CRAFT GROUP, LOTS OF PLACEMATS

 

Late yesterday someone (Anon) correctly guessed what I have planned for Crabby Quarters.

ABOVE:  There's my plan.  Add a window to this side of the garage, where the sun pours in ALL MORNING.  It will add much wanted natural light, some more warmth and a breeze in summer.  I want it to be a sliding window, so it opens up heaps.

Steve is working on getting a quote for the window, then we will 'employ' him to do the job.

My biggest concern is the neighbours.  I KNOW, 100%, they will make a complaint about it.  But, the manager here has given me the go ahead, so let's see what happens.

ABOVE:  Today's job.  I've got these placemats laid out ready for cutting the 'waves', pinning then stitching.  That will probably take me a couple of days at least.  After those 8, I've got 4 more to do, before moving on to some other placemats.

Nothing like being busy, I love it.

Legs?  Way, way better, but still a bit sore!  Clearly I did them a mischief last week. 

ONWARD...

SHOPPING, GARDENING ETC

 

First up for today is to do a small grocery shop.  Stew and I will do that together.

Then once we are home again, we shall plant the two passionfruit vines we bought last weekend.  And there's a little bit of weeding to do, but not much thanks to the weed mat and rocks.

I talked on Friday about doing 'something' in Crabby Quarters.  It's not moving it somewhere else... cos there isn't anywhere else all my sewing stuff would fit in this place.  

I have been told by Management it can happen, but knowing my F-tard neighbours, I'm sceptical.   The last thing I want to do is spend thousands of dollars, to then have another BIG problem with the neighbours.  😖😡

So, until I know it's a definite 'GO', I won't tell you what it is.

Daylight saving started today.  I hate it.  Why the F don't we just stay on the same time year round, and not dick around like this?  One hour 'extra' sunshine at the end of the day makes 5/8th of F all difference.  We still get THE SAME amount of sun!  Grrrrr.   Anyone else feel the same?  Or do you like it?  

ONWARD...

Interesting comment just in:

AnonymousSep 27, 2026, 10:58 AM Have you ever received a diagnosis of ADHD? You tick all the boxes.

And that would be a 'NO' from me.  This may sound very controversial, but I don't even believe in ADHD.  I have my reasons.  Each to their own.

I don't get why you think I have SO CALLED ADHD??? Explain yourself.

Just finished the shopping, and have now got some Almond Flour Cheese bread type things in the oven.  I just made up the recipe... fingers crossed it works.

We shall have them with some Angel Bay rissoles.  Was going to add a lettuce salad, but whoops! The freakin' lettuce is looking really sad.  Might give that a miss.

ABOVE: My Almond Bread things came out PERFECTLY!   

Recipe:  3 eggs, 2 cups Cottage Cheese, 2 cups Almond flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese, 1 teaspoon Garlic and Herb Salt, 1 Tablespoon Crispy Dehydrated Onions.  

I whip the eggs and cottage cheese, then add the almond flour and whip again, then add the other stuff with a spoon.  Then onto a tray in generous dollops, and into the oven at around 210 degrees C until cooked.  About 15-20 minutes, keep an eye on them.   They come out like a slice of tasty bread!

ABOVE: The lettuce was OK after all, but in the end I didn't eat mine.  I was full after having 'most' of my rissole and bread.

Steve, Bex and the kids called in for afternoon tea.

ABOVE:  I must admit to having some of those little cakes.  It was so nice to have something sweet.

ABOVE:  Happy afternoon snaps.  Lily in the dog bed, which Coco hardly ever gets in.  

The kids have left now, and I'm going to have a little relax, before heading into Crabby Quarters to get things ready for Craft Group tomorrow.

Well I relaxed for a while, then thought, stuff it, I need to do 'the hill'.

There's two ways to leave our village, one via the road, and 'the hill'.  And then you can also walk down to the river bank and walk along the path and take ANOTHER HILL.  I decided to do that one today.

And ANOTHER HILL is steeper than 'the hill' via the road.  Way Steeper!  And I did it.

ABOVE:  It doesn't look that bad eh?  It is, but luckily it's short and sharp, then turns into 'just' a normal hill !  lol

On my way home I popped in to visit a dear friend who's having some health issues.  She's one of the craft room ladies, and she's been in hospital for a week, then home for the weekend, and goes back to hospital tomorrow.  Hopefully they get her sorted out in the near future, she is missed.

