On the Move - a very short run to Brisbane

Mt Fix It and Son - contemplating the next job.  Matching stances even!!

 

We finally got ourselves up to Brisbane to see the QLD family members recently. In typical K style we got up early, really early I mean, and made the run up in one day, arriving in time to grab the youngest grandson and take him to dinner with his other grandparents while the rest of the family went to play practice.

 

Also in typical K style we stopped off at Macadamia Castle for late lunch and to buy our favourite coffee grounds. We have been stopping here for coffee and food for many years. We like the coffee from the area because it is smooth and not bitter, and Australian grown as well. The food is pretty good too! It is a sad trip to Qld if we can't call in.

 

Our eldest son and his wife have four boys who, because of K's heart issues, we have not been able to visit this year. Youngest son is also in Brisbane so we got to spend a couple of evenings with him as well. Ate some pretty amazing Japanese food one night.

 

 It was a relatively flying visit because K left some unfinished work in Rathmines which he is happily working on as I write. Something about door locks and finding tins of paint I believe.

 

The last time we spent any time in Brisbane the family were deep in renovations, creating an ensuite bathroom, play room and extending the lounge out under the verandah. Mr Fix It and Son, (one afternoon it was "and Sons") worked on this for a number of weeks.  This visit the transformation is amazing! Really classy. 

 

This time K made and fitted flyscreens to the windows and together the men cut down a commercial flyscreen door to fit the odd sized laundry door frame.  

 

We girls did the usual things around loads of washing and school runs.

 

K made Lego creations with the grandsons and tried to make huge soap bubbles with a special kit. We went to Prize Giving evening and were royally entertained with songs and plays. There was a massive feast of food!

 

The youngest not quite two year old took a little bit to thaw out to us. One of the hazards of long distance grand-parenting I'm afraid. But once he decided we were in fact the faces to match the voices he hears on the phone, he was right into it. Cries of  Poppy" and "Grandma" were peppered into his long, but not quite intelligible sentences. He was quite happy to sit in his car seat in 'Poppy's car".

 

Poppy (Mr Fix It) is a favourite with the kids 'cos he will get down on the floor with them. (I can get down but getting up is another matter. I need everyone to leave the room so they won't laugh at me crawling to a chair.)  He had pop-gun battles and played games. The older boys have favourite things they like to do with him and, of course trot out all the toys and gadgets that need fixing. I believe he also did a repair on the Son's laptop.

Dinosaur Harry on his way to scare Poppy - note the big feet 

Too soon it was time to leave.

 

We dropped into Dick Johnson Racing, of course, on the way south and then to Lismore to see friends.

 

Late dinner, very, very late dinner at Rathmines when we got back. Good thing I had stuff in the freezer here.

 

Home made bread, crust-less quiche made from farm eggs and salad
Late night supper

This last week K has been working here at Bible School doing things. The afore mentioned locks, painting doors and stairs, tap seals and such like. And pulling one of our 12 volt fridges apart. It has decided to run nonstop and therefore freeze everything!!! Needs a new set of controllers or something. Pesky thing!  Not a disaster since we can get the parts and I have a repair man on tap, but its a long walk down the stairs in the morning to get milk for my "coffee that should be in bed".

 

We journey tomorrow back to our caravan on the farm.  I am very please to report that the coffee machine and the fridge live in much closer proximity in the van. So less chance of me doing a before coffee, I'm not awake yet, face plant while I hunt for milk.

 

We will drive down towing our old mini-trailer which has been returned to us after a long stay in Brisbane. It is carrying a window which son gave father to put in our shed on the farm. One less piece of "useful stuff"  in the back yard in Brissy.  Hmm! ...... Actually we do need the window and the little trailer will be ideal for us to use at the farm.

 

Afternoon coffee time. Last of the banana bread about to get eaten.

 

 

Cheers Sue

 

A Ferg on the Move 

 

What do we really need. Reflections on our simple life.

