Hoping to be past the dramas and back to sewing soon
Sorry that I missed you last Tuesday. We were on the road and it all got too hard in the end….. as you will find out shortly(!). It’s taken three attempts since School Induction week for us to make it back to Arkaroola, but third time’s the charm! We have been here for a week now, and almost settled into a routine. Not the routine that I think is sustainable for the year, but a routine nonetheless. Regular food, laundry, ablutions, schooling and sleep. Now to sneak in blogging and sewing somewhere! And perhaps some exercise……
But mostly the blogging and sewing. Because……. my fabrics for our new BOM have arrived from Island Batik. Yay! Yup, fabrics from the other side of the world only took a week longer to get here than I did! That’s how much trouble we’ve had!
Let me tell you about our latest adventures….. and my new glorious Island Batik fabrics! And then you can tell me what you’ve been up to at our (usually) weekly party. Fingers crossed that life is more predictable for a while and the Chameleon can get back to regular creating and partying.
Troubles, begone!
Last time I blogged, I showed you a pretty good reason why we weren’t getting home anytime soon. Two weeks ago, this was the usually dry creek bed that crosses the track leading to our home (photo credit: Rick Dubya).
This flooding is a good and normal thing – it is rare event, and even rarer thanks to the current drought – but is necessary for the health of the Outback. It is also why you must never ever camp in those huge, inviting, dry creek beds in the Australian Outback…. they are huge because when they flow, they do it without warning, and with conviction! But then, only for a day or two.
When the rain stops and the creeks recede, the waiting starts. The dirt roads must dry out. The road workers must then repair all the washouts. And then the government must declare the roads open again. For us, this process took until the weekend after I wrote last. Then we hitched up our trailer, got fresh food supplies and collected Mr Mew. And one of the kids vomited. Right on cue.
To go or not to go, that was the question
Keen to get home, but cautious of taking a sick child into isolated country, we made the decision to seek medical advice. The only medical advice available in Port Augusta on the weekend though is at the local hospital, so we had to take our our suspected case of gastro off to the emergency department. Normally I would take a treat-at-home approach to such things, but there is nothing normal about calling the Flying Doctor in an emergency, so we played it safe. With one child in the hospital, and a cat and the other child trying to stay cool in the car park while we waited….. I thought, surely, that delay would be the last of our woes!
But no……
Reassured that the tummy troubles were just a 24 hour virus, and that said child was otherwise healthy, we finally hit the road at lunchtime. And we managed 40 km (25 miles). Until our trailer, which we bought brand new and which had caused us a stack of trouble twice already, completely failed. 1000km (600 miles) was all we did with this trailer from the factory door. 🙁
This is what happens when a very badly made trailer loses its axle at walking speed. It bounces and rocks violently, pops a tyre and comes to a solid halt in the middle of the road. Whereby it can’t be towed because the wheels are jammed. We are pointedly not thinking about what would have happened if this incident had occurred at the speeds we had been travelling just before we reached this township of Quorn.
A local lady used a forklift to lift the trailer off the road so the traffic could pass. Go girl power!! 😀 And then we waited in the heat with two children (one still ill), and a cat, for a flatbed tow truck ride back to where we started.
The dead trailer got a ride on the tow truck. The poor cat had to go back to the kennels. And the sick child went back to bed. Then we waited several more days to hire the next available truck to move our things to our new home. It would have been longer, but we were able to use someone’s cancelled booking. Phew!
On the up side, no one was hurt. The towing vehicle was unharmed. And none of our things were significantly damaged, as most of the fragile things had gone in our first load and the remainder were in our vehicles this time, not the trailer (ie my Sweet Sixteen and sewing machine, eep!).
And we got to spend more time with Paul’s dad and his Husky Nuala. Who both became “famous” during our stay!
Here is Nuala relaxing at home with her friend Jo. Don’t be fooled by those eyes…. this puppy loves to bolt from home and gives Keith several runs around the block if she gets half a chance.
Abandoned the Trailer
So the trailer is scrapped. We have no intention of resurrecting it to discover any more deadly faults in it. We believe we have cheated the serious incident demon with it three times now, and we are more than done. Using the truck hire previously mentioned, we moved the rest of our gear on Tuesday last week. So here we are…..
