LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY - COVID DAY 1

Stew took today off work.  He's taking our trailer in for it's WOF.

Our weed eater needs servicing too, so he's got a couple of jobs this morning.

I'm hoping my new sneakers are ready for pick up by the end of the day.

I've got a walk tonight in Cambridge.  It would be nice to wear them.

Today is the end of the BINGO CHALLENGE.... so after our walk this evening, we are going to have a Dessert night at a local cafe to celebrate the finish of it.

Once I've done this final walk, I will have completed the Challenge.  I'm very happy to have done it all.  It was neat, a lovely way to keep connected to the FBG group over summer.

In between morning jobs and going out later to Cambridge, I think Stew and I will either do bugger all.... or go out.  No idea what yet.

I sent an email to the Asphalt Company late yesterday with our FINAL reply to their 'Options', to end the standoff over the driveway.

If it doesn't go our way, we are going to the Disputes Tribunal.

They have a week to respond.

WHY, oh WHY couldn't my life be just a little bit like the Walton's?

It is never smooth.  Stew and I just seem to go from one shit storm to another.  Someone else's drama to another.  So fucking over it.

12.03 pm:  And just like that, the morning is over.  Stew got his jobs done, and so did I.  I can't pick up me new sneakers till 4 pm, which is a pain in the butt.  It's going to be busy on the road at that time of day.  😓😕

We are having left over scones for lunch, waste not and all that.

OH THE IRONY.

I HAVE COVID.

MORE LATER... OUT GETTING MORE RATs.

What made me test?

Well for the past few days I've had a non-stop headache.  I thought it was just from the heat and stress etc.

Woke up today with a sore throat, bit of a sniffle and feeling really tired.

So I looked up the symptoms of Omicron. 

All of the above plus a cough.  I don't have a cough.  (yet)

So anyway, thought hmmmm.... better take a test just to be safe.

Lacy had some tests, so she gave me one (left it at the front door for me).

And BOOM!

Positive.

So we drove down to the testing station to get more tests for Stew.

ABOVE:  The queue was 4 lanes deep... it took us about half an hour to get our RATs.

Steve was there getting tests for his family too... we chatted on the phone while inching forward.

FUNNY STORY:  There's Steve in his work ute...  he got talking to the guy in the orange jacket, who was directing traffic.

And that guy said to Steve "Bit worried about that woman in the White Toyota over there, she's taking photos of me!".  Steve laughed and told him is was his crazy mother, taking photos of HIM in the queue for her blog!

Seems the bloke took his mask off for a smoke, and was worried I was gunna dob him in for taking his mask off.  Poor bugger.

Anyway, it's been a weird day for sure.

I am feeling not toooooo bad.  Headache still, cold symptoms ramping up a bit.  But I should be fine.  

NO IDEA how I caught Covid.  I've taken all precautions when out and about.  

Stew just took a test, and he's NEGATIVE at this point.  

Steve, Bex and the Boys all took a test and they are NEGATIVE too.

Lacy is NEGATIVE.

Brylee is NEGATIVE.

Fingers crossed they all stay negative.

LACY:  MOVED into the Studio today.  She's isolating from us.  

I have cancelled going to Cambridge this evening.  So bummed about that.

AND I can't pick up me new sneakers either, so I let the shop know.  

AND I have recorded my POSITIVE result to Health Line... so one of those positives for tomorrow will be ME.  😪😫😟

I was unsure about going out in the car with Stew to pick up more RAT tests, but as I stayed in the car, kept my mask on and we had the windows up I didn't feel I was putting anyone at risk.

But thanks for bringing that up 'JODY'.

Dinner this evening was Spaghetti Bolognese.  It was nowhere near as tasty as usual.  I commented on that to Stew, not even thinking of COVID.

He of course said 'COVID'!  

So yeah, my sense of taste is diminished.  

But on a whole, I'm still just fine.

Time to sign off, I will probably have an early night tonight.

MY NEW THINGEE

 Well, yesterday didn't go quite to plan.

Stew and I were going to work in the garden, but after visiting Mitre 10 and buying a new thingee, it took a while to get it put together.

So, the gardens got put on the back burner.

We'll no doubt get them done today.

But for now... here's what we bought yesterday, which Stew expertly put together I might add, with just a bit of help from our son Steve at the beginning:

ABOVE: Taaa Daaa!  A workbench with pegboard, and heaps of storage underneath.

We got the wrong size lids for the black boxes, so a trip back to Mitre 10 will happen this morning.

Other than that, it's so neat!  The drawer under the bench top slides all the way out too.  It's got all me bobbins and  cottons in use, along with various other bits 'n' bobs in it.  I love it!

It replaces the 'baby change table' that I had by the sewing machine.  I shall probably sell that, as there ain't no more babies coming our way!

