VILLAGE GARDEN RAMBLE

Today is the Garden Ramble around our village.

We are meeting at 9.30, to then proceed together around the gardens 'of interest'.

I am hoping our garden gets nice reviews.

Stew is staying home, as his knee isn't up to 'rambling'.  😂😉

After the ramble, I shall be staying home with Stew for a while, as we are expecting visitors.

My Brother-in-law Richard, and his wife Olla.

We haven't seen them is ages, and they have not seen our new home.  So it will be a nice time to catch up with them.

Once they leave, we will go out and about on the hunt for my new sneakers.

We've tracked down two shops that stock them here in the Waikato, so fingers crossed I can get some.  I have no intention of doing a distance walk again in me Skechers!

I have a really deep blister under the ball of my left foot, and a little one on the outside of my small toe, right foot.  So, I'm hobbling a bit.

Luckily, the Garden Ramble will be a dawdle.

**********

11.15 am, and the garden ramble went really well.  It was a bit hot, but the pace was super slow.

We viewed 7 gardens today, ours included.

ABOVE:  I love this plant, and hope to find one for our garden.

The gardens were just lovely, lots of colour and interest.

Ours got lots of lovely comments too.

AND several ladies wandered through my sewing room too!  lol

They saw the Fat Bottomed Girls runners laid out ready for stitching, and LOVED them, and want to see them when they are finished.  😂😅

ABOVE: About half the group of people doing the ramble.  We broke into two groups.  Slow and SUPER slow. 😂😏

Lacy just arrived, she is keen to see Richard and Olla too.  We are now waiting for them to arrive.

Visitors have been and gone, now we are in town.

ABOVE: Found and bought my new sneakers, and OMG they feel so damn good!

I'm never going to put off buying new ones again, even if they are a hideous  pink. 🤣

We are going to have a very, very late lunch.... or early dinner now.

ABOVE:  I almost forgot to post the 'them and us' photos!  

It was just so lovely to see them again.  

It was stinkin' hot in town, and I'm just so happy to be home again, with the fan on me.

Lunch/Dinner was at IGUANA, and should do us until tomorrow.

It's now 12.30 am, and I should be in bed ... but I got carried away doing a jig saw.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

TAKING COCO TO BEX'S FOR NAILS

 

This morning we are going over to Steve 'n' Bex's as they have the dog groomer coming over to groom Marley.  We want the groomer to trim Coco's nails, as she didn't do them the other day.

Hopefully she doesn't charge us any more money, cos nails is supposed to be included in the upfront cost.

Not too much else is on our radar for the day.  My feet are not happy with me after my walk last night, even though it was only 3.2 kms.

Clearly I need to walk more.

Here's some photos from my walk last night:

ABOVE:  How lucky are we to live just a minute away from this?

ABOVE: Stunning shot from the west side of the river.  

ABOVE:  From the west side, looking over to where the new boardwalk has been built.

ABOVE: NOW THAT'S A GARDEN worth showing off!  Lots of weeding and love spent there.

ABOVE: My walk takes me over one bridge, then under another.  Doing a loop.

It's such a lovely walk.

ABOVE: The new boardwalk on the east side of the river.  My side.

ABOVE: Awwww, a baby Pukeko.  First time I've seen a Pukeko on this part of the river bank.

And that's it for now, I'm gunna roll over and read the news now.  

Catch ya later.

**********

ABOVE:  When I was at Spotlight the other day (I wanted another big cutting mat), I saw some batting on sale.  I decided to get the entire roll, only it was an opened roll, with some already cut off.

On the tag it said there was 25 metres left of the roll.  I lugged it up to the counter and said I wanted it all, but could they please measure it out, to be sure there was 25 metres left on the roll.

They were lovely, and between the retail girl, me and another customer, we managed to roll it out and back up again.  Lucky I did that, because there was only 21 metres on that roll!  If I'd taken it for granted there actually WAS 25 metres on the roll, I would have paid nearly $100 more, for something I wasn't getting!

Anyway, now I have to unroll it, and roll it back up properly, cos we didn't do that very well in the shop.  

Oh, I didn't get a new cutting mat yet, cos they didn't have the one I wanted.  Might order it online.

***HUFFING AND PUFFING... well that got put in the 'too hard basket'!  There is no way I can do that on my own, and now that I look at it, it will DO as it is.  

4 pm, and well, not much to yabber about!  Coco got her nails clipped, we wandered around the Base for a while before coming home.

