BACK TO MOSAIC GROUP TODAY

 

How better to distract myself today, than to head off to Cambridge for Mosaic Group.

I've not been since December, so it really is about time I went again. 

Yesterday afternoon I went into town and bought some more little tiles, as I knew I needed one particular colour to continue working on my paver.

It is my first project, sadly neglected I must say.

ABOVE: The Square Table Topper I made late yesterday.  I realise now that in order to get accurate colours to show up, I have to take the photo in the family room.

I really like this one, shame I don't need it.  

I have four more in this colourway to stitch up, so that shall keep me occupied for the next few days, or even into next week.

But for now... I am going to get outta bed and start the day.

Catch ya later...

MID WEEK.... WISH IT WAS GOING FASTER

 

We are half way through the longest week ever.

Two more sleeps until we know for sure if this home is sold or not.  While I'm fairly confident it will go unconditional on Friday, ya just never know until it is confirmed by the lawyer eh?

I've managed to get through the past two days by being busy, so I shall do the same today I suppose.

ABOVE:  I made this Braid Runner late yesterday afternoon.  I fully intend keeping this one for us.

ABOVE:  How gorgeous does it look on our coffee table! And see how the colour looks so different depending on the lighting?  

I have enough of that lovely teal fabric to make 4 more Braid Runners for markets.  AND a tiny bit left over ... I'm hoping it's enough to make a small runner for the coffee table between our two lounge chairs.  That's what I am going to work on this morning.

Catch ya later...

And that is done....

ABOVE:  So cute.  I also made two small coasters to sit on top of it, so it doesn't get dirty fast.

Now?  Might take a break, it is lunch time.

Well I went right into town (central) this afternoon to get some more black tiles for mosaic work.  I'm finally getting back there tomorrow!

I did some more sewing late this afternoon as well... I've got another one to show you tomorrow.

Stew should be home shortly, so I've turned everything off in the sewing room, and am now just chilling in the family room.

8.42 pm:  time to sign off for the day.  It's been a really good, productive day.  My sewing room is a right mess!  I will have to vacuum it tomorrow before I go out.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

YELLOW ?

 

Well, what shall I get up to today?

First up, I think I will go for a walk, as the forecast is for cloud and maybe some rain.

I don't mind walking in the rain, in fact I love it.

After that I shall make another runner similar to yesterday's.

I also have to tidy up the runner bags, because I rifled through them yesterday to find the Fish Runners that I sold to the builder and the buyer.

ABOVE: We finally got around to cutting the new watermelon last night.  We had never heard of there being a YELLOW Watermelon before.

ABOVE: And look at that!  It is indeed very yellow.  So, of course we then had to do a taste test.  And it is certainly a bit sweeter than the normal red watermelon.  Very nice.

It will probably be all gone by bedtime tonight.  It's only a little watermelon. 😋😊

And that is me for now.

Catch ya later.

11.03 am:  I've been sewing all morning, having put the walk on the back burner, might go soon though as it's drizzling, nice and cool.

ABOVE:  Braid Runner Number 164!   I can't believe I've made so many.  AND sold so many too.  

I wish I wasn't addicted to making runners... I really don't need to  make any more for a while... but I'm already thinking of the next one.  😖😕😓

***Just to clarify, I've made 164 BRAID RUNNERS.  That's not counting all the dozens of other styles of Runners I've made before them.

I spent the afternoon sewing another runner.  I will show you tomorrow.  Stew just arrived home from work and is crunching a chocolate bar in my ear.... I'm contemplating stabbing him 16 times in the chest.

He just left the room with his second one... WISE MOVE.

Uggh.  I had some dinner, and totally didn't need it.  I now feel massively over stuffed.  Watching Coronation Street, then off to bed.  Hoping for a decent night's sleep, but I doubt it will happen.

So hard sleeping when it's damn hot. 

Catch ya tomorrow.

NEW WEEK....

 

Today I am going to start working on a couple of new Braid Runners.

NOT because I need any, but because I need something to keep me distracted.

And I do love making them still... so it's a win win really.

