The Journey has begun.....

The caravan adventure has begun!!

We are (3) nights in and having a fantastic time!

We have headed west of Brisbane and are en route to Darwin in the Northern Territory.

The hospitality of  people in the country has been truly amazing and has added to our enjoyment immensely.

No pretences, things are what they are, and told as it is!

Our overnight stops so far have included Dalby, Mitchell and Barcaldine tonight.

1000kms travelled!

The landscape near Dalby

If you are interested pop over to our travel blog to see the adventures in more detail. 

Just click on the caravan picture in the right sidebar to view 'A Long Way Around'.

Feel free to say hi!

My Creative space

Well the wheels are well and truly in motion here for the big around Australia adventure.

The excitement is mounting for this family of (5)!

The lists are getting shorter.

Farewells are being said.

Schoolwork is organised.

Busy, busy, busy!

 

I gathered a huge amount of motivation this week to finish the 'Winona' quilt to take on the journey.

Nothing like a deadline I say!

Yay! Finished, washed and hanging out to dry as I write this post.

I have also quickly whipped up several of these bags which will be used by the kids to put their pyjamas in (instead of leaving them on the floor).

They will look like a cushion really when they are stuffed full of pyjamas.

 

 

The Travel Journals were also completed this morning..

 The Sewing machine is being packed away.

Things are really getting serious around here.

Visit the blog 'Creative Spaces' for more  inspirational craftiness.

Sunday funny from Pinterest

Zooming around on Pinterest (again) this morning and came across this Pin.

Great giggle for first thing on a Sunday morning.

Love Peanuts!!

Preperation steps up....

A date has been set for departure!!

Very exciting I must say!

Naturally feeling like there is so much to do and so many things to think of.....

Naturally I am prioritising totally pointless things.

A trait that I have refined into an art.

For example, I found (3) identical Australian 1982 souvenir tea towels at a thrift store so they just HAD to be made into pillowcases for the kids.

Absolutely essential I say.

Cannot leave without them! 

Yes problems I do have!!

Thankfully, Hubby is doing constructive activities such as buying bird identification books; setting up mobile Internet; getting plumbers to fix leaking toilets; getting vehicle serviced; organising pool checks etc etc.

We all have our strengths I say.........

My Creative Space

The sewing machine has been dusted off this week for a run.

Baby nephew Dominique is being baptised on Sunday so have been madly making him a quilt to mark the occasion.

I have really enjoyed using this colour combination.

There is plenty of speedy joy to be found in making a cot sized quilt.

Other craziness happening here this morning is just a little bit of 'chook hypnosis'.

Thank you Legoman from Bungalow bliss for putting us on to this.

Ella has redefined the art and has developed her own successful technique.

Very proud of my girl, something to put on her resume when she grows up.

Fiona enjoying her hypnosis.

For more creative enjoyment, head over here....

Hope you are having a lovely weekend....

Flea Market Finds

I found true FMF gold on the footpath this week!!!

(It wasn't even curbside collection week!)

Could not believe my eyes as we drove past these on our way home from school.

Two lovely yellow Casala outdoor chairs with a sign that spoke to me and I therefore spoke back to it.

"Yep, would love to take you babies home!"

Just plain lovely and just what is needed around here.

The Bunning's $10 outdoor chairs have had their day.

The challenging quest is now on to find more of these at a price that suits the Accountant.

The Accountant has surprisingly discovered great joy in scrubbing and polishing these chairs after I mentioned perhaps getting them resprayed or recoated with something($$). 

They have come up a treat.......

I am still in a state of disbelief!!!

Thanks to Brismod for her meticulous, well researched advice on how to bring them back to life.

It was sport free Saturday yesterday so we decided to do a little road trip to a lovely little town called Pomona.

The town was abuzz with activity: markets, antique fairs, and day before anticipation of 'King of the Mountain'. (A gruelling 4.5km run up a mountain)

All the local thrift shops were open and we discovered these gorgeous old Nancy Drew books. Bargain at 50 cents each. Ella used to love these timeless novels.

