IT'S NOT DEAD, AND ONE DAY ONLY

 

Do you remember the weird looking, seemingly dead-ish looking tree we have by our garage wall?

ABOVE:  I'm happy to say it is not dead, and has sprung to life.

It's still a fairly ugly tree, but not as bad now it has some leaves.  I'd be tempted to decorate it at Christmas time, but dare not.

Neighbours.  Less said.

ABOVE:  Lacy owned this little red car for exactly ONE DAY!  Then she sold it on, as she knew it wasn't for her.

Too much work needed doing on it, and parts for it are expensive.

She will now STOP being so impulsive, and save up for a decent car.

ABOVE:  My additional 'weapon' against Coco scratching and gnawing herself!  My Nerf Gun works exceptionally well.

I only have to shoot her a few times and she stops scratching.   

Or she slinks off out of my sight to scratch, which I don't mind as much as her scratching right under my nose.

Luckily for her, the 'bullets' don't hurt, just startle her.

I'm going to work on a runner today, and once it is finished, I have another project lined up in Crabby Quarters (aka : the sewing 'room').

FLEAS? OVERFLOWING DRAIN...

 

Two days ago we took Coco's winter coat off.   And as I 100% expected, she immediately started scratching and gnawing herself like MAD.

I am almost totally sure she does NOT have fleas, but she sure in hell is acting like she does.

ABOVE:  See?  She has gnawed herself until she is bleeding.  It is so frustrating seeing her do this to herself.

So just to be sure and cover the bases, I will go out today and buy some flea treatments for her.

I can't give her a bath with flea shampoo now that she has broken skin.  Grrrrr.

The other thing I will do is clean all her bedding, blankets etc.  

The next thing on my list for the day is to go and talk to the maintenance man, 'L'.

When we moved in here, we immediately noticed that the water in the kitchen sink took ages to drain away.  Stew has put Draino down the drain several times, and I've even done boiling water and baking soda... in the hope to clear any blockage.

Now Stew has noticed the outside gully trap is overflowing into the garden.  So, clearly there is a blockage somewhere outside the house.

Luckily, the drains from the bathroom and laundry are not blocked.

Hopefully 'L' can clarify who's responsibility it is to get this fixed.  As the blockage is clearly outside, we think it's probably the village management.  But we will see.

And that is me for now... I'm off to start me day.

I've had a good morning so far.

I got flea treatment for Coco, and it's on her now.

COLLEEN:  Coco is 15.7 years old, and has been prone to itching all her life.  She's been seen by the Vets numerous times, and nothing they have ever given us has stopped her scratching.

We strongly believe it's grass seeds right now, and it's a bit hard to keep a dog off the grass yes?

I am just covering the bases with the flea treatment.

She NEVER stops scratching.  We have changed her diet a few times to no avail either.

At her age I think we/she just have to ride it out.

I have spoken to management here, and L is going to come and check out me gully trap.  After that, we either get a plumber in, or they do.

I'm now about to get on with the washing, vacuuming and so on. What fun.

ABOVE:  11.30 am, and L has been with his trusty HUGE PLUNGER, and unblocked the drain.  Any work outside the house is on the village management, which is good to know going forward.

ABOVE:  It is a glorious day for washing!  Windy with sunshine.  I've got a big load on right now, which will go out shortly.

And then it bloody rained and got them all wet again.  Grrrr.  They are now in the lounge, in me face.

ABOVE:  Before it rained, young 'D' mowed our lawns.  It takes him about 5 minutes, it's so good watching them being done.

I've had a quiet afternoon, with a thumping headache.

I've taken some painkillers, so fingers crossed they kick in at some point.

Right now, I doubt I will be going out to WW this evening... I feel rotten.

I just had my jabby jab, didn't feel a thing.  The trick is to keep the numbing cream on for 3-4 hours... no pain, no stinging, nothing.  I still get a bruise sometimes, but seriously, it's painless.

