IS IT WET?

 

EVERY SINGLE MARKET DAY, the first thing I do is look out the window, to check on the weather.

Today will be no exception.

I've looked at the weather forecast over the past couple of days on 4 different sites, and each and every one says something different!

So... I really don't know what the day holds.  

It's still dark outside, so I can't even tell yet.

No matter what, we are going to Tamahere in a little while.

If it's wet, we will just put up a few racks inside the gazebo and keep it tight inside.  

That's the plan... let's see how the day pans out.

Wish us CLOUDS,  and no torrential rain please. (or even better, sunshine!)

ONWARD...

7.44 am. It is WET. But not pissing down, just drizzle on and off.

We are all set up already, having arrived here at 6.15 am. We were one of the first here setting up today.

ABOVE: And now we sit and wait. We are not expecting hoards today due to the weather.

Back later...

8.25 am. The weather has picked up a bit. It's now actually raining steadily.

I'm NOT COLD! My new puffer jacket is keeping me warm, such a relief. 

I took a wander around the market just before, and have NEVER seen so many empty spaces. Clearly the poor weather has put a lot of stall holders off.

I dont blame them. Only crazy peeps would set up and sit outdoors in this rain. At least its not blowing as well, that would have made it HORRIBLE.

Stew's gone to buy us a hot chocolate... looking forward to that.

1.43 pm:   Well... we maintained our site.  We will never get 'bumped' to somewhere else cos we always turn up.

AS for the market... a total bust.  Made ONE sale.

Just too wet and miserable today, and there was a very poor turnout of customers.

I think the only people who made much money today were people selling food.

At the end of the market though, donuts were being handed out for free to stall holders, cos they hadn't sold.  Stew grabbed two, but his choice sucked, so I ain't eating mine.

In fact, my food today has been EXCEPTIONAL... not had much at all.  And nothing I shouldn't have, like DONUTS.

And now... I'm so happy to be home.  I'm not frozen to the bone thanks to my new puffer jacket.  But my feet are damn freezing.  My sneakers let in the rain and my feet stayed wet for hours.  NOT NICE.  Next time I'm gunna wear me UGG Boots and thick, warm socks.  You'd think I would know by now what to wear eh? 

Clearly not.  

Stew didn't have to strain himself with anything today, I made sure of that.

I got a hand getting the gazebo back in the van this afternoon from another stall holder.  I got it out easily enough, but by the end of the day, I just ran out of steam.

It's such a nice community, us stall holders. 

7.04 pm:  I had an afternoon nap.  It was rather nice, and necessary.  I woke at 3.30 am this morning, and just lay there and waited until it was time to get up.  So. A very long day.

And QUIET! Where is everyone?  YOU better be having an excellent day is all I can say.  

Stew and I just had dinner, and are going to sit and wallow in front of the telly till bedtime.

NEW SHIRTS

 

Today I am off to Cambridge for another 9 am FBG walk.

I also get to pick up my new T-Shirts.  Every couple of years our FBG team design a new T-Shirt for us to wear.  I'm excited to get my new ones today, they are lovely, the nicest yet.

I can't wait to show you.  😊😍

Until then...  I'm going to check my lists, in readiness for tomorrow's market.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so we will just put out a little bit, not everything.  Keep it all inside the gazebo under cover.

I'm not cancelling this one, as it's at Tamahere.  No way are we giving up our site there!  EVER.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: well I'm in Cambridge a full 40 minutes early. *SIGH*

You never know how bad the traffic will be, clearly it wasn't bad today.

Full fog here, means a nice cool walk. 

11.36 am, finally home from Cambridge.  It was a super foggy and cool morning.  The walk was one of the longest we have at 6.35 kms.

AND three good hills to go up, but it was great!

ABOVE:  Walking across the 'High Bridge'... I walked and talked with 'F', such a lovely chick.

ABOVE:  Getting ready to head off...

ABOVE: The back of the new FBG shirts.  I love how the '&' has a shoe on it.

ABOVE: The front of the shirt is more basic.  I'll probably add one of the 'old' logos to it.

ABOVE:  I managed to muck up me walk stats, I hit 'end' when we stopped for a photo, so had to start it again.  Hence the walk is recorded in two bits.  Never mind, it's accurate.  Longest walk I've done in a while.

Now that I'm sitting down, it's bloody COLD!  

YEP, time to start bitching about being cold.  

Nothing changes really, one year to the next.  TOO HOT.  TOO COLD.

Any.......way.....    I'm now going to cook myself a warm lunch.  Left over sausage and a baked potato.

OK... I can now definitely say Trulicity dampens the appetite, and the amount you want to eat!

I cooked up my lunch, a reasonable amount of food, but could only eat half of it.

The dogs got lucky.

I'm having a quiet afternoon, but soon I will make a start on getting my day bag packed for market, and checking those lists. 

Hoping like hell the weather holds for us tomorrow.

8 pm:  Time to sign off for the day.  Nothing happening here.  Got most things ready for tomorrow... the weather forecast is DISMAL.  Oh yaaa.  It is what it is, and will be what it will be.

