BARKING DOG

 

EVERY day this week, my neighbour's dog has barked.

Sometimes only for an hour or two, sometimes longer.

Yesterday he barked all day, non stop.  Barked and HOWLED.

It really started to piss me off.

My neighbour knows he barks.  We have texted about it, and I told her it wasn't too bad.

 I lied.

And yesterday I just had enough.  So I sent her a polite text, telling her that her dog had barked all day long, and it was starting to 'bother' me.

I felt I needed to prepare her, or at least give her a chance to stop him SOMEHOW, before I go to the next step.

Which is to lay a complaint with the City Council.

I DON'T WANT TO ... but seriously?  How much barking should someone have to put up with?

He has a very high pitched bark/howl.  And he is outside, on my side of their home.  It is relentless.  I am surprised no one else has complained about him, he is very easily heard from out on the street.

I might even ask the neighbours on the other side of her if they can hear him, and if he bothers them?

I heard back from her last night.  She just said 'Sorry, nothing I can do, I have to go out sometimes'.

I didn't feel that was a very good reply to be honest.

 Do you have any bright ideas on how to handle this?  I've told her it's becoming a problem.  I am contemplating making a formal complaint.

What else can I do, short of killing the fucking dog?  Just joking........  😡😠😖

Change of subject now.

I 'saved' the best photo from last night for today:

ABOVE: Jacqui last night at the pub!  Her glasses got stuck in her hair.  I snapped a photo before helping her get them out.  I can't help myself, a funny photo is worth it.  Sorry Jacqui! 

And that's about it from me for now.

I'm not sure what I will get up to today.  Maybe just sew another braid runner.  

ONWARD...

9.17 am:   And it's already been a very good, productive morning.

I've cleaned out my wardrobes.  And I have a really big basket full of clothes that's going to the Hospice Op Shop this morning.

ABOVE: Top of the pile, and with NO REGRETS, I am getting rid of this dress I never, ever got to wear.

I knew from the word 'GO' it wouldn't get worn.

It's called the "Ha Ha, What a JOKE,  It's never gunna happen" dress.

It was bought for a wedding that we KNEW would never happen.

OVER  A  DECADE  LATER... time to throw it out.

Once I've been to the op shop, I'm going to the Base to buy some warm gloves to wear at market.  I had some lovely pure wool ones, but for the life of me I can't find the damn things anywhere.  Grrrr.

Nevermind, I'm sure I'll find some that are thicker and warmer.

11.47 am:  And I'm home from my little outing.  It felt so good dropping more stuff off at the Op Shop.  

Next week I'm sure I'll have more to take there.  I fully intend making Stew go through his wardrobe next.  He's got shit in his wardrobe that he's had for over 40 years!!!  I kid you not.

I just had my brunch, and am about to head into the front bedroom to make the bed with fresh linens, and sort out what's under it.  It is a bed with a big storage base, so there is quite a bit under it.  I wonder how much will end up going?

TEN... MINUTES... LATER:

ABOVE:  Because I knew it would be so much easier to lift the bed base up without the mattress on, I took the mattress off.  OMG what a heavy shit that mattress is!  

ABOVE: But it was worth it, cos the base was super light to lift up without it on.  And I'm now looking at all that linen thinking, 90% of it can GO.  We never use it.  Why keep it?

The animal print fluffy blanket belonged to my brother, Vern.  I am never getting rid of that.

I was with Vern when he bought that blanket, well over 25 years ago now.  Memories. Sometimes ya just have to hang on to some precious things.  I have been pretty ruthless with a lot of things I've kept for sentimental reasons, but well.... I'm keeping that blanket.

Right, now that I've taken a tiny break... back to it.

ABOVE:  And shit!  I didn't realise just how much was under that bed.

If it's been under that bed since we moved here, and it was under that bed in Cambridge as well, and we didn't use it?  WHY keep it?  That is EIGHT YEARS under a bed.  Nope, it's gotta go.

Well, that very quickly got outta hand!

ABOVE:  Somehow or other I ended up rummaging in the linen cupboards, throwing shit out left, right and centre!

Best find?

ABOVE:  THIS BAG!

ABOVE: I found me MARBLES!  I'm saved from losing my mind.

Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief now.

Gosh I'm having SO MUCH FUN.  

Moving on.  Lacy is calling in later to have a gander at the linen I don't want, before it all goes to the Op Shop on Monday.

BY THE WAY:  Not one peep out of the dog today.  My neighbour must be home.  I will from now on be making a note of every day it barks, and for how long.  I will also video it on my phone as proof.  If it becomes unbearable again, I WILL BE REPORTING it to the City Council.

