OUR TRIP TO THE LAKE

Yesterday's trip to the lake couldn't have been nicer.  
I expected the water to be freezing!
It wasn't.
It was very warm in the shallows, and refreshing in the deep... with some, OK... fairly cold currents in places.  But it was BLISS.

I haven't had a swim in a lake, in forever!
We have always swum in the sea... and in the past few years we haven't really enjoyed it at all.

Lake Karapiro is a hydro lake, as in... formed by the Waikato River being dammed. There's lots of hydro lakes along the length of the Waikato River.

ABOVE:  We went swimming at a new place named Waipuke Park.  It's owned by the Waipa Council.  It's got a nice swimming area, parking, playground and toilets.

 ABOVE: The playground is amazing!  It's on the upper 'field'...

 ABOVE: This is the swimming area.  I was really impressed... except the council needs to protect the lake's bank, and make it easier for people to get into the water with some steps or such like.  The lake's bank was crumbling all along the 'beach'... and in places it was quite a drop down.
You can't actually tell in the photo.

 ABOVE:  In the shallows... there is a 'shelf' that slowly gets deeper, then it drops off into quite deep water.  
Can you see the buoy behind the family?  That is the 'boundary' between the swimming area and boating area.

 ABOVE: Looking up river, so pretty.

ABOVE:  Summer is?  Fruju iceblocks after a fantastic day at the 'beach'.
Totally doing that again soon.  

Stew thinks we could even go out in the evening after he gets home from work, while it's still warm enough.  Good idea.

Today everyone is back to work/school/kindy.
I will be getting all the washing done.   Like, masses of towels!

Vacuming. General tidying.  Then sorting out my next sewing project.  I think I will do a UFO.
(UnFinished Object)

OH ... and putting this stuff on the garden:

ABOVE:  Lots of bark that we gathered from under some big trees, down by the Rowing headquarters at Karapiro yesterday!  There was heaps of it!
It's quite thin, but once I break it up into smaller pieces it will be perfect for the garden.  Waste not eh?
We managed to gather 4 bags full in only a few minutes.
I feel very... THRIFTY.  lol

ONWARD...

It was a bit of a surprise looking out the windows this morning.  Raining!  Totally overcast.  No blue sky anywhere.

It's now 11 am and half the sky is blue and half is stormy looking.
Great weather for the weeds!

I've done most of the housework, so can sit and relax for a little while.
I'm watching Home and Away actually!

Once it's finished, I will go into the sewing room and choose a project to work on.

I'm also expecting visitors... another Uncle and Aunty from Tauranga.  They are helping me organise my Mum's 80th Birthday party.

There's still EVERYTHING to get done!

My relatives arrived and we spent a good deal of time going over details for the party.
Once they left I had to ring my Mum and run the ideas by her... cos at the end of the day she had to be happy with the details too.

I now have a clear idea of what I need to do and will be working on that for the next few days.  

The biggest thing is to get a cake maker sorted out pronto!
Our venue is booked, another biggie ticked off.

We went to Mc Donald's for dinner tonight cos I was a tardy tart and forgot to get dinner organised!  Whoops.

Another quiet day in blogland... summertime, everyone is busy.  Or over in the northern hemisphere, winter and everyone is freezing!  *smiles*

Signing off for the day, time to relax.

HAPPINESS

All Stew's hard work.
And our backyard is GORGEOUS...

ABOVE:  We were so lucky that the 'bones' of a fantastic garden were already here when we moved in.  Now that we have put all our own plants/pots/rocks/edges/playground and so on in, it's OUR garden.

So, so proud of it.  I get a really happy feeling when I look at our garden. 

Steve has a couple of hours work left at his mates house, then the day will be his/ours.
I reckon we should go to the lake!  Karapiro.  Take our togs, a picnic and just chill out.  Excellent idea.

ONWARD... 

5.05 pm: FANTASTIC DAY!  We waited till Steve got home from working on his mates fence, then headed out to the lake for a picnic and swim.  (today is a public holiday btw)

We had a really, really lovely time!
It was so nice there, and no crowds either.  I was expecting crowds!

I've taken a mass of photos, but right now I don't have time to upload or post them, we are expecting visitors very soon.

