CUSHION COLOUR? AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAMIEN!

ABOVE: this sort of colourway (?) is what we are leaning towards for the cushions .  I can mix up the brown with the multi coloured fabric.

Or I may find some cushions or covers that I simply love at Harvey Norman's yet... I am just not sure what will 'go' in the room....

Today is young Damien's 7th Birthday, so I do believe we will go to McDonald's for his lunch.  And I may just have to invest in a Birthday Cake for him too!  *smiles*

Either TODAY or TOMORROW (edit: it will be today!) my blog will reach 500,000 views ... so I am going to have a GIVEAWAY on FRIDAY.... the person whose number is selected by random selection will recieve 6 of my Gift Cards.... so keep an eye out!  All  you will have to do is leave a comment on that day.

After being 100% well all year, I have finally sucumbed to a cold and sore throat... ain't nice.  Throat is all croaky and sore... snotty nose.... I'm full of JOY I tell ya!

ABOVE:  The Birthday Boy with a few presents we got him.  

ABOVE: opening fun.  We are off to McDonalds later.. until then I need to get a bit of housework done....

ONWARD...

Tired.  So tired.  Kids all day ... *sigh*... we went to Harvey Norman's where I got 3 cushions worth $210 ($70 each)!  FOR FREE.  I'm not 100% sure if they are going to stay on the couch or not.. will have to see.  I am still going to make the other cushions ... to see how they look.

When I have a spare moment of energy I will take a photo of the new cushions to show  ya. 

After the cushion 'buy' I took the kids to Sylvia Park for lunch... now home and ready to just relax for a wee while.  These 4 kids are so noisy it is driving me ....NUTS.   Ear plugs.. now where might I find some of those eh?  ...

500,000 hits on me blog!  It's happened in just under 4 years of blogging! How cool is that... GIVEAWAY will be on Friday.

ABOVE:  The new cushions... two of the all cream, one of the striped.  Quite like them, not what I had originally in mind, which was for brights.   But I will live with them for a while and see if they grow on me.  Quite a 'grown up' feeling in the lounge now... lol!

I have started another casserole holder, in the blue fabric I got yesterday?  The days are blurring.... anyway ... I digress.... I'm in me sewing room... the 4 kids are in the family room playing... then I hear Brylee going on and on at the boys... who pee'd on the floor?  It was so INTERESTING listening to them 'negotiate' who was going to 'own up'!  I just checked... there is no pee on the floor!  Silly kids! 

Better get dinner started...

I have learnt today:
- Do not decide to move the lounge furniture after you have put the rissoles in the frying pan:

Because this is what happens!

- The new three seater weighs a ton

- AND I don't think my smoke detectors are working! 

Better get Stew to check them out when he gets home... they SHOULD have gone off with all the smoke in my house!  OOOOPPPS.

End of Day:  and we have all just had chocolate cake, ice cream and custard.... yummm!  Off to have a quiet evening (once the kids are in bed)... nite nite.

25 YEARS AGO...

ABOVE:  25 years ago today I went to a Netball Prizegiving with a girlfreind,  here at the Mercury Bay Rugby Club in Whitianga.  My girlfriend (Jane) introduced me to her team's Coach.... 

ABOVE: inside this building, upstairs... is where I first met Stew.   The first thing I ever said to him was:  "Don't get interested, I'm a solo mother with 4 kids"!  He got interested anyway... and I knew from that first night that he was going to be mine...

ABOVE:  the carpark, where we snogged something rotten in his bloody ugly  orange holden!  lol.

He moved into my bed, I mean home,  10 days later.  We got married about 18 months after that.... I had to get divorced first and ummmm.... give birth to Steve!  LOL.... we rocked up to our Wedding with a 6 week old, and 4 kids aged 4,5,7 and 8! 

NO HONEYMOON... it's a bit hard to book a HONEYMOON Suite with a double bed, 4 singles and a bassinette eh?

Oh well... 25 years later and we are still totally happy and in love with each other.  AWWW......

