LET'S GO

 

Well... after deciding only a week or so ago, we are flying off to Christchurch today.

I'm really looking forward to the complete change of scene Christchurch will be for us.

Although the weather is supposed to be a bit shit, we don't care.

It's all about a nice mini break for us.  And ummm... checking out a couple of fabric shops I've NEVER been to before!  😏😅😉

Of course, we will be having a good look around the city, and it's surrounds as well.

I am hoping the weather isn't utter shit, and we can do a couple of things outside, like walk around Akaroa, maybe do the Gondola ride?  Not sure what will be possible yet.

It's still early in the morning, and we don't have to be out at the airport till around 10 am, so we have plenty of time to slowly get ourselves up, dressed, fed etc.  

ONWARD...

ABOVE: 8.30 am, and a freaking  fog dropped down. Fingers crossed it clears in time for our flight out.

And already... our flight is going to be delayed. It's very foggy out there, no doubt why its delayed.  Hot chips 🍟 should help....lol.

11.15 am, and the plane finally landed in Hamilton.

ABOVE: We should have been getting off that plane in Christchurch about now. 😒

Lucky we are not in a hurry.  I think we will be leaving in about 45 minutes....

2,52 pm, and we are here in our motel.  Our flight ended up being just over an hour late arriving in Christchurch, and the delay was due to the fog in Hamilton.  Typical of Waikato.

ABOVE:  Once we got above the clouds, our flight was smooth and uneventful.

Even the two babies right in front of us were very good travellers.

ABOVE:  I don't know if you can make it out, but that is Farewell Spit, at the top of the South Island.  It curves right out into the sea in a huge arc.

ABOVE:  At Amberly, we headed out to sea..

ABOVE: And then we swung back inland for our approach to Christchurch.  I don't like it when the plane dips and turns like that!  My tummy does flip flops.

ABOVE: The Waimakariri River, looking very empty of water.  Maybe it always looks like that? I don't know.

ABOVE: Once we had landed, it was fairly plain sailing to pick up our bags and then get the shuttle to our rental car pick up.  Photo above is on State Highway 1, heading into the city.

Our motel is fairly basic, but clean and tidy.  It will do.  Soon we will go for a ticky tour around the city centre, bearing in mind only eateries are likely to be open on a Sunday afternoon.

5.35 pm and I was right.  Most shops were closed on the main shopping streets.  We did venture into a small mall, but it was pretty much the same as any other mall.

We drove around for about an hour and a half, then found a Pasta place called Pasta Pasta on High Street, and went in for dinner.

It was bloody yum! 

ABOVE: We both had a 'Not so Proper Chicken Carbonara', it was bloody delicious!  Heaps of flavour, which you don't always get in restaurants.  Highly recommend that place.

We got some Diet Coke from Pak 'n' Save, a few snack type things and are now back at our motel for the night.

I think this will be it for the day, I'm not anticipating anything else 'happening' for the evening, except lying on the bed watching TV.

Oh and it isn't THAT much colder here than in Hamilton.  AND the freaking bed does not have an electric blanket, which is nuts!  Lucky for me, Stew is always HOT.

I shall just cuddle up to him.

PREP DAY, GETTING DUCKS IN A ROW

 

We have a few things to do today.

- Get our suitcases down from the attic, and pack.

- Get Coco over to Steve 'n' Bex's later on today.

Check my lists ... all the usual things before going away for a few days.

I remember when I was going over to Australia (3 times) last year, I wasn't nearly as bothered with lists and so on!  Weird eh?

We are only going away for a few days, yet I'm feeling quite stressed.

Maybe it's because of the weather?  There's supposed to be fairly shitty weather flying down, and while we are in Christchurch.

Clearly, I just have more time to over think shit!

I'm not worried about the wet weather forecast once we are there ... we are hiring a car so can get around easily.  And we don't plan on going on big walks (think Stew's knee), so we will most likely be inside wherever we go.

I suppose we should get a move on. 

Once we have everything sorted, I am sure we will go out for lunch, which is our normal for the weekend now.

ONWARD...

9.35 am, and LOL, we have done most of our packing!  The only things left to do are to get Coco over to the kids house, and have lunch!

We had a very small frost this morning, such a difference from yesterday.  Don't get me wrong, it's still cold as F, but with the heat pump on we are fine inside.

12.40 pm, and we are just in from our shopping and lunch.  We needed to do just a tiny bit of shopping, Stew said he wanted some winter pj's, and I decided I could do with some as well.

