Airstream Projects: the dining room

I think is my favorite project in our little silver home so far. We had been using a round hand-me-down table that was my Grandmother's. It was very 1960's and cute in a retro sort of way. But round is an extremely inefficient shape for tiny living. It was always supposed to be temporary. I'm so happy to be upgraded! 

We started by removing everything. 

Then, we repainted the floor. So far, this seems to be the best flooring for airstream living in our climate. If you put anything over the plywood floor (other than paint), you have moisture issues in the winter. We don't want a rotten floor, so this is the solution until something better presents itself. I have a few rugs here and there to cozy it up. Anyway, we painted the floor and my husband put in the frame of the table...

Here is the table top! We repurposed this from some old furniture of my parents. 

Last came the built in bench! Here is the start of it...

Our family fits so much better here!! I'm hopeful of finding two cute matching stools to fit at the table, but I will be patient until I find just the right thing. 

Summer and Life

These temperatures sure prove we've had our fair share of summer this year! 90 has been a pretty normal sight. But it has been pretty pleasant, surprisingly. 

The girls have made playing outside a daily habit, making rocks and sticks their playthings. They were gifted a little red wagon, which gets very good use as a boat, car, train, airplane, house, bed, etc. I have really seen their cooperative imaginative play take off this summer. I have also found outside play to be essential to mommy's enjoyment of the summer. A few peaceful moments in the trailer with my baby go a long way.

This has also been the summer of fun hair. I figure I'd better enjoy doing the girls' hair while they enjoy it. I don't know how long this phase will last. And they both have such fun hair to play with!

Grandma and Grandpa and Aunty came to visit recently, which had us seeing all the fun sites. 

Isn't this just the cutest 2 year old face??

This baby found some fun things to chew on that day...

We had dinner by a waterfall...

I sure love my family!!

And here are my little monkeys playing together. 3 little girls. Oh my. Such fun they already have!

I have a whole bunch more fun pictures of all the progress on the airstream, but they deserve a post all their own. 

Yum!

The kombucha turned out wonderfully! The ones with tighter fitting lids turned out more carbonated than the ones that vented air. But all of them had great flavor! I highly recommend it! Fizzy, fruity, and refreshing!

Kombucha Update

Well, so far so good! 

Although, the instructions said the kombucha would be ready for the second stage at the 5 day mark, it also said it would be ready when it tasted more sour than sweet. This is day 8. Today is the first day I thought we hit that sweet spot...or the sour spot, I suppose. 

Here's what the batch looked like prior to bottling it for the second stage of fermentation:

Ewww. 

I drink this stuff?!?

I gotta say. It tasted AWESOME! 

So the second stage is adding fruit juice for flavor, putting it in smaller, sealed bottles, and letting it do it's thing for another 2 days. Sealing the bottles allows the carbonation to build up and make it pleasantly fizzy. 

Here's the bottles with the juice. I am trying blueberry pomegranate, apple cherry, and one plain. 

I varied the amount of juice in the bottles to see what happens. 

Here's the scoby after I removed it in order to pour the kombucha into jars...

Lovely. 

And here is my bottled brew! 

2 more days to wait. 

Talk about delayed gratification! 

(Oh, and now the brewing process starts all over again from step one. It's a never ending cycle of fizzy goodness!)

What is this??

Is my baby becoming a thumb sucker??

I've never had a thumb sucker. I love the pacifiers, because we have had such an easy time getting rid of them when the girls are too old to use them. But how does one take away a thumb? 

This is the first time I've seen her sucking it for comfort while asleep. Usually she just gnaws on it for fun while awake. I wonder if this will become a habit?

We had a break in the heat wave with thunderstorms today. Quite pleasant. I'm soaking up the cool weather before the 100+ days arrive this coming week. 

The big sisters were enjoying the day too. 

Adventuring on their mountain (also know  as a pile of fill dirt). 

And this was from the other day. I let E have Lucy in her bed for a bit to play (supervised, of course). She was such a good big sister. She made a fort and played for over an hour with Lucy. 

Lucy loved it!!

Happenings

Here are a few things going on this week:

Airstream projects:

1) new beds for the girls are in the works. 

2) a new dinning room set up. 

3) removing some unnecessary appliances. 

We took out the ice maker. I'm pretty sure ice makers in airstreams are from the era when cocktails were a high priority. Glamping back then included fancy drinks! However, I'm satisfied with a tray of ice in the freezer. Bye bye ice maker! We envision pull out shelving for this space in the future...

And here is the hole where the furnace used to be. Since we use alternative heating methods, this had to go too. After a few other projects get done, a new kitchen will be happening! Woohoo! Still dreaming about why I want to happen there. 

Also, I'm a lover of kombucha, and I usually just buy the stuff. We drink enough of it that I have thought of making it in the past, but it seemed daunting. Well, it still seems daunting, but I'm going to give it a go. My good friend makes it all the time, and she brought me a scoby (which is like a gooey mass of healthy bacteria that ferments the drink). It really looks like something you forgot about in the fridge for months. 

You put the scoby on top of a gallon of sweetened black tea and let it do it's thing for 5 days. Here are the directions I followed in case you're interested:

http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-brew-kombucha-double-fermentation-method/

Here it is on day 1:

In a few more days, I'll add some fruit juice and let it sit 2 more days to get bubbly. I do love that fizzy drink! Here's hoping it works!

55 and raining?

Well, THAT is quite a change from the other day! Idaho weather at its best. 

I find that I feel more connected with the elements living in an Airstream. You notice the swings in temperature a lot more. The rain reminds you of that leak that sprung up last winter. The sun is brighter and more cheerful through the panoramic windows. 

And today, I am embracing the rainy day. It feels so cozy in my nest (despite a drip or two here and there)! As the lyrics of my music blast out from my wireless speakers (a WONDERFUL Christmas gift from my man), "let your grace rain down!" Yes! It is a day to worship the Lord, just like every other day. Sigh.