Merry Christmas To You All

Merry Christmas and holiday hugs to you all from me and The Cup!  We hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends.

"Camping, Coffee & Christmas Joy . . . 

Life Is Good!"

From My Christmas Sister Liz

On this Christmas Eve Day, I wanted to share a special gift with you that I received from my Sister Liz who lives in Rural Hall, NC and has a vintage Scotty too.  Sisters on the Fly do a Christmas Sister exchange and Liz and I were paired up.  In my box was also an embroidered camping towel and a camping plaque.

Thanks Liz!  Merry Christmas to you and Gary, as well as to all my other Sister Friends, Tabbin' Buddies, and camping partners!!  Have a wonderful day tomorrow with family and friends. 

"Camping, Coffee & Christmas . . . Life Is Good!"

Wishing You...

"Camping, Coffee & Christmas . . . Life Is Good!"

Christmas Greetings

Good evening everyone!  The countdown has begun . . . 6 days till Christmas.  I realize that some folks have been counting for many months, but I usually start a week out.   The Coffee Cup and I want to send you greetings with some photos we found online that are pretty cool.  Enjoy...

The best gift at Christmas is easy to see.

It's not wrapped in paper or under the tree.

Cos' the best gift at Christmas and all the year through

Is having a friend as special as you!

"Camping, Coffee & Christmas . . . 

Life Is Good!"

Coffee Cup Christmas

Today Becky, Wendy, and our friend Jeanne visited the famous and luxurious Grove Park Inn to take in the gingerbread houses entered in the National Gingerbread House Competition.  Over on POSTCARDS on Friday, I'm going to feature the incredible houses that we saw, including the grand prize winner.

We did a bit of shopping while there and I just have to share some things I found with you.  The first thing I saw was a tabletop tree decorated with ornaments fashioned into coffee cups, bags of coffee, Starbucks-like tall coffee cups, coffee pots, and espresso machines.  It was just way too cute!  The ornaments were kinda pricey so I wasn't terribly tempted to buy any.  Maybe I'll find them somewhere after the holidays on sale.

Then I spied all the coffee cups and mugs. Talk about a kid in a candy store . . . LOL.  I might have missed one or two, but check out the ones I did get photos of.

OK campers, you know I had to buy one!  But the big question is, which one did I pick out?  Give up?  This one . . . 

"Camping, Coffee and Christmas . . . 

Life Is Good!"

Ready For The First Night

Since The Coffee Cup is parked outside under the carport and our first scheduled camping trip isn't until March, I've had the luxury of decorating and playing house at my leisure.  On Monday, I headed to Hickory to pick up the mattress that I ordered two weeks ago.

I had a great debate with myself about which size to purchase. The Cup is 84" wide, so I knew that a regular twin would fit easily. However, an extra long twin at 80" would fit well too.

The width didn't play into the decision because the gaucho couch pulls out to almost 46 inches and a twin mattress measures 38".

So . . .  did I want a nice tight fit or would I like a little space to hang my feet off a bit?  Did I want to wrestle with the mattress trying to get sheets on with little way to raise the corners or would some extra room at the top and bottom make it easier to pull up the corner of the bed?

Easy is always better when camping, so I chose the regular twin.

The next step was to go shopping.  There are several mattress stores nearby and I sure found a variety to choose from.  The prices were all over the place too. I ruled out one with coils right off the bat.  

I found a nice firm, light-weight, foam Sealy mattress that jumped to the top of my list.  At a third store the saleslady wanted to know the prices of all the others I had seen and then questioned those prices saying they couldn't possibly be correct.  I scratched that place off my list!

In the end, I got the Sealy and picked it up this past Monday.  It fit perfectly in the Pilot and I knew it would be a perfect fit in The Coffee Cup.  It was so light that I lifted it up by the plastic!

It was also flexible enough that I slid it through the door and onto the gaucho.

I snitched my mattress topper out of SplashT@B to see how that would work.  Once again it was a perfect fit.  My oh my, there's going to be some good sleeping going on in The Cup!

On one of my shopping trips during The Long Wait, I found a set of sheets on sale at IKEA that was beige with white dots . . . perfect!  All I can say is that I sure am glad I went with a regular twin.  It still wasn't easy putting the sheets on those back corners though.

On one of my junkin' trips with Becky, I scored a 1940's quilt with a basket pattern.  It was another case of knowing it would be just right in the Scotty.  I love the white background and the pastel-colored baskets . . . it's a nice contrast to the birch that's everywhere.

I still have to make window curtains, two chenille pillows, and a crazy quilt throw with the coffee fabric I've been collecting.

Unfortunately, my sewing machine is in the repair shop, so those projects probably won't be started until January.  That's OK because I don't need to add anything more to my Christmas plate and will need things to do when those long winter months set it!

Thanks for stopping by today to get an update on my sweet Coffee Cup.  

"Camping, Coffee, and Christmas . . . 

Life Is Good!"

Coffee Cup Entertainment

Last January, I shared one of my Coffee Cup projects with you.  I found a vintage, non-working radio in Williamsburg, VA that I eventually gutted and refinished.  My plan was to repurpose it in The Cup for playing tunes from my iPod.  If you'd like to go back to that post, you can read about The Retro Radio Project HERE.  

When Tony and I were discussing the design and purpose of the tall floor-to-ceiling cabinet, I requested that he open up a portion of that cabinet so my retro radio would slide right in.  On my to-do list last week was to wiggle it in.  I say "wiggle", because it's a very snug fit!

Inside the opening is an outlet so I can plug the speaker in.  It's in the back corner, mounted up high, so it's not visible.  I'll just reach around behind the radio and put the iPod and speaker inside of it, so it will appear and sound like the music is actually coming from the radio. 

If you look closely on the right side of the cabinet, you'll see something metal mounted to the outside wall.  That mount will hold a small flat-screen TV that will tuck neatly against the wall and will swivel out when in use.  I don't get all crazy about watching TV when I camp, but I do like to see news, get weather reports, or watch something if the weather is bad.

Once again, this was an item on my wish list and Tony did a great job of positioning it perfectly for me.  The swivel arm will allow me to watch it in bed or while sitting at the dinette.  Just below the TV is an electrical and cable outlet.  The TV slides off the mount so I can put it in the car while traveling.  And I love the fact that you really don't know it's there unless you peek around the corner of the cabinet.

I gave my Coffee Cup entertainment a lot of thought and I love the way it turned out!  Now if camping season will hurry up and get here!

Have a good weekend everyone and remember...

"Camping and Coffee . . . Life Is Good!"