FINISH THEM OFF TODAY

 

A big Yaaaaa!   I got one of the Scrappy Dolls finished last night, then ran out of hobby fill.  Therefore, I will be off to Spotlight first thing this morning to get more, then I can finish the other three Dolls.

I'm thinking I might even start a few more, seeing as I can turn out 4 in just under 2 days.  It won't hurt to have a few 'spare' up me sleeve.

I should be going to Mosaics in Cambridge this morning, but I think I'd rather stay home and get my Scrappy Doll numbers up.

I'm so happy that BABY Brother is doing fine with this basic work, just using straight and zig zag stitch.

At least I can sew something.

ABOVE:  That's the doll I finished last night.  

ONWARD...

1/15 pm, and I've stopped work for lunch.

I'm watching a live feed, news video on my laptop about a potentially tragic event that happened today in Mt Maunganui.

ABOVE:  A terrible landslide at the bottom of the Mount, landing on the camping ground.  People are missing, and efforts are being made to find/rescue them.

There's been so many landslips, road closures, homes flooded, people having to be rescued from rooftops etc in the past 24-48 hours due to the storm sweeping across the country.

I hope they find and rescue those who are unaccounted for.  So very sad for so many affected and involved.

Back to my daily life...

ABOVE:  I'm very happy to have four more Scrappy Dolls to add to my stock.

ABOVE:  I anticipate in the next few days I shall have these 8 ready for market as well. 

Right, I'm about to make a chicken wrap for my lunch, then get back into the sewing room. 

Oh I forgot to tell you about something I did this morning, that I've never done before.  I was cutting up scraps of batting to use as stuffing in the dolls (waste not, want not), and I got a bit careless and cut the top of my finger with the rotary cutter!  That thing is razor sharp as any sewer will tell you.  So I just pushed the flap of skin down and put a plaster on it.  I don't want to look at it again for a few days.  NASTY.  And serve me right for not being more careful. 

YOU JUST NEVER KNOW

 

At markets, we often get someone who will say "Oh I love that, but can't get it today.  I'll take one of your cards and contact you later".  Or something similar.

9 times out of 10 you never see or hear from them again.  It is what it is.

Well anyway, at our last market, a young lady did just that, said she wanted a Scrappy Doll but didn't have any cash on her. She took a card.

Yesterday afternoon she contacted me, and is going to come to our market on Monday (Auckland Anniversary Day), to buy not one, but two scrappy dolls.  She had even taken a photo of the dolls, and showed me which two she wanted.  Serious buyer then.

That means we will only have two dolls left! Eeeek.  I am going to try today to make a few more, using BABY machine.  I think I can do it.  I hope I can do it.

Wish me luck.

I'm outta here, got work to do!

But just before that, this is why I blog, why I get so much enjoyment out of it:

lynney625:16 PM

Hi Chris, I'm 82 as of a week ago and sadly one of "the other people" 🤣 But I'm happy for you and your progress! Every day I read your blog and just LOL every time you say "probably not as bad as the other people">>>LOL!! You have such a great way of seeing/living life! Just want to say "your garden looks so beautiful"!!💖
So happy for you and Stew enjoying your new home and making new friends!! I just love reading your blog everyday...LOL abounds always just with you! Take care! Love life!

That comment was left on Monday's blog post.  Isn't she just lovely!  Thank You for such a lovely comment Lynney.

ONWARD...

Well... obviously I've been a bit busy today.

First up, I did a grocery shop.

Then I came home and started working on Scrappy Dolls.

Putting fabrics together for the bodies, then putting aprons on... eyes, mouths etc.

ABOVE: It is now 2.15 pm, and I have got 4 dolls 'fronts' done.  After a break, I will get the arms, legs, hair etc done.  Then I will stitch the backs and fronts together, and stuff them.

That might not get finished today, it depends on how my back holds up... it's really hurting right now... probably not as bad as other people, sorry other people.

I need lunch, so am stopping for that, I'm going to have a chicken wrap.  I bought more wraps, chicken mince etc this morning for them.  Our WW leader did a cooking demo last night and made chicken wraps, hence me doing it today.

ABOVE: That's Andrea, our WW Coach. She's just lovely.  I like the little portable cooker she uses, might even get one.