I have a thing for flying ducks at the minute.

The birds are a bit pricey, so couldn't pass up this lonely cheap one in the Antique store. 

Will keep an eye out for more but they do seem pretty scarce.

I 

I fell in love with this orange number at the Antique fair, amazing colour!!

Not sure why but this makes me think of cotton ball storage. Any other suggestions for usage would be appreciated. 

For more FMF's visit Sophie's place.

Back on the scene....

Oh my lordy, I had well and truly lost my blogging momentum......(2) months has flown by in the blink of an eye....

 Thank you to all who have been in contact and wondered what the heck is going on here.

Essentially, all is going well. 

Ella is doing really well, back at school and getting into normal activities again which is great.

 She is such an Amazing child, we are both very proud of our girl!

So much to talk about but I think I will try and keep it brief.......

My most joyous news is that we did a wee road trip in the new van and so absolutely love it!

It has a wonderful layout, is very warm, lots of storage, is apparently easy to tow (because it has lots of wheels) and a b-i-g fridge! (which equates to less trips to Coles)

It would have been great to keep on going down (or up) the track but appointments drew us back to Brisbane.

There is no set date for the big departure but fingers crossed, sooner rather than later!!

Things to do in gorgeous Stanthorpe: running through vineyards; making fires; climbing up to the top of a big rock (Girraween NP) in near freezing conditions; and pretending you can move massive granite boulders. Oh and of course sampling some (or many) lovely local wines......

 

 

Desperately looking for whales out at sea at Fingal Beach and Coff's Harbour.  Sorry Charlie no-one is living in the lighthouse.

Experiencing minus one degrees in Armidale and waking up to frost, Brrrrrr. Very exciting for Brissy kids..despite the difficult trips to the toilet.

 

All just good ol' fashion simple family livin'and fun.

It just always astounds me how little we need to live and how simple life can be really.

Housework can be finished after you've made the beds, swept the floor and washed the clothes and dishes.

You gotta love it.

It's good to be back.

You are a great bunch.

My Creative Space

The creative space is reasonably full as usual.

Blogland, Flickr, and Pinterest continue to inspire my creative ADD.

Here is a quick roundup:

1. Finishing touches (binding) going on a quilt. I have never used white for binding, but am pretty happy with how it turned out on this quilt.

2. I was inspired to have a go with this quilt block tutorial that I found on Pinterest. Not to sure what these (2) blocks will become yet. (More than likely cushion covers)

Finally, I purchased this lovely book, 'Scandinavian Stitches' from the Book Depository and have been playing around with the Vliesofix and one of her gorgeous patterns.

I am lovin' this book.

Pop over to the special blog 'Our Creative Spaces' for a look at what others are crafting this week.

Flea Market Finds

Our Poppy has moved into a Aged Care Facility so there were a few vintagey 'treasures' to be saved from the trailer heading to 'Vinnies'.

 

This cupboard was Hubby's Mother's (Kath) and it used to live under the house, in the dark, full of OMO and Nappy San.

I am sure Kath is having a laugh because her crazy Daughter-in-Law is now using it as a highly visible furniture piece.

My initial thought was to paint it up and make it all pretty but to be honest, I am likin' it as is.

 I would say Hubby's Grandfather would have made this little cupboard as he was a Carpenter.

Poppy used to use this 'Recession glass' bowl for his car keys and bits and pieces.

The gorgeous old photo is of Kath (right) and her sisters, Mavis and Col.

Very very cute.

Col doesn't look like she is letting go of that ball for anyone.

Last, but not least, a great 70's cassette case full of cassettes.

Very cute and still very usable (not sure for what as yet).

Head on over to Sophie's for more lovely old treasures.

New Nephew Dominic

Welcome to the world baby Dominic Anthony!!