I think my body has adjusted to twice a week, and now I am starting to feel hungry more often.  I hope I don't have to go to daily at some point to keep the effect up?  I'll wait and see over the next few weeks, then talk to my Dr.

The headache has eased, thank goodness.  I am very happy with my day today.  I got heaps done, ticked off a few things that were bothersome, like the drain.

We just had a toasted sandwich for our dinner, which was bloody yum.  Now, the usual evening lies ahead.  Telly. Feet up. Then bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

HERE WE GO AGAIN, STORMY WEATHER MARKET

 

MEH... I don't feel like today AT.  ALL.

I haven't even bothered to look out the window yet, cos I know it's not going to be good.  Well, if it's not raining yet, it's gunna soon enough.

Khady is still sleeping, we are going to try and leave without waking her up, but yeah, she'll probably wake up.

She's going to be leaving after us, hopefully her trip back to Wanganui is uneventful.  The worst weather is expected to be further south of us, where she's travelling. 

So, we will be heading off soon, into the unknown in a way.  The weather could be atrocious, just horrible, or maybe, just maybe only showers?  Wind will be our biggest problem.  AND lack of customers of course.  Who's going to an outdoor market in pouring rain???

I know I wouldn't.

Once we are on the road, I'll update on what the weather is like 'out there'.

...

ABOVE: Don't be fooled.... it is raining, and there's monster clouds all around us.

That patch of blue sky is getting swallowed up.

ABOVE : Set up is done. There's a few gaps where stall holders have cancelled, but less than I anticipated.  

It's cold, damp and miserable. 

Everyone is feeling the same. Less than thrilled to be here.

It's now 7.35 am, and there's some rain here and there. Mostly spasmodic. 

ABOVE: 9.20... and its now raining properly.  It's coming down sideways, left to Right. So far we are OK. Staying dry.

3 pm, a long 9 hours start to finish.

The first 2.5 hours of the market were SLOW, then after lunch we actually picked up a few GOOD sales!!!

Not normal at all.  Usually everyone makes their sales between 10 am and 12 noon.  Today we made our sales in the last hour of the market!

People were packing up early all around us, and we were making sales.  Weird.

We are very happy to have done fairly well today.  NOT stellar by any means, but not terrible either.

And after the rain first thing, it also cleared up and we had cloud and sunshine till pack up time, when it finally started to rain a bit again.  But not too heavy.

We have just finished unpacking the car, and can finally put our feet up and relax.

And thanks to Steve and Bex giving us one of the cooked chooks from last night, we don't even have to worry about dinner.  Chicken (even just on it's own), will be just fine.

7 pm.... *yawn*... I had a nap!  OMG it was so good.  I was so tired, and went out like a light.  It probably means I might struggle to get to sleep tonight, but I don't care.  I needed it.

Stew enjoyed the time I was out to it, and watched the telly.  I'm sure it was sport, sport and more sport.

And now... I'm going to watch the telly too.  But not freakin sport.  

Catch ya tomorrow.

WHY ARE WE BOTHERING?

 

Really bad weather is predicted for today AND tomorrow, and I'm feeling really crabby.

We have the big Cambridge Church market tomorrow, and I just know if the weather is going to be terrible as predicted, it's going to be a total waste of time.

Yet we will still go, and set up the bare minimum... cos we have our 'space', and we have already paid.  Refunds are not given.

I just hate knowing it's going to be awful.  And wet/windy, both conditions that utterly suck when you have an outdoor stall.

*sigh*, I'm not looking forward to it AT ALL.

Today we will pack the car in readiness.  Then just sit back and wait for Stew's sister, Khady, to visit.  She's staying the night, so our first overnight visitor in fact.  She gets to test drive the sofa bed.

Hopefully it's comfortable.

That's about all I have for now... I'm gunna go and twiddle me thumbs.  

