ARE YOU A FRIEND, OR A FOE?

 

So, I sit and ponder things... sometimes far too much.

And what I'm pondering right now, after a steady stream of quite nasty comments (most unpublished)...  is, why do you read this blog?

Is it to enjoy, feel a part of my life, like seeing what I'm doing, and to be encouraging and nice?

Or is it to see what you can do to tear me down?

I have had over 100,000 comments over the lifetime of this blog. And I can say that probably 90% of them have been lovely.

The other 10%?  Not so nice.  And in fact, there's a few people who almost always comment with a negative connotation.  It isn't nice people.  If you have nothing nice to say, how about you just keep it to yourself?

It's Thursday.  I am going over to Cambridge this morning to join the girls at Mosaics.   

8.35 am:  I've just been for a nice little walk along the river side.

As expected, I couldn't go far on 'our side' due to work being done.

ABOVE:  I came to 'the fence', and as it said the path was closed 'ahead', I carried on till I came to the closed part.

The sign also said 'Follow the Detour'... there was no detour.

ABOVE: There it was, a BEAUTIFUL BLUE TRACTOR!  That made my day.

The contractors have 9 weeks work ahead of them, building up the river bank with rocks, then building a boardwalk over it.

After it's done, even when the river is super high, we will be able to walk all the way along the riverbank to Pukete Bridge again.

ABOVE: The blue lines indicate where the boardwalk is going to start.  I can't wait to see it finished.  You will, of course, get to see it too.

😊😉

It is now 8.45 am, and it's time to head off to Cambridge.  I won't be doing any more mosaic work, or even knitting.  I might just sit and YAK.  lol

To any keyboard warrior... just remember there can be many 'interpretations' of what you write.  While you might not mean to offend, criticise etc... how someone else reads your words is up in the air!   I have fallen foul of this on many occasions myself, so it's not just you.

BE KIND.  BE CONSIDERATE. BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR WORDS.

12 noon, and I'm home after a really lovely morning.

Spent yakking, of course.

AND, I saw what everyone is making, and now I have some MOSAIC inspiration!

ABOVE:  'S' has made this gorgeous wall art, and as I also have a piece of that perspex, I'm going to make one very similar to hers.  It's gorgeous.

ABOVE: 'S' has also been knitting little dolls for the Paediatric Ward at the hospital.  I MIGHT make some too... maybe.  We will see.

I get a local painting of where we have lived, and every time we move, I get a new painting of the new town/city etc.

When we moved from Cambridge to Hamilton, I had to give away my 'Cambridge' painting, as it was too big for the wall I have all my : 'we have lived here' paintings on.  

So, I have been on the look out for a smaller painting for a year or more.

I visited a local gallery in Cambridge this morning.

I told the lady I was looking for a SMALL painting of something very obviously CAMBRIDGE.

I said, like The Church, The Water Tower or one of the Bridges.

She showed me this:

ABOVE:  I was gobsmacked!  How on earth ?  A ceramic 'painting', small and with ALL THREE Cambridge icons on it!!!  Obviously, I bought it on the spot.

Now I have to get it framed... shouldn't be hard for me to do.

I had a quick look at the back of the ceramic pictures... already got hanging bits, so I don't even have to frame it.  Awesome.

4.45 pm:  I'm just home from the supermarket.  

Stew just arrived home from work, and once he's changed I'll be dropping him off at the pub, coming home to put the groceries away, then going over to the kids for a visit.

Then... pub and hot chips for me, before bringing me tipsy man home.

Snores galore tonight for sure!  😂😅😆

8.45 pm:  Surprise, surprise, his nibs is not tipsy!  He seems to have been very restrained this evening.  Maybe I won't have to listen to him snoring like a train all night after all.  

And on that happy note, I'm out of here.

Catch ya tomorrow.

IT'S NOT DEAD, AND ONE DAY ONLY

 

Do you remember the weird looking, seemingly dead-ish looking tree we have by our garage wall?

ABOVE:  I'm happy to say it is not dead, and has sprung to life.

It's still a fairly ugly tree, but not as bad now it has some leaves.  I'd be tempted to decorate it at Christmas time, but dare not.

Neighbours.  Less said.

