THANK YOU

 

Thank You to everyone who popped in yesterday to say 'Hi' and leave a nice, informative comment.  It was neat hearing where you were from, what ya were doing and so on.

Sad no one was about to throttle anyone, but I live in hope... though it's more likely to be me doing the throttling than anyone else eh?  😂😅😖

Yesterday's runner is finished, but I've not taken a photo yet.  I'll do that later I suppose.  

Right now, I've got a load of washing in the machine waiting to get chucked in the dryer.  It's too wet to even think about hanging it out.  And I can't be arsed hanging it on racks. I worked out it cost us $2 to dry a load in the dryer... I'm doing it!  

Once that's done, I'll get into Crabby Quarters and start THE NEXT runner.  It's taking about 2 hours to get each one quilted and bound.  So not too bad.  Bearing in mind I have to cut out the backing fabric, pin all three layers together with a few dozen safety pins, then also make the binding.  So it's not just 'quilt and bind it' really.

I love it when one if finished, I look at it and still can't believe I MADE THAT!  They look so good ... to me anyway.  I'm proud of them.

OK, enough waffling... off I go to start me day.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: And there is yesterdays runner.  I am now off to choose which one to work on today.  Could be green, could be red, or even the brown tones one?

ABOVE: Stew has been taking these for his knee pain (plus Tramadol when needed), so this morning I decided to take some, to see if it helps with my shoulder pain?

I'll let ya know it it helped... later.  😊

10.45 am, and I am making awesome progress on today's runner, almost up to making the binding.

ABOVE: And there's another one done and dusted.

I'm now taking a break for a very late lunch, it's 2.30 pm. 

And it's soooo dark outside!  A miserable, dreary day.

ABOVE:  I did it, got another one finished!  It was pushing it with my arms starting to kill me, but happy to get it done.  The Panadol did help for a while, but probably only for about 4 hours.  I probably should have taken some more.

There might not be much sewing going on over the next few days.  I've other things to do.

More on that another day.

Right, today is done.  Stew's watching rugby.  I'm doing a jig saw and waiting for Coronation Street to come on, which is MOST unusual.  It's not usually on a Friday night.  Weird.

Catch ya tomorrow.

GO AWAY, IT'S JUST THE SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY HERE!

 WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?

Seriously.

It's gunna be a case of 'SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY' today.

I'm going to Coffee & Chat at 10, then I'm coming home and friggin well sewing!

ABOVE:  Today's runner is already on the table, ready for stitching.  I got a couple of rows done late yesterday.

I'm 100% sure now that sewing is aggravating my shoulders... but no way in hell will I ever stop sewing.  You'd have to chop off me arms for that to happen.  Maybe in 15 years time I will stop ... time will tell of course.

There's little old ladies here in the village, who are aged over 90, and they are still doing crafts, sewing, knitting and so on.  They are so inspirational.

I wanna be like that one day.  

So, how about YOU tell me what you are doing today?  Anything exciting?  Going anywhere?  Shopping?  Throttling anyone?  (that would be fun).  😂😅  Just boring old work?  Where do ya work?  What do YOU do to keep busy?  

Where do you live??? I know there's quite a few readers overseas.  Fill me in.  

ONWARD...
Stew kindly reminded me this morning that my cars WOF was due to expire.  So I took my car to the VTNZ place in Pukete at 9 am.

ABOVE: I was fully expecting a big queue, but NO!  I was the only one there.  My car passed it's WOF, which was a relief.

It's like going to the dentist, trepidation of a big bill.  Very thankful my wee car passed.

Once that was done, I came back to the village to attend Coffee & Chat.  That was good, some nice topics of conversation.  By 11 am I was home again, and I had an early lunch.

Warmed myself up a bit, and now?  Might head into C.Q's to work on that runner.

Thank You for your comments (so far)... it is nice hearing from you all.

MICHELLE in PALMY:  Sorry to hear that chick, I hope things work out.  It would be lovely to see you.

ABOVE: After lunch I took some time to clean up my email inbox/junk box etc.  That took some time!  In the end I deleted 1,686 emails sent to me!  They were for the months of March/April and May.  Far too many to keep.  I TRY to do a clean up at the end of every month, but I always forget.  Grrrr.

After that, I folded up the washing and did a couple of other small jobs around the house.

I did not get to my sewing, and I doubt I will today.  Stew is due home soon, and I shall take him to the pub.

Maybe I'll come home and sew for an hour, before visiting the kids?  Ya never know, I might feel motivated by then.

8 pm, and Yaaaa!  I did stay home until I finished the runner of the day.  I will show it to you tomorrow.