I tried to find the sneakers I usually wear in several shoe shops to no avail.  We will look again tomorrow.

What else?  I had a nap.  Stew watched a movie and sport.

I'm going to WW tonight, first weigh in since the beginning of December.  I expect a SMALL LOSS.

But a loss of any sort over the silly season is just fine by me.

My weight loss goal for this year is 10 kilos.  I know I can do it, I WILL do it.

Well, happy to say I recorded a loss of 1.5 kilos, which covers all of December.  Not stellar, but I'm just happy it wasn't a gain.

I had planned on staying for the meeting, but got me tits in a knot and left in a huff.  When the person doing the weigh ins (not our 'Coach') stands and yaks with a new member, going over the programme, how to use the app etc for over 10 minutes, while people are waiting to be weighed, I get crabby.

Those conversations should be done AFTER the meeting, when people are not standing waiting to be weighed, right?

I'm NOT a patient person at the best of times, so yeah, packed a wobbly and left.

And that is a wrap on today, it's been an OK day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

STEW OFF TO WORK, BUT NOT FOR LONG

 

Stew is going into work today.  He's taking morning tea in, to welcome a new staff member starting today.

While he's out, I'm going to the supermarket to return a Mortein Fly Guard (automatic fly spray thingee), we bought the other day, which is not working.  As it cost $30, it's gotta go back.  Luckily I kept the till receipt.

One thing we have noticed living here is there's more flies.  Which are yuk.  OR it's because we simply have not had a Fly Guard on?  We had at least two going all the time in our last home, so maybe that will fix the fly problem here?  I hope so, cos they are doing me head in.

Lacy and her friend visited last night...

ABOVE: They had spent the day up past Coromandel, and the silly tart got sunburnt.  She is going to be very sorry for a few days for sure.

I lathered her in cream to try and mitigate the damage.

ABOVE: While at the beach, they got me some more driftwood.  That HUGE piece is so neat!

ABOVE: So it that one.  They filled up some gaps in that garden.

ABOVE: That fish shirt?  Went home with Lacy.

Right, time to get up and start the day.

Catch ya later.

**********

10.28 am.  I walked down to my car to go out and about.  FLAT BATTERY.

So I came home and rang the AA.  96 minute wait to even HEAR from them!!!

Maybe I won't be going out anytime soon, cos now I have to sit here and wait for them.

I check my emails, which is where blog comments come in first, and I publish them from there.

ABOVE:  LOL, that's a first, it went on and on and on too... that's about a quarter of it.

Well the AA said 96 minutes till I heard from someone... but it's only been 15 minutes and someone is on the way already!    

THREE.  MINUTES.  LATER, and Brent arrived and jump started my car.

Now I have to take her for a bit of a run to recharge the battery.

I think I'll wait till Stew comes home now.

Stew arrived home just a little while later, so we went out in my car to give it a run.  First stop, where Stew got to stay in the car to keep it running, I dropped my little Brother sewing machine in to be repaired.  It's now joining McDreamy up in Auckland.  NO idea when McDreamy will be home again.

After that we went for a drive up the Expressway to Taupiri, then back into town to the supermarket.  I returned the fly killer thing, grabbed a few more groceries, and KEPT to me list!!!

Home now, and am making us ham toasted sandwiches for our lunch/dinner.

After lunch Stew is going to give my car a wash, and I shall continue with what I was doing earlier, cleaning bloody windows.  Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy....

Well... windows washed... well just the kitchen ones.  I'm too lazy, and it's too hot to do the others.  lol

Stew washed both cars.

Then at around 7 pm I decided to take myself off for a walk around the bridges.

40 minutes later I was home, all hot and bothered, with sore feet.  My Skechers are not meant for serious walking.  

I will be getting some 'proper' walking sneakers soon, so I can do the FBG Urban Challenge again this year.

For now though, I'm outta here.   I've got a few photos from my walk, but I'll share them tomorrow.

I need a shower and a relaxing evening.

Catch ya tomorrow.

P.S.

I just had a swim and then a soak in the hot tub.  Hoping it helps me get to sleep tonight.  

I've been struggling to get to sleep lately, I usually toss and turn till at least 3 am, sometimes 5 am! 

GARDENING TODAY

At the beginning of every month, everyone in the village gets a new 'Social Calendar'.  It lists all the activities coming up for that month. There was something I read about, coming up on Wednesday.

It's a Village Garden Ramble... where if you wish to, you can join others for a walk around the village to look at some gardens that are pretty or interesting.  Owners were invited to ring the organiser if they wished for their garden to be added to the list to be visited.

