Winnebago Kitchen...and now the dishes

and now ....the dishes .....
The Food Delivery System Accessories.

These are the wonderful dishes! ooooo pretty gray, deep coral, dark green and chartreuse....
Years ago, I had 44 million pieces of Melmac...all colors, all shapes, all eras, all brands, and I used to set them up in the Cutest displays....I was sure Melmac, in the 80s and 90s, was destined to become the Next Fiesta Ware. I was ... a bit ahead of the times.
Now, Melmac is really making a retro comeback, like all vintage is suddenly very mainstream. This makes me very happy. I look like far less of a weirdo. I still am a weirdo...just less of a lonely one!  ;-)





This is one of my favorite Melmac patterns, colorways.... Nice weight, roomy finger holes in the coffee cups. Great colors !!
"Watertown Lifetime Ware
Made in U.S.A.
Heavy-duty Melamine Tableware
Molded to Meet CS 173-50 of Industry"
Here is a great website that will inform you of everything you need to know about Melmac! 

here's the set we ordered from an etsy seller........and I won't tell you WHO it was because I am not happy with my purchase. The small pieces are OK, but the dinner plates (the most important pieces) were scratched and ruined beyond use, because of years of cutting MEAT!
Those won't be used because bacteria can hide in the deep scratches. Beware of sellers who don't know ass from elbow.  Now, I have to find some nice plates.

****************************************************

Melamine resin dishes, most often called Melmac, are always in bright cheery colors!
They are almost unbreakable and are very lightweight.
But......they aren't for the Microwave or the Oven or the Stove top......don't even. 
They are  thermoset so melamine resin cannot be melted but that makes them hard to recycle. Well to melt them down or shred and recycle like we do with other plastic.
So, I'll do something cute and practical with the scratched dishes I have.

Here's a few pics of the new curtains.......
with the burlap sheers......

I also changed the light switch cover......so glam!

here's a little cowgirl touch........a 50s leather fringe pillow......so rumpus room!

oo oo oo, looking out my back door........and a nice pic of the big rick-rack I glued to the shade....matches the window over the sink.......

Kitchen ...

The coffee can makes me happy for these reasons:

I love this coffee! Cafe Du Monde, the original coffee served in French New Orleans....... It has chicory, which mellows the taste. And....as a container for my tools, it was Free!
I used a big magnet on the inside to make it stick to my stove...and not slide around while driving.
That is something you always have to think about with anything that goes in an RV or trailer, or a boat.

hippie dippie cleaning products to protect the vintage plumbing and make sure the right kind of bacteria can thrive....in the gray water and black water tanks.......

It's Over !

the Christ-mas calendar says it's over.....which is only partly true. for me, the year begins at the winter solstice and not in a nature-religion kind of way....it just is what's the real thing. The Earth. The Moon ...and the stars.
A West coast girl I've always been, and a West coast girl I will always be.
There's always changes going on...Once the kids grew up, I knew I'd be leaving Washington state...the  good thing I can say about Washington is that I-5 goes south.

I've been looking for a motorhome ....an RV. I  know what I want ...so I just have to find it. At first I thought, for the last 42 years, I wanted a trailer to pull behind a truck. But.. Knowing that all dreams, plans and  journeys are not always pleasant.....

I have always wished for a big decrepit house on an acre or so. That's all. Nothing special. Now, I know that will never happen. The world has changed so much in the last 5 years and it won't be set right again in my lifetime. All the hard work done by my parents and grandparents, The New Deal, has been destroyed.

The whole reason we can even buy a RV and drive it around, is because people pay taxes and build roads, parks, fund Highway Patrol/Police so we can feel safe...So that we don't become Mexico with 100% corrupt politicians and police, and drug-infested cartels that roam the cities and country and murder hundreds of people a month...and don't forget. Poverty. So thanks for voting for the very people, the Republicans, and their failure in letting "the market" control goodness, those that hate community and the Social Contract, and everything good about America. Except profit.

So....on to the search for the right RV. I'll come back to the RV chat many times. So much to know! Looking for one and I'll know it when I see it !

an RV in tiny versions....a  tootsie toy

...Here's some sweet pics from around the interwebs of inspiring rvs and nice interiors. It's important to know what I don't want....no cutesy, no Marilyn/Betty Boop/words of Inspiration decals/no Coca-cola/no Diner....So Done..Done! Also, I love authentic vintage decor....but I don't want that.....day after day after day after day.....

(look at grandma vacuum!) photo from


More like the way I decorate in my home.....

Winnebago RV made in Iowa.

Even Barbie likes to RV it !







so the huge plaids and dirty orange carpets will be the first to get tossed out. Also, say bye bye to the built-in dinette benches and fold up half-table. Out!  A real couch, and a real table with real chairs. Add in a composting toilet, then the propane oven and the stove top will go too...Only a heater will remain...to run on propane maybe. Very little cooking will happen in my portable home. I'll use a camp stove...or cook outside.  ....And solar panels will be added to be able to boondock more, rather than always be tied to an RV park...tho I've got nothing against them at all. I love them!!

I've been doing a lot of research.
folks who RV full-time seem to break down into 4 groups:
1)A lot of Christians/Mormons. Jesus wants you to live in mobile home.
2)Bums. Homeless. The Slabs.
3)Retired old people. Retired young people. (yuppies who have kicked the corporate job/or fired with a nice package)
4)Hippies. Weirdos. The Self-employed.

For seeing how the middle class and yuppie types in general do the trailer thing,
.....you can go here: Tin Can cottage Blog
for a jumping off spot to see the cutesy wootsey kind of campers and trailers and generally man-repeller design. As cute as my Xmas cards.

Here's a cute trailer...Light on over-decoration.....Darcy and Paul's Shasta. yes, a man lives here too! 

So while the vintage Trailer bunch is growing in popularity, and is quite huge with trailer meets and such............the vintage RV group is more sedate and more male. ....but, it is growing ....More people are finding the vintage RV's and motorhomes and fixing them up, and beginning to attract a younger crowd, and more folks with kids. I think the extra  room and the ideal of living in them full time is a big draw.
Even the websites......are vintage 1997!
Dedicated to classic Winnies and vintage RVs

Great RV forum

so our last camping trip was the best ! and including the car camping trip to California last September.
tho the tent...is comfy but now that we're getting older, we want a unit that's self-contained. We want to  pull up to a spot and have it all at hand. No more setting up the tent, unpacking, blowing up the bed, getting out the camp stove, the ice chest, the folding table and chairs......I do love my tent, and my pretty bed....

the inside is always cute and cozy......just the way I like it !