So off we went to Farmers.  I got a matching set of top and bottoms, and Stew got the more traditional Flannelette Pygamas.  No photo of me in my PJ's, but because I didn't post a photo of Stew in his 'formal wear' the other night, I GIVE YOU:

ABOVE:  Stewie in his jammas.   How cute does he look?  lol  😂😄😅

He said he was going to stay in them for the rest of the day, even when we took Coco over to S & B's, and do a 'Joyce'.

Clarification, our DIL Joyce sometimes goes out in her pyjamas!  AND SLIPPERS.

Anyway, I said no, and he got back in his clothes.  I'm sure he was just joking. Right?

We are now at the 'twiddling our thumbs' point of the day.  We will take Coco over late afternoon, drop off the rubbish to the village bins, then most things will be done.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, Stew must be home at 7 pm for the first Nations Championship test, with the All Blacks Vs France.  The game is in the brand new One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch.  It is the first international rugby game to be played in the new stadium.

ABOVE:  Coco patiently waiting to be taken over to the kids house.  She knew she was going somewhere, her bed and food was at the door.  

ABOVE:  It's a mad house !  I doubt Steve is going to be able to have all three kids on his back for much longer.  They are all growing like weeds.

And Marley?  She just wanted Steve to throw her ball, and surprisingly, he managed to do just that.

ABOVE: And Coco?  Was outside doing a thousand piddles and poops, before settling on my lap, well away from the madness.

And it's now 6.31 pm, and we are done for the day.  We will most likely go to bed at a 'decent' time tonight.  Even though we don't have to be  out at the airport till around 10 am, I will stress about not getting there 'in time'... it's what I do.

I am a 'get there hours too soon' sort of person, rather than too late.  

So yeah, we will be up and out of here fairly early.  😊😉😖

Catch ya tomorrow.

SIMPLE RUNNERS

 

OMG, it's another super cold, frosty morning!  I suppose the only consolation to this weather is, it's getting us used to freezing temperatures.  Cos, it's going to be even colder down in Christchurch!

Today I am going to make a start on assembling everything we will need to take with us on Sunday.

Stew will get our suitcases out of the attic tomorrow, then all we will have to do is pack.

Before I do that though, I have these strips of fabric which I am going to turn into very simple runners:

ABOVE:  I am doing them as an 'experiment' really, to see how simple runners go.  

I will do some sewing this morning, then after lunch, start my prep for our little jaunt away.

ONWARD...

I just looked outside... and its an even heavier frost than yesterday.  I'm staying in bed. I just turned the heatpump on, and I'm not getting up until the house has warmed up.

2 pm.  It's turned into a gorgeous day!  I did a bit of sewing early on, then heaps of washing.

I just got back from a little walk along the river bank, which was really nice.

Now... it's a late lunch for me.

After that, I'm going to get the washing on lines, then sort out a few things for our trip.

4.30 pm, and I actually changed my mind about what I was going to make today.  I put the cat/dog fabrics aside, and started a much smaller Braid Runner.

ABOVE: And there it is.  A smaller braid runner, which might appeal to someone looking for a runner for a coffee table, or the top of their drawers and so on.    I am going to make a few more this size, as I don't have a lot of smaller runners.

I will eventually get around to the cats 'n' dogs.  😊

And now that's finished, and I'm feeling good, having got something productive done today.

AND.... another normal evening here.  Watching telly.   Doing a jig saw online.  Occasionally yakking with Stew.  And now?  It's nearly 10 pm, and I'm going to bed.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

COFFEE & CHAT....

I'm going to have a fairly quiet day .... first up, I'm sleeping in.

I'm going to get today's post up, then I'm rolling over and going back to sleep!

Then mid-morning, I shall join the group at Coffee & Chat down in the Community centre.

Then I shall wash my hair and get it all pretty for the Formal Dinner/Event that is on this evening.

I know what I'm wearing... LEGGINGS, white top and the black woollen 'cape thingee', with black boots.  I might add a pretty necklace to jazz it up a bit, we will see.  

Stew is going to wear pretty much what he wears to work, a dress shirt and trousers, and dressy shoes.  No tie.  It's not 'that' formal.

The evening gets started at around 5 pm, cos there's heaps of older people here, and that means an early start, and an early finish.  The darlings go to bed early I'm thinking.   Unlike me, who's usually still up at 11 pm.

I'm an OWL, not a fowl.  

Anyone remember 'It's in the Bag'?

ABOVE: 'It's in the Bag' was a game show on the TV in the 70's - 90's, primarily hosted by Selwyn Toogood.  I can vaguely remember watching it way back then.

Anyway, I mention it as we are playing it tonight, as part of the evenings entertainment.  There's some bloke coming along to host it, so it could be a bit of fun.

I'll let ya all know how it goes of course.

