Simply, Lesa

It's December 25th. Lots of others consider this a holiday. Not so much for me. I don't have any family memories to keep up. Anyway Happy happy carry on with living a good life. Remember to Keep it Simple! Any day is a good day to focus on Simplicity! So I have been feeling  a dilema with the installation of solar on my car. I was given a lovely panel. The dilema felt like frustration though I sruggled to define the issue.  I tried to end the frustration by gathering information, I became confused.  I couldn't sort out what was "bugging" me. I tried talking it out with the project team and left feeling uncomfortable or something - I couldn't name what I felt, just defeated and deflated, as if this is gonna be a drawn out not frustrated experience and I'm probably not going to get what I need and want.  So I got off alone.  Then I had a nice long shower and detangled my hair which I had let go while I was sick with that cold and allergy ick.  That per...

Hey! Thought I better get back to work and write you all an update! The Southwest is cold right now! Okay seriously days in the 50s and 60s and nights in the upper 30s and 40s isn't that cold. Although we had one night with temps under freezing. Ozzie and I woke to frosty ice inside the windows. One positive on the frost is that as the sun warms up the windows and the ice melts I get to wash the inside of the car windows! It's pretty though. I have been pretty miserable with a cold, it's seeming better this morning. I find it amazing how a little cold takes my brain functions away. I can't think very good when I feel sick. Add another factor, I didn't know that all over the counter cold meds ,well guess I should say most, have the hidden ingredient ginger. That's great for most people but I am allergic to ginger. So I was suffering even more with hives and crap before I knew what was going on. Stopped taking meds and I feel much better and hives abou...

Check this out! Ozzie is interviewed by GoGrannieJoSparks's dog Tippy on YouTube! Yup, we did our best with details...who really knows everything. I need to check paperwork that I have somewhere as to his age...I  think hes been with me at 4 RTRs. Keep it Simple and Enjoy your day!

Enjoy! Simply, Lesa

Hey, I've been in Ehrenberg a few days. Its nice to be within a community of people that are generally of a like mind and lifestyle.  I have had some challenge with Ozzie perhaps being overwhelmed although its improving. Here is a quick morning video with pictures, hope you dont get dizzy, of the inside of my Honda when camping. More soon..... Keep it simple sweetie!  Simply, Lesa

On my way to Ehrenberg - a little update!

Ewww....so we are now on the subject of (spoken in deep voice narrator mode) Rodents and Rats! Yuck right.... but I got secret weapons as well as the varmints to practice on! Lets get right to it. 

Coffee with Ozzie!

Here we go.... (if I knew it was ok when on SSDisability, I would so set up an Amazon affiliate!)

Finally got something loaded... I have a big learning curve i think...

I have to share... When preparing myself both mentally and gear wise as well as physically for setting up camp and cooking for a crowd, I sure didn't imagine things like a Nurse visiting to offer help and then nicely poo pooing and trying to teach me how to wash dishes! Well darn, I'm nearly 60 years old! I cook for lots of people and wash dishes just fine - thank you! Oh yes, you don't even know me do you.... rolling my eyes.  Neither did I expect to have people land at my campsite exhausted from driving across the country to have thier emotional breakdown with me, when it was time for me to make breakfast! or to have a nice van drive up with a generous donation of 6 or 7 bags of ice and more Bar S brand hot dogs and sausages than I've ever seen along with multiple bags of squished white bread hot dog buns! A very generous donation from a newbie who didn't check what I needed, wanted or had the ability to care for - I had no coolers! or the 8 dozen eggs brought i...

Well, I am home again and tired and I needed to get some info out to you all. So I simply took a video...its loooong! I havent figured out how to cut it in pieces and post as a part one, part two...so dont shoot me. I wanted you to know whats going on. Remember Im so letting you in my life in a real 'unpolished' way...forgive my newbieness please. Or try SimplyLesa on YouTube  Its been 3 days of trying to upload.....darn I don't know what I'm doing wrong... I'll keep trying and in the mean time do some typing!

Ozzie n me have been kinda busy ever since our GTG in Witch Well AZ. We are starting to pack up and move locations along with Jamie and the VanBuild people See Ozzie working hard! Im letting everyone else go first, this way i get to wash my hair and relax some before re-setting our campsite and readjusting our role in camp...this always seems to happen in group situations especially when we move locations!  Our Friend Skipperdoodle and his fur-child Spring came down to Havasue with us, they left for the next leg of their trip earlier. We have been connecting and reconnecting with friends all this past week. At times its exhausting! And the sunrises have been gorgeous! 

I gotta give you all in blogland an update....honestly we had fun at my GTG and we arent exactly finished, and im exhausted.  Since Facebook and Blogger are NOT on my phone and my only camera is on my tablet...please bear with me till things slow down a bit more and i will write more about the happenings!

