LET'S GET IT FINISHED OK

 

Top of my 'to do' list today?

Go out and get the last few gifts for Christmas, come home and wrap them.

I want this job done and dusted by the end of today.  It's one job I really, really loathe to be honest.  I don't mind the shopping part (of course lol), it's the damn wrapping.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels like that eh?

ABOVE:  The 'Trans Elf'... no longer stinks!  But she's still butt ugly, so she's been stood in the corner, facing the wall.  I seriously doubt I could sell it, like, who the hell would want it?

I have learnt a very valuable lesson, NEVER buy anything sight unseen again.

The weather is supposed to be really wet for the next few days, then come right by the weekend.  Perfect, as we have the Tamahere Twilight Market on Saturday.  

Right, I'm off to start my day.

12.04 pm.  I have decided to take 'Tranny' to market on Saturday.  I'll put some ridiculous price on it and hopefully it sells and buggers off!

I'm just back from shopping.

I went to Spotlight to check out the new layout.  It's OK, and I will get used to it.  The one thing I wanted (batting) was not on sale.  Typical.

I found a couple of gifts to fill the gaps at The Base.

Now home, about to have some lunch then finish wrapping gifts.  Should not take me too long.

I just had a phone call from the Breast Screening lady.  I am due for me boobs to be squished ... she asked all the questions ... no implants, no changes in me boobs etc etc.  I answered all of them.  Then the last question was "Is there anything else we might need to know about you?"

My reply "I'M PRECIOUS".

She laughed her head off, said she had never had that answer before and I made her day.

Nice.

Boobs getting squished this Friday afternoon.

I.  CAN'T.  WAIT. 

WW weigh in this evening, and I stayed the same.  I better be careful the shit I ate this past week doesn't catch up with me next week.

ABOVE: Dinner tonight.  Pasta, asparagus, bacon, red onion and cheese sauce.  It was rather nice.

Took bloody ages, and lots of pots to make.  But worth it.

Now... usual evening, front of the telly, feet up, doing a jigsaw puzzle bla bla bla.

I'M SO HAPPY WITH ALL OUR GARDENS

 

SIX MONTHS, and I do believe MOST things are done in our new forever home.  

Forever?  Forever ever?  You just NEVER KNOW.

I am super happy with the gardens, even though my original plan was not to do pots 'n' rocks, it was a damn good idea going forward.  No maintenance, and they look awesome.

ABOVE:  I really love how the backyard looks now.

ABOVE:  Putting the fountain there ... brilliant spot for it. And the lovely couple over the fence get to enjoy it as well.

I didn't even need the all weather power cord protector, as the wire from the pump was plenty long enough to reach the power point.  

If I ever need an all weather power protector, I have one.  That's a bonus.

ABOVE:  This area looks nicer now, and I'm not even that bothered by the SKY dish anymore.  I will probably just leave it 'exposed', like there's nothing wrong with it. 😌😏

ABOVE: There's Stew, working on getting my design wall made yesterday afternoon.

ABOVE: And there we have it, already in use.

Stew is going to see if he can get castors for the bottom of that trestle, so it's easy to move in and out.  Fingers crossed on that one.

Can you believe it's already DECEMBER!!!!  Where the hell has this year gone?  I swear it's flown by.  We have certainly fitted A LOT into this year.

Selling/buying/moving house.

Visiting Australia 3 times... for sad reasons.  RIP my dear sister Lorraine.

And of course, lots of happiness thrown in as well.

Now, today?  I am going to get the housework done, then make a start on wrapping Christmas presents.

After lunch I shall go to Craft Group.  I might just take ... me mouth! lol  

Catch ya later.

9.42 am, and I've finally had a chance to sit down.

When I got outta bed this morning I decided to make the two Christmas Cakes first and foremost.

I'd had the fruit soaking in brandy since yesterday.

So...

ABOVE:  I don't have a bowl big enough to make a double cake mix in, so I found a bucket.  lol

ABOVE: And yeah, in went me hand to do the mixing.  Worked just fine.

I now have two cakes in the oven for three hours.  Plus a smaller one in a loaf tin, cos there was just so much mixture.

I'm now going to do the washing, then wrap presents.
10.30 am.  Lacy just visited to 'touch base'... seems I'm BASE.  😂😅😏

I went outside and sprinkled one and a half bags of smaller rocks around the gardens, filling in little gaps.

Glad I never have to get another bag of rocks.  We had enough from yesterday's load.

The cakes are starting to smell GOOD.  Two more hours until they are done.

Then I shall go to Craft Group.

