DAY TRIP IN THE RAIN

 We have decided to go on a little day trip today.

Possibly Raglan or Thames.  

And today I will be having my one and only 'cheat' meal in over two weeks.   

OMG I am so looking forward to it.  I will still be careful, and mindful of what I'm eating, but it won't be just fruit, or a salad, or an Optifast.

It is probably going to rain today, so there might not be a walk on the beach, but it will still be lovely I'm sure.

It will also be a day I don't do any sewing, cos I really want a break from Crabby Quarters.  I may love sewing, but NOT every single day.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: well it's not the beach!

We have ended up at Lake Ohakuri, my favourite lake in the North Island. My home during my mid to late teens was just up the road from here.

It's been a lovely litle trip down here today.

We are now heading home, with a stop in Tirau for the much anticipated lunch.

ABOVE: Seems we stopped for some shopping.  Got a Christmas present for someone. Tick tick.

3.05 pm.

We are home again.

Photos of our little trip:

ABOVE: Looking down on Ohakuri Dam.  The water looks gorgeous.

ABOVE:  Ohakuri Dam was opened in 1961, and my Grandfather (Paternal side) most likely worked on it as a civil engineer.

ABOVE:  Lake Ohakuri, where I first learnt to water ski.  I love this lake.

After visiting the lake, we headed back to Tirau for lunch at The Cabbage Tree Cafe.

ABOVE:  Stew had their 'Big Breakfast', and I can honestly say I've never seen such an AMAZING breakfast!  It had everything and MORE.  He thoroughly enjoyed it.  I was a little bit envious, but knew there was no way I could eat all that.

ABOVE:  After dreaming of having a 'naughty-ish' meal, I ended up having a Lamb Salad, which was pretty much exactly what I would have had at home.  lol

It was very nice though.

ABOVE:  Stew placing our newest rock, my Lake Ohakuri rock.  

ABOVE:  Our newest piece of Polish Pottery, bought from Notting Hill gift shop in Tirau.

ABOVE:  And our latest 'house'... a lovely lighthouse. 

I'm running out of room for houses!  

NAH, I'll always find room. 😂😅

Last photo of the day...

ABOVE:  The main reason for heading down south... to view my parent's 'new' headstone.  It now includes my Mum's details.

There is more on it... but that is for others to see if a few days time. 

Stew and I are now enjoying the remainder of this Sunday, snug and warm inside.

8.445 pm, and we are winding down for the day.  Stew is off to bed early, poor bugger has work in the morning.

Me?   I will stay up a bit longer, as I'm a night owl.  If I go to bed too early, I'm wide awake in the middle of the night.  NOT fun.

Catch ya tomorrow.

TAMAHERE IN AUGUST

 

Here we go again... another market in iffy weather.

At least we do know that at Tamahere the people still come, rain or shine.

I'm hoping to get a chance to talk to a fellow stall holder, 'M', who has been on WEGOVY for some months now.  I want to pick his brains, primarily to find out how long it took for him to notice the positive effects of the drug?  Like, how long it takes to kill your 'hunger signals' and feeling full on less?

He's done so well on it, so I'm hoping he can give me some real life tips.  

Today is the first time in months I will have Fish Runners on our stall.  I wonder how they will go?

Right, time to go.... catch ya later.

ONWARD... 

ABOVE: We woke so early we ended up at market just after 6am. So it was pitch black for a while.

ABOVE: That is Butch, a fellow stall holder. We've known him for years . He's a real hard case, nice guy.

ABOVE: 7.35 am, and we are all ready. The weather is holding...

Bring on the shoppers. 

ABOVE: A few other stalls that we love. 

ABOVE: Another one.

ABOVE: The outside 'side', which is our BONUS space at this market. 

ABOVE: That's Carl, he sells soaps, and his Mum Margaret sells Venison Salami. We just bought some of her salami, its delicious. 

THE SUN IS OUT!!!!

ABOVE: This lady was walking by and I spied the bag she had on her shoulder... one of mine. I grabbed a photo... she said she uses her bag all the time and loves it. 

The market is not as busy as last month, but steady.

ABOVE: Looking at that! Two small BRITTO items for $1.50.  Grabbed them the minute I saw them. 

As for the market, its almost dead, with an hour to go.

It's been a disappointing day for everyone here today. 

2.10 pm, and we are home.  Although it wasn't a fantastic day sales wise, we did make some sales, and it's always nice catching up with everyone at market.

ABOVE: We are now taking a minute to just relax, before doing a small grocery shop.  My Optifast today has a tamarillo and berries whizzed into it.  Very nice.

Like a fruit smoothie, something I'm not used to, but am enjoying.  As I've said before, it makes the Optifast palatable.  Without the fruit?  It's DISGUSTING. 😂😖

6.50 pm, and here we are.  Parked in front of the telly on a Saturday night... like Darby and Joan.  Just two old farts now.  lol

Time to sign off for the day.

