MORNING SHIFT... THEN PAINTING?

Right.  Today I have a morning shift at the Rest Home.  I won't be home till after 1.30 pm.

Once I am home, I will have me lunch then finally, FINALLY, get the edges painted in the spare bedroom.

And maybe even get the first coat of paint on.  I can't wait to see how it looks.

After that I am going to start sorting out linens.  Anything that's not really needed in the short term is going into a box and being stored.

I'm not renting a storage place till I have everything ready to go into storage though, why pay hundreds of dollars a month until I really need it right?

And that won't be until we are ready to actually list this house for sale.  So a few months away yet.

I can't believe it's the last day of July!  We have had such a mild winter so far, I can count the number of frosts we've had on one hand!  It's finally snowing in the South Island, so maybe winter is just late?

Better tell the Daffodils!  Those flowers are all starting to bloom... way too early.   Daft flowers.  *smiles*

Now... I am gunna make me porridge and then get ready for work. 9 shifts at the Rest Home to go!

ONWARD...

NOT PAINTING THIS AFTERNOON ... I'm too nice... and said I'd fill in for a girl who can't work at the Rest Home this afternoon. So I'm grabbing some lunch before heading back for the laundry shift.

I can't see me getting back to the painting now till the weekend!  I've got work all day tomorrow and Friday.

And my back is already hurting... so I  will take some painkillers with me lunch and hope they kick in quick. 

Right, off I go again.  

Well... painkillers DID NOT help this afternoon.  I was in pain virtually the entire afternoon.
Got home and had to cook some food for dinner, it was totally a Silly Bugger Dinner.

Now I'm feeling a bit better, just sitting still and not moving is GOOD!  lol

I'm going to bed early tonight, I'm shattered.  Pain and just tired does that I suppose.

ONE JOB, THEN BACK TO IT

This morning I have a private house clean to do, then after that I am definitely going into Hamilton to get some boxes.  (clearly I didn't get there yesterday eh) lol

I need them so I can start to pare down the household linens.

We have MASSES of linen and I want to box up some of it.  It will be the first box packed up.  

I'm sure that over time I will have quite a few!  lol

ABOVE: This is the start of what will be in our garage sale!  
Isn't there a lot of blue glass!    

It is amazing how much 'stuff' you simply don't use. Or you just stop loving it and don't mind giving it up.

I am being ruthless though!  If I don't really, really LOVE it, or have a good use for it.... it's going.

ABOVE:  That little trifecta of blue glass is staying.  *smiles*  And I think there's just two other items of blue glass in the room that are staying too.

You know I handed in my notice at the Rest Home, well I am winding down all but one of my private cleaning jobs too, so I can concentrate on our next big move.

I have three weeks left with most of my jobs then I'm done.

If I ever get another job outside of the house, it won't be cleaning!  I've come to realise that my back simply can't handle it.  *sad face*

I'm getting old.  I don't feel 60 in me head, but OMG my back does.

Right, I better go and start the day.  Porridge awaits!

ONWARD...

Right.  Where have I been all day!

At work firstly.  And although I'd not intended to, I did hand in my notice there as well.
So, in three weeks I will have no work outside the home, and can dedicate all my time to getting this house ready for sale.

And doing a few FBG walks and some sewing too.

After finishing at P's, I came home, cleaned myself up and went into Hamilton and bought boxes.

How lucky can you get?  I went and got the boxes I wanted ... for over half price!  They were on sale, just that one size.  I also got a lot of packing tape, ya need that shit for making up the boxes and then sealing them.

Then I came home.  But... not before ALMOST falling asleep at the wheel and NEARLY driving into the wire barriers on the Expressway!  It was bloody close, and I gave myself one hell of a fright.

So, clearly I was a bit tired, so I lay down and had a nap.  For like... 3 hours!  Woke up feeling groggy as hell.

ABOVE: Griffin got in the boxes for me, and now we are just waiting for Stew to get home before ordering some Fish 'n' Chips for dinner.

After dinner I am going to do what I should have done this afternoon, and paint all the edges in the spare bedroom, ready for rolling the paint on tomorrow afternoon.

GILLILAN:  The blue glass I am parting with:

ABOVE:  If you want it, and can collect it, this lot is $50.

