A BIT UPSETTING

 Our Keera had an accident yesterday with her scooter and has spent the night in hospital.

She is going to be sedated today so the doctors can do a proper examination.  It could not be done last night as she was too upset.  (Very 'delicate' place is injured).

OLD MOO... don't panic.  It sounds like the damage isn't too bad, nothing a couple of stitches won't fix, if necessary.

I got to talk to her last night, and that was very comforting.  She sounded very chirpy and happy.  I'm told she was thoroughly enjoying all the attention from the nurses.

PLEASE comment to KEERA and wish her well!  She will love that.

Now... that painting I did yesterday.

I 'finished' it, then sat down and thought about it.

And dammit!

It was just NOT 'right', so I took it back to the painting table and dicked around with it.

It went from this:

ABOVE:  a Kaleidoscope Heart .... to this:

ABOVE:  A Swipe with Balloon Kisses.  Brylee thought of the Balloon Kisses, so this painting is called Brylee's Garden.  It's not the best photo, taken late last night, so poor lighting.

I had almost decided to wipe all the paint off, let the canvas dry and re-use it another time.

So happy I persevered with it.

Now... today, apart from sitting on my phone waiting to hear how Keera is?

I'm going to do the housework, then take a really good video of the house to show Mum when I get over there. I've not done another 'walk through' video in quite a while, and a few things have changed.  

😁😂😄

Once that is done, I will continue cutting out the fabric strips to take with me.  I've not got much left to go on that task.

ABOVE:  Here's a lovely photo of Lacy and Brylee in the new car.

ONWARD...

11.08 am:  So this morning we took food up to Lacy, who had not eaten since yesterday.  So far the talk is that Keera is being sedated 'lightly' to check the 'damage'.  Not sure what happens from there, depends on what she needs.

I've done my little video of the house and section, I'm sure I will be the one looking at it all the time while I'm away. 😆😏

I've got corned beef cooking in the crock pot for dinner, it's already starting to smell lovely.

I might see if I can get a better photo of yesterday's painting and replace the one above.  Then once I've had lunch I will get on with fabric strip cutting.

The house is totally spic 'n' span, nothing to do there.

Oh worth noting... NO DOGS BARKING HERE.  

😂😄😉

Update on MISS MUPPET:  She's OK.  No major damage, just a small injury that will heal on it's own.

What a relief for everyone.

I can breath better now.

I just made another Kaleidoscope painting, with balloon kisses.  It's very cute.

It was something to do while waiting on news from the Hospital.

Keera is heading home soon, just awaiting discharge papers.  

It's now 12.35 pm, time for some lunch.

ABOVE:  Kaleidoscope #5 with Kisses.  It's so pretty, much nicer in person of course.  😊

It's now 2 pm and I've STILL not had me lunch.  I keep getting distracted.  Derrrr.

8 pm:  Dinner is done, the corned beef was cooked to perfection!  Cut it like it was butter, so soft and moist.

I served it with mashed potatoes and veges. 

I'm thrilled with all I got done today, the new Kaleidoscope with Kisses painting is making me very happy.

It will probably be a few months before I get home from Australia and can varnish it, but that's OK.

The OLD MOO is doing well... looking forward to a visit from my sister Lorraine and her eldest daughter Rowena.  They both live in Brisbane.

I think they are staying in Coffs Harbour for about a week, then when they return to Queensland they will have to go into Quarantine for 2 weeks.  No one is exempt from THAT particular joy!

Now... I'm going to sit back and relax for the remainder of the evening.  Coronation Street is on later... something to look forward to.  Stew just took great delight in telling me ... Coronation Street is not on tonight.  Dammit.

PAINTING?

 Dare I?

I'm over 'getting shit ready' for traveling.

Today I'm gunna relax and do a couple of paintings.

I have one in mind... a heart done like one of my Kaleidoscope paintings.  It might not work, but I'm gunna give it a go.

I will also make another wave painting.

All 4 of my wave paintings already done are sold, so it will be nice to have one that can go to market (eventually).

The other thing I will do today is teach Stew how to use the new washing machine, how to look after the swimming pool and anything else I think he needs to know how to use while I'm away.  I don't want to get back home and find things mucked up.