Today:  well,  I will go out with the kids I expect... anything to keep them happy and occupied.  We don't  have an 'Anniversary' evening planned.... we quite like to stay in and relax by the end of the day.  Boring old farts we are!  I might be 'nice' to him later.... ha ha ha!

We went out to Spotlight in Panmure... such a lovely shop...so much nicer than the one in Manukau... I was looking for some more fabric:

ABOVE:   I found that lovely blue one (bottom right) and was scanning around looking for  something to match it... and Kelly kept suggesting this one and that one.. and I said "HELL no, that is HEINOUS"  and wee Rena heard me and said "PENIS...PENIS"  ... it was rather funny!  I kept saying 'Heinous' just to make her say 'Penis'  .... ha ha ha!

I made the 4 bigger kids sit quietly on the floor while I was in Spotlight, they were so good ...when we stopped at Sylvia Park I got them all a gob-stopper Lollipop.

ABOVE: here is Rena slobbering on her's at home.  She's in her carseat so we don't get lollipop dribble all over the house! 

It's lunchtime now... Kelly has made the kids their sandwiches today.  Nice.  I might just have to keep her on!  lol

End of Day:  Kelly and Rena have gone home... just left with the 4 for the rest of the week.  Stew and I had a nice quiet evening watching some telly... off to bed now.  nite nite.

DUCKS IN A ROW.... LOUNGE SUITE... AND SKY MAN

ABOVE:  ha ha.. it's almost like old times when we had 6 young kids at home!  So cute.  Brings back some memories that does. (some good, some bad... it was HARD bringing up 6 young kids, and I made mistakes along the way, who doesn't?  But I did the best I could, and all of my kids grew up healthy and well cared for.  Some might think there were hard done by, but at the end of the day, I did my best).


Today:  Our new lounge suite arrives!   OMG I can hardly wait.  It's been so very long since we ordered it!
I will show you all once it's in place.

Also today... the SKY man comes to connect SKY to the TV in me sewing room... I can't live without it! 

AND if I get a chance I will go back to Pukekohe for more of the 'Beach Bums' fabric... the Whitianga shop loved those cards!  lol... so  did I!

The colour choices with the new blogger editing suck!  Where are my beautiful blues?   Most of the colours are 'wishy washy' and ikkkk.

I just got a call from the freight company ... my lounge suite will be delivered 'SOMETIME' this afternoon.  Grrrrrr... he would not give me an approximate time, so it could be 12.30pm .... or 5pm for all I know.  I am crabby about that.  And my biggest fear is that it will arrive and be the wrong colour or have something wrong with it!  That would be just my luck.  Not feeling confident.

ABOVE:  a nice photo of Kelly, Rena and the dogs this morning.

I am sloooooowly going mad here... Griffin is really NOT A NICE BOY when he has to share his things... or anything really.  I want to throttle him so badly!  He is really getting up my nose.  I feel like ringing Stew and telling him he has to come home and do SOMETHING with him. 

ABOVE:  yaa, I'm getting the hang of the new blogger editing tools.. my pictures are finally going where I want them!  Above is a spud growing!  I chucked 7 sprouting spuds in the garden a few weeks ago... never expected them to grow.. but they ARE!  Quite chuffed about that.   Maybe, just maybe, I do have a green finger or two? 

Still no sign of the lounge suite.... *sigh*





ABOVE:  Fed, watered.... and now watching a movie.  NO lounge suite obviously.  Rena is asleep so ain't in the picture.  I'm going to cut out another casserole carrier now...

ABOVE:  4pm.... this arrived.

ABOVE: two hot, sweaty blokes in my lounge...

 ABOVE:  Finally!  Tahhhh Daaaaa... we have a new, totally GORGEOUS... worth the wait, only just, lounge suite.  I am going to sit on the green suite and just LOOK at it a while now.   *smiles*

PRETTY......SQEALS OF DELIGHT... AND OFF TO WHITIANGA

The other day I bought a really cute candle holder from the Hospice Shop ($2.50)... 

ABOVE: this is what it looked like.  It had 6 little metal loops around the top where I presume crystals hung.   Hmmmm... I wondered what I could get to hang on them.....