WOW!  Lacy took about 70% of the linen I was getting rid of!  Yaaa, I don't have to lug it all to the Op Shop.

Though, by the end of the weekend I do anticipate having a full load in my car, ready to donate.

7.31 pm:  And it's another boring Friday night.  Stew is watching Rugby and I'm on my computer, trying to kill time until it's bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

NEW FINISHES

 

If the weather forecast is to be believed, we are in for a nice, sunny day.

After yesterday's storms, it will be welcome I can assure you.

So, let's wait and see what comes our way.

After quite a break from sewing, I finally have some new finishes:

ABOVE: Two lovely Kiwiana Braid Runners done.  And today I shall finish the third one I have on the go.

Then I might be able to make one or two more before our market on Saturday.

Which is a 'one off' Pop Up Market at Gordonton.  It's a Mid Winter Christmas Market.  So I'll probably take a few Christmas Runners along and see how they go.

I'm hoping like hell the weather stays reasonable until after that market, it's getting so damn cold!  Yesterday was friggin FREEZING.

This morning, before I do anything else, I'm actually going out to Gordonton to suss out our market site.  We seem to have a good site, but it's always good to go and see for yourself.  

ONWARD...

The drive out to Gordonton went well, the site we have been allocated looks great.  So, we should be fine on Saturday setting up etc.

ABOVE:  And that is the third one done and dusted.

Now I'm taking a break, having brunch with Lacy.

She called in to pick up the guinea pigs pen.  She couldn't do that yesterday as the weather was too wet and wild.

So the guineas got to sleep in the laundry overnight, they would have loved that.

ABOVE: The girls doing to Lacy  what they always do to me.  Begging for scraps.  We had a toasted sandwich, which was lovely.

As predicted, it is a much nicer day today.  I'm tempted to go for a walk later on.  But for now... I'm going back into the sewing room.

I did some more decluttering in the sewing room!

Then Lacy called back in, and we went out on a little 'tiki tour'... secret squirrel type stuff.  

Now I'm home, and have put me face on, cos Stew, Jacqui and I are all going to the pub tonight.  Might even have dinner there.  

And I must say, it is extremely quiet on here today! What are you all up to?  I hope it's nice.

ABOVE: The pub tonight was quieter than usual.  But it was nice to see and say 'Hi' to the regulars.

Jacqui and I stayed long enough to have a drink and a meal, then we went and visited Steve, Bex and Lily.

Dante and Archer were having a sleep over with friends as they don't have school tomorrow.

ABOVE:  Our dinners.  Very yummy beef burger 'n' chips.  

Now that we are home, it's time to just relax and get warm again.  It's bloody cold outside I tell ya.

I'm going to try using a heated wheat bag in bed tonight, it might help me get to sleep a bit faster?  Usually I'm still tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep after an hour or two.  Most frustrating, particularly when it only takes Stew about 3 minutes to get to sleep.  Lucky bastard.

Right, I'm off here, catch ya tomorrow.

CHOCOLATE?

 

Well, I can't say I slept that well last night.

I was worried about Chocolate, and if I'd find and catch him today.

AND I was worried about Onyx (the black Guinea Pig) as well, cos I'd put him in a dog travel crate overnight, so he didn't escape as well.

So, first thing I'm doing once my feet hit the floor, is go out and check on Onyx, and see if Chocolate is anywhere around.

If he's not, there isn't much I can do about it.

I'll just get on with my day.  I know Lacy is not mad at me for losing him.  

I will be sewing today.  Might do a little bit of photo sorting as well, just keep myself busy.

ONWARD...

7.30 am, I get up and look out the window.

ABOVE: DAMN!  The neighbours cat, going in and out of the garden where Chocolate is/was.

It's in hunting mode.  Looking at Onyx in his crate.  I bet he already got Chocolate.

Poor little bugger.  Damn Damn Damn.

I have put Onyx back in the bigger crate, but made sure the cat can't get him.

That's all I can do.

Now... I'm freezing, so I will get dressed and do some work.

8.30 am:  After getting dressed, making the bed, doing the dishes etc... I went and sat in the sun room, looking out at the garden.  JUST in case Chocolate had avoided that bloody cat.  

And, there was some movement in the garden.

Was it the cat?  Or was it Chocolate?

Next thing:

ABOVE:  Out comes CHOCOLATE!  And he's eating some food I left out for him. Then he scurries around the crate, but I've locked it up tighter than a witches britches.   So I ring Lacy to let her know, and she tells me to open up the crate so he can get back in.

So I put Onyx back in the dog travel case, so he can't escape as well... and sit and wait to see if Chocolate comes back out of the garden and lets himself back into the crate.