ABOVE: That's the wrap recipe Andrea used, you can tweak it to suit yourself.  I made a small, long sausage instead of three meatballs.  And I used hummus and basil pesto under my salad and chicken.  

10.46 pm, and it's time for bed.  I had a quiet evening with Stew, we both had a chicken wrap for our dinner.  Coronation Street has just finished, so I'm off to bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

LIVESTOCK ON OUR WALK

 

I'm contemplating going over to Cambridge this morning for an FBG social walk.  Still not sure if I will go or not, it really depends on how hot it is.   So, let's just wait and see.

My walk with Coco last night was interesting, I saw something in the river that I'd never seen before:

ABOVE:  I thought it might be a 'released' goldfish that had grown enormous, but Stew said it's probably a Carp.  

Koi carp are a major invasive pest in the Waikato River system, introduced accidentally and now causing severe environmental damage by degrading water quality, eroding banks, and outcompeting native species. Control efforts, including hunting by groups like the NZ Bowhunters Society and research into sustainable uses (e.g., fertilizer), are ongoing, with regulations strictly prohibiting their release. 

I wish I'd had some way to kill it!

The other thing I saw was...

ABOVE: This beautiful little fantail.  It was very friendly, and let me get quite close to it.

Right, that's all I have for now, I'll catch ya later.

ONWARD...

11.34 am, and I DID go over to Cambridge for the FBG walk.  It turned out to be a very overcast day, and now it is raining as well.  So lovely weather for walking.

ABOVE: Our walk today took us over The Blue Bridge... it's on the outskirts of town.

ABOVE:  Something I'd not seen before anywhere... a bike station, where you can do running repairs to your bike, and even pump up the tires.  There's lots of different tools hanging from cables for you to use.  Brilliant idea, if your bike breaks down RIGHT THERE!  😂

ABOVE: The second time in as many weeks where I've seen these cone shaped hydrangeas.  They are called Paniculata Hydrangeas, and apparently they kinda glow in the dark!

ABOVE:  I grabbed a cutting from a vivid blue hydrangea along the way, and found a heart shaped rock.  

If there's a walk photo posted, I'll share it later.  NOT that you probably give a diddly squat, but I do.  I like to record my FBG walks on here.

Nearly lunchtime, so I'm off here, and into the kitchen to make me lunch.

ABOVE: And there it is, my first FBG walk of 2026.  

4 pm, and it's been steadily raining all day.  Perfect for the lawns/gardens/me pots.  It is even cool enough that I've got a lightweight jumper on.  I have been incredibly lazy this afternoon, and just fluffed around the house, and done a jig saw.

I am going to WW this evening, and WILL show a gain.  I'm not too bothered by that, I know I've not been very good these past couple of weeks.

My aim is to enjoy living, not die a skinny bitch!  But in saying that, I am still focused on losing a few more kilos, and being as healthy as I can be.

Going back to walking regularly should help with that.

Some good news just now.  Stew's sister posted him a parcel for his birthday.  It never arrived, even though the courier company were 100% positive it had been delivered.

Today I got a phone call from the Village Office.  Our parcel had turned up at a neighbour's home, and he had just arrived home from holiday.  He took the parcel down to the office, where I've just picked it up from.

My faith in humanity is restored.  I was sure it had been stolen.  You hear of people who follow courier vans, purely to steal the parcels after they have been dropped off.  Dirty, rotten pieces of shit they are.

Anyway, Stew's parcel is now sitting on his chair, waiting for him to come home and open it.

And I'm off to WW in  half an hour...

7.35 pm, home from WW.  And as I fully expected, I had a gain of .600 grams.  Not earth shattering, and I'm not gutted.  I knew I'd not been that good of late.  

We just had a salmon bagel each for our dinner.  They were not as nice as I expected, and the olives that were snuck in them?  Bloody ikk. We loathe olives, probably not as much as other people, sorry other people.

I'm going to settle down now and watch the telly, do a jig saw on the side and look forward to tomorrow, when I hope to do some sewing.

HE'S BACK TO WORK

 

Stew goes back to work today, after having a full month (4 weeks and 2 days) off.  That is the longest period of time (holiday) he's had in 27 years!