ABOVE:  I have laid out these two, using the gorgeous Teal/Blue/Green combinations.

I've sold quite a few in this combination lately, so having a couple more won't go amiss.

And that is about all I have for now... I'll pop back later.

11 am.

And it's been a very busy morning.

I didn't tell you before, because I didn't want to get stressed out.

But we had a building inspection done today.

First thing worth noting, the builders (husband and wife) had done the inspection on our Cambridge home, and remembered me.  I'm hard to forget, let's get real!

They did the inspection and only found a door that was a bit sticky, and is a super easy fix.  And we need to put some waterproof sealant along the back of both new vanities. Something we hadn't done as I'd intended putting tiles along the back, but never did. Again, a super easy fix, will take us all of 5 minutes!

The buyer (the wife) came around too.  Which was bloody neat as I got to show her how to use the induction cooktop, which she absolutely LOVES.  Also the double oven, which she also loves.  Plus we went through and I pointed out lots of other things she needed to know.

Here's something hysterical to tell you.  The lady builder saw my runners and said she would love one for her beach house.  So I hauled out one of the large fish runners.  She bought it on the spot!!!

So I kept it on the kitchen bench while they kept doing their inspection.

The buyer saw the fish runner, and immediately said "I want one of those too!"  So as luck would have it, I had one left.  She bought it on the spot too!   

OH she has also bought the queen size bed in our front bedroom!  One less thing I have to try and sell before we leave here.

She wanted to buy our blue leather lounge suite too, but I had to tell her we were keeping that. lol

I love selling shit without even having to leave home!!!  

I cannot tell you how RELIEVED I am that the house passed it's inspection.  It has been stressing me out for so long now.

ABOVE:  Our buyer insisted on a photo with me and the runner.  She also did a 10 minute video of the house to send home to her parents.  They are very excited about the house as well.

I am so happy that our buyers are in love with our home. They truly appreciate and love all that we have done to make it special. 

I am almost 100% certain this home sale will go unconditional on Friday now.

Maybe I can stop stress eating now!

3 pm:  Gosh today has flown by already.  After lunch I went to Chartwell Square and bought some more summer length tights... I have pretty much killed the two pair I've been wearing all summer!

I also got some new t-shirts, cos again, I'd killed most of my current ones, one way or another.

Note to self, DON'T paint in ya good shirts!

After that, I visited Lacy and her little kitty cat for a while.

ABOVE: As you can see, both are thriving and happy.

Now that I'm home again, I'm going to try and just relax for a while.  I have been SO stressed out lately, it's a wonder I'm not totally grey haired as a result.  Thank god for hair dye eh?  😂

ABOVE:  Happy to say I actually got some work done today.  I really love this colour combo.  This one is a really good size for a coffee table.

I'm going to make another one very similar to it tomorrow.

8.52 pm:  Time to sign off for the day.  What a day it's been, so positive for a change.  Hopefully by Friday we will have a SOLD sign on our billboard out the front!

I'm praying for a decent night's sleep tonight, cos OMG I've not been sleeping well at all.

Catch ya tomorrow.

WILL TODAY BE THE LAST OPEN HOME???

 

Our fingers are firmly crossed for a FINAL Open Home today.

Wouldn't that be just the best thing ever?  

It's at lunch time today, so not too long to wait to get it over with.  *We won't know if it is our last Open Home until next Friday btw. 

I think I mentioned yesterday ? that we are planning on attending the Morrinsville monthly market eh?  Stew spoke to the organiser last night, and they have accepted us as stall holders.

So with that in mind, and knowing we can't spread out like we can at Tamahere and St Andrews in Cambridge, I have to re-think the configuration of our stall.

I went over to our storage unit and brought back our 'old' bowl cosy shelving unit.

After today's Open Home, I will set up the racks in the garage to see how it will work.  I won't be hanging any runners on the racks, that's not necessary.  And it shouldn't take me long to get it sussed out either.  It's not like it's the first time I've done it eh?  lol

So, that's me for now... I better get up and do ???  Certainly not housework, it's all done.

