LAKE TODAY

 

This morning I'm doing housework and odd jobs.

Both my new FBG t-shirts are too long for me, so I will be making them shorter this morning.  

I've had some lovely comments from my fellow FBG'ers about the 'doctoring' I did to both t-shirts too, which is just lovely. 

Later on this afternoon Lacy and I are going for a walk around the lake.  I'm really looking forward to that, we've not been walking for a while now.  I miss the annoying tart.

I've had to start taking Magnesium Capsules for leg cramps again, after not using it for over a year.  Ever since I started Trulicity, my hot flushes have ramped up again.  MOST annoying.  So I'm sweating more, hence getting more cramps due to fluid loss.  

I have also, coincidentally, dropped the amount of Diet Coke I've been drinking by half.

Probably due to the weather cooling, and me not feeling as thirsty.

So I'm probably not drinking enough either.

Ahhh the balances, the balances.  Are out.

So I'm trying to have at least one hot drink a day to fill the fluid gap.

The Magnesium sure helps though.  It also helps you sleep much better as well.

Does anyone else take Magnesium and what for?

ONWARD...

And just like that, today's plans have changed.  Lacy can't walk with me after all.  So I'm having a 'rest' day.  Probably just as well cos my lower back is pretty sore.

I have a walk planned in Cambridge for tomorrow with the FBG's, so that's all good.

ABOVE:  It has been a relatively quiet day here.

I went to the supermarket for a few supplies, then came home and did ... NOTHING!

Then I decided to make more stewed apple for my dinners of yoghurt and fruit.

That thing above?

THE.  BEST.  INVENTION.  SINCE.  SLICED.  BREAD.

It makes peeling and coring apples super fast and easy.  Like SOOOOOoooooo easy.

I absolutely love it.

I'm going over to Steve and Bex's this evening for a little while.  Just visiting before Stew gets home.

Well, my 5th Trulicity injection went perfectly tonight.  Absolutely no pain at all, not even a little prick!  It does help that there are areas on my belly that are quite without feeling on the surface due to surgeries.  And numbing cream.  That certainly helps as well.

So, even though I did stress out most of the day, I really didn't need to.

I'm sure I will eventually get used to it.  Maybe.

And now... we are settling down for the night, next stop... bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

ANOTHER FBG WALK TODAY

 

This morning I'm going over to Cambridge to do another FBG walk.

It might be the last one for a little while, as there doesn't seem to be many Urban Challenge Walks scheduled for this week.

There is a 'Social Walk' on Wednesday that I might attend if there's nothing else on.

ABOVE:  Better late than never, a rather fun way to post the photo from yesterday's walk, way better than just white blobs for faces!  It was a lovely big group yesterday.  

When I get home from this morning's walk, I am going to sort out my Table Runners bags.  We often pack up after a market, and inadvertently put runners in the wrong bag.  That makes it a bit annoying when we go to set up at the next market.  So, that's me job later on.

Just fluffing around really.  Might press any that seem to need it too.

ONWARD...

OMG... just finished the walk. There were about 17 on the walk this morning.. its gunna take me ages to do the cartoon faces!  But its worth it eh! I'm still in Cambridge  having morning tea with the girls n guys.

12.03 pm:  Just home from Cambridge.  It's been a really lovely morning.  I have started to realise how much I missed the chats with various members of the FBG's.  Today I got to natter with several guys and girls, both walking and after at the coffee meet up.  I'm really loving it.

ABOVE:  A nice view looking over lower Leamington, a 'suburb' of Cambridge.

ABOVE: A 'backside' view of our team this morning.   

ABOVE: Our walk stats.

Once today's team leader posts our official walk photo, I'll do me 'thing' to it, and put it up as well.

Sometimes a leader can take a while to do that, hence sometimes the walk photo has to wait till the next day.

As it's now lunchtime, I've got some chicken nibbles in the oven for me lunch.  Until they are ready, I will do a couple of little jobs around the house.

ABOVE: And there's today's walk photo.  Gosh such fun choosing faces for people.  😂😅😉

I feel like maybe I'm almost a 'normal' size now!   It's such a neat feeling.

Wow, another quiet day.  I've been busy around the house, just getting washing up to date, spot cleaning the carpet etc.

