HAVING FUN

 Card night in Cambridge last night was a lot of fun.

I don't go to 'win' the game, I go to socialise and have fun.

And yep, last night I had fun.

MY SUPPER....

THE LONE SURVIVOUR... SHOULD I EAT IT?

HOW CAN I EAT HIM NOW?

HE DIED.

It was a saga, with a bad ending for 'Tom'.

As I said, fun was had.  Even if I only amused myself!

ABOVE: our Winner: (S.T.) and Loser:  Bex.

Today I will be sewing again, but first I need to buy more thread from Spotlight.  I'm been using heaps of light teal thread on the latest runner/chair covers.  I'm on to my 4th spool!

I bet no one thinks of the cost of thread when looking at the price of something eh?  It can add up, depending on what I'm making.

So before I run out again, I will get some more. Bex is going to pick me up as she wants to drool look at some new wool at Spotlight too.

ABOVE:  9.58 am:  Bex and I have been to the shops, I got me thread and a bit more fabric, and some more containers for freezing meals in.

I actually have a tonne of containers, but they are not quite the right size to fit easily in me freezer.  Typical eh?

Now, time to sew some more.

Much later in the day .... like 4.50 pm!

I have made two more dining chair covers.

I've made a chicken casserole, and now it's in containers cooling down before they go in the freezer.

I have a chicken in the oven for dinner this evening.

I have a husband snoring on our bed... he got sent home from work at 2 pm cos he looked exhausted.

Fair enough, and nice of his 'big boss' to notice.

Actually, his boss (she's up in Auckland usually) text him almost every day while he was sick with Covid, which I thought was really lovely.

I moved the succulents that are outside:

ABOVE:  I realised that where they were, up against the pool fence, meant the shelving unit could be deemed a climbing hazard, giving access to the pool.

So it had to move.

That involved me moving the gazebo and outdoor seating half a metre to the right so I could put the shelving unit there in the corner.

I think the succulents will be more sheltered from frost and rain there too.  Winning.

So, I've had a busy day really.  Looking forward to just relaxing after dinner.

Winding down for the day, catch ya tomorrow.

POWER 'N' GAS

 Remember me going off my rocker about power bills?

Well over the past few months I have been monitoring our usage.   Cutting down where ever I could.

The new meter is accurate from what I can tell.

Yesterday we got our latest power bill.  It as an 'Actual' read of the meter, so accurate.

And I sat and worked out that this:

Our electricity/gas consumption = $143.97 PER MONTH.

Our Charges = $86.46  PER MONTH.

Tell me... is that a good deal?

Cos it sure looks like fucking daylight robbery to me!

Do you know of a better deal?

 We had an amazing sunset last night:

ABOVE:  A very foreboding sky! At least we are bound to have a lovely day after that.

ABOVE:  And here is dining chair cover #2.

I think I will be doing them all the same, just using different fabrics for the wavy stripes.

I'm going to get a few groceries some time today.  I've got card night this evening, so need something to take for supper.  Bex is coming with me too.

Right, that's me for now.  Catch ya later.

4 Panadols later.... and the shocker of a headache I woke with is finally easing!

I had my fan on all night and sometimes I believe it's what gives me a headache?  Cold air blasting on ya face all night... possibly the problem.

I'm putting off getting the groceries till after lunch, for now I'm in me sewing room about to start on #3 chair pad cover.

12.53 pm: And # 3 is done and on the chair.  And I'm not going to make another one today as my  headache is still annoying me so I'm going to try and have a nap and sleep it off.

That does work sometimes.

ABOVE:  The more I do the more I LOVE them.

I cooked up two pork roasts today, three dinners are now in the freezer.

Card night in Cambridge tonight, lots of laughs.

Home now and off to bed soon.

Catch ya tomorrow.

MORE CHAIR PAD COVERS

 First up for today... get the washing done, water me plants, clean bathrooms etc.

Then I can get into my sewing room and fix the chair pad pattern... just make it a bit bigger.

All going well I will be ready to start sewing again in a couple of hours.

In the meantime, I will show you the one chair pad cover I made yesterday:

ABOVE:  I haven't made up my mind on how I will do all 6 covers.  All the same?  Or different?  

