WELL I MIGHT JUST DO THAT

I'm a 'VIP' member of Spotlight, which gives me discounts and savings off lots of stuff there.  That's on top of their constant specials too.

Every now and then they give you a bonus and this is what I got in an email yesterday:

ABOVE:  Of course, you have to spend $100 to 'save' $40... so in effect you spend $60.  As I am a sucker for a saving... I will probably go in and spend the $60.  lol

My thistles are bugging me.  I love them so much:

ABOVE: this is what mine look like when they are 'blooming'.   So, I've decided to take the two that are in pots with me after all.  I will make damn sure they don't spread their seeds by cutting the flowers before they dry out and drop seeds.  Problem solved.  

DOGSTARS:  in answer to your question about the Beetroot Chutney and Onion Relish... I don't make them myself... I simply can't be arsed!  I buy them:

ABOVE:  The Onion Relish is to die for!

As for my breakfasts, I just have porridge with some added raisins.  Very nice and filling.

Today, well as I said, I'm going into Hamilton to spend some money... I don't really need to, but I can't pass up the specials and bonus discount.
I'm going to buy some more Christmas fabric as it's 50% off right now, so add that saving to the $40 off and I'm winning all the way out the door.

I have to wait till mid morning though, cos Lacy is popping in on her way over to Tauranga. So while I wait for her I might get some washing done, clean some floors bla bla bla. Housework never ends.

ONWARD... 

1.47 pm:  And I'm home from my little shopping trip.
Which went really, really well.

I got exactly what I wanted at Spotlight:

ABOVE:  They will be going into a box for next year of course.  But as they were half price, too good to miss out on right now.  *smiles*

After Spotlight I went into the city centre to look in this shop:

ABOVE:  The Christmas Heirloom Shop.  I must say I was quite disappointed this time.  I only saw ONE thing that took my eye, and it was kinda too expensive for me to contemplate buying.


ABOVE:  Really cute and I could see it at my 'new' front entrance area... but I left it there.
Stew would have a fit if I bought it!

I was actually looking for Christmas Lights, but after looking in several places (Spotlight, Christmas Shop, Mitre 10 and Bunnings), I gave up.   I saw what I wanted at Mitre 10, but they had sold out of them sadly.

I might go down to our local Mitre 10 tomorrow to see if they have any.  

But for now, I'm home, I'm starving and am going to get me some lunch.

9.30 pm: Whoops, forgot to update all afternoon!  Not much point really, I did nothing but a bit of washing and played with the dogs.

I didn't even cook dinner, we had left overs.

Now I'm watching Coronation Street, then going to bed.  

DIDN'T KNOW THAT!

Well!

It would appear that I will not be taking my thistle plants anywhere.  

IN fact, I will be killing them.

How sad, they are so pretty when they are purple.

But, as has been pointed out to me, they are banned ... YES, BANNED in the Waikato!!!

So, all my careful tending and watering and protecting is for naught.  We will be killing the plants this weekend, before they can seed and possibly spread.

I'm just a bit sad.

The Nodding Thistle (ABOVE) is the chief culprit, and I know it is just a bloody weed.  I had no idea the one I am growing is on the banned list too.  It looks nothing like the nodding thistle by the way.

Now today?  *sigh* ... twiddling me thumbs?
Dunno.
There is only so much I can do around here now.  Most things have to wait until the end of the month.

Then it will be all go, go, go.

OK... I just said 'twiddling me thumbs'... which is ironic cos that's the last thing I will be doing!

Just so ya know, I've tried quite a few creams and ointments to try and alleviate the pain:

ABOVE: This is some of them, I know there's at least two more somewhere around here.
NONE of them help.  And nor do over the counter painkillers.

So I'm pretty much giving up on pain relief ... but I will try and find a suitable brace to at least help it from getting worse.

Right, I'm off to start the day.

ONWARD...

Getting shit done today after all.
Lacy came out ... so I got her onto the bathrooms.

