YAA IT'S THE WEEKEND

ABOVE:  This.  The last one is my all time favourite saying.  And so true.

ABOVE:  The girls in their favourite place... looking out the studio door, checking out everyone who walks past on the footpath.

Can you believe it's the last day of July?

Seriously, this year is going too damn fast.

August tomorrow.  Some BIG things happening in August.

I really hope the painting company can do our interior in August.

THEN we can get the carpet done too.  

Talking of carpet, I've not heard from ChemDry about when they are coming to clean the hallway carpet yet.  I hope they come next week.

Oh and today I hope to drag Stew into Carpet Court, I'd like him to look at all the options.  I'm still not 100% settled on what we will get yet, and would like his input.

And that's me for now... catch ya later.

10.10 am:  such a cold morning !  We've been having super heavy fogs these past few days.  At least if the fog lifts we end up  with a semi nice day.

ABOVE:  I don't think I've told you about Brylee's arm?

She's been off work for two months  because her right shoulder keeps dislocating!  This happened a few years ago when we lived in Cambridge too.

So... she has an appointment in a couple of weeks to see an orthopedic surgeon.  She may need surgery to tighten up her shoulder muscles.

In the meantime, she's off work and can't even drive.

Yaaa.... Stew is chief cook and bottle washer today.  He's making us toasted sandwiches for lunch.  

6 pm:  And wow we have had a lovely day so far.

Steve, Bex, Brylee, Lacy, Keera, Dante and Archer all came over and we went to the park, followed by ice cream sundaes at the mall.

Once home, everyone played and enjoyed each other's company.

Dinner tonight is McDonalds.  I'm looking forward to my Angus Burger, it's my first one in a month.

We are watching the Olympic games on the telly this evening.   I didn't think I'd watch any this year, but am enjoying most of it.  Maybe NOT the rugby though 😂😅😆.

Exactly two days since my Covid vaccination, and the injection site is still tender to touch, and starting to get itchy.  But I have no pain when using my arm.  So a good experience as far as I'm concerned.  

It's now 8.40 pm, and we are watching Olympic Beach Volleyball.  Time to sign off for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SIDE EFFECTS?

 Well.... I sleep on my left side.

And it's me left arm that had the jab.

So, it's a bit sore this morning.

When I went to bed last night I was feeling quite headachy, and a bit nauseous.  

I still have the headache and well... that's about it.

Quite normal from all accounts.

I am going to stay in bed for a while this morning.  The last couple of days I've had to get up earlier than I'd like for tradespeople, so it will be nice to just lie here and read the news.

Once me feet start twitching, I will get up.

I feel like going shopping!

Frustratingly, there is bugger all I need or want.

I might check out the pantry/fridge/freezer and see if there's anything we need, and go grocery shopping?  The weekend is coming up and we almost always have visitors, which means a few more mouths to feed.

So there ya go... I don't feel too bad after the 1st Covid Vaccination... and it's gunna be an excellent day.

10.10 am:  I have just spent the past hour or so tidying up all the linen, and moving it onto the spare queen bed.

ABOVE:  It was a really good job to do, as now I've weeded out all the really old linen that can be thrown out.   I've also got a pile to give away too.

We had far too much linen.

Don't be fooled though by that lot.  I've got another linen cupboard full of pillows and blankets!  Not to mention what's under the spare queen bed.  I can't even remember what's under there!

Perhaps I will sort that lot out another day, once that linen is back in the hot water cupboard.

So, now that's done I am going to sit and relax for a little while.  My arm is still sore, but I'm doing what the nurse said and using it, so it doesn't feel worse.  Other than the arm, I feel fine now.

Well... some people.  😂😅😆

I'm having such a happy morning, pottering around the house.  Feeling like myself again, even got some energy!

12.45 pm:  And I've just had Amanda here visiting me.  So nice when me kids just pop in for a cuppa.  😊

I'm about to have me lunch... baked beans 'n' eggs on toast.  With some grated cheese on top. 

It will be my 'main' meal of the day.  Tonight I will just have some yoghurt.

Stew will be getting Chicken steaks, smashed potato and some salad for his dinner.  I'm sure he will love it.

