GROCERY SHOPPING AND MAYBE A 'CROSS BODY BAG'?

 

The other day, a friend on here (nicrunninggirl) suggested a 'cross body bag' would look good with my denim dress.   I am going to investigate that idea.

A few reasons.

1.  I have been using the exact same handbag for over 28 years!  It's a black, back pack type bag.  I tend to carry far too much in it, making it very heavy on my back and shoulders.  I am wondering if that is contributing to my sore Back/Shoulder/Arm?

2.  I kinda like the idea  of a smaller handbag, one that only holds the bare minimum stuff.  Wallet, lippy, phone and keys.

3. I am not a fan of red (sorry Nic), but I do like the idea of a pretty light or bright blue handbag!  Maybe even PINK, or both?

So, that is on me list of things to shop for today.

SHOPPING... yep, I'm gunna do it again.  

I AM A SELF CONFESSED SHOPPOHOLIC, and I don't care who thinks that's bad.  I might add, STEW doesn't mind at all.  He likes shopping too.

Before that, Stew shall be doing a grocery shop.  Not very exciting... but necessary.  I might just stay home while he does that.  😂😊  

Stew goes back to work tomorrow and will need supplies for his work lunches.  He always takes to work a salad and steak, or sausages, or chops. That is his 'main' meal of the day usually.

I have a similar lunch at home.  

And that is it for now, catch ya later.

Hmmm... I had a quick look online at bags.  Anti-theft ones look good.

ABOVE: Well that was fast and easy.  We went to Strand Bags, but I didn't see anything there I really liked.

Then we went to Farmers, and they had an awesome selection.  I got a black one for everyday, and the pink one for wearing with my new denim dress.

I will keep an eye out for a pretty blue one too.  I might even find one at a market?

Ya never know.

We are now home, and contemplating a quiet day.

Clearly, it has been quiet!  Stew went out and bought us a kebab for a late lunch.  Then I had a nana nap while Stew watched sport on the telly.

Then I prepared my stuff for craft group tomorrow.  I got our garden trolley back from Lacy, who wasn't using it, so I can use it to take all my stuff down to the craft room.

I reckon that will work really well, unless it's raining of course.  Then I'm more inclined to take it all down in me car.

It's now 6.15 pm, and we are still doing bugger all.  Might sign off for the day in fact.

Catch ya tomorrow.

PRAYING FOR A WARMER MORNING THAN THE LAST FEW!

 

The weather forecast is looking favourable today.  No mention of rain, and a high of 17 degrees.  That's not exactly warm, but it's a damn sight better than 0!

I shall be dressing warm, and taking a lighter top for if it gets warm towards the middle of the day.

I have decided not to take Coco after thinking it would be lovely for her to mix and mingle. Setting up, and running the stall is stressful enough, and taking her might be just too much.  Sad really, as I know she would love it so much.

I'll just have to spoil her with loves when we get home.

It's now time to get off here, put some face on and get on the road.

Catch ya later...

...

ABOVE: The eyebrows are starting to fade out!  I thought they might last longer than three weeks to be honest.  Looks like I will be getting them redone every 4-5 weeks.  Is that 'normal' for henna dyed eyebrows?

ABOVE: All set up at 7.47 am. Bring it on. It's looking to be a glorious spring day.

ABOVE: Yeah, its not that warm, so a hot chocolate was called for.

As for customers,  they are thin on the ground.   Hoping it picks up soon, though its nice to be back at a market again. 

1.52 pm:  We are home slightly earlier than normal as it was such a slow day, just about everyone packed up early.

We had an average day overall, and are just thankful it didn't rain.  It certainly looked like it wanted to a few times.

We have now unpacked the car and are taking a moment to relax.

Plans for this afternoon?  We are going to visit the kids for a while, which we are looking forward to.

Then it will be home/dinner/relax.

ABOVE:  Steve and Bex had two really big palm trees cut down in their backyard the other day.

And of course, that stump became the perfect place to mount the kid's slide.

Lily loves it.

ABOVE:  How cute is she?  She is so theatrical in everything she does. And very entertaining.

ABOVE: I went to get on the slide, and Stew said 'NO you can't, you'll break it!"

How rude!  I had no intention of trying to actually slide down it... I just wanted to pose on it.  Pfffffft.    Bloody man, I'm not THAT BIG, but yes, it probably would have buckled with me on it.