ABOVE:  Everything came out of the cupboards and drawers... and she cleaned them for me.
That's a good job done, instead of leaving it till the last minute.

She has had a lesson in how to clean properly... I did pop her balloon when she thought she'd done it 'perfectly'.  lol


OH WOW! I took a Tramadol. For the thumb pain. And it's worked! My thumb, which was throbbing and hurting like hell this morning, is no longer sore.


Hmmmm... is it advisable to be taking Tramadol every day though? Tell me.

I sliced the top of my thumb this morning on the clothes basket... put a sticky plaster on it of course.
Then this afternoon Marley decided I didn't need that on me thumb, and she took an hour (I let her)... to lick and nibble it off.  It kept her highly amused ... was sorta cute.

Dinner tonight is home made chicken burgers.  I'm thinking they will be yummy.

8 pm:  And Yep, dinner was lovely!  I added beetroot chutney and Caramelised Onion Relish to our burgers, it makes SUCH a difference!  So much flavour, which we just love.

Full as a bull now... probably going to blob out for the rest of the evening in front of the TV.
Like... well, most nights!  lol

THEY DO SAY YA CAN LOOK LIKE YOUR DOG RIGHT?

I just found a photo I took the other day in Hamilton.

It is just too funny.

Often, people inadvertently buy dogs that 'look' like them right?  

So, we were waiting at the lights on our way home, and a beat up old truck pulled up next to us... and bugger me!

This is what the occupants looked like:

ABOVE:  The bulldog and his man.  I swear they both had the same expression on their face!  We laughed our heads off.

And that truck?  Seriously, it looked like someone had used it for shooting practise, then tried to cover up the holes with paint.

I'm NOT mocking the man by the way, we thought they looked cute, in an ugly sorta way.  The dog was hysterical, so grumpy looking. 

Heck, maybe I should get a bulldog?  lol

Today I've got a Doctor's appointment.  I want to get my stupid thumbs checked out, if only to make them stop hurting so much.  I've got far too much to do coming up, that will require me having full use of me hands.
I expect to be told to get some sort of brace... hopefully she will tell me where and what to get.

ABOVE:  A few photos from last night's 'birthday dinner' with our Griffin.

And that's about all I have on my agenda so far today.

ONWARD...

Well.. Just home from the Doctor's appointment.

How did it go?

YEP.  She looked at me like I was a twit and said : 

"It's Arthritis, nothing we can do except tell you to take pain killers, and perhaps see a Hand Physiotherapist who might give you a brace".

Then she took my blood pressure, which was rather high, so I better start taking me pills again I suppose.  

OMG such a waste of $50.  

I knew it was arthritis.  I have not found any painkiller that works.  I'll just have to live with it eh?  *sigh*

Moving on... it's almost lunchtime, so I'll feed me face then get on with making up the last of the boxes (taping the bottoms together), then placing them in the areas still needing to be packed up.  

Which are Bathrooms, our wardrobe, last minute kitchen stuff and fridges.  I think that's all!

4.20 pm:  OML what a quiet afternoon.  I've done virtually nothing.  But that will change soon cos I'll need to get dinner sorted.
Spag Bog tonight.

Stew isn't due home till about 7 pm from memory.  He's in Wellington today, he flew down early this morning.

ABOVE:  I just had a walk around our garden.  My thistles will be turning purple soon, I don't think I'm gunna get to see them purple though.  Sad.
I've got two in a pot to take with us, so hopefully they survive the move.

We are gunna have to do some serious weeding this coming weekend, the weeds are growing something rotten in this hot and wet weather.

11.13 pm:  Well Stew got home safe.  He had a pretty bumpy flight out of Wellington apparently.  
Dinner was lovely, and we have plenty left for tomorrow's dinner too.
Yaaa, don't have to cook tomorrow.

Time for bed, catch ya later.

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY... AND TWO WEEKS...

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR 

SON GRIFFIN

Have an awesome day, and we will see you tonight for dinner.