Some really good news.... we read in the news last night that I won't have to pay for quarantine when I come back to New Zealand!  I can apply for an exemption from the cost on Compassionate grounds.  That's awesome to know.  I don't have to worry about it now of course, but it's a detail to tuck in the back of my mind for later.

And... let's start the countdown... 9 sleeps to go until I fly off to Australia. Getting real now.

ONWARD...

12.03 pm:  Well an eventful morning so far.

I went out and bought new bark collars for the girls.  I am TOTALLY over them barking at EVERYTHING that damn well moves, or makes a noise.  Last night Marley started barking at 3 am and didn't stop for over 25 minutes.  I just wanted to kill her.

So, they have the collars on... and after a couple of zaps, NO BARKING now.  OMG it's going to be so quiet around here.

Next stop of the day.... we took Lacy out and she got a car.  A sensible car.

Now she's mobile again, so should be a happier girl.

ABOVE:  It's a nice looking car, and very practical being a station wagon.

And now... I will have some lunch then go do a painting.

3.50 pm:  And I've done one painting.  I'm not sure it's a roaring success, but it's kinda how I envisioned it coming out.

Photo tomorrow.

Now.. just relax till dinner time I think.

7.30 pm:  dinner tonight was kinda a silly bugger one.  Chicken steaks, hash browns and spaghetti for Brylee, and Baked Beans for Stew and I.

It was freakin' yum.

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

DUMP RUN

 Today's plans?

Sleep in.

Then... a few jobs lined up.

Main one:  a trip to the dump.

We have half a trailer load, and Steve 'n' Bex have probably one and a half trailer loads.  So, as Steve is working this morning, Stew will go over to his place and pick up some of their's to fill our trailer, and take it all to the dump.

We can do another load later on in the day, or tomorrow.

While he's doing that I will get the housework done, then carry on cutting up fabric strips to take with me to Aussy.

I got a cute parcel in the post yesterday.  I've got a friend down Taranaki way who makes cards kinda professionally.  She is part of a design team that create new cards.

Anyway, every now and then she 'retires' some stamp sets, and I saw one she was offering on Facebook, and I nabbed it real quick!

I couldn't help myself, even though I'm not making cards right now!

ABOVE: This is the set.

ABOVE:  And these are some of the cards/tags she's made using that fishy set.

I don't know what she uses to colour the cards, I really must ask her.  She does an amazing job of them.

I might even throw that set in my suitcase and take it with me.  Ya never know, I might do some once I get to Mum's.

Next thing I must remember to do, and putting it on here means I won't forget... get the receipt for the laptop and put it in me suitcase too.  As Julie said yesterday, I don't want to get charged GST on it when I come back home again.

And that's me for now... gunna roll over and stack just a few more Zzzz's. Or read the news in bed.  One or t'other.

lol, forgot ONWARD.

Oh well, too bad.

I varnished two more painting this morning.

Stew got all our combined rubbish to the dump in just one trip.  Excellent.  The rubbish dump here is so CHEAP compared to Cambridge!

IN Cambridge we paid $80 for a trailer load, here?  $19 for the trailer and the back of our station wagon full too!

The washing is done and actually hanging outside for the first time in over a week.

Not sure what I will get up to this afternoon.  I'm tempted to make another painting or two.

OR I could cut out more fabric strips.  Yeah, I should probably get that done and dusted before doing anything else.

ABOVE:  Stew has done an awesome job this afternoon.  Never weeding those pavers by hand again!  The water blaster got rid of them ALL!

7.30 pm: dinner tonight was Spag Bol, very nice.

Now?  Watching boring Saturday night TV.  Why is there fook all on ?  I might watch something on Netflix.

And that's a wrap for the day, very 'normal' day here.

CUTTING STRIPS

 Today I'm planning on cutting out strips of fabric for my hexagons.  I'm not going to try and cut out the hexagons themselves, just strips of fabric the right size.

Then I will take them all with me and do the final cutting once I'm over in Australia.  Either in quarantine, or at the OLD MOO'S. 

As I'm going to be be at Mum's for a while, it means I will have plenty of hand work to keep me busy.

I anticipate the strips taking me quite a few hours.

The other thing on my agenda is to pick up my prescription ... so I have enough medication for my trip as well.