OH, like the other new scarf I bought?   I love it just as much as the white/doggy one.

It's now 6 pm, and we are going to sort out something for dinner.  Then settle down for a nice evening in.

Catch ya tomorrow.

HOW ABOUT A LITTLE FASHION PARADE?

 

I decided last night to take some photos of clothes I bought in Australia.

I didn't take photos of ALL I bought, there's a couple of special outfits I've left out as they are for a special occasion next year.

So... here goes:

ABOVE  I just LOVE the flowy pants!  I can wear them over summer as they are so lightweight.

What do ya think of me new glad rags then?

Now, back to today, I have to go through my market stock, and get things organised for tomorrow's market.

Coco is getting groomed this afternoon, so we pretty much have the day free.

Might go out for lunch somewhere nice.

We are out shopping among other things.

ABOVE: I just bought a couple of  scarves to wear with my plain blue denim dress. How's  that kj? 🙂🙃  The other scarf is in blue tones.

1.05 pm.  While at The Base, and in one of our favourite stores (Acquisitions), we did a tiny bit of shopping.

ABOVE:  STEW wanted this Britto figurine.  

So, we got it.

ABOVE:  And I loved their new range of little houses.

I've decided that as I no longer live in a big house, I'll just have lots of little houses.  Works for me.  😃😂😇

I need to buy more tea light candles!

ABOVE:  Lunchtime rolled around and we found ourselves in town at Portofino.  The last time we were here we were a bit disappointed.  But not today.

ABOVE:  I had a really yummy Chicken/Mushroom Fettucine, and Stew had a Spaghetti Marinara.   It didn't look like much on the plate, size wise, but the dishes were deeper in the middle.  I couldn't eat all of mine, so Stew had it.  He's getting used to having my left overs! lol

We are now chillin' out at home, before going into the garage to get things ready for tomorrow's market.

7 pm: And we are ready to go for tomorrow.  I'm seriously considering taking Coco with us for the first time too.  A few other stall holders take their small dogs, so hmmm.  I know she would LOVE it.  So maybe we will.

I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Now, Stew is off to the front room to watch rugby, and I have one more episode of Coronation Street to catch up on.

Then... an early night for me.

Catch ya tomorrow.

I REALLY THOUGHT IT WAS DEAD AS A DODO

 

I had a plant in our previous home that was bloody temperamental.  Like a right shit to keep alive.

ABOVE:  I had it in the front bedroom, where it did very well.  If I moved it anywhere else, it packed a sad and tried to die on me.

When we moved, it was put in the lounge, then the garage, in preparation for our moving.

It looked like it had died, and I was totally OVER IT.

Once at our new home, I put the pot in the front garden and walked away.  I FULLY expected it to stay dead, I even chopped off it's blackened leaves, and put a couple of other little plants in the pot.

ABOVE:  I noticed it yesterday.  Can you believe that it has started growing a new leaf!  This is a plant I've strived to keep alive for bloody YEARS!  Seriously, it has been THAT GODDAM TEMPERAMENTAL.

So, I chuck it outside in the middle of winter, it gets virtually no direct sunlight, and that little shit GROWS?   😖😮😤 Clearly it likes being abused and ignored.

ABOVE: The little pots of plants I put in the brazier are doing well too.  Clearly I just need to chuck and run!  lol

Stew and I don't have any clear plans for today, but I'm bound to think of something.

I do have a round table topper to finish before Saturday's Tamahere market.

I missed it!  The 19 year anniversary of my blog was on the 14th of October.  Oh well.... one year to go till my 20th... I hope I don't forget that one.

11.11 am, just home after getting Stew's car new tyres.  We also stopped in at Steve's work for a quick hi. 

Now?  I'm going to finish the round table topper, Stew is going to put our suitcases up in the attic and then, it will be lunch time.  We are having left overs from last night's dinner.

ABOVE:  And there it is, my second round Table Topper in these colours.  Do you like the middle?  I changed it up from just being yellow.

Right, now that's done and off my mind, I shall have some lunch.

Then I have to pick up some new medications.

The Doctor rang me this morning.  Upshot is I have inflamed tendons in my shoulder.  And there is nothing that can be done, besides steroid shots (NO thank you), anti inflammatory pills, pain killers and physio.  I shall now wait until my doctor is back from leave before MAYBE going to a physiotherapist.

