DAY TRIP

 Today we are off to Auckland.

Three reasons.

1.  To visit a shop that has recently moved premises, and is now bigger and 'better'.  The Ribbon Rose is a very good, comprehensive craft shop, it sells every sort of craft you can imagine.  Not just Fabrics.  But I only visit them for fabrics, or course!

2.  We will be visiting Stew's sister, Khady out west Auckland.  Bethell's Beach to be exact.  She's living part time there, and part time in Wanganui.

3. Well the last reason?  ... just to have a day trip is a good enough reason to go eh?

I'm hoping the day is reasonably nice, so we can have a wander on the beach.  But according to the weather forecast, NO.  It's supposed to rain.

For the next two weeks in fact!  Then, we might have one sunny day... then back to ... RAIN.

What the Effing Fook is happening to our weather?  Everywhere in this country has been inundated with bad weather for MONTHS on end.

Right, I better stop bitching and just get on with the day ... catch ya later.

...

SORRY, RANT AHEAD.

Imagine having 6-8 kids.  And you get told certain information by one (or more), but you are not allowed to tell anyone else, or just some, or only one.  But NOT that one, or that one.  

We have at least two SITUATIONS on the go right now, with our kids.  They are 'do not tell' situations. There's ANOTHER one with an extended family member too.

It's a constant juggling act trying to keep 'secrets' from your own family members, trying to remember who you can tell, who you can't tell, what you can tell, what you can't tell.  

I'm so fucking over it!

Sibling love/hate/jealousy/rivalry... as I've said a million times before...

WE ARE NOT THE WALTONS.

I'm tired.  Tired of being in the middle of so many people's egos/insecurities/intense dislike.

Cos DISLIKE/hate/jealousy is alive and well in this family.

The only consolation is that we are not alone with this family dynamic.  

You see so many seemingly 'Perfect' families on YouTube and Instagram... it's all bullshit.  No family is bloody perfect.

That helps me cope with all the shit.  But only just.

RANT OVER.   It helps putting it down on 'paper' sometimes eh?

No it's not over, I thought of more.  Imagine having separate relationships within your family, where the family circles never overlap, or very rarely.  It's DIFFICULT.  I've tried so many times to bring the 'circles' together, but to no avail.  Some just don't want to meet up.

So I'm DONE.  No more trying.

AND BE WARNED FAMILY:  from now on, if you don't want it talked about or shared, DON'T TELL US.

Cos I'm over keeping secrets.

I will keep the 'current' secrets.  But that's it.  If you tell me something, I'm going to tell EVERYONE.

And there ends the rant.

NOW.... Let's get on with our lovely day.

ABOVE:  First mission accomplished.

The new shop is AMAZING!!!

6.10 pm and we are finally home again.  It's been a long, cold, wet day.

But nice to visit Khady and have a good catch up.

ABOVE:  Ha ha... Stew in the fabric shop.  Looking so angelic.

ABOVE:  The cutest little stream that runs down the hill beside Khady's home.

ABOVE:  A little 'bridge'....  with debris.

ABOVE:  The stream culminates in a little waterfall.  And at night that area has GLOW WORMS!

ABOVE:  The house bus on the property.  

ABOVE:  And that little building is called the Boat House.  The property can accommodate quite a few people at any one time.  In summer it's only a short walk to the beach too.

Stew and I had planned on taking a walk on the beach this afternoon, but the weather was just awful by the time we wanted to do that.

So no beach photos.  Bugger.

ABOVE:  At the top of the road leading out to Bethell's Beach were three houses which had the hillside behind them come down on them.  See that house in the middle?  It's concertinaed!   Obviously all three have been 'Red Stickered', which means they are uninhabitable now.

The road to Bethell's has several washouts of the road, it was a rough drive out.

ABOVE:  Constant rain all the way home... and of course, the traffic jam at Taupiri slowed everything down.  That section of road has been 'getting fixed' for years now!  So frustrating.

It was nice to go up to Auckland, but I'm happy to be home, nice and WARM again.

Steve and Bex were here when we got home, so they had put the heater on for us.  We are all going to enjoy some Chinese Takeaways for dinner now.

I'm really pleased with myself.  I chose to have a very, very small helping of the takeaways, with no seconds.  I knew I could have had HEAPS more if I so desired, but I didn't.  I had a taste of  everything, and stopped at that.

So, hopefully I've kept today's point count under control.

The family have gone home now, and Stew and I are just winding down before bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.