HAMILTON AGAIN

We bought some new plastic playing cards on the weekend, but I some how or other managed to get two different packs.
So I'm going into Hamilton to switch one set, and have a good long look around that Games shop we found.

I will also be getting a pack of Phase 10... it's such a good game.  I will teach Brylee and Griffin how to play, so we can have 'card night's' here at home too.

ABOVE:  It looks like this.  I can't wait to get our own set.

I don't really have any other plans for the day yet.
I might make one more cushion, and the matching yellow mug rugs.  Oh and I have a couple of runners on the go too.

I'm really enjoying my sewing... it's creative, productive and a 'tidy' hobby to have!   Plus you get to drool over gorgeous fabrics.  lol

OK... I'm off to start the day.  

What's for dinner?  ha ha ha!  

ONWARD...

12.45 pm: well I've had a very good morning.  Got the cards sorted out, and while in that shop I did a bit of Christmas shopping.  It's never too early!

Then I went out to the base and got a couple more things.   Got home a little while ago absolutely STARVING!

Forgot daylight saving has ended, making 'lunchtime' and hour later.  So, I'm having some lunch before doing anything else.

DINNER TONIGHT WILL BE:

ABOVE:  Cute fluffy lamb.  With roast veges.  And gravy. lol

Hee hee... I'm getting quite a few giggles out of your comments today!  I will have to find more delicious things to murder eat.

ABOVE:  You should SMELL it!  Cooked in pure Whitlocks Thick Mint Sauce.  OMG... in a long, slow oven... *drool*

Stew and I are off for a walk in a minute... 8 pm till 9 pm.  I put it up as an EVENT on the FBG page... had about 4 GOING, and 3 Maybe... but by the look of it there MIGHT be one who actually turns up?  I won't bother doing that again.  No one seems to want to walk late at night.

All good... Stew and I will just go on our own from now on.

One FBG lady walked with us tonight.  We did 4.5 kms ... and OMG my lower back nearly killed me!  So unfit.  Need to get walking more!

Time to wind down now and  cool down ... I got all hot and bothered on the walk.

BACK TO WORK FOR STEW...

Stew heads back to work today, along with millions of others.  The kids are 'lucky', they don't have to go back to school till tomorrow.

Today I fully intend making some more cushions.  I got 5 made yesterday, so I was really happy with my efforts.

ABOVE:  There's the cushions I made yesterday.  I am really happy with them all.  The middle two are a bit smaller than the other 3.  They are rather cute.

It will be interesting to see if they get any interest come Sunday.

So, as I said earlier, I am going to suss out more cushions.  I will need to buy more inners and batting soon though.  I might even go into Hamilton to get some today.
Yeah ... that's an idea.

THE ITCH:  still there, but abating I think?  I will give it another day... then if still itchy I will go to the Doctor.

Catch ya later...

ONWARD...

12.03 pm:  Home from Spotlight.  I hate that place.  Seriously hate it.  There seems to be no system when waiting to be served at the fabric counter... people can stand 'over there' while you are in a queue ... and they get served first!

I had two lots of people just rock up and get served, meanwhile I was patiently waiting in a queue... so I ended up getting mad and telling the girl behind the counter that she was serving people who were effectively 'pushing in'... so she finally served me.  Grrrrr.

I wish I had another choice when it comes to Spotlight ... but Cambridge is too small to get one. 

So anyway, I only got what I needed, then came home again.
I'm now going to settle down and make a couple more cushions.

Brylee and Griffin are both out and about. Dude is at school doing Drama class and Brylee is down town with a friend.

So it's quiet.  Blissful.

 ABOVE:  Last night... Stew had very inquisitive company while loading the dishwasher.  I think Denim wanted to jump in there and personally 'clean' the dishes.  lol

ABOVE:  Just made these two cuties.  Sunshine and brightness.  
I might make a couple of matching coasters in the yellow too.  Damn, just realised I forgot the centre button on both those cushions... better go and do that first and foremost, so I don't forget again.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "SEVEN MONTHS": 

Love how you call me an idiot but yet YOU are the uneducated idiot that goes on about loving cows while shoving your beloved cows in your mouth LOL Classic! It's no wonder most of your children have huge issues and unresolved baggage, you did after all raise them mostly by yourself.Apple doesn't fall far from the tree and all that.Nasty, angry old bag! 

JUST FOR YOU ANON:

 ABOVE:  Tonight's dinner will be cute cows....

JUST JOKING...

ABOVE:  It's gunna be fluffy chickens instead. Well... just their legs.

End of the day, had a thoroughly enjoyable Card Night ... got home a bit later than 'usual'.  We played a game called Phase 10, I'd never played it before.  Want to get it now!
I'm now off to bed, 11.33 pm... early for me!