I have very little faith in physiotherapists... their exercises made NO difference to my torn calf muscle, and made Stew's knee WORSE!  Tell a man with a fucked up knee to do SQUATS?!!!  Yeah nah.

From what I have read about tendonitis, if it doesn't improve in 2-3 WEEKS after onset, it may require surgery.

I am now 5 months from 'onset'. 😖😕😓

ABOVE:  Yeah.  I though that was pretty damn good.

5 pm, Stew is at the pub and I opted to just come home.  I've got an upset tummy for some reason, it didn't like left overs for my lunch.  Oh well, seeing as I'm home for the evening, I might binge watch Coronation Street.   I've got almost two weeks worth to catch up on.

I just spent a bit of time taking photos for tomorrow's blog post.  Clothes I got in Australia.

Now though, I shall be picking Stew up shortly, then we will turn into old farts, parked in front of the telly till bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

CAR TO SERVICE, MEDICINES AND WARDROBE

 

So this morning we are taking Stew's car in for a service. After that we shall go over to the Base and pick up Stew's prescription.

We might then have a wander around the shops before coming home.

I plan on re-organising my wardrobe, now that I have extra hanging space.

ABOVE:  Lacy put my new hanger together...

ABOVE:  I didn't take long to half fill it with my new wardrobe!  I am going to have all my summer 'hang up' clothes on it after today.

My 'proper' wardrobe, in our bedroom, will be for my winter clothes.

And that is it for now... catch ya later.

ABOVE:  I was really pleased to see our power consumption while we were away.  DOWN 71%, which is probably due (primarily) to us turning our hot water cylinder off.  We had never done that before, so will be doing that from now on when we go away.

10.18 am, and we are home from town.  Stew doesn't have to pick his car up till after 4 pm today.  

ABOVE:  We went to The Base and got his prescription, more coat hangers (new clothes eh?),  I got some new summer jandals from Skechers, then had a nice morning tea, before coming home again.

Stew is now vacuuming the house, and I'm going to tackle my wardrobe.

ABOVE: Slight change of wardrobe plan.  All my dresses are now in my bedroom wardrobe, and winter coats.

I didn't realise quite how many dresses I had!

Some will be going off to the op shops, as I'm just not likely to wear them.

ABOVE:  The garage rack has all my summer tops and bottoms, and lightweight jackets and cardigans.  

I'm very happy with how that came about.

My BSA was killing me this morning, so I took the new drugs (Codeine and anti inflammatory pills).  They worked for about 4 hours.  I thought I might have heard something from the doctor after my ultra sound by now?  Maybe I will tomorrow.

I'd like to know DEFINITELY what is wrong, and what can be done about it.

We will be going out in the next hour or so to pick up Stew's car.  Oh ya, it's going to clash with rush hour traffic.  

4.21 pm, and I just dropped Stew off to wait for his car.  We took Coco with us, cos she loves car rides.

It was only after we left home I realised we had not brought her lead with us, and I would have to drop Coco off at home first, before going and parking my car down at it's designated parking space.

But, then I had a bright idea:

ABOVE:  I carried her home in me nifty basket, that is always in me car.  She wasn't that impressed, and tried to escape a couple of times.  I couldn't let her walk, as she would have taken off, never to be seen again.  She's good at that.  I couldn't risk it with the river so close by.

So, we got safely home, and all is good.  Just waiting for Stew to arrive home now, then I'll make a start on dinner.

Well for a relatively new car, Stew's car needs quite a bit of 'work' to get it's WOF!  Crazy.  New tyres, that's gunna sting.

At least it will be done by the end of the week.

Now ... we are doing the usual.  Had dinner, and now relaxing.

Catch ya tomorrow.

ANOTHER BUSY DAY

 

First up for today, I remembered I took a little video of the large lizard on Sunday.... so here it is:

ABOVE:  I was very surprised at how fast he moved!

I wasn't scared of him, because Rowena said they don't bite.

Back to today, Stew is going to the Doctors to get more anti inflammatory's and pain killers for his knee.  He's in constant pain now.

While he's out, I am taking a few more things we don't need down to our Community Centre.

There is a Bring and Swap meeting this morning.

You take down anything you don't want, and at 10.30 am, everyone can go down and choose THREE things they would like FOR FREE!

Anything left is donated to charity.

It is such a good idea.  Most of us here have had to downsize to come into this village, so most of us have surplus 'stuff'.

I have already donated MASSES to charity shops, and to the kids.  But I've found quite a bit to donate here as well.