ABOVE:  Lacy owned this little red car for exactly ONE DAY!  Then she sold it on, as she knew it wasn't for her.

Too much work needed doing on it, and parts for it are expensive.

She will now STOP being so impulsive, and save up for a decent car.

ABOVE:  My additional 'weapon' against Coco scratching and gnawing herself!  My Nerf Gun works exceptionally well.

I only have to shoot her a few times and she stops scratching.   

Or she slinks off out of my sight to scratch, which I don't mind as much as her scratching right under my nose.

Luckily for her, the 'bullets' don't hurt, just startle her.

EDIT:  We have had Coco for 15 and a half years.  We KNOW what works for her, we have tried various medications for the itching over many visits to the Vet.

The only thing that worked at all was Steroids.

Anyone who knows anything about dogs will tell you, long term use of steroids in a dog can lead to many health issues, worse than the scratching.  It can also lead to an early death.

How I choose to care for my dog is MY business. 

I don't come into your home and tell you what to do/how to do it, so stop.

I'm going to work on a runner today, and once it is finished, I have another project lined up in Crabby Quarters (aka : the sewing 'room').

ABOVE: Such a lovely day, Coco and I decided to walk to visit Bex and Lily.  It was just under half an hour's walk, so once we walk home again we will have had our daily exercise.

ABOVE:  Miss Lily marching through the house with a bag on her head.  She is so damn funny, and kept us entertained.

ABOVE:  It took a while to get her to stop long enough for a photo.  Freakin kid is just too active.

Which is, of course, a damn good way for a little kid to be.

ABOVE: On our walk home, I swung by our previous home.  I was sure Coco would walk straight into the driveway and head up to the house.

But NO!  She actually walked right past the driveway.

I was shocked.  Then thought, yeah, she's getting old.

She hopped, skipped and jumped all the way to Bex's, which is just over 2 kms, but on the way home?

Nope.  She kept fairly close to me, and at one point I thought she might need to be carried.  But she made it.

ABOVE:  The little apricot tree we planted out the front 3 years ago is going crazy again this year.  It is FULL to the gunnels with fruit, I don't know how they will all grow on such a little tree.

I might go past again in a month and see how it's doing.

And in fact, I might buy one for here, cos they were delicious.

I'm sure I'll be 'allowed' to plant one too.

I've just had me lunch, which was veges in gravy for a change.  And now?  I might just sit and relax for a while.  Put Netflix on...

*sigh*

that is all.... or not.  I will not be publishing any more comments re: The bag.

I've discovered Online Jigsaws again (Thanks Khady!), and OMG so much more fun that 'real' ones.

No worries about where to set it up, putting it away when littlies visit etc.  I might become hooked on them again.  😖😊😉
 

Right, I'm happily watching Coronation Street, just finished a puzzle and feel cross eyed. lol

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

FLEAS? OVERFLOWING DRAIN...

 

Two days ago we took Coco's winter coat off.   And as I 100% expected, she immediately started scratching and gnawing herself like MAD.

I am almost totally sure she does NOT have fleas, but she sure in hell is acting like she does.

ABOVE:  See?  She has gnawed herself until she is bleeding.  It is so frustrating seeing her do this to herself.

So just to be sure and cover the bases, I will go out today and buy some flea treatments for her.

I can't give her a bath with flea shampoo now that she has broken skin.  Grrrrr.

The other thing I will do is clean all her bedding, blankets etc.  

The next thing on my list for the day is to go and talk to the maintenance man, 'L'.

When we moved in here, we immediately noticed that the water in the kitchen sink took ages to drain away.  Stew has put Draino down the drain several times, and I've even done boiling water and baking soda... in the hope to clear any blockage.

Now Stew has noticed the outside gully trap is overflowing into the garden.  So, clearly there is a blockage somewhere outside the house.

Luckily, the drains from the bathroom and laundry are not blocked.

Hopefully 'L' can clarify who's responsibility it is to get this fixed.  As the blockage is clearly outside, we think it's probably the village management.  But we will see.

And that is me for now... I'm off to start me day.

I've had a good morning so far.

I got flea treatment for Coco, and it's on her now.

COLLEEN:  Coco is 15.7 years old, and has been prone to itching all her life.  She's been seen by the Vets numerous times, and nothing they have ever given us has stopped her scratching.

