HEADSTONE BUSINESS

 

In August, we as a family will be doing a 'formal' unveiling of my Dad/Mum and Sister's combined headstone.   We have been in talks with the Stonemason company for a while now, and it's not actually going that well.

We feel like they are trying to rip us off.  So this morning, before I do anything else, I will be visiting said Stonemasons, to try and sort it out in person.

My niece Rowena has been trying to sort it out via email, but isn't getting anywhere when it comes to explanations on costs not adding up. 😖

Once I get home I am going down to Mosaics to TRY and get more work done on my Bird Panel.  It has sat in the craft room for weeks with me doing nothing with it.  It's starting to bother me, so I really should get it finished.

ABOVE:  After mosaics, I will fix the runner I stuffed up yesterday, then work on this one. 

Further thought on yesterday's main topic of 'conversation'... me blogging past 20 years.  I have a few months to continue thinking about it.  Thanks for your comments.  Yes, it is totally up to me and how I feel about it.  I will see how I feel come October I suppose.  

ONWARD...

ANOTHER RUNNER, ANOTHER WALK

 

Another 'normal' day around here.

I am going to work in Crabby Quarters this morning, making another runner top.

ABOVE: This is the first one I will be working on this morning... still keeping to the Kiwiana theme. 

After lunch, once it has warmed up a bit, I'm going for a walk, probably just around the bridges/river bank.  Going to the lake takes up quite a bit of time when I go on the bus, and right now I am more invested in spending time sewing, getting my stock numbers back up. 

ONWARD...

Two things have been going around in my head this morning (and overnight).

ONE.  I just can't bear the thought of the all the work and upheaval involved in getting new carpet put down.   It is just too soon after settling in here, the move here is still too fresh in my head.  So, I am cancelling the new carpet plans.  FOR NOW... maybe in a few years I will revisit that idea.  I think Stew is massively relieved, as he wasn't looking forward to all that work either.

TWO.  I will have been blogging for TWENTY YEARS, every day, without fail, this October.

Rhonda commented last night that my blog has changed, and it's more (my words) normal and mundane.  No dramas on here anymore.  I am being more private.  Of course it's due to respecting (up to a point) others privacy now.  Social media is not what it used to be.  It's not as safe.

So, here's my dilemma.  Something I've been pondering for a couple of years really.

Do I want to keep blogging past the TWENTY YEARS?  Who cares anymore if I blog or not? Am I no longer interesting enough to read?  The blog will probably get more boring as I age and can't do as much as well.  

I have used my blog as an online diary of my life, my family's lives ... but family are not interested in being on here anymore, and I doubt even half of them read it now.  I think only those 'lurkers' who no longer have access to us do!

So that's something I am seriously pondering on right now.  I have four and a half months to decide.

OPINIONS WELCOME.   And don't say just blog once a week after October... I'm an all or nothing sort of person.

I stupidly gave away Stew's Angel Bay Beef Patties to Lacy the other day (as a thank you for doing my housework).  WHOOPS.

So this morning I went to the supermarket to get some replacements for him... he has them for his lunches at work.

I came away with 5 full bags of groceries, NONE of which we really needed!  

And bugger me, DON'T go to the supermarket hungry!

ABOVE: Yeah, and that's not even a quarter of the evil shit I bought!  

There's some lovely fresh shit in the fridge, fruit, dips, mussels for him indoors, and so on.

It wasn't ALL BAD.

ABOVE:  My lunch, a HEALTHY chicken salad.  It will be followed by a fruit tart (see above).  Maybe two. 😋😂

ABOVE: Today I made this Braid Runner top, and part of another one. I'm very happy with the progress I'm making on them.

OMG!  Look at it.  I've made a freaking dumb mistake!

I forgot the black strip around the 'inner' edge, before putting the sashings on!  Now I have to unpick the damn thing.  Grrrrr.

I went for a short walk this afternoon, nothing stellar.  Coco came with me, so that's why it was only a short walk, she's not up for long walks anymore.

9.57 pm, and I'm now watching Coronation Street before heading off to bed.

I had planned to unpick the sashings off today's runner while sitting here, but just couldn't be arsed.  I'll do it tomorrow.

And there ya go, another day done and dusted.

CARPET COMPANY

 

Today I'm taking the first step towards replacing the bloody horrible carpet in this house.  Something I bitterly regret not doing before we even moved in.

It certainly would have saved the added work involved in doing it now.

Stew and I are on the same page when it comes to the choice of carpet... it really only boiled down to two carpets, both pure wool.  A speckled, cream/beige based carpet, very similar to what we had in our last home.

The carpet company rep is coming over mid afternoon.  In the meantime, I will get into Crabby Quarters and continue making Braid Runner tops.  I want to have 4-5 tops made before I do the quilting and binding.

