SHOWER TIME

It goes like this.

The other day Lacy had a shower. 

I wanted to put a load of washing on, but couldn't as she was in the shower.

So I waited.  And waited.  And got a bit cross.

Then I banged on the bathroom door after 30 bloody minutes and said, get the hell out of the shower!

She still took another 7 minutes (YES, I timed her!)

So, last night she said she was going to take another shower, but I had to understand that she would take longer than 'normal' because of her injured shoulder.

I looked at her and said "I can come in and scrub you clean in 5 minutes FLAT"....

To which Lacy said "Oh hell NO, that would be SICK!"

So, she had a fairly quick shower later on that night.

And that is the end of 'Shower Time'.  *snigger*

Today I am going to Tauranga.  To pick up Lacy's belongings from her last abode.
All going well I might even get to visit a fabric shop over there!  Yes!

It would be very tempting to go for a walk along the beach at the Mount.  Yep, I might just do that too.  

ONWARD...

3.16 pm:  Today has been AWESOME!
First up, on our way over to Tauranga, we stopped at the top of the Kaimai range to look back over the Waikato....

 ABOVE x's 3:  as you can see, FOG!  Blankets of fog all over the Waikato.  I think it looked magical.

 ABOVE x'S 3:  Mount Maunganui beach. It was a beautiful day, HOT even!  Can't believe how warm it was, today is the last day of winter!  Can't say I've felt cold many times at all!

I managed to pick up all of Lacy's clothes and other stuff from her previous abode with no problems at all.  That was great.

After having some lunch we went to the Bernina shop in Tauranga, and I found some striped fabric that I never thought I would ever find again.  

I had a small piece a few years ago and have never seen it since...

ABOVE:  The one on the right is the one I'm thrilled to have found, and the one on the left is pretty funky too.

After Tauranga, we left for home... but not before ringing one of my Uncles to see if he might be home for a visit?

He was, so we stopped in there to say "Hi".
I'd not seen him in about 14 years!  

Frank and his wife Nolene live at the bottom of the Kaimai ranges, Tauranga side.  He's a bee keeper.

 ABOVE:  That's Nolene, my Aunty.

 ABOVE:  I asked Lacy to take a photo of my Uncle and I... so she took a 'selfie' first.  Not the best photo I've ever seen I must say!

 ABOVE:  You can tell Frank's an outdoors man eh?  We got on like a house on fire, it was really, really lovely to catch up with him.  Not going to let it be another 14 years till we catch up again, that's for sure.

OMG I just realised I ain't go no make up on!  Ikkkk.  *smiles*  Fancy going out with no makeup on!

And that's me day so far.

This evening Stew and I are off to watch Brylee's Drama Production, 'Passengers', she has one of the  main characters to play.  Drama, ya gotta know she's going to do well at THAT eh?  lol

So... question:  Is it possible to see Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngarahoe from the top of the Kaimais?  Cos I'm thinking these two white lumps in the distance were them?

I'm probably wrong, but still think it might be?

Thanks for confirming it was the mountains Sharon.  *smiles*

Well, we are just back form the Drama Performance.  I will yak about that TOMORROW.  

For now... food, then some mindless TV or something similar.  SO looking forward to tomorrow!!!

PATCHWORK AND PHYSIO

Yaaa, today is Hamilton Patchwork day.
I've got half a dozen blocks ready to sew together, so that's what I will be doing in class.


I am taking Lacy into Hamilton so she can attend her physiotherapy appointment.
Hopefully she gets some relief from it... her shoulder/neck are still very sore.  I will pick her up after my class.

CRANKY:  Re your idea of having different colours in the centres of the blocks.  I will do a mock up of that idea further down the track and see how it might look.  I'm always open to other ideas.  *smiles*

So... that's about all for now.  Catch ya later.
Have a nice day.

ONWARD...

3.41 pm:  And here's a very late update on my day!
Patchwork class was really nice today... A lady in the class came up to me and asked me if I had ever lived in Hamilton?  Of course I said YES... and it transpired we had worked together over 16 years ago!  

I was working with a special needs child in primary school, and I took that child for braille lessons with this lady!  So we have a nice little catch up.

After class I came home and did some more sewing.  I managed to get two dresden plates stiched up.   I thought I would need to make 63 blocks, but these ones are coming out larger than my first quilt... so I won't be making 63 after all.

I will have to work out how many I do need to make once I've made a few more and measured it out.

ABOVE:  I'm starting to think I might need to put 'something' in the centre of each one?  A button?  Or a yo-yo?  Thinking, thinking...

10.38 pm:  *yawn*.... everyone has gone to bed, and I'm thinking about heading that way myself.  But I might just go into my sewing room and potter around for a little while. 
I'm really getting me sewing groove back, FINALLY.