ABOVE:  this is one of my favourite photos of Griffin, taken a couple of years ago in Taupo.

It is now only two weeks till the movers arrive.

This is my life:

ABOVE:  Boxes and boxes of stuff.  I packed another 12 boxes yesterday afternoon.

And today I am heading into Hamilton to get MORE BLOODY BOXES!   At least now I don't have to pay for them.

I've also got a car load of small cardboard boxes to drop off to Lacy.  She's going to burn them all for me... so we don't have to put them out with the rubbish.  They are too small to use with the packing up, in case you are scratching ya head!  lol

While in Hamilton, I'm going to try to find a decent map of our new 'home area'.... there's nothing in the stationary shops.  I will try the AA and Hamilton City Council.
I really want one so I can enlarge it and use it to track the streets I walk, as I walk them.  Like the FBG's do here. 

I am not planning on setting up an FBG group in Hamilton by the way.  It's just too much work!  I am going to stay an FBG Cambridge member, but also do some walking on my own once we have moved into Hamilton.

ABOVE: This is the 'area' I want to walk.  I envision it taking me a few years, as it's a much larger area than Cambridge.  I am determined to do it!

I was talking to Stew about it when we went for our little walk on Saturday, and I might do it walking AND biking.  That way I actually have a chance to complete it.  There's plenty of cycle paths in this area, making it safe to bike.

Right, time to get a move on... nothing is getting done lying here in bed that's for sure.

ONWARD...

12.30 pm:  OMG what shit weather we are having today!
I've had to stand and wait several times before leaving the car or building due to the downpours.

But it is what it is.  It's good for the gardens and farms etc.

I got me boxes, hopefully I don't need any more.

After picking up boxes I went to the Base.  I had a wander around.
Went into K&K for a look-see.
And nearly spat the dummy and gave the shop assistant an earful.

SERIOUSLY.

 ABOVE:  SEE all the 'in ya face, can't miss them' signs in the shop?  Telling you about the sales, deals etc right?

WELL... anyone would think I was friggin dumb, couldn't read or was just blind, because the sales lady literally followed me around the shop pointing out all the sales and 'SPECIAL DEALS'.

She was driving me mental, so I just stopped, looked her in the eye (think DIRTY LOOK) and I walked out of there.

Why do they do that?  It really, really does my head in and the last thing I want or need is for some twat to annoy the fuck out of me when I'm trying to enjoy my shopping.

Grrrrr.  Rant over.

I didn't find a map suitable for enlarging at the AA, so I've asked Stew to wander down to the city council for me.  Hopefully they have something, otherwise I will have to try and copy some off the internet.

You all know I got some business cards and coffee mugs from VistaPrint recently eh?
Yeah, and they kindly sent me a Tax Invoice too.

ABOVE:  Yep.  So far I've received SIX of the exact same invoice.
I'm starting to get really annoyed with them now.  So, I sent them a very nice, polite email asking them to STOP sending them.

I'm getting a headache, and actually starting to feel really CRABBY.

Might have some lunch then dodge the showers and bring in me new boxes.  

Stew just sent me a photo of a new shop opening up in Hamilton at the end of the month.

I'm worried.

ABOVE:  We really don't need this in our lives.  We were safe when the nearest one was in Auckland.  *sigh*
Neither of us have that much self control right now. 



ABOVE:  A very short clip of Griffin blowing out his 'candle' at The Foundation in Hamilton.
We had a wonderful dinner and evening with him and Brylee.  

Home now and off to bed shortly.

HAMILTON AGAIN TODAY

Sunday... sleep in, all going well.

Then assess Stew's finger, if it's looking iffy we will head off to the Dr's.  I'm hoping it's OK of course.  I can't imagine anything worse than spending hours at an After Hours Medical Centre to be honest.

Today is a Keera visit day, so we will be heading into Hamilton at lunchtime to pick her and Lacy up.

We will most likely go to the mall for lunch before coming home so Lacy and Keera can hang out together.