I've only just managed to get everything put away and get some chicken in the oven for dinner...

7.40 pm:  Our visitors have been and gone (My Uncle Charles and his wife Annette), we've eaten dinner and Steve, Bex and the boys have left for home.

So it's back to relative normality around here.
I've got a massive amount of towels to wash now!

Looking forward to a quiet evening.

Some photos of our day:

 ABOVE: Lake Karapiro, down by the rowing base.  This is where most boats get launched too.

 ABOVE:  Our picnic under some big trees.  It was really nice... meatloaf and cheese on buns.
Donuts, banana cake, mandarins and drinks.

 ABOVE:  The family having fun on the new slides.

I've got more photos, but I will post the rest tomorrow.  

EDGING, SO NICE AND TIDY

I LOVE the new garden edging!  It's going to be SO GOOD knowing the damn bark is going to stay on the gardens now!
Even if those bloody chickens come in, I don't think they will be raking the bark off now.

It annoys the hell outta me that we had to spend HUNDREDS of dollars to keep the chickens from messing up our yard.  *sigh*
Moving on...

 ABOVE: Look good eh?  Stew toiled for hours getting it done yesterday.  Today he is doing the lawns. Poor man never gets a rest!

ABOVE:  I finally got my bedroom set finished late last night.  Hand sewing all that binding on took me hours.

Apart from gardening, we don't have any firm plans for the day.  Probably just relax and spend the day with the family.
Might be a bit boring for readers... sorry!

ONWARD...

 TOTALLY AGREE

That's what we have in THIS house.

 ABOVE: Steve built the screen at the end of the deck yesterday, and put two fences/gates at either side of the house.  Today...

 ABOVE:  He's putting a fence across the back boundary.  There is a VERY STEEP drop down to a gully below... a very long way down!  The house owners have an almost 1 year old, so it had to be made safe for her.

ABOVE: The three imps.  Keera is hiding cos she didn't want a photo with Archer, so is Dante... though I think he's picking his nose!  Archer is just happy to be up there with them.  Keera and Dante play together all the time and try to ignore Archer.  Poor kid.  I think S & B need to make a playmate for him!  😛😄

You know what that means.

4 kilos of mince meat, 2.5 kilos of sausage meat, 12 eggs........ what did I just make? 

YEP... MEATLOAF!  Two big ones and one small one.  Any leftovers, and there should be some... will be used for lunch tomorrow.  

Well I don't know why, but tonight's meatloaf wasn't quite like my usual ones.  Might be different mince or sausage meat?  Not sure, but it wasn't quite a good as usual.

But still nice.

The family is watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie... it's PAINFULLY naff.

Off to bed soon... it's so HOT and muggy I can't get comfortable at all.

FAMILY WEEKEND

Ya gotta love all these things you can get off the net eh?  I'm on a roll!

Today, Steve and Bex are due back for the weekend.
Steve is working at a friend's home again this weekend, building a fence.  I might take a before and after photo for ya.

Once this job of Steve's is done, we will probably have to visit them up in Auckland next!
They sure seem to have been here a lot lately!
Not that we mind, it's lovely to know they want to be here!

Kelly and her partner are up in Whitianga this weekend, they went on his motorbike!  Eeeeek!  I hope they travel safely, there's so many people on the road this weekend.  

I almost miss Whitianga, but not enough to go back.  Too many memories, mostly really good ones.  But the last one?  Nah.  The place just makes me sad now.  Maybe one day in the future I will go back and see how it feels?
Enough of that... started to wander off track there!

So... once I've done the washing, I would like to get some sewing done.  Funny how I've said that for what? 2-3 days now, and I've still not got back to it!
Let's see how it goes today!

ONWARD...

ABOVE: This is DIESEL... he is one of Coco's puppies from her second litter.

Diesel got very sick last week. The Vet thought he had pancreitis, but after an ultrasound, he was found to have an 11cm long kebab stick in his stomach! He had surgery yesterday, and last I heard he was doing fairly well.

His family are fundraising to help cover the costs of his treatments... I will post the link here: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/helpmydiesel?_ga=1.158513210.1035469288.1485984836#

Any small amount will help Diesel's family through this tough time. Thank you if you can help our grandpuppy.  If you know anything about Vet bills, they are HUGE!  

