FINSIHING THEM OFF

 

It's looking good for a fine day at market tomorrow!  It will be our first fine market in a while, thank god.

I have two Harvey's House runners to finish off today, both of the 'Top n Tail' variety.

Thank you for all the suggestions re:  What to put in the middle of them, if anything.

Stew and I are both of the opinion they don't need anything in the middle.  That is where you would sit a vase, or a pot plant etc. 

ABOVE: A random photo I took last night.  Any idea what it is (apart from a fish!)...  ?

Oh, before I get into the sewing room, I'm going to The Base to find some new three quarter tights for summer.  NOT exercise ones that ya sweat like hell in.  More cotton blend ones.  And perhaps a couple of new t-shirts as well.

I've got t-shirts I'm still wearing that are over 20 years old!  Time to refresh the 'casual' wardrobe. 

That will be fun.  I hope.  I don't really enjoy clothing shopping, those goddam mirrors in the changing rooms are right bitches.  😂😉😖

ONWARD...

11.10 am:  Just home from me shopping trip.

First up, Spotlight (AGAIN) for some elastic.

Then Mitre 10 for eyelets for wall hangings.

Then Farmers for some t-shirts.

And ummm, there was a sale on.  Buy one, get the second for half price.

So I did some shopping for summer.

I got two pairs of plain black shorts (stretchy fabric, but not cycle shorts), and a lovely white Bolero to wear over summer dresses, and these tops:

ABOVE: WHY ON EARTH do manufacturers make tops for 'bigger girls' with HORIZONTAL STRIPES?? Derrr.  I particularly love the two on the left.

Must be a bloke.

Anyway, I was happy with my new tops, they will see me through for the next few years I'm sure.  😊

And now I'm going to have an early lunch, then get into the sewing room to get those two runners finished.

OH AND THAT FISH?  It's Dante's pencil case. lol

MIGHT AS WELL

 

Yesterday I got Lacy to show me how to do a 'Story' on Facebook again.  And I posted a little video of Marley.

You might have already seen it on Facebook, but if not, here it is:

I don't think anyone likes the sound of their own voice on a video!  I sure don't like mine.  But I'm told some people really enjoy listening to me and my KIWI ACCENT.  lol

What accent?  It's all you buggers overseas that talk weirdly.

I am going to try and do a few more videos of my daily doings and put them on here.  Certainly not daily, but maybe weekly if I can.

Now, while I know I really don't need any more runners to add to my stash, what else am I gunna do with my time?

I don't need to pack anything else right now in preparation for our eventual move, so that's not an option.

The house is perfectly presented and 100% de-cluttered, so that's another thing I don't need to do.

So... sorry to bore you lot, but I'm just gunna sew and sew to keep myself busy.

This evening is 'pub night' for Stew, and of course, I go along for an hour or so as well.  So that's something to look forward to.

HMMMMMmmmm...

but maybe not.  😂😅😊

ONWARD...

11.40 am:  And my morning has been just the usual.

Get the house all tidy.   

I flung open all the windows as it's a gorgeous day.

No washing needed doing today.

Into the sewing room.

Lacy visited to show me some clothes she just bought from an Op Shop.  Not bad.

A couple of days ago someone suggested I put a SUN in the middle of the Top 'n Tail House Runners?

I'm like, nah, not  a sun.  Maybe some clouds?

So I cut out some cloud fabric...

ABOVE:  Sat it on the runner... stepped back and was like... OH HELL NO!

That looked bloody IKKKkkkk.

So, they stay the way they are.  Just houses at each end.

I'm about ready to take a break.  

8.20 pm:  lol, nice long break eh?   I did more sewing, then took Stew to the pub.

Visited the kids.

Then met Stew and everyone else at the pub.

It's such a neat place, everyone is so friendly.

AND they now have Diet Coke for me.  

We are now home, and about to just enjoy a few hours before bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

GIRLS GET A HAIRCUT

 

Last night Steve (and family) came around after dinner.