I totally forgot to do that yesterday.  😕

I made a start on packing my suitcase ... to see just how much room I'm gunna have.  PLENTY by the look of it.

I took the puzzles out of their boxes, amazing how much room that saved (thanks Tracy).

Once I add the strips of fabric, I think my suitcase will still have room in it.

I bought a new laptop yesterday, and will be picking it up sometime today.  The technician at the shop is setting it up for me.  Now I don't have to worry about how the hell I'm going to blog, keep up to date with emails etc, and video chat with Stew and family while I'm away.

It's going to be easy as, compared to trying to do it on me phone.  THAT would have been a bloody nightmare for sure.  

I'm so glad I decided to get it, as I was really undecided on if I should or not.  But, it isn't wasted money as we will use it heaps when I'm at home too.  

Whenever I go out or we go away for a few days it will be very handy.  No more trying to manage with just my phone.

What else?  Well... housework I suppose.  I've let it slide a bit the past week or so.  But not too badly, there's just the usual stuff like washing to get on top of really.

So... I better get outta bed, and get a load in the machine.

ONWARD...

12.10 pm:  well what an excellent morning.  I spent a bit of time around at Bex's.  She had a friend visiting, so we all had a nice time chatting.

After that I went and picked up my medications and then the new computer.

Which I am working on RIGHT NOW.  So far so good .... I've installed the MOST important stuff... email and the blog!

Now I'm going to work on putting a couple of other things on it. 

Literally my biggest nightmare!  Setting up a new computer.  Remembering passwords! OMG NIGHTMARE.

I'm slowly getting there though... but it's really frustrating. 

ABOVE:  a cute photo of the girls.... just testing if I can send photos from me phone to the computer.  SUCCESS!  At least that's one thing I know is not going to give me trouble while over in Oz. I would have a few issues with doing that if I'd not got this laptop.

LOL... I'm not getting any fabric cut out!  It's been taking a while to get all I want/need on this little computer, but I think I've got it nailed now.

Somehow I got it to sync with my existing computer, so everything is on it now.

I will check that video chat over Messenger works soon... then I will be happy and good to GO.

Right, time to get off me bum and get the washing out of the machine and chuck it in the dryer.  Fook hanging it outside, the weather is far too unpredictable to do that.

7.37 pm:  well an excellent afternoon!  I finally got around to cutting up strips of fabric for me hexies.

Then Stew got home and we had some pizza for dinner from a new place over Fairfield way.  VERY NICE pizzas.  

Had a quick yak with THE OLD MOO, she's doing well...even getting out and about a little bit.  NOT MUCH, but it must be nice to catch up with a  few friends now that she's out of hospital.

Well... time to sign off for the day.  I've just spent a good hour finding new 'NITE NITE' pictures.  So here's one...

A THANK YOU

 First up for today... a message from THE OLD MOO.

She wishes to say a very big 'Thank You' to everyone who has wished her well.  She appreciates each and every one of you.

ALSO...

MICHELLE C!  Mum got your gorgeous gift and card the other day.  She loves it and wants to say THANK YOU to you.

She has tried to leave a comment many times over the past few days on the blog to thank everyone, but by the time she gets it all typed out on her phone... she mucks it up and loses it.

So please take this as from her:  THANK YOU gorgeous blog friends. 

Obviously, I Thank You all too, as you have helped cheer my Mum up on many occasions. 

And she means the world to me and Stew.

Stew and I were talking the other day, and we realised that Stew has had my Mum as his 'other Mum' for longer than he had his own Mum in his life!

He was 24 when I met him, so he's known and loved my Mum for 35 years.  He wishes he could come with me to see her again, but with the double quarantine, it's just not possible.

I am going to make damn sure once I'm with Mum, that I do video chats with him every day, so he can see Mum and talk to her too.

Today I need to go out and work on a few more things in readiness for my trip to Australia.

I did not get any smaller jigsaws yesterday, so that's on the list.  I love these WASGIJ ones:

ABOVE: This is a WASGIJ? puzzle.  The picture on the box is NOT what the puzzle is.  It's usually what someone in the picture can SEE.  So they are more difficult, which I love.  The harder the better in my opinion.

I'm not sure what else I need to do/get, but at least I have some time to get it all sorted out.