*** MUM (OLD MOO) update ***  All is going well over there.  The fire risk has dropped heaps and they are feeling much safer.  Still watering their home and surrounding gardens/trees, but they do that all summer anyway.

Their temperatures have dropped, Mum was even wearing a cardigan last night when I talked to her!

Righty ho... off to get some porridge and check out Stewie's finger.  

ONWARD...

10.30 am:  Update on Stew's finger.  It's looking OK... and he's quite sure it's not broken.  So all good there.  We will be heading into Hamilton in about an hour... so catch ya later.

1.02 pm:  Home from Hamilton.  
Instead of going to the mall for lunch, we came back to Cambridge and went to Fran's Cafe.

They used to have the most amazing club sandwiches... different combos, amazing chutneys and just delicious.  Now?

Whoever is making them now sucks.  They are totally boring, ordinary, no flavour, nothing nice about them at all.

And Stew and I ordered a Ham/Cheese and Tomato toasted sandwich.  Out came Ham/Cheese are raw red onion.  NOT IMPRESSED and told them so.  Then I proceeded to pick out all the onion.  Ikkk.

Yes, they offered to make us new ones, but as it took them 15 minutes to bring out the first lot, we said no thanks.

Never going there again.  Won't be living here eh?  *smiles*

Home now... and am going to have a nap.  Cos I didn't get to sleep till after 2 am, my mind just would not switch off from all the different things cluttering it up.  

Moving.  Furniture placement. Fingers and thumbs. And so on.

ABOVE:  Kids and dogs are happy.  I might just leave them to it.

Stew and I just spent over an hour getting everything out of Griffin's wardrobe, sorting it out and packing it up, ready to take with us.  *sigh*
Here's another kid who likes to collect shit.  Boxes things came in ... LOTS OF BOXES.
No way are we taking any of them with us to Hamilton!  Out they go.
His room is now 99% done.

Tomorrow I will be doing our wardrobe.  Oh ya.

Stew's in Hamilton dropping off Keera and Lacy, so once he's home we can relax for a while.

OMG can it be any quieter on here?  I hope everyone is having a bloody awesome day!

ABOVE:  A few lovely photos of Lacy and Keera ... I stole them off Lacy's Facebook!

Time to sign off for the day.  It's been lazy ... and busy.  

THUMBS

THUMBS.

Yeah, they are not good.
We are going into town today to see if we can find some sort of brace, for me right thumb in particular.
And I will be making a doctor's appointment to get it looked at.

I can't believe how rapidly the pain has kicked in, 4-5 months ago I had no pain in my thumbs at all.
Now?  All day every day, and god help me if I try to pick up anything even slightly heavy.
Even a tin of spaghetti causes pain!  Grrr.

Not sure what else we will get up to in town... but I think a nice walk around the lake or somewhere similar would be a nice change.
We may even go for a walk in our 'new' neighbourhood.... well almost our new neighbourhood.  *smiles*

ABOVE:  I saw this on Facebook last night, it really made me laugh.  Imagine if that happened!

And... that's it from me for now.  Catch ya later, have a nice day.

ONWARD...

2.30 pm:  And we ended up with quite a list of things to do in Hamilton.
First up, we checked out the new neighbourhood... and went for our first walk there.

ABOVE:  Stew striding it out... to his new 'local', where he will no doubt end up most Friday nights with his mates.  There he is checking it out ... he can't wait!  And he can walk there from our home easily.  No worries about drink driving.

After that we went and bought some weedkiller for here and the Hamilton house.  We anticipate LOTS of weeds will have grown at the new house by the time we take ownership, going on how they presented it for sale.  (it sadly seemed quite neglected in places)

ABOVE:  Down this side of the house was in a rather shabby condition.  I can't wait to get stuck into it and tidy it up.
And I HATE weeding!  But I like my gardens/yard to look nice, so it's a necessary evil.