I didn't get around to the Table Runners being re-organised, that will have to be (maybe), tomorrows job.

Stew is due home any minute.  I've got chicken nibbles and veges cooking for him.

I'm sure he will love it.  I will be having yoghurt and apples for my dinner.  Maybe a banana thrown in as well.

Stew loved his dinner.  And I enjoyed my yoghurt and fruit.   

And now...it's just time to relax and enjoy the evening until bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

BYE BYE KIDS

 

Today Mike and Joyce head home again.

It's always sad to see them leave.

We've had a lovely few days with them, thanks so much for coming up kiddos.  We love you to bits.

This afternoon I have an FBG walk planned.  I don't usually do FBG walks on the weekend, but it's one I haven't done yet, and it might not come up again for months, so best to tick it off today if I can.

I'm going to cook some Asado Beef Short Ribs in the slow cooker today.  I'm so interested to see how they come out.  It's a cut I've never cooked before.  

ONWARD...

10.45 am, and we are just back from a river walk with Mike, Joyce and all three dogs.

Such a glorious day for a walk.

ABOVE: Mike inspecting his pointy finger, which he managed to cut somehow along our walk.

ABOVE: "If I put me finger up in the air, maybe it will stop bleeding?"   It did eventually.

Peace out... ☮  😂😅👀

ABOVE:  The section of river path we took today was a section Stew and I had not already walked, so it was nice to see new areas of the river.

There were several little tracks down to the water's edge, and even SAND in places!  

I'd love to go further next time, once Stew is up to it.  We walked 2.5 kms this time, and it was enough for him.

Stew and I are now home alone, as Mike and Joyce have promised to take the boys out again.  So they are off doing that.  They will be home in time to pack up and leave, before I head over to Cambridge for me FBG walk.

The Short Ribs are in the crock pot, and smell delicious already.  I can't wait till dinner time.

4.17 pm:  And just like that, I'm home from Cambridge.  We had a lovely walk this afternoon, it was a tad warm, but thankfully, I didn't overheat.  It was close, but there was a little cool breeze that helped keep me from getting too hot.

ABOVE:  All the trees are starting to turn, and there's so many leaves on the ground already.  It's such a pretty season.

ABOVE: today's walk stats, I'm happy with that.

I'm taking a little break now, before getting our dinner cooked.  

And... dinner is done.  It was a lovely meal.

The Asado Beef broke down in the crock pot and it pretty much became a beef stew!  Next time I will slow fry it.

I just had some fun editing my latest walk photo... wait till you see it tomorrow.  It's a bit funny.

Mike and Joyce are almost home, so I can go to bed knowing they are safe.

And bedtime is not too far away, we are both tired.

Catch ya tomorrow.

THIS 'N' THAT

 

Let's start the day with some photos from last night.  

ABOVE: The boys modelling their new slippers.  Nice.

I hope they don't trip them up!

ABOVE: Dante and Lily.

ABOVE:  Miss Drool-a-lot!  Lily is bound to be getting teeth soon, going by the amount of drooling she's doing.  It's just a constant flow!

ABOVE:  Mike and Steve eating their Asado Beef Short ribs.  I got a taste of them... sooooo nice!  I will be buying some for us for sure.

Note the audience, wishful dogs.

ABOVE:  Lily has been able to roll for a while, but yesterday she decided she could roll both ways.  Such a clever wee girl.

ABOVE:  Joyce and I in our lovely, snuggly new PJ's from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  ONLY $30!  Score.

Today Mike and Steve are playing Magic at a friends, Joyce is going to hang out with Bex and the boys, and Stew and I are going to the Base for a few things.

After that, who knows?  

ONWARD...

tic, tic, tick.... the morning has gone like clockwork.  The kids are off doing their own things, and Stew and I did our thing.

I bought another pair of PJ's, a new computer mouse cos mine died after 20+ years, and we did some grocery shopping.

I bought all of the Asado Beef Short Ribs I could find at Countdown, and can't wait to cook them myself.

We are now home and just chilling out for the afternoon.  

There is nothing pressing needing doing. 

8.20 pm: Oh wow, I didn't realise I hadn't updated since this morning!

Whoops.