SEVEN MONTHS

Well... 6 months and three weeks till I am friggin 60!

So, that's a goal to aim for... a weight loss goal.
I am going to lose a minimum of 3 kilos A MONTH till my birthday. 

That is totally doable eh?  I just have to pull my finger out and do it.

Yet another 'challenge' for me to fuck up.  But, I can at least try.

I seem to stumble from one attempt to another, year in, year out.  But, weirdly, I never give in totally!

So, today is a new day.  A day to sit down and work out some meal ideas that won't stuff up the long term goal.  Ones that are doable, tasty and not carb/sugar laden.

Sigh.  

And... I saw this on Facebook and it struck a cord:

ABOVE:  I think I will choose.....  the first one.  Cos I've done the third one quite long enough, thank you very much.

I sometimes look at YouTube videos of girls taking pregnancy tests, they are kinda nice when they get a positive.  

 ABOVE:  Yeah, that's mine.

Little story:  Steve's landlord went around to the house, as Steve wanted to talk to him about some repairs he wanted to do to the house, and some landscaping in the yard.

The landlord was thrilled to bits that Steve and Bex want to improve the property.

Steve told him about the tree he had to chop down as it was dead, and dangerous for the kids.

As they walked outside, the landlord said it was perfectly fine... just not his precious apple tree.

As he rounded the corner of the house, he threw his arms up in the air and CRIED ...

"No, no, not my apple tree!"

ABOVE:  YEP, that was the one Steve chopped down!

He was pretty upset apparently, but accepted it as a done deal... he didn't really have much choice!

ABOVE:   I saw this and thought ... yep.  Posted it ... cos I can.

TODAY:  Still Easter.  Still everyone home.  Still have nothing happening... except I really should do some sewing for my market stall... NEXT SUNDAY!
Yikes.  Done nothing new yet.  WILL today.

ONWARD...

ALMOST FORGOT.... but didn't:

ABOVE:  Happy Birthday to our son in law Andrew.  Have an awesome day!

I just posted my first FBG walk in forever ...

ABOVE:  The picture for my walk.  It's going to be on Wednesday night... an hour long walk.  I'm going to drag Stew out with me at least twice a week at 8 pm.  Once the Fat Bottomed Girls and Guys Urban Challenge starts (April 14th), I will do the Urban Challenge walks, but at 8 pm. 

If I feel like it, I will do some during the day as well... as long as it's not hot.

Tentatively feeling positive.

I'm finally sewing again.
AND I just sent Stew down to the Supermarket to buy some steak for dinner.
We don't have red meat very often, so I decided we should have more of it... if only for our iron levels.  lol
I'm not a fan of red meat... but will try to have it twice a week from now on.

Gimme ideas for red meat meals ...

Weirdly, I didn't realise mutton/lamb is considered 'red' meat!  Thanks for the meal ideas girls.  *smiles*

I got a bit done in the sewing room today.  I will show you tomorrow.   For now... it's wind down time, relax in front of the  telly till bedtime.

END OF DAYLIGHT SAVING....BRIGHTEN UP ME DAY

The clocks went BACK last night... end of Daylight saving here.  Can't believe it's freakin' April already.  But thank god, cos it's getting so much cooler now.  I feel like I can breathe again.  Function again.  

While out yesterday, we were in the mall and I decided to get some new earrings... cos I felt like I needed a lift.  Some colour.

ABOVE:  So ... two new pairs of earrings.  

And today, I will dye my hair again... cos the roots are needing a touch up.

AND I might even do me nails too.  A pamper day!

Brylee comes home today ... If she gets home in time she can straighten my hair for me.  Yaaa.  

Stew still has to get the lawns done!  He ran outta time yesterday too.  Something tells me the lawns are NOT a priority.  I don't blame him, there's a lot of lawn here.  But, we love our section, it's just gorgeous.  I never thought I would get so much pleasure from our own garden!

Right, I better get a move on... hair and nails!  Pamper day.

Maybe today my nether regions will finally start to feel better too?  Shit that would be great.

ONWARD...

It looks like Brylee and co might be a bit late arriving.  There's been a nasty accident on the main road they are travelling on, so they are having to try and find a different route to get here.
Easter accidents... there's been quite a few already.  Glad we are not on the road.

I've dyed me hair... it's now yellow!  lol
It tones down over a week or so, so I'm not bothered.
Might do me nails now. 

 ABOVE:  I'm actually really happy with the hair colour!  Not bad for a $10 supermarket dye job!  Such a difference from paying $168 at the salon.

MAGPIE:  This is what I use:

ABOVE:  I wait till it's on sale for $10 at the supermarket too!  It can sting for a minute when first on, but it's never given me a chemical burn.

