HELLLOOOOOOOOOoooo, friends, feels like forever since I've poked my head in here, and once again it will be but a short visit before another 3 weeks or so of complete abandonment.  I'm no longer pissed off Minti wise so if you can stand my loud & proud opinions I will once again smother you all in them..... next year.  Brett & I bought an old camper van on e-bay, it was in NSW so Mum (in Victoria) went and picked it up for us and took it back (eventually, 2 cactus tyres later... it wasn't in as good a knock as they would have had us believe, so they got a negative feed back... enter vindicated evil laugh here), Anywhooo, Ailish and I drove over to Victoria to pick it up & drive it back again and were away for 3 weeks in all, it took 4 days to get from Esperance to Melbourne & was I a bit weary & bleary on the evening of day 4... that day was Adelaide to Melbourne and it took 10 hours.  We had Mum post over her portable DVD player for Ailish and we "Wiggled"and "Hi-5'd"it across the country, she's a briliant travellor, never complained the whole time as long as I kept the supply of sultanas & bickies and milk (I caved and gave her milk on request instead of only at sleep times...... but she's back to normal now so no harm done), just a terrific kid even if i do say so my self.  On the way over we slept in the car.  This wasn't our first car sleeping experience, as we did it following Mum, ex-sis in-law & neice & nephew around the south west coast in September, however I realised that on that occassion I was able to put our luggage under or in the caravan they were staying in so we could sleep in the mattresses underneith all the STUFF..... this time, no acompanying van to stoe the stuff.  soooooo, I made a car tent..........................

This was our first night camping in a caravan park (well... thats what they call it, it's EXTREMELY basic) at madura Pass on the Nullabor Plain.  All our luggage got stowed in the tent part.  You can't see it but there is a velco door at the very back which was a vast improvement on how I got in and out when we went with Mum, I ripped 2 pairs of PJ pants commando crawling under a curtain from the drivers door into the back... this way I just had to bob down.  The top is a tent fly and the floor is a plastic backed picnic blanket, the walls are rubber backed curtains from an Op-Shop of course, AND I got them during a $5- bag sale so I got enough to make it and got some for the car windows and one to stretch from back seat door to back seat door..... worked very very very well.  Reading in bed was the only hassel as I forgot to pack my head lamp and only had a wind up torch (you know the no batteries neccessary ones... great fro finding stuff inthe dark, not for an hours reading).

Then we got tomums after 5 days in melbourne visiting sister and friends and Aunts and Uncles and grandma all of whom live of course no where near each other (except forFave  Uncle and  Aunt & only Grandma, they live around the corner from each other)..  Anyway after picking up the nephew and neice from their Mums who was celebrating her 30th Birthday that weekend and was very greatful to be able to do so kid free, we trundled the 3 hour drive to the farm in Merrijig.  Oh the the beauty of the place, I am yet to ever be even remotely dissapointed by those mountains and the vew of the valley as you crest Corn Hill, (Jess will know what I mean).  trust me, it is beauty personified and I made the kids be very quiet whilst I exhaled and breathed in HOME!!  My hubby who has no home roots due to growing up in Mining towns that have all long since been flattened and turned back to nature, doesn't understand that it will always be my home no matter where I live and whom I live with.......  But anyone who has lived ther knows what I mean.  Anyway by the time we arrived it was dark and the kids were ratty and over tired and excited but Mum had worked her incredible magic and replaced freddy Krueger slashed fly screens (previously un-disclosed) fixed the door that we thought was the wrong one entirely (the sellers didn't even know how to use it), she's repaired broken bed runners and fixed the bed propping poles so they actually worked propperly, AND she had taken it in to have the wheel bearings replaced and the wiring fixed, then when we discovered my cars plug didn't fit the trailers new one, SHE replaced my cars one herself.... she's a Super Mum  of the highest quality my Mum.  More later, Ailish is wanting cuddles whilst awaiting daddy's arrival home and her first sighting of him in 3 weeks.  Chow fa now.