.... for my new 100cm wide, all cotton, with removable liner, sleeping bag to arrive. it will be so much easier to make my bed. And that's what it's all about in The Mouse House. Make things easy so that life can really be enjoyed. Simply! Yesterday and the day before I read books ..from beginning to end! What a luxury that is. I have joined 'Borrow Box', which is available through the library and allows me to download 5 audio and 5 digital books at a time. Perfect for someone like me who doesn't have room for many books inside the van. When the sleeping bag arrives I'll be off. Mudgee first to say hello to Michael and Emma, then on to Oberon. After that I'll mooch my way over to Albury where I have booked a lunch/talk with Mathew Evans of 'Fat Pig Farm' at the Writer's Festival. That will be excellent and I have a question if the opportunity arises. Has he really left the 'fast lane'? He seems incredibly busy to me. Unlike me who is wandering around with camera, pottering occasionally in my brother's veggie gardens, cooking, listening to music and reading. I don't have a TV and haven't missed it at all in fact until now I haven't even thought aout it. I have my favourite DVDs and can watch them on my Big Screen.
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Did I just hear you say, 'what's a gimbal?' Well in this instance it's a hand held stabiliser for iphone or camera. Useful for making little films that are not jumpy or jerky. The above filming is my first attempt at using one. I've already been one month in the Mighty Mouse House and I'm looking forward to reviewing it with Michel and Emma from Roamingwildcampers in a week or so. Together we can go over what's amazing, what's brilliant, what I love to pieces and what lets the draft in, what I kick when i'm in bed, what squeaks and what could do with some sound deadening. Overall I am extremely pleased with my van. I like the way it looks and the way it all works. Today I made the chair I'm sitting on now nice and secure for traveling and it looks good too! Doesn't it fit just perfectly? I tell you, the best thing ever is a cordless drill. So very handy for so many little jobs. Helen and Bruce came to visit and see the Mouse House. I thik they were rather surprised that all 3 of us could be in here at the same time. They declined a cup of tea but couldn't decline a home made biscuit.
Yes, the oven works really well. Gas 4 is abut 180 deg on an electric oven. That's all I really need to know isn't it? On Friday the Mouse and I are heading over to Valla to visit some friends, pat puppies and share a meal. Shortly after that I'll be meandering down to Oberon (via Mudgee) to visit another friend and then over to Albury and Yackandandah to visit a couple more. Then on the 15th September the Mouse and I will drive onto the ferry for Tasmania. How long I'll be away only time will tell. I'm booked on the ferry to return on the 15th December. Life is good 😊 I've lived in the Mouse House for 2 weeks now and it's my home. It feels comfortable and it's exactly how I had imagined, how I had pictured it during all those months of planning, drawing, messaging, talking. It all came together well. This is a quick look around the Mouse House as it is now. I have to say how lovely it's been having you with me as I journey from home owner/veggie garden grower to minimalist photographer living in a van. Hidden behind the white sliding door I'm typing away while sitting on the fridge box seat with the laptop on the slide out table. I'm listening to Cat Stevens, playing through the bluetooth speaker, singing along, making typing mistakes 🙃 Who would have thought this would be my reality back in March? What is Michael doing? I'm sure there are times when the van build seems to go on forever for the 'van builders'. I'm sure there were challenges - new things to work out to 'have a go' at, things they've never done before but are wiling to try. I'm sure that every van build is a journey for the builders too - especially when they have someone like me as a client. I knew what I wanted, I'd done the research but I didn't know what was really involved in the execution of my ideas, so I definitely take off my hat to the young couple Emma and Michael of roamingwildcampers.com Thanks Michael and Emma. Friends I hope - not just the van builders that I happen to choose. There are so many things I am noticing that I absolutely love so what's a broken knob or step when you are friends? Easily sorted. Emma was right about curtains on the little leadlight windows...that would have been a good thing. Any of that navy material left for two little sets of curtains Em?😊 Here's a little collection of pics taken by Michael in Mudgee and me here in Dorrigo. You can tell the ones taken by me...the van has that 'lived-in' look. (click on the first and it will enlarge and you can go through them all) Things you buy when you have a van!I needed to be on 'blocks' where I am now, to be level, so I bought some blocks, (suitable for 5,000kg the advertisement said) and tried them. Here's the result. Busted! I buy most things on eBay because I am nowhere near big shops that sell what I need and because the items I buy get delivered to my door. If there is a problem, as with these blocks, (busted the first time I used them) I can ask for a return and refund. The refund for these came within minutes...yes, really....in minutes my PayPal account had been credited for the full amount. I did not have to send them back! Gotta love that kind of customer service. Today the next pair arrived. We shall see. And then I took the Mouse House on a little adventure.....I was invited to join a group called the VanDykes for a weekend at Mylestrom, a beachside villiage not too far from where I was parked at Dorrigo. I thought it would be a good idea to go for a wee drive in the Mouse House and maybe show her to a couple of people and to find out if anyone else lived full-time in their vans. There were only 2 other women who lived full time in their vehicles. Annie lives in a huge old Mercedes bus and Rosie lives in a very schmick caravan which she tows with an equally schmick 4x4. The other 25+ women take their vans on little meet ups around the country but definitely have homes as well. All 30 of them looked through The Mouse House! So I looked through their vans too. A lovely group of friendly women. By myself I rode my bike early the next morning and saw the sun rise.
Where the river meets the sea. |
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