 

 

Sitting on the bed watching the tennis yesterday  I was inspired to comment to K about how comfortable we are in our tiny house. We are parked on the farm without town electricity, gas connection or running water. We were sitting on the bed, with a coffee from our coffee machine, home made bread sandwiches on a plate. The fan was going, dinner was ready to heat up later. Our setup works just about anywhere. However we are really grateful to our daughter and son-in-law for allowing us to set up here in the summer.


Like most people we had worked most of our lives to keep a roof over our heads and provide for our children while they were our responsibility. A joy most of the time. But now we are kid less and able to do what we want together. I guess I had envisaged a cottage by the sea, or a town house somewhere with amenities, new furniture at last. But here we are in a 20 foot long box......


Our box has gas bottles for heating, cooking and the fridge. It has battery power charged by solar panels or the generator, for lights, fan, coffee machine, microwave, washing machine and camp fridges. We can watch TV, listen to music, wash clothes, shower and cook.


Our tiny space has all the things two people need. We can even cram in visitors for a meal, even if someone has to sit on the bed if outside is too hot or cold.


And there are blackberries ripening in the bushes outside.






Cheers Sue


A Ferg on the Move.

Still contented. And a job for Mr Fix It

In my last blog I made the mistake of accusing my brother-in-law of leaving things for Mr Fix It to do when we visit. He replied on Facebook that Mum Ferg collects them ready for K. Maybe true. However what ever the truth is their vacuum cleaner arrived last night for a visit with K for a health inspection. Loose wires in the plug was the diagnosis. An over night stay and a new plug today.

I have a feeling I am the victim of this joke.

I navigated the road closures for the Tour Down Under to slip into my mother's place at Lyndoch yesterday. I appropriated her sewing machine to alter a dress. I don't carry my sewing machine with me in the caravan so major jobs get done when we are here. I dropped into the Gawler Bakery and grabbed a pasty plate for lunch. Mum kindly put away the cold meat plate she had prepared so we could indulge. When we lived in Freeling this was my go to cheats meal after a day of shopping. Nostalgia at its tastiest.

Mum's Great Dane spent the day dozing on his mat, the kitten did its best to steal my yarn and then likewise settled into her basket thingy.

The Adelaide area was our home for many, many years. I am always apprehensive when we come back that I will find myself longing for the "home place".   It hasn't happened so far, although the inevitable changes to roads and landmarks catch me in the heart at times. Being here is a bit like window shopping new caravans. I find myself intrigued by a familiar city but still content with my lifestyle.

I love my small space that wraps around me like a comfort rug. So good to have minimum cleaning. I love the quiet. City noise is disconcerting now. I have got used to the sociable nature of country people so the waves of humans who don't even look at you as they pass is "not nice".

Good to know I still love my life.   Miss the family but.... Given that they live in all corners of this country I guess I would always be missing someone. Starting to long for my caravan which has the incredible ability to be a home wherever it is parked.

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move

The simple things.

Beautiful sunny but not too hot weather here this week. We are enjoying being with family, something we relish and has become part of our non-working touring time. A stint here in NSW, some time in Adelaide and some in Brisbane are treasured components of our life.

I was struck with how much joy can be gained from the simplest things this week.  Children especially can bring this fact home. Much joy comes from the funny faces the newest baby makes as well as the pride in his sister's voice when she announces to the world "this one's mummy's baby."
I enjoy watching our granddaughter who loves to be outside either in her own garden in town or even better at the farm.

She spends hours in her playhouse at home. In her garden she has a homemade seesaw and a swing slung from a tree branch. The seesaw is my daughter's "design"  (she gets ideas like her dad) and constructed by her brother-in-law and her husband out of a log or two and a couple of planks. Hours of fun, with an obliging adult balancing the seesaw or pushing the swing.  Yesterday she was leaning on the swing seat and twisting the chains to give herself a "whizzy" and laughing at how clever she was.

You don't have to spend a fortune to please a child. K bought his granddaughter some solar lights. A couple of butterflies and a peacock. She loves them. The previous lot of butterfly lights were carried everywhere and finally gave up so these are just perfect.