Steve wanted Stew to try a new dark Rum he had found.

ABOVE:  The guys drinking rum and coke.  It was a very strong rum at 57% alcohol!

I had a sip of Stew's... not my cuppa tea at all.  Way, way too strong.  And I'm not a dark rum drinker.

ABOVE:  Our little darling playing happily.  Quite hard to get photos of the boys nowdays, they arrive then sit in the lounge, plugged into their laptops and devices!

I swear they would be stuffed if the power went out for any length of time!

ABOVE:   *sigh*  It won't be long before she realises that those buttons make the leg recliners lift up!  

ABOVE:  She did get over the doorway 'lip', but came back into the family room quick smart.  Baby steps for Miss Lily.

Now, back to today.  I have sweet fanny all on my agenda!  The girls have a grooming appointment at midday, so while they are there I might go to the mall and have a browse around, get some exercise bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

2 pm:  I didn't realise I'd not done an update at all today!

Whoops.

Oh well, clearly I was busy.   I got some prep work done for a couple more runners.

Lacy visited.  One of her guinea pigs passed away last night (Gary), so she was a bit upset.

Then I took the girls to the groomers, and spent 90 minutes wandering around Chartwell Square.

Picked up the girls and came home.

Feet up now, taking a break.  Feeling damn tired as I didn't sleep well last night.  My left shoulder/arm is still playing up.  Less said.

ABOVE: our girls, looking gorgeous.  They will both sleep all afternoon now, it's stressful getting groomed.

6.46 pm:  Well I've been in the sewing room all afternoon, getting a couple of runners ready for stitching tomorrow.

Stew is now home, and dinner this evening will be something very light, as I had a McDonalds burger for lunch.

MOST DISAPPOINTED in it too.  They are just rubbish.

I've had a mild headache, sore shoulder and arm all day, but have resisted taking any medication.  I was starting to have pain killers EVERY DAY to keep pain at bay.

But, I'm happy to say it's been a week since I had anything.  But tonight I might just have something, my head is pounding now.

Not fun.

Well, it's been a good day on a whole.  I got shit done, and Coronation Street is on soon.  What more could I ask for?  Well, a sold house would be good, but we just have to wait for the right person/family to walk through the door eh?

Catch ya tomorrow.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

 

Thank You so much for all the replies to my question yesterday!  It was such fun reading all the comments.  Made my day in fact.  I was literally smiling all day.

I had started feeling like my blog was a waste of time, and there were not that many people reading it anymore.  Seems I was wrong!

I checked out my blog STATS last night...

ABOVE:  over 8.8 million views in 18 years, and 6,584 posts.  That works out to be about 1,300 views per post.  Not bad!

So now it's back to 'normal'.... 

ABOVE:  I've got this container full of little bits of Steam a Seam and Vliesofix... which I hate to throw out.

While working on runners yesterday, I ran out of large pieces of either double sided fixative, so ...

ABOVE:  Waste not, want not!

It was too late in the day to pop down to Spotlight for more, so why not start using all those little pieces?

But in saying that, I will be going to Spotlight today for more.  It's not really that much fun putting all those little pieces together. 😊

ABOVE:  My plan for today is to work on this Runner.  I can't call it a 'Round House Runner' cos it's not got the 'round houses' on it.

  

New name needed people... gimme some ideas.

It's not a Wonky House Runner either.  Maybe just a 'House Runner'?  Meh.  

IDEAS   IDEAS....

ONWARD...

HOLD THOSE THOUGHTS.

ABOVE:  This is the runner I'm working on.  I decided to name it 'Top 'n' Tail' Houses.

BUT THEN...

I was like, why the hell would I want three different names for House Runners?

ABOVE:  So now I'm looking for a name for all three types of house runners!

Bundle them all together... and call them??????

I have already been to Spotlight, bought the very last of their Vliesofix. They better get more in!