Oh my, lunch was delicious!  Stew might not like me tonight when I start 'passing wind' from eating baked beans!  Gotta love me.

9.30 pm:  Such a good day!  Stew arrived home and had his yummy dinner.  I'm about to have a little yoghurt, and watch Coronation Street.

Thank god it's not been bumped off the telly in favour of the Olympics.

NERVOUS DAY

 I've got a bit on today.

First up, Carpet Court are coming this morning to suss out what has to be done to re-attach the carpet to the floor.

That should be a 10 minute job really.

Then we can get the carpet cleaned. 

ABOVE:  That's how the carpet looks now it's totally dry.  Awful.

Next up for my day, I'm off into town to meet Stew for a business meeting.  

After that..... I will be going to The Base Vaccination Centre for my 1st Covid vaccination.

I am like, totally SHITTING MYSELF.  I have a real fear of needles.  I hope everyone is right, and I will hardly feel it.

It's just the anticipation that gets to me.  

So... home in the morning, then out till mid afternoon..

Catch ya later.

12.20 pm. 40 minutes to go. Sitting in the carpark waiting for time to go in. Got the shakes.... feel like throwing up.  

Backtracking.  

The carpet court lady arrived nice and early (bless), and did what she had to do.

Next step she will send a bloke over in a few days to tack the existing carpet down.

Then we wait for ChemDry again.

Met with Stew next, and we did our business... slowly getting life sorted out.

Then.  I.  Went.  To.  The.  Base.

And waited my turn to get THE JAB.

And OMG!

What was I worried about???????

I hardly felt a THING!  Slight foreign sensation as the vaccine went in, but it was over so damn quick I hardly had time to register it.

And I am still feeling 100% fine.  

I know that the next one (in 3 weeks) is not going to scare me AT ALL.

I'm really proud of myself for getting it done.  I hadn't planned on doing it.  But, being a responsible person, I changed my mind.

I know I could still catch Covid, but at least with the vaccine, I would have a far higher chance of overcoming it.

With my propensity to getting chest infections/coughs, I decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

Yeah... JUST WOW!    

No pain in my arm at all.  Nothing!  I wonder if it will be sore tomorrow?

It's getting dark, and I've got a bloke from ChemDry coming any minute to tack the carpet down!

Don't know how wires have gotten crossed, we thought Carpet Court was doing it?

Oh well, at least it's getting done.

ABOVE:  The guys tacking the carpet down again.

Now on to the next step.  Cleaning.

That will happen soon I hope. 

 P.S.                

7 pm:  OK, arm is now a little tender to the touch.

Idea?  Don't touch it!  😂😆😊

And that's me day done I reckon.  It's been eventful.  But good.

Catch ya tomorrow.

YES!

No sleep in for me today.

We have the plumber arriving bright and early with our new hot water cylinder.

OMG it's going to be wonderful having hot water again!

With any luck the new cylinder will have heated up by this evening, I bags the first shower.  😅😆😊

ABOVE: This is the old cylinder.  Our new one is going to be a bit smaller.  It will be interesting to see how much smaller it is.

While the plumbers here, I will get on with making the new voile curtains for the family room.

And not cut them into four!   Gosh that was a close shave, I had the scissors in me hand, about to cut when I realised what I was about to do yesterday.  Phew!

Right, I better get a move on.  Catch ya later.

12.20 pm:  And it's done.

The plumber arrived bang on time, 8 am, and immediately got to it.

And he finished at 12.

He reckons we should have hot water in a couple of hours.  Bloody awesome.

ABOVE:  Steve called it to check on progress.  And to give some advice on where to put the strapping.

ABOVE:  While that was going on, I cut, sewed and hung the last of the voile net curtains.

Now I can enjoy them for a couple of months before they will have to come down for the painting to be done.

ABOVE:  I have missed this lovely view from my sewing machine desk.  Such a lovely day today too.

Now... it's lunchtime and I'm going to buy a club sandwich (or two), from the local hot bread shop.  Been craving them!

6.50 pm:  headache... all afternoon.

So annoying.

Did nothing.

Took panadol but it didn't work.

Stew got home to no dinner.  He's having baked beans on toast.  Poor man.

