Tuesday 16th June – 12.30 am
Count down is on – 16 sleeps
My mind has turned to blogs!
Moose and I are about to hitch up the new Cabbage ban (motel
room on wheels) and disappear into the sunset for THREE MONTHS. Yes you read
right, three whole months. Long service leave has finally arrived. So you can
imagine the past weeks have been used getting up to date with things around
home. Moose is flat tack at work but any spare time he has involves preparing
the van for the trip. The generator has been serviced, the washing machine has
been tested. Yep there is a washing machine, big enough to wash two towels but
in the middle of the bush maybe we will need two clean towels. The Inverter is
in place for my sewing machine. Two batteries incase I decide to put foot to
the metal sewinwhile we are free camping. We have had a couple of overnight
stays to try out the heater, fridge and all other electrics. We are dedicated travellers not campers!
I have been trying to decide which sewing, art and writing
projects to take with me. This changes daily as I think of all that free time I
am going to have. One of the things I have wanted to play with for a while is a
heavily embellished hand embroidered jacket. There was a Gentle man’s evening
coat on display in the Queen Victoria Museum in London from the 1800s, I fell
in love with it, bought a postcard for inspiration and can’t seem to stop
thinking about it. So I have ordered some lovely silk embroidery threads in
preparation and am on the lookout for just the right colour fabric.
On Sunday, Moose did the most romantic thing ever. No not flowers or jewellery but a sewing cup. Let me explain. In our last car I had a little pocket in the door handle which held my embroidery scissors, threads and occasionally pins. There was also a drawer, intended for a notebook computer but was brilliant for my embroidery supplies. This car has none of that which makes it quite a balancing act for me to embroider. So Moose has been fiddling with different ideas to provide what I need to enjoy the trip and as we all know, to stop me whinging. Yesterday he tried a couple of ideas using the suction holder from his old navman and a container attached to it but these didn’t work as they took up my limited leg room as I have my bag, notebook computer, embroidery gear and a book at my feet. A regular travelling Princess - that’s me. So he asked what exactly I needed. I said a small container to hold scissors, thread and needles preferably somewhere to stick the needle I’m using when we stop at any point. He disappears into the back of the car. Pulls a flavoured milk promotional thing out, its cup shaped at the bottom so it fits in the cars’ cup holder and square at the top so it holds a square carton. “How about this?” I’m impressed and say “It’s a bit deep but otherwise perfect” so off he goes and finds some foam to fill the bottom of it. I am excited as I can stick my needles in that but he takes it one step further and adds another small block of foam at the top for easy needle sticking – now that is LOVE!
On Sunday, Moose did the most romantic thing ever. No not flowers or jewellery but a sewing cup. Let me explain. In our last car I had a little pocket in the door handle which held my embroidery scissors, threads and occasionally pins. There was also a drawer, intended for a notebook computer but was brilliant for my embroidery supplies. This car has none of that which makes it quite a balancing act for me to embroider. So Moose has been fiddling with different ideas to provide what I need to enjoy the trip and as we all know, to stop me whinging. Yesterday he tried a couple of ideas using the suction holder from his old navman and a container attached to it but these didn’t work as they took up my limited leg room as I have my bag, notebook computer, embroidery gear and a book at my feet. A regular travelling Princess - that’s me. So he asked what exactly I needed. I said a small container to hold scissors, thread and needles preferably somewhere to stick the needle I’m using when we stop at any point. He disappears into the back of the car. Pulls a flavoured milk promotional thing out, its cup shaped at the bottom so it fits in the cars’ cup holder and square at the top so it holds a square carton. “How about this?” I’m impressed and say “It’s a bit deep but otherwise perfect” so off he goes and finds some foam to fill the bottom of it. I am excited as I can stick my needles in that but he takes it one step further and adds another small block of foam at the top for easy needle sticking – now that is LOVE!
This time we have an extra passenger Bonnie the Beaglier. If
you haven’t met her she is a very spoilt dog, who enjoys travelling. As soon as
you turn the key in the ignition she is asleep only waking when we stop for a
coffee. She has checked out the van and found it to her liking, sleeping either
under overhang of the bed or smack in the middle of the living area. She knows
how to “puppy dog eye” people so they think we are evil for putting her outside
or convince them we do not feed her. When free camping she takes her high
working sensor nose and investigates the area incase someone left food behind
or a kangaroo wants a race.
Where are we going, you ask. Well that I can’t say exactly.
Moose has looked at going through the centre and up North but the lack of
paddling water for him and the threat of hot weather for me changed our minds.
We are heading east. Where exactly I don’t know. We work on the theory that
Explorer Moose can hunt out the destinations while Artsy Moz can enjoy the ride
and point out diversions as they come along. This sometimes causes discussions
and light entertainment for you the readers of my blog but on the whole works
for us. We don’t have a rigid plan – sort of point the car at a spot on Moose’s
map and maybe stop there.
So here’s to another adventure and I hope you enjoy the ride
Explorer Moose and Artsy Moz
Plus of course “The Bonibus”