Now, I'm going to work on that runner.

ABOVE:  A Top 'n' Tail one.

ABOVE:  # 6 done and dusted.

Lacy called in for lunch, she brought Pizza.

I have decided, seeing as the suggestions were SPARSE, that I'm gunna go with...

HARVEY'S HOUSES.  Pure and simple.   That will encompass  Wonky, Round and Top 'n' Tail Houses.  

And now, I'm taking a break.

ABOVE:  I was scrolling through Facebook just now, and read that.

NEVER has a statement hit home so much.  And that is why we don't have some people in our lives.

That is why we backed off ... silence is the best answer for some people.

And I posted that in case you needed to read it too.  Never put up with abuse, be it physical, mental, or emotional.  Walk away.  Close the door. Don't look back.  

4.45 pm, and Stew is home early.  He took his car in for a WOF, and there was no point going back to work for just an hour or so.

I've had a quiet afternoon, I'm not sure I will do another runner before our market on Saturday.  My stock is FULL right now. Which is great.  No pressure or stress.

9.12 pm:  The kids came to visit this evening, which was neat.  Lily is really getting some speed up with her crawling now!  She was right into exploring more than just the Family Room ... so we have to have eyes in the back of our heads.  lol

I will post a few photos tomorrow, but for now, I'm looking forward to Coronation Street soon.

Catch ya tomorrow.

EIGHTEEN YEARS

 

NOT the best photo of us (blurry), it was taken around 2005, just before I started blogging.

I have been a blogger for EIGHTEEN YEARS today!

I am proud that I have managed to blog every day for EIGHTEEN YEARS...  except a few days when family did it for me, as I was in hospital.

I think I mentioned shopping yesterday eh?

Well I will now show you what we got:

ABOVE:  This lovely bowl from Tony Sly Pottery.

NO, I didn't need another bowl, but come on!  It's gorgeous.  I had to.

ABOVE:  We were GIVEN these colourful socks!  Yep.  The shop owner just gave them to us.

Well, OK, we DID spend a lot of money in her shop.

ABOVE: We both got a new sweatshirt.  They are soooo warm and comfy.  Yes, we are coming into summer, but they will be good for the next few winters.

We also bought some stuff for Xmas presents for grandkids.  

And that is all .... not much, but it was fun.

Any shopping is fun.

Now back to today.

Monday.  

Get the washing on.

Water the plants.

Tidy the house.

Finish Round House Runner #5.  That should happen today.

ONWARD...

10.32 am:  I forgot a couple of questions I wanted to ask you!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN READING MY BLOG?  

How did you find me?  

Why are you reading my blog?

Next.   I had to visit Spotlight for some plain blue fabric for binding the runner I'm working on.

ABOVE:  I saw the vibrant blue fabric and just had to get a little bit.

ABOVE:  Spied this thread too.  Am I the only person who salivates over fabric and thread?  Please say no! 😂😅😖

ABOVE:  Round House Runner #5, and it is, by far, my favourite of the 5 I've made in this style.

I made the 'round' smaller, and popped the taller houses out more.  Then on the end, well how gorgeous are those three houses?!

It is now 10 to 12 midday, and I'm stopping for lunch.

My next runner is already on my mind.

I started blogging after reading a weight loss story on Weight Watchers, and she had a blog.  

Joanna Beckford ... you have a lot to answer for!  I met many bloggers via the Weight Watchers Community group, but literally ALL of them have stopped blogging now.  

I'm just a dinosaur stuck in the past.  I do 'Facebook' a little bit, but will stick with my blogging for the foreseeable future.

I do not know how long I will keep going, I suppose while I still enjoy it I think.

All you ANONYMOUS people who have left comments... I am not that clever ... I have no idea who some of you are!   But thank you for leaving your comment.

Today has been rather fun I must say.  I've loved reading your comments.

But now... it's time to sign off, something I forgot to do yesterday!  Whoops.  Sorry Felicity for worrying you.

