1 Year Bus Anniversary

Happy New Year!!

Happy Anniversary to us!! One whole year ago today we moved in to Bessie on New Years Eve and stopped sleeping in the house. People wondered how we would cope being a family of four living in a bus. I wondered how we'd go being a family of four living in a bus. After a year I can tell you Bessie is more than big enough. I follow a few van-lifers on Instagram and I feel silly saying we live in a tiny house. We live in a mansion compared to those guys!

Yesterday Ian and I got started early and we pulled everything out from the storage lockers under the bus, assessed it and applied the one year rule. I love having a clean out and can now see the storage area floor in different places and can see clear from one side to another. So satisfying. I feel so organised.

Speaking of organising, I'm very excited about Netflix's new show starting tomorrow on January 1st, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo! I know what I'll be doing after my morning meditation, binge watching Marie Kondo while the sun comes up (I will not be counting in the new year in....)

[link to trailer]

So I love the idea of being organised and my perpetual New Years Resolution every year is to get organised, which is always a work in progress, not really a goal you can ever tick off. I've been inspired by Gretchen Rubin this year and I'm doing something different. Instead of resolutions I've made a 19 for 2019 list of big and little, serious and fun things to tick off. Nowhere on that list does it say get organised but if I tick a few things off I will definitely feel organised! Especially if I tick the check box next to "get current on the family photo books" ha!

There are a few habit items on my list, like drink 2 L of water daily, but there are two habits I didn't need to put on there because I have happily established them already in the last couple of months. I have wanted to meditate regularly for years and now I do it first thing every morning. I had weekdays locked down but it was until I recently decided to get up at the same time everyday instead of sleeping in on the weekends that I'm doing it seven days a week. So those are my two new habits, I meditate daily (for 15 minutes, nothing arduous) and get up before 5 am even on the weekends. Here is the Youtube video of a mother of 10 who gets up before 3 that inspired me and from her I also found out that Mark Wahlberg also gets up super early at 2.30am! I love Mark Wahlberg. I never thought I was a morning person but becoming aware of other people getting up crazy early makes getting up before 5 seem very doable and quite pedestrian. Hopefully the extra early morning hours on the weekends will also come in handy in getting our photo books done!

What are you excited about in 2019? What was your highlight of 2018? Did you learn a new skill? Get something done you've been meaning to do for a long time? Learn something new about yourself?

much love and Happy New Year!!
Mx

Alive and Well!

I'm sure even my mother has stopped checking this blog to see if I've updated it. In any case this will surprise her if she hasn't! Gosh, so much to tell!! We'll start with my excuse for not blogging since March... after essentially being out of the workforce for 8 years while having babies and mothering I am now working full time... as a motorcycle postie! I've been doing it for five months now and I've pretty much gotten the hang of it. It is a fun job and I enjoy it. Working full time doesn't leave a lot time over for other stuff though and it certainly has been an adjustment. I have finally acclimatised to the pre 5am wake up but must make sure I get to bed early which means in bed before 9. Sometimes I feel like a crotchety old person who's favourite thing to do is stay home and put my pyjamas on, even on the weekend. Anyway...

We are still living in the bus. It's going well and I love our cozy home. I feel like Bessie is the maximum size I can cope with while working full time, so I'm glad I'm not having to manage an entire house right now. We've had a couple of location changes which were quite stressful at the time but I am happy with where we are right now. Ian isn't happy with paying caravan park rates as it isn't much cheaper than low end rent but councils are still catching up with the tiny house movement and I feel much better knowing we won't get a move on notice.

Craft and personal projects have predictably slowed down, but I am almost finished another Baby Cable Yoke Jacket for a very special baby due in just over a month. My 365 project has totally gone by the wayside and I'm a little sad I haven't been picking up the camera as much but now things have settled slightly I am picking up steam and I've got a professional head shot job coming up which is very exciting.

I hope everything is chugging along nicely for you wherever you are. What have you been up to? Are you a bad blogger like me?!

Mx

Safflower Quilt

I am pulling my finger out and getting this quilt that was finished in December up on the blog because the beautifully written pattern is on sale right now for $2!! I have bought another 5 copies to give to my quilting ladies.

I actually waited for this pattern to be released and had it marked on my calendar so I could get it on day one. I had a special quilt to make for a special childhood friend, and I knew this was the perfect pattern for it.

This was such a fun quilt to make and also my fastest to date. I started it mid October on my birthday (that was my birthday present to myself) and had it finished by early December in time for my friend's birthday. It was also fun having a secret squirrel project and a deadline.

My friend had given me the stone coloured linen from her mother's stash (intended for clothing not quilting) and I had white linen on hand. I love the subdued effect of these two neutrals together. Perfectly understated, just like her mother.

There were a couple of firsts for me with this quilt. Following a pattern, outsourcing the quilting (for time efficiency!) and finally making my first label. I am totally happy with how it all came together, and most importantly my friend loved the memories of her Mum wrapped up in this quilt.

I loved making this quilt and if you are into quilting I believe you will too. The super special low price at the moment is a fundraising drive for the designer's fur baby surgery this Friday. However, even at the normal price it is more than worth it, and I could't wait to buy it!
Buy it here https://lemonsqueezyquilts.com/products/safflower-quilt-pdf-pattern

I have only made one quilt for myself (the first quilt I ever made) but I will definitely be making myself one of these quilts to keep.

It is starting to cool down here and soon it will be quilt weather! Do you have a favourite quilt pattern? I would love to know what it is.

Much love
Mx

New Year, New Digs

We celebrated New Year's Eve by going to bed early for our first night in our new home. And I say home instead of house because of course we're now living in a bus! We are still in the process of moving our stuff in and I'll take photos of that once we're done. But these are our before and after bus reno photos for now.

I hope you enjoyed your New Years Eve and wish everyone a health, wealthy and wise 2018!!

Mx