did, we had so much fun. We wore our selves out, and came home a day early. Since this was our first booked 5 night trip, It was a bit much. But we loved it, and will do it again.

This was also our first trip with out our kids that are now grown, and first camping trip without our beloved Pepper, he had passed a few weeks earlier. So that was had to stay in the pet section with out our dog. But we kept busy. 

This is our nice and shady spot.  site 115 in the pet section, 2 spots over from the bathroom and showers, and trash cans at the end of our site, So didnt have to go far.  Its was the perfect spot.  On the water.

The spot was huge as you can see, we had plenty of room.  We put up our First up screen room with was wonderful. First time we used it, and it was super simple.   Here is a picture of our TV (Tow Vehicle with pup attached)  Funny, this is the first picture we have of it. LOL!

This is our favorite vehicle. We used to call it "Big Red" but now we call it "Old Faithful" .  This is our 1995 Ford F150.  And it has been super faithful.  And still looks pretty good for being 15 years old. 

And the Camper is 1985 Coleman Chesapeake, we totally restored. Every one loved at the campground.  And our canoe on top, first time carrying it like that.  And it worked perfect.

This is the view behind the pup, The sun is setting, and I fished from this spot as much as I could. The first morning, I was out there fishing at 6:30 am,  It was high tide, I caught 10 muttin snapper, 5 pinfish and 1 red fish.  All to small to keep, but it was fun.

This is a beautiful "Button Wood Tree" at the entrance of the pet camping section, just across from the check in station and little store.  We walked up to the office one morning to get ice. and in all those holes were squirrels sleeping. It was so cute. Like a Squirrel Condo. LOL!  I have lived in Florida for 43 years and never seen several of the trees here.  I was in Aw! so was my hubby.

This one is a Palm tree that has been take over by what the ranger called "Strangler Vine".  It's so wild, its like fingers weaved around the tree. It lives off the tree. Amazing!  

This one, I have no clue what it is. My husband fell in love with this one. It looks to be a member of the Palm family, Its huge.  If you know what this is called, Please leave me a comment and let me know.

We didnt see any racoons, which every one told us there were a bunch here, The ranger said, we must be doing a good job with keeping the food and trash picked up if we arent seeing any. Thats good to know. LOL!

But we did see some other friendly animals.  There was this one squirrel that was so friendly, I was scared.  He just walked up to us, sat on my husbands food, and tried to get into a can of peanuts sitting by his other foot, My hubby shook his foot, and the squirrel just looked at him and bit in to the lid. Then he jumped on the step that goes in to the camper, good thing the door was closed.  Sorry for the fuzzy picture, It was so hot, the lens was fogged up.

 

 
Then there was this big white bird, It just walked right up to the camp site where we were sitting.  Every time I turned around, My hubby said, "We have another visitor"  I think he really enjoyed it. 

On our 3rd day, Wed, My brother came out with all 3 of his boy, 2 just got here from Ohio for a month. It was great to see my Nephews. 

The two younger boys had fun in the Canoe. They loved the beach and fishing on the pier.

The rest of the pictures are of the Fort., Pier, and the beach. 

Sunset on the long fishing pier. Beautiful, We fished there every night from 6pm-11pm Didnt catch any thing but it was fun.

View of the North beach from the top of the Fort. Beautiful.

This is the Skyway bridge, we are fishing under a bridge just out side of fort desoto.  Beautiful.

Daytime view of behind the camper. Again, Beautiful.

Cool picture of under the long fishing pier.

Pelicans on the rocks next to the pier.

Well, I hope you enjoyed a few of the pictures I took during out week long vacation. We did have a wonderful time and think im going to book another trip later in the year. Lets just pray the oil spill doesnt make if this far.  

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

Thermal Cooler Cover

We are getting ready for our first camping trip of the year.  And in this hot Florida weather, Your cooler fights to stay cold even in the shade.

I know last year, we must have bought 20 bags of ice over our weekend trip.  So Im trying this out to see if it helps.

I sewed a Thermal cooler cover for our big white Igloo cooler.

So this is how I made it. Pick out the cooler you want to use, I used our large white Igloo cooler.