We had a nice lunch at the mall, then went to a chemist to look at thumb braces.  There were two to choose from, but neither seemed to support the sore bits, so we decided to wait until I've seen the Dr to get what she recommends.

We then grabbed a few groceries and came home.

It's a funny sorta day, cloudy and cool one minute, then fine and friggin hot the next.  Either way, I'm staying indoors and having a break now.

Can't do much till I get more boxes now.

 ABOVE: I had the bright idea of taking two of the railway sleepers from this corner garden with us.  One to attach our number '5' to by our letterbox.  And the other for the pond edge by the front door.

So Stew dutifully got them out... and went to drop some big rocks in their place.

All was going well till he dropped the second rock in place... and well... he did this:

ABOVE:  Yep.  Crushed it between the house bricks and the rock.  I instantly went inside and got crushed ice ready.  He's now sitting down, panadol on board, and his digit in ice.  Massive ouchy.  He's gunna lose that fingernail for sure.

ABOVE: Only consolation?  The sleepers are in the trailer and the rocks are in place.  Job done.


9.40 pm:  Dinner is over, been watching some TV.  Stew's finger is oozing, but he can touch it without jumping out of his skin.  He says it's numb... so either it's OK, or it's not.  Time will tell.
If he thinks it's still OK in the morning, I expect he will not bother going to the Doctor.  Not much they can do if it's broken anyway right?

Time to sign off for the day.  Catch ya tomorrow.

THE WEEKS ARE FLYING BY

Stew and I were talking last night about our upcoming move.
We both can't get over just how fast the weeks are flying by!

When we signed up to buy our new home it was a full 8 weeks away.  It seemed like forever to wait.

Now?  It's only 2.6 WEEKS to go till we actually move into the house.  And only  2 weeks and 3 days till the movers arrive and we go into a motel for three nights.

Today?  I'm going into Hamilton for a few groceries.  Then home to pack up Brylee's room... she's been lucky I've held off this long to do it.  We did de-clutter it way back when we were getting the house ready to sell, but most of her stuff just got put under her bed.  Time to do it properly now.

I need to do Griffin's room too... most of his stuff is in his wardrobe.  Not sure what we will do with his stuff yet, might end up having to take it with us to Hamilton and just store it till he's settled somewhere.

THEN I might even ... actually nah.   I can't do much more than that right now!   Everything else has to wait till the last weekend dammit.

OMG you fulla's must be getting sick to death of listening to me go on and on about the move! Sorry.

ABOVE: I think this is the very last thing I have to 'get rid of'.  Because there is no chance of any more little babies by the look of it, I shall be listing it on Pay It Forward today.  Sad. 

Moving on... time to get me porridge then start the day.

ONWARD...

Whoops. Poor Stew went to get rolled oats out of the pantry for his breakfast this morning... only to find NONE. I had packed them up, not realizing he used them EVERY DAY! 

Oh well... I better put them on the grocery  list lol. 

12.40 pm:  Just home from Hamilton.  It was a nice trip in actually, even though it's one thing I will NOT miss once we move.
It takes an entire hour to get in and out from our house to Hamilton, an entire hour of shopping time wasted! *lol*

Did me grocery shop.  I swear there were 100+ shoppers there who needed their heads read.  So SLOW, standing in the middle of the aisle so you couldn't get past and so on... I just wanted to kill them all!  (road rage in a supermarket? YEAH)  That one of the reasons I loathe grocery shopping.

Anyway... rant over.

After the shopping I went to JB Hi-Fi in town to get this:

ABOVE:  It's a thingee to hold my phone.  Now I can legitimately use me phone for calls while driving.  HANDS FREE.  It's cool.  Took me forever to finally get one.

On my way out of town I saw a Hospice Shop in Hamilton East.  So decided to stop and have a gander.

ABOVE:  I don't know if this is the 'Mother Ship' within Hamilton, but it was certainly an excellent shop!  Big, bright, well set out and stocked, and lots of staff by the look of it.