So there ya go, another day's plans all laid out.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

12.45 pm.  The day has gone kinda to plan, except I had to add in Morning Tea at the Community Centre, then one of my neighbours and I went to Spotlight, as I needed more backing/binding fabric.

Scored big there, the fabric was 40% off the original price, THEN another $40 off for spending over $120.  So what should have cost me $182.40, ended up costing me $87.  I like bargains like that.

I finally got home again about 45 minutes ago, and in that time I've reheated some soup for my lunch.  Added in a couple of my savoury scones.  Nice lunch.

Now I'm going to relax for an hour, before heading into Crabby Quarters to continue sewing runners.   I did get an hour's sewing done this morning, before morning tea.  That's when I realised I needed more black fabric for backing/binding.

As I bought an entire bolt, it should last me a few months... hopefully.

ABOVE: And there's two runner tops, ready for quilting and binding.  I won't be doing those steps yet, I want to have 4-6 to this stage before I do the next steps.

And while they look exactly the same, they are not.  One is a bit longer, and the fabrics are different here and there.

It is Weight Watchers this evening, so in half and hour I'll be heading out for the meeting.  I am no longer weighing in.  Did I talk about this last time? ( I just checked last week's post, and yes I did explain it there).  

So, I better get all the threads and bits off me top, tidy me hair, shoes on, bla bla bla.

Our usual WW Leader was away tonight, so we had another girl.  The meeting wasn't as good I have to say.  Nothing against the fill in girl, but you just get used to your normal 'leader', and I did miss her.

Of course, I miss my darling Sandra from Palmerston North the MOST!  She was an amazing WW Leader, and became one of my dearest friends.  *sniff*... miss my PN friends so much.

Right, time to sign off for the day.  It's been a very quiet day on here, probably because I'm just a boring old fart of late. lol

ANOTHER MONDAY ROLLS AROUND

 

There is a good chance I'm feeling just as jaded as Stew today.

We had such a busy weekend.  We hardly ever do back to back markets on a weekend.  I don't know how so many other stall holders do it!

I think it's the really early starts, and the set ups and pack downs that get to us.  Thankfully, we now have 3 weeks till our next market.

That will give me plenty of time to make a few more Kiwiana Runners, which are getting low in stock.

Particularly predominantly GREEN ones.  We have none left. We sold the last two of them yesterday.

I have decided not to go for a walk today as ...

1. I'm bloody tired, and ...

2. I will spend the morning getting some green runner fabrics cut out and ready to stitch up.

Craft Group is this afternoon, so I hope to have at least one or two lined up ready to stitch by then. 

So, there ya go, my day is planned out already.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

3.30 pm:

ABOVE: Before anything else this morning, even getting dressed, I put a Pea/Onion and Bacon Hock soup on in the crock pot.  That will be our dinner.  Yummmmm.

After ablutions etc, I went into Crabby Quarters and cut out fabric for today's sewing efforts.

Then down to Craft Group I went, at around 10 am.

I turned on the security cameras as I left.

And enjoyed watching Coco frolic around in the house, and hear her bark when she saw someone outside.  I also watched her sit like jacky jacky on my lounge chair, the cheeky tart.

I heard when someone knocked on my front door as well, and Coco's response to that as well.  She stood by the door and barked her head off!

ABOVE:  the camera view inside my lounge/dining room.... it clearly covers the front and dining room doors.  

When I arrived home, this happened:

ABOVE:  I had the app open on my phone, and as soon as I entered the lounge I got an alert on my phone!  Impressive.  I like it very much.  Good knowing it actually works.

It felt weird watching the camera pan around and follow me as I moved from one area in the lounge to another.  Freaky.

I got 1 and a half runners stitched up in craft group today. So not a bad effort.

I'm bloody tired now, it is exhausting listening to a bunch of ladies yak non stop!  I'm used to quietness. 

Dinner of soup and toast was just lovely, and we are both going to have left over soup for our lunches tomorrow.

I've had a quiet evening, just watching the telly, doing a jig saw and annoying Stew.

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

TE KOWHAI MARKET IN MAY

 

Here we go again!

Only today we don't have to get up until 6 am, to be at the new market around 7 - 7.15.

The gate doesn't open for stall holders until 7.30, with the market starting at 9 and finishing at 1 pm.

It is a small, very new market, so a totally unknown event for us.  

Worth a try if nothing else.  

It's going to be another damn cold start to the day, around 3 degrees (C),  according to the weather forecast.  I'm gunna freeze me buns off again.

So ... let's get a move on shall we?

ONWARD...

8.40 am... and we are all set up.  We got here early enough to get a really good spot. 

