THE EYEBROW SAGA

So I've been asked about Kelly's eyebrows, and how they are doing.

In case you didn't know, she got them threaded and tinted, and had a bad reaction to the dye used.

She is sensitive to dye, so kinda shouldn't have done it, but ... she did.  Here is her 'Start' to 'Now' photos:

ABOVE:  Before she did it, she had lovely eyebrows.

ABOVE:  Covered in scabs.  Seriously burnt.

  

ABOVE:  Scabbing coming off, along with ALL her eyebrow hairs.

ABOVE:  Photo taken last night.  No eyebrows to speak of.  We can only hope they grow back!

Personally, I believe they will.  And I bet she NEVER tries to tint/dye her eyebrows again.

Brylee had her first ever eyebrow shaping done yesterday, and they were going to tint her's too... until I said 'NO'... do a dye test first.

So they put the dye on her inner elbow to test for a reaction.

NO WAY IN HELL was she gunna go through what Kelly has!!!   Looks like Brylee has not reacted, so she will get her's tinted this morning.

As for me today, I'm going to Auckland to visit with my niece and her wee baby boy in Starship hospital.

He's doing really well now, and it looks like he MIGHT be sent home next week.  He's got a long, long way to go till he's out of the woods... but at least he's made it thus far.

I will also be stopping in at Sylvia Park mall, they have a really good Skechers shoe shop there, so I might get my new walking sneakers today.

AND I am most certainly going to be visiting the fabric shop in Mt Wellington (Ribbon Rose) too!

How could I not?  *smiles*

And that's me for now... catch ya later...

ONWARD...

Right. Its  4.30 PM and I'm still in Auckland. 
I'm in PAIN like I've never had before. 

I woke up and just like that, I couldn't move without pain in my right but cheek!!!

And it's only gotten worse over the course of the day. 

No idea what's happened...I was just fine when I went to bed  last night!

The visit with my niece and her baby went well... baby was being discharged today, but they have to stay at the Ronald McDonald House for a few days before they can possibly head home.

ABOVE: Auckland Medical School, which is opposite the hospital.  I got my first job there as a medical typist...arrow points to where I worked.

ABOVE: Starship Hospital... its diabolical... like a rabbit Warren. Seriously,  I kept getting lost!

Traffic!!!! OMG I couldn't believe how bad it was at the hospital! It took me over 40 minutes to get a park. There's  only  two car park buildings,  and one was closed. So there was traffic banked up for literally miles.

ABOVE: In this photo  I was driving up the ramp to car park A. It took me 15 minutes to travel 5 car lengths!

DIABOLICAL. 

So I'm now just trying to relax with a heat pad on me butt... and will head home much later,  when the traffic has eased off a bit.


I'm home. In a very hot bath. Will be taking painkillers and going to bed.

Going to doctor tomorrow afternoon. 

WONKY HOUSE RUNNERS

Well I made a start on two more Wonky House Runners yesterday, got to this point then decided I was too tired to do more:

ABOVE:  The top one needs it'S fencing... after that they are both 75% done.

I have to go into Hamilton this morning for more black fabric for the backing and binding.  I can't believe how fast I go through backing/binding fabrics.  *sigh*
Where's the Fabric Godmother when ya need her?

I'm going to be looking at new sneakers or Skechers too, my old sneakers are literally falling apart at the seams!

And that's me for now... off to Hamilton. Heaps to do... to do...

ONWARD...

OMgosh I've had an excellent morning shopping!

I finally found a waterproof bag for my phone, so now I can walk in the rain or kayak and the phone will be safe.

 ABOVE:  I got it from Torpedo7, where we got the kayaks. SEATOSUMMIT gear is pretty fantastic!

 ABOVE:  I also got another wet bag, they are so darn handy.  This one is smaller than our 35 litre blue one.

The kayak seats we bought were so difficult to work out in relation to how they fitted on the kayaks, we didn't use them last weekend at all!
So I took them back to find out how they fitted, and ended up swapping them out for the more expensive, more padded ones!

 ABOVE:  We had three seats, and the 'normal' price difference was $20 per seat, but they gave them to me for $6, (per seat) difference!
SCORE!  I saved $42.

 ABOVE:  AND... the fabric I wanted was on sale too!  Talk about a good day for savings.