ABOVE: I have the BEST husband ever.  Flowers to brighten my day.

 ABOVE:  One happy kid.

ABOVE:  One garden finished.  I went down to the shop and got more edging, so maybe by end of day Stew will have got it all done!   He doesn't want to edge the 'back' garden... cos there's not much bark on it anyway.  We will see. 
I might like it the way it is by the end of the day... or not. If NOT, we can always add more edging later on.  This has been a rather expensive exercise in keeping the bark ON the garden.  Chickens.  Grrrrrr.

So, with Steve's help, Stew got all the edging installed.  It looks neat!
I will show you tomorrow.

We had a nice evening, of course Coronation Street was on, so I was happy.

Bedtime.  

GOOD NEWS

Found out yesterday that Lacy's ex-flatmate finally got arrested for his harassment and threats against Lacy.  About bloody time.
Though I don't think the police would have done anything... UNTIL he made an IMPLIED threat against the kids.

OUR kids.  The bastard.  I hope they throw the book at him.

He's out on bail right now, and goes to court on Tuesday.  Let's hope he stops the nastiness now.

Today?  Coco gets groomed.  I will stay in Hamilton till she's done.  I will probably just go to the mall at the Base and have a wander around.

Once I get home again, I'm taking Keera to the Doctors.  Since her last cold, she been coughing... on and off all day, and also at night. Lacy said she had asthma, so we better get on top of it before winter arrives.

ONWARD...

Well I've had an interesting day so far.
Coco looks gorgeous after her groom.

TRIED to have a nice morning tea with the girls today.  Ha ha... that didn't work.  No point trying to have face to face discussions with them.  No one wants to be honest... well no one except me.  

MOVING ON.

Almost time to go pick up Keera.  She who will one day move on too... and where she moves on to, is up to LACY, and no one else.  And that should have NO BEARING on any other relationships WE have either.  Just saying... seeing as that was brought up today... and immediately regretted and fluffed over.  I noticed, I surely did.

ABOVE:  OK... in this photo... maybe.  But on daily basis, I ain't no fool.  Far from it.
I'm actually REALLY, REALLY angry today.  

But... back to CHOOSING HAPPINESS now.  
Ain't gunna let anyone drag me down anymore.
Thank goodness Stew and I are on the same page, through this life of ours.

Doctor visit was interesting.  Keera has the start of an ear infection, so she's got antibiotics to take, as well as two inhalers to help with her coughing.  Fingers crossed we see a reduction in the coughing soon.

I picked up repeat prescriptions for Stew and I, so came out of there poorer by $99!  Thank goodness we only have to get 9 more prescription items (as a family) before our medications are free again till NEXT February.

We had steady drizzle all morning, and now? Stinking hot and humid... makes cooking dinner tiresome.

I'm doing a hearty beef 'n' tomato stew tonight, to have with some lovely fresh breads.  We have a 'silly bugger' dinner most Friday nights.  Something quick and easy.  End of week and all that jazz.

 ABOVE:  Coco in the front, and Tallulah in the back.  I told Tallulah to bugger off, but she didn't listen. Photo hog.

ABOVE: The three girls.

Dinner was lovely, Coronation Street was riveting... time to end the day, off to bed.

FREE!!!

YES!  All the kids are off to school and kindy today.  It's only a half day for Keera today, so in reality I only get half a day to myself.  In fact it's only 4 hours... but I'll take it!

I will be working on the toppers for my bedroom furniture again today, hopefully I will get them done by the end of the day.

ABOVE: the larger two, for the chest of drawers and my dressing table.  They just need binding put on and they will be finished.

ABOVE:  I love this little whale *smiles*.

ONWARD...

Seriously!  I've spent the past 2 hours just fluffing around the house, tidying, straightening, titivating and moving ornaments!
Kinda like making the house feel like MINE again.
YES... I have to share it with everyone, but just sometimes I like to feel like it's EXACTLY how I want it!

So.  Now I'm happy and can make a start on sewing for the day.  I've got 2 hours till I have to pick up Keera, better make the most of it.