11.24 am, and Lacy has done me a huge favour, and come over to get up in the roof and find spare bedding.

She found it, and now I can make up the sofa bed for Khady tonight.

I'm so relieved I actually kept some spare linen.  I thought I might have given it all away.

ABOVE:  Last night Lacy went and bought a second run-around car.  Now she has two pieces of shit!  And she knows it. lol

Now... it's lunchtime, and Stew is about to make us a sandwich using the left over corned beef I cooked the other day.  After that?

Might go for a wander around the Base.

The bad weather hasn't arrived... YET.  

ABOVE:  Khady duly arrived, and we had time for a good yak before heading over to Steve 'n' Bex's for dinner.

ABOVE: Bex prepared a lovely dinner of chicken and salad stuff to be had on wraps.  It was delicious.  We have brought a cooked chook home for our dinner tomorrow night, and probably for a couple of lunches as well.

ABOVE:  We had a really nice evening, mostly being 'entertained' by Miss Lily.

Lacy arrived in time to see her Aunt Khady as well, which was nice.

ABOVE: Miss Lily DID end up smiling, AFTER I took the photo.  Typical.

It's now 8.25 pm, we are home and have just finished packing the car for market.

We won't be long out of bed tonight.

Catch ya tomorrow.

MORE SHOPPING FOR LIAM

 

The other day I made a big of a boo boo.  I bought a gift for Liam that didn't go down too well with his family... so it's staying here, and today we are taking him shopping again.

No harm done, and he gets to chose again, which I'm sure he will enjoy.  AND he gets to use the first gift whenever he comes over to visit us.

I also want to find new sneakers, which I didn't get yesterday, and a couple of other things.

I saw some 'things' online that caught my eye recently, and I asked Steve if he could make me some.

He has a 3-D Printer, and it took him no time at all to whip them up.

ABOVE:  Scissor holders, in various sizes.  

ABOVE:  I plan on using double sided tape to stick a couple onto the sides of my sewing machine.  That way the scissors are not taking up room on my sewing desk, or falling OFF the sewing desk.

I reckon they will be handy for all sorts of things in the sewing room/house. 

So I need to find some good strong double sided tape today, among other things.

ABOVE: we were woken up by this ... not what we expected at this time of year.  It floated right over our house, quite noisy.

There is very little wind today, so perfect for balloons.

It's now 9.35 and we are heading out soon to pick up the kid and go shopping.

ABOVE: One happy boy. 

After shopping with Liam, we dropped him home and went looking for walking sneakers for me. IF I wanted DUSKY PINK ones, I was in luck. But I couldn't stand the colour, so will wait until new stock arrive in stores. 

We are now having lunch at Robert Harris, where I get my favorite chicken filo and salad.

ABOVE: Thanks for the suggestion Paula, we did end up at Bunnings for the tape.  I'm sure what we have bought will do the job.

ABOVE: Lunch was lovely, I always enjoy the chicken filo with relish.  Stew had some monster sandwich!  

We are home now, and I'm going to take a break before sorting out the runners.

4.45 pm.... finally done with the runners. All ready for Monday.

And, finally watching Coronation Street episodes.

And Stew is in the front room watching rugby.

All is good in the house.

Happy to say I'm all caught up on Coro Street, all me jobs are done for the day and I can relax.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST A BIT FUNNY

 

I have a board thingee by our front door.  I put a message on it, asking for visitors to leave a note if we are not home.

ABOVE: The first one was Brylee and Dom I think.  The second one was a neighbour.

And the third one?  Smart arse ... I may never know who it was.  😖😕

I might 'adjust' my message to "If we are not home, leave a note AND YOUR NAME".  

I wonder if that will help?  lol

ABOVE: The FICKLE plant out the front?  It's new leaf is growing well, and it's getting another one too.  I might just keep neglecting it.  Maybe I was killing it with kindness?