ABOVE: For once I'm the one sitting in the corner. 

Stews gone for a wander around. I'll send him to the café on site to get us a hot drink next.  

There was a FROST on the ground today, I had ice all over my shoes. NASTY. 

Right. Bring on the customers....

11.15 and I hate to say it, but this market is D.E.A.D.  We are a bit gutted.

12.11 pm. Stupid market... it has now picked up a little bit. Ya just never know how its gunna go till the end of the day. 

4.05 pm.  When we arrived home from the market, I had a few jobs to do before I could relax.  So, now I'm finally relaxing!

The market:  Well it was what can only be described as 'an average day', not many sales, but we had some lovely people visit our stall.

We will probably do it again next month, as long as it's not raining.

We do the Tamahere market rain, hail or shine, but not others.

Steve, Bex and their kids walked over this afternoon, so Steve could instal the security cameras for us. Hopefully I can remember how to activate them when I go out!  

They seem easy enough.  And best thing?  They won't activate or send me a notification if they detect COCO... just humans.  

ABOVE: Stew was lovely and colourful today at market.  The lady selling the garden stakes/coloured glass things opposite us did VERY WELL today!  

She was rapt with her sales.

 

ABOVE: Family.

ABOVE: Steve installing the camera in the lounge.

There is also one in Crabby Quarters, to cover the back door and garage roller door.

ANON:  Our stall site was the same size as yesterdays, EXCEPT yesterday we could put the Scrappy Dolls out to the side as no one was there.

6.50 pm, and we are just home from having dinner out.   I'd seen ads for 'GONE BURGERS' in Hamilton East, they looked amazing.  So we thought, why not try it?

ABOVE: These burgers DID NOT live up to their hyped up advert.  We both had a Classic Beef Burger.  Stew had kumara fries (they were OK), and I had some onion rings (not ok, overcooked and luke warm at best).

The burgers themselves were not even average.  I think a McDonalds burger would have tasted better!

Their patties were DRY, fell apart, tasteless things.  The one sliver of bacon was like overcooked and tasteless as well. The cheese?  Almost non existent.  Overall, it was a bloody horrible, tasteless burger!  I give it 2/10, and only because the bun was OK. Otherwise it would have got a 1/10.

Not going there again.

So far, Burger Fuel have THE BEST burgers in New Zealand, in my opinion. 

Now, we are going to sit and relax for a while, then go to bed.  We are both knackered.

Catch ya tomorrow.

TAMAHERE MARKET IN MAY

 

5.30 am.  And it's goddam freezing!  I am feeling like death warmed up, I loathe early morning rises so much.

The only consolation is that the DAY is going to be lovely and fine, just CRISP.

That means we might have a good market, attendance wise at least. 

Today at Tamahere, we find out where our new 'permanent site' is going to be.   I HOPE it will be a good spot.

Right, ya know the drill... we are off soon and I'll come back once we are set up.  

ONWARD...

ABOVE: 7.33 am, and we are in our 2nd 'temporary ' spot. Until grass grows over the dirt, our new spot is still not ready. 

But all good, we are happy where we are for now. 

It is certainly very cold, but NOT FROSTY yet.  That's a blessing. 

Stew has gone to get us a hot drink now that we are set up. Time to relax.

2 pm.  We are home.

We are feeling a bit deflated, as it was a VERY SLOW day.  The 'crowds' were very thin, easily half the usual amount of people were there.  

And they were not spending money, except for food, and even then I don't think the food vendors did very well either.

Everyone was saying the same thing,  a slow day.

Hopefully tomorrow at Te Kowhai, it is better.

We did make some sales, but not really enough to justify getting up at 5.15 am.  Yeah, we woke earlier than the freakin' alarm.  

Tomorrow's market isn't 'open' to Stall Holders until 7.30am, so we won't have such an early start. Yaaa.

We are having dinner with Steve, Bex and the kids this evening, which will be lovely I'm sure.

Eating dinner at the kids, and I'm slipping tid bits to Marley. Then Bex said "Stop feeding the FATTIE" to me. I looked at her like ????  She Then said  " I meant the dog, not you!"

Like really? I knew she meant the dog... of course I did. 😅🤣😂  .... or did she?  Hmmmmm.

So dinner is done, nice and early too. Watching FAIL ARMY ... very funny. 

It is now almost 9 pm, and we are preparing for bed.  Nice and early, so we can hopefully get a decent night's sleep.

Catch ya tomorrow.

NO WALK TODAY

 

Today I don't think I will be going for a walk.

I am quite tired, it's been a busy week. And we have two markets this weekend, so I think a day of 'rest' is in order.

I might just make another bag.

