SNIP SNIP

 Yesterday I forgot to snip those hydrangea flowers off the cuttings, so that's top of my list to do today.

I've got several little jobs to get done around the house in fact.  Just odd jobs really, but ones I've been putting off for a while.

That will keep me entertained for an hour or two.

Archer has a miserable cold and can't go to school.  Bex has an Art Class.  So I am going to babysit.

Gosh, I can't remember the last time I babysat a kid.  It's a rare event that's for sure.

I've made it perfectly clear to everyone that I don't babysit unless it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!

Raising 8 kids just took the 'want' out of babysitting any kids.  (plus being a Teacher Aide for Special Needs Kids for a few years)  

I know I'm probably not a normal grandmother in that respect right?

I love seeing them, don't get me wrong!!!

I just don't want to look after them.

This person is DONE looking after kids.  😂😒😏

Archer will only be here for 2 hours, so he won't cramp my style.  lol

Right.  Off to start me day.

De-flower the hydrangeas, plant the new baby lettuces, put succulents into the rockery, move some bins, bla bla bla.

LAST. DAY. OF. OCTOBER!    

10.25 am:  Slowly getting the jobs done.  With a little helper:

ABOVE:  Cleaning fans.  Archer LOVES helping!

So why not use the kiddo!  lol

He was very proud of himself, and how well he cleaned that fan.

I must admit, they look like NEW now they are clean again. 

Two down, a few to go, but they can wait for another day.  No rush.

ABOVE:  It is disgusting how much dust there must be in our AIR!  That larger fan was hideously filthy.

Now it looks brand new again.

We are now taking a 'play with the dogs break', before going outside to plant some of my succulents in the rockery.

1.38 pm. Archer has left the building. He rather enjoyed himself I think. 🥰😊

I've just been to the supermarket for a few more essentials.  OMFG this weather is like... cool in the morning, then sticky hot after lunch.

Today is the last day I'm wearing long tights, socks  and sneakers.  I'm bloody roasting!

NEW ZEALAND really only has two seasons. Summer and Winter. Gimme Winter any day!

I am dreading Summer.

I'm having a shitty McShitty afternoon.  Just crabby as fuck right now.  But that's OK.  I will move on from current shit and be a happier person.

Deep breath.  I'm in me sewing room.  Working on a couple of easy runners.

That should settle my mood a bit.

OH LOOK!  NO NAMES MENTIONED.  Funny that.  Might not have even been 'somebody'... could have been something totally removed from a person.  Yeah.

If you think it's about YOU.... well maybe you are right.  Or wrong.

Dinner this evening was Tandoor Chicken and Pork and Prawn Dumplings over Chinese Rice.  Added some salad veges on top as well.

It was LOVELY.

And now... time to relax.  Coronation Street is on later, then bedtime.

edit:  thanks for that KJ... it is indeed MONDAY.  No Coronation Street.   For some reason I thought it was Tuesday!  Derrr.

I REALLY NEED TO DRINK MORE!

 I found myself feeling quite annoyed yesterday, because I literally had 1.5 glasses of wine and I was DONE.

It went straight to my head, and then all I felt like doing was going to sleep!

Useless.

So, I'm going to try and drink MORE, to improve my tolerance for alcohol.

What do you think?  Should I or not?  Cos if NOT, it kinda means I can't drink at all, because of how I react to it.

ABOVE:  Stew saw these in a gift shop in Taupo.  I just had to get them!

I mean, both are kinda perfect for this house right?

ABOVE:  In another gift shop were two glass jars.  There were two sizes.  I wouldn't have even thought of getting one (thinking they would be mega expensive), but we looked at the price and... WOW!  Not that bad at all, so I got the bigger of the two.  

I will be putting Christmas Seed Lights inside it over the Christmas period.

It's recycled glass from Spain.  We also found a few other bits 'n' bobs ... for Christmas presents.

Now, back to today.  Sunday.  We don't have any plans, might be a laid back day just lazing at home.

But we will see.

Last night's dinner DID NOT agree with me at all.

I woke not long after I went to bed with TERRIBLE acid reflux.

So I spent the night in the lounge, on a lazy boy chair.  Upright.

I got very little sleep.

Therefore, I'm bone tired and the day has hardly started.

