Summer Fun!

The Croppin' Cabin has been sitting peacefully in the driveway...last week we spent nearly every night sleeping in it, enjoying the cozy atmosphere and closeness that it offers. I haven't been scrapping in it because we've just been enjoying our yard and being outdoors so much, and we've spent the hot summer days at the park pool & at the library. We love the vintage Shasta, and we love our firepit and patio with the tiki torches & lights...but our little hearts desired something more...We knew we'd really like a pool of our very own.

On Sunday I heard from a neighbor that the easy-set pools were on clearance at Walmart. We've been admiring them for a while now...hoping to find one on sale. We ran to the store, and they were out of the metal-frame 15x4 pools, so we bought the 13x3.5...we decided the metal-frame was sturdier than the easy set, and it did have better reviews.

Monday morning we made another trip to the store for some heavy-duty tarps to lay under the pool, and I mowed the lawn and we started clearing the flatest spot in the backyard. The kids helped take parts out of the box and assemble the frame, and we were up & filling in an hour or so. It took about 8 hours to fill...I filled it 3/4 of the way on Monday, and then finished filling Tuesday morning. Unfortunately Mother Nature decided to bless us with some heavy storms, wind & hail Monday night. The kids were at VBS & they had to move everyone to the basement, and Reta's tree left a big branch in my front yard. The pool was FILLED with tree bark & leaves...talk about Intro to Pool Cleaning 101.

Here is a picture about half filled...we just couldn't wait any longer!





And here you can see the Shasta peeking out in the background...Hi, Croppin' Cabin!


And here we are, filled up with all 2888 gallons of cool summer refreshment:





Yesterday was Day 2, and I was very pleased to see that after running the filter overnight and with no storm aftermath, the pool stayed remarkably clean. I bought a "Pool Care Kit" at Walmart for $20..it has a telescopic handle, skimmer net, and pool vacuum. I probably spent 30 minutes total yesterday skimming the bottom & surface of the pool, and I realized that I am grossly uneducated when it comes to pool maintenance & care. I picked up a "floating tablet dispenser" and some 3" chlorine tabs, as well as a package of pool shock. I think I need to go back & get a testing kit, but as of Day 3, the water was clear & clean.

It is raining & storming today, and supposed to rain the rest of the week into the weekend, so I guess this will also be a learning experience.

If any of you guys have tips & suggestions from your OWN experiences with these pools, I would appreciate hearing from you! I'm still toying with some ideas to add to the pool area...I've seen people put a rock area around the pool, but I'm afraid one would somehow slip underneath & give us a good-sized complication. :-) I realize the odds of that happening are slim, but yet...I wonder. It would definitely be easier to mow around. I've also considered adding a plastic mesh/net fence on stakes to help keep the toys/balls in the pool as that seems to be an issue, too. We'd also like to string lights & Off lanterns around as well. Suggestions or pictures?? I would love to hear from you!

In other news, we found someone on Freecycle with free firewood, so we spent most of yesterday afternoon loading wood and unloading wood. Then Reta's boyfriend cut down the branch from her fallen tree, so now we have a lot of firewood. It's all still wet, but it's nice to know we have some wood stocked up.

My Naughty Friend Michelle

I have a Shasta Sista named Michelle...and she's great. You can find her blog at http://www.shastagirls.blogspot.com.

Anyway, Michelle is intelligent, funny, witty & clever...but today she got herself into trouble. Maybe it was the Jack Daniel's Lynchburg Lemonade she enjoyed yesterday...Michelle did the unthinkable..she uttered a bad, bad word on what she thought was the Classic Shasta chit-chat thread..but instead she sent it to...(gasp)the Classic Shasta site.

I know, I know..it's unthinkable...I really don't think she meant to. I think it just slipped out and I suppose the consequences of said slip up will haunt her for quite some time.

So if you feel like it, hop on over to Michelle's blog and give it a read..Even though it won't help her remove the foot from her mouth, I thought it would be nice to share the blog lovin'.

Joanns.com

I've been really, really good lately with my scrapbooking hobby. If you're wondering if that means if I have a plethora of lovely pages & projects that I've completed the past couple of months, ahhh...uhm...that's not EXACTLY what I mean. You see, I have this thing for scrapbooking, and that means I have a thing for buying things TO scrapbook with. One day I realized that the supplies were spilling forth from every crevice of my scrapbooking space, and said space was spreading farther & farther into the living space of our tiny living room. I thought for a brief moment that perhaps I had plenty of supplies, but then I came to my senses because can you ever REALLY have too much scrapbooking stuff? Nonsense! I did decide, however, that maybe I should try to use them up before I buy more, unless it was something special, or something I run out of, like cardstock, adhesive, etc. And I've done very well...remarkably well if you will. I purchased 2 ATG refills and that was it for a long time. I don't know if I've ever had that long of a dry spell. I saw sales, and I resisted. I didn't even GO to the craft sites or craft section at Walmart. I was proud..and then Joann's.com had a sale.

I was just going to the site to take a peek, so I'm not sure what happened after that. I clicked on clearance items, and then I saw Die Cuts With A View, and the rest, as they say, is history. However, that being said, I did manage to keep it under control. I bought 2 new 12x12 Cricut mats, which I desperately needed, and which were on sale for $9.99. And I just had to have the DCWV Christmas Glitter stack that was on sale for $6.99, and then I added the Glitter Stack and the Spring Stack..for a total of 270 sheets of paper & glittered cardstock. Sigh. Such happy bliss...my total was $36, shipped.

So while JoAnn's ruined my no-spending streak, I admire my ability to not order one of everything at prices like that. And since then I haven't bought a single thing, and today I'm going to use up some of these supplies & make a belated (oops) birthday card for my BIL.

(P.S..the paper smells lovely!)

4th of July Camping

First of all, I'd like to say "Happy Belated 4th of July" to my fellow bloggers & readers!

We decided to venture away from home this past week/holiday weekend, so we found the Catfish Place in Arbela, MO. I'd actually eaten at the Catfish Place once before..they have a little buffet-style restaurant with an outside eating deck that looks out over the lake that is stocked with fish..you can buy .25 bags of fish food & feed the fish, who are more than happy to jump out of the water & put on a show for your dining pleasure. Overlooking the lake is a campground with over 90 sites, as well as lakes & ponds for fishing. They have shuffleboard, pool, washers, basketball, exercise room, laundry, in-ground pool, & plenty of areas for golf carts & bikes to ride. I pulled the Shasta there on Thursday...arrived late afternoon after having to take a detour due to some closed roads from the recent flooding that part of MO has had. I remember seeing a sign that said we were 10 miles from IA.

The Shasta was just a few feet from the water, which made me nervous but as the weekend went on I became more comfortable with the water being right by us. There were some very friendly full-timers across from us that helped me level up and set up the awning...they also loaned Kid 1 a bike to ride for the weekend. Another set of folks loaned me an extension cord when we realized our electric didn't work and had to move closer to the other site.

There were some disadvantages....the road there made the kids carsick, the sites are really close together, and the BIGGEST problems for us were the campsites were lacking in picnic tables & firepits. (Not to mention the electric not working at a few, apparently.) Robert came up the next day & brought my firebowl from home, but I guess I'll invest in the folding Walmart firepit for future excursions. The lack of a picnic table was kind of sucky, too, but we made do. We were close to the bathrooms, showers, and pool..and we had a HUGE grassy spot next to us because the site wasn't occupied. Our site didn't have sewer, either, but we don't have the shower & toilet working yet anyway. (Poor us..)

There was a parade & fireworks for the 4th, a huge playground, lots of areas for the kids to play and ride bikes, etc...the fireworks display was easily seen from our site so that was wonderful!

So here's the pics...overall we thought it was great and will definitely go back sometime.

Sadie guarding the campsite:



The Croppin' Cabin at our site..right by the water. Nice!!





Nighttime at the Shasta Croppin' Cabin:



Pictures from the parade:







Fireworks at the Croppin' Cabin:





View from the back window of the Croppin' Cabin:



Robert posing, hoping to catch some orbs:



Me posing with the Shasta/Croppin' Cabin:



View from the restaurant deck:



Feeding the fish from the restaurant deck:



View of our Shasta far, far away..from the deck at the restaurant:



Other views of the campground area:

Sadie

This post has nothing to do with camping, a retro trailer, or scrapbooking. I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of our golden retriever, Sadie. Sadie joined our family about 10 months ago when she was still just a pup. Kid 3 & I drove to Kansas City, MO & picked her up, and from the minute we brought her home, she fit in perfectly. She loves to camp, she loves to go for car rides, she loves having kids in her pack, and she even tolerates the cats most days.

So here are a few pictures of Sadie throughout the past year...a little "tribute" to Sadie, so to speak. And after the slideshow, check out the cute Sadie video made by Kid 1.

CUTE SADIE VIDEO:

ATG 714

I just want to give a quick shout-out to Lorri from keeperscards on Ebay...she is a fabulous seller and I just want to say "THANKS, LORRI," for always getting my order out to me so quickly! I purchased my ATG 714 from Lorri, and it has been one of the BEST investments in scrapbooking tools that I have made. I recently needed refills of the gold 1/4" adhesive for my ATG, and I ordered & paid Lorri on the 24th..my order arrived today on the 27th, well-packed and in perfect condition. Is that speedy or what? Now I can get back to some acid-free adhering to my little heart's content. I will always go back to Lorri for my ATG refills..with great service like that, I'd be crazy not to!

I've sprung a leak. . .

It finally happened...every vintage trailer owner's worst nightmare--the LEAK. We've had a lot of rain here, lots of flooding and closed roads and schools, etc., so I suppose it was inevitable that THIS was going to happen...the Croppin' Cabin has a leak. I panicked, and wondered if I could even FIND where the leak was..was it in the middle of the roof and running to the lowest spot, or was it directly in the door...HOW IS A GIRL SUPPOSED TO KNOW THESE THINGS..?? I'm still trying to find missing parts & rennovate & learn to back up. Now I have a leak, too? Good golly, Molly!

After surveying the situation, I determined that said leak was coming from a faulty aluminum drip cap above the exterior of the door. (Chris from Classic Shastas (visit his site at www.vintageshastas.com) told me what this was..I was calling it a rain guard...haha I'm still learning, so cut a girl some slack!)



I assume that nearly 40 years ago, this drip cap fit flush & snug against the body of the Shasta, and the rain ran along it instead of under it and into the door. In 2008, however, the drip cap decided it was tired and took on a lazy position, and what with the multitude of inches of rain we've received lately, it let most of that run underneath and through the crack in the top of the door, where it pooled up at the top of the metal frame, causeing buckling above the door:



. .and then ran down the frame on both sides of the door, causing damage & rot in both corner cabinets:



Not pretty. Not nice, and NOT fun. And see this little piece of metal trim that runs along the bottom of the door and on the floor..a threshold, so to speak..well it doesn't screw in anymore:



This is what our backyard looks like right now, compliments of Mother Nature:





So..in a pinch and not sure what else to do, I grabbed a caulking gun & some clear silicone caulk and went around the top of the drip cap...however it's hot, and humid...and we're getting more rain & storms tonight, so I can only hope for the best. Chris from Classic Shasta also recommended another product that won't wear down like the silicone does..a product called Geo-Cel. I'm anxious to try it..my silicone job was rather sloppy, as you might have noticed, so I'll be happy to remove it and apply the new product.

And while I'm at it, thanks to all of my Classic & Vintage Shasta group friends out there...The information that you all provide during this trailer process is inmeasureable..and I love you guys for it! PS--your trailers are FABULOUS.

Weinie Roast, anyone?