ABOVE:  AND HE DID!  So I ran out there and closed up the pen immediately so he couldn't get out again.  Put Onyx back in with him... the squeaks of greeting were so cute.

OMG redemption!  I am not the worst guinea Grandma now.  

NOW I can get on with my sewing with a clear conscience. 

9.16 am:  And nope... not sewing yet.

Bex called in to pick up some of my surplus plastic ware.

She had Lily and Dante with her, having already dropped Archer off at school.  Dante doesn't start till 9.30 on a Wednesday.

ABOVE:  Yaaa!  She ended up taking a huge pile of it.  That much less for me to take to the Op Shop.

I'm waiting for Lacy to come over and take what she wants too, once she gets back from work out of town.

ABOVE:  Master Dante this morning... looking less than impressed that he has to pose for YET ANOTHER PHOTO!  lol

You'd think he was used to it by now eh?

ABOVE: Bex took this one of Archer and Lily this morning.  Lily is sitting (with some support) now.  Getting bigger by the day.  *sniff*  They don't stay tiny for long.

It is an utterly FOUL day ... I can hear thunder right now.  And rain... huge raindrops.  Cold.

Gunna head into me sewing room, shut the door and turn on the heat pump.

2.30 pm: And just like that,  our power went out. Its super blustery and WET outside so I'm not surprised. 

I just hope its not out too long. I was in the middle of sewing binding up.

3.40 pm: hmmm. Electric recliners don't work without power.  Lucky we got some with manual levers then. 

Lacy has been and picked up her guinea pigs.  I'm so glad she's still got two! 

We have thunder,  lightening and hail. I love a good storm, but maybe not the loss of power.  Lacy just rang, she has no power as well. Nor does Bex, so it's a pretty big outage.

4.20 pm:  And our power is back.  Still looks incredibly stormy out there though, so I'm not counting me chickens.  It could still go out again.

9.40 pm:  And it's the end of the day, we are sitting yakking with our friend Jacqui, who's here for the evening.  I'm off now, catch ya tomorrow.

TIME OUT

 

Fresh air!

I'm taking myself off to either the mall or the lake for a walk.

I need a break from the house, and all the clutter that's going on inside it.

After my walk, I'm coming home to work on those three Braid Runners.  If I don't do them today, I will start stressing out about them not being finished by Friday night.

The photos and clutter in the garage can wait!

It's not like it needs to be done today, or even this year.  This HUGE declutter is part of a long term plan.  BUT, sadly for everyone around me, once I'm given an idea, I RUN WITH IT!  It has to be done NOW.  Even better, yesterday.

I can't help how I am.  I've always been like this, ask Stew!  lol

OK, I'm off to start my day.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: Today's walk was much shorter than I anticipated.  The mall got hot, so I went outside after a few laps.  And just wasn't feeling like it... so I stopped after half an  hour and came home.

Then I had brunch and lay on the couch and fell asleep!

Just woke up in fact.  

As you said Felicity, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I have been over doing it.

Before I left for my walk this morning, I went through several cupboards in my kitchen, and the 'plastics' cupboard in the garage, and now I have two really big boxes of plastics and containers for the Op Shop!

Best I let the families have a look through it all first I suppose.  *smiles*

Once I'm feeling wide awake again, I'll head off into the sewing room and do some work in there.

ABOVE:  4.30 pm and I have just finished quilting the first of these three.  My desire to do the next one is ZERO.

I shall do them tomorrow.

I'm now off to sort out some dinner for Stew, and not do much else.

I've had a bit of a DISASTER this afternoon.

I DECIDED TO MOVE THE GUINEA PIGS pen onto fresh grass.

While moving it, the Brown guinea pig got out.  And now he's in my back garden, living the life.

Only trouble is, there's a couple of spots in the fence line where he can drop down into our back neighbour's yard.  And he won't be able to get back cos it's a two foot drop.

We may never see Chocolate again.

I feel TERRIBLE.  

All I can do now is wait until light tomorrow, and go on the hunt.  I might get lucky, and he's still in our back garden?

But, as Lacy said, it's not the end of the world.  He's 'just' a guinea pig.

Only I LOST HIM on my shift.  I am a very bad guinea Grandma.

I'm so upset.  Stew is due home shortly.  He might be having takeaways, I've not done a bloody thing about his dinner!

We had takeaways for dinner.  It was nice... until the alarm went on me phone:  Take my Trulicity injection.

Dang!  Here I am eating takeaways and now I have to jab myself in the guts.  LOVELY.

Oh well... it's another day to be 'good' tomorrow.