We were so lucky with the weather today!  It clouded over late this afternoon, so I fully expect it to rain at some point this evening, or tomorrow.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FRIDAY PREP

 

Well, today I need to finish that Fish Runner, as we have market tomorrow.

I'm also going to go through the runner bags, and add the latest runners.  And double check everything we will need and so on.  The weather is looking very IFFY. Dammit.

I've got a few photos of Miss Lily ...

ABOVE: Lily at gymnastics, just having a blast.

ABOVE: And enjoying the lamb that came to Playcentre the other day.   I think she was trying to lift it up!  So cute.

ABOVE: And here she is playing with Lacy somewhere?  Not sure where .  She is an 'on the go' toddler for sure.  Seriously, she is never still.

Last night Dante, Archer and her were running around the house non stop!  I got exhausted just watching them.

Right, time get get a move on... that runner won't finish itself.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  10.30 and there's another one done.

I am going to make one more for now ... and then see how they go.  It's been really neat using different fish, change is as good as a cure.

I'm now going to wander down to the craft room and see if anyone is there?  Sometimes Loretta is there, so I might keep her company for a while if she's there.

It's Friday!  Weigh Day, now that I'm only weighing once a week.  And this week I lost .900 grams.  BUT... over the past two weeks I have lost 3.6 kilos, so I'm happy enough with that.

I am hoping for a 1 kg loss most weeks, sometimes it might be less, sometimes it might be more.  But I really want A LOSS every week.

Weighing daily did not work for me due to the daily fluctuations... and how they made me feel.  So stuff that!  lol

6.10 pm, and this afternoon I spent a bit of time making a tentative start on the next Fish Runner.

Then I had a nana nap!  Bliss.

Stew is now home, and we just finished loading the car in readiness for tomorrow's market.

The weather is looking iffy tomorrow, so who knows how it will go.  But we will never miss a Tamahere market if we can help it, so we are going. 

Time to sign off for the day, nothing else is likely to happen today.

Catch ya tomorrow.

COFFEE & CHAT

 

We have been here for almost 15 months, and I can now say I feel really integrated into this community.

This week I've been involved with something or other here in our village every day.

And today is no exception.

I'm off to Coffee & Chat this morning, and then I will be taking a few clothes I no longer want down to the 'Recycling Room'. That is where you can drop off unwanted items, and go through what's there, and take whatever you want.

It's a great new facility, recently set up by one of our residents.  Anything not taken after a certain period of time will be given to a charity shop.

After that I will come home and continue working on the fish runner.  I would like to think I'll get it finished today.

ONWARD...

12.15 pm.  Morning tea was interesting.  It is amazing how many of us girls have struggled with our weight!  The conversation turned to that issue because a couple of ladies noticed I wasn't eating any of the biscuits, and I explained how I was on a diet.

So some interesting conversations were had.  Now they are all going to be watching me!  Wonderful, let's add to the pressure for this to work!  Though, it will work, cos my motivation has not been this good in years.

I just had a lettuce salad, with a beef rissole and some cheese.  It was so yum.  Any food is yum right now of course.

I'm trying to do day on/day off with the Optifast and salads.  Seems to be working so far.

I'm taking a bit of time out now, before heading into Crabby Quarters to sew.

ABOVE: Today's salad:  Lettuce, carrot, 1 chopped up rissole, 3 small slices of salami, cheese, and cooked red onion. And a little bit of Lite & Free Honey Mustard Dressing.

ABOVE: The improved fish from yesterday... with luscious lips and eyelashes.  It gives it more character.

I have just finished all the stitching on this runner, and tomorrow I will add the backing fabric and binding.  Then it will be ready for market.

I am taking another break, as I don't want to aggravate my shoulders too much.  My left shoulder is still the worst, but it's settled down a bit.  Not all better, but slightly improved.  I can at least put my bra on without swearing now.  😂😅😖

Hindsight is a bitch, and I am sure we all have moments where we wish we could turn back the clock, and say or do something differently.

I know as I age, those moments come more often for some reason.  Or I am remembering things from ages ago, and going 'Damn!!! Why did I let that happen, do that, say that and so on?"  With age comes wisdom.  And regrets.

I have a deep regret that I didn't stand up to some people and say NO.  This is a recent thing, and it will eat away at me for a while I suspect. 

Just my mind wandering this afternoon.  It happens. *sigh*

8.14 pm, and it's been another lovely day.

I took Stew to the pub, and spent about half an hour with him, our son Steve and our friends, before going over to spend an hour with Bex and the kids.  

Then back to the pub, where I spent a lovely hour having conversations and laughs with the regulars and our friend.

Home now, and all snuggled up, ready to kill the next 2-3 hours in front of the telly.

Catch ya tomorrow.

IT'S DONE

 

I am so happy today.