ABOVE:  Solution:  my dingly, dangly, sparkly earrings!  WHOOT... I'm so friggin clever, I surprise myself sometimes!  ha ha ha!

I got a phone call yesterday afternoon... from ROY... such a lovely bloke.... he works at Harvey Norman's.. and he said my LOUNGE SUITE was here in Auckland, and he could deliver it TODAY (sunday)!

I was thrilled to bits.... but had to tell him he would need to deliver it on Monday, as we will not be home today to take delivery of it.

Well... Kelly will be here, but I want to be home when it arrives!

So, it's coming tomorrow!   ****SQEALS****... I can't wait!

Today Stew and I (and maybe Griffin) are heading off to Whitianga to pick up our grandson Joshua and his younger brother Damien.  AND I am delivering the first of 3 orders of my cards to Mosaic... a gift/gallery shop in Whitianga.   Yaaaaa.... money!!!  It will go towards Christmas... that is a load off my mind I can tell you!  'Santa' really struggles sometimes to give to everyone in our family nowdays.   It has GROWN!  

So, once we leave for Whitianga,  my blog will be 'quiet' until we get back late this afternoon.   Miss me won't ya!  lol

ONWARD.... 

We are safely home... we now have 4 kids plus Rena in da house.   Amanda was here when we got home... so that was nice.
The shop LOVED my cards!  What a relief... as they hadn't really specified exactly what they wanted... just "Kiwi-ish, and bright"... lol! 

ABOVE:   We had lunch with Anne, who has a blog too... and has the same daily struggles with weight/family bla bla bla as all of us!  She is lovely and I really enjoyed spending some time with her today.

Really need to go now and make some dinner for the kids.... then a huge coleslaw for us adults as we all need to pull our bloody fingers out and shift some weight!   It is so easy to slip back into bad habits... and Stew and I certainly have!   Friggin carbs are evil.

End of Day:  and we FINALLY started having 'good' meals again!  Meat and coleslaw... NO CARBS.  Had a busy evening... kids finally in bed, hubby in bed... heading there myself shortly.  yaaa. nite nite.

PANIC...WASHING...PEACE?

If you are 84 and can't get your TV to tape Coronation Street, what do ya do?

Yep, ya ring Chris next door... who runs over cos she thinks you've had another stroke!  I nearly had a stroke I tell ya!

Was cute though, I got her TV going and set the tape on... and she was so relieved!   What a cutie she is.

Today:   hopefully a quiet day... cos I am knackered I tell ya! 

The kids are now on holidays for two weeks... and tomorrow we are going to Whitianga to pick up our Grandson Joshua and his brother Damien (not our grandson, but we treat him like he is).. so I really must make the most of today.... even though it won't be 'quiet'.   *sigh*

I have been washing and drying clothes since last night... Brylee brought home a week's worth of dirty clothes, and Griffin had at least a much stuffed under his bed waiting to be washing too!  The little shit.

I'm not very fussed on boys right now... they are grubs.... and Griffin is the biggest one!

Brylee lost 2.5 kilos while on camp... I can see it in her face... really peaky.  She is  back to 26 kilos ... has been for about 3 years now.   Grrrrr.

I'm gunna hide in me sewing room now... for some peace!

How cute is our wee Rena?  Asleep last night.  Awwwww.

I woke up full of ideas for my sewing/craft room.. it's too BLOODY SMALL! 

I am going to steal Griffin's bedroom!

He only sleeps in his room eh?
So... I am moving into it... and he can have the smaller room ... yaaaa.
Stew is THRILLED to bits to be moving furniture AGAIN.   He loves me... lol!

ABOVE: my NEW sewing room!  I have  heaps more room, I'm thrilled...And the move got done so much faster ... Stew and Kelly helped heaps.. in fact they did more than me!  Awesome.

ABOVE:  Griffin's new room... and he's really happy with it.   When we first started moving his things out of his 'old' room I told him he was moving to live with his Aunty Kelly... cos I was sick to death of him making such a mess!  The poor kid believed me!  OH god I'm so awful!  I then had to tell him I loved him to death and would NEVER EVER send him away... he cried !  Awwww.