He had accrued so much holiday time he HAD to take that much time off work, to clear some of it.

The next time he has that long off work is in only six and a half weeks, when he will be off on sick leave, with his knee replacement operation and recovery.  Luckily he has 118 days (23 weeks) up his sleeve in 'sick leave', so he's well and truly covered. 

Today I am going to pull everything out of our pantry and re-organise it.  I have been meaning to for a few weeks now.  I have no idea where half my baking stuff is, or what we have and don't have.  Time to get it sorted.  Luckily I have a very strong 'sorting gene'.   😂

After lunch I will be going to the weekly Craft get together.  I will take my little baby machine down and do some braid runner piecing.  It's about all I can do right now without McDreamy.

ABOVE: Worth a spot on here, our very first tomato, here in our new home.  I picked it before the birds got it.  We have a few more coming along... but they won't be ready for a week or more.

ONWARD...

9.55 am, and the pantry is done.  It is much less cluttered now, and I can see and access all the baking stuff now, which was the primary reason for doing it.  It was a good time to go through and check expiry dates on things too, something STEVE usually does for us!  NOT that we ask him to, he just can't help himself.  I think he loves it when he finds something that expired 10 years ago!  

I'm now off to hang out the washing, it just finished in the machine...

3.45 pm.  And I've had a busy day so far.  I went to Craft Group, and just sat and yakked!  Then I went to Mitre 10 for a few bits 'n' bobs for a little job.  Which I have now done.  Not very well, but it's done.

I won't say what, cos I want to see how long it takes Stew to notice! lol

I had left overs for lunch, and then a piece of lemon cake at craft group.

Now?  I'm knackered, and am going to just sit and blob out for a while.

ABOVE: Coco missed Stew today, she was on guard, looking for him this afternoon.  So cute.

7.28 pm.  When Stew arrived home from work, he headed down to the gym for a 30 minute workout on the recumbent bike, and Coco and I went for a walk along the river bank.

ABOVE:  It was really LOVELY along the river bank tonight.  It was COOL!  A nice breeze, cloudy and a few spits of rain.  Kept our walk comfortable.

ABOVE:  Coco kept racing ahead of me, and got really impatient when I stopped to take photos.  

But, she did start to lag behind after about 20 minutes, so clearly 20-30 minutes is her limit now days.

ABOVE:  Neither of us liked this steep hill!  It was great when we got to stop and chat with a bloke and his dog half way up, lol. 

Home now, and Stew's just had the rest of the left overs for his dinner.  I'm eating plums... I'm really trying to eat more fruit, to help with the 💩

issues.  

I don't want to be taking laxatives all the time, they don't make me feel good at all.  I felt really ill the other day, but ... probably not as bad as other people, sorry other people.

I'm off now to enjoy a pleasant evening with Stew, and Coronation Street is on, which isn't the norm for a Monday night.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

M AND C VISITING

 

We have become very friendly with a couple who  come to the Tamahere and Cambridge markets, almost every time they are on.

C just loves my runners/wall hangings, and has bought quite a few in the past few years.

Today they are visiting us here, at our home.

Funny thing, M is associated with our village in an official capacity.  He's the one who had to mediate over our 'shed issue', and he's the one who ultimately said we had to remove it!

I certainly do not hold him responsible.  It was the shitty neighbours, through and through.

So, it will be really neat to have them over for lunch, I'm making cheese scones for them, as M just loves scones.  😋😊

Did I tell you that Stew came up with a name for those shitty neighbours?

I used to refer to them as the C*#TS, but Stew came up with the MOC's.

MOANING OLD C*#Ts.  Works for me.

I'm very tempted to make a 'name' plaque for above my clothes line  (facing them):   URMOCs.  But *sigh*, I probably won't.

ABOVE: LOST!  One of the hearts Steve 'n' Bex gave me... and they noticed it wasn't on our heart wall yesterday.  I have no idea where it is, and now...I'm going to spend every spare moment trying to find the bloody thing!

I'm a bit anal when it comes to that sort of thing... I have to find what's lost, or it drives me nuts.  *sigh*  😖😕

ABOVE:  Lily arrived at ours yesterday afternoon, sound asleep.  So adorable.  She was TOTALLY out to it, nothing could wake her for a good hour.