And, I'm done with today.  It's been a shitty sorta day really.  Though, I did get plenty of work done.

Catch ya tomorrow.

TOWN AND AROUND

 

There's no 'new' Challenge Walks on this week with the FBG's, so I might not go over there this week.

I will do some walks on my own, and play it day to day.  Maybe something will come up that I am tempted to go over for?

But for today, I've got to head into town to pick up my repeat prescription for Trulicity.  Then I'm heading out to the Base to do some banking.

ABOVE: Today's job is to start tackling the boxes of photos in my garage.  I will keep a very small, select few.  The rest will be given to family, or destroyed.

I'm no longer lugging them from one house to the next, photos that mean nothing to anyone by me.  

Any photos from the past 20 odd years that are worth keeping, are ON THIS BLOG.  Family can look at them whenever they want for eternity really.

(All the cardboard boxes and other rubbish in the foreground is going to the dump.)

I am still buzzing from seeing Sienna and Bodhi last night!  It just made my day/week/year really.  They have grown into such lovely kids, I can't wait to see them in person again.  It's been TOO LONG!  Eleven and a half years in fact.  Sienna just turned 13, and Bodhi is 12 in July.  We have missed so much.  With any luck, we might be able to see them in about a year?  

I'm going to work hard to make that happen.

Right, I better get off here and make a start on my day.

ONWARD...

ABOVE... Dumm dee doo.. waiting for the bank to open. Deserted carpark at the Base. 

12.02 pm:  After visiting the bank, I dropped several boxes of fabric I don't want at an Op Shop, and a huge pile of jeans and shorts that Stew no longer fits.

I have been home for about an hour.  I have since put a bit of rubbish in the trailer, done some more work in the sewing room, and now, it's lunchtime.  Off to find some food.

ABOVE:  My little car just clocked 100,000 kms.  Nice.

ABOVE:  Two guinea pigs, alive and happy.  They LOVE Kale and Parsley!  I hate both, they are ikkky.  GP's can have it all.

ABOVE:  4 pm, and I don't think the garage looks any better than it did this morning!

BUT.... I have spent 3 hours on me bum sorting through photos!  And I have got 4-5 distinct piles now.

I am being ruthless!  They are my photos to do with as I wish, and that is what I'm doing.  There are a FEW that I have put aside to offer other family members, there's a FEW I am going to keep and the rest is going to be destroyed.

95% of them are photos I've taken!  Goddam, I am a shutter bug.

I have about 4 more boxes to go through, but that can wait for another day. My back is screaming, so sore!

So... I sat down to take a break.

Need a piddle.

Got up. Headed towards the bathroom, spied something in the front bedroom that needed putting away.

Next thing, the front bedroom's wardrobe is emptied, sorted out, stuff put in the 'to the dump' pile in the garage, other stuff put back in the wardrobe.

Sorted a few things in the garage above the fridge/freezers.

More stuff in the 'to the dump' pile.

More stuff in the 'to the Op Shop' pile.

TIRED.

Go and sit down again.

NEED A PIDDLE.

Bugger me.... off I go to piddle!

NEXT!   Find something to feed Stew for dinner. 

And... I fed the man Lamb burger patties, home made wedges, baked beans and fried eggs.  He loved it.  And now we are chillin' out for the evening... heat pump is on and it's lovely and warm in our house.

Time to sign off for the day.

SOMETHING SPECIAL

 

Guinea pigs.... guinea pigs... better go check on them.

Today Steve is coming over to get our HRV filter changed over, and to bring down all the 'stuff' in our attic.  That will give me something to do during the week. 

This morning I am going to work on this runner:

ABOVE: After fixing the 'boo boo' yesterday (photo above still shows the boo boo), and stitching it all back together, I couldn't stop looking at it.  And NOT liking it!

ABOVE:  The part bugging me was the busy border.  It had to GO.  So I spent some time last night unpicking it all.  Phew.  Glad that's done.  Now I just have to decide what to put on instead of that busy fabric.  Possibly just green.  We'll see.

This afternoon something rather special is going to happen.  I'm not going to talk about it until AFTER it happens.

It is something we did not expect to happen, but we are so happy about it.

ONWARD...

Ooooo... I nearly forgot this!  I LOST .900 grams this past week.  I am very happy with that.  (900 grams = 1.98 pounds)

Well, I spent a few hours de-cluttering in the sewing room this morning.  Freed up heaps of room.

Then Steve and family came over...

ABOVE: Steve got up in the attic and replaced the HRV filter, then passed down everything that was stored up there.

ABOVE:  I sat on the floor and was like... right, there's next week's job.  Most of those boxes hold our photos.  I'm not keeping them. I have lugged them from house to house, attic to attic for over 30+ years.  Not doing it again.