You are a gorgeous new little soul!!

We just need to teach you how to tackle real fast if you are to survive in this world with your (2) brothers!

Let the Decorating begin...

We now have in our possession our new caravan.

Hubby proudly gave it a spit and a polish yesterday.

It came up wonderful.

This van was bought for our (6) month trip around Australia.

We are still hoping to do a lengthy trip but will have to wait and see how our Ella is getting on in her recovery.

We are not sure if we will keep it after the trip as storage is a little difficult.

Here it is parked on the footpath.

I have started the 'redecoration' project with some new curtains.

I chose some aqua gingham curtain fabric from Spotlight and will probably use the big spotted yellow fabric from Ikea on the smaller windows.

The 'Winona Caravan Quilt' will look fabulous on this bed.

This morning I was playing around with another quilt top which is also waiting patiently to be quilted.

It doesn't look to bad, might just be a tad to much aqua and yellow.

Oh the options are endless really....

Flea Market Finds

There is no time for op-shopping here at the moment unfortunately. 

However, I have been gifted these  a-m-a-z-i-n-g, still in the packet, set of double bed vintage sheets by the lovely Janice.

Thank you so much once again Janice.

These babies absolutely made my heart skip a beat and seek out a paper bag urgently.

It is truly difficult to take them out of their plastic bags.

Yes, some issues I do have.

 

Pop on over to Sophie's for some more thrifted beauties.

Bloggers Quilt festival

The wonderful Amy of 'Amy's Creative Side' hosts a wonderful Bloggers Quilt Festival each year.

It is great fun to head over and check out some wonderful Quilting Bloggers and their entries.

My entry this year is my 'Winona Caravan Quilt'.

Unfortunately it is only still a quilt top waiting patiently to be quilted.

Time is not to plentiful at the moment.

The vintage caravans are raw edged appliqued and I have done a little bit of 'thread drawing' for some added detail to the caravans.

I was inspired by Mel from Clothworks to have a go at this technique.

I love it because it is imperfect (mine not Mel's) and there is some margin for error.

There is deliberately no pink in this quilt (one of my favourite colours) and therefore it can go on anyone's bed in our caravan.

This is a special quilt to me as I am sure it will become part of the kid's wonderful memories of their many holidays in our Caravan.

'Ella the Brave'

Forget 'Edmund the Brave', Ella has taken the title time and time again in our eyes.

Our wonderful girl is going well but a rollercoaster ride it is at times.

Her sheer spirit and determination astounds us every single day.

We are extremely proud of our Ella.

Brooch love

I have followed Cam from Curlypops for a few years now and have always loved her wares.

My favourite thing has always been her flower brooches.

I bit the bullet the other day and finally bought one.

It is absolutely gorgeous, I love it.

It adds joy to any drab old outfit.

Thanks Cam, love your work!!

A Different Easter this year.....

Easter this year was very different to our usual dreamy campsite at the Coolum caravan park.

Lots of tag-teaming it to the Royal Children's Hospital was on the agenda for us.

The kids "Wonder Factory" at the RCH was a very popular hangout for James and Charlie this Easter.

A very special place indeed.

James and Charlie enjoyed the usual kilogram of chocolate from the Easter Bunny....

(An expression of utter joy and sugar overload)

 (chocolate 'trance')

The Easter Bunny did find Ella in hospital which was truly lovely.

As she was not up to Chocolate, I furiously whipped up a few homemade treats for her which she loved.

The bunny was made from this pattern. Ella named him 'Dougie'.

Scruff the dog was a 'doodle' I found in one of Ella's old school homework books.

She was overjoyed that I brought him to life on a mini-quilt.

A special, but different type of Easter for us all.

I am sure it will be talked about for years to come.

Anzac Day 2011

To all past and present Australian Servicemen and Servicewomen: THANK YOU!!

 You are Heroes in the hearts of all Australians!

We have some wonderful wartime memorabilia from Hubby's family here.

