PAYING IT FORWARD

I told you all about the painting I won on the Cambridge Pay It Forward page the other day eh?
Well... I got another one yesterday afternoon!

 ABOVE:  Griffin wanted it ... so it's now on his wall.

I decided to 'pay it forward' by giving away one of our dog beds:

 ABOVE: Our dogs refuse point blank to sleep in them, so I gave this one away.  The new owner is picking it up this afternoon.

I also listed and gave away a lovely salad bowl and matching rectangular platter (platter not shown):

 ABOVE:  The lady who wanted them picked them up within half an hour of me advertising them!  She said they were exactly her colours... awwww.

 ABOVE: Stew and I went for a little walk up our road yesterday, saw this potted plant.  Looks like it got too big for it's boots!  Whoops.





ABOVE:  We saw this little group of cows, they seems kinda friendly, but also a bit stroppy!  A few of them raked the ground with their hooves... I decided perhaps they were not that friendly after all!  lol

ABOVE: Our little pool is certainly getting used heaps... we love it.  

This morning Stew said we really should go grocery shopping... so that's what we are doing.  *sigh*

Then this afternoon, as long as it's nice and sunny, we will be in the pool and soaking up the sun.

Tonight we are attending an FBG girlfriend's New years Eve party.  It will be the first one we have attended in probably 20+ years!!!  How sad is that!  

Right, I'm off to start the day.... grocery... shopping... shoot me now.

ONWARD...

11.30:  done nothing so far today!
Griffin isn't at work today, he's got 'man flu'.
Brylee is off to work shortly, then Stew and I are off to do that grocery shopping.

It's very overcast and slightly cool too!  So, pleasant, but maybe not pool weather for the afternoon.

Might end up doing some sewing instead.  I still have to finish the 4th House Runner.

Grocery shopping is done.
Potato salad for this evening done.
Relaxing afternoon doing nothing, done!

It's  a dress up party tonight, but we kept it very easy and low key:

ABOVE:  It's a 'Luau' Party, so we are wearing flowers!  lol
Yep, no effort or expense involved.

The tradition at this friend's party is you jump in the pool fully clothed at middnight!  So yep, I will be doing that.  It should be fun.

And on that note...

Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve, I hope you are spending it with friends/family.  Much love to everyone.  Especially those who have supported us over the past year, either in person, on the blog or Facebook.   ♥♥♥

STEVE'S AN ARSEHOLE

And a SPELLING NAZI.  That is all.

Actually, Brylee does it all the time too.

I think I will kill them in their sleep.  One day.

OK, maybe only in my dreams.  Like I killed Stew (IN ME DREAMS) the other night cos he didn't fill me bottle before he buggered off to bed.  

Anyway, I digress.

Today Steve is going to do this for us:

ABOVE: He's gunna make a 'barn door' and hang it in the gap between the foyer and the lounge.  The lounge needs a door for when we have visitors staying in there.

Hopefully he can get it done today cos they are leaving later on today.

Here's some photos from yesterday:

 ABOVE:  Kids eager to get in the pool with their floaties.

 ABOVE:  Steve and Matt ... being idiots.  

ABOVE:  Photo of the day, followed closely by this one:

ABOVE:  Little Archer, who opted out of getting into the pool cos it was 'too cold'.  

So... I will be occupied today watching Steve get me door made and hung.  We will  have to make a trip down to Mitre 10 for the timber and hardware once the shop opens.  Fun!
Catch ya later on in the day with some progress photos all going well.

ONWARD...

*sigh* AND.... no door will be happening today after all.
We went down to the local hardware shop and they simply don't have the door rails we need!
So, rather than waste time going into Hamilton and possibly having the same result, we have decided to wait till Wednesday and get a better type of system from Three Brothers in Hamilton.

I'm not sad we can't do it today, it means Steve gets to spend more time with the kids and us.... hopefully in the pool!  *smiles*

5.30 pm:  The day has been kinda up and down... swimming, hanging out and relaxing.

I've got a huge pot of franks and cheerios on for dinner, having them with bread and sauce!  A really easy dinner tonight!

Lacy has gone to Tauranga for the night, not sure when she's back, so it will be a quiet evening once Steve and family leave.

7 pm:  And the family have left, so it's back to just us for a few days.  They will be back end of the week so Steve can do my door, all going well.

And that's a wrap for the day, I'm tired.... sun and water make ya tired.  Bet those little kids sleep all the way home!  *smiles*

These gorgeous cows are a 2 minute walk from my home.

