Category Archives: Preparation

…but we’re ready to go!

I think.

Goede reis!

So much for 2pm, we didn’t leave home until after 6pm!

You would not believe how much sewing you can get done when you are on an extreme deadline.  Last night I completed the top of a very special birthday project, ready to go off to be quilted while we are away, very happy with the total stash busting no money spent top we have produced. (photo when quilted to conceal the surprise).

Today amidst the mayhem and before packing the car I managed to sew the binding onto Matilda’s new quilt Combo Billabong Ballroom (where Banjo Waltzed Matilda), monogrammed (just small) our travel towels, made a travel cup bag to hold the stainless steel cups, a quilted stove top cover for the glass stove top, a quilted total table placemat for the van.  I sense some serious Under the Australian Sun fabric range mileage here, thank goodness there is a new range coming in November.

Sooo looking forward to a good night’s sleep before we set out at 6am tomorrow.

I keep trying to do the maths in my head: x number of things to do in y amount of time before we leave… and the answer’s always the same: you ain’t gonna make it! (LOL – at least I’m consistent)

I’ve no doubt we will leave on time, but in order for that to happen, something’s got to give.

Wonder what it will be?

So today was my last day at SPAN for term 3.  Thanks to my friends who organised not birthday morning tea but farewell morning tea, delicious cakes and slices and the cutest little chocolate cars with caravans driven by kangaroos, wombats and koalas!

Chocolate Car and Caravans made by Theresa

In a while crocodiles!

So I’ve started to say some goodbyes, to a couple of Tarts, to some Waverley Patchers, to some SPANners today and the rest tomorrow …

Tonight we’ve packed clothes, then taken out at least half, now I’m ironing and tidying up the house so it won’t look like it has been ransacked when we return.

It’s starting to feel very very real and like that train is about to hit us.

Only 10 sleeps to go!!

After my brain fade last week, I have managed to get the layout back to a fairly readable format. There are still quite a few formatting tweaks needed, nearly all of which involve adjusting colours of the various elements of the blog. For example, the background colour of the search box (in the menu bar above) is currently grey, the same colour as the text, and IE8 is once again causing grief – so what’s new – with it’s lack of transparency support…

Needless to say, I’ve banned myself from applying any more upgrades… for the time being.

Can’t believe it was almost two years ago that the seed for our trip was first planted… and now there’s only two weeks to go.

Not sure how the subject of fear came up – probably something to do with Matilda’s morbid insistence that she’s going to either be bitten by a snake or spider, or eaten by a shark or crocodile! – but it got me to thinking if I had any of my own fears regarding the upcoming trip.

Probably only two (although the first is not really a fear, as such).

1. Every holiday I can remember – even the family trips to Queensland as a kid, leaving at two o’clock in the morning, lying across the very back of the station wagon wedged in with the bags, cases and other assorted luggage, looking up at the stars as we drove along in the early morning darkness – had a final destination. Whilst the journey there and back was a part of the trip, it was, for me, that final destination which really marked the start of the holiday.

This holiday is different though – there is no single final destination. The journey itself is the holiday. And I think it is this mindset that I need to grasp, fully, if I’m to get the most enjoyment from the whole experience. I guess I’m worried, too, that the girls may also have similar ideas and be expecting to arrive somewhere before they can start their holiday, and that would be a shame. (LOL, maybe my real worry is having to listen to “Dad, are we there yet?” every day for 9 weeks!  )

Anyway, this mindset adjustment leads nicely in to my other fear.

2. We are planning on covering a lot of ground in  the allotted time frame, and I fear that I’ll be overly conscious of making sure we see everything along the way that I’ll get to the end of the trip and realise I’ve not really seen anything.

However, I think if I can get my head around 1, then 2 will take care of itself and I will be more attuned to taking things in along the way.

Here’s hoping, anyway.