I thought long and hard about it, and decided yesterday afternoon to contact the organiser and see if she could come around and see if our garden was 'interesting enough' to be added to the Ramble.

So she called, in and immediately said yes, she loved our garden. 

I invited her inside for a chat, and she loved what we have done to our home inside as well.  Awwww, that was lovely.

So today we are off to the garden centre to buy a few more plants, to fill a couple of gaps, and one plant that didn't like being dug up and put into a pot.  It died.  Not a good look!

Luckily, there is virtually no weeding (thanks rocks 'n' pots), so we don't really have to do much to have the gardens presentable by Wednesday.

**********

1 pm, and well, that took longer than expected.

We visited FIVE garden centres before we found what I was looking for.

First stop was Mitre 10, where I did find some more plastic containers for my new sewing table, and a couple of pretty plants to replace the dead one in the front garden.

Then we were off on the hunt for hydrangea plants, preferably BLUE... and a big pot for one area of the garden that was lacking.

ABOVE: NO ONE had blue hydrangeas, so we ended up with a pink and a green, that turns red later on.  And a nice big pot, the exact shape I wanted.  All from Bunnings.

ABOVE: This caught my eye, and when I paused in front of it, Stew said "MOVE ON"... so I reluctantly MOVED ON.

It had wheels!  I love anything with wheels.  😖😌

I am proud of myself though, cos several things caught my eye, and I didn't buy them.  *patting myself on the back*

ABOVE: A pretty country side view, on our way out to Wairere Nursery, Gordonton.  Where we didn't find anything we wanted.

Now we are home, and I've got lunch in the oven, beef rissoles.  I just have to make a new salad...

Lunch was great... and after that I fluffed around on me laptop.  Stew sneaked outside and did the gardening!  He did well...

ABOVE: There is now a tiny splash of pink/cerise in the pot on the right...

ABOVE:  Around the back he put the new rectangular pot in the 'dead spot', and put the two new hydrangea plants in it.  Then the second little pink plant (no idea what it is), got put in the ground behind the funky rock.

He also put the 'keep Coco in' metal fencing behind the seat, so now we can actually sit on the seat!  Boom, just like that, our garden is ready for Wednesday.

I'm really happy with it too.

I always knew these new gardens of ours could look super lovely once I'd finished with them. 😂😊   I'm really good at titivating!  

It's now almost 8 pm, and I've spent a good hour or more in the sewing room, sorting out containers, labelling, and measuring out my guidelines on the new table top.

Lacy is due to visit shortly, so I'll sign off for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow. 

THIS IS EXCITING

 

YES!  I have drivel today!  😂😊

A little while ago I asked Steve if he could build me a new work table, to replace the large trestle I usually work on.  NOT a desk for sewing on, a table for cutting, doing lay outs on etc.

I wanted something that I could move in and out from the wall easily, so on castors.  Something I could put boxes under to store projects, fabrics etc on.

I couldn't do any of that with a trestle.

Steve started work on it yesterday.

ABOVE: This was the progress photo he sent me late yesterday.

Today he will be working on making the shelving under it.  I am so excited to see it in place, and use it.

I will probably paint it... dreaming of pastels, and measurements marked on the top as well.

It is going to be so damn handy and useful.  

I'm so lucky Steve is such a dab hand at building shit.

OH that's right, he's a qualified builder eh?  lol

While he is now the Manager of a building company, and not doing the manual building as such, he's not lost his touch.

Stew and I might have to move all the shelving out of the garage to get the new unit in... so later on we might be a bit busy.

At least we won't be bored.

ABOVE:  Parting shot for now... how I feel every time I leave the house.

**********

10 am, and I just re-measured 'the gap' between the shelving units and the fridge and freezer... the table MIGHT fit through!  MIGHT.

Time will tell.

Stew just did the weekend shop, 99% diet coke of course.

While he was out, I made the bed, vacuumed the house, hosed down the front door area (it was manky), and cleaned up the sewing room in readiness for the new arrival.

Today we are going to finish off the roast duck for our lunch, then we shall have ham.  Stew just bought a nice, medium sized ham on the bone.  That should do us for a good week!

I'm dreaming of ham toasted sandwiches.  I wonder if he bought toast bread???

And no he didn't.  We can go get some later.

ABOVE:  2 pm-ish... and look what rolled up!

ABOVE:  It was a family affair... all hands on deck.