Best laid plans... not going to be painting tonight after all.  It's just too cold.  And I'm too tired.  It will be an early to bed night for me, for sure.

GLORIOUS DAY OFF

Right, first off.  In case you have not read the last couple of days posts. You should.  Big news there.

Today I am going to sleep in.  And have me porridge in bed.

When I'm satisfied I've been lazy enough, I will get up and de-dust the spare bedroom and get it ready for painting.

I expect it to take me a couple of hours to actually get that done... cos I will need to 'damp wipe' every surface, once I've got the sheets off the floor and window.

I don't have a sponge mop, which will be perfect for wiping down the walls, so I will buy one of those while I'm out getting the paint.  I'm pretty sure I will be getting the lighter of the two colours I showed you the other day.

Once the dust is gone, it will be ready for painting.  If that doesn't happen today... well I've got Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons off, so I can do it then.

I will be ringing around Storage places here and in Hamilton to get quotes sometime this week.  Cos we will need to put quite a lot of 'stuff' into storage towards the end of the year.  
So we can get the house ready for sale!

Just starting to get all our ducks in a row, know the costs/where's/when's/who etc etc.

It's going to keep me fairly busy for the next 3 months that's for sure.

It's exciting, and scary at the same time. 

It's the first time we will have sold our home and bought another one, without it having to be done due to a job transfer.

And it will be the 7th home we have bought. 7 is a lucky number right?

Right, enough blithering, I'm gunna go make me porridge and have it in bed.  Watch the birds outside worm hunting.  *smiles*

Ha ha!  Forgot me 'ONWARD'... too bad.

I went down to Mitre 10... looked at mops and then thought, Nah, the microfibre one I use for the floors WILL DO.
So I just got the $98 pot of paint.  Should have enough and some left over.

Home, wiped down the entire room and now I've got a fan on to help dry it.  It's a bit too damp to just paint over right now.

Then a group of FBG's stopped in on their walk, DAMMIT, if I'd checked the calendar I could have done that walk!  But never mind, I do have quite enough to do today already.

I'm already thinking ahead and might go into Hamilton soon and get boxes.  I can start sorting out stuff that can already be packed up.

AND I've decided to have a Garage Sale soon too.   I can't be arsed putting everything on Trade Me or Pay It Forward...  some of it is too good to just give away.  Anything that doesn't sell will be gifted on Pay It Forward.

OMG I'm going to get rid of so much!  There's glasses, platters, cushions, craft stuff... all gotta go.  Anything we don't use is GOING.

And I thought I'd de-cluttered when we moved down here!  Ha ha ha...... ha ha.

This afternoon I did some more prep work in the spare bedroom.  I had to put some primer on the places where I'd sanded down to bare gib board, and primed over the pale blue line too.  Hopefully I am now 100% ready for the painting phase next.

Then after dinner I did a little bit of de-cluttering in the family room, mostly ornaments/platters/bowls and the like.  Might take a photo to show you later.

And that's me for the day.  It's been an excellent day, I feel like I got lots accomplished.

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN

Counting today's, I have 11 shifts left to do at the Rest Home.  And only three of them are double shifts.  Yaaaa.

Let the countdown begin!

Seriously, my stress levels have dropped considerably since I decided to give up working at the rest home.  

I am going to be so much happier not working so much. I will even get to sew again!

And of course, my back won't be hurting me so much... after 11 more shifts.  *smiles*

Do I feel like a quitter?  Yes and No.  But at the end of the day, the job was killing my back/health.  I will miss the old folks very much of course, it's been so lovely being in their company.

More on next year's plans. We are going to sell our house here and move into a much smaller, cheaper home.  (most likely in Hamilton)
Thus clearing our mortgage and finally having some 'spare' cash to live a little.  

Life for the past 34 years we have been pretty much living pay check to pay check, saving and scrimping for anything 'extra' and spending all our time/money and energy in raising 8 kids, and helping out with things for them and our grandkids along the way too.

We have decided NOW is the time to start doing stuff for US.  Bearing in mind we do still have two teenagers to consider, but they will tag along with us, and become independent next year all going well. 