Oh, talking of bags, here's the one that took way too long to get done:

ABOVE:  I love the fabric I chose to go with the dog fabric.  It's really lovely.  I wonder how long it will last on our stall?  😌😊

ABOVE:  It took a few months on a waiting list, but finally, Lily is in a gymnastics group.  And of course, she absolutely loves it. 

Now ... I'm off to start that next bag I suppose.

Catch ya later. 

ONWARD...

I had planned to sleep in this morning, and once Stew left for work I tried to.  But nah.

My stupid foot kept twirling around and around, which it does when I have jobs lined up and actually want to do them!

So up I got, did the washing, tidied the house, and went and made this:

ABOVE: Another lovely bag ready to take to market.

Now?  I'm going up to the hot bread shop to buy a club sandwich for me lunch, some batteries from the dairy, then come home to be lazy.

This afternoon I will get things ready for packing into the car for this weekend's markets. It is supposed to be lovely clear weather, but COLD.

I'm going to be rugged up like a freakin' crazy person tomorrow morning. 😂😉

I started watching a movie on Netflix the other day, but hit pause to do something else.  It was kinda slow as well... but I just finished watching it.

ABOVE:  Any movie that reduces me to TEARS is 10/10 in my book.  I loved it.  It had a twist at the end, totally unexpected.  It is well worth watching.

And now?  It's 12.45 and I am literally at a loose end.  I don't need to sew anything else right now.  The housework is done.  I've had me lunch.

Might just do a jig saw.  😌😊

5.25 pm.  Our village gardeners have built a new 'Community Garden'.  Today was the inaugural planting out of the garden. Residents were invited to attend and help with the planting.

So I went down and helped.

ABOVE: Our head gardener 'B', watering the seeds.  I planted two rows of beetroot seeds.  I am excited to see if they grow or not.

There will be lots of baby plants going in over the next couple of weeks, as well as the seeds we planted today.

ABOVE:  I visited one of my neighbours after that, and was shown around her garden.  That cow is adorable!  She collects cows among other things.  Seems I'm not the only person who collects useless 'things'.  😊

Ok, quiet evening, just watching the telly.  The car is packed ready for the morning.

OMG I'm not looking forward to the morning... it's going to be bloody freezing.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FBG TRIP

Whoop, whoop.

I'm going to see some of my Cambridge friends this morning.

There is an FBG casual walk planned, and it's not that far from where I live.

The trip involves us meeting at Wairere Nursery, taking a walk around their gardens, then moving on to Woodlands for another walk, followed by lunch.

I am really looking forward to it, not just for the walk, but seeing my friends again.

Hopefully lunch is nice as well, and I make sensible choices.  😌😊

ABOVE:  Today is my Mum's birthday, her 6th  since she passed.  She would have been 89 today.  I can't imagine her at 89, but somehow I doubt she would have changed much... maybe a few more wrinkles.  And I bet her strong minded attitude to life would not have changed.  I know I take after her.  That photo was taken just four weeks before she died.  It's a lovely photo.

Right, I best get a move on.  I can get an hours sewing done before I have to leave.

ONWARD...

2.15 pm, and I'm home after spending a delightful morning/lunchtime with my friends.

First up was Wairere Gardens:  The two men who own the gardens/nursery have turned a swampy area at the back of the gardens into a nature walk.  It is still an evolving project, but already very lovely.

ABOVE: I got to try my first ever persimmon.  It as very nice.  The one I tried was not overly ripe, and nice and crisp.  Yum!  I was given one to bring home, so Stew can try it too.

ABOVE:  On a whole, I felt the Wairere nature walk was worthwhile, particularly if you like topiary, and swampy areas to look at. lol

Our next stop was Woodlands Estate.  It's a heritage home set amongst beautiful gardens and a little lake.  They hold weddings there, and there is a very nice cafe as well.

ABOVE:  A massive Australian Brown Barrel Gum tree, planted in the 1880's.

ABOVE:  After wandering around the gardens, we had lunch at the cafe.  I had a vegetable Frittata and a Lemon Slice.  It was delicious.

The Woodlands gardens were my favourite of the day, as they were less 'contrived' than Wairere Nursery, but probably only because they were much older and more established.

It is a stunningly mild early winter day, we even got a bit hot on our walk, and sitting in the sun.

Now that I'm home, I will take a mo, then head into Crabby Quarters and actually get that bag FINISHED!!!

I got that freakin' bag finished, will show you tomorrow.

Usual Thursday night, took Stew to the pub then visited the kids for a hour or so, before joining Stew and friends for an hour.

I am sooooooo looking forward to bed tonight!

Stew kept me awake until 2 am last night, tossing and turning, getting up to pee and generally driving me mental.

Tonight I am sleeping in the front room... so I can get a decent nights sleep.

Catch ya tomorrow.