UMPTEENTH CHANGE

Morning!  It's lovely Monday again.

Here is my latest idea for the next Dresden Plate Quilt:

ABOVE: Using a Kaffe Fassett print this time as a contrast. It's quite nice, not as light as I had planned, but it really does look good.

What do you think?   

I'm starting to wonder if I will ever make up my mind on this quilt!

 Now, here's what Kelly gave Stew for Father's Day...

ABOVE: A cute little bear that sings "Kamate Kamate", and a button picture of the Waikato Chiefs colours.  She spelled 'Waikato' like that cos it wouldn't fit otherwise!  Ingenious. 

Kelly won't be here on Father's Day as she is going on a holiday to visit my Mum (her Grandma) in Australia.  She leaves tomorrow. 

OK... time to go do something constructive.

ONWARD...

When I got up, I had a sick headache, so I took a pill and went back to bed... till 10.30!
When I got up I decided to go into Hamilton and get Lacy some more clothes/underwear, as most of her stuff is now in Tauranga, in a house she can't get into anymore.

*sigh*... but hopefully that will eventually get sorted out.

We also went into The Warehouse, where I got 4 containers for sorting clothes into, in the laundry.  

ABOVE: The 4 black boxes are the new ones.  One for each of us.  (excluding Lacy, as she's not gunna be here for years!)

There's nothing I like better than things being organised and tidy.  *smiles*

We had lunch at the base after our shopping, and are now home for a quiet afternoon.

Happily, I spent the afternoon and early evening cutting out dresden plate blades.  Now ALL I have to do is sew them all together!
And that will take a bloody long time.

But, it will keep me busy.

I have my sewing trolley all ready for tomorrow's patchwork group in Hamilton.  I'm looking forward to it.

The rest of this evening I will be watching a few TV programmes.  Then bed.

QUICK POST ABOUT LAST NIGHT

Last night's evening out was OK.  Lovely to meet more of the people Stew works with in a casual setting.

Everyone had a good time ... lots of dancing, laughing, enjoying the company.
The theme was 'Oscar Night', so I spent a lot of time taking photos... which I didn't mind doing.

Here's a few that don't feature anyone, as I didn't bother to get permissions to post them.  

ABOVE:  This is the Gaslight Theatre in Cambridge, the venue for last nights event.
There's been a few improvements made to the building since this photo was taken.

 ABOVE:  This is the 'foyer' and bar area.  It was lovely... but got really hot once there were 3 dozen people in it!

 ABOVE:  Stew and I on the 'Red Carpet'.

 ABOVE: Stew getting some cool air outside.

 ABOVE: Yep, he wore THOSE shoes!  I love them, he always gets comments on them.  

 ABOVE: During the evening, there were 'Oscars' awarded to various staff members ... some of the categories were 'Tiger for Punishment', 'Most Hen Pecked', 'The Most Theatrical Fall', 'Super Duper Super User', 'Most Inappropriate', 'Crash Test Dummy' and 'Oh My God, What's Next'!
Some hilarity ensued when recipients went up to collect their 'Oscar'. 

ABOVE:  One of the group, NOT mentioning any names... having a quick nap before I took her back to her motel.  *smiles*

Later on this morning Stew will be going down to do the clean up.  There's not much to do, so I am staying home!

Brylee has Drama practise again today, so we won't be going anywhere I think.

Catch ya later, have a good day.

ONWARD...

1.50 pm:  It's been a totally slow day.  No one got up early.  And nothing has been done!
We were going to go on a tiki tour of our area, but then I remembered that we have Kelly visiting this afternoon.

So... that's where we are at right now.  Just chillin.

4.24 pm:  And Kelly and Rena just left.
Kelly gave Stew an early Father's Day present... I will show you tomorrow what it is.

While they were here, Tallulah bit Kelly twice on the hand, and growled at her on/off the whole time!
Boy does she need to be trained/socialised fast.

The Dog Trainer is coming out in September to meet us and Tallulah, and give us a plan to follow to stop Tallulah's anti social behaviour.

ABOVE:  Luckily, Tallulah didn't mind Rena!  It would be a disaster if she suddenly didn't like children either.

*** Give me 10 minutes to update***

Stew is cooking tonight.  Yaaaa.  A night off.

I forgot to show Rena our Hobbit House!  Darn.  Oh well, next time she's out I will, and hopefully by then I will have some 'stuff' in it for kids to play with.  But not a bed, yeah, let's not go there!
Dr's and nurses comes to mind, or playing Mummy's and Daddy's.  Yeah NAH!  lol

11.20 pm: Well it's been a fairly cruisy day today... I even fell asleep in me chair just before dinner!  Stew... bless his heart... took a photo of me asleep.  Haven't even looked at it yet.  Maybe won't either.  lol

A VERY BUSY DAY TODAY

Stew and I are going to a work function tonight, here in Cambridge.