So.  BIG changes ahead.  But not so stressful this time, as we can find a new home at our leisure, and not be in any rush, as we have been in the past.

ABOVE:  This is Max, my sister-in-law's dog.  Our girls surprised us by not being phased by him being here AT ALL! They didn't even growl at him.  They liked him, the hussy's.  

But ... the girls DID growl at my Sister In Law, Khady !
Just a bit funny.

Moving on... I'm at work all day ... so don't be expecting much more outta me till much later.

I'd love to hear your opinions on our plans... Good?  Bad?  Indifferent?  Any suggestions?  bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

Work today was HECTIC.  So much to do, and not really enough time to do it all.
But I did my best.

Exhausted now... and my back is very sore.  I took a Tramadol before my second shift and it really hasn't helped much.

Might be getting a hottie bottle on it soon.

TWO SHIFTS DOWN ... NINE TO GO.  Tomorrow is MINE, 'no work day'.

Now though... it's almost dinner time, I have no idea what we are having... Stewy is doing it.
My feet are up, and I'm done for the day.
Catch you tomorrow.

WORK ALL DAY

Well... today I have a double shift at the rest home, morning and afternoon.

I doubt I will get a chance to update ... and obviously there ain't gunna be anything to update about!

So... if this is it for the day... sorry.

Been thinking along these lines lately... right now we are just working to get by, day to day.
Next year?  I'm hoping things are gunna change big time.  We have plans.

More on that another time.

ONWARD...

2.30 pm:  a very quick update.
Step one of my plans...

ABOVE:  My letter of resignation to the Rest Home. 

Two reasons.
  
1.  My back and arms are killing me constantly.  I'm living on painkillers.  So, I am going to be working my notice (2 weeks), then leaving.

I will keep my private house cleaning jobs for the time being.  They do not involve such long hours of constant bending, scrubbing etc.

2. Our 'long term plans' will involve changing where we live.  It probably won't be in Cambridge.

More on that another time.

NOW... I have to get back to work.

6 pm:  Home from work.  My back is BURNING.  And god help me if I turn the wrong way ... grrrr.  Need more pain killers STAT.

Stew is cooking dinner tonight.  AND his sister Khady is due here for the night.  It's going to be lovely seeing her again.  Not seen her since last year I think?

Brylee is at work till 8.30, Griffin is at the movies with his girlfriend and a mate.  I will be going out later to pick them up from Hamilton.

That way Stew can visit with his sister AND watch the rugby.  I don't know what's more important to him, sister or rugby??? Might be a close call.  *smiles*

For now... I'm going to dose myself up with some panadol and just try and relax for a while.  Tomorrow I have another double shift.

LET'S MAKE A START

This morning I am going to make a start on that sanding in the spare bedroom!

I'm feeling super excited about it really... and yes, I will be laying down sheets on the floor to save on the vacuming.   

I know it's going to make a Hooahh of a mess!  But, once it's all sanded, I can just clean up the mess... simple really.

Then the best part will happen... painting.  I do love painting.  And I have an idea for a 'feature'  wall too... but that's gunna stay secret till the big 'reveal'.  *smiles*

I have an afternoon shift at the rest home today... just a short shift so I shouldn't be too tired afterwards.

ABOVE:  I saw this on Facebook... made me laugh. So appropriate for rest homes!
Yesterday I was there for over 6 hours and NOT ONE BUM!

I wonder if I'll be so lucky today?

Stewy gets home at dinnertime, so that will be lovely.  I miss him when he's not here.

I'm going now... those walls are waiting for me.

ONWARD...

 ABOVE:  The room is ready.

 ABOVE: I am ready...

ABOVE:  Half a wall done.

5.55 pm:  Home from work.

NO NAKED BUMS.

But I did get an interesting 'proposal'.

Picture this:   Old fulla lying on his bed in just his under wear.  I go in with his clothes, put them away in his drawers.

He meanwhile, gets off his bed and stands beside me and says:  

"Want to play with W's Willy?"  And then he puckers up and does air kisses at me.

I am like:

"NO!"  and I walk out of his room quick smart.  

Kinda funny, kinda not.  Ewwwww.

And that was the sum total of my amusement for the day really.