End of day, dinner tonight was Nacho mince with corn chips and sour cream.  Very yummy.
Time to settle down and watch a TV movie before bed.  STILL itchy, but not as bad.  Fingers crossed tomorrow it finally stops.

MOVED IT AGAIN

Because I wasn't happy with where we had moved the huge garden pot (wasn't safe for small kids), Stew and Griffin moved it again yesterday afternoon while I was in Hamilton getting that little pill.

 ABOVE:  This is where the pot was briefly.  Stew put some transplanted flax plants, the wooden bull rushes and the blue glass pole there instead.  Doesn't it look lovely now?

ABOVE:  It is now set back in a more protected part of the garden, away from where the little kids play.  I'm much happier with it here.  And it is nice and visible too, more so than where it was originally.

So, today Stew will get the lawns mown hopefully.  He kinda ran out of time/energy yesterday afternoon.

I'm not sure what I will get up to.  But, something or nothing, it will be a nice day I'm sure.
I hope you are all having an awesome Easter with family and/or friends.

Talking of Easter...

ABOVE:  I've only had two of them so far!

WELL... this weekend that is.  lol

ABOVE:  Joel, Sofia and Brylee on top of the Kaimai ranges yesterday.  Lovely photo!

ONWARD...

Is there an improvement?  Kinda.  I think it's too early to tell.  But maybe?

Feeling like shit though.  Got a weird headache thing going on.  Heavy over the eyes.  Like I should really just go back to sleep for hours!

But, we are going out instead.  Just into Hamilton to visit Stew's Mum's grave.  She's been gone for 30 years (last Thursday).  After that we will have a nice lunch out before coming home again.

4.01 pm:  An interesting afternoon.
We took the loaner camera back to Snapshot, and I bought a spare battery for my camera.  
I had to use my phone camera while out as my battery was flat.  Derrr.

Lunch.  Decided to try a new place in the Centre Place foodcourt:

 ABOVE:  Stew ordered a chicken burger for me, asked for it to have NO spices as I can't eat anything spicy.  He also got a few pieces of tandoor chicken, and 'normal' chicken.  And some chips.

Review:  I took one small bite of the burger and declared it inedible (for me) as it was hot and spicy!  The tandoori chicken (according to Stew) had a nice taste but the chicken itself was hard and dry.  The 'normal' chicken was spicy and dry too.  Their chips were super thin and cold.

In all, NEVER BUYING ANYTHING FROM THERE AGAIN.  Very disappointing.

Walking back to our car, we passed a 'Games Shop' and Stew said he wouldn't mind going in there one day.  So I said why not now?  So we did.

What a neat shop!  So many games and puzzles and model kits and so on!

 ABOVE:  STEVE... look at all the dice!!!  And that was not all of them.

ABOVE:  We got this cute wee game... Griffin and I played it in the car.. I kept winning, then he won a game too.  Such simple fun.

ABOVE:  I got two new packs of cards, but somehow I managed to take up two different sets, so Stew is going to take them back and exchange one so we have two the same.  Don't know how I managed to do that!  Blonde moment?

ABOVE:  After being in town, we went out to Newstead cemetery and tidied up Stew's parent's grave.  It was a mess.  Hard to believe 30 years have passed since we lost his Mum!

Home now, and we've had too much to eat and are just blobbing out now. 

Dinner will be snacks.  

'Snacks'... included easter eggs, chips and dip!  Totally lost the plot lately, can't even remember what a healthy meal is!
*sigh*
Emotional eating.  Utterly to blame.  Have felt really cranky and annoyed since last weekend.  

And the dreaded 'T' hasn't helped either... I'm hoping that in the next couple of days it will clear up totally.

I'm now watching Coronation Street, it's a 2 hour session tonight. BLISS.

"HAPPY EASTER...AND..." I MADE A BOO BOO

I posted a video of Brylee opening mail this morning.
I have had to delete the post as I unintentionally showed our address!

I will re-do the video... and update in the next hour or two.  

Sorry about that!


ABOVE:  She did it! Finally, Brylee has her license to LEARN TO DRIVE.  About time I say.

It's Easter, and Stew is at work.  He's drowning in work... so is putting a few hours in this morning, and maybe on Monday too.

I will be doing housework as per usual, then maybe some sewing.  I still have to make those cushions!  So slack.


ONWARD...

Bugger.... I don't think the Canesten cream is working on the dreaded 'T'.
There is no improvement at all.  And of course, now it's Easter and if I were to go to the Dr it would cost me at least double the usual cost.  Grrrr.
So, I will give it the third day and see how it is tomorrow.  I don't want to waste money on more over the counter treatments in case it's NOT the dreaded 'T'?
Though, who can mistake THOSE symptoms!