ABOVE:  So, me new sewing space is all set up now, and ready for action.  Shame there's no rush to do any more sewing ... as we have no markets lined up for months yet.  If even this year!

Lucky I love sewing ... I'll still keep making stuff. 😊

ABOVE:  Lastly for now... there's our Marley, trying to be with Steve while he was helping Stew.  She's so damn cute!  She loves her Steve.

Right, catch ya later.

10.54 am:  We are definitely on the ball today.

Up and attem'.

I went down to Mitre 10 to switch out the boxes we bought yesterday.  They do no have lids! lol

Which means we 'stole' 6 lids from them.  😂😆

After that I went to Bunning and bought a laundry trolley.  

Then to the dairy for cream.  I'm making scones for afternoon tea.

OH!  We bought a boat today too!!!

ABOVE:  YEP.

It's freakin' cute as.  Probably end up in the rockery.

ABOVE:  So I ended up getting three clear boxes, and using two shallower boxes that I already had for that space under the bench top.

Now I just have fill them!  How hard is that gunna be?  Hmmm....

7.32 pm:   Been a while since I updated today!

We've been busy.  

Stew did the weeding and mowed the lawns.

Brylee has been moved out.

Steve helped Stew do that.

Bex and the boys came over, and once the men were back they had a swim.

I made cheese scones for afternoon tea:

ABOVE: They turned out amazing.  Everyone enjoyed them.

ABOVE: I decided to sell the Baby Change Table that I had been using in the sewing room.

Bex helped me post it for sale on Marketplace (Facebook), and I also did a public 'For Sale' post on my Facebook account too.

It sold in under 10 minutes!

FINALLY!  Back to just Stew and I for a week or so.  Then Lacy moves in.

But hopefully she will keep to herself primarily, and we hardly know she's here.

Time to sign off for the day.  I'm bloody tired.  It's been a busy weekend.

DROOL

 First up for today, a run down (with photos) of our dinner out last night.

ABOVE: Stew's dinner consisted of Scallops on a bed of Cauliflower Puree.  A Chicken and Shrimp Thai Green Curry with Cashews and Marmalade Jam, and to finish, an old fashioned Apple pie with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and a Berry Compote.

ABOVE:  My dinner was Mini Spring Rolls with a Plum Sauce, Stuffed Chicken Breast wrapped in Bacon, with Spinach and Camembert Cheese, accompanied by a home made Kumera Rosti with Melon on top.   To finish off I had Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Chocolate coated Profiteroles and Crushed Meringue and Caramel Sauce. (Stew had to finish my dessert, it was just too much)

Each and every dish we had was AMAZING. 

ONYX Cambridge, 10 outta 10. 

Today we are going to work in the garden, weeding, lawn mown, etc.

I'll probably get a load of washing  on too.

Apart from that , no other plans.

Just wait and see how the day pans out.

SUPRISED!   Our Covid numbers did not double today, in fact they only went up by less than a thousand.

But as Stew just said, there will be plenty of people who are self testing now, and just not reporting it.  Who wants to go into self isolation and not go to work?

I WOULD stay home, but I'm sure there's thousands who won't.

ABOVE: We had a very late start to our day today.  But eventually got moving.

We visited Mitre 10 for some gardening stuff, and ended up buying 'something' for me.

I'll show you once it's assembled.

I kinda squealed when Stew showed it to me.  😂😅😊

ABOVE:  Stew doing work for me...

ABOVE:  He moved the big white blind from the sun room to here, so I can use it as a design wall.

Getting shit done...  💙LOVE IT💜.

ROBYN:  How friggin BORING.  Paint the entire house BLUE... stand out from the crowd!  Or not.

I get it.  I suppose your home wouldn't suit blue.  *sigh*

ABOVE:  3.25 pm and we have 'unboxing' going on here.

Steve and the boys are here for a swim, he will possibly help Stew with assembly after his swim.

I'm like.... come on!  Get it made already.  😂😋
It looks like a bitch to do though.

8.06 pm:  And the 'thing' is finally finished, and I've put it to use.

My sewing 'room' is now fully functional.

I'm quite thrilled with it to be honest.

I have more room in the garage believe it or not!

ABOVE:  a 'sneek peek' at the new thing.

YES, I have a peg board... plus.

And now, it's time to stop titivating in here and go feed Stew his dinner.  

BIG CHANGE AROUND

 I slaved away all day yesterday, moving all my sewing stuff into the garage.

I did it so that Lacy could move back and no longer have to worry about being moved on from where she was.

It also means she has a stable base for when she has her daughter.

She will be almost totally independent in the studio, her own cooking facilities, and a bed/sit arrangement.

Water and sink in the laundry, and bathroom facilities in the house.

She will be 'Jonny on the Spot' to look after the dogs when we want to go away too.

So, fingers crossed it works out well for all of  us.