End of Day:  been freaking busy!  Made a few more cards this afternoon... I want to take a good selection to the Whitianga shop tomorrow!  Got a phone call from a bloke today that made me SQUEAL!  Tell ya about it tomorrow!  nite nite.

BEACH BUMS

ABOVE: So... what do you think of the newest fabric??? I made about 5 cards using it last night, and will show you a bit later... when I get time! Isn't it just fabulous? I just had to get me some. Can you see YOUR bum in that lineup? I know I can... lol!

Today: Griffin to school, then Kelly, Rena and I might just go out for a while... browse some shops.... the mall... whatever. Just do 'chick' type things! lol
Brylee comes home late this afternoon... I am hoping she has had a lovely time... and not been bored, cold and unhappy. Time will tell....
ONWARD...

ABOVE: The cards I made last night. Cute?

OMG!  I haven't blogged ALL day!  Well... we have been busy.  Kelly, Rena and I went out to Penrose ...their  Spotlight to be exact... where I  found some lovely fabric for another of my swap partner's gift.  Then we had morning tea at Sylvia Park ... then stopped in at the Manurewa Hospice Shop to say 'Hi'... came home and had lunch.

Then I proceeded to sew all afternoon...
Brylee arrived back at school at about 5.15... and would you believe it... she had EVERYTHING in her bag that she left with!

Well..... except for 2.5 kilos... she lost it in 5 days on camp.  I expect that will be because they didn't make her eat... she won't if not 'made to'.  She also has a very croaky voice, sore throat apparently.  

BUT on the PLUS side, she had a lovely time by the sound of it.  I am really happy about that.

Stew is out this evening... a 'Managers Only' dinner and whatever.  Pffffffft.  I hate that.  Don't wives/partners matter then???

Dinner tonight is going to be left overs, sandwiches, whatever ... I am not cooking!

End of Day:  and his nibs is still out.. and I'm off to bed... it is, afterall, 11pm.  nite nite.

LOOK WHAT I MADE, THRILLED TO BITS I AM!

Many, many years ago when I was just married (first time around)... I went to an ELMON Party (Linen, Table Ware)... and I bought a thing for transporting hot casserole pots and the like, when you had to 'take a plate' etc.

ABOVE: THIS WAS IT....and I must say, it's lasted a friggin long time!

ABOVE: The carrier with the pot in. So ya get the drift OK? Anyways, I have always wanted to make me own... and as my Aunt up the road made 4 this week I finally decided to give it a go....

ABOVE: And here is my first attempt! Loud and funky... and I'm thrilled to bits with it. Someone will get it for Xmas I'm sure! I'm going to make more too... cos they are super cool and handy things to have.

TODAY: Griffin has his Speld lesson.... so I really won't get much done this morning... sitting in the car an all!

This afternoon I have to get out the Porta-cot as Kelly is visiting with Rena for a few days.

So... that's all for now....

ONWARD...While Griffin was having his lesson today I drove to Pukekohe and had a look in the fabric shop there. I found these two new fabrics:

Which I will use on cards. I also found another piece, but I'm going to 'save' that one for tomorrow to show you, when I might have made a card or two with it by then. It's SO FUNNY!

Still having totally crap weather, torrential rain and horrible winds. *sigh*..... totally over it now. Just want a fine day or two in a row.

I have made two more of the Casserole Carriers today... but I can't show you as they are for a swap group I'm in!

Kelly and Rena has just arrived ... so I better get off here and be CHARMING and POLITE and talk to them eh? lol

End of Day: well I spent the evening making some more cards using the newest fabric. Kelly also made a couple of cards... I think she had fun! Time for bed... nite nite.

HOSPICE ON A NEW PERMANENT DAY

ABOVE: just to remind myself (and you) what the lounge suite looks like! I am sure when we get it the wait will have been worth it... right? It's not in that colour though...