This is what happens when you have too much on ya mind and don't get enough sleep.

I'll be going to bed early tonight.

Busy day tomorrow.  Sorta.

But for now, I will say...

OFF TO SPOTLIGHT

 Well, once I drag my butt outta bed, I'm going to Spotlight to get more Voile.

This time for the family room window.

But actually, before that... I might just pop into Steve 'n' Bex's and grab a shower.

We have not heard from the plumber yet about a replacement hot water cylinder.  Slightly frustrating.

Our insurance company has been excellent with keeping in touch (AA Insurance).  They are getting Carpet Court to come out and re-attach the existing carpet, then ChemDry will come back and clean it.  And we will go from there once we know what sort of condition it is in after cleaning.

Either way, we are obviously still getting new carpet in a few months.

Right, that's me for now.  I'll be back later on.

11.55 am:  It's been a very successful morning.

I got the new voile and will probably cut and sew it up over the next couple of days.

Then I went to the supermarket for a few supplied.

I've just had lunch and now I'm going to take a break for a little while.

ABOVE:  This is the new voile for the family room window.  I love the small detail along the bottom.

So, I just had a nice visit from Lacy and her girlfriend 'T'. After they left (with left overs), Lacy messaged me.

ABOVE:  It would appear we are back to hiding the $20 note.  😌

She left it inside a tablet case.  Not very original Lacy.  I found it immediately.

So, I went into the sewing room to cut the new voile in half, down the length, so I'd end up with two full length curtains.

Folded it, lay it on the floor ready to cut and OMG!

Realised I was about to cut it into FOUR!  Shook my head and walked out of there.

Clearly I'm too tired to be doing that today.

Almost made a BIG boo boo.

It can wait till tomorrow now.

10.08 pm:  Another lovely evening... wrapped up in me blanket with hot wheat bags on my toes.

BLISS.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

REPEAT

 Well, remember what I said I was gunna do yesterday?

Curtain Sewing?

Yeah.

Well... I will repeat that today shall I?

I will get them done today.

And I will be taking down the ones that are 'rather busy' too.  I might even, if I get time, go and get some more voile to make the net curtains for the family room too.

Depending on the weather, I am going to try and get out for a little walk today.  I have to start somewhere!

If it's raining, I might STILL go.  A little water never hurt anyone eh?

ABOVE:  See that rather old, concrete lizard?  We have been in this home for 19 months, and I only just saw it in our garden yesterday afternoon!

It's not ours.  
Well... it is now I suppose!  It's so old it's kinda lost it's face.  Hmmm, maybe I'll give it a scrub up and see what I can do with it?

But for right now... it's still nice and early, and I'm gunna lie here in bed and read the news.  

10.55 am:  And can I just say, gathering curtains while they are already up is a right shit job!  I should have taken that net curtain down to gather it up!

But I didn't.  Lots of swearing happened.

The 2nd lounge curtain got gathered before I put it up, OMG so easy!

ABOVE:  I am thrilled to bits with how they look.  Now, when someone comes to the door, they can't see in... and that's with those two windows already being tinted as well!

If we had lights on inside, anyone could see in.

Now I'm going to start on the dining 'room' windows.  The most time is taken getting the net cut out.... so don't expect any results for bloody ages.

ABOVE:  Whoop!  This is the single most important window that needed net on it.

Why?

Because I've had total strangers walk up to that window and peer into my house!  It's accessible from the driveway, and if you looked in this window you could see me and anyone else who was sitting in the family room.

I have always felt uneasy about that.  Now, it's sorted.

And I should have the other two windows done later on today.

But for right now, I'm going to have some lunch and a break.

ABOVE:  And they are done.  They didn't take quite as long as I thought they would.

I have taken down the busy nets from the family room windows.

According to my Palmerston North girlfriends (SANDRA primarily) they looked HIDEOUS... and belong in the bin.  😂😅😊

So... I don't know what I will do with them now.  There's virtually no where else in the house they can go.

I'm now going to watch Coronation Street.  😉

10.17 pm:  And it's the end of a good day.  So pleased I got those curtains made and hung.

