PHD'S TODAY

 

I have FIVE boxes full of PHD's.

PROJECTS HALF DONE.  

And today I am going to be working on finishing a couple, re-purposing them into bags or runners.

One was going to be a Farmyard Runner.  I've cut it in half, and it's gunna be a Tote Bag now.

It is a bit scary how many PHD's I have, and how many freaking fabric pieces I have, just piled up taking up room.

I think my next few months will be spent sorting it all out, and making those bits and pieces into something useful. 

It is WONDERFUL having so much to do! 

But yeah, yesterday I felt overwhelmed by it all.  I must not buy any more fabric until I've got my stash and PHD's down to a more manageable amount, that doesn't freak me out!

Stew had a follow up appointment with the surgical nurse this morning.  She will most likely take the  clear dressing off his wound.  Then we can see what it looks like without the dressing on, which makes it look puckered.  I am sure he will get a good review of his wound, it's certainly looking good right now.

I am going to cook Pork Belly in our oven for our lunch today.  I'm going to use the Air Fry function, which I've never done before.  I have been told I should be able to cook a small pork belly in about 40 minutes in an air fryer, so that will be interesting to see.  Hopefully that works.

Time.  Will.  Tell.

** Christy, no promises, but I'll see what I can do. ***

AND that's me for now.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

THREE IN ONE DAY

 

Yesterday I had no intention of making THREE Tote Bags.  

But I did.

And I'm really happy with all of them.  Two 'non animal' ones, and a cat one.

When it's light enough outside I'll take a photo of the third one, that I got finished last night.

Normally I do not sew after about 6 pm, because that is when Stew gets home from work, and I like to spend my evenings with him.

But, while he's home all day recovering from his surgery, we get to spend plenty of time together, so I am not feeling guilty working later into the evening. 

Today's plans?  I'm sure another bag or two will get made. Unless Stew can come up with another idea for the day.

I'm not averse to getting out and about ... shopping even?  So, I'll leave it up to Stewie.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  Weird how I am no fan of Yellow, but I am loving this bag.  It's bright and cheerful.

My next 2-3 are going to be a bit smaller, but not child sized.  I am not inclined to make kids bags.

I made small zippered pouches, and they don't do well.  They might be the next thing I start giving away during markets in fact.

Our weather today is wet, there's been some huge rainfalls further north of us.  Weather warnings in place and so on.  Hopefully there's not too many slips/road closures like our last stormy period.

ABOVE:  first bag of the day, a colour combo Bex suggested.  I thought a White Bag might be a silly idea (it will get dirty quicker?), but WOW, it's lovely.  Of course.  😂😅

I am now taking a little break... I'll make another one after lunch.  

4.36 pm, and well, my little break lasted for hours!   I even had a midday nap.

I've got the next bag lined up for tomorrow.

For now, we are going out shortly.  I'm dropping Stew off at the put, then visiting the kids for an hour or so.  Then I'm going to join Stew at the pub.

We shall be having dinner there tonight.  Something really simple, not too heavy.

8.10 pm and we are home from the pub.  We had a very enjoyable evening.  I spent some time with the kids (always enjoyable), then joined Stew for dinner.

ABOVE: We both had a 'Flaggies' burger.  It was really good.  Just like a home made one, with everything in it.  Such good value for money too.

Home now, and we are blobbing out in front of the telly till bedtime.

Tonight I am going to lock Coco out of the room I'm sleeping in.  She kept me awake for hours last night, sniffing, snorting, itching, licking and generally just being a bloody pain in the arse.

I have put her bed in the lounge, and I'll be closing my door so she can't come in and lie down beside me.  

If it's not Stew, it's the freakin' dog!

Here's to a good nights sleep.

Catch ya tomorrow.

NO IDEA WHAT'S ON TODAY

 

Nothing beats waking up feeling like you could just go to bed for a sleep!

Not sleeping well at all, no idea why really.  I'm on my own in the front room at the moment, just to try and get more sleep.  Ain't working.  It's the same for Stew unfortunately.

So, enough sad sack-ness.  I'll get up shortly and get the dishes on the bench done.  I was too tired last night to do them.

Then I'm going to see what Stew and I can get up to today.  There might be something on in the Village we can attend?

Stew is feeling a bit bored now.  I'm not surprised.  He doesn't have any 'hobbies' like me, so just sits and watches sport/TV, and plays SUDOKU on his phone.  

He's gunna have to pick up his ideas when he retires!  He can't do nothing all day.  NOT that he's gunna retire any time soon.... he has to keep working to ensure he can keep me in the manner to which I have become accustomed.  😂😅😆😂  Yeah, joking obviously.  

