leaving this place...

We're a week off handing back the keys and heading into limbo (more on that later).
Most of our belongings have been sold or found their way to various places for storage. The chaos of moving house is overwhelming... boxes upon boxes, muddy footprints from the constant trips to the trailer... I long for it all to be over.
Wanda bus has been patiently waiting for our attention, I'm excited to get back to work on her when the move is all done. 

We were never going to stay long in this house, it was always meant to be a stepping stone. Looking back at our year here, I'm remembering the good things. The simple things that have got me through the hard moments and the tired days of being a mama of two.

:: the lighting of beeswax candles in the evenings ::

:: the many batches of bikkies baked ::

:: the many flowers picked from the garden ::

:: the bounty we picked from our humble vegie patch ::

:: the cows over the back fence ::

:: the glorious sunrises and sunsets ::

:: the make do summer shade of sheets over the hills hoist ::

They are the everyday humble things that with repetition over time, become significant.

Don't you think?

What do you remember most from the past year in your home?

I'm off to the land of nod to rest my lifting muscles. zzz

21/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: Amidst the chaos of packing, Hairy Maclary episodes have been my saviour.
Arlo: Fresh from sleep he keeps an eye on Bagpipe... the loudest and bossiest duck that ever was.

*joining in with Jodi

20/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: loving the vintage fisher price safari jeep we found at the oppy.
Arlo: also loving the safari jeep...

There's been a lot of yelling and fighting over this jeep. It is pretty awesome, I can understand. Oh, siblings. 

*joining in with Jodi

19/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: I see baby Huckle here, chubby cheeks and innocence.
Arlo: The perils of climbing into a suitcase... keeping the lid from falling on your head.


*joining in with Jodi

18/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: oh, these crazy teeth-brushing times
Arlo: I swear this baby was a water animal in a previous time. He absolutely loves it.


*joining in with Jodi

life lately...

It appears that this space has turned into a "look how my cute my children are" blog! 
Well, they are... but that gets a bit boring after a while, unless you're a grandparent or aunt of course.

Life is pretty chaotic here, as you could imagine.
We have five weeks left to make it all happen. Easier said than done.

So this wee blog will probably only get weekly kidlet updates for a while longer until the great adventure begins.

I'll be posting bus pics (along with other random things that make me happy) over on instagram if you're missing me too much. Ha ha.

Hope all is well where you are. 

17/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: A trip on the Puffing Billy on his birthday. A magical moment when a Rosella came to say hello.
Arlo: He gives me this look all the time. Watching and learning... and probably thinking, "Geez woman! How'd you get so strange?"

*joining in with Jodi

16/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: In his favourite Dee Dee* Jacket again accessorising with ribbon mask. Where he got this idea from, I just couldn't say. But he thought it was the best thing yet and wore it for a good hour or so.
Arlo: He prefers to feed himself. 

* how he calls it
*joining in with Jodi

15/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: Adventuring on a bushwalk. This was taken approximately one minute before he made a run for it. We have escapee episodes regularly.
Arlo: Riding with Dada. There's a wonderful bond building between these two. It's so sweet to watch.   


*joining in with Jodi

14/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: It was super early, we ventured outside to see the mist over the paddocks. He was so happy to see the crescent moon still floating up above.
Arlo: This boy has a fierce determination. He knows exactly what he wants and will tell you with his very loud holler.   


*joining in with Jodi

13/52...

 "a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: He loves dogs. Arthur is his favourite because he is softer than Ben.
Arlo: Those curls! That tongue! Those cheeks!  


*joining in with Jodi

12/52...

 "a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: Feeling poorly and wearing his favourite shirt (a hand-me-down from dear friends)
Arlo: This little guy has been pulling himself up on everything. He thinks he's the bees knees.  


*joining in with Jodi

how she's lookin... Wanda, that is...

Ok, so a month ago Wanda looked like this. I can't believe the difference already.

It was a terrible fit out and not worth salvaging, so we ripped out the lot. 

We've boosted the local tip economy and passed on other things that were moderately worth while.

I'm not feeling particularly eloquent at the moment (I blame the months of very little sleep), so here's a list of what's been happening and what is to come.

:: cut off her unsightly bull bar, no more braces for you Wanda

:: cleaned 10 years of dirt, grime and what-have-you off the roof

:: cleaned out all the stuff that the previous owners had left behind (Some really questionable stuff too! I don't really want to talk about it thanks. Pretty sure I'm scarred.)

:: disappeared all cabinets, walls, beds, shower and banquette

:: ripped up, scraped off, fought to the almost death with the vinyl tiles... gone! see you later vinyl tiles!

