Steamin Along

 Once upon a time there was a girl who wanted to buy a motorhome, but then she fell over & hurt her knee, & some other stuff. The girl did as she was told & tried very hard to lie on the couch for 4 weeks, even though she was usually an active busy person.  It was lockdown level 4 so the girl wasn’t able to see a doctor or Physio for 8 weeks. The girl did her exercises when she did get to see a Physio & occupational therapist & bought a motorhome, because she thought it was only a matter of time before the ‘sprain’ got better. It didn’t, & she struggled on painfully, driving a manual truck, climbing a ladder a few times each day & using the deep steps. She tore the tendon in both calves after that, because she wasn’t walking properly & is struggling with the health system & a public compensation system in her country. Said girl being moi, just keeping it real Thankfully she has a great Physio, who is kind & compassionate & is still t...

 Is available for hire. No job too small, but heaps are too big 😂  This day was fix all the tiny things morning, sitting in the sun, between storms. Life on the road is terrible 😂 but someone has to do it 😉 Someone asked me how I’m liking it so far, & to be honest it has its ups n downs. Some days I’m dead jealous of people in houses, & all that goes with that.  It costs a lot more than renting a house, & that’s stressful if you have an old vehicle that seems to be very needy 😂  Money seems to pour out of my purse faster than water. But it’s all a matter of perspective. Once I’ve had everything serviced, I’ll be good to go for a year or two... hopefully. Today my satellite dish stopped working, & I cant find the reset button on the wall buttons. I don’t have a ladder to look on the dish itself, so once again it’s research. Fingers crossed it’s still under warranty, but I doubt it.  I did get some great advice from a boat builder about paintin...

Lately I’ve been having a few issues with my door handle & lock. Sometimes it closes, & other times it doesn’t. On one occasion a truck driver stopped in front of me in the other lane, & pointed to my door... which was open & flying in the wind.  Complete with towel hanging on the rail 🤦‍♀️ How the towel stayed there is beyond me, as I’d been driving 80km an hour by the time I got to that place. 😅 At other frustrating times it wouldn’t close, & It locks when it feels like it.  Today I thought I’d better deal with that issue, so I engaged Armstrong Locks 🔐 to sort it for me. The guy was absolutely lovely! He straightened out the bent bit of the door frame, replaced the lock spring,  & gave me keys to the legge lock above the original one, so now I have a good deadlock as well. I’ve had a few issues with people trying my door at night too, so I’m thankful. All that peace of mind for $73.50 😇 Bless that man! Charlie is also a helpful deterrent to ...

There’s this dog, you may have seen it. Small, white, playful, loyal, territorial, hungry, naughty, strong, & these days sleepy, Verry sleepy. Walkies then snooze, eat then snooze... I’m sure she has the remote for that hidden in her fur 🤔  Anyway, this post is dedicated to her. All 3.8kg of her 14 years. She’s loving life on the road. I’m sure it’s because she gets to hang with Mum 24/7 😉 Is this my seat? How does this work?  A swim at Lucy Memorial Park boat ramp Am I allowed to go in? I think I got it now I sneaked in Mum’s bag Do you think they’ll see me? I like it when Mum is close I was soooo sick a while ago A nice colour for my bandage eh Ah my younger days, playing in the cushions And I’m a steampunk dog! 2016 Where’s the coffee? 2020 And I found your blanket again breakfast in bed Battery installation inspector After my way too early Spring haircut & bath... what was Mum thinking! And me, doing stuff A bad haircut day me sleeping in my nice warm new coat My...

  For a long time, not a good time 😂 or maybe a little of both 🤔  Today I decided it’s time to sort out my rusty wheels! What was I thinking 🤦‍♀️ It’s a huge job, so I’m sanding a wheel a day for 4 days, then painting, after I’ve degreased them with engine degreaser & cleaned that off as well. It’s quite an expensive exercise at $80 for those three things in the pic, but I’m worth it 😊 A nice chap shopping at Repco told me get the Hammerite paint. It’s got a special finish, that you’ll see at the end. Just another little steampunk element 😉 The worst one. I need to find my mini wire brush, that does rust. I’m only doing the 4 visible wheels at this stage. The other 2 can wait I found it incredibly challenging doing the first wheel with just sandpaper yesterday, so I’ll go buy a wire brush today, to make the process less physical.  And $100 later, I think I have everything I need to do the job. That’s not counting the degreaser & rust converter I already have!...

 So there’s quite a lot of those going on right now! From dump station use through learning about paint! Whew it’s a lot to take in, but I’m getting there. I’ve just been told that people usually move off a dump station to pack up their gear, so others can get in. Newbies, which I’m not now, take around half an hour to complete the process.  Things I'm learning include: 1: Keeping the vents closed in high winds, & checking they’re closed when moving off site. Apparently they will fly off otherwise 2: Sieve water that’s going down the sink, to help prevent solids ending up in the grey tank. I wash out my coffee plunger into a sieve, so I can catch the grounds & use a bowl in the sink, to wash my dishes in, then pour out the water through a sieve  3: Use a bungee cord to secure the TV in place when leaving a place. Mine swings out for some reason 4: Don’t stress over every little noise in the truck or camper. Worrying doesn’t help. Take a note of it & deal wit...

 Today’s the day! Such a surprise to me when my son told me he was willing & had time to apply the wonderful sign to my truck, made for me by Cairns Printing in Australia.  Jasmine nailed the brief I had given her & went above & beyond what I had asked for. In person, if I can call it that, the sign is fantastic! I’m thrilled to bits with it 🤩 The colours are great, the size is perfect & the layers make it look 3D. It represents the fact that I’m a steampunk. Anyway, enough with the chat, let’s get to the pics! I know you’ve all been waiting patiently for this moment. Now that you’ve perfected that skill, as have I, without further ado, the procedure, as recorded by my grandson. My daughter in law helped with the installation as well. These guys are such a blessing to my life!  Beginning cleaning the area. Had to be pristine. That part took about an hour. This is an exciting day for me 🥰 The area was cleaned several times with a wet sponge & Jif (cr...