Because I might be away from home for a considerable amount of time, I do need to get this all done right.

ONWARD...

11 am:  Well, I got a few things accomplished this morning.

ABOVE:  I found the puzzles I wanted.

Brilliant idea TRACY!  I will leave the boxes at home.

ABOVE:  I forgot to show you these gorgeous Boxers that were at the patchwork shop yesterday!

They live there.  They are adorable.  The chocolate brown one is fairly young.  Boisterous, but so cute.  Brylee spent the entire time she was in the shop playing with them.

I'm going to do a trial pack of my suitcase sometime today, to see how heavy it is.

Same with my carry on bag.  It can be 7 kg, which is quite a bit eh? 

Now though, I'm going to go out again and get some nice fresh bread to go with the pea 'n' bacon hock soup I've got cooking in the crock pot.

6.02 pm: And we have a really lovely soup and fresh baked bread buns for dinner.

We just had another hail storm... sheesh it went cold fast.

They are very short and sharp though, so pass over quickly.

Looking forward to bed tonight, just to be snuggly and warm.

Dinner was really good.  Then we had a visit from Steve, Bex and the boys.  They brought over donuts for supper!

Once they had left it was quiet time, Coronation Street time, and now?  Bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SORTING IT OUT

 Today I'm going to gather up a few things that will occupy some of my time once I'm in quarantine in Sydney.

I got quite a few good suggestions yesterday, thanks so much.

I'm going to find the hexagons I started a couple of years ago for a start.  They will certainly keep me busy, hand stitching them together!

AND I have a 1,000 piece jig saw SOMEWHERE that I've not done yet.  I will take that with me too.

At some point today I am going to a shop at The Base to buy some bath bombs, cos I reckon soaking in a bath bombed bath will be lovely too.

I'm starting to look forward to quarantine!

Imagine having every meal hand delivered FOR TWO WEEKS!  No cooking.  OMG I am going to utterly love that!

NO COOKING! No dishes.  BLISS.

The only thing I am wondering about is ... clothes washing?  I hope they provide a washing machine and dryer!   I can't think of too much else that could cause a problem ... can you?

Don't say DIET COKE.... cos I will get that delivered to my room every day if necessary!  

😂😆😅

Now, how about a really lovely photo of The Old MOO?

ABOVE:  Mum had this photo taken yesterday, just for us.  Doesn't she look lovely.  I love that colour blue on her.

ABOVE: This is the gorgeous view of Coffs Harbour that they have from their home.  It really is stunning where they live.   Ron has turned about an acre of his 30 acre conservation block into a garden.  A true labour of love.

Right, that's me for now... I'll be back later with an update of how my morning has gone.

ONWARD...

10.43 am:  And I've made good progress on my jobs today.

I have gathered up all I will need to make hexies while in quarantine, and while at my Mum's too.

ABOVE: The fabrics weigh quite a bit, so I might have to take less clothes.  Oh well... worth the sacrifice. 

Next, I found a jig saw I bought a little while before we left Cambridge.  I had only done a little bit when we had to pack everything up to move, so ...

ABOVE:  Because it's a BIG one, I think I will take it with me, but not start it until I get to Mum's.

Can you imagine getting it half done during quarantine then having to shove it all back in the box?  Yeah... nah. 

OR... should I buy a couple of smaller ones instead of taking that one?

I'm now heading out to Gordonton to Grandmothers Garden patchwork shop for fabric glue for the hexagons.  

2 pm:  Well after talking to the ladies out at Gordonton, I'm not using glue for my hexies.  I will be hand basting them onto the cards.

They were so nice out there!

I've heard from quite a few quilters that they are 'nasty' out there,  but I've not found them that way at all. They could not have been more helpful.

So after getting back into Hamilton Brylee and I went to Spotlight for more Hexie cards (if you are not a patchworker, don't even try to understand!), then I went to the mall for a couple of other bits 'n' bobs.

And now?  Back to sunshine.  Bit windy and cool.  Nice in the sun though, just ask Coco. *smiles*

3.15 pm:  And I just got two more paintings cleaned and varnished.  I should have all that I've made finished before I leave for Aussy now.

I'm very tempted to make a few more... but, we will see how I go for time.  Cutting out Hexie's might come first.  Good idea that was KIWIKID.