6.07 pm:  well it's been a while.  I got stuck into wrapping presents after lunch, and just carried on till Stew got home from work.  I missed craft group too.  I just didn't want to stop till it was done.

It's still not all done, but NEARLY.

Thank goodness I don't have to wrap quite so many now days.

Right, that's me day done.  90% of the presents are wrapped, I've got a few more to get and wrap, but mostly I'm organised.

Hoping to get all the Christmas decorations out of the attic sometime in the next few days.

GARDENING TODAY, SUNSHINE OR RAIN

 

Yesterday at the market, we kept hearing this Rooster crowing.  We thought it was someone's phone ringtone.

But no...

ABOVE: Look at that!  These people take their rooster to morning tea at a coffee shop every Saturday morning.

And yesterday they took him to the market as well.

Talk about a spoilt rooster.   It was rather funny. He's in a baby's buggy btw.

ABOVE:  These were the potato things we had at dinner last night.  They were truly delicious!

Something different to have now and then.

Right, back to today.

I'm hoping Steve can come over and give Stew and I a hand to move the water fountain to it's final position in the garden.

Then I can finish that garden.

The other thing on my list for today is to see if the guys can sort out my design wall.  Stew had a bright idea for it... so let's see if that eventuates.

ABOVE:  Well, I thought it was funny.  😂😅😊Catch ya later.

12 noon, and we have been very lucky with the weather today.

No rain yet, and we got the fountain moved ...

ABOVE: Between the two of them, Steve and Bex moved it for us.  We just stood and watched.

They did a good job.

ABOVE: We are very happy with it's position in the garden now.  It looks SO MUCH NICER there.

And our immediate neighbours over that fence like it there too.  

ABOVE:  Our little red headed spitfire, enjoying herself.  And Marley, who is a delight to see as well.

ABOVE:  Don't even think about not sharing ya drink with this child!  She can pack an impressive 'wobbly' when she doesn't get what she wants.

ABOVE:  She loves a sip of Diet Coke.  Good taste wee girl.

ABOVE:  Playing with some Christmas lights.  And just look at those oh so typical' kids in the background!  Give them a screen and they are perfectly happy.'

ABOVE:  When they left, they took Coco for a 'play date'.  I know Coco will enjoy being with them for a couple of hours.

We have to go out at 2 pm to pick up the extra bags of rocks we need.

We went over there this morning, but they were too busy to do the bagging right then.

Once we get them, we can finish off that garden.

My design wall WAS going in an alternative position in the sewing room, but once Steve arrived, he said it couldn't go 'there' as the shelf was not strong enough to hold it.

So, it's going on that blank wall behind my work trestle after all.

Stew will do that this afternoon as well.

For now, we are taking a little break.

I woke this morning with a chronic mid-back ache ... might has slept 'wrong'?  So, I've taken some painkillers, first time in about a month I've taken anything for pain.

12.15 pm, and here comes the forecast rain!  Not a problem... it can water me pots. 😉

We went out around 2 pm, picked up the rocks, grabbed more of those potato things from the supermarket, then picked up Coco and came home.

Then, in the piddling rain, we finished off the garden.  I'll show you the final result tomorrow.

It's now almost 4 pm, and we are both sitting down, multi tasking.... watching TV and working of puzzles/reading crap on social media etc.

Everyone does that eh?

I can't imagine JUST watching TV, or JUST working on my laptop!  

9.35 pm, and it's bedtime.   I can hardly keep me eyes open!  It's been a busy weekend, and they are the best sort.

Catch ya tomorrow.

BONUS NOVEMBER CAMBRIDGE MARKET

 

Here we go again... our fourth market in a row.

November sure is a busy month for markets.

Two left to go after this one, then we get a good break.

The weather is supposed to be good today, and turning to crap tomorrow.

Fingers crossed it does stay fine.

And yep, that's about all I have to now.  I'll post more once we are set up.

6.04 am... on the road.

ABOVE: Another stunning day! WHOOP WHOOP.

ABOVE: I came prepared for a hot day.

ABOVE: All ready...

ABOVE: I bought a fancy spade for the gardens, and a couple of lovely stalls near us.

ABOVE: Breakfast!  Not many markets sell good old hot dogs 'n' chips... yaaa, this one does..

2.29, on our way home.

A long, SLOW day. Minimal sales... but I suppose something is better than nothing.  

Can't wait to unload at home and just relax ... out of the WIND.

4 pm.

Once we had unloaded the car, we pretty much immediately went out to do a grocery shop.

I got all I needed to make two Christmas Cakes early next week. 