Sometimes the simple things are free.
Out at the farm the blackberries are flowering behind the caravan.  We are here earlier than normal this year so this is the first time I have seen the bushes flowering. Other visits have been at ripening time so we can pick the berries as they are ready. One of life's yummy simple pleasures.

The solar panels are silently creating power for us. K gets a kick out of watching the amount of  power coming in. He is especially chuffed by the fact that the older, smaller panels that were manufactured in 1987 still work at peak efficiency.

There is plenty enough power to charge batteries and run the twin tub for today's wash. I get a bit of exercise bucketing the spin water back in each load.  (This is a good thing.)

The chooks are laying eggs and eating our veggie scraps. One of life's simple miracles, even if I don't eat eggs. Ok I just don't eat anything that has eggs in it that I can taste.These ones are going into town for their owner, our daughter, to use.

 

 

 

 

By the way, in case you thought Mr Fix It was doing nothing, here is a picture of the backup power shed rigged out of an old plastic table lent by our sun-in-law, a tarp and some tent pegs. The generator runs when there is inclement weather so rain protection is important. 

 

 

 

He has been making leads for power things, getting sand out of the DVD player our granddaughter took into her playhouse and propped up in the sand pit, testing and recharging all the batteries for the power tools and hammering something down in the shed.

Popping in to town now for some family time.

Simple life. Good life

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move



Travel memories: Edith Falls

Edith Falls is another place we love. The Aboriginal name is Leliyn and it you get it by turning off the Stuart Highway 42km north of Katherine then following a sealed road for 19km. It is close enough for us to do a day trip or short weekend camp.

There is large pool at the campground. Over the years floods have changed the topography of the pond as debris picked up in the wet drops over the waterfall and builds up in the shallow part in the middle. I love to swim here but its too cold for K. At night in the season the rangers give talks about the wildlife and local history.

The cane toads have had a devastating impact on the native animals and reptiles which is very sad. Humans are banned from the water after 7pm to give the locals a quiet night but if you go down after dark with torch the eyes of the various animals, reptiles and fish can be spotted reflected in its beam. K can spend hours doing just that at night.

 Like every where spectacular, and I think K picks these places because of my fear of heights,  there's a climb up  to and down from another set of most beautiful swimming holes. But look at the view.

Great place to spend a hot day.


 Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move.

Trash or treasure: Or upgrade my computer

View through the door

Living in a small place with someone who is horrified by what people throw away has its moments. We start any long stay at a camp site with a beautifully set up out door space. Cooking, fridges and camp chairs sit neatly under the annex. It looks pretty good.

Then the inevitable occurs. Someone gives him an old thingy.
"I can't get this to work. Thought you might like to have a go at it." This comment actually translates as, "I have no idea how to get rid of this thingy that I have broken. You dump it for me please."

Said thingy gets tried out, and put in the to be looked  pile.

People give K  appliances or tents or chairs, or computers or BBQs or   ...... you get the picture....  and guess where they end up?  On the pile, to the sound of, "How lovely that you found that dear. Who are you giving that to?" 


Rescued stove.

K is very talented at turning trash into working and useful items. And he does get rid of the left over parts to the dump with some regularity. Although a trip to the dump can sometimes yield other projects. (And car parts as well. Cheaper than the wrecker's yard)

I admit to sometimes finding K's hobby as irritating as he finds my ability to disappear into a book for hours. But not last weekend.  My new tablet PC is now sporting an extra hard drive in the keyboard docking station and a SD card in the tablet. Both very useful. Both salvaged from notebooks that were no longer working. Both at no $ cost to us.

 

I got a more file storage, K got the fun of fixing and recycling AND most importantly the extra bits went to the dump.

Except that he was given an Android tablet by a staff member on Saturday. They lost the charger.

Like I said. There are moments when.....


Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move

Home is where the heart is. Or wherever the road takes us.

So the conversation goes like this......