Last night's sunset was AMAZING!   I took this photo, but it really doesn't do it justice, it was so much redder.

ABOVE:  It was much more blood red than this photo shows.

Little market story:  At our market in January, a lady came and bought a runner.  A bit later on in the day, she came back and said she wanted to swap it out for another one... so we were happy to do that for her.

YESTERDAY she came back.  With that runner.

And said it was the wrong size, even though she had taken it's measurements and was sure it would fit. So she wanted to swap it out for another one, AGAIN.   

I was like OK, and so she fossicked around, looking at all the runners, checking their sizes etc. 

Meanwhile, her husband is standing back, shaking his head and looking quite embarrassed.

She FINALLY settled on another runner, and then just stood there looking at me.

Then she said, "I want my $5 refund, because this one is $75, and I paid $80 for the other one".

I was 100% positive she had only paid $75 for the original runner, because I KNOW how I price them (on size).  But to avoid a scene, I gave her the $5.

When I got home, I double checked the runner in my inventory... and yes, it was a $75 runner she had bought.

I was like really pissed off. 

Yes, it is only $5, but she lied.

And I fucking HATE/DETEST/LOATH LIARS.

If she dares come back again trying to switch the third runner out, I will be telling her to FUCK OFF in no uncertain terms.

And there ends my 'little' story.  Or was it a rant?  😂😉  Best thing?   The runner she finally settled on was one I didn't even like, and had been in stock for ages.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOYCE

She has now spent over half her life with our Mike, and is the most adorable, loving, amazing addition to our family.

We all love you Joyce, have a wonderful day. 

💚💙💜

Open Home done.  Then had a yak with some family who drove by... which was lovely.

After that we drove out to Taco Bell and met up with Bex and the kids for lunch.  Steve was supposed to join us as well, but he got called out to do an assessment of a building fire.

His company primarily does work on damaged buildings/homes etc.  

So we might see him later on this afternoon for a little while.  I hope he's had his lunch by then. 

 😋

Now that we are home again, it's probably just going to be a quiet afternoon.

I will lay out a couple of new runners to work on this coming week, I'll need something to do to keep my mind off the 'countdown'.  

We are now going out for an ice cream, cos that's what I feel like.

Well our ice creams were just lovely.  It was have an ice cream, or go buy heaps of lollies that would be in the house all week till I ate them all.... so having an ice cream was the better decision eh?

We are now winding down for the day, looking forward to bedtime.  It's been a fairly busy weekend.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

TAMAHERE MARKET FOR FEBRUARY

 

5.45 am.  Eeeegads, it's too damn early to be up.

But, it's off to market we go.  I'm really looking forward to today.  A chance to get out of the house and take my mind off the waiting.

It is looking to be a lovely summer's day today, no bad weather is predicted.  Hopfully the wind doesn't get up like it did at last months market.

Wind and rain ... I can't decide what's worse to be honest.

When we get home around 2 pm, we will have about an hour and a half to unpack and get the house ready for the Open Home.  

Will today be our SECOND TO LAST Open Home?  

GOSH I HOPE SO.

Right, let's be off ... and have a lovely day catching up with everyone we missed last month.

...

ABOVE: Our first dark start. Sun should be rising soon. 

ABOVE: And here we are. 7.15 am and all ready for the day. Apparently there's a big event on up the road at Mystery Creek called 'Meat Stock'. So if you are into eating meat... it's the place to go today. Hopefully it doesn't impact our visitor numbers.

11.28 am. Numbers are definitely down for this time of year, but we have made some good sales this morning.  1.5 hours to go. 

ABOVE: We just bought our first Yellow Watermelon.  I can't wait to cut it and see inside.  That will have to wait until this evening. 

2.15 pm:  Home. Unloaded.  Opened windows.

I spent part of today's money on...

ABOVE: Some gazebo weights.  We are going to start doing the Morrinsville market once a month, so as it's held on asphalt, we will need weights to hold the gazebo down.

A bloke at the markets, a fellow stall holder, makes them for a very fair price.  So I ordered and paid for a set of four.

We can get them off him in two weeks, at the next Morrinsville market.

