Lazy afternoon with friends and family

We have been away from the farm a bit in the last few weeks. We lobbed back in time for Master One Year Old's birthday party in a lovely park at Picton. Good food. Kids every where.

Back at the farm yesterday we were delighted to join in an afternoon with Mr Homemaker http://mistahomemaker.blogspot.com.au/?m=1
and his wife and girls who had come to visit with the Crookwell family.

It was a warm, breezy day. Typical of the best here.

By the time they all left the wind has risen and thunder sounded a few times. Then rain. Love the sound of rain on a roof.

Quick spaghetti meal, a movie and snuggle in bed.

Great day.

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move

12 months off grid on the caravan.Keeping busy getting ready for summer.

The caravan has been great through the winter. On sunny winter days the canvass annex absorbs the heat and acts like an electric blanket. By breakfast time we can open the doors and windows onto the annex and take the chill off inside. At night we drop the blind and shut the curtains and keep the heat in. We even managed to cope with storms and a bit of snow.

In preparation for warmer weather Mr Fix It has fitted a new fan in the shower alcove, scrubbed and vinegared all the walls to kill any residual winter mould, and removed and replaced silicon sealant joints around fixtures in the shower, kitchen and toilet room to complete the mould proofing.

Time to think about changing the annex walls to shade cloth so one piece has gone into the canvass man for repairs.

The water filter on our pump from the rain water tank has been changed. Tap seals replaced, and the shower head cleaned and refitted.

The afore mentioned bathroom fan caused a bit of work. The new one had to be altered, wired differently and reshaped to fit. Our van is now 10 years old and spare parts have changed. Be a bit hard if you weren't handy.

A couple of weeks ago there was water under the kitchen sink, in the cupboards that is not the sink itself. After a few minutes with his body contorted into the cupboard space Mr Fix It concluded that our hot water tank had rusted through. So trip to Canberra to buy a new  one. K charmed a discount, but its a good thing that K is good at fixing most for next to nothing. The savings were needed cos the water heater and integrated tank were not cheap.

The frustrating thing was that the heater was working, just the tank needed replacing and there are no tanks for our model. Anyway the new one was working  half an hour after we got home.

Winter clothes to go under the bed and summer ones in the wardrobes, scrub the extra fridge out cos it is no longer cold enough to leave things out, and then we are summer ready.

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move

Reflections on 12 months off grid in our caravan

We have just reached the 12 months off grid milestone. Our caravan has been parked on the family farm since this time last year. We travelled down from Mataranka Northern Territory in time to farm sit while the new baby was born. He turns one in a few days.

While we have ventured off sans caravan a few times,  the van has sat happily enjoying the view for a whole year.  At first it sat in its spot dressed in its summer gear. Shade cloth annex front and back. Solar power was abundant. Water had to be carried in from town though.


 Summer in Crookwell is very mild. Even so we did have occasion to run the generator to power the air conditioning once or twice.

Winter however is entirely another matter. When we realised K was gonna need to hang around for cardiologists, the shed was born.

As the weather grew colder, the caravan grew its winter skin of canvas annex. And the shed grew a closed in room and a wood fire.

We had rain, wind, fog, snow and sleet. Not all at once mind you. And the rainwater tank filled very fast. No more water carting. Yeh!!!!
There were wonderful sunny, cold winter days as well. Lots of farm things, and family time.

Then there was spring. Naked sheep after shearing and now lambs. While it is still cold at night the sun heats the annex quickly. Soon it will be time to shed the canvas annex in favour of shade cloth again.

Through all this our tiny home has remained just that. Home. K spent a weekend away recently and I cuddled up in the comfort of the van. Didn't even go out and light the fire.

We are still working out what the pattern of life will become. What mix of work, travelling and family time we will enjoy in the future, but we have really given the off grid setup of our caravan a proper work out. It is almost 10 years old now. Not so new anymore. (I will have to tell you about the last lot of repairs Mr Fix It has done.. Maybe next post)

We still haven't got to spend quality time with the QLD family. Maybe we will get to do that next year. K's heart is behaving so far post his operation. He is easing back into full days of activity and its hard to keep up with him again. All good!!


Love my life still.