But for now... I'm going back to sleep.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

FROST!! Its bloody FREEZING. I've got the heat pump on and my electric blanket! Think I'm staying in bed at bit longer.    Brrrr.

I'm mega frustrated,  my internet is not working, so I'm having to use my phone to update.

I have no idea why my internet isn't working either.  Hopefully it comes back on its own?

So anyway, the day is going well, lots of TICKS. It's still bloody freezing, even though the sun is shining brightly.

2 pm, finally!  I pulled all the plugs, turned off the power to the wi fi and router... then turned it all back on.  And it worked!  If only I'd thought of doing that hours ago.

Now I can concentrate on getting my hair done!  

ABOVE:  READY to go.   I don't think I look too bad for a 67 year old.  Opinions?

Thank you for the lovely comments on how I looked.  That was so nice.

The evening?  Was good.  Lots of people won some awesome prizes, primarily vouchers from supermarkets/petrol stations/cafes and the like... plus a few boogie prizes.  

The meal was a 5/10, as per usual when caterers are feeding 120+ people.  It was still a lovely evening all up though.

Now that we are home, it's glad rags off and heated throw ON.  

We are in for another heavy frost tomorrow, it's already super cold outside.

Catch ya tomorrow.

OFF TO MATAMATA TODAY

This morning I am driving over to Cambridge, to join up with a group of FBG's for a trip to Matamata.

ABOVE:  We are walking to the Matamata Tower, then have lunch in MATAMATA. That should be a bit of fun.  

While I'm not doing the Urban Challenge this year due to the price of petrol, I am still staying involved in the FBG group, cos I really don't want to lose touch with so many of them.  They have become such nice friends. 

I have no idea how long we will be out and about, but I'll no doubt do an update at some point during the day.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: Well we are here, and there's quite a few old buildings to explore. There's little 'exhibitions ' inside most of them. 

We have a GORGEOUS DAY, SUNSHINE AND NO WIND.
4 pm.  Phew what a long day that was.  But ever so nice to spend time with my friends.

The Matamata/Firth Tower and it's surrounding buildings were neat to see.  It is run by the local council and is open for visits most days.

We got  a private talk about the history of the Estate/Tower, then we could wander around the buildings.

Most of the additional buildings on the Estate, apart from the original Home and Tower have been brought on site many years ago.  

I thought the tower would be a water tower, but no.  It's just a 'folly'.  Or in other words, a rather flash garden ornament!

ABOVE: In the little school, I spied this school desk  and OMG!  I can remember having a desk just like that in Primary School!

ABOVE: An original telephone box.

ABOVE: An incredibly old sewing machine, used to make leather goods.

ABOVE: This made me laugh, the little metal/cane seat?  We had one exactly like that when I was a kid.

Does that make me old?

ABOVE:  We had lunch at the J Swap coffee shop, which is on the J Swap industrial site.  This display of vehicles was pretty neat to look at.

ABOVE: The entrance to the coffee shop.  It was a very nice coffee shop.

The trip lasted quite a bit longer than I anticipated.  But all good.

Happy to be home now, and having my lunch at 4 pm!

Because my digestive system cannot be trusted, I can't eat if travelling, when I don't know where the next loo is likely to be... when you have to 'go'... it's an immediate thing with me.   Unfortunately, it's one drawback of having your gall bladder out.  I hope Bex doesn't get that side effect.

ABOVE:  A fun photo, we all held a 'mask' up of one of our walkers, who was celebrating a very special birthday.   Yaaa, one photo I didn't have to put 'faces' on . 

10.16 pm.  I'm praying for a really good night's sleep tonight.  I've had some really shitty nights lately, what with Coco doing Zoomies in the middle of the night, and Stew dropping farts strong enough to knock out an elephant!  I swear, between the two of them I'm a wreck.

And on that note, I'm outta here.

Catch ya tomorrow.

MUST STOP STRESSING

 

I'm feeling much better this morning, having got a decent night's sleep.

I also now know why I was feeling so awful... I was having a blood sugar LOW.  I'd not had one in ages, so it took me a while to twig what was going on.  

Stew is seeing his surgeon this morning, for a follow up after his knee replacement.  I will be going with him, so I know exactly what's going on.

I want to know if everything is actually 'on track' or not.  

I am happy to say there's big ticks on most details for our little jaunt off to Christchurch now.  Flights/Accommodation and Car Hire.  TICK TICK TICK.

As for where we go/visit ... we will work on that between now and then.

We leave on Sunday 5th, and return on Thursday 9th July.  Coco is staying with Steve 'n' Bex.  We just need to let management here in the village know we are out of town, and our home is checked regularly during the day, and three times overnight.  Such AMAZING security!