We strongly believe it's grass seeds right now, and it's a bit hard to keep a dog off the grass yes?

I am just covering the bases with the flea treatment.

She NEVER stops scratching.  We have changed her diet a few times to no avail either.

At her age I think we/she just have to ride it out.

I have spoken to management here, and L is going to come and check out me gully trap.  After that, we either get a plumber in, or they do.

I'm now about to get on with the washing, vacuuming and so on. What fun.

ABOVE:  11.30 am, and L has been with his trusty HUGE PLUNGER, and unblocked the drain.  Any work outside the house is on the village management, which is good to know going forward.

ABOVE:  It is a glorious day for washing!  Windy with sunshine.  I've got a big load on right now, which will go out shortly.

And then it bloody rained and got them all wet again.  Grrrr.  They are now in the lounge, in me face.

ABOVE:  Before it rained, young 'D' mowed our lawns.  It takes him about 5 minutes, it's so good watching them being done.

I've had a quiet afternoon, with a thumping headache.

I've taken some painkillers, so fingers crossed they kick in at some point.

Right now, I doubt I will be going out to WW this evening... I feel rotten.

I just had my jabby jab, didn't feel a thing.  The trick is to keep the numbing cream on for 3-4 hours... no pain, no stinging, nothing.  I still get a bruise sometimes, but seriously, it's painless.

I think my body has adjusted to twice a week, and now I am starting to feel hungry more often.  I hope I don't have to go to daily at some point to keep the effect up?  I'll wait and see over the next few weeks, then talk to my Dr.

The headache has eased, thank goodness.  I am very happy with my day today.  I got heaps done, ticked off a few things that were bothersome, like the drain.

We just had a toasted sandwich for our dinner, which was bloody yum.  Now, the usual evening lies ahead.  Telly. Feet up. Then bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

HERE WE GO AGAIN, STORMY WEATHER MARKET

 

MEH... I don't feel like today AT.  ALL.

I haven't even bothered to look out the window yet, cos I know it's not going to be good.  Well, if it's not raining yet, it's gunna soon enough.

Khady is still sleeping, we are going to try and leave without waking her up, but yeah, she'll probably wake up.

She's going to be leaving after us, hopefully her trip back to Wanganui is uneventful.  The worst weather is expected to be further south of us, where she's travelling. 

So, we will be heading off soon, into the unknown in a way.  The weather could be atrocious, just horrible, or maybe, just maybe only showers?  Wind will be our biggest problem.  AND lack of customers of course.  Who's going to an outdoor market in pouring rain???

I know I wouldn't.

Once we are on the road, I'll update on what the weather is like 'out there'.

...

ABOVE: Don't be fooled.... it is raining, and there's monster clouds all around us.

That patch of blue sky is getting swallowed up.

ABOVE : Set up is done. There's a few gaps where stall holders have cancelled, but less than I anticipated.  

It's cold, damp and miserable. 

Everyone is feeling the same. Less than thrilled to be here.

It's now 7.35 am, and there's some rain here and there. Mostly spasmodic. 

ABOVE: 9.20... and its now raining properly.  It's coming down sideways, left to Right. So far we are OK. Staying dry.

3 pm, a long 9 hours start to finish.

The first 2.5 hours of the market were SLOW, then after lunch we actually picked up a few GOOD sales!!!

Not normal at all.  Usually everyone makes their sales between 10 am and 12 noon.  Today we made our sales in the last hour of the market!

People were packing up early all around us, and we were making sales.  Weird.

We are very happy to have done fairly well today.  NOT stellar by any means, but not terrible either.

And after the rain first thing, it also cleared up and we had cloud and sunshine till pack up time, when it finally started to rain a bit again.  But not too heavy.

We have just finished unpacking the car, and can finally put our feet up and relax.

And thanks to Steve and Bex giving us one of the cooked chooks from last night, we don't even have to worry about dinner.  Chicken (even just on it's own), will be just fine.

7 pm.... *yawn*... I had a nap!  OMG it was so good.  I was so tired, and went out like a light.  It probably means I might struggle to get to sleep tonight, but I don't care.  I needed it.

Stew enjoyed the time I was out to it, and watched the telly.  I'm sure it was sport, sport and more sport.