Dinner tonight is going to be Chicken steaks and salad.

Well... dinner was lovely.  I made a potato salad to go with the chicken steaks.  

Then I had a good chat with me Mum (The OLD MOO) before she sat down to a nice dinner cooked by Ron.  Sausages and veges was on her plate.

Now... I'm gunna relax and wait for Coronation Street to start.  An hour to go. 😕

QUARANTINE QUESTION

 One of the shower curtains I bought yesterday has a freakin' LARGE hole in it... so that's going back today.

A friend suggested instead of adding length, just add another set of hooks at the top!  So I might just do that instead of dicking around with trying to lengthen it.  I'm already over it!

I've got a friend calling in this afternoon.  She is an FBG'er, so isn't that lovely?  I left the group a couple of weeks ago, I knew I wouldn't be able to get over there much anymore, so no point staying. Nice to know some of them are good friends now though. 

It is card night tonight and I do intend going.  It's one way to keep in touch with a few of those girls in Cambridge.  I shall call into the supermarket this morning for something to take... might be something 'healthy' for a change. Maybe a little platter of meats/crackers/fruits.  Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

When I arrive in Australia, I will have to sit in a motel for two weeks in Quarantine.

I DON'T MIND... cos it means I will be that much closer to seeing Mum again.

BUT... help me here.  What the hell am I going to do for two whole weeks in a bloody motel?  Besides eat my emotions?

I was wondering if I could take wool with me and crochet a blanket or something?  

Books?

Learn to drink?   *** (JUST JOKING) ***

I just don't know, it's not a situation I  have ever had to face before, like thousands of other people around the world during this horrible pandemic.

WHAT CAN YA DO IN A MOTEL ... ON YOUR OWN... FOR TWO WEEKS???

ONWARD...

12.10 pm:  Been out.  I returned the holey shower curtain. Got things to hang the new shower curtain from, lowering it at the same time. 

Did the grocery shopping.  Bex came with me and did her's at the same time.

Home.  Groceries away.  Checked if our old laptop could be used over in Aussy by me.  I think it can be.  Was a right shit getting access to all my accounts... I had to sign in and change all the old passwords.  What a rigmarole.

Just had a sandwich for lunch and am going to chill out for a little while.

Well. My girlfriend Christine arrived and spent a lovely hour visiting. I thoroughly enjoyed her visit.

After she left I worked on a small platter to take to Card Night tonight.  As I won't be attending another one for quite a while, I wanted to make a bit of an effort.  Usually I just take a box of crackers and some cheese, or sweets!

ABOVE:  I think it looks nice.

Stew and Brylee have Marinated Pork Steaks, mashed potato and either a salad or baked beans and spaghetti for dinner.  Stew can cook the steaks when he gets home from work.

The Old MOO sent me a couple of photos this afternoon.  I'm saving them for tomorrow.  She's having a good day today, at home with her darling Ron.

Right, I'm off to put on a bit of face, before I go over to Cambridge for a few laughs.

9.40 pm:  And guess what?  I won at cards tonight.  First time in a very long time too.

It was lots of fun as per usual.  

Now... watching Coronation Street, then off to bed.

Oh I checked in on The OLD MOO this evening ... she's had a really good day.  Loving being home in the peace and quiet.

A BIT TO DO

 Starting the day happy...it's been a real roller coaster getting permission to enter Australia... but I'm allowed.  So happy.

I've got a few things to do today, so I'll be happily busy. I love being busy.

First up, I am going to pop into our Doctors rooms and get a prescription for at least 3 months worth of my meds.  Can't bugger off to Aussy without me meds.

Next, Spotlight!

I want to find some shower curtain material to make a longer, wider shower curtain for our wet room shower.  The current one is way too short, when you have a shower water ends up all over the entire floor.  That's not really desirable.  I'm going to make two, so I can ring the changes.

Next... make appointments for the girls to be groomed.  I want them spic and span before I head overseas.

Once I've done that I will come home and get on with making said shower curtains, and the extra face masks I want to take with me when I'm traveling. 

ABOVE:  That little plant in the middle of our lawn?  It grew a flower.  So cute.  And PINK.

Virtually every plant/tree/shrub in this garden bears PINK flowers!

The people who built this home and planned the gardens must have LOVED PINK.