It really is a 'lock and leave', with peace of mind here.

I talked to some of the ladies at Craft Group yesterday about the 'Formal Event' being held here on Thursday night.  Most said it's way less FORMAL now days, and some people don't even bother to 'dress up'!  So I've been stressing out about nothing.  Though, I am happy with my outfit choice. I know I've made an effort.

Time to get a move on, Stew's appointment is fairly early this morning.

ONWARD...

10 am, just in from the Specialist appointment.  And... all is as it should be by the sound of it.  Stew just has to ride it out and know that it will take at least a year to get to the optimal result. Buying the exercycle was the best thing we could have done by the sound of it, as it's the NUMBER ONE best exercise for knee replacement recovery.

Stew is now going back to work, and I'm off to Coffee & Chat.

12.30 pm:  C & C was OK, the usual people there.  One lady tends to dominate the conversation, which sometimes gets a bit annoying.  You know the sort, who has been there, done that, knows everything, makes most conversations about her and her experiences.  I kinda shut up today, I really wasn't in the mood to try and join in much.

Home now, and I've just had lunch.

ABOVE:  I tried out these new silicone egg rings, and was pleasantly surprised how well they worked.  The rings kept the eggs contained, not spread out all over the pan.  I used a little oil, then towards the end I add hot water to cook the tops (lid on).  They were very nice on a piece of toast.

I can't be arsed doing much else right now.  Might get into Crabby Quarters later on.

ABOVE:  So, while fossicking in my stash of 'scraps', I found that piece of animal fabric.  Hmmm... coasters? 

Nah.  I added some border fabric (the yellow/orange shit) and turned it into a little runner.  Looking at it now, I'm like, Whoops!  Forgot to put the yellow/orange fabric on the ends.  Too bad, it looks just fine the way it is.

And that's all I've done this afternoon.  It is now 5 pm and I shall await the return of 'the man'.

9.10 pm:  We've had a pleasant evening... just the usual, so nothing note worthy.

Catch ya tomorrow.

HAD A THOUGHT...

 

We have a 'formal' event to attend this Thursday, here in the village.

I was tossing up between a rather colourful dress I already have, or leggings and a new white top.

ABOVE:   I really like the black/white option, BUT am terrified of dropping something on my front during dinner.  I do it ALL.  THE.  TIME.

So I've been trying to work out how I can still wear the white top, but not have to worry about spillages.

I think I've worked it out!   

I will take a photo of the solution a bit later on, once it's lighter inside.  *I will be wearing black dress boots on the night, not sneakers.

Today is Craft Group, so I'm going to gather up some stuff to work on, and put it in my trolley, in readiness for later on this morning.

After I've done that, I am going online to suss out things we can do in Christchurch.

Top of the list?  Visit Sew & Co at the Tannery of course!  Fabric.  We are packing LIGHT, just in case I have to buy some fabric.  *snort*

ONWARD...

10.35 am.   I've been working on what to wear, considering all the comments re: Leggings.

First of all, here's the solution to the spillage problem:

ABOVE:  My black, pure wool cape thingee that I bought in Bellingen on the 12th of October, 2020.

I can take it off after dinner if I want to.  Still got leggings on here.

ABOVE:  Long, flowy black pants.

ABOVE:  Found these too... pants, not so flowy.

So, I still love the leggings.  But might go with the not so flowy pants yet.

And now, I'm off to Craft Group.

2.30 pm.  I came home from Craft Group a bit early today as I'm feeling a bit ikkk.

I got acid reflux badly overnight, so didn't get much sleep.  Had to literally sit upright from 10.30 pm till about 5 am!  

Therefore, I'm bloody tired as F.

I did get these made in C.G. :

ABOVE:  I love using up bits n pieces of fabric which would otherwise go to waste.

Now... I'm going to have a freakin' nana nap.

7.29 pm, and NOPE, I did not have a freakin' nana nap after all.  I was so, so tired, but could not get to sleep.  So I just lay in bed with the electric blanket on and scrolled the 'net.

Coco was doing 'zoomies' up and down the hallway, having a ball.  She's so cute.

Stew arrived home and got on the exercycle.  I might a bit later on this evening, depending how I'm feeling.  I'm still feeling rather ikk.  Just over tired I reckon.

I just got a hire car sorted out for when we are  in Christchurch.  It gives us total freedom to go where we want, when we want. 

I had looked into doing a day tour, to like Akaroa/Cruise on the harbour, but OMG... they want an arm and a leg and lots of $$$'s.  Just not going to do that. 

We will probably wing it each day, but I do have an idea of a few places we can go.

And on that happy note... cos it's been a productive day overall... catch ya tomorrow.