2013 – Page 2 – a hippie with a minivan

Getting the last of the flooring out…

OK… well technically the last of the flooring is not out yet… but we are getting pretty close.

To get the last of the plywood out we needed to get the the seat brackets out which meant grinding them. There was just no other way.

Simon had never used a grinder before us getting the bus, but by the end of getting these brackets out and all of the screws that were around the wheel wells that refused to come out any other way, he was becoming a pro.

While Khéna and Xavier didn’t stick around much on the days that Simon was working, Colin and Wilhelmina were always by our side. It is not like the other two don’t like helping, they just have other things they like to do.

Seat Bracket out… working on those darn screws!

Now that the brackets and screws are all out, nothing is holding the plywood in place, we so the next step will be to lift it out.

Glasses

A couple of weeks ago Simon asked Xavier to read the time on the oven from the table and Xavier could not see it. We realized that he was also sitting closer and closer to the TV to play games. We knew we had to get his eyes checked.
When Simon and I got some glasses in the mail and Xavier tried them on, it really clicked though.
My prescription is not very strong so when he put my glasses on and looked across the street he could not believe his eyes. He could see the address of the house across the street.

With going back to school time, it took a couple weeks for him to get an appointment and he was looking forward to going but nervous at the same time.

The appointment went great and as we suspected he has myopia. The optometrist explained that his vision will most likely change over the next few years as his body and eyes grow. Simon started around the same age and has a very strong prescription, while I only started wearing them in my late teens. So the explanation made a lot of sense.

Our last pairs of glasses were bought over the internet so I wanted to go the same route with Xavier. It was a bit harder to do because I didn’t have a frame to base what he needed on. Simon last pair were a simple black frame that were one of the smallest in the men’s frames and fit him well, so we decided to take those and by putting his picture up and trying different frames on him I saw that the rimless glasses really fit him well also so I go a pair of those which were in the larger kid sizes. He got them today…

Outside looking at the yard with and without the glasses… So many things he can see now!

They are not the perfect fit, but they are pretty close and will do for now.

I will know exactly what to look for if we decided to get him another frame and with the price we paid for 2 pairs (40$ with shipping) a bit of trial and error isn’t that hard for the bank.

He looks so much more like me here…

So happy…

My boy is not so little anymore…

Beef Jerky

For as long as I can remember I have always loved Jerky. I remember my mom buying it when I was young and dividing it up so that we would each get our equal share.

When I got my dehydrator a couple of years ago, I knew that I needed to make jerky, but somehow I kept putting it off.

A few days ago I had a craving for Jerky and when I got to the store I couldn’t bring myself to buy the small bag with a few scraps for 5.99. It was just too expensive for what it was. So, a couple days ago when I when I was picking up some meat I decided to buy an extra eye of round that was on special and vowed to myself that it would be in the dehydrator becoming jerky in the near future.

I found a couple recipes on the web but I am not the type to just follow a recipe so decided to just make my own.

I started with a 2-3 lb roast and trimmed all the visible fat and then cut the beef thinly with the grain. I like a chewy jerky so cutting it that way makes it a bit more chewy. It is very important that you choose a meat with little fat and trim all of the fat that you can. The fat can not dehydrate and will become rancid over time.

Place the cut slices of beef in a large Ziplock bag with the prepared Marinade

Marinade:

1/3 cup worcestershire,
1/3 -1/2 cup soy sauce,
about a tsp of liquid smoke,
1 Tbsp of Honey
3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp each or so of onion powder, garlic powder and freshly ground pepper.
I almost added some hot pepper flakes but decided not to in case some of the no-spicy kids wanted some but I think I will add some next time.

I let the beef marinate for nearly 24 hours and then put it in the dehydrator in a single layer filling up about 3 trays of my Excalibur and then started the dehydrator at 155 degrees. After about 2 hours the more thinly slices were done and then over the next hour or two I started to take out more and more. So the thick slices took about 4 hours total.