:: battled the horrible glue beneath the tiles, that almost ripped your foot off if you happened to walk upon it with thongs on, that then clung onto that thong until you pried it off with sheer strength (this is no exaggeration! there were cursives)

:: scraped the layers of black paint that resided on most of the windows. I won't ever get those hours back, but boy it sure looks a lot nicer now

:: ripped down the weird contact-y sort of stuff that was stuck to the ceiling on the right hand side

:: still trying to figure out a way to remove the ticky tacky can't be removed glue that held up the weird contact-y sort of stuff... we're working on it

:: cut a huge hole in the rear of the bus to increase boot space

:: welded in a steel frame to create boot ceiling and queen size bed base

:: draw up final drawings for bunks, kitchen cabinets, banquette and cupboard

:: decided on all paint colours for the interior and exterior, think pale cream, light mint green and teal

:: completed many mad calcs for paint, vinyl flooring, plywood, fabric and foam

That's all I can think of right now. Our next steps are to clad the steel frame, prep the interior and exterior for painting, paint absolutely everywhere until she shines like a diamond, then we'll lay down the vinyl floor.

I'm so excited! If I wasn't so very tired, I'd be doing a jig. 

So that's that then. In a few weeks I'll hopefully have a pretty painted Wanda.

I hope all is well in the land of you.

Do you have a crazy big project you're working on too?

Are you getting enough sleep?

I hope so!

Happy Tuesday!

Empty! String across back marking out bed.

In my finest, contemplating bunk construction. Huckle contemplating 101 uses for a G clamp.

Explaining how our bed will be built and no, we won't be sleeping in that god awful hole!

Frame is in!

Admiring his handywork. It's all square too.

The sink shall go here.

Huckle entering the bus on one of his thrice daily inspections.

11/52...

 "a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: making plans for beds in the bus, very serious business
Arlo: oh sweet babe, I don't like waking up either** 

As you can see, I've just caught up on three weeks of portraits! 
Blogging is always the first thing to fall away when life is a bit hectic. 
With little sleep, a baby who needs holding, an adventurous almost three year old, the bus project, packing up the house, blah, blah, blah...
I'm sure you get the picture.
I have a Wanda update ready to write, progress is happening! When I get around to it... sometime soon, hopefully... 

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.


*joining in with the sweet Jodi

** please don't worry, I quickly snapped the pic and then picked him up. I just happened to have the camera around my neck and wanted to capture this expression. For this is the same face he was pulling when he was first passed to me after being born.

10/52...

 "a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: keeping cool inside on a super hot day, building aqueducts and bridges
Arlo: this is his learning face, watching and learning all that Huckle has to teach

*joining in with the sweet Jodi

9/52...

 "a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: he took himself to sit in the doorway to eat his snack
Arlo: oh the faces this boy pulls. I think he was telling me off for taking photos instead of giving him more food.

*joining in with the sweet Jodi

8/52...

 "a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle: filthy, in a daydream and on a mission at the same time
Arlo: a chilled peppermint tea offering from his big brother, verdict... delicious

*joining in with the sweet Jodi

Wanda's before shots...

We picked up Wanda on Saturday. It was such an exciting day, I had butterflies in my stomach.
With our experience in buying vintage vehicles (let's just say it's a number between 10 and 20), I should have known it was not going to be without a couple of hiccups along the way. 
Sam knew we had to bleed the brakes before we could drive her anywhere (she had no brakes whatsoever!), which means that while he's underneath the vehicle I'm pumping the brake pedal... over and over and over again. I have helped to do this on almost every vehicle we've owned and this is the first time where I thought my leg was going to drop off! They were absolute jelly afterwards. An hour doing this in the heat of the afternoon, with Arlo man on my lap and Huckle getting into everything; I was ready to crack it. 
Next, the dear old dot we bought it off swore that it went well at 100km... yes, well... perhaps let's say she only gets up to 80km. Not quite 100, but it will do. This is most definitely going to be the slow way round Australia.
After a trip home in tandem with a few hairy scary moments, it was time to get the old girl up the drive. She had to fit through a standard gate going backwards twenty-odd metres up a slight incline. With Arlo on my hip and Huckle locked up on the verandah, I did my best to direct Samuel up the drive. Nerve wracking stuff! While the bus was blocking off the street, every farmer and his dog and all the milk trucks of south gippsland decided to drive past. I can now add traffic director to my resume.
So now she's in the driveway and the fun part can begin.
Here's what she looked like a couple of days ago. Scary stuff huh.
Already we've pull out most of the cabinets and emptied out all of the junk. I've measured and measured and measured some more. Plans and drawings are coming together and I'm having a blast choosing colours and fabrics.
I'll have to write about our retro colour scheme soon. It all revolves around this stove! Yes, that is our stove! Can you tell how excited I am? 
I'm going to try and post her progress once a week to see her transformation. 
Now I'm off to write some more lists before lights out.
Hope all is well where you are.

7/52...

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Huckle:  butter wouldn't melt in his mouth... ehum
Arlo: caught red handed assisting little ducks escape the bath

*joining in with the sweet Jodi