The creek is dry again and the road to our house is repaired.
The waterholes are full, and teeming with life.
Trees and bushes that looked dead are suddenly sprouting.
Mr Mew is finally onsite with us.
And the postman came yesterday! These beauties are all from Island Batik to make our 2020 BOM with. Thanks Island Batik for sponsoring our BOM by supplying the fabric for the demonstration quilt!
And in even better news, I have carefully selected all these from their Basics and Blenders collections, which means if you like these exact fabrics you should have no trouble getting them, and your favourite store may even already have some of them. Unlike seasonal collections, these fabrics belong to Island Batik’s perpetual range.
I will tell you all the details of these fabrics very soon.
Just as soon as I get them back!
I also have to get my sewing space organised so I can get on with sharing the Lunar animals BOM with you. I am looking forward to that a lot! This is my sewing corner so far. The only area of the house to still be unpacked and sorted, of course.
Until then, I’ll hand the story baton to…….
…… Ann at Laughing Gas Quilts. Ann has this beautiful quilt to show, made for her daughter who is now living not too far from me (in the scheme of things). And an emotion-filled story that involves a cat and home, two things that I have gained back this week. It is a nice, honest read, and a lovely quilt; highly recommended.
Have you been homemaking lately?
Tell us – what are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? We want to know so we can visit and be inspired. Link up a blog post, an IG post or simply a photo from your computer. See if you can get the Chameleon to turn quilted with happiness. We’d love to see your quilting colours!
- Link up your latest or recent quilt/sewing excitement. All quilt construction stages welcome – finished quilts, quilt blocks – even fabric pulls! Or inspiration sources!
- You have 50 characters in the link description…. tell us who you are and what your fantastic project is.
- URL links are not necessary to link up…. non-bloggers 100% welcome! If you don’t have a URL, you can link up with just a photo.
- Take a moment to visit some friends who came to the party – leave a little love and make their day. And a link back to Clever Chameleon is always appreciated.
- Do it now……. before you forget!
The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. I am more reserved, so I will respond in gratitude by email instead. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll right to the end, leave me a comment and tell me, what do you think? Thanks for connecting!
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Glad you made it to your new place. The fabric colors are gorgeous.
Welcome back Dionne. Life holds lots of surprises for us, and opportunities to both laugh and cry. Now if events settle some there, you will get in your groove, and a new chapter will be underway. I’m participating in the Color it Red hop. It’s my first. See you there.
It is so good to hear from you. I thought of you the other day, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that mess. You are a real trooper and there are hints of humor but I am sure you are glad to be “settled”. It will feel good unpacking the sewing room and setting up. Off to QuiltCon Wednesday…very excited.
those fabrics are so pretty. oh my, well this has been an adventure in itself. i am so glad that your little one is ok. and that your cat is good. these are some memories you will all remember. thank you so much for sharing them with us. I feel like I am partly there with you experiencing things. and since I will probably never leave the US, I appreciate being able to live some of this with you. so cool to see life come back like this. ohh i love the chameleon on your header. did I just miss this or is this new?
I have nothing to link up since most of my posts have been about blocks, and most of my sewing lately has been quilts I can’t show yet. Haha. Oh my goodness, I am so glad you are finally in your new home. What an adventure! So glad you are all safe too – that trailer mishap could’ve been bad. Funny, I was just wondering about you last night, so it was great to see this in my inbox! Those IB fabrics are gorgeous, as always!
Hi Dione. I was thinking of you this morning on my walk with the dog, and wondering if it had dried enough for you to get back to ‘ home’. And it definitely wasn’t quite that simple, but very glad you finally arrived. Hope the kids are both healthy again, and you can get the rest of the house organized. Loved the extra on Nuala, such a beautiful dog, and glad to see Mr Mew relaxing, even though he has taken pride of place in the middle of those lovely batiks. Whatever would we do without our furry family members.
Looking forward to your next post, and wishing you all the best for a great week. Take care.
Oh my goodness, what an adventure, although I’m sure it all seemed a bit too much at times! So glad you finally got home safely…you certainly will have stories to tell in the years to come. It looks like there will be plenty to explore in your new surroundings. Here’s to some time spent in your creative place this week.