ABOVE: Steve managed to get the shelf unit on the wall in the smallest room in the house.  I then put stuff on it, or course.  

It's time I got outta bed and start the day.  I've got to get yesterday's washing in, make the bed, tidy the house, watch Stew vacuum, and then make scones.

Catch ya later.

**********

... well its been a busy morning getting the housework done and scones ready for the oven.

Stupidly,  I feel nervous that they won't come out right!

Like, I've made them successfully for years right? 🤣😊

2.50 pm, and whoop!  The scones came out beautifully, and our visitors arrived and we had a really, really lovely visit.

So much conversation, it just flowed.  Stew and M work in similar fields, and C and I also worked in similar places (Schools).  We actually have had HEAPS of things happen throughout our lives in common, so it was really neat to yak about life and what it can throw at you. 

I am sure we will continue to grow our friendship, outside of seeing each other at markets.  I'm hoping a really meaningful friendship develops over time, we are already well on the way.  😊 

And now... we shall put our feet up and continue to have a lovely day.  

It was rather cold this morning, with some rain... but now the sun is out and it's gorgeous again, albeit a bit windy.

I'm thinking for our dinner we will get something in, I'm feeling lazy. Decisions on what to have will probably take up half me brain function for the next couple of hours!  😂😅

6.30 pm, and we decided to have some chinese takeaways.  We've not had that in a very long time.  I'm looking forward to it very much.

OMG I have missed  having Chinese Takeaways!  It was soooo good.  

I'm now watching Pitch Perfect 2, which I've seen before a few times, and still love so much. Probably not as much as other people, sorry other people.  😂😅😖

TAMAHERE MARKET IN JANUARY

Well, here we go again.

Our second market of 2026, at Tamahere.

It's looking to be a fine day, just a bit cloudy, which would be awesome.

ABOVE: Coco is going to miss Stew terribly come Monday.  I look at her and just count our blessings she's still with us.  She is nearly 16!

I've nothing else to add right now, so catch ya later.

**********

...

ABOVE: A different view of the church grounds that the Tamahere Market is held at. 

ABOVE: Someone thinks its still Christmas. 

ABOVE: The sky this morning.  I'm going to ignore that old wives tale... we ain't getting rain... OK?

11.10 am, the weather is great,  the crowds are THIN.  We've made some sales, but nothing like normal for this market.

We knew it would be quiet,  so just maintaining our presence here  today.

ABOVE: Another very happy customer,  she's walking around the market stroking it! They are heading home soon to the UK, and that runner is going to take pride of place on their table. Awwww.

2.05 pm, and we are home, and have unpacked the car.  Stew is off to the supermarket shortly for weekend supplies.

I'm probably gunna have a nana nap, I'm so hot and tired.  PROBABLY not as hot and tired as other people, sorry other people.

I had a sausage, bacon and egg sandwich for brunch, followed by a cookie from Chad, opposite us. He makes amazing cookies.  But I'm paying for it now, got acid reflux something rotten.

I've been getting that a fair bit of late, not sure why.  Off to take a LOSEC, that usually helps.  

7.02 pm, and I didn't have a nap.  Steve, Bex and their kids called in for a visit, and to return Coco.  Steve hung the new shelf unit up for us.  

I'm now hanging out for bed... so tired.  At least it's not quite as hot this evening.

Looking forward to a nice day tomorrow, having visitors and cheese scones.  Yum.

DIFFUSERS, AND MORE SEWING.

 

Yesterday one of my lovely readers asked what diffuser did we buy?

So here goes:

We both chose one, going on what smell, and bottle we liked.

ABOVE:  I chose this one because the bottle is gorgeous, and the smell is not too floral.

ABOVE:  And Stew chose this one because he liked the smell.  The bottle is very cute too.

I have never had diffusers before, so have no idea how long they last?  Can you get more of the liquid when it runs out?  Do the sticks last forever, or do you need to get new sticks too?

Now, moving on to today.  I have one more Fat Bottomed Ladies runner to get ready for stitching.  Then I will have five ready to go. 