It's a 'Oscar Night' theme.  Oh ya I thought, what the hell can I wear to something like that?
I thought about it for a few weeks, then it came to me.

I'm going as 'Papparazzi'!  I don't have to 'dress up', just tidy attire and me camera!  Excellent!

Only now I find out I am the 'photographer' for the night.  Great.
I will no doubt enjoy it though.  I wonder if I will get a fee???  lol  (Just joking Jacqui!)

Gimme a few wines first and I can be as obnoxious as a real papparazzi!  lol

Stew is going to wear a pin stripe suit with a white shirt... he ain't got a white shirt though, so he's off down the road soon to buy one.

What else is on today?

Well Griffin is going to a friend's birthday party, they are going to 'JUMP' in Hamilton.  It's a big venue full of trampolines and so on.  He will be home around 5 pm.

Brylee has her school Drama Production Practise all afternoon till 6 pm.  Full costume, no scripts.  She's enjoying it.

I shall get the housework all sorted and then get myself sorted for this evening.  Work out what to wear, wash the hair, paint the face, bla bla bla.

No idea what Lacy has planned for her day.  Something or nothing... up to her.

Well... that's it for now.  

ONWARD...

3.42 pm:  Well I said I would be busy today eh?  I've been doing housework mostly, I still have to do the hair 'n' face, and sort out what I'm wearing tonight.
Stew's done the 'drop the kids off' duty... now he's in Hamilton trying to find a white shirt for tonight.  
There were only super expensive ones here in Cambridge!

Typical.  We move the 'The REMUERA' of the Waikato, so what do you expect?  Everything is that much more expensive in the fashion shops!


I've literally been on the go all day, so am now bloody tired.  Would be happy to stay home tonight.

PETA:  yes, the kids are much happier and settled here now.  It just needed some time and patience on their part. 

11.54 pm:  And... home again.  The evening was a very nice.  Gorgeous venue, lovely people.  I took dozens of photos, tomorrow I will be editing them all!
For now though, it's time to put my feet up for a little while before heading off to bed.

BAKING!

I have been itching to do some baking lately!

Can you believe it?  I don't remember the last time I actually baked a cake or biscuits.

But, I am determined to make some biscuits, oat and raisin biscuits to be exact.

I might even try making a cake too.  Some nice treats for the weekend maybe.  Or they might be a disaster, and we end up eating store bought biscuits as per usual.

Time will tell.

**  Hmmm... I think I will need to go out and buy a couple of baking trays! **

Once I've got the washing on, that's what I shall be doing.  There's quite a bit of washing to do too... most will have to go on drying racks as it's still raining.   I don't mind the rain at all really.  It means the plants are getting watered.

Our new fruit trees needed a good watering.

So... that's my day planned.  Not sure what Lacy has planned, but knowing her, she will have her head under the bonnet of her car.

ONWARD...

Well... it's midday, and I've got biscuits in the oven.
I had to pop down to the supermarket to get Baking Soda... $71 later... I had baking soda, 2 chickens to cook for dinner, more baking ingredients and some buns for lunch!

 ABOVE:  It's so fantastic to have heaps of bench room!  I love this kitchen SO MUCH!

ABOVE:  this is the first time I've used my big food processor to blend ingredients together, and it did a fantastic job. 

 ABOVE:  they taste as good as they look.... YUMMmmmmmmm.

JEN, MAGGPIE, DEE AND ANYONE ELSE WHO READ SOMETHING EARLIER... IT'S BEEN ADDED TO... ELSEWHERE.

I'm looking forward to a lovely evening with my darling, who always knows what to say to make me happy again.

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies With Raisins and Pecans

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Wet ingredients

1. 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
4. 2 large eggs
5. 2 teaspoons vanilla

Dry Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Stir in

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup pecans ( I didn't add the pecans, I just added more raisins)

3 cups rolled oats

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 200 degrees C. Cookie Sheet sprayed with nonstick baking spray or lightly oiled.
2. 1. In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together and set aside.
3. 2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the wet ingredients until just incorporated on low speed. On medium speed, cream the wet ingredients until light and fluffy and light in color.
4. 3. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just incorporated and no flour is visible.
5. 4. Stir in the quick oats,raisins and pecans to the dough.
6. 5. Measure out a level 2 Tablespoons of dough ( I have a 2 Tablespoon measuring spoon I use). Place the dough on the baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray or greased lightly with oil. Bake on the center rack for 11 to 13 minutes until golden but still moist underneath cracks on top of the cookie. Remove from oven, let sit on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

**  I found they needed to be cooked for 15 minutes**

Well Drat!  Looks like I've missed an episode of Coronation Street somehow!  Oh well... I'm catching up on it... can't have missed much.