ABOVE: The only thing she doesn't get is the cupboard on the right.  I couldn't fit all that stuff in the garage, so it stays there.

ABOVE:  I'm sure she will have fun moving things around once she moves in, which will be in a couple of weeks time.

We heard from the Asphalt Company late yesterday.  We are taking a few days to consider our options. 

Today I am going to potter in the garage, sorting a few more things out in there.  Not much more to do in reality, just hanging a few things on the walls, tittivating in other words.  I do it well.

Catch ya later.

Up nice and early this morning... and straight into jobs.

Washing on, bed changed, dinner sorted, and so on.

Lacy arrived nice and early too... as she was escorting Brylee back to her 'current' flat to turn off Brylee's fridge/freezer.  Her 'current' flatmates would not let her take it with her as they were using it!  Now they are all leaving, so wanted Brylee to come and turn it off and clean it, before she removed it on Sunday.  

I was like, WTF?  It's your fridge, that THEY have been using, they ordered you to leave it in the flat, and they expect YOU to come and turn it off and clean it?

The damn cheek of it.  Anyway, the girls went over there, turned the bloody thing off and taped it shut.

Brylee sure picked the wrong flat that time.  Here's hoping the next one is 100% better.

ABOVE:  Due to NOT having a cat, we have 'Room To Swing A Dog'  going on.  Coco was not impressed.

ABOVE:  I have spent the last 3.5 hours finding and printing out  ALL EMAILS between the Asphalt Company and us.  

Just in case we need to go down the legal track.

That's me PAPER TRAIL...  😂😅😆

For now, we are formulating a reply to their latest 'offer'.

Which was refund our deposit and they WALK AWAY!

Yep... that was THEIR  WORDING.

ABOVE:  Here is the crux of the matter.  They guarantee their work from defective materials and workmanship bla bla bla...... and let's get real!

The asphalt WAS defective (he admitted it), and their workmanship was appalling too.

So... we fight on.   Will be working on the reply over the weekend.  Making THEM wait for a change.

SHOCKED.... TODAY'S COVID NUMBERS:

There are 12,011 cases in the Covid-19 outbreaks, announced by the Ministry of Health on Friday afternoon.

There are five Covid-19 related deaths, two in Auckland, two in Waikato and one in Tauranga.

237 cases are in hospital.

ABOVE: Gosh I forgot to say... we are out for dinner . Finally using the dinner vouchers I won last year at The Pink Ribbon Breakfast. 

So, we are in Cambridge at ONXY. 

Having a really WONDERFUL dinner.

9.15 pm:  And now we are home, pleasantly full after a delicious dinner.

I'm going to 'save' the food photos for tomorrow.  They are worth waiting for too.

But for now, I'm going to say...

TIMES UP

 It's now a week since I sent an email to 'K', giving him our OPTION on resolving the driveway issue.

I wonder if we will hear from him today... or not?

I'm a bit nervous about it all.

If we don't hear from him, I will have to collate and print out EVERYTHING I have, and present it to the Disputes Tribunal.

I suspect that it will take a while to get resolved if we go down that track.

ABOVE:  The protest in Wellington goes on.

Meantime, our Covid numbers yesterday were over 3,000.  I wonder how the protestors will feel if half of them end up sick with Covid?

Hmmmm.  Who will they blame?  Jacinda?

This morning I am going out to look for some cheap shelving/cupboards.

I'm moving shit around again.

Don't even ask.  Just know it's necessary.

So, I'll be back later on.  With some success with the shopping.

I didn't go shopping, I realised I did have enough shelving... with room for more fabric even!  😂😊

IT HAS BEEN VERY QUIET ON HERE TODAY!

I have a good excuse... what's yours?

ABOVE:  I speaks for itself what I've been doing.

5.37 pm:  And I'm done!  Totally knackered after pottering around in the garage and Studio all day.

This job was one I could have spread out over two weeks... but yeah.

When I decided to do something, I want it done yesterday.

So... it's now about 95% done.

But I'm done for the day.

It will be takeaways for dinner this evening.  Might be a pizza night, we've not had a pizza in a long time.

COVID:  OMG our numbers grew to over 6,000 today.  That's 6,000 NEW infections reported in ONE DAY.

And the protest down in Wellington has been classified as a HIGH RISK site.

Anyone down there since last weekend, at the protest, has put themselves and their contacts at risk of catching Covid.  Well done morons.

Pizza was very nice.  Filling as too. Now Stew and I are ensconced in our lounge chairs, looking forward to a quiet evening.  Old Farts.

Catch ya tomorrow.

I will tell ya what's going on with the Studio then.

SHOPPING TODAY

 I've been wearing my 'walking' sneakers around the yard lately.

After yesterday's efforts digging out those posts I looked at me sneakers, and ...

ABOVE:   Me sneakers are not looking too flash anymore!  