Four of the ones ready to go have three ladies on them, and one has only two ladies.  So maybe I shall make one with four ladies, and another one with only two.

I shall be ringing the sewing machine shop today, to see if there is any news on McDreamy.  The lady in the shop said she would find out for me, so fingers crossed!

Right, that's me for now... I have no idea what Stew will get up to today... he doesn't have any 'hobbies' as such.  That will have to change one day, when he's home all day, every day.  One thing we are planning on doing together is playing snooker!  And maybe Pickleball!  I almost went to a Beginners class of Pickleball last night, but I wasn't feeling very well.

Probably not as unwell as other people, sorry other people. 

**********

...  11.15 am and I ring the sewing machine shop to see what's happening with McDreamy.  'N' said "Oh it's here, sorry I forgot to ring you".  We jump in the car and drive over to Frankton to get him.

BUT, before I leave the shop, I said to 'N',  I want to test it out, before taking it home again.

ABOVE:  And so up on the desk he went, and I sat down and tried a couple of stitches I use all the time.

*SCREAMS*.... it is still not working properly !!!

I was beyond gutted, and then bloody annoyed as fuck!  WHY didn't the damn technician double check using stitches other than straight and ziz zag?  

Clearly there is a problem with the 'mother board'... which could cost thousands to replace.  In which case, I shall be getting a totally new machine.  No way am I sending thousands to fix a 13 year old machine.

Bearing in mind sewing machines should last 50+ years!  WTF?  

So, it's back to using 'Baby' for now... just piecing and doing basic shit.  I cannot get any runners finished now.

Deep breaths, I'm going to make our lunch, then continue getting runners ready for stitching.

5.05 pm, and it's all done for now.  6 Fat Bottomed Girl Runners ready for stitching.

SEWING MACHINES:  Mine does have a lot of 'fancy' stitches, but at the end of the day all I need is a machine that does straight stitch, satin stitch and Serpentine Stitch.  And has a wide 'throat', that's the gap between the needle and the right hand side of the work space.

The only machines that have the wide throat tend to be machines with all the 'fancy' stitches.  And they are expensive as F. 

Hence getting McDreamy in the first place.

I am going to do my homework if I have to get another machine, and hopefully find one that does what I need, and bugger all else.  Might be a pipe dream.

I am quite knackered now... it is very hot and humid in the sewing room.

We are going over to the kids in an hour or two, we are dropping Coco off.  She is going to have a sleep over and play date tomorrow while we are at market.

I feel really sorry for her when she's home alone too often.  And she just loves being over with the kids and Marley.

11 pm and I'm off to bed.  Hoping to get a decent sleep.

FINALLY BACK TO SEWING TODAY

 

Today I will be doing some sewing, and a bit of housework.

Not much else really.

Might go out and find a nice diffuser to put on the new shelf unit, once it's in the bathroom.

Not sure when that will happen, if Stew can find studs in the wall to screw it into, it might happen today.

ABOVE: This is the shelf unit... it is really heavy!  But so nice.  

Right, that's me for now, catch ya later.

**********

... 10.47 am.  I have spent the past hour and a half getting another Fat Bottomed Lady runner ready for stitching.

I tried doing applique stitch with the baby machine... and that would be a firm NO.

So I will have to wait for McDreamy to come back to do most of the major stitching.

At least I can prepare the backgrounds and fuse the applique pieces on over the next few days.

Stew's having a go at putting the shelf unit on the wall.  If successful, we will go out and get a diffuser for that room, so we don't have to keep using air freshener spray.

I'm feeling awful today.  Trulicity makes me constipated, and yesterday I had a terrible time 'going'.  TMI I know, but hey, it's my blog and if I wanna talk about 💩, I will.  So, while 'successful' yesterday, I'm not feeling the best downstairs at all.  SORE, probably not as sore as other people, sorry other people.

Well, that shelf unit ain't going on the wall today.  I don't want Stew drilling 10 holes in the wall and still not finding a stud, so we will wait for Steve.  He will find one.

I think we will still go out, cos I don't feel like doing another runner's prep right now.

5.23 pm, we did go out, bought two diffusers.  They are now in the room and already emitting a lovely smell.