Today I start working at the Hospice Shop on a Permanent basis, with my own 'shift'... the friday's were only temporary until she could find a 'space' for me. So now.. every Wednesday I shall be at the shop. Yaaaa. I much prefer Wednesday to Friday. By Friday I am usually ready to just have a slow day.

I love being there, mixing with other people.... some of our customers are right characters! It IS South Auckland afterall! lol

ONWARD...

MARY H: shit ! good point. I will make Stew ring them today to find out. NO WAY are we gunna pay more for it because THEY deliver it 4 weeks late!!!

As Stew is in a meeting all day today, I rang Harvey Norman's myself. 'Shelly' was away today.... so a nice chap named Roy talked to me. He was ever so apologetic, I liked him actually. He has told me to go and see him as soon as our lounge suite arrives as he is giving me a Gift Voucher for our troubles. How nice.

Work today: interesting and smelly. The lady I am paired with at the counter has an 'odour' problem... she keeps dropping horrendous farts (silently)...OMG! She stinks out the whole shop.... I had to keep going out the back for some fresh air or I was gunna throw up! AWFUL I tell ya! And yaaaaaa... I am working with her every Wednesday from now on. I hope my stomach hardens up, or I lose my sense of smell.... either would be good. lol

ABOVE: a few baby things from the shop... all new except for the suit... but it's in lovely condition.

It's HAILING right now... today is a really cold day, we have a nasty blustery wind and it's rained on/off all day. I hope Brylee is warm enough on her camp... poor kids ... they have had dreadful weather so far. Right... time for lunch...

End of Day... and WOW! I haven't been on here all afternoon/evening! Odd... but then, I've been busy sewing! I'll show ya all tomorrow what I did. nite nite.

I LIVE IN HOPE.... BEING OPTIMISTIC

Our old 'main' lounge suite is in the garage awaiting pick up by it's new owners (Amanda and Andrew)... I am expecting Andrew sometime today.
In the meantime, I shall just look at the naked floor, and perhaps vacum it. lol

I was told 3 weeks ago that our new lounge suite would be here by 'about' Wednesday. The boat bringing it into the country was supposed to dock in Tauranga last friday. Hmmmm. A container ship lost a man overboard last week, and was spending several days looking for him... and THAT boat was supposed to be docking in Tauranga last friday too. JUST MY LUCK IT WAS THE BOAT WITH OUR LOUNGE SUITE ON IT. BUT, I am going to be OPTIMISTIC and believe that my lounge suite will be here tomorrow!

Oh and yes, it was very sad that a man was lost overboard... I get that... I do indeed. It wasn't his fault IF my lounge suite was on his ship. And NO, they did not find him.

Today, I will stay home until Andrew comes and gets the suite. Then I will pop out for a few things... post some cards to Sue in USA.... bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

I rang Harvey Norman... was told 'Shelly' would ring me back asap to let me know when the lounge suite would arrive. She didn't.

I rang back 3 hours later to be told 'Shelly' was OUT... could he help me? I explained ... and was told "Oh so sorry... it could still be two weeks until we get it"! What the Fuck! If I had been told from the word 'GO' that it would take almost 5 months to arrive I would have bought from a local supplier! I am HOPPING MAD now. 'Shelly' better ring me back or else! Well... I don't know what else really.... we have no choice but to wait I suppose.

Andrew arrived at lunchtime and duly took away our suite. I am going to move the two green leather recliner chairs into the lounge from the family room in the meantime, so I won't have to sit on the floor! lol... as if!

MARTINE: Answers.. The dogs are fine in their cones. Still trying to scratch. But not hurting themselves anymore. And my sewing machine is going just fine right now...TOUCH WOOD! I've been doing a good deal of sewing and it really has been good to me! Wonders will never cease.

The afternoon has flown by, I've been sewing... got carried away and have just realised that it's 1/4 to 6! Shit, I had chicken out for dinner... we will now be having that tomorrow! Tonight.... fish 'n' chips.

OH and it is sooooo bloody quiet here without Brylee! Griffin has no one to argue with, she's not here to niggle him... it's BLISS! Better enjoy it while it lasts.