Wow only a few short days - filled with tons of projects to finish before the GTG campout starts here at my place! Whoo hoo! 5 years ago this week...wow five years! I finished up my last housesitting gig in Costa Rica I made a home coming gift for the owner, from stuff gathered on her property. Borded a plane Bought a van site unseen (by the way she now lives on a farm nearby hauling hay and stuff) And i was back in the United States after many years away....reverse culture shock and all! Today I am making a tiny batch of apple butter with leftover apples while preparing myself and my property for 20ish campers! Yup life sure has changed!

Who : YOU!  Blog readers, friends, newbie nomads, rubbertramps and travelers! What : SimplyLesa GTG (Get ToGether) - 1st Annual camp out Where : 524 N7407, Witch Well, AZ 85936 When : October 5 - 12 Come and camp for all 8 days, a short overnight visit, only for coffee or for one activity! YOU MUST CONTACT ME! You do not need to be a Nomad or RTR or VanBuild person...you might like to know something about me or you might be surprised! Thursday Oct 5 - arrive, settle in and say hi Friday Oct 6 -  9:00 Welcome & Introduction   10-10:30 am Q& A  10:30 -11 am visit with each other 5 pm - 5:15 pm Short Welcome for late comers 6:00 pm (Sunset) evening Campfire Feast 7:30 - 9ish pm Campfire chat (casual conversation) Saturday Oct 7th - No Work allowed! Relax all day, walk, lay in your hammock, read, sit and visit with neighbors! (Im aiming for a no electronics day! You can use electronics inside your rig only) Sunday Oct 8   ...

Now that Jamie of Egmatic Nomadics and Bob Wells of CheapRVLiving have made their big official announcements, its my turn! Surprise ! October 5-11, 2017 join me for my first GTG! In Witch Well, AZ Come and camp! For all 8 days, for one day or come for coffee or for one activity only! YOU MUST CONTACT ME! You do not need to be a Nomad or RTR or VanBuild person...you might like to know something about me or you might be surprised! Thursday 5th - arrive, settle in and say hi Friday 6th - evening dinner at sunset and campfire chat. Lets call it a Campfire Feast! Saturday 7th -   No Work allowed! Relax all day, walk, lay in your hammock or chair. (Im aiming for a no electronics day!) Sunday 8th -  morning chat 9-11 Monday 9 -  morning chat or a class 9-11 (what do you want to learn?) Tuesday 10 - morning chat or class 9-11 (?) Wednesday 11 - say good bye, pot luck lunch Thursday 12 - headem up and moveem out!  I'm inviting...

I've been discussing Dream Camp Kitchens lately... I've also been in a personal funk. As part of my process of working through the funk, I made a list of things I've loved, not liked, in the history that I can remember of my life. That was a good exercise. Its an excersize that I have taught in my Personal Project Planning workshops. Its an excersize that helps you to recall the reality of your best self. It helps you/me to recall the best physical things as well as the best activities and work, even workstyle that you have experienced.  Heres an example of somethings I listed in my I love it list. I loved the hand blown wine glasses I had made for me years ago. I love handmade! I loved my silver spoon ring (remember those) I loved how satisfied my work and daytime life felt when I worked on the Daffodil farm in VA. I picked daffodils 8 hrs a day! I loved helping Travis & A refurbish that farmhouse in Costa Rica I love, like love helping others. I nearly set u...

Omgosh.... I  just found this! Its a Snow Peak firepit, grill, field oven - yup pizza too! Okay its pricey, but its lighter weight than the other and a pizza oven! Oh my who knew there were so many thing out there for overlanding style camp kitchens Oh and they make a sit down stainless table thing to go with this!

Hi ya'll  - okay I admit I spent a lot of years in and around Virginia...hence the southern drawl flavor. Dream Kitchens!   WARNING - Picture heavy post! Shall we get right into it? Woodstove - the main biggie  - I'm in love. Just found this from a newish company! It packs flat, so I could manage it. I chatted with one of the owners the other day. What I'd love is to have one donated for my review! I also am planning to ask for a modification to one side panel. I would be able to cook in my own campsite, not the large firepit where people are visiting and I can be overwhelmed.  The pots are at a height thats easier on my back and I will have some control over the fire as well. Yup need welders gloves too  And the little back up multipurpose that can be used with anything from sterno cans & charcoal to alcohol or wood. And also folds flat for packing. Dutch Oven - I have a great 14 inch Lodge already  see it on the ground there. Nope not ...