We had a quiet afternoon, and now Stew is at the pub and I've opted to stay home.  

9.40 pm, and I spent a couple of hours doing another runner, and I've picked his nibs up from the pub.  I am now watching Coronation Street.  It's a big night tonight on the show... where Coronation Street and Emmerdale clash into one episode.  Exciting stuff.

And that's me for the day, catch ya tomorrow.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN FATE?

 

Yesterday afternoon we finally got around to finding something for Miss Lily's birthday.  Better late than never... though originally we were not going to get anything, as that child has literally a mountain of toys!  Clothes aplenty, and so on.

But, we didn't want to turn up to her birthday dinner empty handed.  So we went to the toy shop and found something for her.

Up at the counter to pay for it, and my eye was caught by a BRITTO soft toy.  Loved it.  Asked how much was it?  And I expected the sales lady to say several hundred dollars, as BRITTO is NOT cheap.  (I would NOT have spent hundreds of dollars on a soft toy btw.)

IT WAS ON SALE... down from $79 to $50!  I was utterly gobsmacked and asked Stew to buy it IMMEDIATELY.

We believe in FATE.  We were meant to be in that shop right then, and to see and buy this:

ABOVE:  Isn't he gorgeous!  I told the sales lady it was my birthday soon... so I had to get it.

OCTOBER is soon right?  lol

Now, back to today:  I might join Stew down in the gym this morning... followed by a swim.

After that we are off to Cambridge to pick up a small shelf unit for the toilet wall.  We already have one of them in the kitchen with the glass bottle collection on it.

I ordered the second one 8 months ago, and it has FINALLY arrived!

We went over to cancel the order for it just last week, but the owner rang me not long afterwards,  and said it was waiting for him to pick up in Auckland, so I rescinded the cancellation order.  

Now I have to paint the wall it's going on, before putting it up.  

I fucking HATE painting, but if I'm going to get all the painting shit out, I might as well do more.

It's not like I can sew right now, so I might as well do something productive.  Like painting walls.  Oh yaaaa, I can HARDLY wait.  NOT.

**********

9.30 am, and we are just back from the gym.  Nice workout, he on the exercycle, me on the treadmill.

Heard from DOGSTARS while there, she sent me a photo of Stew in an old fashioned swimming costume... how she thinks a 'singlet' looks!

ABOVE:  It is hysterical!  I laughed me head off... and YES, I have Stew's permission to post it.  Not like he's got any choice eh?  😂😅  He really DOES NOT MIND.  

In a little while we are off to the Village Morning Tea, before heading over to Cambridge.

ABOVE:  These conical hydrangeas were on the table at morning tea, and I fell in love with them.  I've now got two of them, and a promise from she who brought them to give me a cutting.

I am going to try and get one of the flowers stems to grow as well, I just have to cut off the flower.

Morning tea was very pleasant.

AND I've now got an order for another of the Fat Bottomed Ladies runners, from a resident who saw them laid out in my sewing room during the garden ramble the other day.

I sure hope my sewing machine gets back soon!

We are now off to Cambridge...

1.53 pm.  Been to Cambridge, picked up the shelf unit for the loo... on the way home we got a text saying the sewing machine was ready for pickup.

Drove over there, and utterly gutted.

It's just the little machine.  Not my McDreamy.

And the little one is a nightmare to use, but later on today I will give it a whirl and make sure it's actually working.  

I saw a recipe on Facebook (yeah, they pop up all the time) for Broccoli, Rice and Cheese Rissoles, done in a patty tin. 

So I've just spent an hour making them for our lunch/dinner.  I won't be doing that again in a hurry, it was so damn hot in the kitchen, I nearly melted!  

NOT as hot as other people of course, sorry other people.

ABOVE: Some big, chunky clouds on our way over to Cambridge...

ABOVE:  And some rain, but it didn't last long.  Just enough to make the humidity super high.

Now... waiting for rissoles to cook... and Stew is cooking our pork chops.

6.30 pm, I just did a little sewing on the baby machine.  It's not fun, but I can do some work finally.  I have stopped for now, as I'm just over it right now.

I'll do more tomorrow.

For now, I'm signing off early as I'm done for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.