ABOVE: Finally, I got some plain white card to make my own price tags.  That will be done some other day, cos for now it's chill out, eat lunch and watch Home and Away!  lol

9.31 pm:  And it's been a long, hot, muggy afternoon and evening.  We've had a bit of rain the past few days, hence now we live in a sauna.
So draining.  Everyone is feeling it.
I am crabby as f*#k.

Cards tonight.  Nice to get out and yak with girlfriends.  End crap. Have a few laughs.

Home now and time for bed soon hopefully.

ST PATRICKS WALK

Last night our Fat Bottomed Girls walking group had it's first walk of the year.
I was so tired already, it would have been so easy to just not go...but I couldn't miss the very first walk could I?

ABOVE:  As it was St Patrick's Day, most of us tried to wear some green.  
One walk down, probably 80+ to go!  There's about 40 walks in the Urban Challenge, but as I am in a sub-group that does all the mapping, we end up doing at least every walk twice, if not three times.  

This morning I'm going on a walk with two of the sub-group girls, to make sure the next section's map and instructions are correct, and to find/identify any hazards on the walk, before we post it as an 'official' walk. 

There is SO MUCH WORK involved!  But I love it, and really enjoy being a part of the organisational side of the walks too.

After the walk I will be coming home and dying!  Well OK, not dying, but certainly having a rest!  It's been go, go, go for the past few days and I'm bloody tired.

Once rested, I will do some housework then perhaps start some Wonky House Runners.
I only have one left!
The cute one I made on Saturday night was THE FIRST THING I sold yesterday!
It was very popular.  *smiles*

It is so.... flattering when something you have made is admired so much.  My Tree Table Runners are very popular too... and I absolutely LOVE making them.

ONWARD...


Well I surprised myself and actually did the walk!  I was close to not going as I was so tired.

And it was raining too... which actually helped me decide to go!  I love walking in the rain.

ABOVE:  A bit wet, but the hot chocolate afterwards was very nice I must say.

Now I'm home and getting some washing done.  And resting me feet!
I totally need new sneakers, which will be on the 'to get' list for tomorrow's trip into Hamilton.
Not sure yet if I will spend the big bucks and get New Balance sneakers again, or just some Skechers?  My last New Balance sneakers 'failed' and had to be repaired only a couple of weeks after me buying them. 

Well I've not 'rested' today at all.  I've been sewing another Wonky House Runner.
It's looking good too.

I hope to get it finished sometime tomorrow.  I had to take a break to cook dinner.  Grrrrr.

I'm looking forward to a quiet, relaxing evening.  Fingers crossed.  *smiles*

Quiet?  Yes.  Relaxing?  Not really.  I sewed.
For hours.

Got a bit done, will show ya tomorrow.

Time now to head off to bed, my head is pounding... so tired.  Gawd I'm always tired.

OUR FIRST KAYAK TRIP ON LAKE KARAPIRO

We had such a lovely time on the lake yesterday, here's some photos for ya:

 ABOVE:  Stew and Brylee had a swim.  Me, yeah nah, too many people.

 ABOVE: Down at Little Waipa Reserve, the reflections on the river were gorgeous.

 ABOVE:  We saw two duck shooting mai mai's, this one was the cutest, on a little island all of it's own.

ABOVE: We thoroughly enjoyed our first kayak outing.  Can't wait for our next one.

So today it's the Cambridge Trash & Treasure market.  What I call my $100 market, cos usually that's about all I make.  But, it's a hundred bucks I didn't have before, and I do enjoy it when it's not too cold.  *smiles*

So... we are heading out very soon.  I will update again either from the market, or when I get home.

ONWARD...

Well it may still be March and not that cold yet... but... I'm cold! Only part of me not cold:

ABOVE: Me feet!  Thanks Mum... the boots are wonderful.
The market is slow right now... but should pick up in an hour or so.

And pick up it did!  I did quite well today, most unexpected.  Suffice to say, I will need to get sewing over the next 4 weeks and make more soup bowl holders, and runners!

How strange, I went thinking it would be a so-so day and it wasn't. Ya just never know on the day eh.

I am utterly shattered though.  I kept waking during the night and checking on that bloody giraffe,  April.  And she went into active labor at about 4.30 am our time, and had the calf (a little boy) at 5.45 am our time.  And I was awake watching the whole time.
Hence.  Knackered.