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  Well... that bag has left the house.  Gifted to Bex, who saw the photo of it last night and fell in love with it.

ABOVE:  This little darling is turning into a chatterbox!  And she's very into giving loves.  So darling.

ABOVE:  As they left, I followed them out, holding my phone.  And Lily turned around and said 'CHEESE', and smiled really big.  So, so funny.

BTW:  I've never said 'Say Cheese' to her.  No idea where she got that classic from.

ABOVE:  As Bex got that bag, I immediately made another one.  Different lining fabric on this one though.

It's 12.30 pm, and I just made our lunch.  We  had chicken sausage rolls, they were lovely.

Dinner is going to be yoghurt and fruit, or something light.  So I don't have to cook of course!  lol

5 pm.  I took a break after sewing for an hour after lunch, as we had a visitor arrive.

Glen has been a friend of Stew's for 50+ years, they went to school together.  He's a real lovely guy.  He has also had a knee replacement, though his went totally PEAR SHAPED and he ended up on death's door due to Sepsis!  AND he has a dickey heart, so he's extremely lucky to still be here.

So, we hung out for a couple of hours, which was neat.

Once he left, I went back into C.Q. and got on with a second bag for the day.

ABOVE:  Sorry, you are going to get sick of me saying how much I love each bag!

I am not a 'cat person' at all, but I think this bag is really cute.  Another one that should get sold fairly quickly.

It is now 5.05 pm, and we have been down to the Village Gym, so Stew could get on the exercycle.  He walked down there and back as well... so a good block of exercise for him.

8 pm.  After dinner I went back into C.Q's to get a bag ready for stitching tomorrow.

Got carried away.  I'll show it to you tomorrow, when it's daylight again. 😖😜

I am now done for the day.  I shall sit here and watch mindless TV... then go to bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

ANOTHER WIN

 

A WIN IS A WIN... no matter how small.

Backstory:  When the driveway contractor left, he laid down grass seed along the edge of the new driveway extension.  

And within a few days, it was all gone!  Eaten by the damn birds.

So on the weekend Stew and I bought 'Bird Repellent' birdseed, thinking the birds would leave it alone.

NOPE.

Those little bastards started eating it yesterday.

So, I came up with this:

ABOVE: I covered the strip up with baking trays and plastic boxes/box lids.   I'm sure they won't get me grass seed now!

IT'S A WIN EH?  😂😅😆

Moving on... here is the bag I got finished last night:

ABOVE:  I think it's really lovely.  I am sure it won't last long on our stall.  Well.  Ya just never know actually... sometimes things hang around for ages without any good reason.

Today I am going make a start on another bag, this time it won't be 'animal' based!  I know right?

I am going to do a black 'n' white one... it might appeal to younger people?  It will make a change if nothing else.

ONWARD...

12.30pm:  busy morning!

As it was quite cloudy first thing, I decided it was the right time to sort out the Keter Sheds.

ABOVE:  I do believe this might be the first time Stew has been the 'Supervisor' when it comes to jobs!

I got all three sheds sorted out, and have a bit more room for other things now.

I have three piles ... one for the dump, one for the Village Bring and Swap at the end of the month and one for Steve.

After that, I went for a little walk with Stew, he is slowly extending the distance he walks.  He is doing everything he's supposed to be doing, so in two weeks he will be able to go back to work.

ABOVE:  In the morning his leg has much less swelling.  By the end of the day it is a bit more swollen, but NOTHING like it was two weeks ago.

I am now back in C.Qs, about to start another bag.  The Black 'n' White one is gunna have some yellow added now.

And before I forget, the Cow Tote Bag is sold... it's off to it's new owner this afternoon.  

ABOVE: Stew, off on his second walk of the day.  This time he added a bit of a hill.  Going up was OK, but coming down?  Not so good.  I've told him no more hills, for a bit longer.

ABOVE: Today's Tote Bag.  I think it's stunning!  So glad I decided to add the yellow accents... both the black and yellow have bees on them.  And the lining fabric was a remnant piece I picked up somewhere or other.  I think it looks amazing inside that bag.

I think this is another bag that won't last long on my stall.

I'm going to Weight Watchers tonight.  It will be the first time in about a month I think?

I couldn't go for various reasons over the past month.  Forgot.  Had a heavy cold.  Got fatter.  Head in Sand sorta shit.  