We'll just take it as it comes.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FULL DAY FOR STEW

 

Today Stew is going to work for the whole day.  Here's hoping he lasts the distance.  If not, he can just come home early.

As for me, Keera and I are off to the mall for a wander around, morning tea at a cafe and so on.

Chartwell Square has wheelchairs for shoppers to use, so I'm going to grab one for Keera.  She can't hop around on crutches for too long, so that's an idea solution.

At some point Lacy will call in to collect Keera, or I can drop her home.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  I got this shirt out to wear today.  But DAMN!  I forgot it  had a hole in it.... so rather than throw it out, I took it into the sewing room and added a heart.

Problem solved.

Then I decided to show Keera how to do it too.

ABOVE:  Now her shirt has a heart too... she enjoyed doing that.

After that, we went to Chartwell Square, and wandered around, did some shopping...

ABOVE:  I got a plain white bedspread for the front bedroom, and Keera got to shop at Smiggle.

She was very good and stayed within her 'budget'.  

I bought Sushi to take back to Lacy's for their lunch, then took Keera back to her Mum's house.

Now... I'm home enjoying some quiet time.

4.31 pm:  I have had a very quiet afternoon.  I needed it.

I felt ill most of last night, something did not sit well in my tummy.  I think it was the corned beef, maybe too rich?

Anyway, I still felt rotten this morning, so after Keera went home I simply sat still and tried to get over the queasiness.

It has finally eased, and I've been doing a few jobs around the house.

Also shaved me legs, they were looking amazingly hairy!  Good job done.  Just need to do the 'pits' now... before I get mistaken for a bloke! 😂😃😅

Tonight when Stew gets home he will be going to the pub, and I might visit the kids.  I'll see how I feel.  I'm still so, so tired after my restless night, perhaps I'll stay home.

8.55 pm:  Well I took Stew to the pub, then came home for a couple of hours.  Then over to Steve 'n' Bex's for an hour before bringing Stew home again.

I just cooked our dinner, leftovers from last night and some lovely beef sausages.

Now... winding down for the rest of the evening.

Catch ya tomorrow.

BACK TO NORMAL

 

Stew is back at work again today, I think his time at home recovering is over.

Fine by me.  He's OK, that's all that matters.

I'm going for a walk today.  Probably just around the mall today.  

ABOVE: Monday night's FBG walk photo.  I don't know why I bother posting them anymore?  Maybe I'll stop, and just take some of my own from the back of the group.

When I get home from my walk I'm going into the sewing room to try and muster some enthusiasm, and make something.

ONWARD...

Right, I just had an awesome walk.

I decided to go somewhere new today.

ABOVE: Today I went to The Base and parked at the very far end of Mitre 10, then walked around the entire shopping centre.  I went around twice, which was just a little bit further in distance than going around the lake.

I really enjoyed it.  It was nice for a change, and I didn't have to cross town to get to the lake for a change.  And it was a nicer walk than around Chartwell Square.

ABOVE:  OH LOOK GM, I am smiling.   Do you know how hard it is to friggin well smile when you are on ya own, with nothing to actually smile about?  Pffffft, just for you my friend.

On my way home from The Base, I ended up picking something up and bringing it home.

More later.

ABOVE:  Well, 'it' was Miss Muppet. And there she is putting icing on a piece of Feijoa and Apple Cake.

And enjoying Jelly and sweets as well.

ABOVE:  I don't even feel guilty letting her eat so much sugar!  It's what Grandmas do.  SPOIL THEM rotten.

I'm just doing my job.

Because I love Granny Smith Apples, I bought some yesterday, and have just cooked them up to have with yoghurt.   I used 'fake' sugar, being mindful of my diabetes.

I got on the scales this morning.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice loss.

Maybe something is working!

MICHELLE C... Thank You for your lovely, supportive comment.  I needed it.

COLLEEN... I agree.  I'm not going to worry about it anymore.  

ABOVE:  Keera and I spent a couple of hours hanging out with Bex and the kids this afternoon.

Keera LOVED spending time with Lily.

And Lily enjoyed talking to Keera too.

ABOVE:  My favourite photo of the day.  Lily is just so cute.

We are now home, and I'm just contemplating getting dinner prepared.  I've got Corned Beef in the crock pot, so just need to get the veges done now.  It can wait another hour...

Our dinner was really lovely, nothing beats corned beef and cheese sauce!  Keera LOVED IT.

She's now in bed, and we are just winding down for the evening.

Time to sign off for the day,  Catch Ya Tomorrow.

BACK TO WORK

 

One week after his operation, and Stew's heading back to work!

He's going in a bit later than his normal starting time, and will probably come home after his last appointment this afternoon.

I hope he isn't going to over do it, and just take it easy.

My plan for the day is just to do some more housework, but not windows.  I might do a little grocery shop as well, as we are out of a few staples.

I'll probably pop in and see how Lacy and Keera are doing as well.  

So, there ya go.  A fairly normal day ahead.