HAIR DYED

For the first time ever, I think I am happy with my home dye job!
Not sure what I did differently... maybe it was the tin foil wrapped around me head for 50 minutes!  lol

I'd not done that before, anyway... here's how it looks now:

ABOVE: There's still a bit of yellow showing, bu that will fade soon enough.

It's Saturday, and we are expecting Steve, Bex, the three kids and Bex's Brother Matt.  Matt is visiting from Invercargill.... which is down at the very bottom of our South Island.  The 'Boon Docks' in other words. *smiles*

Matt is lovely, so it will be fun having him to visit, along with the family.

I need to do a bit of juggling around with the beds, but we shall fit them all in.

Back to today....

ONWARD...

Feeling cranky as F*#K this morning.
I wanted to go into town ... but we had to stay home to drop Brylee off to work and pick Griffin up from his work.

Just so frustrating that we are still tied to kids after 'parenting' for 40 years (on 2.1.19).
NOT these two kids fault, and I wouldn't trade having them for anything of course, but it is just so frustrating.  Some days I just want to cry.  Today being one of them.

The Auckland family group will be here later on today now, not this morning.  They left later than expected, so are off having lunch with Bex and Matt's brother and his little family in Te Awamutu.

I can't wait to see the little kids in the pool!
I was cold earlier on ... but the sun is slowly creeping through the haze now.

Stew and I will pop downtown (local) soon to see if we can find a foam mattress or two. We are a bit short on spare beds!

I was going to buy another double airbed, but changed my mind.  They can get holes in them, there where are ya?  On. The. Floor.  lol, like Steve and Bex the other night!

2.40 pm:  The family arrived.  Two minutes later Steve spied the pool, and was really impressed with how big it was... next thing....

ABOVE:  off came his clothes and he leap over the side and into the pool!
He's a water baby.  Like me, he loves water.
Dante decided he wanted to get in as well, so off came his clothes and he joined his Dad.

But, it was cold, so he didn't enjoy it.

 ABOVE:  Get me out!

ABOVE:  Thankfully, the undies stayed on.  *smiles*

11.25 pm:  Just finished a shortened game of Cards Against Humanity with Steve, Bex and Matt.  Was OK, but I think we need more cards for more options now.
Still fun.

Time to head off to bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

STILL TRYING TO WORK IT OUT

I'm feeling frustrated as hell.

I still have not worked out WHAT TO EAT during the day to avoid having a blood sugar low by mid afternoon.

If I eat too many carbs they convert to sugar... and we all know by now that sugar is the devil!

But if I don't eat something sugary or high in carbs I get a low... so it's really pissing me off.

You'd think after 9 months of following low carb, no sugar (mostly), I would know eh?

But no,  *sigh*.  

So what to do?

I might try having my 'breakfast' (one slice of Burgen bread with vegemite or peanut butter) around mid to late morning, then having my lunch (protein based) around 2 pm?  That way I'm spacing out the meals better?
And having dinner between 6-7 pm?

I wish there was some support out there, but seriously, there doesn't seem to be for Type 2 Diabetics.  You just get given your medication and get told to eat healthily and exercise more.  

Great.  If I ate 'healthily'... like a 'balanced' diet, I'd still get a poor quarterly Hba1c result, cos my body reacts to carbs and sugar BADLY.

I feel as if I can't win.  If I eat normally I get shitty Hba1c results.  If I eat very, very carefully... I get lows.   Grrrrr.

I'm going to ring around various places till I can find some bloody help with this!  I'm over struggling to get the balances right on my own.

And yes, I've been pretty crap with the eating lately, so I will get a 'bad' Hba1c result in the next few weeks.  And my weight has gone up 2 kilos too.  That's why I  stuck to the plan yesterday... much good it did me.  But, I will stick to the plan again today and adjust feeding time at the zoo (for me anyway) and see if it helps.

Right, pity party over.   

There's an FBG Social Walk on this morning in less than 15 minutes, and I'm not sure I even want to go.  My walking motivation has shrivelled up and died.  It always does over summer.  It's just too bloody hot.  Maybe I will jump in the pool and get some exercise that way today?

We don't have any plans for the day, Griffin is working all day.  I think Brylee has work sometime today too... not sure.

Super proud of both of those kids, out there working, being productive and responsible.  

ONWARD...

1.11 pm:  And I spent a nearly two hours dyeing my hair this morning.  Then I sewed up cushion covers (in blanket material), for the dogs beds.