I didn't buy a thing, tempted though I was by a few things.  I kept saying "NO NO NO.... I don't need a bloody thing".  *smiles*

I'm now going to take an hour to relax before attacking Brylee's room.  

ANON:  "Bragging"... really?  You are a sad git ain't ya?

SEVEN boxes so far from Brylee's room.  I swear she's like so many of our older girls... a bloody squirrel!

I was gunna superimpose her face onto a photo of a squirrel... but my photo editing sucks.  So just imagine it OK?  lol

I'm tired.  Time to take another break.


5 pm:  And Brylee's room is done, apart from her last minute stuff.

Tomorrow I will do Griffin's room.  There's more in his wardrobe than I remembered ... *sigh*
I think we will need more boxes.

I wish I'd kept a count of how many boxes I've packed!  It's got to be getting close to 100 now.  That is large and smaller boxes mind you.
But still, a shit load of boxes.

Dinner tonight is kinda the usual Friday night fare.  Some of this, that and the other... with some left over potato salad too.

WOW BIG DAY TODAY

TODAY.... Our youngest child (by birth) turns the big 30!

He was my easiest birth by far... very short labor and almost no pain!  Considering he was 10 pound 4 ounces, that's saying something.

ABOVE:  Some photos of our boy from recent and older photos.  Interesting how often that freakin' beanie pops up!  *smiles*

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY

MIKE

WE HOPE YOU HAVE AN

AWESOME DAY

WE LOVE YOU

Today?  I'm going on an FBG walk first thing this morning, which will be followed by morning tea at a local coffee shop.  That should be a nice way to start the day.

I will then come home and potter around the house... There are a few jobs I can do I suppose, I might even start packing up food items (non perishable) that I know we are not going to be using in the next 2.6 weeks.

Yes, I'm still doing the countdown *smiles*.

I got a phone call from the owner of the Hamilton Para Rubber shop yesterday.  He was wonderful, said he was going to sort out the lack of knowledge with his staff member, and was very apologetic about the 'service' I got the other day.

I've dealt with him before, so fully expected a good response.  In fact, Jeoff is going to be coming out to our new home once we move in, to help us ascertain which pool would be best suited for our site.  

And we will be employing him (in a limited capacity),  to oversee and help out with the installation where necessary.

So I'm feeling much better about that now.

Another little duck sorted and in the row. 

And that's all I have for now... I'm off to get ready for my morning.

ONWARD...

Woo hoo!   Got mail:

ABOVE:  The last parcel I expect to get here in Cambridge.  My business cards and the two coffee mugs arrived.
Now we have 5 coffee mugs in the house *laughing*.
I will be using them for my markets though, not in the house.
I'm very happy with the cards.  250 seems like an awful lot, I wonder how long they will last?

My 9.30 walk got cancelled as it was raining at 7 am.  Now of course, it's not raining at all and we could have gone.  Happens all the bloody time.
Once I move to Hamilton I will be doing walks on my own more often, and it won't matter if it's raining or not.  I like walking in the rain.

Of course, I could have gone on a walk on my own today too... but I chose to lie in bed and read a book for a while instead.

Now though, I'm going to attack the pantry.  Pack up a few things.

 ABOVE: Brylee and I have managed to empty 6 more kitchen cupboards, and condense the pantry and baking cupboards down to just 8 shelves.

Lacy?  Came out for left overs.  Of course.

ABOVE:   We have probably got 2 more big boxes of food to pack up in the last couple of days, then the kitchen will be done.

Well it's now 5.30 pm and I'm cooking dinner.  It's gunna be an All-In-One Potato Salad tonight.
Diced Potato, Bacon, Onion, Tomato, boiled egg and mixed veges, all stirred together with a Potato Salad Dressing.  

It should be nice.

I feel like we should have a birthday cake ... But we didn't have any.  *sigh*

The potato salad was WONDERFUL, we all enjoyed it.

Time to sign off for the day. Catch ya tomorrow.