Enjoying the evening.  And I've only had 2 of my biscuits.  Not having any more.

WHAT ARE THESE?

I forgot a couple of photos from yesterday:

ABOVE:  These flowers were in the Domain, and I would love to know what they are called.  They are so neat!

ABOVE:  Te Aroha Domain... behind it is a mountain range... but ya can't see it for the fog.  Yesterday there was fog everywhere.

It will probably be a foggy day today too.  Not that I care really, this is such a warm house!
I dreaded coming back to the Waikato due to it's shitty fogs, but I've not been very cold at all so far.

Now... Today.   Hmmmm.... I shall probably do the grocery shopping. I don't mind it so much now that I don't have to lug it up stairs anymore.  

And that is all I have for now.  Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

1.47 pm:   Well Lacy and I did the grocery shopping.  It's wet today, so not the best for shopping, but never mind.
It's done now and I can relax for a little while.

Lacy's gone into Hamilton to get something for her car... it's not going too well.

Money pit I reckon.

So now it's really cold, and I've got the heater on... watching something I taped the other night.

Oh dear, lots of swearing going on.  Seems Lacy's car is a piece of *h*t!  Could have told her that.  Money pit?  Too right.
Sigh, hope it doesn't mean we have to put up with foul mood from it's owner!

Dinner is on... so something is going right.  Rissoles, sausages and veges tonight. 

Dinner was good, and Lacy's mood isn't as bad as I expected!  She's gone to bed, and soon I will be too.

MID WEEK, WHAT TO DO

Morning!

What ya doing on this Hump Day?

I have a feeling I am going to be sewing today.

Because I worked on my Dresden Plate yesterday, today I am going to work on a UFO.

I've not decided which one yet...but you can be sure I will show you.  lol

Here's a mock up of how the new Dresden Plate block will look like:

ABOVE:  The photo was taken last night, so the colours of the blades are not the best.
What do you think?  Stew thinks it is lacking something... ???

I think I have to do a full block then have another look at it.  That half block isn't even stitched together yet.

So, that's me for the beginning of the day.
Off to get some washing on, then sew, sew, sew.

ONWARD...

Slept on it... thought about it a lot... and tried this first thing this morning:

ABOVE:  This one has sparkly silver running through the fabric.

ABOVE:  What do you think now?  Or should I still try and find more contrasting colours for the fins?

If I went this way, I would have white sashings.

I am leaning towards the bottom one more than the top one.

And just for the hell of it... I'm now going to Te Aroha (under an hour away), to check out a fabric shop there!  

COS. I. CAN. 

TINA:  Ahhhh mate, what pink?  There ain't no pink in it at all. *smiles*  edit:  seems the white looks pink to some people! I can assure you it's white though!

2.04 pm:  And I'm home from Te Aroha.  It was an easy drive, took me 45 minutes to get there.

I found the one and only fabric shop there, and bought 1 piece of fabric.  Sadly, they didn't have any to suit my Dresden Plate quilt.

ABOVE:  It's a very lovely, vibrant fabric! 

After that shop, I wandered the street.  Found a really awesome gift shop named ADDICTIONS.  I mentally spent a few thousand in there... but contained myself and only got 3 little things:

ABOVE:  A very sweet little bird melamine tray (cos... like.. I really need MORE melamine trays!), some cute flower earrings and a nautical tin box.  

After shopping modestly, I came home.  All is good here.   

OH!  Someone sent some lovely flowers, no idea who they are from, or even if they are meant for us!  They could be meant for the previous owners for all I know.

So, I rung the flower shop they came from, and hopefully when the florist gets back from lunch, I can find out who sent them.

The mystery of the flowers is solved.  As I suspected, Lacy bought them. 
I just asked the florist to describe the person who bought them! Lacy to a 'T'.  She owned up after I called her on it.  *smiles*

Silly girl shouldn't be spending money on flowers! 

ABOVE:  They are very pretty though.  Thank You Lacy.

So, did I get back to sewing?
No, no I did not!

Instead, I took everything out of the Britto Cabinet and anchored the cabinet to the wall.  It was a bit wobbly, and every time I looked at it I remembered it needed to be done.

So.  I did it.  And now everything is back in, and it's coming up to dinnertime.  We are having takeaways tonight.

After dinner I intend doing some sewing.

Well, we finally found an excellent fish 'n' chip place here in Cambridge.  The Queen Vic on Victoria Street.  Amazing hot dogs!  Lovely fresh fish and really lovely chips.

It's turned cooler tonight, so I'm snuggled under me blankie, waiting for The Midwives to start.