We are good to go- the bags are packed!

The kids are in bed. Master B. fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow, Miss B. has finally put down the Wizard of Rondo and is lying there drifting off to dreamland. Big Boy is still settling down after the great excitement of me finding his belated birthday present - a DVD of Man VS Wild, Extreme Terrains. He is now asking me where he should put his pocket knife and complaining his pillow is too high and wondering if he should set the alarm.

The camper is packed full to bursting!. The car is packed, full to bursting! We have been to Mum and Dad's for tea, we are full to bursting!

I counted up roughly today - 35 pairs of undies, 70plus pairs of socks, 15 pairs of long pants, countless DVDs books, 15 pens etc etc. No wonder Mr M and I are both exhausted!

Tomorrow we will hit the road, we have been very good and haven't set a definite time because we both know we will always be later than we think.  It's a full days drive to our first stop in Port Augusta.

We have had lots of well wishes, lots of great ideas of places to stay, photos given to us of fabulous beaches and campspots, even a diary of a family that did the same trip a few years ago to read. Thanks to one and all.

I am off now to have my last night of sleep in my big comfy bed with crisp white cotton sheets, white doona and clean toilet only a few steps away.

So bye bye for now and Let's go Moerkabout! (I've been dying to type that!).

The Moerks

Moroccan leather pouf - desire

I know these babies have been around for a while but I just love them. 

I thought I would be clever and make a burlap style one. Big mistake, big disaster, it looks like a bad plain hessian sack. Worse still, I filled it with bean bag beans. If I put my feet up on it to watch tv. I have to turn up the volume so I can hear over the rustling noise.

domicillum decoratus

elle decor

elle decor

flickr

table tonic

table tonic

I have just discovered that Table Tonic stock them. 

I have decided that if I still love them when we return from the trip then I will order one. 

Well, I thought one, but now looking at these lovely pictures, maybe one is not quite enough!

The Moerks

PS We embark on THE journey this week so posts may be few and far between for a while.

With a bit of luck our next post will be from underground in Coober Pedy on Friday or Saturday.

Thank for all the packing moral support it was much appreciated.

A few loose ends.

Blogging time on this computer is fast running out (until I am limited to a little netbook). So, just a couple of things I wanted to share.

Firstly, lovely Tina from Rubie's Place shared with me a pattern for crocheting these baskets from string. I was pretty happy with them aside from the string nearly shredding my fingers. Of course the old 'rule of 3's" means I will make another smaller one at some point.

The other thing was that I happened to mention to Mr M the other day that I didn't think I could cope in the camper trailer for 3 months with the two beds next to each other with doona covers that don't match! Imagine exaggerated eye roll...................... Well, a girl has to have some standards!

Mr M. thinks there is nothing wrong with the navy Laura Ashley doona circa 1985 or the non coordinating green Sheridan of definite early 90's feel. But wait til you see the sheets.

"OH MY GIDDY AUNT"

Yep, pretty horrendous to one who really only likes crisp white hotel quality cotton!

However, I do concede that for camping, they are very practical and will not show every little mark. 

So I trotted off to Spotlight (Sorry Tina I know yours is a long drive away) and found these babies for 10 bucks each.

All modeled with what I call Tina's baskets.

The added bonus, they are reversible so I can even have a different look if I like.

They kind of all blend together.

So, all in all. I'm happier, I have matching, Mr M. is happy because it only cost $20 bucks and he won't have to hear me banging on about the old doonas. 

Win, win.

The sun is shining today so hopefully we will open the camper later and I can make up the beds. 

Then I can post a photo to show you how cosy cramped we will be.

Hope the sun is shining where you are too!

PS. basket pattern from the Patterns and Tutorials section  here.

The Moerks

Firstly some flowers to say thank you for all the very sweet comments and best wishes for our Big Boy's birthday. He was chuffed and seemed to stand 10 feet taller after all your kinds wishes.

74 lime lane via Brabourne Farm

Then, this image, just because I liked it and it looks very calm and coordinated.

scoutbase

Then this one because this is what I will be doing for most of the next few days.

My apologies for not visiting your blogs. After I have things under control I hope to visit again soon.

Have a great weekend and for all the Victorian Mothers, Enjoy your last day of freedom before the school holidays!

The Moerks

Happy Birthday Big Boy

Our darling big boy turned 12 today. Just look at him. Isn't he gorgeous!

He has never been afraid to get his hands dirty!

Is a very hard worker.

A devoted big brother.

And a really great person.

Happy Birthday we love you heaps!

XXX

Friends like these - guest post.

From my inbox this morning!!!

Dear ..............

Thanks for the blog update.  Good to see you are alive and back on line.  People will have been worried sick.  Do you realise you were off for over a week???   Did you let anyone know where you were going?  Did you give three rings when you got there???  Have you got clean underpants and a hanky - wait stop - that's just too motherly isn't it!!  Glad you're back on line for our entertainment.

I found this Wizard of Oz doorstop on ebay and just love it.  Thought it might make some blog material if you get stuck.  Something about 'no place like home' comes to mind.  Would be really tempted to buy one except they cost about $30 and then there's the postage from USA.  Gorgeous but not very budget friendly.  If ever you see one in Aus can you let me know.  Would be fabulous with bluestone tiles don't you think??

Are you still up for a play tomorrow?  Would you like to do the 'ladies that lunch' thing.  And of course this would involve supporting local business and having a look in some shops ie Ginger.  Let me know.