End of Day: another lovely evening... watching the telly, doing diddly squat. nite nite.

CONE HEADS... POOR BUGGERS

I have learnt a lot in the past few days....

1. Teddy probably does NOT have food/environmental allergies
2. Teddy does not need to be on steroids at all
3. Both my dogs are allergic to fleas
4. Both my dogs are 'pick-nows'!

They HAD fleas. They both gnawed themselves silly until they were bleeding.
They would not stop!
So... they both have cones on their heads until the flea treatment I gave them works.
I got a new one... similar to Sentinel... which we can't get here.... the one I got them is called Comfortis, it's a pill they take once a month and it kills fleas, prevents fleas and helps with flea allergy dermatitis, which I believe BOTH my dogs have.
It will be WONDERFUL if it works.

They both HATE wearing cones. We hate seeing them in a cone. But hopefully in a week or so their sore areas will have healed enough for me to take them off...permanently!

Today: Patchwork class. Then housework. Then who knows?

ABOVE: an awesome photo I took last night on our way home from Hamilton.... been seeing skies like this for FAR TOO LONG, even though it's pretty.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: a snippet of my newest project. I wanted to take a break from the baby quilts/pictures and work on something else. I can't show you any more than this cos it's for a swap I'm in. Hopefully it comes out lovely!

Class today was lovely (again)... I enjoyed just sewing away and ocassionally having a yak.

Need to go have lunch now... I am starving! Felt hungry all morning in fact. Maybe some days I would benefit from having breakfast! LOL...

OH... Stew took Brylee to school at 6.30am this morning... as they were leaving on the bus at 7. She cried. Yikes. I hope she has settled down now and is thoroughly enjoying herself. 5 whole days without her! Dare I say it will be QUIET here? ha ha ha... cos it will be!

I was waiting for Griffin to come home from school (on his own) and he was late... so I started to panic, and literally ran up to the school... to find him wandering home.. he had lost his shoes AGAIN.... and had to look for them... he found them, but this meant he was running late. I was so cross! I hate it when a kid is late and I end up panicking. Grrrr.

Anyway, all's good.. it's been an INCREDIBLY QUIET afternoon! No 'motor mouth' ... amazing. The 'men' are eating dinner. .. pork chops and veges and I'm going to do a grocery shop.

End of Day: shopping done. Much easier to get around the supermarket late at night! But a lot of the shelves were empty. Can't win. Stew is now putting it all away... yaaaa. nite nite.

NEW NECKLACE...

ABOVE: here's me wearing my gorgeous new necklace! It is a PERFECT match with my earrings! I am in love with it! I can see me wearing it EVERY DAY.

Today we are going to Hamilton to see our Grandson Joel (oh yeah, AND his family)... cos it's his birthday, he is 6. Hopefully we will see Kelly and family too.

And here's hoping it isn't a dreadful wet day.

ABOVE: Jackie baking in my kitchen last night.. it was weird having someone else cooking in my kitchen! But...

ABOVE: ... the dessert she made was super yummy. Her hubby, Stew and I all had seconds.... poor Jackie wanted more too... but she was too late. lol

Our trip to Hamilton went well. It was a crap weather day as we expected... rain on/off all day... and when it did rain... it absolutely pissed down! Torrential!

I got a couple of photos of the flooded Waikato River:

ABOVE: The river is SUPPOSED to be beyond those trees in the distance!

ABOVE: Amanda eating cake. I did take some photos of the birthday boy and his mates.... but they all came out blurry... the little shits kept moving! Oh well, next time.
My daughters loved my new necklace too... Amanda tried to pinch it... nah aaa... ain't gunna happen!

End of Day: time to have dinner then pack Brylee's bags for her school trip tomorrow! Sheesh, I hope the weather picks up for them. It sure won't be much fun if it rains all the time. nite nite.

QUILTED GIRAFFE

ABOVE: Last night's effort... which took me from about 9pm till after midnight! I got the batting and backing on... then 'quilted' all around the edges of the giraffe and butterful... then around the inner shapes... did some 'squiggly' lines on the white and TA Daaa... I think it's ready for the binding. This one is going to be a wall hanging.... and is going to a dear friend's daughter in the USA.