They are starting to wear down on the soles as well. So today I'm going out to buy a new pair.

The old ones will be worn around here and the news ones ONLY FOR OUT WALKING.

Did you know that I've been wearing New Balance 880's for about 30 years now!  They suit my feet SO WELL... even brand new ones don't give me blisters!

Brylee made me proud last night.

She proved she learnt something from me finally...

ABOVE:  She made another Chicken Pie!   And she did a really good job of it too.

Proud mother moment right there. 💜😊

It's a bit early to get up yet, so I might just roll over and catch a few more Zzzz's.

Catch ya later.

11.26 am:  Well I've been out and about, had a very successful morning.

ABOVE:  My new sneakers!  Purple... so perfect for walking with the FBG's.  We wear purple shirts.  AND I got $40 off them and a new pair of socks thrown in as well.

They are now in the Shoe repair place in town, getting a patch of leather put under the big toe area, as I lift my toes when walking.  That causes HOLES pretty quickly, hence the need for the leather patch.

After getting the shoes, I stopped in at Spotlight for a piece of fabric.  Like I don't have enough already right?

Sometimes ya just DON'T have the perfect colour that ya need.

For sure.

Now I am going to do some sewing.

I have been really concerned about 'Dye Transfer' on our new leather lounge suite.

We had that problem with a white lounge suite we bought when we lived in Auckland.

Because most of my tights/lower wear is black, I didn't want to run into that problem again!

So...

ABOVE:  I have made a seat cover for Stew's and my chairs.  The couch is fine, it's not sat on nearly as often as our chairs.

Now I feel comfortable still wearing my black tights/cycle shorts etc on the chairs.

The fabric is a really awesome match too, I already had it.  I just needed to get a light grey for the backing, which I did this morning.

It has been a very busy day what with one drama after another, but all will be settled soon. (daughters.... who'd have them? lol)

NOT the DRIVEWAY btw.

I've not heard back from them on what they intend to do.  They literally have one more day and then I'm taking it to The Disputes Tribunal.

It's 2.50 pm, and I just had my breakfast of muesli.  Nice one.

Covid numbers today?  3,297!  Yikes, that's a big number.  And remember, that's probably only HALF the number, as there are heaps of people who won't/don't get tested.

More changes coming tomorrow on the fight against Covid too.  I think the Government will be easing up on isolation times, who is classed as a 'close contact' etc.  It will be interesting to see what happens.

But for now, I'm done for the day.  It's been a goddam hot and miserable afternoon here.

I HAVE NOTHING

BEST PHOTO I COULD FIND:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LACY.

Dad and I hope you have a lovely day.

ABOVE:  How gorgeous is this photo?  Keera wrote LOVE YOU to her Mum on her sequin cushion.

Right, I don't have much else to yabber on about right now.

There's just the usual housework waiting for me... which is as boring as ... you know what!

Here's to a quiet day eh?  No controversy or negativity. Just 🌞 and 🌹🌹. 😂😊😋 

10.45 am:  Most days I like to do a few 'small jobs' and at least one larger job around the house.

Today I woke up and decided I would dig the posts out of the back yard.

You know, where we have cleared all the stones from, and are going to put into grass.

ABOVE:  So, that is what I did!

I dug them out.  Once I had them out, I got Brylee to stand on the end without the concrete, and I pulled the concreted end up onto the pavers.  It was hard work! But I did it, and now Stew doesn't have to.

ABOVE:  They were damn big chunks of concrete holding them posts in the ground!

ABOVE:  Sorry Stew, I couldn't get this one out.   It has a lot of clay around it and I kinda gave up on it.  

Now I am knackered.... and am having a rest before jumping in the shower and making myself decent again.  Cos right now I'm all sweaty and ikkk.  Not a pretty look.  😛😜😏

Brylee and I have started guessing how many Covid cases there will be each day.

We guess in the morning.

Yesterday I guessed 2,356, and there were 2,365... so pretty close!

This morning I guessed 2,856.  The actual number today?  2,846 !  Gosh how close am I?

I wonder if I can do it again tomorrow?  lol

The numbers in hospital are steadily rising too, today there are 143 people in hospital.  We sadly had two more deaths yesterday too.

I'm nodding off in the lounge chair!  It feels so good to have all the sweat and dirt off me... and to just relax.  But soon I might move and do something more productive.  MIGHT.

Fun Fact:

Today is my 2nd daughter's birthday AND the date reads:

ABOVE:  How cool is that? !

I got WORDEL in 4 today... most days I get it in 4.  Steve often (like today) gets it in 2!  I have no idea how he can get it in two!

Steve and Bex and the boys came over for a swim after dinner... lovely to see them.

Stew and I had KFC for dinner tonight, wasn't expected! 

Now... time to watch Coronation Street, then off to bed.