After that I visited the kids, then joined Stew at the pub. NO chips tonight, I wasn't hungry at all.

I did have a glass of bubbles though, which is becoming a regular thing.  One glass of wine ain't gunna hurt me eh?

We are home now, and looking forward to doing bugger all, then watching Coronation Street before bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

JUST. ANOTHER. RUNNER.

 

Hi ho... guess what?

I have bugger all to start the day with.

Literally the only thing on my agenda is to finish another runner!

Kiwionholidays asked me last night after all our families?

Well, it's like this.  We birth them, we raise them up to adulthood, and then they move on with their own lives.  

Some choose to stay in touch, and we really appreciate that so much.

And some choose not to.  And that's fine as well.

Some are just too 'busy' for us.

Some are estranged, by us, or by them.

It is what it is.

I used to think I wanted my own version of 'The Waltons' (IYKYK), but that is totally unrealistic!

I used to think we were cursed with how this family turned out, but the more we talk to other family, friends and acquaintances, we realise we are not abnormal.  It's fairly common in fact for families to splinter and drift apart.

It's been comforting knowing that, because sometimes our situation used to really upset me.

But not any more.  I have accepted it, and moved on, enjoying those in our family who still want to be a part of our lives.

I hope that answered your question Kiwionholidays.

And now... I'm gunna do a few jobs around the house, then move into Crabby Quarters to work on today's runner.

ONWARD...

It is now 12 noon, and I've just finished today's runner:

ABOVE: This one has been in the 'to finish' pile for a long time!  So glad I finally got it done.

Now I'm taking a break, jumping on a bus and going to pick up my latest prescription.

On my way home I plan on wandering around Chartwell Square for a little while.  No other reason than ... 'I CAN'.  😂

7.30 pm.

I got to the bus stop with 15 minutes to wait for the next bus, so that turned out well as I had the chance to chat with one of the residents in our village that I'd not yakked to before.  He was just lovely. Then on to the bus and off I went to the pharmacy for me meds.

Got them, and I was walking back to the nearest bus stop when a car pulled up beside me, and it was one of my immediate neighbours.  He offered me a ride home, so I said sure.  That meant I scrapped the idea of going to Chartwell Square.  All good, I got to yak with 'O', and that was nice as well.

Once home, I pottered around in C.Q's for a while, getting the next runner ready for stitching.  I have to use about 100+ safety pins to hold the three runner layers together, and that takes time. 

After that I did 'housework' in C.Q. as well. Which means filling bobbins with thread.  That took me a good 3/4s of an hour!

Before I knew it, Stew arrived home, so I accompanied him down to the gym.  He did his exercises while I did nothing!  Not into exercise late in the day, thank you very much.  😕😖

And that's me day done and dusted.  I'm now in me lounge chair, heated throw on, watching mindless TV till bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

BACK TO WORK

 

Stew is back to work today, and I'm getting my routine back in swing.

First up will be housework, of which there is very little, cos let's get real, this is a tiny home!  I think the majority of the housework comprises the washing.  Other weekly stuff I 'save up' for Lacy to do.

At 10 am I shall attend the Tuesday Coffee & Chat, then come home and sew.

With any luck I shall get two runners finished today.  That would be awesome, as they are hanging over my head now.

If I can find the time later on, Coco and I will head off for a river bank walk.

ABOVE:  I checked out the Community Vege Garden yesterday, and was happy to see my little Beetroot seeds have germinated.  I've never grown beetroot before.  I'm looking forward to having some once they are mature.

They are NOT MY beetroot BTW, they will belong to everyone in our village.  But I'm gunna take the credit for planting them OK?  😂😅😉

ABOVE: The carrots are doing well too.

ABOVE: There is a new outdoor croquet field which is coming along very well too.  Our gardeners do such a good job around here.  It's quite a large village, so there is ALWAYS something for them to do.

A sign of the times, with petrol being so very expensive, there's been a couple of fuel thefts here.  A house which is very close to the 'main road' has been targeted.  The lady who lives there is so very upset. 

As a consequence, the management is going to be installing more security cameras, to catch everyone who enters the village, and in particular, places that are more vulnerable to thieves.  Sad that it is necessary.

ONWARD...

12.06 pm, and the morning has gone to plan.

I had a nice time at C & C, quite a few people there today, which I didn't expect as it was raining. 

Now I'm home and about to have some lunch.  Sewing later...

ABOVE:  And it's now 3.10 pm and I just finished this runner.  My shoulders are telling me that's enough for the day, so I'm now aiming to get one a day finished, not two.  