After several months of hassles and expense (for me), something is finally DONE.

My Dad's headstone was taken from the Tokoroa cemetery a few weeks ago, and had additional inscriptions added, to include my Mum and Sister.

My sister's ashes will be interred with my Dad's next week, and the unveiling of the new headstone will also happen next week. 

I interred some special keepsakes of my Mum a few years ago, so that some of 'her' is there with my Dad as well.

The stonemasons sent me a photo of the new headstone, after it was returned to the cemetery yesterday.  I am very happy with it, it looks FANTASTIC!  It will be nice to see it in person next week. 

It's been a process I hope to never have to do again.  *My name, birth and death dates can be put there as a separate little plaque, when the time comes.  I'm aiming for another 20 years yet!  With any luck.  (Bearing in mind Stew and I will be buried in Hamilton.)

Today.... I will work on Fish Runner #3 (in this run).  I would LOVE to get it finished before the Tamahere Market this coming Saturday.

ONWARD...

11.50 am.  What a lovely morning I have had.  I got up, did the housework then wandered down to the Community Centre for the monthly Residents Morning Tea.  And I sat there and yakked, and didn't eat any of the lovely food on offer.  It wasn't even hard to do.  My resolve is holding so well... I'm really impressed with myself.  😂😅

After morning tea I went out and filled up my car, it was flashing EMPTY.  Then bought some more grapes from the supermarket, they had gone down in price, which was good.  Last week we paid about $19 for a bag full.  Today they were only $9.  I eat grapes when I am craving something sweet.

Which is quite often it would appear.  lol

I'm going to have left over chicken for my lunch, then head into Crabby Quarters to do some work.

It is now 3.45 pm, and I've been sewing for a few hours.  I've had to stop as I'm kinda chilled to the bone.  It's not warm in Crabby Quarters!

I have managed to stitch around three fish...

ABOVE: Those two, and another 'Finley', who I've shown before, so won't bother showing him again.

I have a little seahorse to do next, then it's on to bubbles and weed etc.  I do believe this runner will get finished tomorrow.  Certainly not today.

I am taking a well earned 'get warm again' break!  

Ha!  I just noticed the bottom fish hasn't got it's mouth on yet.  Whoops.  I'll add that tomorrow.

8.10 pm, and another nice day done and dusted.

Not much else is happening around here tonight.

I'll stay up to watch Coronation Street, then off to bed I will go.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FROST DAMAGE

At craft group yesterday, quite a few ladies were saying they had considerable damage done to plants in their gardens due to the very heavy frost we got last week.

Hmmm.  I hadn't even thought of that, so I went outside and checked my gardens:

ABOVE: This plant is completely dead.

ABOVE:  And most of the succulents got burnt, some very badly.  A couple of the smaller one are probably dead.  And almost ALL of my hydrangea cuttings have been killed as well.  That upset me.  I'd spent ages gathering them and looking after them. 😡😖  Now I'll have to start from scratch again.

I never in a million years thought of 'frost protection' for anything.  Live and learn.

Moving on.  Today I am heading down to the craft room again to work on a community project.  There will be several of us ladies (I mean tarts really), all working on the same things.  It's a 'once a year event'.

I'm not sure how long I will be down there, probably till early afternoon.

Reading through the comments from yesterday's post, I have decided to only weigh myself every 3 days (or so).  Daily is just too much of a mind f*#k.  I don't want to be obsessed with a number every freakin' day!

And I will talk to my Doctor next week about how quickly we can possibly increase the WEGOVY dosage.  I'm not a patient person, but if he says I need to follow the freakin' guide lines, then 😣 I suppose I will.

ABOVE:  I stayed up quite late last night working on the next fish runner.  Got two fish ready for stitching.  I'll probably get back to them tomorrow.

ONWARD...

1.30 pm, and we've been working since 9 this morning.  Making reusable sanitary products and bags to put them in for girls in 3rd world countries.

ABOVE: I don't know how much longer we will be.... maybe a couple more hours.

I popped home at lunchtime and put some chicken and veges in the crock pot for dinner tonight.

I'm really looking forward to that.

It is now 3.45 pm, and I've just got home.  I'm knackered and my butt is killing me!  The chair I was using was NOT comfortable for that long a period of time.  1-2 hours .. yep fine.  NOT 6 hours.  Glad that is over for the next year.

The dinner is smelling nice, I am so looking forward to it I tell ya.  I've only had fruit so far today.

I'm a bit cold now, so will turn the heat pump on and snuggle down with my heated throw on ... till I am warm again.

6.35 pm.  I'm all warmed up, my heated throw is a godsend.  Dinner?

DELICIOUS.  Stew and I both really enjoyed it.  First hot meal for me in a long time! There's enough left for my lunch tomorrow.

It's been a busy day, not just in the Craft Room.  Other stuff going on in the background too. 

Catch ya tomorrow.