I suppose time will tell eh? 😂😉😊

Gimme some ideas/opinion?

11 am:  And I have spent the last 3 hours in the house fluffing around doing jobs!

Got two loads of washing done.

Then decided to move one of the shelves of succulents outside!

Why?

ABOVE:  Because it was blocking that window and I was constantly struggling to get it open!

Now I can get the window open, and...

ABOVE:  I have a lovely colourful shelf of plants outside.  I hope they don't mind the move!  I think we will have to make a frost cover for them for overnights.

Now, what else have I done this morning?

ABOVE:  I cooked up a huge beef and tomato stew in the crock pot (still cooking), and a huge quantity of Mince and Bacon for Spaghetti Bolognese, Cottage Pie etc.

ABOVE:  By the end of the day I will have another 10 meals to put in the freezer.

I'm doing well today!

And I am finally in the sewing room, about to start making those chair pad covers.

I'm still not sure if they will all be the same.  Or different.

2.45 pm:  And I've been doing the boring bits.

Cutting out a new pattern.  Joining strips of green fabric together, to add onto the blue chair pad 'fronts' I'd already cut out, to make them bigger.

ABOVE:  Now I have ONE ready to add wavy strips to.

ABOVE:  Talking of strips... I just spent 90 minutes cutting out bloody strips!

It's the boring side of things you don't see.

9.13 pm:  I crashed mid afternoon, so came into the house and just sat and relaxed.

Then I got dinner for us, beef stew and veges.

I have 5 Beef Stews ready to go into the freezer later this evening.

Tomorrow I'm going to cook two big Pork Roasts and freeze them too.

And that's me done for the day.  Looking forward to bedtime.

TALKING ABOUT TATTOOS

We are out of isolation.

And that means we can get out of the bloody house.  Thank God.

Stew wants to go and buy a new hair cutting kit, so he can cut his own hair again.  He's been going to Just Cuts for a few months now, but he's not happy with how they do his hair.

And also the fact that it's never the same person doing his hair, so it's not a consistent cut.

That is top of the 'to do' list.

 I showed you my neck tattoo yesterday.

And Stew said he virtually never notices it!

And we had a short discussion about tattoos.

He wants to get another one.

He has never mentioned it before and I was very surprised when he told me what he wanted to get.

I have a 'Potters Mark',  which is my initials entwined.  I would put it on the base of everything I made when I was a 'Potter'.

Stew wants to get my 'mark' put on his chest!

It seems a bit weird, cos I didn't 'make him'... but kinda nice too.

Instead of having my name tattooed on him, he wants my mark.

So hmmm... maybe it will happen now that he's mentioned it?

As for what my 'mark' looks like... you will just have to wait and see.  Though I'm bound to have mentioned it, or shown it on here sometime over the years.  In fact I know I have.

Later on today I might just start working on making new dining chair cushion covers.

Once I decide on a colour (most likely blue) and design (something simple) I will crack on with it.

12.3 pm:  Finally, we got to leave the house and go shopping.

First up was a boring little grocery grab.

Then we headed over to the Base to look for a hair cutting kit, which Stew got from Noel Leemings.

I started looking around for some new chair pads for the dining room chairs.

The cushions we were using were not really 'chair pads'.

We looked in several places with no success, then headed over to Spotlight.  SUCCESS.

ABOVE:  They are very basic, but I'm going to recover them to match the table runner.  At $12 each they are a bargain.

While on the hunt for said chair cushions, we popped into Early Settler.  Immediately inside the front door was a bed with a gorgeous cushion on it.

We both loved it, and started guessing it's price.

Stew guessed $180, I guessed $130.

It was less than half the lowest guess, so guess what?

ABOVE:  Yeah, we bought a cushion we totally DID NOT NEED.  But it's cute eh?  😂😉😊

After shopping, we decided to have an early lunch before heading home.

ABOVE:  I rang Steve and said "Guess where we are going"?

He said :  "TACO BELL".

Bang on, clever bugger.

7.10 pm:  Yep, I've been absent most of the day!

I had lunch, came home and had a nana nap.

Then I headed into the sewing room to make a pattern for the chair pads.