At home on the farm in NSW

"Where do you live?"
"In the caravan," I answer.
"No. Where do you really live?"
"In the caravan," I answer.
"Ok where is home?" they ask with some level of frustration.
"In the caravan," I answer with a grin, settling down for another lengthy explanation of our lifestyle.



At home with visitors in the Northern Territory

It is true that for the past few years our registered address is at the tourist park here in Northern Australia where we spend 7ish months working. It is also true that we have NT drivers licences and the vehicles are registered here but that is a life style choice rather than an anchor.


At home helping with the renovations

Home for us is our caravan. After a day out in Katherine NT, Goulburn NSW, Brisbane QLD, Broome WA (you get the idea) we go home to our tiny house.



At home behind the rain water tank

We are at peace inside its walls or sitting under its annex. Everything we need is here, wherever here happens to be.

Home is where the heart is and with the one who has your heart. (That's you K. I think I just earned  a coffee in bed one morning.)







At home with K

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move

 

Crafty evenings in the caravan



There's not a lot of housework to do in the evenings in a caravan. We usually spend our evenings together here in the van or out under the annex mosquitos permitting.
So most nights in the week K "works" on his computer or puzzles over the latest thing he is bringing back to life.

I read lots, and lots and lots.

And when I'm not reading I crochet. I knit as well but I love to crochet.


Crochet Granny Squares surrounded by stretchy rib
 

One side of the wardrobe in the van is filled, not with clothes as was our plan when we bought this particular layout in our van, but with acrylic yarn I have bought or saved.

I was very wise, or something, to know that seven years later I would need a place to stash my yarn.




Shades of grey and green in a rectangle crochet pattern. This one is in the UK with K's aunt/

Why acrylic you ask? Because it washes and wears.

The finished products live under the bed until they are sold or given away to a good home.



Crocheted  tulip.
Painting with rows of dc *(sc in America)
Present for family member

 I love to play with colour and to create rather than follow a pattern so I research a stitch or series of stitches, grab some colour and play. Off the hook fall bedspreads, afghans or baby rugs.

Yarn scrap circles with black stretch rib
Still living under the caravan bed waiting for the right owner.

Mind you since I started blogging a bit less reading and crocheting is happening.

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move


The outdoor kitchen

Baked vegetables and sticky lamb ribs loaded into our portable hooded BBQ.
Put lid down and bake  1 hour on medium 180 degrees Celsius
No smell or heat in the caravan
 

I promised you a tour of the outdoor kitchen. 

Regular readers will remember that my caravan oven  is actually deployed as a coffee pod storage cupboard, a use it was obviously designed for because the pods fit perfectly.  I have just packed away 40 cartons containing 10 pods each. Not a centimetre to spare but they fit.

So .... the outdoor kitchen is currently deployed at the front of the caravan under a free standing gazebo. At other times it lives under the awning.

We use a double burner gas stove set that can be used as two large burners for the kettle and a pot. It has a non stick BBQ  plate as well. This pretty much covers our everyday cooking needs.  K installed a drop down table on the side of the van and when we are mobile the two burner stove can be dropped onto it in a matter of seconds.

Double gas burners with BBQ plate

Double gas burner stove with room for kettle and a pot.

The hooded BBQ is just the right size and shape to slip into back of the ute. It is easy to lift and gets used not only by us but  by the family when we stay on the farm. K put a oven thermometer in the lid so I have started using it for baking as well.

Gasmate BBQ with a stove thermometer installed in the hood.
Well used and well travelled appliance.

We kept two electric appliances. The slow cooker is tiny, only 1.5 litre capacity. It  can be run off the battery inverter and I have been known to break my "no cooking inside" rule to set it up in the kitchen sink and have dinner cooking in the slow cooker  as we drive. We get some funny looks at fuel stops when there is a delicious smell emanating from the locked caravan.

