CHRISTMAS EVE, AND LOTS TO DO.

 

Well, like everyone else, we have quite a few things to get done today.

First up, some grocery shopping for food tomorrow.

Then home to make a dessert (Ambrosia), and stuff the turkey.

I'm pretty sure I have everything else sorted, presents etc. Thank goodness.

Now, here's a few more photos from our day trip to Wellington:

ABOVE:  Wellington harbour.  I like the little rock 'islands'... man made I'm sure,  but still cute.

ABOVE:  Leaving Wellington, driving up Ngauranga gorge, heading to the coast.

ABOVE:  Paremata.

ABOVE:  Still Paremata.  lol

ABOVE: Going down the hill into Pukerua Bay.

ABOVE: Stew taking a photo of a passing passenger train at Paekakariki.

ABOVE: Paekakariki shoreline.

ABOVE: This little building has been here forever!  It's by the railway line at Paekakariki.

It was a really lovely day!

Right, that's me for now... got stuff to be getting on with.

Got on the scales first thing this morning, expecting a gain.  NOPE!!!  Stayed the same.

I'm 'plateauing'  at the moment, which is just fine.  I didn't get to my goal before Christmas, but it will happen.  That goal being lose 15 kilos since August.   But MEH, I'm only human, and I sure in hell ain't perfect.

Moving on.  We thought we'd be clever and go to the supermarket EARLY.  Ha ha ha!

So did every other man and his dog.

It was PACKED.  Luckily the supermarket was well stocked and we got everything we needed.

Got home, unpacked it all then went over to pick up Coco from the kid's house.  She was perfectly happy there, it's such a relief knowing she's in a safe place when we are away.

ABOVE:  We are now home, and I've made the Ambrosia.  Stew is cutting crusts off the bread so I can make the turkey stuffing next.

It's all ticking along nicely.

ABOVE: This fabric shelving unit was pulling apart from the weight of all the fabrics, so Steve said he'd come over and 'fix' it.

ABOVE:  So two hours later I had rearranged things so I could put all the blues and greens on those shelves, taking a huge weight off the other shelves.

Then Steve arrived with some metal strips...

ABOVE: And just like that, crisis averted!  I was worried sick all my fabric would end up on the floor, and the shelving unit would be ruined.  It's just the most perfect size for there!  

Now that's done, and all my recent fabric purchases and gifts (thanks sooooo much Karen) are put away as well, I can relax.

That job wasn't something I thought would be getting done today.

It is now nearly 1 pm, so lunch time.

MORNING TEA WITH THE GIRLS, THEN LUNCH WITH THE KIDS

 

We are homeward bound today, but before that we are joining the girlfriends for morning tea at Columbus in the Plaza at 9.30 am.

Then after that, we shall be having lunch with Mike and Joyce at 'Munch'.  Sounds interesting.  😋

ABOVE: One of the photos from yesterday, me on the 'beach' at Paekakariki ... along the Kapiti coast.

ABOVE: And of course I got some rocks and driftwood from there!  

I'm not going to try and edit the rest of yesterday's photos until we get home.  It's just a bit rushed otherwise.  And I'm tired.

And there will be even more photos by the end of the day!  I do love taking photos  😂😅, but seriously, it does take quite a bit of time to get them on here.

I will update as the day unfolds, as per usual.  

Catch ya later.

9 am. Been to the supermarket for bread. Need it for turkey stuffing, and want it to be a little stale by tomorrow night. 

Meeting up with the girls soon, then we are going back to Foxton!

I decided I LOVED two of the fabrics I bought yesterday and want more, so we are squeezing a  return trip down there between morning tea and lunch all going well. Otherwise we'll go down when we leave Palmy for home. Depends on timing. 

ABOVE: MORNING TEA done ✔️.  Hoping to see them again before we meet up with Mike and Joyce for lunch.

We are now off to Foxton.

SHOPPING ✔️ 

LUNCH WITH THE KIDS  ✔️

Then we left for home. 

Traffic is heavy as we expected.  I don't think we will be home till quite late.

It's ok though, better to meander home and get there safely. 

It is SUPER WINDY and cold today as well. Seen lots of trucks, caravans and boats swaying in the wind. 

8.23 pm, and we are safely home.

It was a good trip home, but we are both tired now.  Five and a half hours is a long time sitting on ya bum!

ABOVE: Sandra and her little dog, Cee Cee, who goes everywhere with her.  Cee Cee is allowed in the mall and coffee shops etc, as she is deemed an 'Emotional Support Dog'.  And she just stays in her sling against Sandra and doesn't make any noise.

Everyone loves her.

ABOVE: She didn't want scone for morning tea today.  She's so damn cute!

ABOVE:  Our lunch with Mike 'n' Joyce was nice, I had a steak !  I virtually never have steak, but it was quite good. 

I'm going to try and add more meat into my diet, I know I don't have enough.

ABOVE:  I know it's just hills, but I liked them. They were just before you get to Waiouru. 

ABOVE:  Mount Ruapehu looked gorgeous this afternoon.

And that is our day.  I'm signing off now.  I've got washing to put on, hang out, unpacking to do etc etc.