So, I'll go tonight and accept a decent gain... and move on.  It's what I do.  I am still going to enjoy life, while always trying to stay relatively healthy.

At the end of the day, it only matters to ME.  Stew loves me, no matter what I weigh, so I'm safe there.  😊

And if it bothers anyone else, suck eggs other people.

Well!!!

I gained .800 grams! Nowhere near as bad as I expected.  I'm very relieved. 

ABOVE: Stew has taken me out to dinner. He said I had worked hard today and deserved a nice dinner. Awwww  thanks Darling. 

Let's see what damage I can do to his wallet 🤣😅.

ABOVE:  In a rare event, we both had the same dinner out. Lasso of Hog.  It was delicious!  Best meal compared to a lot we've had lately.

After dinner, we popped into Steve 'n' Bexs and dropped off a couple of things that came out of the sheds.

Home now, and feeling utterly done.  

I had to get all the rubbish out at the 'gate' for pick up in the morning.  There's dishes to do, but they can wait until tomorrow morning.  I'm just too tired to do them.

Catch ya tomorrow.

NEW WEEK AHEAD

 

And another week rolls around... but it doesn't feel like a Monday.

My days are all buggered up, having Stew home day in day out mucks up the routine for sure.

I was putting off a job until next weekend, then Stew reminded me we could do it any day this week, cos he's home.  Derrr.

That job is to go through the three Keter outdoor sheds and get rid of anything we've not used since we moved here.  I am sure there will be a few things leaving the property, either to an Op shop, or the tip.

I'm not sure if that will happen today, or another day this week, we will see how it goes.

ABOVE: I have to sort out this lot first, my sewing room got a bit messed up yesterday.

I found some more old stock that is going in my 'GIVE IT AWAY' pile.

At every market from now on, I am just giving away old stock to whoever enters my stall.  I've been doing that for a couple of months now, and it's such fun seeing people's reactions when I hand them something for free.  It's nice.

ABOVE:  The two new 'succulent planters'... I will take another photo of each in about 6 months. Then we can see how much the plants have grown.  Could be interesting.  Or not.  

ABOVE: Last night's sunset, it really was lovely. That photo doesn't do it justice.  

ABOVE:  He did it!  

A.  He 'made' dinner.  

B.  He used Uber Eats for the first time ever.

Well done Darling.

And that's it for now, I'm heading off to C.Q. to get that sorted out.  

ONWARD...

12.10 pm.

I had to go out and buy a new Rotary Cutter.  All FOUR that I have had blunt blades.

I could have bought new blades for them, but I decided I wanted a different style of cutter.

I'll show ya later.

I've been a busy beaver this morning, going from one job to another.

I've started a new Tote Bag:

ABOVE:  I'm going down to Craft Group shortly and will work on it down there.  

FACT:  I'm terrible at parking cars.  Just ask Stew, he will verify that.

Come to think of it, I'm REALLY bad at backing too... only I could have backed out of three garages (our own) and run into the door!  Yeah.

Don't ask.  ONE wasn't my fault, I swear.

And let's not go there with the letterbox at our Cambridge property!!!

Anyway, back to parking.

ABOVE: This was Today's Terrible Parking effort.

I swear I try, I really do!

At least there wasn't anyone else on either side eh?

Right, I'm off to Craft Group now.

I've fed Stew, so he's all good.

3.05 pm, and Craft Group was lovely.  Lots of lovely ladies to chat to.  I got that Cow Tote Bag 75% done, I just have to make the straps and attach them and the lining.  Might do that tomorrow.

Dare I say it?  It's VERY QUIET ON HERE today.  Where is everyone?  I hope you are all gainfully employed, being productive, or at least enjoying yourself.  

It is now 6.40 pm, and I'm pretty much done for the day.  I've won another battle ... more on that tomorrow.  lol  It's not as good as the driveway, but still a win.

Catch ya tomorrow.

CATCHING UP WITH THE HOUSEWORK

 

This morning I shall be doing some housework, washing and vacuming, and a few other little jobs that got neglected this past week or so.

We have visitors coming for morning tea, so it would be nice to know the house is nice and tidy.

I bought some cake and slices yesterday, so at least I'm not making scones today.

Last night (6 pm-ish) we got some really heavy rain...first rain in a little while.

It was just lovely.  AND we got this:

ABOVE:  A really awesome rainbow.  More often than not, you don't get the entire rainbow showing, so we stopped on the side of the road to grab a photo.  A bit later on it became a double rainbow, but I didn't get a photo of that.

Right, that's me for now... I best get on with the housework.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

Housework is done.