So sorry to hear about your trailer problems!!! That doesn’t sound like much fun!!!
The Island Batik fabrics will be perfect for your upcoming BOM. I think it’s great that they are sponsoring you on this project!
Happy Quilting!
What an adventure! That’s a lot of troubles, but the end is happy 😉 Enjoy your lovely fabrics!
So glad you are finally home…but most importantly, safely!! Wow, what an adventure you all have had. I hope the little one is completely recuperated now. I know Mr. Mew is SEW happy to be back with his humans! Looking forward to seeing what your new sewing space brings us!
The story of the year!!!! Hope everyone is now well and soon your room will be all set up. Quorn, how small is our world, here where we live I have a good friend who grew up in Quorn!!! Their Mum said when it was 45C it was TOO hot to play tennis. The outback is the same here, strangers who help unasked and give that much needed assistance. Hope you can get some money back on the dud trailer. Real friends everywhere. So glad the mail arrived, and your story needs to be put into a book for all times.
So good to hear from you, Dione! What a story. What a memory. Glad you are all surviving. Now for the thriving.
Hi Dione! HOLY MOLY. Those are some trials that you had to overcome. I hope everyone is now feeling fine, Mr. Mews is happy to be with his peeps and you have beautiful fabrics. All is good in your world and I am happy to see a post from you. Those gullies remind me of Las Vegas and the flash flooding. {{Hugs}}
Glad you are home and safe.
What a trial, just trying to get home. Those dry creek beds can be very dangerous when flowing all of a sudden. Spent many yrs in Alice Springs, often being isolated on one side or the other when the Todd River flowed, not often but when it did, WOW! Glad to read you are all moved in now though, and the renewal all around you must be amazing to see! Those Batik fabrics are gorgeous! can’t wait to see the BOM
What an ordeal! It sounds as though whatever COULD go wrong, DID go wrong. Hopefully the remaining period of unpacking and adjusting to your new home will be smooth and uneventful. I must say, the photos of the landscape and “critters” where you live intrigue me! Very different view from your sewing room window than I see looking out of mine!
Dione, Welcome home. Thank goodness for a sense of humour and silver linings . You really needed them. Glad you are all well. So happy you’re still an ambassador can’t wait to see the wonders you perform. Don’t knock the sewing room mine’s like that by end of day 🙂 put it back in order yep accomplished something haha.
Congratulations on completing your odyssey! Sounds like you conquered some monumental challenges. You’ve got stories for years. Maybe no nerves left, but lots of stories. Thanks for the highlight. Happy sewing, now that you have fabric and space.
You’ve had the most incredible time trying to get home!! Wow!! I’m glad you finally got there! Love your Island Batik fabrics and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with them. I linked up a project I just finished today that I made with Island Batiks!!
Oh my goodness, Dionne, what an adventure! Sounds like you have come through it with your usual good humour. Looking forward to see what you create with those beautiful Island Batik fabrics!
Well, you sure know how to make an entrance when you move. That is some adventure, but not one that I envy. I do hope that things settle down a bit now and you can return to some kind of, well deserved “normal” for awhile. Looking forward to seeing your BOM, cause you never fail to delight us!
Glad you made it safely. You all had quite the adventure.
Wow, sounds like the wrong kind of adventure, but I’m glad no one got hurt. The fabrics are beautiful!!!
Glad you made it safely home. I am sure the Chameleon is tired and needs a long rest so don’t work him so hard.
What an amazing adventure and one you can tell and laugh at down the road. The fabrics from Island Batik, of course, look fabulous and I can’t wait to see what you come up with. So happy your settling back into your home and best wishes you won’t be washed out. 😉
What a week! I loved reading about your life in the outback. I love wide open spaces and solitude and no neighbors. That is kind of how I live. That river crossing your path home was something else!
I am glad to hear that your sick child was nothing too serious. I can’t imagine not being home with a sick child and a sick trailer as well. You had a rough week!
The way I see it, this week will be better.
The island batiks you received are so gorgeous! I have thought about applying to do it, but I don’t think I want to be forced to design that often.