We are up bright and early this morning. *yawn* It's the first time doing the church market that we are not 'just down the road'... so we have to leave much earlier then we are used to. Hopefully we have remembered everything. It's not really feasible to go home to get anything we might have forgotten. Bex and I are hoping for a good day, sales wise. It is going to be a cracker jack hot day, it's expected to be 30 degrees, if not more. With the Waikato's high humidity, it feels hotter than that let me assure you.
ABOVE: TRACY, if you decide to come down, this is where I will be. Bex will be just down the road from me too. And if ya do come down, please bring ya togs! We can jump in the pool in the afternoon if you like? I know we will be! Right, I better go and get some face on. First time in a week easily! Catch ya later. Wish us luck. ONWARD...
ABOVE: 8.30 and we are ready. Well... sales are slow, but I'm still happy. I just bought a sunhat:
Because it was so very hot yesterday, not that much got done outside. Stew did a little bit out the front, but that's all. I'm hoping today we get a few of the rocks around the pond area and up to the fence. The dye I've been using on my hair is ruining it, so last night I chucked a new semi-permanent, Dark Blonde dye in to see if that helped. Fingers crossed it does. Oh I also decided, yet again, to let my natural hair colour grow through. If I get a chance, I'll do a selfie at some point and show you. Right now I'm looking a bit iffy. I've not put make up on for days, because I'm in and out of the pool all the time. There's just no point doing mascara etc... panda eyes just ain't a good look.
ABOVE: I found a new place for our Weta! He looks awesome on 'The Rock'. Now we just need grass instead of dirt, then I'll be happy. I'm so over the dirt, and the steep slope covered in plastic. I'm not sure if I will do any sewing today, or just get everything organised for tomorrow's market. We will see what the guys get up to, they might want my input on things? Right, I'm off to start the day. ONWARD... Well it's 2 pm and we have all been busy. The guys got a phenomenal amount done (as dictated by STEVE!)... but yeah. They have slaved away for hours doing lots of jobs. They put the cover on the pool so they could move some dirt around. Stew did the front 'rock garden' and paver path to the gate. And various other things. Meanwhile, Bex and Lacy entertained the kids, and I decided to make a cot quilt to take to Market tomorrow.
ABOVE: The guys giving their next move some consideration. lol
ABOVE: What Stew did ... it's almost finished out the front now. Just some tweaking and a cover in front of the air con unit.
ABOVE: The cot quilt I just made in 4 hours. Ignore the Burgundy colour.... it's the curtain I hung the quilt on. SWIM TIME FOR EVERYONE... as it's another hot, hot day. ABOVE: As I said, there's Steve using the static swimming line. It's AWESOME. And I will be using it every day until it gets too cold. Happy snaps:
ABOVE: Everyone is inside now as it's the hottest part of the day. Thankful that the sun does NOT stream in through the windows in this house! Might make it a cooler house over winter, but hey, if you're cold you can put more clothes on. And bitch about being cold. lol 7.50 pm: The guys are now loading the vehicles in readiness for tomorrow's market. I think I'm ready for it. I just hope I get some decent sleep tonight, otherwise I'm gunna be a wreck tomorrow. Time to sign off for the day.
I showed you my new WW Tracker Book last night. Today I'm gunna actually start using it. Last time I used a tracker book RELIGIOUSLY, I lost 61 kilos. So I know it works if you are committed and track everything that goes in ya gob. I can do it. I will do it. Cos I'm sick to death of being a failure. Steve, Bex and the kids are due around lunch time today. I hope the first thing they do is jump in the pool! It's just so refreshing, and fun. Let's not forget the fun. *smiles* Then perhaps a little bit of planning for some work around the pool itself? We will see what eventuates. I still need to get my stock sorted for the market on Monday, iron a few things, make sure prices are on, and so on. So, that's the day kinda planned. For now. ONWARD... Right. It's 1.47 in the afternoon and I've been either fluffing around with Stew getting rocks, or sewing.
ABOVE: We went to a Landscaping place over Hamilton West, and got rocks, ground cover mat and bark. I am sure we will be going back for more rocks, smaller ones, for around the pool later on.