I am now going to have some lunch then a nana nap, cos I have the first 'official' FBG walk of the year... tonight.  I think I will be a bit slow tonight!  *smiles*

8.33 pm:  And... I did have a good nap this afternoon.  I was so tired!  Woke up in time for the walk, which went well.  Over 30 walkers tonight, several dogs and GRIFFIN.  *smiles*
It was hot and humid and heaps of us really felt it.  Looking forward to the cooler months for sure.

Time to sign off for the day... tired but happy to be getting back into the walking.

WAKING TO A COUNTRY IN SHOCK

49 Innocent people lost their lives yesterday in an unprecedented terrorist attack in our country.

I feel shocked that such a dreadful thing happened right here in our beautiful country.
That some madmen could come here and decide to direct their hatred towards totally innocent people, to gun them down in cold blood for being???  Themselves?  For believing in a religion that is different to theirs?
How could they?  

I hope they lock the bastards up and throw away the keys... FOREVER.  


It's going to be a very long time before we forget this tragic event.

I stayed up quite late last night, sewing, trying to keep my mind off the victims gunned down in Christchurch yesterday.
It kinda worked.

I made this:

ABOVE:  The lighting was shit, and I pinned it to a blind... so it's not hanging right either.  But ya get the drift.  It's much smaller than my previous House Table Runners.  I like it.

Now, today.
I believe we are going to christen our kayaks.
Up the river on Lake Karapiro, but not where the rowing takes place.  It's a much quieter area where we are going.
Hopefully we have no problems and actually have fun.  Both Brylee and Griffin will be coming I think.  Neither has work and have expressed an interest in kayaking.
I know I'm looking forward to it.  *smiles*

And that's about all for now... will catch ya later.

ONWARD...

11.55 am:  And we are still at home!
We all slept in.
Like ... really, really slept in.

So, I looked at that photo (above), of the wonky house runner and thought, "What the Hell?"

Clearly I was tired and not thinking straight, cos it was certainly NOT straight... and hell, don't take photos at 12.30 at night!

First thing I did this morning was cut off that binding and re-do it... with basic black.  

ABOVE:  THAT looks way, way better!

We are now preparing to head out kayaking.  This is gunna be fun.

6.10 pm:  Home.  Exhausted!
But it was so lovely.
We went down by the Horahora bridge and kayaked down river a way, under the bridge then back again.  There were heaps of boats/kayaks and jetskis there, so we decided to pack up and go up river more,  to the Little Waipa Reserve.

It was much nicer there.

I did take photos, but am going to show them to you tomorrow, cos I'm buggered.  And well..

... looks like April the giraffe is gunna have her calf soon, and I NEED to be watching! lol

Stew has packed the car in readiness for tomorrow's market... so now it's time to just relax!  I think I will fall asleep instantly tonight!  Kayaking is tiring!

Well the giraffe changed her mind, for now.  No baby giraffe today.  I'm off to bed shortly... catch ya tomorrow.

WALKING..... AND NEWS

Right... back to normal around here today.  Oh it is SOoooooo good to be blogging on a computer again I tell ya!  Using my phone to blog is the pits.  JUST SAYING.

I'm off to Hamilton to meet up with some FBG's at 9 am, it's our last 'social walk' before the Urban Challenge starts on Sunday night.

ABOVE:  We are walking around Lake Rotoroa this morning.  Such a pretty lake, it's 3.7 kms around it's circumference.

Once we've been around once, we are having morning tea. And THEN, we might walk around it again!  Depends on how we feel... and what we need to get done today.

Griffin may be coming with us too.  It's a 'Teacher Only' day at school... so no school for him.

NEWS:  I was contacted by a friend of a friend about taking on some private, domestic cleaning.  So, after some to'ing and fro'ing, I've managed to meet one of the home owners, and will be taking on the cleaning of her home as of next week.
It's only a couple of hours, but it's a start.
I hope to pick up a few more houses over the next few months... just enough to earn me a little pocket money really, and give me something else to do out of the house.

So, that's me news.   And it's thanks to LYNDA for putting her friend in touch with me.

Now, something different for ya.
Who knows what these plants are please?
I have no idea what they are, they just appeared in the vege garden all on their own... for all I know they could be deadly poisonous weeds!

ABOVE:  number 1 is very funky!  That green spikey thing is hard.  The other one?  No idea what it could be!  WELL ... no idea what either are.  *smiles*

ABOVE:  Meet CHLOE, lying on her very own quilt.  Isn't she adorable!  Her Grandma/Nana gave it to her recently.  It's so lovely seeing babies on quilts I've made for them.  *smiles*

I'm going to be making a little baby boy quilt for her yet-to-be-born cousin soon too.  FUN! 