ABOVE: Well this one wasn't 'on deck' helping... she was on the deck in the back of the ute. lol

ABOVE:  It JUST fitted through the gap!  So relieved we didn't have to spend ages taking stuff out to get it in.  

ABOVE:  I now have the most versatile, mobile work table ever!

It can be hard up against the wall ...

ABOVE:  Or it can be pulled out on it's castors, and I can get behind it easily.  

Best of all, all the extra storage space under it.

I am utterly thrilled to bits with it.

THANK YOU Steve, you rock.  And I love you very, very much.  

ABOVE: While still here, Steve got commandeered to fix a broken kitchen cupboard as well.  Stew had a go yesterday, but he wasn't sure how to do it easily.  Plus the knee was a bother.

ABOVE: After a very quick play/visit, they were off to have a late lunch.  

And I'm going back into the sewing room to fluff around.  😂😉😊

The new work table IS very heavy, but Steve put really good quality castors on it, so it's actually super easy to move around.  Surprisingly easy.

I spent a bit more time in the sewing room, then called it a day.

We had a visitor from the village this afternoon, more on that tomorrow.

At around 4.30 I took Stew up to the pub, where he spent an hour with his mates, then he walked home.

Now we are winding down for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SCRATCHING FOR IDEAS

 

I'm in that annoying position of not having much to yabber on about!

It happens sometimes, where I just can't conjure up any drivel.  😂

Stew is off to the gym this morning.

While he's doing that, I will do the housework, not that there's much of that.

I can't do a bloody thing in the sewing room... which is soooo frustrating.

ABOVE:  I just remembered this photo... it was our last sunset of 2025.  Might as well chuck it in here.

When Stew gets back from the gym, we will go and do a small grocery shop.  There's a few basics we are out of.  And that is it for now.

**********

11 am.  After a leisurely arising, we both went down to the gym/pool complex.

Stew did 20 minutes on the recumbent cycle, then joined me in the pool.

I got to spend about 35 minutes doing exercises and ...

ABOVE:  I got to use my static swimming belt again.  AND I  had to tighten it, as it was a bit loose around me waist.  I say 'waist' with a snigger, as I really don't have one... yet.

ABOVE:  It was so lovely being in the pool again, and we only had to 'share' it with two others.  Both men we knew fairly well.

Stew is now having a cuppa tea, then we are going out to the Base for a wander, then lunch.

I'll try not to buy anything, but no promises.  I'm incorrigible.  Sorry, not sorry, to those who find my spending excessive.  NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

ABOVE:  When we were up in Auckland on Boxing Day, Stew suggested we stop in at Made In Italy, top of the Bombay hills.  It's one of my favourite shops.

I found TWO dresses.  That one above is one of them.  It's linen, so cool to wear.  Super flowy without making me look mega fat.  I love it.  So does Stew.

The other dress is also a shade of blue, but I'm not showing that one, as it might be worn to a special event coming up.  

ABOVE: How's that for a perfect match? I've had that little fabric shoulder bag for years, some kind lady sent it to me. I wish I could remember who.

We are now at The Base.

3.30 pm.  We had a quick wander around The Base, had lunch, then Stew did some shopping.

ABOVE: He bought some summer jandals (thongs, flip flops) and he says they are very comfortable.  They are Skechers. 

ABOVE: After the mall, we visited the flaming red head and her family.  The boys DO LIVE THERE, but we hardly see them!  They are always busy doing something.  We do get a kiss and cuddle 'Hello & Goodbye', so that's nice.

Steve is working on something for me in his garage.  I'm a little bit excited.

Next stop was the supermarket, where I spent $200 + MORE than I expected... but that is how it goes.  If you go in with a list and keep to it... WELL DONE YOU!  I had about 5 things on my list, and came out with a trolley full.  😖😒😏

We are now home, and I reckon a Nana Nap might be on the  cards.  Though usually, try as I might, I do not sleep.  It's just nice to lie down and totally relax for an hour eh?

Stew is... well you guess what he's doing!!!

7.20 pm:  Stew was watching sport, of course.

I did grab a few zzz's!  For about an hour, which was nice.

Now we face the usual evening, watching TV, scrolling the internet, and so on.  Catch ya tomorrow.

12.32 am....MASSIVE BOLT OF LIGHTENING, FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY MASSIVE DEAFENING THUNDER. SO LOUD I JUMPED OUT OF MY SKIN, WHICH HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE!

It woke Stew up, and I'm sure everyone else in a 5 km radius.