ABOVE: My efforts since yesterday. 29 Placemats and coasters. That will do for now.
ABOVE: Stew contemplating his next move. It's so very hot today... I hope he doesn't get heat stroke. He got that over the Christmas/New Year break. Steve, Bex and the boys just arrived. They are about to have a swim... then afternoon tea. IT'S TOO HOT. Bex and I just went to the supermarket. Melting right now. Feel ill. Clearly it's a quiet day, most Kiwis will be doing what we are doing... relaxing, enjoying a long weekend. Tonight's dinner was chicken kebabs, salad and spuds. Not doing much else tonight, except my usual routine now. Water the gardens/potted plants and top up the pond. The fish are cooking in their water! I've lost 3 fish this week and I'm sure it's down to the extreme heat. Time to wind down for the day.
Guess what I did yesterday, that I haven't mentioned yet? What am I notorious for?
ABOVE: Yeah, I moved furniture. JUST the dining table a little bit! On this angle people can access the table better from all sides. I realised how awkward it was on Tuesday night with 9 of us around the table. This seems to work better, and it doesn't impact the flow through the room at all.
ABOVE: It's neat that food products have to list their ingredients now days. I am going to use the Salmon Dip info on the packaging to try making my own soon. I just have to figure out the quantities of each ingredient. Shouldn't be too hard surely.
ABOVE: Yesterday's fun in the pool. Liam was very hesitant to begin with, but once in? Loved it!
ABOVE: They both had a 2nd swim with Stew when he got home from work. Now. Today? I'm going to do some sewing. I am going to try and make a cot quilt for the Monday market. Or some soup bowl cosy's. Not sure which yet. I told you Steve was making us a bar leaner table eh? So last night I get this over Messenger:
ABOVE: and under it this: 'TEASE'. He's seen me do sneak peek teases once too often! I am looking forward to seeing it them on Saturday. *smiles* ONWARD... And I have done some sewing this morning... then I remembered it was WW today. So I headed into town to the midday meeting. That's where I am right now. Just got a call from our friend Jacqui. They are at our house. WHOOPS! Now they have to go kill some time till I'm home in an hour. Oh well, can't be helped. OMG, it's like 7 pm and it's the first time today I've sat in my lounge chair and turned the computer on today!
So, clearly I've been busy. Sewing this morning. Weight Watches midday. Visiting with Jacqui after lunch. More sewing this afternoon. Then a 90 minute swim/laze in the pool. Perfect day. While at WW today, I bought one of these:
ABOVE: A tracker book. It's very pretty compared to the last one I bought, like years ago! I haven't even had the chance to look at it yet, I'll do that tonight. If I track my food, maybe I'll actually start losing some weight? Oh yeah, I gained .300 grams again this week. Not exactly a stellar effort eh? Not going to see myself gain every week! Better turn it around and prove I'm serious. Hence the tracker book. So now? Cooking chicken for dinner. Then I'm going to relax for the evening I think. I made 8 placemats for the market today, instead of a quilt or soup bowl cosy's. I just wasn't in the mood for either of those projects. Looking forward to tomorrow. Getting a few things done in the yard hopefully.