Man is doing well.  Getting self sufficient again, thank god.  Can make his own breakfast now! lol  Probably not up to making dinner yet... but give him time.  😉😊

I just spent a bit of time sorting out some more fabrics for bags.

I had made six bags to take to market, and sold three yesterday.  So I'll be making more over the next week or two.

ABOVE: The beauty of having a substantial stash of fabric?  You don't have any trouble finding what ya want!  I have 17 potential bags sitting right there.  Let's see which ones get made.

12.35 pm, and our visitors came, we had a lovely catch up, lots of yakking, and now they have gone home again.

We've had some lunch, and soon we shall head out to get some bird retardant grass seed, then visit Steve, Bex and the kids.

The birds around here ate all the grass seed that was put down along the edge of the new driveway pavers... little bastards!

So hopefully if we get bird retardant seed, we will get it to grow.

I got heaps done around here this morning, I even did some gardening.  Our vege pods have now got succulent cuttings in them.  I've decided not to grow any more veges.  When you finally have them ready to eat, they are super cheap in the supermarket, making it like.. why did I bother growing it/watering it every day, bla bla bla?  Just buy it!

ABOVE:  We had a lovely visit with the kids this afternoon.  That photo was taken just before all three kids started jumping on Steve ... it was a free for all!  lol

After we left them we came home and just chilled out for a few hours.

That takes us to now, and we are watching mindless TV until bedtime.

I've planted some new succulents that we bought when we got the grass seed.  Which I've put on the lawn now.  Hopefully the birds leave it alone.

It's been a good day, I got lots done, which always makes me happy.

Catch ya tomorrow.

TAMAHERE IN MARCH

 

Well the day I've been sort of dreading is here!

Lacy and I will be doing the market together.  Stew will be staying home.

I'm still feeling very nervous about her and I getting everything set up in time.  I've never done it without Stew before... well, not with the gazebo anyway.

I am probably worrying about nothing!  I just have to pace myself, and be methodical. 

At least the weather forecast is excellent!  One less thing to worry about.  

ABOVE:  I got the second runner top done last night.... as you can see, it really is totally different to the first one.  I still have to quilt it and put the binding on.  That will be tomorrow no doubt.

Right, time to get going... wish us luck!  I will pop back on here after we are set up.  

ONWARD... 

ABOVE: 8 am. 

WE DID IT! And I didn't get me tits in a knot.

We just got on with it.

No trouble at all. I'm so pleased,  all my worries for nothing.

It did take an hour longer than 'usual', but so what. 

Now we can sit and relax, and hopefully make some money. And yak. Let's not forget the yakking. 🤣😅😇

2.15 pm, and I'm finally home, feet up doing an update on the market.

First and foremost, we had a FANTASTIC day.  Lacy loved it.  She is keen to do the next one with me now.

We saw lots of lovely people, I saw friends from Cambridge, FGB's, WW ladies and also some from our Village too.

Lots of happy faces.

ABOVE: That young man fell in love with the Scrappy Dolls, he wanted one for himself.  So he chose one and was happy as, walking around the market hugging it.

AND YES, he was a perfectly 'normal' young man... all his faculties intact.  He just loved the dolls, he said they were FUNKY.

He made my day.

While it was a slow day for some people sales wise, it was a GOOD day for Lacy and I.  We made plenty of good sales.

It only took us 35 minutes to pack down and get ready to leave the venue.  I was about to get into the car and glanced back at our site.

ABOVE:  To see one very forlorn step stool just sitting there all on it's own!  I did have to laugh.

Then Lacy saw it...

ABOVE: She saved it from a certain... ?  Life of loneliness. 😂😅😆  Yeah I know, it doesn't take much to tickle my fancy, or weird sense of humour.  

Now that this update is done, I shall go and finish unpacking the car.

Stew and I are off to dinner this evening at our favourite Indian Restaurant.  I've starved all day, looking forward to me dinner.

I had an hour's nap this afternoon, it was wonderful.  I needed it.

ABOVE:  Dinner this evening was a Vegetable Samosa each, followed by Butter Lamb for me, and Chicken Tika Masala (Medium) for Stew.  Because I had the Samosa, I couldn't eat much of the Butter Lamb.

ABOVE: As a consequence, I shall be having Butter Lamb for my lunch tomorrow.  Yummy.

Before we went to dinner, we did a small grocery grab.  Fresh Fruit and Diet Coke primarily.  After dinner, I got to put it all away, and now I'm DONE for the day.

I shall be sitting on me arse and doing nothing else till I go to bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.