I made one chair pad cover and realised it was just a bit too small, so although I got it on the chair pad, I will have to adjust the pattern a bit for the next 5.

Now... we have just had a totally lazy dinner of toasted sandwiches!  It was nice not to cook really.

I'm gunna be lazy now and just watch tv till bedtime.

LAST DAY IN ISOLATION

 YES!  It's our last day of isolation.  I hope none of us get bloody Covid again.

I expect Brylee will head back to her flat tomorrow, so we will be back to our 'normal' tomorrow.

Great.  I was about to run outta loo paper!  Brylee is a roll a day girl!  I kid you not.  Sorry Bry... sharing secrets there.  😂😅😉

Stew is talking about getting out into the garden today, to see how long he can go before falling in a heap!  Stupid man.  He should just stay inside and rest and relax and not overdo it.

Last thing I want is for him to get sick from fatigue, or Long Covid.

I am hoping I can convince him to just let the bloody weeds grow for now, they ain't going anywhere.

Now I told you I finished my new runner last night eh?  Want to see it?

OF COURSE YOU DO (I hope) ! ....

ABOVE:  I made it long enough to fit the table perfectly with one extension in the table.  With two it will still look good I'm sure.  The runner is 1.8 metres long.

ABOVE:  It is the largest runner I've made in a long time, and I absolutely LOVE IT. 

So does Stew, and other family who's seen it.

It took me a good deal of umm'ing and ahh'ing before I decided to bind it (edge it) in green instead of blue!

I'm so glad I did now... it's just beautiful.

And doesn't my big glass bottle match it perfectly!

Of course, now I'm looking at the seat cushions and thinking... dammit,  they don't match.

*sigh*... I suppose I will end up having to make matching covers for the cushions now. 😖😒😏

But NOT with the stripes.  That would take far too long.  Maybe just plain blue? 

ABOVE:  Brylee was a darling and brushed my hair last night, and gave me a head massage.

That was blissful.  I'm going to wash my hair today and Brylee is going to either curl it or straighten it, either way that will be lovely too.

ABOVE:  She put my hair in a much lower bun than I usually do, and took a photo to show me how all the little short bits of hair were in it.

  

It was neat to see my neck tattoo again!

I never see it.... obviously.

I got that tattoo when we lived in Palmerston North, and I still love it.

Did YOU know I had a tattoo there?  

Now, what am I doing today?  Well I have all these left over, smaller strips of fabric from making the big one above.  So I'm going to make a few smaller runners using them up.   I'm really looking forward to that.

You'd think I was over sewing by now eh?  I've been sewing almost every day for about 6 weeks now, and I still don't want to stop.  Weird. 

I just counted up what I have made in the past 6 weeks:

1 Box Pouch, 26 Runners, 33 Triangular Zippered Pouches and 24 Bowl Cosys !  

Wow I've been busy and productive. And HAPPY.

Right.... catch ya later.

1.45 pm:  The day is going well.

All the sicko's are doing great, feeling better day by day.

Stew has not gone out into the garden.  Wise man.

Now to address some confusion out there.  I am making the 'wavy' fabric myself.

ABOVE:  These are the fabrics I'm using...

ABOVE:  I cut them into 2 and a half inch strips, then give them all a wavy edge.

ABOVE:  And then I lay one on top of the other and stitch them together.  It's very time consuming!

But very worth it because it looks gorgeous.  And each runner is totally individual.

9.35 pm:  And it's been another good day in me sewing room.  I got a smaller 'Kiwiana' Runner finished.  We had pea 'n' ham soup for dinner.

Watching the telly now... off to bed in a couple of hours.

NEARLY out of isolation!

SO OVER IT

I wonder how much longer it's going to take until Covid does not rule the world?

When is it going to be 'just' another bug we have to accept and take vaccines for?

I'm so over it.

Bring on Sunday when we are free again.

AS you can tell, I'm feeling a bit crabby.  Life is very predictable right now.  All I seem to do is sew/eat/sleep REPEAT.

AND... that's what I will be doing today.

I suggest you bugger off and find something else to do cos NOTHING is happening here.  😞😕😖

Once everyone is awake and so on, I'll do a report on how the sicko's are feeling.