And now... I'm going to watch the telly too.  But not freakin sport.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

WHY ARE WE BOTHERING?

 

Really bad weather is predicted for today AND tomorrow, and I'm feeling really crabby.

We have the big Cambridge Church market tomorrow, and I just know if the weather is going to be terrible as predicted, it's going to be a total waste of time.

Yet we will still go, and set up the bare minimum... cos we have our 'space', and we have already paid.  Refunds are not given.

I just hate knowing it's going to be awful.  And wet/windy, both conditions that utterly suck when you have an outdoor stall.

*sigh*, I'm not looking forward to it AT ALL.

Today we will pack the car in readiness.  Then just sit back and wait for Stew's sister, Khady, to visit.  She's staying the night, so our first overnight visitor in fact.  She gets to test drive the sofa bed.

Hopefully it's comfortable.

That's about all I have for now... I'm gunna go and twiddle me thumbs.  

11.24 am, and Lacy has done me a huge favour, and come over to get up in the roof and find spare bedding.

She found it, and now I can make up the sofa bed for Khady tonight.

I'm so relieved I actually kept some spare linen.  I thought I might have given it all away.

ABOVE:  Last night Lacy went and bought a second run-around car.  Now she has two pieces of shit!  And she knows it. lol

Now... it's lunchtime, and Stew is about to make us a sandwich using the left over corned beef I cooked the other day.  After that?

Might go for a wander around the Base.

The bad weather hasn't arrived... YET.  

ABOVE:  Khady duly arrived, and we had time for a good yak before heading over to Steve 'n' Bex's for dinner.

ABOVE: Bex prepared a lovely dinner of chicken and salad stuff to be had on wraps.  It was delicious.  We have brought a cooked chook home for our dinner tomorrow night, and probably for a couple of lunches as well.

ABOVE:  We had a really nice evening, mostly being 'entertained' by Miss Lily.

Lacy arrived in time to see her Aunt Khady as well, which was nice.

ABOVE: Miss Lily DID end up smiling, AFTER I took the photo.  Typical.

It's now 8.25 pm, we are home and have just finished packing the car for market.

We won't be long out of bed tonight.

Catch ya tomorrow.

MORE SHOPPING FOR LIAM

 

The other day I made a big of a boo boo.  I bought a gift for Liam that didn't go down too well with his family... so it's staying here, and today we are taking him shopping again.

No harm done, and he gets to chose again, which I'm sure he will enjoy.  AND he gets to use the first gift whenever he comes over to visit us.

I also want to find new sneakers, which I didn't get yesterday, and a couple of other things.

I saw some 'things' online that caught my eye recently, and I asked Steve if he could make me some.

He has a 3-D Printer, and it took him no time at all to whip them up.

ABOVE:  Scissor holders, in various sizes.  

ABOVE:  I plan on using double sided tape to stick a couple onto the sides of my sewing machine.  That way the scissors are not taking up room on my sewing desk, or falling OFF the sewing desk.

I reckon they will be handy for all sorts of things in the sewing room/house. 

So I need to find some good strong double sided tape today, among other things.

ABOVE: we were woken up by this ... not what we expected at this time of year.  It floated right over our house, quite noisy.

There is very little wind today, so perfect for balloons.

It's now 9.35 and we are heading out soon to pick up the kid and go shopping.

ABOVE: One happy boy. 

After shopping with Liam, we dropped him home and went looking for walking sneakers for me. IF I wanted DUSKY PINK ones, I was in luck. But I couldn't stand the colour, so will wait until new stock arrive in stores. 

We are now having lunch at Robert Harris, where I get my favorite chicken filo and salad.

ABOVE: Thanks for the suggestion Paula, we did end up at Bunnings for the tape.  I'm sure what we have bought will do the job.

ABOVE: Lunch was lovely, I always enjoy the chicken filo with relish.  Stew had some monster sandwich!  

We are home now, and I'm going to take a break before sorting out the runners.

4.45 pm.... finally done with the runners. All ready for Monday.

And, finally watching Coronation Street episodes.

And Stew is in the front room watching rugby.

All is good in the house.

Happy to say I'm all caught up on Coro Street, all me jobs are done for the day and I can relax.

Catch ya tomorrow.