'MJ' is having a baby girl in December, so it will be for her wee daughter. I hope they like it.. I'm told Giraffes are a favourite with them.

We had a wild stormy night... but it didn't keep me awake once I got to sleep!

Today: grocery shopping... tidy house... entertain dinner guests. Think I will cook a roast of Pork.... with apple sauce (out of a tin people!) ... lol.

ONWARD...

I woke up this morning feeling like shit. Sore throat, nagging headache... oh yaaa. We went out to Sylvia Park for lunch and a few bits and bobs for tonight.... came home to find this in my letterbox:

ABOVE: an incredibly beautiful necklace from Christy in Australia! How pretty is that! I sent Christy some baby booties for her new baby boy (Corbin), who is due in a little under 2 weeks.... and I sooooo did not expect anything in return! But... it is beautiful and I am sure I will wear it LOTS and LOTS! THANK YOU so much Christy!

Now that I'm home again I am going to just relax for a while and hope the pills I have just taken kick in and I feel better in time for our dinner tonight.

End of Day: our visitors arrived, we had a lovely evening... Jackie baked dessert! We had expected her to arrive with something from the shop, but no! She baked a chocolate self-saucing dessert and it was delcious... just the smell of it cooking was devine! I should cook more desserts! Or not. lol

Time to have some quiet time now, visitors have just left, kids have just gone to bed... nite nite.

TAKING THAT FREAKING CAKE TO WORK

I'm off to the Hospice Shop today.
So is that freaking cake.
It's evil.
I'm evil for baking it... AGAIN.

But it's sooooo nice.

I'm looking forward to the weekend.
I don't care if it rains non stop all weekend either. I'm tired.
I want to sleep in... and do nothing....
Well.... I suppose I'll have to do the washing.
And pack Brylee's bags.

She's got school camp on Monday. 5 days on some island off Auckland.
I hope she has a great time. It will be the first time EVER she has spent away from us... and not with other family members either! OMG! She is almost 10 and she's never been away without a family member being with her.

Wonder how THAT will go???
Wonder how we will feel???
Will we miss her???
Time will tell! lol

ABOVE: Kawau Island... now I know where it is! lol

ANWAY... back to today. I am counting down the hours till Stew gets home from work. Then we can just chill out and do zip.

OH! Our new lounge suite is supposed to arrive in the country today.... at the Tauranga port to be exact. Wonder if it does??? Fingers crossed we hear something in the next few days. It's been 4 MONTHS since we ordered it.... I've almost forgotten what it looks like.

ONWARD...

Home again... and my evil cake went down a treat! I even managed to feed some to our local member of Paliament, Dr Cam Calder (National MP)! He loved it. He comes into our shop every week for a yak... he's really lovely. Lucky I vote National.. or I'd give him a hard time...lol!
Off to have some lunch now...

We have been expecting a storm to sweep the country... and so far... it has come and gone, come and gone...weird. One hour it's raining and blowing a gale, the next fine and warm again! Right now... the sun is shining, it's blowing a gale, and it's warm, talk about weird weather.

Here's hoping it's all gone by monday so Brylee and her school group can have a nice week.

End of Day: and it's the usual friday night here.. he's watching rugby, I'm sewing, B & G are fighting over something or other. Grrrrr. It's very stormy outside, thunder and lightening, hail... wind... love it! nite nite.

DON'T RING, DON'T KNOCK.... AND DON'T TEXT either.

WHY THE HELL.... is it that 99% of the time when the phone goes, or someone knocks at your door... THEY ONLY WANT YOUR MONEY?

Whether it's for a charity or to (SO THEY SAY) save me money... they really just want your money!

I am totally at the end of my wick with it. Twice yesterday I had people knock on my door (which incidentally, sets the dogs barking their friggin heads off) ... and once I get to the door, unlock it and open it I am already annoyed... to find some bloody salesperson there wanting to sell me something! FAR OUT! I am not even polite anymore, it's beyond a joke!