I measured the size of the cooler.  I went to the store and bought the solar window shades for $2 each, bought 3 for the cover and 1 to sit the cooler on.

I measured the height of the cooler and cut the panel to that size. Leaving one sice with the sewn edge for the bottom.

Which also cuts off the opening for the rear view mirror.   Pined together, and when done, I used some gray duct tape to reinforce the edges, and seal the sewn edges. 

Then turn the right side out, and see how it fits.  I left the elastic loops on, so I can fold it up and store it. So I hope this help keep the cooler cool a little more this summer on our week long trip.  I will sit if on top of an extra one so the bottom stays cool as well.

So do you think this will help. I sure hope so, Cost was $6 for cover.  $2 extra for one to sit on. So not bad for $8. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

Fishing Decals

My Hubby asked me to make him new decals for his 95' Ford F150 as all his only decals were faded and cracked.

So he wanted a Snook and a Red fish.  So I designed these and cut them out of Silver Outdoor vinyl what is rated for 6 years. 

I think they turned out great with all the details and He loved them, Scraped off the old ones and I put these on. Looks alot better.

Now he wants a Bass and Blue Gill fish for the sliding center windows, so I better get working on those.

Sorry about the water marks,  I have had some people trace my pictures. I know this wont stop them, but they cant not see it.  These files will be in store soon.   RSMobleys Designs

Thanks for stopping by,
Sharon

Propane Tank and Spare Tire Cover

When we replaced the old 85' Canvas on the pup.  The Evolution material was totally shot.  But all the canvas was in excellent shape.  But since most of the thing was the Evolution material. We just purchased a totally new All Canvas. 

I decided to keep the good parts as I figured there would be some thing I could use it for.  And yep, I did.

I used the top canvas backed vinyl from the top of the bunk ends,  To make a Propane tank cover and a spare tire cover.   I have enough left for one more project Im working on.

Here is a picture of the parts I cut before I sewed them on my sewing machine, And let me tell you, Its not easy to sew vinyl backed canvas.  I used Denim Jean needles and thread in dark brown to match the pup.

I sewed it so the canvas was inside and the vinyl was outside. Here is the Propane tank cover and Spare tire cover.  I also used the elastic cord from the bottom of the bunk ends on these as well. 

Spare Tire cover.

Okay, this turned out to be a tight fit as I measured the tire for size, then we aired up the tire. But I know It wont come off easy. LOL.

And, I design and cut my own Vinyl Designs, for all kinds of crafts and Scrapbooking. I love cutting vinyl. So I had to make some to match the rest of the decals I made for the pup and our Camp sign.  So it all matches.

Here is the new Tank cover with my Vinyl design "85' Coleman Chesapeak"

And here is the spare tire cover with my design I made to match our camp sign.  With the things we love. Our pup we named "Chesapeake Manor"  and the mountains, lake, Pup, and our boat.  What a better way to camp.

So what do you think.   I design all kinds of thing for scrapbooking you can purchase my files for personal use, or purchase a Resale or Commercail License. here RSMobleys Designs at VDBC Forum   Or if you dont have a machine.  I can design for you and cut the design for you and mail.  I accept Paypal.

Email me at RSMobleys Designs

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon

DO Peach Dump Cake

Here is my 2nd try with the Dutch Oven.  Im telling you I think Im addicted already, They call it, "CastIronItis".  LOL!

Last Sunday, I maked the Peach dumpcake,  For some reason, our local Sweet Bay, had every kind of pie filling but peach.  So I bought 2 cans of Peaches in heavy syrup.  Okay, so its not the same, but it kind of worked.

I added a lot of dark brown sugar and Cinnamon to the peaches,  Added a box of yellow cake mix, let in powder forum. sprinkled more brown sugar and Cinnamon on top.  And pored a little sprite on top. 

And put the cover on, and sat on the coals and put most on top. Cooked for one hour.  It smelled so good as soon as I walked outside.

It looks good,  And tasted real good to.  But next time, I wont use the syrup, as it was a little runny, but It still tasted really good.