Catch ya tomorrow.

Heading into YEAR # 19.  Phew.

And yes, we are heading into SUMMER.  Expect me to start bitching about being too hot.

Will make a change from being too cold! 
   

ANOTHER OPEN HOME

 

Today we have our 8th Open Home.

Hopefully we get a few viewers today.

I am going to try not to get too wound up over it all.  It WILL happen.  At the right time.

Stew still has to scoop the leaves/debris out of the pool.  Other than than, and a quick tidy and vacuum, the house is ready for showing.

I keep it tip top, and ready every day.

So, I'll probably get to do a little bit of sewing this morning.

After the Open Home, we will probably just come home and blob out for the afternoon.

ONWARD...

10 am, and I thought it was going to be a nice day.  The sun was out and it wasn't cold.

Two hours later and it's clouded over and looks like rain.  I have run around and shut all the windows, and turned on the heaters!

All our 'get ready' jobs are just about done.  Waiting for floors to dry so I can go pee! 😂😉

4.20 pm:  Well we have been busy!

First up, the Open Home went OK.  A few through.

After that, we actually went out to Raglan.

We wanted to check out a couple of options out there.

ABOVE:  A lovely new subdivision in Raglan.  Quite a bit to look at there.

ABOVE: One of the options we are considering.  Buying a section and building something new, to suit US.  It would mean we have to rent while it's being built, but hey!  Why not?  Imagine that was our view.

ABOVE: We stopped in at Tony Sly Pottery, and ummm, we might have bought something there.

In fact, we did shopping at two different places in Raglan this afternoon.  I was in the mood.

For shopping.

Oh hell, when am I not in the mood for shopping?  lol

ABOVE: The harbour today, tide was out, so not that attractive.  And the weather was fine one minute, then pissing down the next.

ABOVE:  Nice building on the Wharfe.  

Home now, and I am going to just chill out till dinnertime, not that we are hungry.  We grabbed a very late lunch at 2 pm!

NEXT DAY... sorry I forgot to sign off!

I got tired.  I went to bed early for me (9 pm ).

JUST A FEW THINGS

 

Today is gunna be a good day.

First up, Stew is off to do his weekend grocery grab.

While he's out, I shall get all the morning jobs done.  Get the house all ship shape, bla bla bla.

Then we are joining Steve, Bex and their kids at the mall for a wander, and then lunch.

It will be the first time we have been out and about with baby Lily!

That should be lovely.  

Once we have spent some time with them, we are taking a drive over to 'XYZ' to look at a couple of new home possibilities.  There's several new ones just completed, it's rather exciting having so many choices!

That will take a couple of hours, then we will come home and do a few things around the yard.  The pool has some leaves/debris in it, so that needs clearing.

We also want to have a second look through the three back sheds, and decide what can go, and what we definitely want to keep.  Some of that stuff has gone from house to house, and is actually NEVER used.  Why do we do that?

JUST IN CASE WE NEED IT?  😂😖

When I was de-cluttering the inside of the house,  I literally got rid of anything I had not used in 2-3 years.  Best thing I have ever done.

OK, OK ... if it was beautiful, and it brought me JOY, I did keep it.  But other shit?  Nah. 

I sold some stuff,  gifted some to kids, or donated it to Op Shops.

So that's what our plans are for today.  I really LOVE having plans.  There is nothing worse for me than having nothing to do.  I hate that.

ONWARD...

Yes! As I was about to fall asleep last night an idea for the negative space on RHR #5 popped into my head. So I will work on that later today.  I'll hold off sharing my idea until its finished  ... then show ya.

1.05 pm.  We got all our little jobs done this morning, and I made some progress on the latest runner.

Steve, Bex and the kids arrived for a visit before we all headed over to the mall for lunch.  I got to push Lily in her pushchair, which was neat.  She fell asleep.

Lunch was nice, we found a table big enough for all of us, which was awesome.