Steve and Bex gave us two goldfish for Christmas. One is a small multi coloured one, the other is a white one with a square shaped 'dot' on it's forehead.... do fish even have foreheads? lol Anyway, for the past week or so I've not seen 'Sponge Bob Square Dot' at all. I was fearful he was dead, never to be seen again. I was trying to work out how to tell the boys this coming weekend. Then last night as I was putting food and fresh water in the pond... ABOVE: There he was. What a relief. And he's grown quite a bit too. So obviously he's doing well. He's just shy. Though last night he wasn't, he was frolicking under the waterfall like a nutter. Clearly very happy. Today? I'm going to do a small grocery shop in readiness for the coming weekend, as Steve, Bex and the boys are coming down. Bex and I are both doing the Cambridge Church Market on Monday. Hence them coming down. Little bit excited. Steve MIGHT be making me the Bar Leaner Table I woould like in the sunroom! That would be awesome. It's such a lovely spot to sit and look out. So... I'm off to make a start on the day. Catch ya later. ONWARD... Well I got up bright and early (for me) and was at the supermarket by 8.30! And the nicest thing happened while I was there. It was a bit creepy too though. *smiles* A man came up and stood beside me in an aisle, then he looked at me and said: " Excuse me, but it is YOU!" I'm like, bemused, and looked at him like, what did I do!?? The he said this: "I've been walking up and down the aisles trying to find what that smell was! And I've walked past you three times, and that smell is YOU. Can you please tell me what perfume you have on?" OMG! I was kinda amused, cos he looked so relieved to have found ME. lol So anyway, I told him what I wear (Joop! Homme, the men's one), and he promptly put the name in his phone, thanked me profusely and walked away a happy man. My mission to do a good deed every day is done for today. And now that the groceries are away, I'm off out to get more pool chlorine. The liquid chlorine is not working out at all. It is too dilute, does not last long and is three times the price of the granules. So I'm going back to the granules. Who wouldn't? A while ago I was at a Card Night and one of the girls brought along some Salmon Dip. It was really nice, she got it from the Fish Van which visits Cambridge twice a week. I found out that the Fish Van is in Hamilton on a Thursday ... not far from me in fact. So while out today, I went down to River Road to get some Salmon Dip.
ABOVE: He is there from 11 - 5 . I got there at about 10 past 11 and he only had large 'Catering Packs' of the dip left! So I grabbed two.
ABOVE: That should last us for a while I hope because it was freaking expensive! There is a list of ingredients on the pack, so I'm going to have a go at making our own. It might work out cheaper.
ABOVE: The Fish Van parks in a carpark down on River Road, so does a lady selling flowers, and a mobile food truck. It was VERY busy there this morning I must say. I had a quick squizz at the river. It's quite low today.
ABOVE: Have I told you how handy my trolley is for bringing the groceries in from the car? It's awesome. It wasn't useful in Cambridge due to the step up from the driveway into the house. It would catch and tip over. Now that I can get my car in the garage here, I just load it up and wheel it down the hallway to the kitchen. Sure saves my back. I went to Para Rubber and got more granulated chlorine, so that's my next job. Pool maintenance. Andrew, Emily and Liam are coming over for a swim and dinner later on today... better get dinner sorted too. 7.26 pm: It's really handy having a son-in-law who works in travel! We have sorted out passports, Travel Insurance and parking for our car while we are in Australia. Thanks Andrew. Dinner ended up being Chicken pieces and veges. Stew went to the dentist today. He's now sorted for the next 25 years! lol I still have to get something done about one of my failed Root Canals. Probably just get it pulled out at some point. But that can wait. Cos I'm chicken. Winding down now. I've a few photos of kids in the pool... but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm done for the day. So thankful it's cooler again tonight.
If I get around to making the lounge curtains today, it will be the THIRD attempt at doing them! Seriously. The closest I've come to making them was yesterday, when I actually decided on what fabric to use. Then I ran outta time due to Card Night. So, it's top of me list for the day.
ABOVE: Look what else I found while looking for curtain fabric! Another damn UFO! I thought I'd finished this quilt! *sigh* Another one to get finished this year for sure.
ABOVE: Dante and Archer hunting for painted rocks in Auckland. They found some, then re-hid them.
ABOVE: He seems rather pleased with himself.
ABOVE: I saw this photo and immediately thought Dante was Steve as a little boy! They are very, very alike, particularly from that angle. Right, time to get up I suppose. Those curtains won't make themselves. ONWARD... 11.32 am: And I'm actually sewing! Having gone through all my fabrics, I came to the conclusion NONE of my actual patchwork fabrics would work, unless I lined them. I didn't want to do that for curtains that would be used just once in a while. So I had to rethink what fabric I'd use. I had some heavier weight fabric from other projects, so decided, rather than go out and spend money... I'd use that instead. It's going to make a few people go "What the hell was she thinking?"... cos I had to cobble two TOTALLY different patterns together to make sure I had enough to do all 4 doors! So... no horrible comments when I show you OK? But not yet. They ain't finished yet. The other thing I've done today ... was just an annoyance. Coco has taken to lying ON TOP of some of the plants down 'her' side of the house. Now some I don't mind getting flattened, but the herbs and plants I've brought over from Cambridge? Not gunna happen.