I do too, but I will be adding purples and blues as we live here longer.

ABOVE:  This area over the back of our pool is slowly filling out. It just needs a couple of plants that will grow a bit taller, but not drop their leaves or flower petals.  Still working on that. No rush.

Well... that's me for now.  I'm going to head out just as soon as the shops open and get me jobs done.

ONWARD...

10.30 am:  And I'm home after getting all my jobs done.

New, longer prescription - DONE

Dogs booked for groom next week - DONE

Shower curtain fabric?  Ya can't buy it, so I bought three curtains, and will cut one down and sew lengths onto the bottom of the other two so they are long enough.

ABOVE:  That's the shower curtain.  It's clear with FISH.  Funny that I'd choose one with fish eh? 

 I am wondering HOW I will add the extra bit to the bottom, as it's plastic.  GLUE? Or sew it?

😂😄😇

I stopped in at Bunnings too for some more spray varnish, they didn't have any.  But while there I grabbed these:

ABOVE: While I have been taking precautions while out and about (mask, hand sanitiser and social distancing), I thought having these on hand would be prudent too.

I can wipe down surfaces I come into contact with to keep myself safe from germs.  I'm damned if I'm gunna get sick or catch anything before I can leave for Australia!

COUNTDOWN.... THE OLD MOO gets to leave hospital in a couple of hours!  Such good news.  She gets to sleep in her own bed, with her darling Ron.  No noise.  Just peace.  They live out of town among beautiful native bush.  Lots of native birds, flowers and a gorgeous view of the ocean too.  She is going to be so happy back home.

I'm going to get some epoxy resin to join the two curtain pieces together.  That will eliminate any leaks.

6.20 pm:  ... and...

The OLD MOO is home.  

Thank God.  Now she can settle down and relax a bit.

I've just cooked Chicken Rice Risotto, lots of chunky chicken and onion in it.  Smells delish.

Up's and down's... that's life at the moment.  I spend all day worrying about my Mum, pacing the floor as if that's going to get me there faster?  Dumb.

I can't settle to anything which is most annoying.  Two weeks to go until I'm there and sitting in quarantine for two bloody weeks.  What the hell am I going to do for two weeks locking in a bloody motel room?  

I'VE GOT NOTHING!

 Today... well we have NOTHING on at all!

I think Lacy has Keera today, so we will probably see them later on today.

We had planned on having a 'Dessert Night' this evening, with any family that wanted to come over.  But I canceled it.

Wish I hadn't now... company and desserts would be nice.

I think I will still make a Lemon Meringue Pie.

OH I also thought about trying to add some Lime, cos I've got limes from my lime tree.  That might be nice eh?  Lemon and Lime pie. Hmmm.

I've got 4 paintings ready to have the hanging string attached, and one painting ready for cleaning and varnishing, so will get that done this morning.

There is no washing to do... lol, I got it all done last night.  It's supposed to piss down with rain all day, so I threw all the washing through the dryer last night as well.  I'm on top of it I tell ya.

I'm going to have a hunt through my fabric stash later on today and choose about three fabrics that I love... and make three masks for myself.  I will need a few for when I travel to Aussy.  Being POSITIVE as heck that I will get my travel permission from Australia!  IF I do, I could be leaving in... 16 days!  Eeeek.

The ONLY thing I'm freaking out about is driving from one side of Sydney to the other on my way up to Coffs Harbour!  I will have to look on Google Earth and plot the way to go. 

I have plenty of time though, so no freaking out yet! 

😂😄😆

And... that is me for now.  Seriously, it's just going to be a 'potter around the house' sorta day.  

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  How gorgeous is this?  I love it.

SO... dessert night is back on.  LOL  Not everyone is able to come but that's OK, I have a legitimate reason to cook a dessert now.  Awesome.

So far the weather has not packed it in, so I've got a few windows open, which feels lovely.  Tired of having everything closed up because it's freakiin' freezing or pissing down.

It's been a bit of a nightmare afternoon!

First :... we had a lovely lunch our with dear friends from Tauranga. Thanks Jacqui and Marty for your visit. THAT was not a nightmare 😉😅😆.