Cheers Sue


A Ferg on the Move

Frugal repurposing. A day behind the sewing machine

My sewing machine lives at my daughter's in Crookwell. I decided it was too heavy to carry in the caravan, besides these days I don't sew a lot. Mostly it languishes in the linen press probably dreaming of the days when it hardly got a chance to cool down between marathon sessions of clothes making. Poor thing! Or maybe it enjoys its well deserved rest.

 Today we decided to give it a workout.

I reshaped some pants of mine, let down and/ or took up a hem or two, fixed a side seam on my long black skirt and darned some holes.


My daughter had a pile of clothes to work on as well.

Leggings into bike shorts and jeans into shorts for Miss Four and a Half. Little Miss has shot up not out so the legs were all too short and colours were definitely not for Master Almost One. She measured and cut and I matched threads and sewed cute rolled hems for the shorts. 

Seven altered garments later we turned our attention to mum. The sewing machine spat out two pair of grown up shorts cut down from jeans for mum as well.  

The final masterpiece was a dress for Miss Four and a Half from a jumper dress of her mother's, created while said mother put elastic into the waistbands of some pants.

A very satisfying day indeed. Nice to repurpose instead of giving away.

The only person not really happy about it all was Master Almost One who thought grandma should pick him up rather than run the sewing machine.

 

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move

Spring is sprung.

We have been away from the Crookwell farm for two weeks at Rathmines.

It has rained a bit since we got "home" and the gods of mobile phone reception have not been kind at all. No signal for three days.

This morning the sun was shining and as I hunted for a spot somewhere with phone reception I got a chance to check out the signs of spring.

The grass is a bit deeper and the hill is covered yellow flowers.


There are new lambs everywhere
 Hopefully the weather will continue to be kind and they will all survive. .

The view back up to.our camp was pretty.

As was the one down to the shearing shed.

Green shoots under the trees.

Today we are between storms and it is still very

cold at night. I think I saw zero in the night temp forecast for later in the week. Two quilts and a minky and hope you don't have to get out of bed at 3am.

 (No luck with the phone. Even our aerial got no signal. I might have to hang out in the middle of the road by the gate again. Things haven't changed much since I wrote this. http://fergsonthemove.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/staying-in-touch-or-things-i-have-to-do.html?m=0)


Cheers Sue


A Ferg on the Move

Modifications to our Jayco Stirling part 2. Mr Fix It does the Front blind

I finally got so sick of the curtains in the front window of the caravan that a month or so ago in a fit of annoyance I took them down. They got dirty, collected dust and trapped moisture against the window edge so I had to watch for mould all the time.

What a difference! Clean space. 

When you are the only people for miles around not having front window curtains is no problem. We just put down the outside metal window cover at night to keep out the cold.

However when we are parked in closer proximity to other humans maybe window covering might be a good idea.

" A blind would be nice," I said.

"Mmmm," was the reply.

One trip to Bunnings later, we were the proud owners of a block out blind.


Too long by far far, so it got laid out on the bed, cut and refitted to the roller.

Even altered thus, the blind was thicker

than the space the curtain rail had inhabited. So off came the wood board valance that had hidden the rails. It was installed again a bit further out from the window. Moving it out meant it hit the range hood. Mr Fix It huffed a bit and shaped the thing to fit neatly under and around the metal contraption. Never know it wasn't always in that position.

Now a caravan window slopes back. Blind once hung, drops straight down. How to manage this?
Huffing loudly Mr Fix It headed out of the van to the bits and bobs box. Amongst the things I would have taken to the tip (We live in a caravan you know. Can't keep everything) he found two lengths of white plastic covered curtain wire. Attached top and bottom they guide the blind back towards the window.

A hook in the centre holds it in place when pulled down.

When the blind is up under the wood valance out of sight I get to use all of the space right up to the window. When down the blackout backing keeps out light and hot or cold. The wire guides make it run close to the window so we can pull it halfway down if needed.


All in all a good job. But by no means simple. I really should stop making suggestions.


Cheers Sue


A Ferg on the Move

A visit to the crochet corner.

We are at Rathmines at the moment at our Bible School. K is volunteering in the dining room as usual and I am soaking up the fellowship with friends new and old. K's frustration at having to take his tasks a bit slower and stop and sit more is evident, but he is doing better each day. His myriad of friends are encouraging him and I am appreciating the love. I  am singing in the concert program, so fun for me too. Some truly beautiful music.