It's been a hum drum afternoon.  Glad it's Friday night, Stew is home and we might have a rum and coke me thinks.

I've got work all weekend.  Not looking forward to that one iota.

I have kept the spare bedroom door shut ever since I finished the sanding, and by the look of it, all the dust has settled.  So tomorrow night I might set to and get rid of all the dust, and wipe every surface down in readiness for painting.

Signing off now, ain't nothing else happening around here ... catch ya tomorrow.

DOUBLE TODAY

Well... today I have a double shift at the rest home.
Normally it would only be a morning shift, but I've agreed to cover the afternoon shift for someone else.

Man I seem to get a lot of relief work!  One day I hope someone can cover me when I need it.

So, I will be out for most of the day, except a break at 1.30 pm for lunch.

Stew is away for the next couple of days up in Auckland, so tonight's dinner will be something easy I think.

Probably a SBD.   (Silly Bugger Dinner)

It's been a blessing not being able to get back to the spare bedroom redecoration really, it's giving the poly filla plenty of time to set thoroughly.

I've taken everything out of the room now, in readiness for sanding.  Man it's gunna make a massive mess!  I will be wearing a face mask, and goggles too.  lol

I'm really excited to get that done, then I can do the prep painting... all the edges, around light/power switches etc.  I'm thinking that will be next Monday, my next day 'off' work.

And of course, at some point I really need to spend some time sewing!  OMG it's just not getting done at all right now.  Dammit.

OK... time to get moving...

ONWARD...

8.22 pm:  Well... it's been a long day.
I woke at 5.30 am when Stew got up and that was it for sleep.
I did my first rest home shift, the ducked into town and paid a bill, sorted out another one and filled me car with petrol.. the tank was empty.

So not long to grab lunch, I had some left overs from last night's dinner.

Back to work for my afternoon shift, with pain killers on board.  My lower back is killing me right now.  Well actually ... it's sore most days really.

I got home to two teenagers doing NOTHING ... and a pile of washing ready to be put away.  Can they see it though? 
Hell NO.  Teenagers had no fucking idea what it takes to keep a house running properly.

So, I cooked the dinner and fed the dogs.  Now I'm gunna do nothing else cos I'm damn tired and grumpy.

Stew rang, he's fine up in Auckland.  Meetings all day today and tomorrow.  Meals supplied, hotel living... nice.  

As I said, I'm tired and grumpy, so am going now.  Catch you tomorrow.

A WALK .. SHOCK HORROR!!!

YEP... I am going on an FBG walk this morning!

It will be the first one in about 2 months.  Two lovely FBG girls are leading it who I really LIKE, so it will go well.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Yesterday afternoon, once I'd chilled out for a while, I decided to tackle just a little job.

I did this:  I added some pink to the painting above our bed.  It was all blues/teal and white.

ABOVE:  Well, what do ya think???
I think it's got enough on it now... had a bit of fun getting the balance right... and the paint colour!

I sure did not have that colour in my cupboard.  I had to use 3 different shades of red, three purples, 1 gold and white to get that shade.  

Now, after my walk I am going into Hamilton to do the grocery shopping.  Friggin JOY.  But we are gunna start being rather hungry and dirty soon if I don't.  *sigh*

So, I will catch ya later.

ONWARD...

Bedtime story 😁

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.

After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."

The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet..

"How can you be so sure?" she protested.. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."

The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."

The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman..

The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$1,500!" she cried,"$1,500 just to tell me my duck is dead!"

The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $1,500."

I couldn't help but share, it's funny.  Smile.  It's a good day.

ABOVE:  9.30 am ... meeting up for our walk this morning.  In freezing cold fog.  Everyone was in thick puffer jackets and the like.  I was in a t-shirt and leggings for most of the walk.
There will probably be a 'walk photo' later on.

For now though, I'm off to do the shopping.

ABOVE:  Walk photo... doesn't everyone look cold.  I kept my jacket on for the first half of the walk, then it came off.

ABOVE:  The groceries are done... and put away.  'Only' took me about 3 hours to do it.
Brylee got home when I was almost finished putting it all away, and did help a little bit.

Now it's 4.20 pm and I'm friggin knackered.  And I have to start cooking dinner in an hour.  Fuck it never ends.