The wine situation.  Yeah, probably not a good idea to drink MORE just to improve my tolerance.  I just have to stay away from it really.  It's clearly not good for me.

ABOVE:  I went around the back to find a fan that I thought might be in the back shed.  It was.  While out there... I was thrilled to see the cuttings we brought over from Cambridge are finally flowering.  (the purple ones).  About time.

We lost quite a few over the past couple of summers, these ones survived as they are well shaded I think.

ABOVE: The hydrangea cuttings I snaffled last summer are growing well... even trying to have flowers!  I will nip the flowers off as I want the plants to grow bigger, not put all their goodness into flowers this early.

ABOVE:  And finally from the boring greenery, I just pulled our first full lettuce!  How gorgeous does it look?

We shall go out later on and buy some more baby plants.  It's rather nice to grow ya own, particularly when they are so, so expensive in the shops.

Stew just did his 'weekend' shop.  I asked him not to buy any more biscuits/cakes and the like.  The last lot are still sitting in the pantry!  Stew actually put three quarters of a loaf down the sink last night!  Such a waste.

I decided I'm just not going to eat that stuff, even though he thinks he's being nice getting it for me.

I think he likes me fat!  😂😃😅

ABOVE:  We made a spur of the moment decision to have lunch at the Workingmen's club.  That's the 'Workies' Burger !

We won't be needing dinner now.

After that we went to Mitre 10 for lettuce plants.  I spied an amazing Standard Blue Sapphire shrub... decided to get it.

Then we realised we wanted it in a pot, so looked around for a big pot.

Saw one that was reduced from $259 to.... just $59!

So Stew went to put one on the trolley, the trolley slipped backwards, and Stew dropped the pot!  

It smashed into smithereens with a huge CRASH!

OMG.

A Mitre 10 employee came over and helped Stew put all the pieces in a pile, and assured us we didn't have to pay for it.

SO LUCKY.

HINDSIGHT:  it only fell from a height of about 3 inches, so clearly not well made.

ABOVE:  That is pot #2, and the Standard Blue Sapphire and lettuce plants.

When we got the pot home we had a better look at the pot.

We can see why they are so heavily reduced, the pot looks like it has flaws in it's construction.

Better be very careful with pot #2 ... so it too doesn't just disintegrate.

After the pot fiasco we stopped in at Countdown for a few groceries.  I am adding Beef Steak into our diet, probably twice a week.

I am wondering if my extreme tiredness is due to Anaemia?  I had a massive bruise on my tummy last week, and NO IDEA how I got it.  So yeah, maybe a bit anaemic.

Let's eat steak!  lol

I'm no fan of steak or roast beef, but hey, anything is worth a try.

In case I hadn't mentioned it, I am literally ready for bed as soon as I get up in the morning!  It reminds me of post-Covid, when I didn't even have the energy to take a shower.

So... trying to work out why.

And YES, I'll go to the doctor if things don't improve.  

Dinner this evening was really good.

I prepared salad stuff so we could put together our own lettuce salad with all the usual bits n bobs.

And then I cooked steak.

I've not cooked steak in FOREVER.

I got the frying pan really hot with oil, garlic butter and salt then added the steak.

Cooked it for a few minutes each side and BOOM.

It turned out really GREAT.

Stew declared it 'MEDIUM', and said it was just fine.

I thought mine was ever so slightly medium/rare, but whatever.  It wasn't shabby.

We learnt that you really don't need too much to have a satisfying dinner.  Hence we have left over steak for tomorrow's lunches.

Now... Stew is watching a shoot 'em' up bang bang movie and I've been browsing Instagram.

I will be heading off to bed soon, confident I won't get acid reflux tonight as I've been very careful with what I have eaten tonight.  NO CARBS.

TAUPO THEN ROTORUA

 Alright.

So so sleep in this motel. Not the most comfy bed.

But its what ya expect really.

Slow start this morning.  We are still in bed.

Will get up soon and start our day.

The unveiling is at the Taupo cemetery at 11 am. After that we all travel over to Rotorua for an afternoon tea.

Then we will head home again.

The girls spent most of yesterday at Steve n Bex's.  So it was nice knowing they were not home alone all day.

I doubt they missed us at all.

ABOVE: Steve arriving home from work last night.  😅🤣😊

ONWARD...