Right, I think that's quite enough for today.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

OUTLET SHOPPING

 

I've not tried getting out of bed yet, so I'm not sure how bad the calves will feel.... I'm hoping they are settling down.

7.30:  Right, I'm out of bed, the legs are MUCH better.  Not 100% yet, but getting there.

ONWARD...

We have decided to go to Auckland for the day.  Stew suggested we visit the 'new' outlet shops out by the airport.  They have been open for a couple of years now, but we have never gone there.

So, because we have nothing better to do right now, that's what we shall do.

I can feel a visit to Ribbon Rose looming as well... cos well... we will be in Auckland right?  lol

We left home at 8.45 and all was going well until 9.10 am.

ABOVE: Then we came to a screeching stop. There must be an accident ahead. There is no traffic moving in either direction.  I wonder how long we will be stuck here??? 

ABOVE: Cop car just whizzed by on the shoulder.... 

ABOVE:  We will be fine. We've got our drinks and I'm keeping warm. We turned the car off as we could be here a while. 

There is traffic coming through on the other side of the road now, so the accident must be on our side, further up. 

ABOVE: Yet more emergency responders heading to the crash. 

Thank goodness for our phones! We can read the news, blog,  play games, watch a movie all from the car. 

OMG...  9.43 and our side is MOVING! Very slowly 🐌... but we are moving.

ABOVE: It was a single vehicle accident... one car tipped over on its side in the middle of the road. 

We are on our way again... luckily that didn't look too bad, or cause a huge delay. 

ABOVE: We got here,   no trouble finding it.

ABOVE: A gorgeous crystal shop. The cabinetry is stunning, never mind the crystal 😅🤣😅.

ABOVE: I saw a girl in a lovely coloured top. She showed me where she got it from. Online. Might check it out later.

ABOVE: It's a very nice mall. Lots of clothing and shoes.

And Le Cruet... got a couple of things there.... but not anything hugely expensive, cos OMG some of that shit is EXPENSIVE,  even in an outlet shop! 

We just had some lunch, sort of greasy Asian food. I had half what was on my plate and now feel IKKKKK.  Hmmm, maybe the WEGOVY is finally doing something?

ABOVE:  well that was fun. So many lovely clothes shops. We will certainly be coming back once I've lost the weight... which is ONLY 10 - 12 kilos away, depending when I choose to say ENOUGH.  I keep changing the 'goalposts'.... lol.

2.30 pm, and we are safely home again.  The day was wet and dreary, but we enjoyed ourselves.  I'm SO LUCKY.... Stew loves shopping just as much as I do.  😊

ABOVE:  I got a new notebook for next year.  Good for recording daily food consumption, weight, and doing WORDLE.  At the moment I have two notebooks by my laptop... paring down to one next year will be good.

ABOVE:  Some new dinner ware, just for two.  I love them very much.

ABOVE:  We got some new business shirts for Stew... cos he's got to keep working for a while yet!  Poor bugger,  I'm expensive to keep.  😂😅😆

We also did some Christmas shopping... a few more items to add to the growing pile in the wardrobe!  Luckily, we only buy for a few family members now, not the whole lot!

One of the Online News Channels, (STUFF), covered the car crash this morning:

ABOVE:  Us in the queue, waiting to get moving again!

ABOVE: The crashed car from the other side of the road.  

Three people were injured, one seriously and the other two moderately.  So good to know no one died.

It's good to be home and snuggled up nice and warm.  I am thinking of heading into Crabby Quarters soon though... I'm itching to start a few more of the blue wave placemats.

8.45 pm:  Stew's in 7th heaven... he's been able to watch rugby all afternoon/evening.

I felt really ill mid afternoon and took myself off to bed.  I slept for THREE HOURS!  Woke feeling much better, so no idea what happened there.

Since then it's been a 'normal' evening.

Him watching sport, me listening to real crime docos on YouTube while doing a jig saw.  Nice and warm.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SQUARES TO RECTANGLES

 

The other day, Lynda made a comment about the shape of my placemats.

It made me stop and think ... perhaps having rectangular placemats would be better than the squares?

I've thought on it for a couple of days now, and yep, I think she's right.

Back in the day, I made placemats and they were rectangular.  So, today I am going to add strips to the sides of the squares I have already cut out, and turn them into rectangular placemats.

Thanks Lynda.

The 10 placemats already finished as squares will still go on the stall, and we'll see how they go.

It will take me a little while to sort that out, so I'll be doing that for a good few hours today.