WELLINGTON HERE WE COME

 

We are off to windy Wellington today.

We decided to pop on down and take a dear friend of ours out to lunch.  She has been semi housebound for a LONG time due to illness, so I'm sure she will enjoy going out with us.  We are riveting company after all!  *snort*

Wellington is supposed to get VERY WINDY this morning, and wet in the afternoon.

So that should be fun.  Nothing new for Wellington.

I am hoping we get to drive around the coast road too, as I love seeing the sea all rough and stormy.

We are hoping to get away around 8-9 am, so that we have time to pop into Foxton's fabric shop on the way down.

IF we get time, we might be able to stop in at Waikanae on the way back as well, apparently there's a fabric shop there worth visiting as well.  It's certainly one I've not been to before.

So, today is going to be lovely.

Seeing KJ and shopping.

Catch ya later.

...

MICHELE W, LOIS, JANENE, ROSE and any other Palmy friends... you are welcome to visit us at Bella Vista this evening! We'd love to see you!! Sandra, Chris and Anne..  you too. 😉

ABOVE: Well that's the Foxton shop done. Such LOVELY ladies in there. I found some gorgeous fabrics, got an awesome discount AND they gave me some free fabric too!

Off to the next one now. 😊😃

ABOVE: Another successful stop. 😊

And now we are off to see KAREN. 

ABOVE: on Transmission Gully heading down towards Wellington. 

ABOVE: Stew has a new friend named Koko. She's beautiful.  We now smell like a dog.

Safely at Karen's having a yak before heading out for lunch.

Lunch with Karen was very nice, and afterwards we went back to her home and chatted for a good while.  She shoo'ed me into her spare bedroom and told me to help myself to fabric!!! So I did.  

ABOVE:  I'm thrilled with my 'bonus' fabrics!  Karen has a much fabric as me!

ABOVE: Us and our dear friend Karen.  We will be back in the New Year, and can catch up again then.

Lovely to see you chick.

I took quite a few 'scenery' photos, but won't post them until tomorrow.  There's enough on here for the day.  *smiles*

We are now just relaxing in our motel unit for the evening, and expecting a girlfriend to visit.  Have not seen Michelle in YEARS!!!  

ABOVE: This is my long time friend Michelle.  I met her at Weight Watchers way, way back in around 2005 ish, here in Palmerston North.

We just had a really good catch up, so nice spending time with her.

I'm sure we will do it again soon.

It's now 8 pm, Stew has gone out to get us something LIGHT for supper, then we will be off to bed.

It's another long day tomorrow, with us spending time with the girlfriends, then Mike and Joyce, before heading home.

So, catch ya tomorrow.

OFF TO PALMERSTON NORTH FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS

Well it's travel day.

We are heading out at around 8.30 am for Palmerston North.

I expect we will make a few stops along the way.

The first one being in Cambridge to drop a gift off to a friend.  Then we will probably not stop again until around Taupo for brunch.

The weather is supposed to be on/off, iffy for rain/sun.  I don't really care, we will be in the car after all eh?

So, until I have something else to yabber on about, catch ya later.

9.04... we are on the road. Weather is lovely right now. Traffic is not too heavy. Feeling great! 

Because we left earlier than anticipated we are no longer stopping in Taupo. We are now going to stop in Taihaphe for lunch and a wander around.  Traffic is now light! 

ABOVE: Lake Taupo is rough today. And its bloody FREEZING. I grabbed some pumice and driftwood... its what I do. Tracking along real good.

ABOVE: it's 12 degrees on the desert road. LOTS of traffic, particularly behind caravans.  To be expected and not bothering us at all.  It's now 11.26 and we are not that far from Waiouru.

12.38 PM. We are at Taihape. Queued to get into a popular café, only to find they didn't have what we wanted, so we wandered over to another café. Now awaiting our Eggs Benedict and some wedges to share. 

ABOVE: 7 outta 10, because the focaccia bread was miserable.   In fact, I'm pretty sure it wasn't focaccia bread at all, just regular buns.

ABOVE: Sadly this gets a 1 outta 10! It was like luke warm milky water. Not nice at all.

Left it there.

We are on the road again. 

2.43 pm and we are safely in Palmerston North.  It was an easy, straighforward trip, no hassles at all.

I got to drive from Hunterville, to give Stew a break.  I got to learn how to use the Cruise Control on his car... it's rather nifty.

Now we will wait for Mike and Joyce to visit, then we will all go off to dinner in town.

10.24 pm, and we have spent the evening with Mike and Joyce.  We enjoyed a very nice dinner then came back to our motel and chatted for a few hours.

We insisted they open their Christmas Presents.

ABOVE: Mike got this gaming mat from Steve, he LOVED IT. Good choice Steve.

ABOVE:  Mike in his Waikato shirt...

ABOVE: And Joyce in some 'lounge pants' we found for her in Australia.

There were other gifts, but I didn't take photos of everything.

I think it's safe to say they like their early Christmas presents.

Now... it's time to go to bed.  We have another day trip to Wellington tomorrow.

So catch ya later.