Reversing Camera

We had talked about getting one of these for awhile and hadnt done anything about. Nice idea, one of these days type of things.

Warren felt the car was veering a little to the left and declared that it needed a wheel alignment and he booked it in last week. Before he came back he had visited Auto Barn and sussed out reversing cameras.

We had used one in the hire car that we had used in Darwin and thought it was pretty good. He came home with prices and for $420, it was the purchase price and fitting, we decided to go for it.

Car needed to be there on Friday morning, of course Murphy's law, the first available time they had was Thursday which was the only day we had the lunch up the coast, so Friday it needed to be.

Got a call just after lunch to pick it up and Warren was going to go down by bus but as he had to wait twenty minutes, I suggested that the bike would be quicker. He said "If I take the bike, I would have to dink you down" Yes, that was the idea. I realised that it is almost twelve months since I have been on the back of his bike.

Camera is great, the rear view mirror is larger as the screen is in there. The camera is quite small and sits above the number plate, it does show up all of the back. I dont think I could ever get used to only looking at the screen but it is a good addition for ease and safety.

A Backpack

Our only grand daughter's birthday is coming up in a couple of months, she will be five and I like to keep an open mind regarding gifts. When I saw this backpack kit, it seemed an ideal present as she loves owls.

The pieces were printed on to one piece of fabric with instructions but I am glad that I have been sewing for a long time as I didn't think the instructions were all that clear.

I bought the kit earlier in the week and finished it today. It will not hold a great deal, certainly not suitable for lunch boxes etc but hopefully she will like it.

The face lifts up and it has a drawstring pouch, the straps need to be fitted and then a knot tied to hold it in place. I just love the feet that don't do anything, just a decoration.

Project three

So we have three projects on the go, project three has been on the back burner for quite awhile. When we bought the caravan we had to dismantle the side gate which as only small to get access to the back yard.

It was always going to be replaced with a wider gate but it had not happened so now it was going to be fixed and repaired. There was no time frame for this. Earlier in the week, Warren stated that he wanted to go to Bunnings to get a post. A post? I asked, yes to fix the fence.

Who am I to argue? if he is going to get on with doing that. Winter is a good time to work outside as summer is far too hot.

I apparently was required to check out the post plus they do nice and cheap coffee. We also bought a pot that we need to get Project two up and running so it was from one end of the store to the other and it is a very big store.

This is the start, the ground is quite hard so the idea as to dig a bit then add water to soften it.

One hole.

Gate is back up with post cemented in and now the side panel is to be a solid piece to fit in between, this was one afternoons work.

Looking good, it is very straight and matches the other gate. Hopefully the side panel will be completed over the weekend.

Then we are going to shift the bricks and get some turf as the lawn has died where the caravan was standing.

Maybe project three will be finished before project one.

Floor cushions/pillows

I have made these in the last week or so.

These are for Project one. The two smaller ones on the right are just one piece and the one on the left is four pillow cases stitched together and then pillows inserted. This will make it easier to wash if and when they need it. I am thinking for sleeping purposes, it may need another one added. The one I saw had one pillow doubled under the others to make a type of back to it. For now this will be the sitting/seating/lying arrangement for the "new" room. We will probably buy a small chair as well.

Apparently it was going to be too awkward and costly to get a TV port in there and thees not much on TV anyway when the kids would be here so we are just going with putting a TV with DVD in there. Heaven knows, we do have plenty of those.

Some-one in the area was looking for a chest of drawers to use as a baby cupboard and so we delivered it to her, we were going to take some excess furniture to the opp shop. It saved one step and as she wanted it now, meant that we got rid of it now. One piece of furniture from the room gone.

We are in the process of emptying the filing cabinet, most of the paperwork can be thrown out or shredded, it's just a matter of getting in there and doing it. I did a load the other day, it feels good to dispatch of stuff but some of it is our history so stop and read, it does take awhile.

I was given a teddy bear a a going away present from one of my jobs, it has moved with us several times and it is time it moves on, I dont keep in touch with anyone from that work and I did think at the time, a teddy bear? really? I got the feeling that even though I had worked with most of them for three or four years that a teddy bear wasn't the most suitable gift.

There is an empty box in the room so I will fill it with excess blankets and linen and with the teddy bear take it to the Salvo's.

An unexpected family reunion

Warren's brother lives sometimes about an hour north of here with his partner. They go between here, New Zealand and Sth Aussie. She has a motor home and they are sometimes travelling as well. They visited us about last November and now they have rented a unit for six months on the coast.

The guys arranged a visit about two weeks ago, it was our turn to visit them. Two nights ago his sister rang, she lives in Sth Australia and we dropped in to see her early February on our way west,.we dont see or hear from her very often so it was a surprise when she rang to say that she was coming to Queensland. They spoke for awhile and it was left that we would try to catch up when she was here. Her daughter and son live a further hour up the road so two hours from us.

We drove up and BIL and partner were waiting to meet us and then they walked to the car and I thought gee we must be going for a very early lunch until he drove into the airport. Sister was coming in at 11 am and apparently we were meeting here and her daughter who was coming to pick her up.

We had a coffee at the airport and went out to lunch. Not often the siblings get together so it was a nice catch up. We have also had an invite to nephew's surprise birthday party in about three weeks time. Warren and he are very close in age so that will be good. Hopefully their other sister will be able to make it as well.

A Healthy Lunch

I like to have a different lunch most days and stay away from to much bread so sandwiches are a rare occurrence around here.

Yesterday, what to have for lunch that is quick, easy and tasty, I dont want to spend lots of time in the kitchen. Then I saw one lone large sweet potato and I had a flash back to living in China.

People would come to the school gate selling baked sweet potatoes and I would sometimes buy one for my dinner when Warren was going out with the boys to play snooker.

One sweet potato into the microwave for twelve minutes, meant that I could go and do other things. I halved it and topped each half with the ham that was left two and a half slices and a sprinkle of grated cheese on top, back in the MW for 30 seconds and lunch was ready.

Quick, easy and it tasted pretty good too. A bonus was only two plates and forks for the dishwasher.

Farm Fantastic

This is held locally every year, it is similar to field days agricultural shows and the like. Its a three day event and gets very busy with lots of people are cars. Parking becomes a nightmare and even going past the place takes for ever because of the increased volume of vehicles.

We dont go every year but like to go every so often and this year we actually had something that we wanted to buy, a small water pump so that we can take the washing machine water and water the garden and lawns with it.

We went early on Friday to avoid the crowds, huh, like that was going to happen. We wandered around looking for the water pumps. Saw a tiny house and visited that after living in the caravan for six months, I dont think I could do that on a permanent basis. It did have everything but it was tiny, a person on their own it would be fine but a couple, no i don't think so, not for us anyway.

Coming past a solar display it looked intersting and after some discussions we bought a solar fountain. For Christmas last year we decided that we would get a water fountain for the garden in lieu of buying each other a gift and that we would look into in once we had done our trip.

Needed an electrician to put in a switch outside and then buy the fountain which we had costed at about $200 to $250. A solar fountain does not need electricity and plus it was much less than the water feature that we had been considering.

We ony need a base for the fountain to go in now. We ended up not finding our wter pump but Warren does know where he can get one so all is not lost and we saved ourselves some money in the meantime. Hummm, I wonder what I can spend those savings on, I will have to think.

Getting te fountain up and running is what we are labelling Project two.