After that, we are going out to get those new dog biscuits for Coco, and I am on the hunt for some summer footwear.

That's about it for now, catch ya later.

1.06 pm:  Right.  Stew just got more pain killers, nothing else. They can't give him anything else.  

So, he just waits to see the specialist now.

I went to the village swap thingee... and got this:

ABOVE:  It was the only thing there, and there was a lot of stuff, that I really loved.  I don't think I've had a blue glass bottle that shape before.  Hard to remember, as I've given so much away over the years.

Stew and I are now just relaxing for the rest of the day.

Tonight I have Weight Watchers and my jabby jab.

After that we are going out to dinner.  I'm looking forward to that.

I just spent three hours cleaning up things... hitting DELETE DELETE DELETE.  Such fun.

7.10 pm:  I went to Weight Watchers.  I was the only person there.  Seems the coach is on leave and I didn't get the notification. 😖  I was looking forward to showing a loss too. Oh well, next week will for sure.

After that, Stew and I went to our favourite Indian Restaurant for dinner.

I wanted an entree first... so we had that.  Then, as Stew predicted, I couldn't eat my main.  It's in the fridge for Lacy to have tomorrow.

I just had me jabby jab, didn't feel a thing AGAIN.  So good!  And now I'm going to put me feet up and have a quiet, calm evening.

Catch ya tomorrow.

HOME... SLEEPING IN 😴 💤 🛌

 We got home at around 3 am.

We are sleeping in. Will catch up later on in the morning. 

10.30 am, and we are up, and have already unpacked everything.

There's a load of washing on.

Stew is in the shower, and I will be jumping in right after him.

This afternoon I finally have my ultra sound appointment.

After that we have a few things to do.

Stew is going to do 'his' grocery shop, and I'm going to find a mobile clothes rack for the garage, for all my new clothes, that simply will NOT fit in my wardrobe.

Bearing in mind I only have half a wardrobe for hanging clothes in now.

We both got on the scales, and I was .300 grams down!  I had not expected a loss, as even though I ate bugger all, I tend to hold onto fluid when it's HOT.

Stew on the other hand LOST 2.8 KGS!!!!  Not fair, that man ate friggin HEAPS more than me!  NOT FAIR.  😖😕  It must have been all the extra walking he did, and sweating.  

It doesn't seem right that I can literally STARVE and only lose .300 grams.  I'm so damn frustrated right now.  I really have been so good!  A single bite of my sister's birthday cake!!!  I might as well have had the whole damn thing.

Oh well... it is what it is.  I shall have to get back to my routine now, and add in more exercise obviously.

I'm going to be positive, and say a loss is WAY BETTER than a gain.

2.51 pm, and we are just in from our shopping... getting an ultra sound etc.

First up, the lady doing my ultrasound said it looks like Tendonitis.... my shoulder tendons are all inflamed. I'm not sure where to from here, I suppose the doctor will let me know.

At least it's not a Rotor Cuff 'injury' by the sound of it, though my rotor cuff tendons are inflamed too.

ABOVE: Our drink bottles started leaking, and mine lost it's seal, so the drink was going flat. NOT nice.  So we got new bottles... OMG how do they justify the price of them???  These ones were on sale luckily.

ABOVE:  We also found this clothes rack for my extra hanging space.  It will have to sit in the garage.  But that's fine, the garage isn't far from me bedroom after all.

I also got more coat hangers, after donating so many to the op shops when we moved.  Yikes.

Stew is now cooking our lunch/dinner, pork chops and veges.

After that, he has to go back into town to have an MRI on his knee.

He has an appointment with the knee specialist on the 10th of December, unless they get a cancellation, then they can see him earlier.

Fingers crossed for a cancellation eh?  😊

ABOVE:  We picked up Coco from Steve 'n' Bex's at dinner time.

We'd bought some clothes for the kids and Bex.  I grabbed a photo of Lily in her pretty party dress... I doubt she'll ever wear it.  She doesn't like dresses. 😥😪  

Coco looks really good!  Bex gave her some dog biscuits that she LOVED, and she has put some weight on.  She needed to.  Tomorrow we will go and buy her some for home.

I am really feeling the cold!  It was a bit too hot in Australia, but coming back here ... it's still quite cold.  I've got a thick jacket on, inside the house.

It is now almost 8 pm, and I'm ready for bed.  It's been a long couple of days.

Catch ya tomorrow.