ABOVE: Problem solved. Dog frustrated. Too bad. Sorry Darling ... yes I did use a few of your stakes. *smiles* I decided to stop for lunch. I went and splurged on a 6 inch Chicken Pesto Subway sandwich. Ate it and just like that... the urge to move died. Literally fell asleep in seconds! And that was me for the next two hours! Seriously. WTF? Who does that. It's now another two hours on and I am awake, but still don't feel like doing a bloody thing. Christ, I ain't even sorted out something for dinner. Talk about tired. I think I need a holiday. Or winter to arrive. I'm definitely NOT a summer person. The heat just drains me.
ABOVE: ONE DONE! OMG I can't believe how long they are taking me. So simple, yet my brain just won't hurry up and get it sorted. You can hardly tell I had to add a totally different fabric along the bottom to make them long enough. They are anchored all the way along the top, but only on the bottom on each side.
ABOVE: I chose that fabric cos A) It was all I had in a heavier weight fabric and B) It works with the pink cushions/throws in the lounge. And they will only be there when there's visitors sleeping in the lounge. Now I just have to finish the other 3. YOU can comment now! lol 8.48 pm: After feeling 'off' all day, I finally feel OK! Typical. I'm 100% sure it's the heat. So, another day done. Got minimal stuff done today. Hope for a better day tomorrow.
The first Cambridge Card Night is here tonight. So... I better make sure I've found the cards! And have some snacks ready. I think the girls are coming with their togs too... to christen the pool. Today I am going to make the little 'curtains' for the lounge doors. I doubt it will take me that long, they are only 4 little drops after all. The biggest 'challenge' will be choosing what fabric to use. I'm not that good when there's a choice! And well... I do have a large stash to choose from. lol Let's wait and see what I choose.
ABOVE: The poor dogs are feeling the heat too. Marley just flops in the afternoon.
ABOVE: This is the stuff I got for the lounge doors. The Hook part of the Velcro has sticky tape already on it, so it's going to be so easy to attach it to the doors. Then all I have to do is choose the fabric and make 4 little drops, and attach the Loop strips to them. I went out to my Studio to look at fabric options last night, and came across this UFO :
ABOVE: It's gorgeous, I really need to get it finished. I think it's going to be a Duvet cover rather than a quilt. And that's all for now...catch ya later. ONWARD... 9.44 am: Now, here's the thing with only having one curtain on each 'set' of doors. What if a person sleeping in the lounge wants to get up and leave the room for, say, a piddle in the middle of the night? And they go to open a door and it's stuck to the other one by the curtain running along the top, stuck firmly I might add, with velcro? Hmmm. Ponder that while I make 4 separate curtains. OK. *smiles* OMG the sweat is just dripping off me. I've not even started the friggin curtains ... and I might not get to them today after all. I've been fluffing around the house and pool area, getting it tidy/organised for tonight's Cards event. Do you know that I could fluff around all day, every day for a month and still not have everything done? It's crazy. I really hope that in a few months I can sit back and say 'DONE'. TODAY: I wanted pretty lights to be on in the sun room tonight. The ones that we hung there over Christmas stopped working, so I took them down. I went out and bought 3M thingees, and spent THREE... LONG... HOURS putting them up. Stung up another set of lights... turned them on. DIDN'T WORK. They were dead. I almost cried. I was exhausted.
So I rang Lacy and she came around, took them down, and she determined that the 3M hooks were too tight for the 'delicate' wiring in the lights. So we went to phase 2. I got the Christmas Tree lights out of storage and Lacy hung them up. Because of the nature of their wiring, there was no pressure on the wiring, and they went. So I'm now happy. Not the lights I 'wanted' there, but never mind. I have pretty lights. They are PARTY LIGHTS now, not Christmas lights. lol And NOW... I'm going to fold the washing, sort out something for dinner, get nibbles for supper organised, find the cards for tonight, then relax for a little while. OK. And... all of the above is done. I sorted through 6 decks of cards, and found 5 full decks and one deck with one card missing. Not bad! We only need two matching decks for cards. I've got sausage rolls ready to go in the oven for snacks ... AND dinner. lol Stew and Brylee will just have to do what I do on a Card Night. NIBBLE. 9.38 pm: And another lovely Card Night over and done with, the first of 2020. A total of 9 of us tonight, so a good turn out.