4.25 pm:  And everyone is home again.  Brylee and Griffin both had good days.  Brylee passed NCEA Level 1 it would appear, so she's onto Level 2 this year.  She still isn't sure what direction her life will go in once she leaves school.

Griffin is determined to do well this year and pass Level 1 so he can get into a building apprenticeship next year.  I hope he does it, cos it will be the first step to him becoming an independent person one day.

Keera... well she's working towards getting to school in July!  We will have to give her a big birthday party this year for sure.

Dinner tonight was some ravioli (pre-cooked, just boil for a few minutes) with a cheese and tomato sauce.  I also added onion and bacon.  It was bloody nice.

Watching TV tonight,  no sewing.  Off to bed soon.  

HOW CUTE...

 "Oh LOOK Grandma!  I've got a new friend, can I keep him?"

 "Isn't he so cute Grandma?"
"He's looking at me!"....

..... and then 'he' took flight, and suddenly he wasn't so bloody cute anymore!

"GRANDMA!  Save me!"  She stood rigidly, not moving a muscle...

"Don't move Keera, let me get him off you without killing him ok?"

As soon as I took him off her face she freaked out and cried.  Poor kid, somehow I don't think she's going to be picking up any bugs again.  Well, not a praying mantis I'm sure.  😉  I better show her the photo of the weta and warn her NOT to pick one of them up!

Neither 'big' kid has school today, they both start full days again TOMORROW.  For two days.  Then they get another long weekend, as Monday coming is Waitangi Day.

I'm going to spend some time this morning taking all the stakes OFF the garden edging I bought yesterday.  Then we will be back to square one ... and it can be done 'properly' in the weekend, when Stew and Steve can do it.

I'm retiring from garden projects!  I suck at them.

I'm holding off going back to Aqua fit till next week, when all the kids will be at school and kindy, and I don't have to work around any of them.

AND... it's February!  Bloody hell January went fast.  Better start planning Christmas again.  lol

ONWARD...

So... I get home after dropping Keera at Kindy, and think... hmmm ... might just water the plants in pots by the front door.
Get out the hose and yeah... ended up watering the pots and then cleaning the driveway and front door area.  
Took me an hour!  

Then I come inside and finally take some photos of coasters and 'trivets' for a couple of readers.

I SAY TRIVETS... but now?  They need to be called LARGE and SMALL COASTERS!
I used one yesterday with a very hot copper bottom pot and the damn varnish crackled a bit in places... most upsetting as that hadn't happened when I tested them earlier?

I DID change the varnish I was using early on as what I first got was horribly expensive.  That might be why the new varnish isn't 'right' for them to be 'trivets'.

So.. now they are lovely medium and large sized coasters! Still lovely to have on your bench for putting warm and cold dishes on.

Now I need to figure out how to add a 'Page' to my blog, where I can show all my bits n bobs that are for sale...

WELL!  That wasn't too hard after all.  Now I have a link on my sidebar (at the top) where I will show things I am selling.  For now, it's just the coasters and ink paintings... Whoops!  I haven't added the paintings yet.
Will do that later.

I'm going to be making and selling fabric coasters and some of those BIG bags I made a few years ago too. They were really popular.  

ABOVE:  See?  I called these my 'Cute Bags'... but now I'm gunna call them WIDE OPEN bags... cos they open really wide and are awesome for all sorts of things.  And you don't have to hunt around in your bag looking for 'that thing'... you can see it straight away when you open the bag!

I hope to have a few made and up for sale in the next couple of months.

Before I forget again... HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR GRANDSON LIAM.  I hope you have a wonderful day. XOX

ABOVE: Murphy's Law.  I water the plants and gardens, and now it's going to rain.  Pffffft.

Since lunchtime, I've been sewing.  I've started making the toppers for our bedside drawers, dressing table and chest of drawers.  I've done the two larger ones up to putting binding on.
I will have to make more binding though.

That can be done tomorrow.

It's time for a break... I'm freakin tired!

It's 'takeaway' night, so I'm not cooking.  Stew... take note.

Dinner was good, we opted for burgers, and they tasted just like home made ones.
Winding down... off to bed soon.