But seriously, it's been a very quiet afternoon/evening.

I had lunch, and had some white bread.  NOT  such a good idea.

I've had heartburn/acid reflux ALL AFTERNOON AND EVENING.   Just might not do that again.

Maybe if it had been toasted it wouldn't have affected me quite so bad, but either way, might avoid it.

Stew is really enjoying watching rugby games back to back today.  Mike is keeping him company tonight, though I doubt he's as addicted as Stew.

Joyce is still hanging out with Bex and family, Mike will go collect her a bit later on.

I think I will sign off for the day, I'm all snuggled up in my jammies, just scrolling through YouTube/Instagram and so on.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

TOWN AND AROUND

 

Sadly, Stew has to go to work today.

So does Steve.

That means Mike and Joyce get to hang out with me and Bex, and the kids.

I am heading into town first thing to get a repeat prescription.

Then I'm off to The Base, or Chartwell Square,  for a couple of things.

I'm not sure what Mike and Joyce will do, whether they tag along with me, or go over and spend the day with Bex and the kids.  Time will tell.

ABOVE:  Joyce and Lily last night.  Sooooo cute.   

Seeing Joyce in that tracksuit made me want one!  I might even get me one today, just to wear around home.  It looks so comfy and warm.

I was talking to Steve last night about ovens and cooktops.  I was totally set on eventually getting Westinghouse appliance to replace what's already here.

But he found some by Samsung that will suit the existing spaces better.

The reason I'd not looked at anything apart from Westinghouse was because I HATE too much choice.  And we've got Westinghouse fridges/freezers, and they have never given us a moments trouble. 

ABOVE:  But, Steve showed me this Samsung Induction Cooktop and I was like.... "OH my gosh, look at the blue lights!"

SOLD.   lol

I'm going to look at it, and a Samsung oven today.  

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

ONWARD...

11.46 am:  The kids and I are back from a VERY SURPRISING shopping trip!

The plan was to just LOOK at the Samsung appliances today.  But once in the shop we were surprised to see the appliances I wanted were on sale, even lower in price than the current advertised 'SALE' price.

It was a BOO BOO on the shops behalf, they had forgotten to take down the last sale price signs, so we called them on it, and got BOTH appliances for the 'old' sale price.

Mike and I both told the salesman that if the price is displayed at XYZ in the shop, they had to sell it at that price.  He had to agree.

AND then he gave us another small discount as well, so it was just too good a price to NOT BUY THEM TODAY!

ABOVE:  The new Induction cooktop, and the oven I'm getting is the one behind me at my chest height.  Black with Stainless Steel handle and control panel.

ABOVE:  I saved $1,302 JUST on the Cooktop !!!!!

ABOVE:  And on the OVEN I saved $762, cos he took a little more off that than the sale price.

So all up, I saved $2,064 on both appliances.

I am just so happy about that.

And now I am waiting to have an electrician come around (next Monday) to work out if we need our wiring/amps changed to accommodate the Induction Cooktop.  It's a bit exciting.

After that bit of fun, we did a little clothes shopping.  Joyce and I got some lovely winter PJ's.   I will show you them tonight, once we are both in them!  lol

Now, it's lunchtime.

Mike and Joyce will be going out a bit later with Dante and Archer to some place where the kids can play.  An 'Escape Room' for kids is top of the list.

Well the buzz from this morning wore off after lunch... I got a grumbly tummy from my lunch.  Not sure why, I had food that I have almost every other day?  Annoying.

Got family here for dinner this evening.  We were going to do a family dinner tomorrow, but plans changed.  Lucky I'm am organised person, it isn't much to throw together a bigger dinner for everyone.  And Steve and Mike do their own 'thing', in that they cook themselves meat/eggs/cheese.  They are both on the 'Carnivore' Diet.

It's certainly helping with Steve's Pancolitis and gut issues.

I'm already in me new PJ's! They are so comfy.

7.26 pm:  What a delightful evening we are having.  Everyone had a lovely dinner, we had roast chicken and veges for the grown ups, Asado Beef Ribs for Steve and Mike and cheerios and veges for the boys.  Lily had... milk.

After dinner, I glance over to Steve, wondering what the hell he was doing by the plants on the kitchen counter?