Time to take a break anyway...
9.25 pm.  My break away lasted a while!

I went to WW tonight, it was a good meeting... not for the information, but for the lovely chats I had with other ladies.

That's what I enjoy the most about the meetings.

Stew went to the gym when he arrived home, then we have both just watched TV since getting home.

Time to sign off, catch ya tomorrow.

A PUBLIC HOLIDAY TODAY

 

I reckon every single shop in this country is having a freakin' sale today.

It's Kings Birthday today, not that I consider that prick MY King.  Whoops, shoot me now, I disparaged Charlie the cheater.  

I was a staunch supporter of Princess Diana, and just cannot stand Camilla, or Charles.

I don't often express my feelings/opinions on such matters, but having a public holiday to celebrate HIM does my head in.

Anyway.... that being said, it is a holiday so Stew is home.

We are planning a quiet day, after doing quite a bit yesterday.

I'm thinking of buying a cheap little vacuum cleaner, so we can suck the air out of vacuum bags if/when we need to open the ones we used yesterday.  Also, having a conventional vacuum will come in handy for cleaning out the car etc.

Our stick vacuum refused to work with the vacuum bags, and it's a right shit to use in the car, even taking the stick off bla bla bla.

And I now have room in the linen cupboard for a small conventional vacuum cleaner.  WIN WIN.

So yeah, we might just go out to Briscoes later on, seeing as they are having a SALE (of course they are).  Vacuums are between 40 and 60 % off today.

Later on today I shall possibly attend Craft Group, and do some work on my next runner.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  I bought 4 more flowers yesterday, and raided a really big bunch I already had in the lounge, and boom.  My gorgeous new blue pot has flowers in it, in our bedroom. I'll have to 'tweak' the bunch a bit to make it look a bit tidier, but still, lovely.

Stew's in the shower and I'm waiting for him to be ready to go out.  

My gosh it's a dreary looking day out there today.  Totally overcast, threatening to rain.  Just ikkk.  

ABOVE:  Taa Daaa!  A lovely new vacuum. Chosen after doing quite a bit of research, reading reviews etc online.  It was 60% off, so a real bargain.  Ours is a blue one, not white like on the box.  I tried it out on our diabolical carpet, and OMG!  It picked up every single little bit with ONE swipe over!  I used the Turbo Head, it was amazing.  While I really don't like this style of vacuum, I will be using it when I vacuum the entire house from now on.

And Lacy needn't bring hers over again. 

It is now 11.10 am, and I suppose I should get my stuff ready and go down to Craft Group.

I went to Craft Group.  No one else did.

So I worked on my own and got these two projects finished:

ABOVE:  First to get done was my bird panel... it's taken bloody ages because I just don't enjoy mosaics at all.  This will be my last project using mosaics.

If I can't find anywhere to hang it here, I will gift it away at Christmas.

ABOVE:  After the bird panel was done (in the mosaic room), I went into the Craft Room.  I expected there to be at least a couple of ladies already there, but NO.

I was on my own the entire time I was there.  I got that runner finished, then packed up and came home.

It is now 1.40 pm, Stew is watching a shoot 'em up, bang bang movie.  I think I will do nothing for the time being.  

I woke up this morning feeling like I actually needed to go back to bed, just tired and my shoulders are aching something rotten.

I can't even get my sweatshirt off on my own at the moment!

I think I have arthritis in my shoulders, or something like that.

The Doctor wanted me to have steroid injections last year when my left shoulder was killing me, but HELL NO!  Me and injections?  Yeah nah.  AND I'm told steroid injections hurt like bi'jezzus (made up word), so again, NAH.

It clearly gets worse over winter... bugger.

Right, enough bitching... I might sort out a snack to tide me over till dinner.

Dinner was ho hum, a pasta dish that turned out kinda tasteless.  I do have flops sometimes!

We are both bloody tired, and ready for bed and it's only 7.30 pm!

I think we will both be in bed fairly early tonight.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FINALLY GETTING TO THAT LINEN CUPBOARD

 Today we are doing the job that's been put off for the past couple of days, tidying up the linen cupboard.

I'm really looking forward to sucking the air out of heaps of blankets etc, and making more space in there.  

Stew and I should get that job knocked out in a couple of hours.

But first, Stew is off to do the weekend shopping.  Can't have us running out of Diet Coke!

While he does that, I will get the other housework done, bed made, washing on etc.

With any luck, all that will be done by lunchtime, and I can get back to my sewing.  I would like to think I can get one runner totally finished, per day, for the next 10 days.