Just had me lunch.  Surimi and shrimps.  And am now probably going to lie in the sun for a little while.

3.30 pm:  Well lying in the sun didn't last long.  Too many big clouds.

There is a Facebook page called 'Pay It Forward Cambridge', where you can post photos of things you no longer want and are happy to give them away.

I saw a painting advertised this morning on there, and asked to be considered for it.

And we got it.

So I just picked it up:

ABOVE:  It's a large (900 X 900) abstract.  Brylee loves it, so it shall be going on her bedroom wall.  
Now I have to 'pay it forward' and put something on the Facebook site for Free too.
Hmmmm... I will look around soon and find something to offer.

I'm cooking chicken pieces for dinner, not sure what will be the side dish yet, probably stir fried veges.  Loving them at the moment.

Oh and thanks for the dietary suggestions, I will check them all out tonight while it's quiet and I can jot down ideas.

7.30 pm:  And I scrapped the chicken idea, I felt like... macaroni cheese!  So I made that and added bacon and onion too.  It was bloody yum!
I sure won't be having a blood sugar low tonight!  Thank god.

It's been a fab day, lovely and fine with just a few big clouds that did not eventuate into rain as predicted.

Stew tidied up the garage this afternoon and made the dogs area smaller... it was just too big and taking up too much room.  They now literally have just enough room inside their pen for their beds!  
But hey, they have a huge run down the side of the house and spend a lot of the day inside with us too. The pen is just their 'bedroom'.

I'm signing off now... I plan on doing a little sewing tonight... having withdrawal symptoms! lol

BACK TO BASICS

The 'diet' has gone to the dogs the past week or so... so today I am going to sit down and work out my meals for the next week or so.

Planning and resolve will get me back on track.
I have had my share of evil shit this silly season, and I don't feel too good about that.

I am dreading my next quarterly blood test!  Eeeek.

So, I've had a chance to upload a few photos, surprisingly I took virtually NONE over Christmas!
No idea why.

But here's a few I did take:

ABOVE: Our cute little tree.  Most of the presents had been delivered to family far and wide already.

ABOVE: I just love our 'fire place'... *smiles*  Maybe one day it will actually have a 'real' fire instead of a fake one.  lol

ABOVE:  A couple of presents.  The top one is dining table throws (to cover food) ... they are really handy.  I might have a go at making some for market.

 ABOVE:  Just Stew, Brylee, Griffin, Lacy and I around the tree in the morning.  It was really nice.  No fuss or stress or drama.  

I'm already thinking of ways to make sure next Christmas is a good one again.  Maybe a picnic on the beach ... weather permitting of course!

 ABOVE:  I  just love the look of cooked chooks!  Chicken bums! lol
These ones I cooked and took up to Auckland with me, they were delicious.

ABOVE:  Bex put on a wonderul spread for our Christmas Dinner!

And that's all I have for now.  
I'm going to do some housework, then ???
Dunno!

I think we are going into Hamilton ... our double airbed kinda deflated unexpectedly when Bex and Steve were sleeping on it the other night and ummm.... yeah.  They didn't have a very comfortable night.

So, as we do still want one for a handy spare bed, we are going to check out a few at The Base.  Preferably a self inflating one!  Pumping one up by hand/foot sucks.

ONWARD...

12.10 pm:  And I've taken down and packed up all the Christmas stuff.  Took me about an hour and a half... which is way faster than it took to put it all up! Thank god.

Now?  Vacuming. The place is a tip.  I've asked various people over the past 2 weeks to vacum for me... and it ain't been done.  So... *sigh*, down to me by the look of it.

Later on I will get in the pool ... it's a gorgeous day out there.

Stew and I went down to our local Briscoes to get a few more towels!  Yep, decided at the price they were going for it would be crazy not to.

And thankfully, there was literally NO QUEUES at all.  Small town living, love it.
I've now finished washing all of the new linen and it's all out on the line.

Got surimi defrosting in the microwave for me lunch.  So, 'on track' for the day... so far.

Well... I only ended up doing half the vacuming... Lacy got home from town and did the rest for me.
As for the other person who got asked repeatedly to do it... well that person has been working a lot and completely forgot about it obviously.

I do give up asking after a while, I know I do!  But I am just over nagging.  

When I ask for something to be done, I really mean like NOW ... or better still, YESTERDAY!!!