Dinner tonight was some very nice lamb patties and veges.  And Gravy.  So yum.

Now... it's the end of the day and I'm gunna do nothing else except watch some silly TV.

WORK... THEN BACK TO THIS:

This morning I have a private house clean... which will take me up to lunchtime.

Then ... home for lunch then this:

ABOVE:  The nightmare ahead of me!  Sanding all that lot off.  Actually, today I won't be sanding, I will be putting some more on in the deep spots... then it will probably take 3-4 days to dry completely.

So while I'm waiting for it to dry, I will probably lay out some table runners.  That should be fun.  

I will try and get two of the 'Holiday Time' and 'Wonky House' ones laid out.  My next market is on the 11th of August, so I have plenty of time to get them done.  (I hope!)

ONWARD...

2.02 pm:  Today's house clean took a bit longer than expected... 3.5 hours in fact.
So, I'm a bit tired... and going to do nothing for a little while.  *smiles*

Lacy popped in just now, super happy with her morning.  She went over to Tauranga to rectify one of her stupid mistakes in life...

ABOVE:  Lesson learnt I hope.  Don't EVER get a boyfriend's initials tattooed onto your body, not even your bloody finger.  You will most likely live to regret it.

ABOVE:  A much happier Lacy... with a sore finger for now.  Seems it hurts much more to get a cover up than the original tattoo.

She is VERY happy with the result, so that's good.

Now... back to doing nothing. Well actually... lol, I might make myself some lunch.

The nothingness continued till I  had to cook dinner!  So, a lazy afternoon. 

The bedroom and sewing will have to wait now until I can spare an hour to two over the next 5 days.  I've got other stuff on... mostly work.

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

YES... MONDAY

ABOVE:  Exactly!  ...

My job today:

 ABOVE: I have the stuff I need to fix this:

 ABOVE:  Gotta put polyfilla in these biggish holes, and also a thin layer over all the places where that freakin' border took off the paintwork.

There's also quite a few smaller holes left from paintings, dings and so on.  So it might take me a couple of hours.

The other day Stew said he felt like our bedroom felt 'cold and not very cosy'.  So I changed it up a bit by doing this:

 ABOVE:  I took off the blue pillow cases, the blue valance and some of the blue accessories in the room.

Then I added some colour.  The cow painting and flowers were in the family room. 

A couple of colourful soft Britto toys from the lounge.

My pink throw blanket ... I sleep with it anyway, but it wasn't kept on the bed during the day.  Now it is. 

ABOVE: On this side I just added a pink scarf to the candle holder.  

I have a pretty floral duvet cover coming soon too, which I will put on the bed, then I can assess if that is enough.

I'm glad he mentioned how he felt, cos it was fun titivating the room.  *smiles*

I'm now eyeing up the mixed media artwork above the bed, wondering how I can add a bit of colour to it as well.  dumm dee dooo.... lol.

Right, now I am gunna make me porridge, lie in bed and read the news, look out the window at the birds worm hunting and then... get on with the day.

ONWARD...

12.30 pm:  ha ha!  Done NOTHING in the spare bedroom.

Lacy came out for a quick visit.  And I rearranged the lounge furniture just a little bit.

 ABOVE:  mid move around...

 ABOVE:  done.  And now it's more 'conversation' friendly.

 ABOVE:  Over in the 'dining' area I'm going to take down the zebra painting and put this  there...

ABOVE:  Stew will be happy as he doesn't like having it in our room.  Not 'bedroom' furniture... but I  had nowhere else to put it. 
Now I do.  Made a space that's perfect for it.

So, a good morning.   And now I'm gunna stop and have some lunch before moving on to the spare bedroom.

Polyfilla is on.. though those bigger holes are gunna require a second application to fill them.  But, no hurry.
It's going to make a HUGE mess when it comes to sanding it all back, there's HEAPS of it all over the room.  But, needs must.

It's been a glorious day outside today, and I've not stepped out me front door.  Shame.

Dinner tonight is chicken drumsticks roasted in the oven, with veges.  Should be yum.

Dinner WAS yum... and now it's time to sign off for the day.
Catch ya tomorrow.