Now that is done and I am finally sitting in me lounge chair, feet up, relaxing.

I'm so, so tired, and my lower back is killing me.

But nothing like Stew's poor knee.

8.23 pm, and we've enjoyed a fairly quiet evening.  I made us burgers for dinner, nothing like homemade.

We also tried some potato things... I'll show them tomorrow.

They were bloody YUM.

Time to sign off for the day, we won't be late up tonight.

AND YES, IT'S GETTING FREAKIN' 

HOT AT NIGHT, THE FAN IS ON 

ALL NIGHT LONG.

LET'S FINISH THAT FREAKIN RUNNER TODAY

You already know what I'm doing today eh?

I am going to finish the latest runner of course.  I only have to make the binding and stitch it on.

Them boom, it will be finished.

ABOVE:  Darling Lily last night when I left, she was not happy.

Soooo cute.

ABOVE:  I .  AM.  SAFE.   I'm 5ft 3 and a quarter!

Yaaaa.

*snort*

So yeah, I'm off to Crabby Quarters to get that runner finished.

Catch ya later.

9.48 am, and YES!  I got it done.  I might even start another one now.  Seeing as I have time.  Maybe a smaller one?

ABOVE:  Long and narrow... not a size I've made that often.  I wonder how long it will last on our stall?

ABOVE:  And it's 1.24 pm, and I've just finished another runner! I'm calling this one 'Land & Sea'.

And with that... I'm done sewing for the day.

Time for some lunch I think...

8.54pm... well that was a big break!

I had lunch.

I had a nap.

Got the washing in.

I didn't do much more than that really.

Stew arrived home, and we packed the car for tomorrow.

Now... we will be going to bed early.

Catch ya tomorrow.

I'M GOING TO MOSAICS TODAY, AND CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE

 

This morning I'm heading over to Cambridge to mosaic group.  I will be working on my bird hanging... which I am looking forward to.

I am also picking up a Christmas Cake recipe from one of the mosaic ladies.  I've made it a couple of times before, and it's amazing.  Only, I can't find the recipe here at all.  So, thankfully I can get the recipe again.

It's got lots of fruit and crushed pineapple in it, a lovely moist cake.

I intend making one in 3 weeks time, for Christmas. I'm drooling just thinking about it! 😋😉

When I get home, I shall probably just chill out for a while, have me lunch etc.

So, a fairly quiet day ahead.

Catch ya later.

ABOVE:  Before I went to Mosaics, I had a quick drive around the new housing area that has developed in the past 6 years, since we left Cambridge.  This area was all farmland behind our home ... now it has at least 100 new homes, a new retirement village, shops and so on.

A whole new subdivision... that playground is huge!  And just beautiful.  A real credit to the town developers.

ABOVE:  More of the playground.

ABOVE: There were only two of us at mosaics today, as most of the other girls had other commitments.  

ABOVE: I was thrilled with how much I got done on my Bird Hanging today.  All the pond and rushes ... tick tick.

Next week, if I can get there, I will work on branches and leaves further up.

ABOVE:  I shall never lose this recipe again!  Once on the blog, always on the blog. lol

I will make it sooner, thanks for the advice Marie.

I think I will be making two in fact... cos who says ya can't eat Christmas Cake all year round?  😂😊😋

It is now 12.12 pm, I'm making me lunch, then I will be into Crabby Quarters, working on that runner.  If I don't get it finished today, it will certainly get finished tomorrow.
4.11 pm, and I've been sewing since lunchtime.  I have all the stitching done, and tomorrow I will cut and stitch on the binding, so I will definitely have it done tomorrow, in time for Saturday's market.

It is looking gorgeous.

Stew should be home in the next hour, and I'll drop him off to the pub, then visit the kids before joining him at 7 pm for the obligatory hot chips.

ABOVE:  8.36 pm, and we are just home from the pub. What a lovely, lovely evening we have had!

I visited with the kids, then chatted with Steve about Sunday plans.

He's coming around to help move the fountain and do a small job with Stew in Crabby Quarters.

Back to this evening, after leaving the kids, I met up with Stew and the 'gang' at the pub.

I decided to have a couple of glasses of bubbly wine.

Ha!!!

I'm now kinda tiddly.

HAPPY TIDDLY... as in slightly pissed as a chook.

I'm seriously a cheap drunk!

It was a really lovely group at the pub tonight, lots of laughs, which are so needed sometimes eh?

I need to join in more often at the pub get togethers, and not just for the hot chips.  😌

Time to sign off for the evening, catch ya tomorrow.