Have a great day.  

A

Trip planning update.

We have been powering ahead with the trip planning.

It is amazing how much mental effort it is taking. I am trying to anticipate our needs for 12 weeks and am going slightly more crazy than usual.
So far I/we have

• booked a motel in Port Augusta. We will be too tired to set up the camper there and it will be too cold I have decided.
• booked an underground motel and mine tour in Coober Pedy.
• booked a couple of nights at Uluru campground. This will be our first camping spot for the trip.
• booked a couple of nights in Alice Springs. I plan to get there and wash clothes like a mad woman. Look out grey nomads the washer and dryer are mine!
• Booked 3 nights in a place called Gemtree, and booked a fossicking tour to look for garnets.
• After that, who knows. I guess we will have relaxed a bit and will be happy to kind of go with the flow.

Around the house I have started some packing.

We are each limited to one tub each for clothes for 3 months. Arrghh.

Those of you who know me would not be surprised to learn that each tub will be labelled with a visual and name.

There has also been a bit of labeling of other tubs.

• I have reorganized the medicine box.
• Checked the first aid kit and added some wide bandages in case of snake bite (heaven forbid).
• Gone through 2 out of 3 children's wardrobes to set aside clothes they have grown out of attempted to put aside some to pack.
• Washed all the towels and bedding for the camper.
• Packed the coats and winter woollies.
• Packed the sun hats, sunscreens and insect repellent. If anyone knows a good repellent that does not contain DEET, I would love to hear about it.
• Vacumed the car and installed rubber matting over all the carpet including the back. (for now it's no longer a 7 seater)

Not a bad effort I say!

Now I am off to do more washing and ironing. Clothes sorting and start to get the food tubs organised. I also need to do the swimming stuff and the children's entertainment eg DVD's, mp3's, paper pens etc.

The Moerks

Luck in the E.R.

I was lying exhausted on the couch the other night, flipping through the channels looking for something to watch that was not going to be too taxing or give me nightmares.

To my great joy, I fluked an episode of ER with all my favourites. I used to watch this show all the time.

Carter, Benton and Ross.

Thanks for a lovely nights viewing and sweet dreams!

The Moerks

Muted tones.

No, I am not talking about the t.v. or making the children stop talking. Just feeling like some nice soft muted tones today.

So I wandered over to Flickr, where I haven't really spent any time and found these images. Some soft, some hard but all quite pretty in a wistful manner.

Paloetic

brouilard

Snakes and Doves

SJ Dakina

Smilla4

It's no school for the kids today and a holiday on Monday, so we have a lovely 4 day weekend. I have 14 people for dinner tonight so it is time I got out of my dressing gown and got moving! My cousin and son are staying so I probably won't be blogging or visiting for a few days. Have a great weekend.

The Moerks

A few things

1. Yesterday I learned to predictive text. I am not great at it but am learning - yay, Thanks A.
2. My ironing basket is taking over the laundry.
3. We have booked our first few nights accommodation for the trip including two nights in an underground motel in Coober Pedy.
4. My cousin, her son and my Aunt and Uncle from America a coming to visit this weekend. 
5. I have to somehow condense and fit all of this into a neat combination of tubs to fit on the back of the camper tailgate.

All that can wait, because I am off to look at tiles and carpet with a friend who is building a new house. I am trying to convince her to blog her build. (look out A-M).lol

Did anyone notice, all the tubs are a similar shade. Can't have mixing and matching in the kitchen ;) Funny thing is they will probably all end up a similar shade of dirt and red dust!

The Moerks

White Wednesday - tea for two

Good Morning or Evening, whatever the case may be....................

Seeing as you are already sitting....

Do you fancy a cup of tea??

Image Nordingarden

Mmmmmm ok just one of those cakes!


Have a superb day or night!


The Moerks

Cubby antics.

This is the kids cubby.  It is tucked away down in the back corner of the garden, next to the compost yard, nearly out of sight of the house.

Last weekend a plot was hatched to catch and trap a particularly fearsome.....

fluff ball, called Lulu.

Bait, consisting of dog food and walnuts was used.

Along with lots of screams, yells and squeals.

Lulu prevailed and outsmarted the 3 trappers. 

This is the current interior of the cubby. Over the January school holidays it morphed from "Cafe Latte" to an office/headquarters.

No doubt it will change again, next holidays.

image - Ideal Home Magazine

Ideal Home Magazine

Ideal Home Magazine

SarahKaye.com

Ideal Home Magazine

I think one day the cubby could become a small grown up office like the one above.

I am sure Lulu would join me quite happily.

The Moerks

Quick project

A quick project.

These are some very quick and simple scarves I made under Miss B's supervision.

I bought a skein of woolly stuff from Spotlight. It came in a circle and was loosely tied flat. (hope that makes sense). I just sewed back and forth across the skein using a large straight stitch and a variety of colours. I tried to evenly space the sewn sections and left a bigger gap at the end where I cut across the skein to make the scarf.

I finished if off with a little brooch, again made using a button from spotlight and finished with a little knot of embroidery cotton.

Miss B. wears the blue one to school in the mornings and I wear the cream one. We have a rainbow skein upstairs waiting for a rainy day and for the sewing mood to come along.

I think we will be fighting for the coloured one.

Hope you are having a good weekend.

The Moerks

joining in here