 Dont that look good!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sharon

My First try with the DO (Dutch Oven)

I bought a DO last Oct at Harbor Freight.  And had not used it yet.   So today, I talked the hubby in to raising the pup enough to flip the galley and dig out the DO.   Man, it was nice to see the inside of the pup again, LOL!

Okay, so since this was my first try, I looked up every thing on the net.  And tried to follow directions, the best I could.

So. I usually work with propane with my grills.  But when cooking with at DO.  I read its best to use Charcoal.  I dont use that.  So read on that, and the suggested is Kingsford (Blue and White bag)  As its compacted harder, and burns longer,  and DO NOT use the match light stuff.  In fact, You dont need any Lighter fluid, Yep, you read that right.  I had no clue, so I picked up some any way, just in case. 

So , I found this website,"Your-Camping-Guidebook.com" that tells you how to make a charcoal chimney out of a coffee can.  I just happen to have only one can in my shed, that holds all the gloves.  So I tossed them out, and cut the bottom out.


  I didnt have any newspaper so I used a old phone book and just ripped out the pages and balled them up and packed them tight in the bottom.  Then added the coals.  From what I read you need 18-20 to make 350 degrees.  So I added 20  and then sat that on top of 3 so I had a total of 23 coals.

I lite the bottom, it smoked pretty bad, but afer 20 minutes, the coals were glowing red and were ash white.  That was amazing. No lighter fluid at all. WOW!

So then I made my first mistake, I found out later. But not a major one.  I wasnt sure if the coals would be hot. so I cooked the meat and Onions in the house in a frying pan. I should of cooked it in the DO so it would have already been hot. But I now know for next time so that altered the cooking time.   So I used a DO liner for easy clean up.  And layerd all the stuff for the Lasagna. 

When the coals were hot, I removed the can, put a few in a ring set the DO on top. And put the rest on the top.  From what I read,  the More you have on top. It gives a baking effect.  The more you have on bottom. It cooks more then bake.   

I let it cook for just over an Hour. and it was almost done, but my coals were gone because it was windy out, so they burned faster.  So I just put it in the house oven for 15 minutes and it finished just fine.  And man, did it taste good.  And clean up was easy with the liners.

Here is before it was cooked

And after it was cooked, Man was it good!

Tomorrow we are trying Peach Dump cake. Yum!

Thanks for stopping by! 
Sharon

Garden Update! 4 Weeks

I almost forgot to take todays pictures, It is now 4 weeks today, we put in the garden.

Most of the stuff is growing good.  We had to plant a few corn that didnt come up..  And of course the new soaked over nite peas, have been replanted and are just starting to come up.

I was worried what I would go out to this morning as we had one heck of a storm last night, Wow, I have never seen so much lightning in such a short amount of time in my life. And the rain was so hard and heavy,

But, happy to say, the garden survived, and the plants are a little dirty but that will wash off. 

Here is overview of the garden. 2 weeks later at now 4 weeks.

The stuff you cant see to well in the box on the right, is onion sets, Not doing to well. The front boxes, are slow growiing.  The radishes are doing good, but the lettuce is still slow going.  The other box has more onions and Carrots, those are coming up nicely.  Got a couple berries off the strawberries. I think its to hot for them.

Do you remember the yukon gold potatoes. I cant keep up with them, I have put all the soil I had left in there, and need to get more, to cover the rest of the bucket.

The beginning of a caulifower.  YUM! 

First long box, These are 5 different kinds of string beans. Like black beans,Lima beans and striped beans. Hubby says he is hopeing for 5 bean soup soon, LOL!

These 2 SWC buckets are the Squash seeds I planted just a few weeks ago.  They are doing good, no fruit yet.

Our first green pepper, it has such a perfect shape.  There are a ton of flowers on these 2 plants. So will have lots pretty soon.

First set of Cherry Tomatoes,  I love these, and this is first time growing, Hope they come out nice, You can see the marigold in the back of the bucket, its working good, no bugs yet.

And this is the Beef Steak Tomatoes.  There are 11 on here right now, and doing good.  We planted some Roma tomatoe seeds, and they are coming up and about 6 inches tall, nothing exciting yet, LOL!

Well, that is our garden update at 4 weeks.  Keep watching, I will update in 2 more weeks. If I forget, Please reminde me.

Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon