Futon for the win.

My son'a place is way too small to have my family here, something I was very aware of. It's a bachelor pad type of place. Add to that mix my SIL working remotely everyday on the kitchen table. He doesn't like going to a coffee shop or any public space to work. 

The second bedroom is for guests to crash. Again my son doesn't give any thought to it. We knew that with my daughter's best friend and family come into town (today) we would have to find more sleeping options. Ideally we would like to get a queen size bunk bed set up but I'm not willing to spend a lot buying a new set. Our second option was to find a futon like what was down at the Carmel house. The whole time I've been here I've been searching for one. As luck would have it, being the end of the month a lot of people are moving. Found one for $10 on Facebook market place. It looks almost new and very clean. Having a big car also helped out a lot. 

To make room for the family arriving today, I'm staying at a former cousin's in-laws place at night. My son is staying at a friend's massive estate home taking care of their cat and chickens while they are on vacation. 
 

Mills End, Reno 2026

 

I finally got to visit Mills End in Reno. I had heard about it but can't remember where or why. I had high hopes I could find lace type of fabric to do some bleach and sun printing with. Sadly they didn't have much of what I wanted. Guess I'll have to thrift an over the top wedding dress with a lot of lace. 

Mills End is a warehouse with one half upholstery fabric and the other half is quilting cotton. Most of it looks very dated and oldish but the prices were low enough to over look all that. 

My photos don't really show how sheer the fabric I picked up is. I'm hoping they will work for sun print. Each was $5.40 a yard so if the bleaching technique eats the fabric, it's not a big loss. The brown spotted cow hide (yes it was real) was on the counter when I was checking out. Didn't even look at how much it was but I did think of my mom being that was her lucky charm.  :) 

Thrifting While On Vacation.

Camping Water Heater

While camping last week, we talked about the XL stock pot we used to make hot water back in the day. We used to camp by the ocean when you could still dive for abalone. There was always a fire going  because it was cold. We always had hot water for dishes and showers. Not really sure where the pot after my divorce. 

We had to drive over to Reno this morning and we had time to do a little thrifting. The Salvation Army and Thrifty Depot are in an area of town I would never go alone. Didn't find anything but it was an experience. On our way back home we stopped at a garage sale. Incline being a small town I really didn't think I would find anything. Spotted this old stock pot, which was exactly what we wanted for only $5 - score! Then I picked up this vintage (1960's) pyrex casserole dish holder for $5. I've done the comps on one of these before so I knew what I was looking at, another score! I'm a sucker for handmade wooden boxes, so for only a $1.00 this was a no brainer. Not sure what these metal boxes were, maybe a school project? I liked the copper ones so picked up the whole bag. Over all a good day thrifting. 

Pyrex = $45, Wooden Box = $9.99, Metal boxes = $3 each

 

French Press

 

I'm a pour over coffee person but while at my son's house he only has a french press at home. A few months ago I got him one of those fancy do everything coffee/espresso machines. That went into work so his staff could get all fancy with their caffeine fix. :)

It's taken me a awhile to get the portions right as he doesn't have a food scale either. One of the things I didn't like about french press method in the past was the coffee grounds getting through. Also I read (yes I looked up on how to use a french press) that it's not the healthiest way to brew coffee. Who knew it can increase your bad LDL levels! This metal one actually works out very well in keeping the grounds out. We took it camping and that worked out well too. It was always hit or miss on how the coffee turned out while camping but I appreciated someone took the time to heat the water. :)

I like a good mocha and after sorting out my son's spice cabinet, I found this very old can of Guittard chocolate. Turns out it makes a pretty good morning mocha coffee considering I'm roughing it. :)

Another bear visit

When the dogs start panic barking you know that a bear is near by. The barking doesn't really seem to detour the bears. This evening one was just outside and was giving our trash can a little sniff. I really didn't know what to shout, so being a former big dog owner I just shouted NO. That was enough to keep the bear moving along. It also got my son's attention at what I was yelling at.:)

Some of the bigger neighborhood dogs were going nuts and started to chase the bear. Luckily the owner was able to recall his dogs. 
 

Incline Village 2026

My creative side thinks it would be so great come up here and paint. Do I think I would actually do it, no not really. The long drive up here would detour me from coming back up just to paint.

I'm without a car while here this weekend. The boys are visiting and staying with friends at King's beach. I didn't bring any projects to do, which isn't like me at all. My son has meetings all day and softball after work so no car to borrow there. Being bored I cleaned up the house since I didn't have any little helpers around. 

ATV Ride

Wild and bumpy ride up to the top of Diamond Peak. The boys thought is was great and had a blast. Even Henk who gets car sick didn't have a problem with it the two times he made the trip. Views where of course amazing. 

Fly Fan - Does it really work?

I first saw these fly fans at Ikeda's pie place. It did keep the flies away but it was also a toy magnet for the boys. 

My niece (who likes to shop on Amazon) thought they would be helpful on our camping trip. We really didn't have a lot of trouble with bugs but I think it did help when we were cooking bacon. During the day it worked well but the night bugs, not so much. 
 

Black Bear Spotted 2026

 

At Sugar Pine black bears are a problem. It's super important to keep any with a scent in the bear lockers. The rangers say the bears are more like giant raccoons so not to be scared of them but they will go through you camping equipment if they smell something good. On our last day as we were getting ready to start packing up this young bear came walking through. He's known to the rangers as his mom last year showed him the ropes. Was a thrill for the boys!

Amazig moss find!

Isn't this way too cool! While camping up in Tahoe at Sugar Pine, they had done a lot of clear cutting. Not sure if the trees died or diseased but it was a safety issue I'm sure. Makes for a very barren landscape. :(

But the moss (on the ground) was a very bright lime green. Then I spotted this one with lichen, at least that is what I think they are. Wouldn't this look great with my orange mushroom dioramas!

Camping 2026

I've had this tent riding around in my car for years. It's part of my emergency kit. I know it sounds weird but I think it could be helpful. 

It was new in the box when I brought it on Maxsold. I finally got to use it on a family camping trip. It's been years since I've been camping so here are a few things I've learned now that I'm much older.

Not being able to stand up in your tent makes it harder to change your clothes. 

Solar power has really changed things. Lighting up after dark is so simple now. No more need for batteries or propane canisters etc... Only thing we didn't plan for was lack of cell service and not being able to charge our phones. For me it was just my watch I wanted to keep charged. There are solar chargers out there but not something I need for everyday. 

We used Blackstone grill which was great. We didn't have any pans to clean up after every meal. There was enough of us to make it worth packing it into our car. Cooking over a fire is fun but when you have little ones running around, the grill was the way to go. 

I did see a lot of older women camping alone. Found that so interesting. I really wanted to talk to them about it but didn't want to be a busy body type. It's something that I've always wanted to do.  Maybe now that my tent is out of the box, I'll give it a try!

 

Thrift store finds.

I had forgotten all my shirts last week when I headed up to Tahoe. I went to all the thrift store in town, which there are a lot for such a small town. It's not easy finding things in a plus size. Knowing that my clothes would be coming up later in the week, I didn't want to spend too much. Picked up five shirts for $50, a little more than I wanted to spend. 

Last month my son in law won an Apple computer award for an app that deals at Neanderthals saying, so when I saw this game at the thrift store I picked it up. It was too funny. :)