I'm off to The Base today to buy some new walking sneakers and a new bra.  I'm down to two bras, and they don't fit very well now either.  I still want to lose more weight, and hopefully a lot will come off the boobs, but for right NOW, I want a bra that at least holds the bitches UP!  😂😆😏

Once I've got that sorted out, I'll come home and reorganise my market bags.  It's a constant juggling act, keeping the stock in some sort of order.

12.30 pm.  I'm home from shopping.  I got about half on my list ticked off.

Best one?

I did find a bra that will 'do' for now.

I will definitely go to Avokado once I've dropped a bit more weight, thanks for the recommendation girls.

ABOVE:  The difference is modest, but it is a bit better.  Excuse the shirt, I did NOT go out in that!  I just put it on as it shows the difference better.

I'm now going to have my corned beef sandwich for lunch, then binge watch the Coronation Street episodes from this week.

😏Steve just owned up to leaving the note at the front door.  I should have known.

I've had a quiet afternoon.  I took Coco for a long walk around the village, which she loved.

Then I did the dishes and contemplated sorting out the runners.

I decided they can wait till tomorrow, when Stew can help me.

Talking of Stew, he'll be home soon, then I suppose we shall have a quiet evening in.

8.30 pm and we have had a lovely dinner!  Burger Fuel burgers and some chips.  Didn't really need it, but oh so nice for a change.

We are now just watching the TV as per usual.

Catch ya tomorrow.

THE FIRST NEW CHRISTMAS FRIEND THIS YEAR

 

Steve and Bex gave me my first new Christmas Friend for my birthday.

ABOVE: I couldn't think of a name for him. All my Christmas Friends names start with an 'R'.

Then Steve thought of one.

RINNOCHIO.... cos he's got a long pointy nose.

That will do, welcome to the family Rinnochio.

I'm a bit scared to get my Christmas stuff out this year, cos I don't know if they will find places in this little house!  

I suppose I won't know till I get them out, which won't be until the 1st of December.

Rinnochio can stay out ... no point putting him in the attic eh.

Today's plans?  I'm off to be with Emily and Liam for the day. All the schools are closed due to a nationwide strike.  So, I'll just chill out with them, might take them out for lunch.  See how we go.

10.35 am, and I'm watching K Pop Demon Hunters with Liam. 

ABOVE: It's.... interesting.  🤣😅🤣

Shopping with two teenage girls and Liam = expensive.

ABOVE:  I told him he had the cutest little curl sticking out... so I was asked to take a photo so he could see it.   By the time we got home it had been flattened. lol

ABOVE: He was a very happy boy by the time I got them home.  I bought him a noise maker... I don't think Andrew was very impressed.

But who doesn't need a Karaoke machine? Like really!

ABOVE: Emily had a girlfriend over, so I ended up getting clothes for both of them, plus a few other bits 'n' bobs.  That took the LONGEST TIME! lol

It is now 2 pm and I'm home.

Time to let my ears have a rest.

OH I did buy something for myself after all that.  A calendar for next year.  😂😊

I have had a lovely quiet afternoon, just me and Coco curled up on the couch.  I'm going up to the pub a bit later on to pick up the car, visit the kids, then return to the pub.  Stew is already at the pub.

*sigh*

I just ate some ice cream.  It's left overs from my birthday.  I could hear it screaming at me from the freezer.

I only had a spoonful of each flavour.  Should I feel guilty? 

HELL NO.

But I do want it all gone soon, and I don't want any more in the house.

It's too easy to succumb to temptation.

DUCK ISLAND Ice cream... OMG it is AMAZING.

ABOVE:  The 'crew' from over 40 years were all at the pub tonight.  The four blokes who all went to school together, and 3 out of 4 wives too.  We had a really good time tonight, so many laughs.

It's now after 9 pm, and we are home and ready to do the usual... feet up and relax.  I've loaded up on painkillers as the BSA is killing me.  

So there ends our day, catch ya tomorrow.