And let's not even go with the phone! I answer the phone now and say "What are you trying to sell me"? if I don't know who it is! And let me tell you, some of them are freaking liars... they say "OH NO" I'm not trying to sell you anything! Then launch into their spiel about how their "this, that and the other thing" can HELP ME so much! Pfffffft. One guy keeps ringing me... like every other week, to see if I am interested NOW? I could throttle him. He's a right prick.

Grrrrrrr..... rant over.

ABOVE: Been ignored lately? Have I not been answering your texts? Might be cos I got a new mobile phone number. Cos I really, really want to get NO MORE NASTY TEXTS. Some people can be so nice one day... then really horrid the next. over it.

Today: well at least I won't be home for a good chunk of this morning and midday! Taking Griffin to his Speld Lesson. Yaaaaa.
ONWARD...

I almost took a photo of our sky yesterday... as it was a really lovely sunny day! Today? Pissing down with rain and cold again. *sigh*... and we are in for more rain and gale force winds .... I AM SICK TO DEATH of all this rain.

I'm having a right moan of a day, can ya tell? To cap it off... Griffin's new school shoes have been lost... (stolen) ...at school. I say stolen as they cannot be found, and I have searched let me assure you!

I had another look around the school later on this morning.. and found the blasted shoes! Yaaaa.... that was a relief.

Griffin went to his lesson, I sat in the car and made dots.... and since coming home I've done... NOTHING! I'm just not in the mood to do anything. Crabby.

Don't ya just love days like that? Hard to find anything to be happy about. I suppose I should get on with making something for dinner....

Thank You Jackie... I have just done that! I registered me and Stew on the 'Do Not Call' list with the Marketing Association. Hopefully I won't get so many time wasting, god-damn annoying phone calls now.

ABOVE: COMFORT. FOOD. there is nothing else to say.

End of Day: that gawd today is nearly over... and I hope I wake up tomorrow in a better mood. nite nite.

STAY HOME DAY

First off... I get to stay home today, which is great as I am tired as.
I stayed up last night until almost 1 am in the morning.
I got carried away punching out teeny tiny dots for card making. I must show you later... you are not going to believe how tiny they are!


ABOVE: tiny dots!

Poor Teddy is back in the cone... he has worried two areas on his rump... and while he doesn't have fleas NOW, he will just keep on nibbling and licking these areas and they will just get worse and worse. ( and YES Nola, I did do their bedding too, so NO, you can't have him!) Teddy is like our son Russell.. who used to pick scabs and just make them worse as a kid. I called him 'Pick-now'.. lol. Funny the things you remember eh?

I managed to get a border on that first baby quilt last night too... so it's pretty much the size I want... so the next step will be getting the batting for it and backing fabric, then I can join them all together then move on to quilting it. That should be fun... I have hardly done any quilting at all.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: see how I used the dots?

ABOVE: a 'close up' ... lol!

So I thought today I would do some blog reading.... but I started looking for something... and have spent most of this morning doing 'tidy up' around the house! It's one of the things I do very well... and like to keep on top of. So... I'll get back to it ....

ABOVE: The punch I use to get the tiny dots! It really hurts your hand after a while!

***Heartfelt Sympathy to a friend and blogger down in Palmerston North, Anne... who lost her husband Peter to cancer in the wee hours of this morning. Thinking of you Anne. (Anne is a private blogger)

I am stocked with myself! Why? Cos I remembered to take Brylee to her 3-monthly Orthodontist appointment this afternoon! First time I've remembered without being rung up and asked where we were in a while! LOL... I forget so easily .. .. Brylee has to go EVERY three months for the next 3 years... and then she will be getting BRACES, and it will be another 2-3 years of going there for that! Far out, I'm thrilled. Can ya tell? *sigh*

End of Day: and I finally got around to reading a few blogs tonight while sitting in the lounge with me feet up! It was so nice too. Even though my wee laptop is so much slower than my PC, I still managed to read and comment on about 100 blogs in 4 hours! nite nite.