Glass turbo oven and 1.5 litre crock pot,

The last item is a glass turbo oven, a cheap version, which travels tucked under the kitchen sink. If I want to do serious baking and we have 240v electricity this is fantastic. However as I get better at regulating the heat in the hooded BBQ I am using this appliance less and less,




My caravan outdoor kitchen. Gas and electric appliances  that all pack away when we travel.
Note the gas bottles. We are connected to the large one at the back which has the gas lantern connected for light in the cooking area at night. The black lead on the right comes from the caravan battery inverter.

I don't have everything out usually, but in your honour here is the whole kitchen set up. 

Of course  now I have to put some of it away. Oh well.    Guess I can tidy the mess under the sink at the same time.


Cheers Sue
A Ferg on the Move

 

 

 

Frugal Tasks

Last night I made yoghurt for the first time. Which was pretty nice of me considering that I hate the stuff.
K however loves it and it is very expensive here in our local shop. Close to twice the price I would pay in Darwin. So I bought a EASIYO system for $16 and a couple of  sachets of mix to get me started. Buying the sachets is half the cost of yoghurt at our local shop. But I found directions for how to make yoghurt from scratch in an easiyo yogurt maker  so that will bring the cost per kg down to less than $2. K can experiment with flavours for himself.



My first batch of yoghurt. Berry flavoured EASIYO mix.

 

 K needs to keep his salt intake down. So we have always  bought low salt butter spread. There is no such thing in the local supermarket so this is another of things we have to do a 200 km round trip to buy.
My daughter makes spreadable butter for her family and taught me how in the summer this year. I love it because I can make a small batch each week. No-salt butter, water and oil, I use olive oil, and whiz it up until smooth. This also works for me because my stick-blender runs on the battery and inverter so I can do this even if we are travelling. I make just enough to fit in a reused Lurpack butter container.  This is one of K's special foods that I like as well.


Ingredients for homemade salt-free butter and olive oil spread.
100gms salt free butter, 50 mls water, 50 mls olive oil

 

Another frugal thing I did today was to prepare sticky lamb ribs. Every year before we come back to the NT for work we fill up the fridge freezers with a lamb that our daughter and son-in-law have grown on their NSW farm. Great meat and really cheap. Lamb costs the proverbial arm and leg here.  This is beef country thank you very much!
Using lamb ribs from the camp freezer, the ends of bottles of tomato sauce (ketchup) and chutney, and a few teaspoons of a gluten free spice mix these ribs will spend an hour in the BBQ oven . With Potatoes baked along side, a salad and a glass of red. Not bad for a caravan dinner.

Sticky lamb ribs
Lamb ribs, tomato ketchup and gluten free hot spice mix.
 

And I did the washing in the twin tub and hung it on the caravan line.

Coffee and a book now.

Cheers Sue
A Ferg on the Move



















Friends without fences

I reckon if you sit still long enough in one place on the Stuart Highway (the road up the centre of Australia from south to north) the whole of the Grey Army (retired people travelling Australia) go past sooner or later.



Australian entertainment complete with didgeridoo, guitar and mouth organ

This  belief was  reinforced for me when, whilst  sitting having dinner last night sharing one of the fantastic staff specials here at the caravan park and listening to the live music, we  were delighted to be greeted by a couple we haven’t seen for over two years.  These two were regulars here at the park and we have met them in other places on our travels. The rest of the evening was passed catching up with each other’s lives, and planning when we might meet next.

Further around in the quiet dining area was a table of five couples we know both by name and their caravan and car set ups, and whom have become part of our travel family.

Mataranka Hot Springs where the problems of the world
are solved and friends for life made.

 

City life has changed. When I was a child we knew all the names of the children in the street, knew their parents by name and were welcomed most of the time into each other’s houses.

I am quite ashamed to confess that during the two years we were in our last house the only time I interacted with our neighbours, other than a friendly wave as I drove out each morning, was when they were packing up their camper to go on holidays. We agreed to do the neighbourly thing and keep an eye on the place.  Even sadder than this was that I didn’t know my neighbour’s names. Although we did know the name of the two dogs. This important piece of information was gleaned from the “Be quiet *****,” that was uttered late at night and early in the morning.

