Friday, June 28, 2013

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. 
A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
 If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your "moment" in the comments for all to find and see.






Ritual courtesy of soulemama.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Bakin' in the Bakken

I must admit, the idea of trying to cook the way I do now while living in a camper in North Dakota is a bit intimidating. Oh, gasp! Where will I find my chia seeds and maca powder?! Well, thankfully, the Marketplace in Minot has chia seeds and I can order most anything else from Amazon. So, with that worry out of the way I plan on focusing on locally sourced ingredients.

The first thing that I plan on checking out when I get back to North Dakota is the local honey. North Dakota is the #1 producer of honey in the United States and I'm very curious to see how it compares to our local honey here in Kentucky.

Midsummer's Day Honey is Yummy!

I won't pretend to be any kind of honey expert, but I can definitely taste the difference between the fall and midsummer honey in Kentucky. The native plant life in North Dakota is so very different from what we have here that I'm really interested to see how the differences affect the taste.

I think that part of the fun in this project will be tracking down local honey. I know there is a farmer's market on Saturdays in Williston that I will be checking out, but I hope that I can find a place closer to Parshall that will have local honey as well. I'll be updating you on my honey safari in about three weeks so don't forget to check back to see how I make out!


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

WIP Wednesday

While I've done WIP Wednesday posts for other blogs before, this one is going to be a bit different.  Since this blog is about our experience living in a camper in the oilfield I will be focusing on the improvements and personalized touches that I will be adding to our camper. 

Let me first say that I hate the way our camper is decorated. Hate. A lot. When I get back I have many projects in mind that will help lessen my hatred, but for now I'm focusing on what I can do while I'm still in KY. 

The first area that I decided to tackle is the bunks in Will's part of the camper. He prefers to sleep on the bottom bunk, but he loves to play and look at books on the top bunk. So, the first part I'm focusing on is the top bunk. 

This idea came about during a trip to the store. Will found some buttons that he liked and insisted that we buy them! I had no idea what I was going to make, but after some thought I got the idea to create some simple cushions to go along the walls in the top bunk to create a play/reading nook. 

 I started off with a yard of each fabric and divided them into 4 even sections. 

I stitched up the four sides. 


I added two of the buttons that Will picked out to each cushion. 


And presto! A set of cushions that are just perfect for a little boy's hiding nook!

I still have to finish the rest of the cushions, but I really like the way these turned out and I can't wait to get them back to the camper and see how they look! One ugly camper fix down, about eleventy hundred more to go!

An Introduction

Welcome to the first post on Tales of an Oilfield Gypsy. If you’ve landed here from my previous blog, Walnut Cottage Homestead, I want to thank you so much for continuing to follow our family! If you’re new around here, welcome, I’m so glad you found us! I hope everyone will enjoy this blog as much as I know I’m going to enjoy writing it. 

This blog will chronicle our family’s adventures living in a camper in the North Dakota oilfield. To get you started go ahead and give the Our Family page a quick read. It has a brief biography on each family member that will be staying in our camper.

Our camper is currently parked in Parshall, ND. Although it is very small, Parshall is filled with some really great people. How many towns do you of where the owner of the hardware store would help you load your potting soil in your car? Parshall is also the home of the Paul Broste RockMuseum, which houses some amazing rocks and crystals.

To give you idea of what to expect in this new blog let’s talk about some of the features you will find. I will be retaining some of the same features as my old blog including the Monday Rundown with news from our family, WIP Wednesday which will focus on camper improvements and personalization and our regular Friday “This Moment” picture.

I will also be including some new features exclusive to this blog. The first of these will be Trailer Living Tuesday which will focus on information about the ups and downs and ins and outs of camper life.  I will also be doing a Thursday post called Bakin’ in the Bakken which will chronicle my experiences with cooking in a camper and using locally sourced produce, meat and spices. 


So, now that you know what to expect, I hope you will join us on our journey! I’ve actually been away from the camper for a few weeks to take care of some business back home, but In the next three weeks I will be gearing up to go back to North Dakota for the fall. Follow me as I get ready for our fall North Dakota adventure!