I now need to get off here and get the house ready.

4.40 pm and the Open Home is done and dusted.  All going well... ONE TO GO.

Stew and I are now going to RELAX for the remainder of the day... it's been a BUSY DAY.

I'm so damn tired I can't think straight.  And I've told Stew I ain't cooking a damn thing for dinner... we are getting takeaways!

OMG I ate far too much for dinner!!!

Totally stuffed my face.

There is NO ROOM for watermelon, that will have to wait until tomorrow now.

I just went to our storage unit to get our old 'bowl cosy' shelving unit back.

More on that tomorrow.

Today is done, it's been a good day because I hardly thought about the 'countdown' at all.

And I'm going to sleep damn well tonight because I'm freakin' knackered.

Catch ya tomorrow.

THE DAY BEFORE MARKET

 

Today I am going to get everything ready for our first Tamahere Market of the year, which is on tomorrow.

I really missed not doing it last month, but was told by quite a few of our fellow stall holders,  who did attend last month, that is was incredibly quiet.  

So, I wonder how it will be tomorrow?  'Normal' or quiet?  Suppose we will find out eh?

I have plenty of stock to take, and have the new stock as well.

I will be working on finishing the last of the Dragonfly Runners today.  It's got pointy ends, so if you hear some very bad words in my neighbourhood later.  IT'S ME.  😂

Seven sleeps to go, until our house sale should go unconditional.  I'm going to be a nervous wreck by next Friday.

I wonder how much weight I will gain by stress eating?   It's bound to happen.  

I wish I lost my appetite when stressed out/worried/nervous etc... but NO.  Complete opposite.  Grrrr.

Right, I suppose I shall get up and make a start on the day.

I just remembered, it's 'Valentines Day'.  We do not do anything special on this day.  It's so heavily commercialised, it's really only for the retailers now.  I don't need anything special on a specific day to know Stew loves me, and visa versa. 

Each to their own of course.

ABOVE:  It's 11.30 am, and that one is done.

AND I didn't swear once!!!  Miracles do happen.  It was a breeze for a change.  I think I have finally mastered those nasty (approx)  75 degree angles on the side.  The real point at the end is super easy to get looking lovely btw.

I am now going to tidy up the sewing room in readiness for tomorrow's Open Home.  Then have some lunch.

After that, I might go for a walk as it is quite cloudy today.

ABOVE:  I baked some cookies, FOR US.  Stew will love them.  I already ate two.  😕😖

And now I don't feel like going for a walk.  Typical.  I get these bright ideas, then cave in.

Might watch a movie on Netflix instead.

I was outside this afternoon, watering my lettuce plants, and was surrounded by bloody wasps all of a sudden.  Then I saw it, a wasp nest right above the lettuce patch.  And they didn't like getting wet.

So once it's dark this evening, Stew will be getting out there and killing them all.  Not sure how, as I have packed up all the stuff we usually use to kill wasp nests.  Derrrr.

We are constantly needing stuff that I've packed up and put into storage.  I was just a bit over zealous on that score.

Hopefully we only have another 3 months till we can get all our stuff back.

I did quite a bit of mucking around in the house this afternoon... just random stuff.

Now, we are watching the telly till bedtime.

We won't be up late tonight as we have market in the morning, which means an early start.

Catch ya tomorrow.

GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD?

 

Today I had planned on making a start on bringing back everything we have in storage.  I didn't want to be spending good money after bad, keeping it all in storage when there is no sale in sight.  But things have changed.

***  NOW...  we have an offer coming in sometime today.  From the viewers who came last night.

AND our Estate Agent has had to notify the people who have a 'Registered Interest' on our home as well.

So they have the right to make a counter offer if they are able to.

Things MAY be looking brighter. 

But again, not counting any chickens because the offer might not be for the right price.  Been there before.

We are NOT giving away our house.  It is priced very fairly for today's market.  But we are prepared to wiggle down a bit.  

This roller coaster reminds me so much of when we were selling our home in Auckland!  We had 8 contracts on that home... 7 fell over, and the eighth stuck.  I'm hoping we don't end up like that again.