So we have this HUGE tree in our backyard that was hit by lightning a couple of years ago..and every week before my neighbor mows, and before I mow, we have to spend a lot of time picking up the fallen branches & limbs from said tree. This has always been a problem because the city picks up yard waste the last week of the month, or so they say...Often times I've lugged it all out there only to find it still sitting long after the trash goes by. Then I lug it back to the back yard..it's a mess. After all of the storms & rain we've had this year, Reta & I both have a rather large pile of limbs/branches piling up beside the back fence...

So...I was thinking about how much my kids love to camp, and the campfire..and how we sure would like to cook on a campfire at home once in a while, and today while I was at Walmart I picked up a firepit. It was $50, and it burns wood. You know..WOOD..like the fallen branches/limbs. It's the perfect solution!! The bottom of my pile is seasoned enough to burn, and now I can take Reta's pile of sticks and burn those, too.

So you can guess what we're having for dinner tonight..

OTHER MISC NEWS: I talked to my sister today, and my BIL has offered to graciously install the Pergo floor in the Croppin' Cabin in exchange for some help organizing their office. As soon as Summer Adventure is over, I'll load the kids up for Grandma's, and I'll take the Cabin to my sister's house. He can install the Pergo, and I'll organize. I'm really excited..it's very sweet of them to give me the floor, and an extra bonus that he's installing it. I think it's really going to change the look of the interior, and definitely add a coziness to the cabin.

And a girl from Freecycle contacted me today about a train case that she has..I am very excited. Robert also said that I could have the one we found at the yard sale a few weeks ago--the new wore off of it today and he became tired of digging to the bottom to find what he needed, so it looks like I've gained 2. I'm VERY excited to start altering those. :gasp:

AND..last but not least by ANY means, my sweet, sweet, super-sweet mom came to my rescue again today. I was telling her that I was going to buy a 1.5" Memory Foam topper for the Cabin because the futon mattress resembled sleeping on concrete, and she offered to let me have the queen-size one that she has as she doesn't really like it. I think it will fit inside the futon cover since it is only 1.5", and I hope it helps. If not I'll be forced to buy the 4" one, which seems awfully tall.

And if you've read this long, then I admire you...that's all of the happenings around the Croppin' Cabin homestead for now...check back tonight or tomorrow for pictures of our first campfire at home!

Campin' in the Cabin

The kids went with their dad this weekend, so I thought it would be fun to take the Croppin' Cabin out to the lake for a weekend of leisurly camping & scrapping. Sadie was all for the trip..she loves it out there. It smells like other dogs, racoons, and hot dogs..what's not to like?

Anyway, Robert spent most of Friday night with me, but I had most of Saturday and all of Saturday night alone..I scrapped, and I listened to music, and I cuddled with Sadie, and then I made some popcorn & watched Dirty Dancing.

I took some pictures so you can see the cozy cabin..it's still a long way from being finished..I can't wait to get the new dinette cushions and paint. ENJOY! (PS...see that blue vintage train case..Robert & I found that at a yard sale for $2...we nearly fought over it but I let him have it. I think I need to steal it back though--it's perfect for the Cabin!)










Awww, peekaboo Sadie girl!




This was Sadie's position while I scrapped all night:

Bags & Boxes for Sale!

So after some friends twisted my arm, (ok, not really) I decided to start selling a few of my bags & boxes..A friend of mine asked me if I would make & sell some bags for her, so I took some pictures of papers and she picked what she liked, and I put these together this morning..I hope she likes them! I hope I am able to sell a few things here and there--the gas guzzler guzzles a lot of gas pulling the Croppin' Cabin around!



I also made a quick card for my cousin..her dad passed away a couple of weeks ago..I feel so bad for her and there's not really anything I can do, but I did want to let her know that I've been thinking of her a lot lately. The paper is My Mind's Eye Magnolia line, words are from Cricut cartridge Jasmine, and then I traced them with Stickles in Platinum. I did some chalking on the inside.



And I'm waiting this week for a guy from IA to come & give me an estimate on a paint job for the Croppin' Cabin. I'm really nervous..hoping it's going to be affordable, and that I'll just "know" the color when I see it..;-)