ABOVE: The girls. Sue B doing a Lacy impersonation with her tongue out! lol I was the 'Loser' tonight too! Not that it matters, it's more about the company and fun we have. Time to wrap up the day, it's been another long one. Not quite as hot as yesterday thank goodness. I might even sleep better tonight as it's even slightly cool now!
Sorry to everyone who's back at work today. But I really do love Mondays. It's the start of a new week... and it's almost always QUIET. *smiles* I don't know if Brylee is working today, but she's really quiet around the house anyway. When Griffin comes home... hopefully it still stays quiet! We have set some 'ground rules', but I forget to mention one very important one! NO BOOM BOOM music. He has to wear ear phones. Today I'm going to continue getting 'my' stuff out of bedroom # 2, in readiness for Griffin's return. I will just potter around slowly, it's far too hot to try and rush it. Next on my list after that is to make some removable 'curtains' for the lounge doors. Once Griffin is back, visitors will have to go back to using the lounge as a bedroom. This lounge has two sets of doors, both have glass panels:
ABOVE: Because of the glass panels, there's no privacy for visitors. There's some velcro taped on to the top of these doors, so obviously previous owners have hung curtains there. I will renew the velcro, and make some 'curtains' to put there. I'm pretty sure I can find some fabric that will be perfect for there. lol The other thing I will be doing today is ringing the AA to organise our Travel Insurance. As everyone has pointed out, it's better to be safe than sorry when travelling overseas, even if it's just to Australia. And, as we have been members of the AA for over 30 years, we will get a member discount. Score. We have now been in our new home for 6 weeks and 4 days (yes I'm counting! ), and I STILL can't find a thing I dislike about it! How many times will you hear me say it? I ♥ LOVE ♥ THIS HOME! We are just so very happy. And on that happy note, I'm off to start moving stuff around a bit in bedroom #2. ONWARD... MONDAY FUNNY:
ABOVE: Yep. lol MARIA: Thank You. I went and looked at the doors, closed them, imagined the glass being permanently frosted and unable to be seen through, and decided that's not what I wanted. I like being able to see through the glass into our out of the room. So I will stick to take down/put up curtains. But THANK YOU for the suggestion. All ideas are welcome. *smiles* 11.03 am: And it's taken me over 2 hours to get everything out of the drawers, wardrobe and shelving unit in Bedroom # 2! I had to find places to put all my paperwork (was in the drawers), all the ornaments etc from the shelving unit and put all the Christmas Decorations/tree etc in the outside cupboard. Didn't think it would take that long that's for sure. But now it's done and I can relax.
ABOVE: Everything is in this cupboard except the tree. That's now in the 'Pot Shed'. I've now locked that cupboard with a big padlock, and don't have to worry about that stuff till next December. Awesome. Lacy just arrived. So we are going out to get a couple of things I need... like sticky velcro. 6.03 pm: Well we got everything on my list, came home and had some lunch. Then I had a nap as my head was pounding and I felt sick. Just too hot I think. Lacy went home, so I ended up in the pool for at least an hour and a half or more. It was wonderful. Brylee arrived home and joined me in the pool for a while too. Now Stew is home and the mad bastard is on the treadmill! Crazy man. I am not cooking tonight. It's takeaways for us. I reckon today was the hottest day we've had so far this year. It's almost unbearable inside the house right now. Another sleepless night ahead probably. *sigh*
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ME AND STEW
Parents to 6 adult 'kids' (aged 30- 40) and 13 Grandkids (aged 4 - 19). We have raised two of those grandkids since their births and they are now 18 and 19.
WHERE I LIVE:
New Zealand, it's in the South Pacific... and it's NOT a part of Australia! We are home of the All Blacks rugby team, the Kiwi (bird, but can't fly) and lots of bloody neat people!