ABOVE: See that pointy cactus?

Steve was PICKING.  HIS.  TEETH.  with it!!!

WTF?  We have tooth picks, but no.   He availed himself of me freakin' plant!   Just a bit funny.

And that's a wrap on our day.  It's been so lovely.

Catch ya tomorrow.

ANZAC DAY

 

Today is ANZAC DAY here in New Zealand and Australia.  It is the day we remember those who served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations, and the contributions and suffering of all those who have served.

So it is a day off work for most people.

Mike and Joyce are coming up today from Palmerston North, to spend a 'long weekend' with us and family.

It's so neat we get to see them fairly often, considering how far away they are.

I told you I 'doctored' the second new FBG t-shirt yesterday... well here it is:

ABOVE:  I put some 'fat bottomed girls' on it.

I think it looks fun.  And who wants to wear a shirt that looks exactly the same as everyone else eh?  Not me.
 

ABOVE: There's a close up of the fabric.  I've used it quite a bit over the years for various projects.

And that's all I have for now...  I better go and do something productive till the kids arrive.  

ONWARD...

ABOVE: While I had planned on a walk with Lacy this morning, I cancelled  cos I didn't want to get outta bed!

So a bit later on, Stew and I wandered down to the local shops to post a letter.

It was very overcast, perfect for a walk.

Stew is still recovering from his surgery, so it was a fairly sedate pace.  But a longer distance than he's done since before surgery.

Baby steps.

ABOVE: We got to see three Royal New Zealand Air Force planes do a 'fly over' as part of the Anzac commemorations during our walk.

ABOVE: Walk stats, a nice little walk.  Better than nothing.

We have decided to have lunch at Taco Bell today.  It's been quite a while since we ate there.

I bet Joyce will want to go while they are up here too.

1.36 pm:  Our lunch was lovely, so nice after not having Taco Bell for a while.  It wasn't too busy either, so not a huge wait for our food.

The Expressway WAS busy, particularly traffic heading south.  

On our way home we stopped into the supermarket and grabbed a few supplies.  Now home, all snuggled up in me blankie keeping warm.  It's certainly cooler today.

Mike and Joyce only left Palmy about half an hour ago, so they won't be here until dinnertime, or after, depending on the traffic.

I'm not inclined to get up to much else for the afternoon, might watch a movie on Netflix, or fluff around on the computer.

8.17 pm:  Well the kids arrived safely, and we spent a couple of hours catching up.  Steve, Bex and the kids arrived as well, so lots of chatting going on.

Now they have gone back to Steve n Bex's, and all is quiet again.

Time to sign off for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

CAMBRIDGE TODAY

 

HAPPY 37TH BIRTHDAY

STEVE!

First up for today, I'm off to Cambridge for an FBG walk.

Nice flat route today thank goodness.

The weather is looking good for it too.

I will no doubt stay after the walk for morning tea with the girls (and guys).  We do have a few men in the group, but not many.  

Then it will be home time, and I don't know what I'll get up to once home.  Probably some housework.  

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  Gorgeous Cambridge on a crisp Autumn morning.

ABOVE:  Lake Te Koutu.  It's in the heart of Cambridge, and people who don't live there might not even know it's there!

ABOVE:  Just for once, I got morning tea.  Usually I just stick to me Diet Coke at the coffee stop after a walk.

It was an extremely lovely  Lemon Tart.

And YES Darling, I got a piece for you too.

ABOVE: Walk Stats.  A nice distance and a decent enough pace.

Now that I'm home, I have a few jobs to get done around the house before Mike and Joyce arrive tomorrow.  They are coming up for Anzac 'weekend'.

ABOVE: Today's 'official' walk photo.  I can't NOT do it!  I like to see them all.  Even if you can't.

This afternoon I 'doctored' my second new FBG T-Shirt.  I decided to do something different for the second one.  I'll show you tomorrow.  I'm really happy with it.

Now it's 4.40 pm, and time to fold the washing (ikk), and get dinner sorted out.  I think Stew will be having left over venison stew with some veges.  I had some tuna for my 'dinner' at lunchtime.

OK, I'm done for the day.  I'm tired and feel a bit headachy, so off to bed a bit early tonight.

Catch ya tomorrow.