I don't normally sew when Stew is home, but he won't mind.  He'll be perfectly happy spending some time watching sport on the telly.

Here's what I bought yesterday in Taupo:

ABOVE:  This is my new wallet.  Isn't it so pretty?  I have had the same plain black wallet for a few years now, and I've had some cards fall out of it, as it's card slots are not 'enclosed' within the wallet as such.

This new wallet is fully zipped up, so no cards can fall out.  I am very happy to have found it.

AND it kinda matches the gorgeous jacket I was wearing yesterday.  FYI it is a 'SCRIBBLER' jacket, made here in New Zealand.  It can be purchased online.

ABOVE:  Stew spied a small group of four houses in a gift shop.  We hadn't seen this particular series before, and thought they were so lovely.  We could not resist one, of course.  I am rather proud of us, we didn't buy them all!

So there ya go, it was just a little 'shop' in Taupo. 

Now, hmmm... back to that housework I suppose.

ONWARD...

10.45 am, and NO Sharon, the linen cupboard is far from finished!

I did the housework.  I put two ginger loaves in the oven.  And now, finally, I am working on the linen cupboard.

How many towels do two people need?

I have about 30.

Some are going into the 'give away' pile.  But how many????

ABOVE:  My lounge right now.  *sigh*

Once everything was out of the cupboard, I started putting a few things back in... then ran out of energy.

So we went out for lunch, to The Lookout again.  Another lovely lunch.

Then we went to Mitre 10 for a couple of things, had a quick look in Early Settler and came home.

We just had a piece of ginger loaf each.. his with no crystalised ginger in it, and mine did have some in it.  I also 'tweaked' the recipe a bit, and added crushed pineapple to give it a bit more moistness, as the original recipe was very dry. VAST improvement I must say.

I'm now about to tackle the rest of the linen...

🤣😉 ALL the excess linen has already been picked up and taken to a new home!

And we have finished the linen cupboard as well.

I've now got some stuff from Crabby Quarters on the two empty shelves in the linen cupboard.  So much less clutter in C.Q. now. 

THAT WAS A BIG WIN WIN on so many levels.

8.10 pm.  Coco had a play date over with Steve, Bex and family this afternoon.   So we went over and picked her up late afternoon.

Once home again, we both just blobbed out, and will continue to do so until bedtime.

I'm happy with how much we got done today.   Ya gotta love productive days.

ABOUT FACE

 

Last night when I signed off, I said we were not planning on going anywhere this long weekend.

Ha ha... change of plans.  We are now going to spend the day in Taupo.

We have not seen my Aunt Ethel and Uncle Frank for at least 18 months, and they have been on my mind a lot of late.  I don't want to lose touch with them, so I rang them last night and arranged to visit them today.

While down there, we will also visit my dear friend Sharon, who's recently moved into a new home.  She's very happy in her new abode, so it will be lovely to see her again as well.

ONWARD...

..

ABOVE: 11.18 am. Good  Morning  Kinloch. 

ABOVE : Kinloch donkeys... so cute.

ABOVE: 4.36 pm.... Last minute photo op'.... before leaving for home. Holding Cedric the Cat, our house warming gift to Sharon. 

Best sort of cat to have. 

6.45 pm, and we are home.  JUST in time for Stew to watch the rugby.  Poor man could have gone to the actual game with his mates, had we not been in Taupo.  But, we didn't know that when we left this morning, so NOT MY FAULT! 😂😅😖

We had a very enjoyable day out. It was nice to see family, Ethel is just two weeks out from having a hip replacement, so our timing was great.  She wasn't in TOO much pain, and well on the road to recovery.

Seeing Sharon, and her son Samuel was really lovely as well.  I was given a huge bag of foam chips from Sharon, I can use them with my Scrappy Dolls.  Thanks Chick.

The traffic was heavy coming home, but everyone was doing a steady speed, and there were no idiots.  

I got a pie I'd cooked a while ago out of the freezer before we left, so dinner is sorted.  I just have to get this update done then I can warm it up.

ABOVE: We did a tiny bit of shopping while in Taupo, a gift for Sharon (shown in an earlier photo), and couple of things for us.  I will show you tomorrow.

ABOVE: Pretty much the only time we saw the sun today, as it was trying to break through the clouds.  The clouds won.  It was just the most miserable day weather wise, cloud/fog/and more fog.  At least it didn't  rain! 

I'm going to bugger off now, get our dinner, then relax for the remainder of the evening.

Catch ya tomorrow.

LINEN CUPBOARD NIGHTMARE

 

In our last home we had 3 linen cupboards, and even more room when I used a wardrobe as well.