ABOVE:  I got this one finished last night... which I didn't expect to do.  But I was really wanting to do something, instead of just sitting all evening doing nothing.

11.10 am.  UPDATE:

ABOVE:  We have a signed contract to sell.

Third time lucky?

If all the conditions are met... this contract will go UNCONDITONAL next Friday.

And we will have three months until settlement, which gives us plenty of time to find the right new home for us.

We still have two Open Homes this weekend.  Hopefully they will be our last ones.  Wouldn't that be amazing?

I am now going to do some housework (lol), like there's anything to do?  Then have some lunch.

Might even get into the sewing room this afternoon to finish another Runner.

Before anyone thinks it... we will NOT be looking at another house until this one goes unconditional.  We have been stung TWICE by doing that.  Lesson learnt the hard way.

We know what is 'out there', and if nothing is quite 'us' when we are ready to buy, we will just rent in the meantime.  No more hasty decisions will be made.

ABOVE:  And here we have Dragonfly Panel # 2 finished.  I'm not putting hanging strips on this one.  That way it can be a runner, or a wall hanging with some tape stitched on the top for hanging it.

It is another roasting hot day, high humidity.  Ya can't move without breaking out in a sweat.  I had the air con on in the sewing room today, it was bliss.

Stew should be home soon, and I'll take him down to the pub, then visit S 'n' B for a couple of hours.   

And it is now almost 8 pm, we are home after having a lovely time out and about.  Always good to spend an hour or so with the kids, then join Stew for some hot chips and a diet coke.

Coronation Street is on later this evening, so I'll just sit here now and kill time till it's on.

Hopefully I will sleep better tonight, last night I was still awake at 2.30 am.  

Just stressing out about the incoming offer, how much it would be etc.

All going well, all that stress will be gone soon.

So, I'm signing off for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SEWING ALL DAY TODAY

 

Hi ho!

It's off to Spotlight I go today.

I have run out of black fabric for the binding to finish these:

ABOVE:  Four Dragonfly runners/Square Table Toppers.  I will be quilting and binding them over the next few days.

All going well I should have them all done by Saturday's market at Tamahere.

And that is all I have for now.  It's going to be a quiet day.  After yesterday being quite busy, I'm happy to have a more relaxed day.

I wonder if we will hear anything from our Estate Agent today?  I was so hopeful yesterday afternoon that those viewers were super keen.  You just never know how it's gunna go do ya? 

Even knowing there's a couple of other groups interested does not make this any easier.  

9.45 am:  And I'm just home from Spotlight, with a HUGE smile on my face.

I got an email from Spotlight last night, advising of their latest sale.

And also a 40% off coupon for any 'single item'.

ABOVE:  I grabbed a full, unopened bag of wadding and asked it that was included in the sale?  Like, could I get 40% off it?

The saleslady wasn't sure, so she called for her supervisor.

The supervisor checked the 'Terms and Conditions' of the sale/coupon offer and could see no reason why it wouldn't be included, so I got $300 off that wadding!

SCORE!

I also got the black fabric for a sale price as well.

I'm rather happy with my purchases today I must say.

Now I can start making more binding... which is a bit of a shit job, but needs must.

12 noon:  NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO GET YOUR HOPES UP.

Heard from our Estate Agent.  It's a big FAT NO from yesterday's viewers.  They saw something else they preferred.   

So, we continue to wait for that elusive sale.

I'm never baking cookies again.  I'm not going to fucking dust and polish either.  Fuck it all.  So disappointed right now.

ABOVE: And here I sit again. There's a Private Viewing at 6pm. New people.  I got 30 minutes notice. Lucky the house is 100% SPOT ON.  NO cookies fresh out of the oven ... never doing that again. 

And the sewing room is a little bit messy, threads on the floor etc. Too bad.

"Some interest there" is what the agent said.  Heard that before.

ABOVE: This is the only project that got finished today.

It's better then none.

I have a new plan for tomorrow, it might not involve sewing.

It's now 7.06 pm, and I'm done for the day.

I'll catch ya tomorrow.