ABOVE: Acacia Bay, somewhere we have never visited. Gorgeous little place. Couldn't live here. NO SHOPS to speak of. 🤣😅

It is only minutes from Taupo though. Lots of lovely views of the lake.

ABOVE: A very grey day in Taupo today. Light drizzle too. We just had a tasty brunch at a waterside eatery. 

Lots of road works at the busy end of town. I bet they are hoping to get it finished before the summer rush.

ABOVE: The home where we are having a late lunch ...with bubbles.

Beautiful window framing the flowers outside. 

ABOVE: The stunning view from the home .....  Lake Rotorua. 

ABOVE: Lake Rotorua is choppy today.

ABOVE: Another nice view

I'm enjoying some bubbles. 

ABOVE:  Before we left ... there was a formal 'unveiling' of a portrait of 'R'.  It was stunning.  His wife was thrilled to bits with it.  I won't share his image.

4.50 pm:  And we are finally home again.  It was quite a whirlwind couple of days.  We always enjoy our little trips away, but oh my, it's so nice to get home and put ya feet up ... comfy chairs!

We are trying to decided what to have for dinner... after a very late lunch in Rotorua.

Probably something quick and easy.

Fish n chips was quick and easy!

It's now 8 pm and seriously, I'm going to bed.  I can't keep me eyes open.

OFF TO TAUPO AGAIN

 Stew and I are heading off to Taupo today.

We have a full day tomorrow, both in Taupo and Rotorua, so today we are just gunna have a 'cruisy' day.

There are several cruise operators who take groups out on the lake to view the Maori Rock Carvings, so we have booked a cruise for this afternoon.

It's only a 1.5 hour cruise, not too long.  But it will be lovely I'm sure.  I can't remember the last time I was 'on' Lake Taupo in a boat!

Probably 50+ years.

I'm really looking forward to it.

After the cruise, we are going to some hot pools for a soak.  Won't that be lovely?

ABOVE: There's some pools at Wairakei that we never knew existed, and they look amazing, so yeah, hopefully they are open when we get there.  

*** I just looked on their website and they don't close until 9 pm, so we should be alright.

We are staying in Taupo overnight because tomorrow we are attending the unveiling for a friend of Stew's.

I hadn't read the invitation fully, it said: 'Hats Required'- ... so yesterday I had to quickly doctor my sunhat so I can wear it to the unveiling.  

Right, best stop waffling and get a move on.

10 am. On the road.

Quick stop in Tirau for brunch. Theres a lot of eateries in Tirau. We decided to try ...

ABOVE: The Bakery. Very like Volare. A boutique bakery. There were HEAPS of people in there, a very good sign. And we were not disappointed.  The food was mind blowing! No sit down option... but that was fine by us. We got some amazing food and sat in the car just down the road.

AMAZING FOOD!!!

We are now on our way again.

12.50 pm. In Taupo. Got an itchy back, so we go hunting for a back scratcher. Several hundred  dollars later, we have some Christmas shopping done and .. no back scratcher!

An 'unveiling' is when a headstone has been installed and is unveiled for the first time to family and friends. 

In Maori culture it is done usually after a year from the deceased person passing.  

In this case it's for a European man, and is about 9 months since his passing. Its more of a 'Memorium' in his case.

ABOVE: Pretending to skipper the boat. Lol. Auto pilot was on. We are now being skippered by a 3 year old. For real. He was pointing us into land... lucky the actual skipper just took over.

ABOVE: The boat was lovely. We saw the Maori carvings. Two of the younger passengers jumped in the lake and got out immediately! Time constraints meant they couldn't linger. Too cold as well.

We were given hot blueberry muffins and smoked trout on crackers for afternoon tea. There was a trout fishing demonstration, and we caught a trout. 

It got returned as it was a bit small.

Overall I would highly recommend Chris Jolly Cruises. 

We are now at our motel before going to the hot pools a bit later on.

ABOVE: The pools were just wonderful.  Each of the 4 pools was a slightly different temperature... ranging from 32 c to 40 c. We stayed in them for two hours.

Then we came back into town for dinner at Cobb & Co.

ABOVE: For the first time in forever I had a steak, with prawns and a parmesan sauce. Stew had the same.

Back at our motel now... and that's a wrap for the day. Such a nice day. 😊

NITE NITE