When we moved, I gave away a mass of linen, and only kept what we needed, plus a few spares.

But the linen cupboard here is just too small to even hold our minimum.  Some is in the attic in black sacks!

Today I am going to buy some of those vacuum pack bags... so I can suck the life out of some things, so they take up less room.  I'm hoping my stick vacuum does the job, if not... I'll have to borrow Lacy's vacuum.

This is the first home we've had that has not had much storage.  Don't downsize unless you are prepared for having to squeeze ya shit into smaller spaces!  I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was.

At least I've stopped crying now!  😂😅

After I've done that, I will make a start on quilting and binding the 11 runner tops I've just finished making. 

ABOVE: For weeks I've been stressing out about where I could lay out a big roll of batting in this house?

I thought I'd end up having to take it over to Steve 'n' Bex's to use their huge patio.

But no !  It fits (just) in my lounge.  So I cut out all 11 pieces I need for the 11 runners last night.  Now I shall cut out the backing fabric, then quilt... bla bla bla.

A few photos from last night:

ABOVE:  Lily loves having her photo taken!

ABOVE: And Archer does not mind at all.  He's blossomed over the past year, it's so wonderful to see.

ABOVE: Dante was like, NOPE, don't want me photo taken, rolling around on the floor with his shirt over his head.

ABOVE: And then he relented, and posed as only he can, with his baby sister.  She's so tiny next to him!

ABOVE: And not to be left out is our Marley.  She's giving me the side eye, cos she doesn't like having her photo taken either.  😂😅😖
ONWARD... 

11.05 am, and I've been out, bought vacuum bags, picked up the vacuum from Lacy, gassed up my car and now I'm home.

ABOVE:  I'm now going to do this job tomorrow, with Stew's help. He will LOVE that.  😂😅 

So now, it's back to sewing.  Something I can do on me own.

ABOVE:  Well, I only got this one totally finished today.  It didn't have the red border fabric originally, but I decided to add it, to give it a bit more oomph, and size.  I think it looks awesome.  Bright, but awesome.  Somebody is gunna love it.

I started the next one, but only got half the quilting done before Stew arrived home.  I don't like to sew once he gets home, as that is 'our' time together.

So, a nice evening stretches ahead, and a long weekend to look forward to.

We don't have any plans to go away, bearing in mind his knee is still slowing him down too much.

So, we will have some small outings, nothing too far from home.

Catch ya tomorrow.

USUAL THURSDAY AROUND HERE

 

I shall start today with some boring old housework, followed by starting my next runner.

ABOVE:  I have laid out the fabric for this one already.  I'm feeling quite excited to be doing something really different this time.  I even found a nice fabric for the centre piece too.

I'm thinking of adding something (in applique') to the centre piece as well.  but that will happen later on.

I will be taking a break from the sewing at 10 am, and heading down to the Community Centre for Coffee and Chat.

I wonder if the man who was going to take 'The Headmistress' to task at the meeting yesterday turns up.  If he does it will be interesting to see if he says anything about 'it' or not.

I know he owes me and a few others an explanation, after insisting we all attend that meeting to 'support him'.  

ONWARD...

9.10 am.  Housework - Done.

Quick morning walk - Done.

ABOVE: It was looking promising...

ABOVE:  There is a river there... somewhere!

ABOVE:  But the fog was sooooo thick, I couldn't even see the river!  I did a quick walk, until I didn't feel safe, and turned around and came home again.  It was just too secluded, dark and foggy.

Better to be safe than sorry.

I am now heading over to Spotlight for more plain black fabric for the backings of all those runners.  

ABOVE:  Black fabric acquired, and on sale as per usual. Spotlight is now like Briscoes, there is ALWAYS a sale on.  

And then off to the supermarket for FOUR things.

And a MIRACLE HAPPENED.  

I only bought those FOUR THINGS!!!!

Next, off to Coffee and Chat.  Which was nice, not as many there today as it is cold and miserable outside.

Now I'm home and making some lunch, then I can get into Crabby Quarters and get some work done.
Sorry, I forgot to say, NO ... Big Mouth did not turn up.  Funny that.

ABOVE: Today's runner top is done.  I was going to embellish it with a maple leaf in the middle, but now that it's done, I can see it doesn't need it at all.  It's already really beautiful.  

I am now going to take a break until Stew gets home, then I'll take him to the pub and visit the kids.  Just the usual Thursday evening.

11 pm:  Well as I thought, it was a normal Thursday evening.

I got to spend some time with the kids, which is always enjoyable.

Picked Stew up from the pub then came home.  Watched a bit of telly then... off to bed.