Fingers crossed they are on the improve, I'm over sicko's too.

Empathy is sadly lacking today.  And I've just realised it's Friday!  OMG that's bloody awesome.

Only two days to go.

10.30 am:  Stew and I stayed in bed till 10 this morning!  It was blissful.

Report on the sicko's:

Stew is certainly moving a bit easier, and his sinuses are drying up.  He is still testing a strong POSITIVE.

Brylee is 100% better and her test line is so faint you can barely see it, so almost NEGATIVE.

Steve and Bex are now testing NEGATIVE, but still feel like shit.

I feel 100% well, as does Griffin and the little boys.

ABOVE:  It's growing!  I think it's now long enough for our dining room table, with an extension or two.

3.5 hours sewing today (so far), and I'm about to add the borders.

I am hoping to actually get this one finished today.

6 pm:  And I just finished my runner.  Now I have to turn around and cook dinner for us.

Nacho mince with noodles I think.

Then I am going to friggin well relax.  That runner was a real bitch to do... my biggest project in a while. 

9 pm:  And I've had a lovely evening... doing NOTHING.  And soon I'm heading off to bed to do nothing for several hours.  lol

ALL DOWN

 Well it looks like Brylee managed to infect everyone in her flat with Covid!

They are all down with it now.  So she could go back home if she wanted to, but is going to stay here until the weekend.

I am rather surprised I have not caught it off Stew or Brylee to be honest.  Maybe having Covid back in March has given me enough immunity to avoid catching it again.

ABOVE:  This is the strip of fabric I found in my stash yesterday and fell in love with.

I had planned on chopping it into 4 to use in a couple of other runners.  But I just could not bear to chop it up.

So... let's see what I do with it today eh?

ABOVE: Last night's dinner.  Beef burgers and wedges.  So nice.  Brylee took one look at the burger and said "Where's the stick holding the burger together?"

So I grabbed a kebab stick.  BOOM. Done.

I'm taking today off cooking dinner. We are having takeaways or crackers and cheese!  I'm feeling so damn tired ... sitting on ya bum sewing all day is TIRING.

I'm only doing heaps of sewing cos I don't have much else to do.  

You can only do so much housework before you are totally over it.  

And don't suggest gardening, I hate dirt! 

In shock!  TUPPERWARE is pulling out of New Zealand, after over 50 years.  I love Tupperware, and even sold it for a time about 30 years ago.

Apparently it's due to Covid lockdowns halting home sale parties, then falling sales.   Such a shame, an iconic product gone from our shores.  

Right, I might just get moving... and work on MY new runner.

11.45 am:  Well Stew and I stayed in bed until 9.45 today!

Stew was still snoring his head off in fact.

I got up and sadly woke him too, so our day has started.

I'm in the sewing room.

My feet were twitching all morning wanting to get back in here!  😂😅😊

ABOVE:  I put borders on that gorgeous fabric, then stopped.

Because I dreamed about doing this:

ABOVE:  Having a go at making my own multi-striped strips.  So far so good.

Though not quite like the one I found in me stash... what do you think of mine?  It's not finished of course, but I hope it's going to look at least half as good.

I'm about to do the ring around and see how everyone is today...

Stew:  Still snotty, headache and extreme fatigue.

Brylee:  95% recovered.

Steve:  Status quo... no improvement, no worsening.

Bex:  Status quo.... no improvement, no worsening.

Griffin, Dante, Archer and I:  all OK!

3.30 pm: I have been sewing ALL DAY.... except for a brief break to make lunch for us.

Lacy called in to get money and instructions for a quick trip to Spotlight for me.  I was about to run out of the thread I was using on me runner.  Thankfully she got me more, so I could keep working on it.

ABOVE: This is my stripes now.  I love how it's turning out, and have decided to keep this runner and put the other one into me market stash!  lol

Fickle?  Much.

9.44 pm:  Steve, Bex and the boys came here for dinner.  We all had Chinese (Uber delivery), it was so nice to not cook tonight.

I fell asleep in me chair, Stew just woke me so I'd not miss Coronation Street.

As soon as it's over I'm off to bed.