I'm not sure if I will do that here, or down in the Craft room.  It will depend on how I feel once my feet hit the floor to be honest.

If yesterday's aches and pains are anything to go by, I know I will be hobbling around until I warm up my muscles! lol

And as Marlene said yesterday, I might feel even worse today.  Gawd I hope not, yesterday was bad enough.

It reminded me how awful you feel after going to the gym for the first time in forever!  You pay for it for days.

1,500+ steep steps might just equate to something like that eh?   

Right, I might just lie here for a bit longer, before checking out how my legs feel when they hit the floor...

ONWARD...

9.20 am.   I felt like a bloody CRIPPLE walking first thing this morning, my calves were frozen.  But, it's getting better as the day moves on.  I'm about to do 'the hill', then carry on to the Craft Room for a few hours.

Weight in?  Lost .700 grams this week, that will do!  

12.25 pm. And I've got the craft room all to myself today...

ABOVE: While its nice to have company down here,  it's also nice to be able to listen to my music too. 😊

ABOVE: I adjusted the shape, added more on the end etc, and I  now have 4 blue wave placements finished. I'm packing up now and heading home for lunch. 

BTW, walking up the hill this morning was fine, coming down was another story! That hurt.  But it will get better after today I'm sure.  😊😉

* Just looking at the finished placemats, they still look quite square in the photo.  They are not though, they are rectangular now. *

ABOVE:  While I spent a good couple of hours in Crabby Quarters this afternoon, I only got one new placemat made.

There are new plans afoot for Crabby Quarters. IF it happens, I'll let you know what then.  For now, it just involved moving some fabric around.

I am really knackered now, so have stopped for the day.  Stew will be home within the next hour, so that will be nice.  I think we are having a pizza for dinner.  My 'naughty' meal of the week.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Tonight's WEGOVY injection is going up to the 1.0 mg dose.  I'm hoping it finally starts having some effect on me.

What if I'm someone who doesn't respond to this drug?  That would piss me off big time!

What if I just have to DIET (starve) for the rest of my life, just to stay within a healthy weight range?  😡😠😖

10.05 pm, and it's time for bed.  I'm kinda knackered... AGAIN.  Tomorrow I won't be doing too much.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

OMG I'M PLAYING FRIGGIN BOWLS!

9.30 this morning will see me joining around 40-50 villagers on the bowling green.

We are playing a Tournament to raise money for Prostrate Cancer Awareness.

After the Tournament most players and spectators are having a special 'Burger and Chips' lunch in the Community Centre.  I have opted out of that lunch, but I will join them with my own lunch.

Which will be crackers, cheese, salami and grapes.   I have between 4 - 6 crackers and that's quite enough for me now.

I have a few more photos to share from our walk yesterday:

ABOVE: The first waterfall, which was on the main track.

ABOVE: The second waterfall, which was on the Waterworks Track, which was a side track. Doing that track added about 60 steps to our total.

ABOVE:  I just loved this tree trunk/branch...

ABOVE:  Lacy crawling along it for a photo op.

ABOVE:  Another lovely view.  That is Ngaruawahia in the foreground, with the Waikato River flowing through it.

ABOVE: There I was thinking I had done 1,359 steps all up.  NOPE.  1,496 PLUS the extra 60 odd steps we did on the Waterworks Track... taking the total up to:  1,556 !!!  I.  CAN'T.  BELIEVE.  I.  DID.  THAT.

I really can't.

I avoid stairs like they are poison.

When I do the 'bridges' walk from our village, there's 36 steps to get from the river bank to the top of Pukete Bridge, and I struggle to do them!  WTF?  I doubt I will ever struggle to do them again.

And that's enough waffling from me for now.  I better get myself up and ready for this bloody Bowls Tournament.  Playing bowls is also something I can't believe I am doing.  

ONWARD...
11.50 am, and the bowls is over.  And I'm not doing that again until next year!  It was nice mixing and mingling with fellow villagers, but yeah nah.  Bowls ain't my thing.

ABOVE:  It was a good turn out.  And our team won!  Wasn't because of my stellar playing I can assure you!  

ABOVE: This bloke won 'Best Dressed'.  You were supposed to wear blue.  Not that many did.  He over compensated for them.

ABOVE:  I enjoyed this bit the most, when they said it was over and we could leave.  lol

I am now cooking my lunch, which is Beef Spare ribs.

Note to self:  Don't try cooking Spare Ribs in the air fryer.  They come out like RUBBER.  Horrible.

