It's Bad...

....the tanks have just run dry!  Knew it was low, but crikey!  Merrily loaded both the dishwasher and the washing machine just then and wondered why the funny groaning noises....

Life has been so busy we haven't kept a close eye on the water levels.

Emergency phone call to the water carrier....he's on his way thank heavens!

This is my lawn today.....

And the view from my front verandah...

And the holding paddock out the back.....

And the same paddock in January....

.....a tad depressing isn't it.

Bringing me joy...

1.  This Big Red Bag I got on eBay over the weekend....

2.  This movie the kids and I went to yesterday....

....bless you Nanny McPhee!

3.  These gorgeous goodies which are sitting on my scrap desk right now.....

4.  This photo of Tim and his fisher-girls at Port Lincoln....

Not bringing me joy....

the BAS that is due tomorrow and staring at me and trying to make me feel guilty for blogging and preventing me from playing with my yummy scrap supplies and will probably cause me to miss Survivor tonight....

What makes you happy (or sad) today???

Scrappy shares and stuff

Oooo I had such fun creating last night......got messy with spray paint and masks.......above is a peek of the next project for my Gum Flat class......should have some spare kits left too if you like the look.

Here's one I did before my trip....had only showed you a peek since it was part of my application for Kim Archers @Home DT......but now I can show the whole thing! (I was unsuccessful)

A lot happening in this one.......paint......lace.......fabric.......scrunching.......bla bla bla.......The large flower was made out of a muslin bandage!  Easy and effective.......sprayed half of it yellow and half pink using Shimmerz Spritz......rolled it up into a flowery shape once dry....ta da!

There was another little project I had on the go using the Dear Lizzy lovelies......here it is in 3 instalments.....

....its like a little concertina book of frames for Mia.  Cute don't you think!

Happy ANZAC Day to all.....is that what you say?  Went to the local parade for the first time since living here.  Was very moving.  The girls marched with Gum Flat Public....

....felt quite proud.....tears were forming.

Big news at Sunnydale is this.....

....those who know Cookie the Kelpie would notice something not quite right.....yep, her supermodel figure is no more!!!  This is what we were surprised with when returning home from our holiday......the girls are in raptures about the prospect of a warm bundle of puppies to look after.....and thinking they need to keep one EACH......not likely!  Anyway, quite exciting for us all.

Going well with my "Read More" challenge.....finished these 3 while on hols....

.......an emotional journey with 3 sisters as they come to terms with the death of their youngest sister and go in search of a baby given up long ago.....

......set in SA including the Flinders Ranges that we had just visited when I picked up the book on holidays!  The whirlwind adventure of a fiesty Irish orphan with big dreams who finds herself joining some of the first settlers to the Far North of SA to establish a sheep station......exciting and romantic.....a real escape.

......have been wanting to see the movie, but needed to read the book first.....cleverly written.......heart wrenching.....a real insight into the way sickness rips a family apart......shocking ending.......bawled my eyes out.....do you think I can cope with seeing it as a movie???

Getting some more holiday snaps together for my next post.....or are you sick of them already?

Enjoy what's left of the long weekend.

xxx

In Love with the Outback

More fave pics of the "outback" section of our trip.....

The colour of the earth at this rest stop between Cobar and Wilcannia was amazing.....we put some in a jar for the kids to take to show-and-tell....

The Desert Sculptures at Broken Hill are a photographers dream...

Broken Hill is like art central......galleries on every corner and sculptures all over town......is it any wonder with so much natural beauty to inspire.  We fell in love with Julie Hart's work (Pro Hart's daughter) and bought this print at her gallery.....

How cute is this funky retro tea towel.....?

....made all the more groovy because I picked it up at the famous Bells Cafe....a 50's style cafe that looks like it belongs on the set of Grease.....you can just picture Danny and Sandy sitting there sipping their spiders.....

Every where you turn at the Flinders Ranges there is an amazing panorama to snap.....the mountains look like they're about to slide into the ground.....disconcerting and spectacular at the same time...

We explored the most serene and amazing gorge there where the light was just magical....snapped lots of pics of the girls....this one of Mimi was my fave...

Seem to have quite a few through-the-windscreen shots taken as we were driving along......we were shocked at how lush it was.......so much for the "arid west"!

Everyone keeps asking how Tim & I stayed sane for over 4000km and 50 hours in the car with three siblings shoulder to shoulder in the back seat. At times it was pretty tough I must say!....but we tried to keep things interesting.....one of our games was wildlife spotting......we saw an unbelievable amount of these.....

.....the final tally was 83!  We have decided that emus are really cool...

Bit of a drag to be back to the old routine.....work.....housework.....ferrying kids.....think
I need to start planning the next trip!

Halfway Across the Country

We're back from our outback camping adventure!

Awesome.

Loved it.

Felt like 6 months, not 3 weeks.

Took 800 plus photos.

Here's a speed-summary of the first half, in order of the places we went.....

Warrumbungles National Park, Coonabarabran NSW

Nyngan (Mia discovered a taste for Back O Bourke Cola)

Cobar - massive open cut mine

Wilcannia (crossing the Darling River - look how full it is!)

Broken Hill (the amazing Sturt Desert Pea)

...and another of Broken Hill cos I loved it so much...

Crossing the border into South Australia at Coburn (big excitement!)

Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges National Park

Cowell - our first stop along the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula

Port Lincoln (Beth with Makybe Diva)

Coffin Bay - Kate's 2nd fish!!!

Great Ocean Drive at Elliston - postcard beauty everywhere you turn!

Murphy's Haystacks - cool rock formations on the way to Streaky Bay

Streaky Bay - the furthest point we made it to!

Have sooooo much more to show you.

Will have to do it in bits and pieces.

Hope everyone had a really wonderful Easter.

The kids were thrilled that the Easter Bunny found them in their tent in the outback....he even managed an egg hunt in the bush nearby!

He is one clever rabbit....