Some medals, letters home to the family, letters of tribute from friends and town councils (above right). 

Truly amazing stuff to help us all appreciate our previous generations.

Unintentional blog break

Times have been a bit tough here at the Olive and Esther household (to say the least).

Our amazing daughter has become ill and has been in hospital for several weeks now. 

(Hence the unintentional blogging break)

The pain of seeing one of your babies sick is shocking and unbearable as I know all of you will understand. 

We have always thought Ella was a special, amazing child and we are ever so proud of her and her incredible spirit during these tough times.

 I will be eternally grateful to the wonderful Royal Children's Hospital and our wonderful friends and family who have helped us out in so many ways. 

Thank you all so much from the bottom of our hearts.

Caravan crazy!

There is no denying it...I love caravans!!

I can't wait to drive off into the sunset with the van on the back and lead a simple, basic life for (6) months exploring our great country with the kids.

After packing a few boxes on Sunday, I decided I needed a bit of 'sewing' therapy.

So instead of continuing to pack boxes, I launched into sewing my retro caravan quilt top.

Very productive!!

So here is a sneak peek........

I don't usually name quilts.

I can't help but feel that this one needs a name......any ideas??.........anyone?????

How is your Tuesday going???

Things are 'caravanning' along here nicely.......

Vintage games

Hubby bought home some of his childhood games from his Father's place on the weekend.

All lovely and aged!

Scrabble and Yahtzee have stood the test of time haven't they?

Both still sold  and enjoyed today.

Hubby's mother has even made a little drawstring bag for the tiles.

They knew how to look after things back then.

The fabric is a wonderful classic 70's print.

Some used Yahtzee score cards were still in the box which gave us a chuckle.

Maris is Hubby's cousin and as you can see she had a great sense of humour and fun (which she still has).

Hubby thoroughly enjoyed playing his childhood scrabble game with his daughter on Sunday morning.

As you can see the scrabble tiles inspired a new Blog Header today.

I hope your week is off to a nice start!

I would have preferred soccer.......

Charlie lives for Thursdays and Sundays at the moment.

Training is on Thursday and the big game on Sunday.

To throw on the blue and white jersey, socks, and shorts and don the headgear and mouth guard are what it is all about.

He is mad for football.

His Father is very happy about it.

His Mother would have preferred Soccer.

What can you do?

Flea Market finds

I popped into my favourite 'Vinnies' the other day on my way to the Quilt shop.

I couldn't leave behind this unusual, little bit 'kitschy' apron.

I have never seen anything like it before and I was quite taken by its 'uniqueness'.

I must say it is a bit hard to imagine wiping dirty greasy kitchen hands on these gorgeous white butterflies, isn't it?

I also picked up a couple of metres of 'old fashioned' gingham. It is much better quality than today's gingham from Spotlight.

Sometimes it is hard not to wonder about the stories behind some of the things you find in thrift shops isn't it??
Did the lady who made this apron use a pattern or make it up??
Why did her family not keep it as a 'momento' of her craftiness??

Questions I will never know the answer to I guess... 

I think it is a nice tribute to stop and think about these things for a wee while.

Have a nice Sunday. 

Pop over to Sophie's place for more Flea Market Finds.

Echino cushions

I recently finished making these cushions out of some lovely Echino fabric that I have had in the stash for quite a while now.

I only bought a half a yard and that was perfect for (2) cushion covers.

As it is a printed 'patchwork' fabric, it was just a matter of some straight line quilting and sewing on a cushion back!

Quick and easy, just the way I like it!

 

Warning: colour overload in following photo !

(may cause nausea to some)

Wishing everyone a 'colourful' weekend!!

More from the gift package

How lovely is this rose tea towel??

The colours are gorgeous!

This one will definately become (2) cushion covers.

As you know I am a big fan of anything 70"s related.

I can never say no to a calender tea towel.

Thanks again ever so much girls!