Another quiet evening here, just watching TV, playing Free Cell on me computer and yakking with Stew.

Catch ya tomorrow.

MORE CURTAIN SEWING

 Today I will be continuing to sew the voile curtains for the lounge and dining area.

With any luck I will get them all done today cos they ain't fun to do, that's for sure.

I didn't show you my lovely Bacon and Egg pies from last night did I?

ABOVE:  Uncooked...

ABOVE:  And cooked.

I made so many, Stew and I have enough left over to feed us all day today, and two more evening dinners.

Ya got to love that, cook once, have dinners for 4 nights.

I really should do that more often.  

Right, time to go and make a start on the day.

And just like that..  we decided to go out for a day trip.

I wonder where we will end up?

ABOVE: There's a  hint..  

4 pm:  And we are home... from Auckland.  😊

ABOVE:  It was a totally spur of the moment decision to take a drive up to Auckland.

To our favourite mall.  Sylvia Park.

ABOVE :  It was crazy busy there!  Some new shop was opening, and there were queues of people waiting to get in it.

It looked like it sold shoes/clothes etc.

Like there needed to be ANOTHER one of those sorts of shops in Sylvia Park?  

ABOVE:  We went to Garrison's for lunch, their 'The Works' pizza is lovely.

ABOVE:  we got Stew a couple of new shirts, one was 70% off.  SCORE.

After a bit more window shopping, we headed home.  It was a nice break away from the house for me.

I did find myself getting very tired after walking around for a while, so was glad to get back in the car to come home.

Bloody fitness... I can't wait till I can really get back to walking more.

9.33 pm:  And... it's that time of the day.

Been watching some of the Olympic Games, well Stew has.  I've been playing Free Cell on my computer and half watching the telly.

Kinda boring this evening, I love watching the gymnastics and diving the most.

Anyway... I shan't blabber on... catch ya tomorrow.

SHOWER TIME

 Well, not having any hot water on tap is starting to wear a bit thin.

First thing this morning Stew and I are off to the kid's house for a shower.  Lucky they don't mind.

After that, it's home to sew another net curtain.

And then, I'm off to Cambridge for an FBG get together.  I would be joining them with a walk, but as my chest infection/cough is still lingering, it's probably not a good idea.

I hate that I have lost so much of my fitness.  I doubt I could walk 2 kms right now, let alone do an FBG walk.

My doctor said I shouldn't try to do anything until I'm over this.  So, I will continue being a sloth for now. 

I had some net curtains that hung on both sides of the dining windows, but I didn't ever close them.

So anyway, I thought, hmmmmm.... how would they look here:

ABOVE:  I'm not sure yet if I like them there?  They certainly cut down the glare in the room, and give total privacy from outside.

I don't think Stew's sold on them yet... so we might 'live' with them for a while,  and see how we feel about them in a week or two.

And that's it for now.   I'm gunna get a move on... catch ya later.

3.25 pm:  Hi!

I've been MIA today.

First up, we ended up sleeping in, so it was a late start.

Then we went off for our showers, and ended up yakking an hour or two away with Steve.

Bex was at a Yarn Exhibition/Sale.

Then it was a quick trip to the supermarket for stuff for dinner.

After that is was home, and get ready to go over to Cambridge.

ABOVE: While I was out, Stew went and bought us some new patty tins.  Lacy killed our last ones.

They are for our dinner tonight.  I'm making bacon and egg pies.

ABOVE: Some of the walkers today, coming up the hill.  There was a fantastic turn out ... 20+ ladies.

ABOVE:  I don't know how well you can see them, but that's a couple of the groups at the bottom of 'the hill'.

ABOVE:  Just for fun.

Now that I'm home, I have to start preparing our dinner.

And all I feel like doing is going for a nap!  😂😅😆

Won't it be wonderful when I'm back up to speed, and have ENERGY again!

7.09 pm:  And dinner is over.  It was a great success.  Last time I made bacon and egg pies they were a bit raw in the middle!

This time they were perfect.  

I've decided the net curtains in the family room are too busy, and I'll take them down and find somewhere else to hang them.

When I can,  I'll make voile curtains for there.

Right now though, we are watching the Olympics and winding down for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.