ONWARD...

10.50 am:  It's been a very late start today.  Stew and I stayed in bed until nearly 9 am!

Then he set off for work, and I went to the supermarket.

And now I'm home, the groceries are away and I'm about to make a Feijoa and Apple cake, or two.

I'm hoping adding apple gives it a little bit of added YUM.

Stew, don't overdo it at work, and I'll see you later on this afternoon.  Love you.

ABOVE:   11.30 am, two Feijoa & Apple Cakes in the oven.  Fingers crossed they are good, cos I did dick around with the recipe a bit.

I never quite follow a recipe 100%.  In these, I substituted 1/2 the white sugar for Raw Sugar, and didn't add the raw sugar to the 'cream the butter and sugar' part of the recipe.  I added it separately, just chucked it in the bowl with everything else.

Let's see how that works.  😂😊😋

ABOVE:  Perfect!  Tastes lovely.  Subtle feijoa and apple, not overpowering at all. 

Just did the vacuuming.  And remembered WHY I don't vacuum if I can help it.

I HATE IT SO MUCH... you have to constantly yank the machine to keep it up with you, it hurts my back and yeah, I just hate it.

YES, I have a stick vacuum, but it doesn't do as good a job as the regular vacuum.  

Next time I vacuum, I really should be in a better mood too.  I really just wanted to cry, it shits me that much!  

Now I've consigned the vacuum back to it's bloody corner and it can stay there forever as far as I'm concerned.

No walk photo from last night's FBG walk that I can see for now. Wish I'd taken a photo myself now.  NOTE TO SELF:  Take a photo, even if it's from the back of the group.

ABOVE:  I did see two rabbits coming off the Expressway though, and got a photo.  

Lucky you fullas are not in my lounge right now.  Stew arrived home, and I immediately launched into a massive bitch.  Pent up frustrations mostly.

I'm not going to WW tonight, I can't be arsed.

I've been going for 20 months and have not made one single friend.  I know I shouldn't be expecting to make friends, but hell!   That just sucks.

Maybe I'm just not friend material.  

See.   Foul mood.  

Got my Trulicity Injection this evening.  Oh Ya.

9 pm:  Tonight's Trulicity injection hurt a bit, then stung for about half an hour.  First time having that reaction.  But, it's not enough to stop me having the next one.  😊

Having a quiet evening with Stewie.  Watching the telly, playing my 2048 game on me phone. Just a normal evening.

Catch ya tomorrow, where it will be just as usual as today I'm sure.

WINDOWS

 

 Half way through April already, it's scary how fast time flies as you age!

So today's plan?

Stew is going to 'work' from home today.  Let's see how long he lasts before he needs a break.

As for me, I've set myself a job.

And that is to wash the sun room windows, inside and out.  It is a big job, that room is all glass.

ABOVE:  LOL, Steve has his hands full there.

ABOVE:  Stew's little wounds are healing well... with no sign of infection.  His stitches are self dissolving, so we don't have to worry about that at all.  

Laparoscopic surgery is so damn good compared to a big incision!  I am sure that's why he's doing so well, so soon after surgery.

And that's about all I have for now.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  Anon, yes I already have a Karcher window cleaner.  It's not bad, but does sometimes leave streaks.

11.30 am:  And that shitty job is over.

It took way longer than I anticipated because of the film on the windows. It was put on the windows and french doors to tint them, and keep the heat out.

I got so mad trying to get the french doors clean, no matter what I did they still looked yuk.

ABOVE:  There were a few places where the film was damaged, looking awful.

ABOVE:  I scrubbed and scrubbed, but those damn hand marks would NOT come off.  Because, they were UNDER the bloody film!  Who the fuck puts film on top of dirty windows???

ABOVE: So... OFF CAME THE FILM.

ABOVE:  WOW, what a difference that made.

I'm now eyeing up the other windows in the sun room.... 

But I won't be doing it today.  I'm already done.

ABOVE:  We just had a quick visit from Bex and the kids.

She had been baking...

ABOVE:  And now we have some still warm Feijoa Loaf to enjoy.

ABOVE:  Dante spotted this bell... and asked who bought it for us?

Then he said "It couldn't be Grandma, she's the DOMINANT ONE".

That cracked us all up!

  

Then Dante said "Grandma is MORE FEROCIOUS TOO".

I do believe that child knows his Grandma very well. 

BTY:  The bell is NOT being used to summon me!  I would shove it down his gob if he did that!  I just found it the other day and put it on the coffee table.  And, I'm pretty sure Brylee bought it as a 'joke' present some time ago.

We have had a very quiet afternoon, just surfing the 'net, Stew did a little bit of work then lay down for a while.

Now... it's almost 5.30 pm, and I'm off to Cambridge for an FBG walk.

ABOVE:  Tonight's walk stats. A lovely walk and talk with fellow walkers.  There will probably be a walk photo tomorrow, once the walk leader posts it, and I've blanked out everyone's face!

For now, it's time to just relax and enjoy the remainder of the evening.

Catch ya tomorrow.