*note: cooking time will depend on the dehydrator you use and how thinly the meat is sliced. Some dehydrators, like the stacked ones without a fan might even take 12 or more hours. You can also make this in a oven at 150 if your oven goes down that much and you need to leave the oven door slightly open.

Whatever method you use, keep an eye on it. If you leave it in too long it will become very very tough. It will still be good but you will need a strong jaw and good teeth. Also remember that it will harden even more once out of the dehydrator.

I Store all of my dehydrated foods in Mason jars for easy access and to then be air tight. It should last a couple of months.

I don’t think it will last more than a week or so in my house though.

I don’t know why I have been holding out on my myself over these last years that I have had a dehydrator. Not only was this easy to make and much cheaper than any jerky you could buy, it was also the best jerky that I have ever had!

Hope you enjoy!!

More Flooring out…

Getting the floors out of the bus is not a small task, just like most of the things that we need to do on the bus. As show in my last post, the back of the bus had rotten plywood but the rest of the bus had plywood that looked almost new. I hurt my shoulder at one point last week so as Simon used the crowbar while I concentrated on the screws holding the plywood down on the metal.

Some came up easy, some needed a little help, some made me go crazy and some were just impossible. Finally I found the best strategy.

Use the right bit. By this I mean, the biggest bit you have that fits.
Using the tork wrench, loosen the screw slightly
Use Jig-a-loo or another lubricant and spray the screw so that it can go under a bit.
Tap the screw with the hammer a few times.
Use the tork wrench or the power drill/screwdriver to get it out slowly work it out. If it doesn’t work tap it a few more times and go onto the next screw while the lubricant gets into it a bit. Then come back to it.

There were even a few that didn’t come out yesterday as much as I tried and pleaded but before heading inside I sprayed/tapped them one more time and in the morning they came out like butter.

Here are the floors with most of the flooring off. Each piece of plywood was held by about 20 screws…

A friend came over today and lent a hand and helped us get most of the plywood out. the pieces in back were a bit rotten but not as much as the other day and it came off in pieces that can’t be reused but didn’t fall apart either.

After that, the rest came out slowly… maneuvering around the wheel wells, the heaters and the thick layer of caulking that was still holding on for dear life.

There were a few spots of rust after that back section but most of the floors look like new. A very good thing.

We had to stop with the floor while we go the three remaining seats out and we will have to grind those brackets out, but it feels great to know that we almost have all of the floors out now.

Oh and see that sink? It was a garage sale find for 35$ with the faucet. It is nicer than the one in our house 🙂

Next steps:

Grinding the seat bracket screws out
Getting the rest of the floor covering, screws and plywood out.
Getting the front rail and the separater that is behind the drivers seat out
filling the holes in the floor, using the wire brush on the rusty parts and then painting the floor with Rust-Oleum paint.

More of the floor…

So after seeing the floor in the back section I was nervous about the condition of the rest of the floor though I did have a feeling that it would be better. So today I started to rip up parts of the rubber floor starting with the centre aisle. Most of the screws were stripped so I used the pry bar on most of it one screw at a time.

I shared this picture yesterday but it shows what the back section looked like yesterday in the centre aisle… and the sides were worse

Rotten, moldy wood that smelled awful and was falling apart in our hands…

and we had checked a small portion that was on the other side of the wall and saw that the wood was better but it still didn't look that great, especially the condition of the screws…

But then as I starting to pry the middle aisle rubber up I was able to grab a hold of it and start pulling and what was under is much more promising!

The Plywood is in great condition. You can even read the stamp on it.

Not only that, but the screws are also in great condition and I can take them out no problem!

So, hopefully, I will not only be able to take them out easily but I will also most likely be able to reuse the plywood in most of the bus. I looked under a section of flooring that would have been at the feet of one of the rows of passengers and it also looks great. But not only that. As I was taking the floor off a few splinters came up with the glue and instead of the moldy stink that we had in the back and that was still lingering, It smelled like wood. And it actually changed the smell inside of the bus.

And of course, if the wood looks good, there are good chances that there will be little rust underneath also.