Stew and I went to the Base, and Stew bought a couple of new pairs of casual trackpants for around home.  Then we had a simple lunch of KFC Chicken nuggets and chips.  Stew had a piece of chicken, and gave me the skin.  Cos I love it... that's real love right there.

And now we are just chilling out... waiting for the 'something special'.

I am thrilled to say, our something special  happened this evening!

ABOVE:    We got to see and talk with our grandchildren, Sienna and Bodhi, who live in Australia.  It has been many, many years since we had contact with them, and it is thanks to their Mum that this happened.  Thank YOU so much Tess.  Stew and I appreciated this so much.

And we hope to keep up the contact now, and one day in the next year or two get over there and visit them.  There's years of hugs saved up. 😊💙💜💗

I'm a very, very happy Grandma right now.

The kids were DELIGHTFUL.   So happy, chatty, lovely kids.  Tess has done a great job raising them to be such lovely kids.  

*  PHOTO of children published with their permission  *

And that's a wrap on today.  I can't imagine anything beating our 'something special', so catch ya tomorrow.

A FEW THINGS ON TODAY

 

First of all, a reminder to myself.... don't forget the guinea pigs!  Food, water, grass, pellets.  This babysitting lark is stressful!

We have a few things on today.

Stew is off to the supermarket for his weekly mini shop.

Then when he gets home, he's going out with  Steve to get a new filter for our DVS system, and some melamine for the kitchen.

Then Steve will replace the DVS filter up in the roof for us, as Stew is still recovering.  While Steve is up in the attic, I will get him to bring down everything that is up there, so I can sort through it all.  Another of those de-cluttering jobs.

Next, we have some people coming to pick up the bookcase that sold (AGAIN) on TradeMe.

If it doesn't fit in their vehicle, we have offered to take it to their home in our trailer.  They live near us, so it's not much to do.  

After that, Stew and I plan on making a start on sorting out some of the 'stuff' in our garage and back sheds.  I can see quite a lot going to the dump!

I think lunch with the kids, or out somewhere nice is on the cards as well.

If I get a chance, I might venture into the sewing room later on today, and work on the next Braid Runner.  I really want to have about 6 new Kiwiana Runners finished by next Friday.

ONWARD... 

Plans have changed.  Steve couldn't get the melamine sheet we need for the kitchen, so will have to source it from another place.  Not this weekend.

So, nothing happening in the kitchen for now.

Next.  He might come over tomorrow to replace the filter, he's got other plans for now.

I'm still waiting for the people to arrive to pick up the bookcase.

In the meantime, I've unpicked and fixed the boo boo on the last runner.  What a shit job that was!  Lots of dicking around, but it is done now.

ABOVE:  I just got this one done, ready for quilting.  I love it, it's so vibrant.

I'm taking a break now, at least until after the buyers have been and gone.

ABOVE: Seeing as our plans changed...  we decided to go on a ROAD TRIP. Heading up to Auckland for a late lunch. I might even do some shopping.  I need a zip up sweatshirt. Maybe I'll find one at Sylvia Park. 

ABOVE: Yum Cha at Sylvia Park.  Delicious!

If you THINK you saw me RUNNING through Sylvia Park just now... you'd be RIGHT!!!

I lost my handbag and thought the only place I could have left it was at the Yum Cha restaurant.  So... I RAN BACK. And thank God, it had been handed into reception by some lovely people.  I WAS SO RELIEVED. 

Self medicating my nerves with a chocolate ice cream now. 😂🤣😅

After my nerves were settled, we headed home.

A quick bathroom stop at Te Kauwhata, and a visit to their little local market.  It was 3.35 pm by the time we got to the market (indoors), and we were the only 'customers' there.  It was very quiet.

It is nice to be home again.  I'm snuggled up in me blankie.  Stew has the telly on, set on some sport channel.  Oh yaaa.

Because we had a decent lunch, I don't need to worry about dinner.  If Stew gets hungry, he can cook up a sausage or three.  

6.03 pm:  And  yep, he's cooking sausages he bought this morning.  He got them home before he realised they were 'Gluten Free'.  He spat the dummy!

The last time we bought Gluten Free sausags BY MISTAKE, we cooked them thinking they would be just fine.

They were not.  They were bloody hideous.  So fingers crossed this lot is not that bad.  

Otherwise, the dogs are gunna get lucky! lol

And that's me for the day.  I'm 'reverse' stitching something.  Or UNPICKING in other words.  Any idea what?  It's something I have done in the past day or two.

P.S.  He enjoyed the sausages... the dogs miss out.