Now we are off to look at houses.

4.23 pm.  Back from our look around.  It was fun.  I don't think we have found 'the one' yet, but OMG, there's plenty of options.

ABOVE:  A few we looked at today.  Not too sure about the two storey one, I'm not keen on stairs.

Right, time to relax till dinnertime.  Which will be crackers 'n' cheese.  Lunch was our main meal of the day.

8.47 pm:  Super quiet evening here.  Had our 'dinner', his nibs is watching rugby and I've been scrolling on the 'net.

Not much else to yabber on about, so signing off for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

I. HAVE. NOTHING.

 

I had a shit night's sleep.

I had too much on my mind.

The Real Estate Agent really got to me yesterday.

I am gunna have to try VERY HARD to get back to some sort of happy place in my brain.

Easier said than done.

Today I am going to work on yet another RHR.

I got some new fabric at the Quilt Show last week, so am using some of those.  Nice to have some lovely new fabric.

You can never have too much fabric!

Someone said to me recently that I have ENOUGH fabric!

Ha ha.

I can remember that person wanting Barbie Dolls as a little kid.  I gave her ELEVEN.  Cos she didn't think 1 or two was ENOUGH.

Shows the difference in how we treat people.  I am a GIVER.  

Right, I suppose I shall start my day.  Try to find my happy place again.

ONWARD...

OK.  Lets address a couple of things mentioned in comments.

Correct, we do not have to move.  We have chosen to for quite a few valid reasons.  Mostly to set ourselves up for the remainder of our lives.  Smaller house, less overheads, NO MORTGAGE, no maintenance, lock and leave, ability to travel, and so on.

I am the one who has to make the most compromises with a smaller home.  But I don't mind.  There is more to life than having a BIG sewing room!  I can sew anywhere.  And one day, I won't be sewing anymore.  

The Estate Agent has never said potential buyers have said our home is priced too high, NEVER.  

She is just after a quick sale, for her goddam commission.  She doesn't have a vested interest in what we get for this home.  If she doesn't pull her head in we will be changing agents come December.  We are locked in with her till then.

We have been in this situation before, and we will ride it out.   The market is improving, interest rates are coming down, and summer is around the corner, which is always a good time to be on the market.

And I will try to not be so negative.  No one likes a negative moaner.  Even I don't like myself right now!  😂😅😊

Have you seen the Tom Hanks movie 'The Terminal'?  There's a scene where the 'boss' of the airport tries to trick Viktor into leaving the airport, which would result in him being arrested?  Well, when Viktor realises what's going on he looks at the camera and says "I WAIT"..... that's me.

I.  WILL.  WAIT.

12.45 pm:  I literally stayed in my PJ's this morning, and did some sewing.  

Then Lacy came around, YAAA!  Some company.

We ended up going out to lunch.

ABOVE: We went to Fergus Bar and Kitchen, and had a different Pizza from what Stew and I had on Wednesday night.  It was lovely.

It was rather enjoyable spending some time with Lacy, just chatting about our lives, and where we are at right now.  She's facing some decisions, which I hope I've helped her with.

All is good though.  I am feeling WAY happier than I was this morning. 

I also appreciate the support I get on here from YOU fullas.  It backs up how I am feeling about the Estate Agent etc.  

Now, there is some sewing awaiting my return to the sewing room.

ABOVE:  RHR #5 is on the table.  Making good progress.  Happy place re-found.

Sometimes it doesn't work.  But today it has.

I'm trying to decide if I leave the 'negative' space alone, or add the line and extra houses, or something else?  Hmmmm............

9.27 pm.  Well I didn't make up my mind about what to do with the latest runner.... yet.

It can wait.

WAIT.  lol

Getting good at that.

But hey, the day panned out OK, I'm in a much better mood now.

Ice cream helped.

We are blobbed out in the lounge, watching dumb arse TV.  Off to bed in another hour or two.

Catch ya tomorrow.