Jamie of Egmatic Nomadics is holding the 2nd Annual Van Build in Lake Havasue City, November 1 - 14, 2017. I will be there. Last year, I watched the build crew go through their very busy days and collapse around dinner time mostly with a cold drink in their hand! This year I am doing something about that. Lots of work needs nourisment - so im doing something i do well. I volunteered to cook for the work crew! Yup its a major undertaking. Sooooo I am beginning my planning as well as my winter event kitchen set up. When I travel alone i have very simple needs. Mostly, if i have hot water im pretty good. This is different and I want my bigger pots and things. I dont know if I'm only cooking for 4 or 5 people or for 15 - 20. I might not know till I arrive!  I need to be flexible AND I have health issues that can seem unusal to many others. I cannot use propane! So I  have decided to let you readers in on my planning process. I get asked about this all the time anyway so ha...

And i cant imagine what to write. I went camping in Flagstaff. As promised last October, I was there for some newbie RVers first nights on the road and their first boondocking. I also met some RTR and Facebook friends. I had a great time! Though for some unknown reason I was scared to go. I remembered how much i love and miss the simplicity of travel. I also rememberd a part of myself that I may have put on the back burner this year.... then on the very last nite, I came across pictures online of my entire life's history... wow I havent quite been the same since. I can't decide if i am feeling depressed, was I triggered, or if I am simply re-evaluating everything from my life, past, current, future.... I cant write anything that seems interesting. Im filling my journal with lists and ideas and stuff i liked and didnt like. And how i felt or what caused a decision.... I want to get rid of stuff, like physical stuff that doesnt yell 'keep me you and I need each othe...

Yup. Whoot! I  am taking a break from creating my travel trailer docking station of sorts on my property. Maybe I needed this? Simply meeting some newbie RVing buddies in a couple days near Flagstaff. I took Kathleens advice and stopped at one of her favorite free campsites. Its lovely and peaceful  and I m gonna sleep good. Ozzie seems to be fine, hes fitting right back into travel routine quickly.  Hes listening pretty well to, i think he knows better whats expected of him. Okay hes still Ozzie and his bark can be annoying and though mostly his excitement and wanting to play through his doggie lingo is messed up...I am looking into vibrator style bark collars for large events, we always have anxiety pills if we need them. Simply on the budget side, this trip will cost me an extra tank of gas and a few groceries more than my usual budgeted living expenses because I stocked up the cupboards at home before I got the news that these friends were ready to rock and rol...

I did a liitle rearranging. I finally ditched the old crumbly foam mattress. I havent gotten to painting yet. Ozzie seems to like it.

I often suppliment my tight budget with foods from a food pantry. I qualify for food pantry assistance because I have a low income of under $1000 per month. Our local food pantry in the town of St John's AZ does not have  an income qualification. Thanks to Pastor Mike and the New Covenant Church, once a month we line up our cars on a Tuesday early in the month and collect our food boxes in a drive thru fashion. Its a very organized and personable process. I was able to drive out of my property as the puddles have dried up, although the cattle made a bumpy mess of the closest puddle to me, by standing and wallowing around in it. Darn bumpy mess...haha. Back to the food pantry story. So I  rode into the food pantry with my neighbor Kathleen.  Im grateful that she was willing to drive. As you can imagine, after being home alone with Ozzie so much this month, the trip and interaction with others was nearly overwhelming. Our food boxes nearly always include frozen meats an...

Check out this video if you can.... If you can't,  heres the story. Ozzie is so cute unless hes excited or trying to protect our home. Most dogs are like that. I dont know when it started, but he plays with his food. He's made such good friends with his food, especially his milk bones that he now barks and play hops and waits as if the milk bone would play back. I tried the video function on my tablet to share it with you all.

Morning! I made hot water on my rocket stove made out of a recycled chimenea chimney (say that 3 times fast!) this morning. You see I love to recycle kewl old stuff and make them useful again, besides that I like cheap to free! I got this piece about a month ago and finally got around to working with it. Being stuck at home, the 2 wheel drive Honda won't go everywhere that I would like it to. Its monsoon season and I 've had a few crazy thunderstorms that dropped an incredible amount of water in an hour. The ground can only soak it up so fast, so there are puddles. Some the size of lakes. Normally, given a day or two of sun and some breeze they dry right up - unless it rains again. I have slid in mud and wet puddles with both Vantucket and the Honda bedroom, so I learned to gauge when its more comfortable to drive out my road by the one closest big puddle-err lake! If it has standing water, I just go home and give it time, its way less anxiety producing. So here in am Al...

Of a morning after a big rain storm... i wish you could experience these sounds yourself. There's a gentle stream sound down the ridge. Water is flowing down there. It almost sounds like frogs along with birds are down there as well. Up here, the sky was red with billowy clouds, i didnt grab the camera quick enough. Ozzie and I got up at the crack of dawn! These pictures don't do justice to the moment. The birds are beginning to stir. The hummingbirds were first. Enjoy your morning! Simply, Lesa & Ozzie If you can make the picture larger size you might see the hummingbird.  I'm going to make coffee!