So....to the topic of today's post. Crocheting of course cos that's what I do when I sit.


One of my favourite sources of inspiration for stitches to incorporate into my creations is a book by Kristin Omdahl.  I was thrilled to discover her e-book on Kindle site one day when I was crocheting round and round the outside of a project. I am not in the least bit fond of the finishing part of this hobby. Boring. This is when I usually turn my mind to "what next?'  

The reason I love Kristin's ideas is that I also have an aversion to joining little bits together.  I refuse to sew things up, so when I  have to join I crochet together. By some long and round about route while looking not only for new ideas but new ways to join pieces I came across the term "seamless crochet" associated with Kristin Omdahl.  This pattern book is filled with ideas that look like the traditional motifs joined into a larger project but in fact they are created in rows. I was hooked.  Continuous crochet....... No sewing.  Yey!

Of course it was not quite as easy as that. These patterns are not for beginners and although I consider myself a reasonably accomplished crocheter and a canny pattern reader,  I spent quite a few hours with crochet hook in hand puzzling over the patterns, counting stitches, twisting the wool in all directions and not making very much progress. I just couldn't work it out.

This is not a thing to which  I am accustomed. So in complete frustration I tossed the hook and yarn away and  acting on the principle that I paid for it so I really should read it, I perused  the normally boring bits of the book. You know ... the introduction and the stitch glossary. Half way through the explanation  of how to convert a granny square into a continuous project there was a mental "ding" and it all fell into place. I still have to spend time each project puzzling out the exact approach but I love seamless crochet.

The latest project looks like lots of small traditional granny squares all joined up. I grabbed two colours, and set off on an adventure creating a sort of a maze. As it grew K acted as my design consultant making sure I didn't leave any corners unfilled. By the time I got here to Rathmines I was once again on the edging. Round and round is less boring when I have fellow crafters to talk with as I work. I lost count of   the number of people who came up and said, "Did you join all those up?" 
'Not likely," said I and watched their eyes glaze over as I tried to explain the technique. Very funny!


I just had time to lay the finished afghan on the bed, (it is sized to fit on the flat section of a double bed) and take a photo before it was snapped up and whisked off to a new home. .

Double bed afghan in two colours inspired by Kristen Omdahl's
Seamless Crochet techniques.

Lots of granny squares joined as you go by completing the bottom
 of each square, connecting it to the ones next door and then
coming back across the row to close off the top of each square.

Another  Seamless Crochet...Shark tooth pattern



Shark Tooth Seamless Cot Afghan

 I brought the rest of my store of rugs with me to take advantage of the bigger room and bed to get the photos that are not so easy to execute in the caravan. I might even be lucky enough to sell a couple as well. Need to fund the next lot. So I spent a few minutes alternating balancing on a chair and  popping down to arrange the next item. Not the best photos I have ever taken.


The other idea I discovered in my last "what next?" search was "Mile A Minute" crochet. This single bedspread is the result. Strips in different colours joined together. The scallops sit over the bed edge and are very effective. And it really was completed fast. Mile a Minute indeed.
 

Mile a Minute pattern Single Bedspread.

 

The pretty edge of a pink, blue and lavender single bedspread.

There is limited storage for my yarn stash in the caravan and I do ride K pretty hard about his collection of useful junk so it is only fair that I use my bits and pieces up.  Therefore I have decided to use of all of my scraps, or as many as can work into something useful before I buy new yarn.
We'll see how well that goes.  The end of season sales will be on soon!

My  only stash busting success so far is this cot afghan, started from the centre and worked out with mitred corners and crocheted butterflies.
 



 

 

And just to show how effective texture can be here is a friend's project that I crocheted together for her this week. Knitted in different textures of yarn. So pretty!

There it is. All the crocheting I have done for the last six months. All waiting for homes. There is nothing sadder than a handmade afghan sitting in a box under a bed.

Now to use up the rest of my scrap yarn. Wish me luck.

Cheers Sue

A Ferg on the Move.


 Here is a link to a site that sells Seamless Crotchet Techniques by Kristen Omdahl. It is also available for Kindle.