How is my body feeling after yesterday/today's bowls?   Sore.  Calves and shoulders are the worst.  Front of thighs are a bit sore, but not as bad as my calves and shoulders.

I didn't have any problem playing bowls at all really.  That might be down to the Panadol I took before hand though.

I've just had to take more Panadol, as the pain is kicking in again.   I knew this would happen, you can't do that much exercise 'out of the blue' without paying for it later.  😂😖 

If you are wondering about my shoulders being really sore... it was because of holding on to the stair railings so much... three hours with your arms kinda up, holding on for dear life on the way down etc.  lol  And I have tendonitis in both shoulders, making them sore anyway.

ABOVE: I just had a really divine soak in the spa pool.  Stew is at the pub without me tonight.  I also chose not to visit the kids this evening, a relaxing evening was what I needed.

And now, I will sign off for the day, and enjoy some more down time.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

WHAT AM I THINKING????

 

Lacy has been doing the Hakarimata Summit Track for a while now.  She keeps saying I should go with her!

Like Lacy, it's a bloody mountain with over 1,300 steps, not to mention the rest of the trail is steep too. 

I have said NO NO NO, but... today we have agreed I'll join her and do as much as I can.  I think about 10 minutes into it will be my limit!  lol

I simply do not do hills, let alone 1,300 steps and a mountain trail!  

What am I thinking???

IF I survive, I'll come back and tell ya how I did.

IF I SURVIVE.  😂😅😖

After lunch today I have my second practise of lawn bowls, in readiness for tomorrow's Charity Tournament.  I can't wait (I'm bullshitting of course).  But it's raising money for a good cause, so I will do it.  It's for Blue September, Prostrate Cancer Awareness Month.  

After all that, I would like to think I will get some sewing done!  We will see, I might be knackered and need a Nana Nap!  lol

ABOVE: I finished two of the current six placemats last night.  Wave pattern.  Loving them.

ONWARD...

1.30 PM.

Lacy and I went out to Ngaruawahia to do 'some' of the Hararimata track.  

ABOVE:  The track takes around 3 hours return according to the sign.

No way was I doing that!

I wanted to just do up to the steps starting...

ABOVE:  Lacy suggested we do one of the smaller side tracks, that takes you to a water reservoir...

There were a FEW steps to get to it.

ABOVE: We saw two waterfalls, it was very pretty.  And not too arduous to get to.  There were a few steps, but I managed them OK.

I then decided I wanted to try doing a bit more.  Lacy has a gorgeous photo on her phone of a stunning view up the track... she told me it was 'about half way up'.  So, me being a bit of a stubborn tart, decided I'd try to get to it.

ABOVE: The steps were horrendous... they just kept on going, and going...

ABOVE:  Steps... but I kept stopping and resting, and just kept on going...

ABOVE:  And I MADE IT TO THAT VIEW!!!!   I was so proud of myself.

Every time I asked Lacy how much further it was, she cackled and said "Not much further".  The bitch lied.  That view was easily 3/4'ers of the way up that bloody mountain.

ABOVE: So after getting that far, it seemed silly not to go all the way!   So I did.

ABOVE: At the top!!!!!   Not only 1,356 steps, but quite a bit of mountain trail as well.

ABOVE:  I liked this sign.  

ABOVE: The lookout, which I climbed to see the view.

ABOVE:  LOVED this sign!  Best one on the trail.

ABOVE:  A gorgeous Totara tree.  

ABOVE:  Lacy can do the trail in about an hour.  It took me 3 hours.  And I am really proud of myself for actually doing it.

AND... I AM NEVER DOING IT AGAIN.  EVER.

It wasn't even on my bucket list.  Pfffft.

I have cancelled doing a bowls practise this afternoon, I need a bloody nap!

6.30 pm, and as you can imagine, I have had a quiet afternoon.  I tried to have a nap, but meh, that didn't happen.  So I just lay in bed with the electric blanket on and relaxed.   Later on I sat outside to encourage Coco to join me outside.

She was having none of it!  She doesn't like being in our backyard... she sits by the door begging to be let back inside.  Silly girl.

Stew is now home and we are about to have dinner.  I had a bacon hock and veges in the crock pot all day, so we are having that.  It's a bit like a soup.  Should be yummy.

10.05 pm.  Coronation Street just finished early, so I'm off to bed.  I've got another busy day tomorrow, so need some decent sleep.  Which should happen, considering how freakin' tired I am.  😊

Catch ya tomorrow.