At this stage our social life was much more likely to consist of formal dinners out, and large gatherings of friends and family from other places in town than a friendly chat over the fence or a block barbecue. On our street people lived inside their fences and did everything possible not to be overlooked by the neighbours.

Later that year we moved with the caravan into a city caravan park. The idea was to iron out any issues before we embarked on our changed life.

What a contrast!  The van wasn’t even properly in our spot before there were people over perusing our rig, discussing the proper way to anchor the annex against strong winds and checking out K’s wind generator.  K really prefers to set up witout spectators so his usually ready smile was a bit  strained after an hour or so, and I had exhausted our supply of bought biscuits by then but we had made friends.

Later that day we explored the park and to our delight found old neighbours who had been next door to us in Darwin the July before.

Sunset on Mindil beach Darwin, with friends

So I wonder why it is so easy to make friends on the road. Does it have something to do with fences, both literal and figurative I wonder.

 

 

Cheers Sue

 

A Ferg on the Move.

Resident Snake

I couldn't resist. I had to blog this in reply to House of Simple's Phil Polson recent post.
If you haven't read his snake post then hop over to here The snake that threatened HOS. It is just the best story.

Any way here is the resident python at Mataranka Homestead. 
We thought we had been burgled. The office was a mess. Bin overturned. Papers everywhere. But no!
Just a python passing through on through on the way to the garden. In under the door. Once round the desk and off to find some shade.



And here comes the python head

And now the python doubles back.



The tail of the python follows behind.



Cheers Sue
A Ferg on the Move

Our ways of being frugal. Or making sure we have something to live on in the off season.

What we earn here in the peak tourist season in the north of Australia has to fund the travel and family visits later in  the off peak times. So we need to be frugal or at least as self sufficient as  we can manage. Otherwise the need to earn money will  overpower our desire to live simply and be mobile.

I read with interest, and a measure of envy,  the wonderful things people do in their frugal lives. They cook everything, grow everything, make everything and reuse things as well. 

I would like to grow everything ... and the wallabies and local birds would like it if I did too. The quarantine guys at state borders would get a kick out of confiscating my pots of herbs twice a year as well. So dried herbs and shop bought vegies for us I'm afraid.


Wallaby lazing in our annex munching
on a sweet potato

 



This very sick wallaby joey crawled out from under the caravan step
She was not able  to hold food in her paws.
K is helping her eat a pear core.
She survived and comes back to visit most nights
even though we don't feed her.

I would love to make all my own soaps and cleaning products, but in my tiny caravan there is nowhere to store either the ingredients or the end products. So I clean windows  and other surfaces with vinegar, spray stains on clothes with dish washing liquid and treat the portal-loo  toilet waste with biodegradable  no brand nappy sanitiser. The last item is $3.50 for four weeks treatment as opposed to $30 for the same   amount of fancy and nasty chemical stuff. No money going down the loo for us.

Do not waste money on expensive toilet chemicals. 

I try to remember that a special bought in in Woolworths 109 km away is not cheaper than the same product from the local mini mart..........unless I have to make the trip for work and then someone else pays for the diesel. This is a hard one, sometimes the urge to see the "big smoke" is irresistible. 

We cook just what we need.  In another  life the left overs made lunch for the working men who took them to work. But no one wants a hot lunch in over 35 degree heat so its best to cook smaller amounts. And we take advantage of the staff meals provided at here for K. When the meal is something we like we get it. And the serve is a proper outback size. Plenty for two or even three maybe.

Staff dinner of roast pork and veg.
Big enough for two. We often share a pub size meal.

We buy small quantities, just what we need. This is a hard lesson to learn. Its not frugal  to buy in bulk and give it away before it goes off. Generous yes, friendly yes, but not great  for the wallet.

We make own power when we can from the sun the wind. We use the twin tub and reuse and save water when we camp.  And of course K fixes and reuses things as well.

Frugal or simple, but fun.

Cheers Sue
A Ferg on the Move

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