And that's all I have for now.  I hope to get a few nice photos on our walk this morning... catch ya later.

ONWARD... 

WHOOPS.... Sorry Bex I forgot!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Have an awesome day....love ya.

Well the general consensus is that my plants are deadly weeds!  I would never have known... so anyway, they will be pulled out today and thrown in the bin.

Today's walk went well:

 ABOVE:  It was nice weather for walking, overcast so not so hot.  I did get pretty hot though as there was bugger all wind to cool us down.

 ABOVE: There were 9 of us today (counting Griffin), so a nice number.  Yes, we are showing our 'Fat Bottoms', *smiles*.

ABOVE:  It will be interesting to go back in a few months and see what's built on top of those piles!  They obviously still need to be rammed into the ground.

After the walk and morning tea, Griffin and I did a small grocery grab before heading home again.

I literally dumped Griffin and the groceries through the front door when we got home, and I nipped out to have lunch with my friend Sue T.

We had sushi in town... I've not had sushi in a couple of years (at least), and really, really enjoyed it!

I'd forgotten how nice it can be.

ABOVE: My lunch.  YUM!  I LOVE those fresh spring rolls!

OH MY GOD!  An horrific shooting at 2 mosques in Christchurch this afternoon!!!
Multiple dead, so far 4 arrested. 
It is dominating all the news channels and TV/Radio.
At this point it is still an 'active' situation.  Scary, tragic happenings. 
There's evil people out there. So sad.

And it is worse than anyone thought.  49 people lost their lives to terrorists.  Another 48 have been injured.  What is this world coming to that you are not safe anywhere?  

I'm signing off for the day... there is nothing else to say but pray for those who lost their lives or are injured, and their families, and all who have been affected by this atrocious act of terrorism. 

ON A BUS

Well... it's the small hours of Thursday morning  and I'm on a double decker bus in the middle of the  wop wops... about 3 hours from home.

So far it's been a decent enough trip. No sleep though, its just too uncomfortable. 

All going  well I will be walking down my road at 4.30 am and crawling into bed. Don't expect an update till MUCH LATER on today ok? *smiles*

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

4.25 am. Safely  home  and about to go to bed. 

1 pm:  And I've been up for about 2 hours.  I unpacked, tidied the house (even though it was VERY TIDY anyway), cleaned out the fridge, cleaned the pool... it was going green! and generally fluffed around the house getting it to rights.

And now I've got time to post some photos, in no particular order:

 ABOVE:  Me and the girls at lunch yesterday.
It was so lovely ... like old times.  I miss these tarts so much!

 ABOVE:  the ONLY photo I got of Mike!!!!  Major fail there I must say.
But we got to spend almost 5 hours together, and we yakked for most of it.
I love this guy so much and miss him dreadfully.

 ABOVE:  The view out the front of the bus from my seat last night.  This was taken on the Mamaku ranges, and there was a pea soup of a fog!  The bus driver was AMAZING, he kept to his schedule and we arrived at the various stops BANG ON TIME!
He was lovely and dropped me off at the top of my road at 4.25 am, and I only had to walk 500 meters to get home.

Stew got up and we had a good chat for about 45 minutes, before I fell asleep.

I was really surprised I actually stayed awake for almost the entire trip, and I didn't feel tired at all!

I am tired now though.  *smiles*

 ABOVE:  Sandra at the fabric shop in Foxton! She found wool, patterns and needles and is now knitting winter jumpers for her grandchildren.  *smiles*

So glad she enjoyed the shop as well as me.  Poor Chris D just wandered around aimlessly!
Not her sorta shop.

 ABOVE:  Last night we did a drive by our old home in Palmerston North.  It looked good... I loved this home.  Surprised the letterbox was the same one too!

ABOVE: These are the fabrics and panels I bought in Foxton.  I can't wait till I can use them.

5 pm and I've had a quiet afternoon.  Put dinner on and that's about it really.  Feeling really tired... but I expected that.  I should be back to myself by tomorrow.


***  I have been working on a little something for over a week, more on THAT, tomorrow ***

It's 8 pm and I'm going to sign off for the day.  Expecting to be in bed fairly early (for me) tonight.  I've got an FBG walk tomorrow morning.  That should refresh me.