Second:  Got an email saying I was NOT allowed to enter Australia.  So I immediately re-applied, with a long letter giving much more details about my Mum's DIRE condition and how I NEEDED to be there bla bla bla. I BEGGED THEM, I said PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... I laid it on as thick as I could.

AND... they replied within an hour.

I AM ALLOWED TO ENTER AUSTRALIA... and I have to Quarantine for two weeks.

That is fine by me.

I can get in!

It has been a very tense, upsetting few hours this afternoon... but it is done and now I can relax.

16 days to go. Then two weeks in a motel.  Then I see my Mum again.

I GET TO SEE MUM AGAIN.  😌

Our dessert night went very well.

Lacy popped in early, but didn't stay as she has stuff to do, and Amanda had a business meeting so she couldn't come either.

So, we had Brylee, Steve, Bex and the boys, Kelly and the girls and our eldest son Russell.

A nice easy number.

ABOVE:  Steve does not enjoy sweet food, so he had a cheese board.  The dogs sat and begged for some... and got given some cheese.  

ABOVE:  love this couch, it's such a good size for a group.  

Everyone has left now, and all is quiet again.  Time to just relax and be thankful that today ended well.

OPINION ON BRAND?

 Well I've decided to definitely get a new FRONT LOADING Washing Machine.

Brands.

There were a few names tossed around yesterday... so I'm not 100% sure what to go with.

It might come down to size of load.  I want the biggest one possible!

Then I can wash blankets, duvets and big loads.  At the moment my washing machine has a massive hissy fit if I put in any more than about 4 towels!  It does tolerate a larger load of clothes, but NOT towels.  Grrrr.

OMG I can't wait to just turn on the washing machine and know it's going to go until the end of the cycle!

I'm SICK TO DEATH of hearing the high pitched 'BEEP BEEP BEEP' when it stops because it's uneven again.

I'm sure the dogs will be happy about no noise too... they have to sleep beside the damn machine. 

So anyway... barring bad reviews from you fullas, I am looking at this machine, it's top of my list:

ABOVE:  It's a 12 kg Fisher & Paykel front loader.  It can be raised up with a drawer under it too... or Steve can build me something.  So I won't have to worry about bending down too low.  

I AM going to look at other brands today too, so do tell me if you have a machine that is GREAT and has given you NO TROUBLE for a few years. 

I'm hoping that by the end of today we will have settled on which one to buy.

I want to try and have a happier day today.  

I've (obviously) been feeling very upset and tearful these past couple of weeks.  I am so thankful that I can still yak to me Mum and be there for her, even if it is only at the end of a phone.

That's helped me tremendously.  I hope it's helping her too.

So now ... let's see what Stew and I can get up to today.  I'll be back later and let ya know what we have been doing.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  It made me smile.

Stew has a different slant on the GLASS.

"Is it half full, or is it half empty?  Stew, always the OPTIMIST,  says it's BOTH.

It depends on your goal for the GLASS.

If your goal is to fill the glass, then you are half way there.  If your goal is to empty the glass, you are half way there.

There has always got to be a smart arse, and I'm married to him.

11 am:  And we are home from our shopping expedition.

My mind was set on getting the Fisher & Paykel machine, but I was prepared to listen to advice.

We got a machine.

ABOVE:  It's still in the car until Steve can come around and help Stew get it out.  It's freakin' heavy and he does not want to drop it.

I hope it's not a lemon like....

ABOVE:  Our NEW BED!

It's only 7 weeks old and already has indentations in the mattress!  While we were at Harvey Norman's this morning I talked to the people there about the bed and showed them the photo.  He said they will replace it.

I should think so!  I can't believe it's already got the hump in the bloody middle!  Crazy.

It's now almost lunchtime, so might talk to Stew about that.  

ABOVE:  The worst video I've ever taken I reckon!  But oh well... it's something to look at.

8.40 pm:  And I've done two loads in the new washing machine with no problems at all.

It's right down on the floor and I am not troubled bending down to it... YET.  If I do find it difficult Steve can build me a platform to sit it on.

I just had a really good chat with the OLD MOO ... she's had a much better day today.  She even slipped off to the cafeteria with Ron for a Chai Latte and pie!  Nice one.

I now have to try a Chai Latte cos it sounds lovely.

And that's it for today.  It's been a good day, any form of shopping is FUN.