I'm not a very patient person.  Ask Stew!  lol

I made a meat loaf for dinner, it was OK, not my best one though.  It was fairly insipid.  Not enough veges and stock I think.  It still got gobbled up though, so it wasn't ikky obviously.  *smiles*

I'm so tired I keep falling asleep in me chair!  So I won't be up late tonight.   I think the heat is draining me.

Also, I had a big blood sugar low this afternoon which was awful.  See, No Sugar and No carbs does have it's drawbacks!  Grrrrr.

So I had some bread with my meat loaf tonight, just to avoid another blood sugar low tonight!

Right, time to sign off for the day.  Catch you tomorrow.

OFF TO THE CRAZINESS OF BOXING DAY SALES!

Yep... we are doing it.... we are heading over to Sylvia Park to do some shopping.

Us and probably 50,000 other crazy buggers. 

It's not like we do it often...so I'm not going to get all hot and bothered... I hope!

ABOVE: Mid hot flush... Steve wafts me and in the background...Brylee is looking up the meaning of 'smegma'..... listen carefully is all I can say.

And that is all I've got for now....

Onward:

Sleeping in Steve and Bex's bed means...

ABOVE: Company before 7 am. Yep.Good MORNING!

8.15 am and we headed off to Sylvia Park.... it was near EMPTY...

ABOVE: By the time we left about an hour later... it was getting crazy!

We had breakfast there... then after wandering around finding nothing we wanted, we went up the road to  Briscoes....

ABOVE: where we got lots of towels...which are much needed.

It was worth standing in this queue...

ABOVE: The queue stretched from one end of the shop to the other.... and half the width as well! But it was moving pretty fast as every checkout was manned.

Griffin was thrilled to get what he wanted from Harvey Norman's for $500 off too!

So we certainly made the most of the Boxing Day Sales.

We will be heading home soon. 

5.17 pm:  And we are safely home again.

I just read on STUFF (news site) that people are bitching about the lack of parking at Sylvia Park today, even saying there were NO PARKS at 8.30 in the morning.  WELL, that's a lie cos we were there at 8.30 am and there were heaps of parks to be had.
It was certainly getting busy by 9.30 though.

Glad we didn't spend too much time there cos the crowds would have been horrendous by midday I'm sure.

Glad to be home again, can relax and just enjoy the next few days.  I came home with a renewed determination to get a few jobs done around the house... mostly just general tidying up and de-cluttering.

10.20 pm:  time to sign off for the day, looking forward to bed.  
Tomorrow.... will be time to get back into some sort of routine again.
Food and exercise have been utter shit the past week ... time to turn it around again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

*** apologies for early technical glitch with the videos. Fixed now.

I am going to start today's blog with a song, one that was incredibly popular back when it was released in 1984.

"Poi E" is a New Zealand 1984 number-one hit song by the group Patea Māori Club off the album of the same name. Its popularity was unique in New Zealand as Māori music rarely reaches popular status. Released in 1984, the song was sung entirely in the Māori language and featured a blend of Māori cultural practices in the song and accompanying music video, including Māori chanting, poi dancing, and the wearing of traditional Māori garments.

And next... is another song:

"Aotearoa" is a song by New Zealand recording artist Stan Walker featuring Ria Hall, Troy Kingi and Maisey Rika. It was released as a single through Sony Music Australia on 21 July 2014. "Aotearoa" peaked at number two on the New Zealand Singles Chart.

I've put these songs on today as I feel Christmas is about family AND togetherness... and music is a great way to bring people together.

And well... I love both songs!  *smiles*

MERRY CHRISTMAS

to 

EVERYONE

I hope you have a happy, fun, special day with friends and family.

We will be opening presents here with the kids and Lacy, then heading off to Auckland for the next couple of days.

I will be blogging.... from me friggin phone, so don't expect miracles!

ONWARD...

OH... thought I would show you the 4th House Runner, even though it's not finished yet, I have to put the backing fabric on and top stitch it:

ABOVE:  There's probably a couple more things I will add to it, like a bird or two flying by the tree... but for now it has to stay as it is.  I've got no more time to do anything on it today.

COS IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!  lol

 Safely in Auckland.... and just finished CHRISTMAS lunch. Full as a  bull now.

Enjoying chatting with one of Steve's work mates. Vlad is from Lithuania and very interesting to talk with.

Weather is horrid. Heavy rain showers... but warm.

ABOVE: Dante having 'dessert'....like father like son. *sigh*

9.18 pm: and we've had a rather hilarious evening playing Cards Against Humanity.
A seriously inappropriate card game. 

Time to wrap up this lovely CHRISTMAS Day.