I lay in bed today till 10!  Listening to YouTube videos, music, reading emails and just chillaxing!   I felt really guilty knowing poor Stew was at work on Easter Friday!

But, I will pull me finger out now and blast through some housework. 

 ABOVE:  We got visitors mid afternoon, which was just lovely.  A welcome distraction!
Even better, when they left they took one of our's with them!
Brylee is going to enjoy spending a couple of days with them in the beautiful Bay of Plenty. (Tauranga)

Thanks for offering to have her Martyn and Jacqui!

Once they left, I took the advice of many of you and went into Hamilton and bought this:

ABOVE:  One very expensive pill!  Fingers crossed it works, cos seriously, I am now beyond over the dreaded 'T'!

Watching an old movie on TV tonight, Calendar Girls.  Thoroughly enjoying it too.
Fingers crossed by tomorrow night I will be feeling 100% better.

EWWWWW

Did I tell you I ordered some 'raw wool' on Trademe a few days ago?
I think I did.

Well it arrived this morning.  In a black sack:

ABOVE:  And, it SURE IS RAW!  OMG it stinks so bad.
I swear the sheep wasn't even dagged before they clipped that wool off it.  There's dags, twigs, you name it all through it.
Disgusting.

I'm not impressed.  The person could have made an attempt at sending wool without friggin dags!  

So now I have to go through it all, pull off all the dags and then wash it.  I knew I'd need to wash it of course, but not de-dag it too!

I have to head down to the supermarket to get more laundry detergent... we have run out.  Can't clean it without detergent.  It's going to take me a few days to get it all washed and dry, so I'm going to be busy!

I slept in this morning, hence this late post.  I had a yukky night.  Dealing with the 'T' is a messy business.  Wish I'd asked about the pill option, but didn't know to ask.  Sadly.

It's 8.39 am, and I'm still in me nightie!  I better get my act together.

DOGSTARS:  LOL!  'Dags' are sheep shit stuck to the wool!

Some lovely news, one of my blogger friends just got a new baby granddaughter.  Congratulations Jen and family!

I will certainly try and find some of that Ural Jo, thanks.  I always wear cotton knickers!  Never anything else.  And that was TMI too!  lol

It's rather weird how having a sore ho-ha can slow you down!  I've felt totally 'off' all day.  Still nowhere near all better, that's for sure.

I did get some vacuming done this afternoon, just concentrating on all the edges, behind doors and furniture, you know, all the places kids don't do.

Kills my back though.  But someone has to do it.

Dinner tonight is a humble mince stew, mashed potatoes with cheese, cabbage par cooked, and mixed veges 'n' peas.  Should be nice.  Dinner doesn't have to be fancy to be nice eh?

Well, dinner WAS delicious.  Super tasty mince stew.  The family loved it.
It's now 'wind down' time.  Watching TV.  Mucking around on the computer at the same time... I never do just one thing at a time!

SEVERAL DAYS WITH NO PLANS!

This is bloody rare!

I have literally NOTHING on my calendar for days on end now.  
NOTHING!

That feels really weird.

But ... I should be happy, cos it means no stress.

I can do what I want, when I want.

So, this morning I have my Scentsy girlfriend coming around so I can get a few more scentsy bars.

I use them every single day in the house.

Mostly, I have one on in the garage to mask the doggy smells.  I can't stand dog smell in the house.  Weird, seeing as I have three dogs!

I also have one by the front door and the vaporiser in the bathroom... they get turned on when we have visitors.  

After Roxy has been, I am going to do some hosework, then some craft.  Earrings or sewing.
Not sure which yet, depends on my mood.

And yeah, I have to go into town (Cambridge) at some point too.  A visit to the chemist is necessary.  For the 3rd time ever in my life ... I have the dreaded thrush 'down there'.  Friggin awful.
Last time was about 20 odd years ago!
So I suppose I shouldn't complain.  I know some women get it fairly often!

At least nowdays you can get something over the counter to fix it, instead of having to go to the Dr.

While there, I might just get my blood tests done... they are overdue again.  NOT my fault.  I couldn't get them done while I was having dental treatment... I only have ONE vein that is accessible in my arms, so had to 'save' it for the intravenous sedation.

Shame I won't be able to do the piddle sample though!  It would be 'contaminated' I reckon!

And on that score... TMI?... I am off to start me day.

ONWARD...

11.31 am:  Roxy and her adorable wee baby boy have just been and gone... I've ordered half a dozen more scentsy bars.  

Now it's time to head off and get the freakin' blood tests done, then visit the chemist.  So need to get rid of this hot, burning bloody itch!

11.55 am:  fastest trip out in a while!  Got to the chemist, had a yak and the penny dropped.  I've been on anitbiotics on/off for over 6 weeks with the dental work!  BOOM.  That explains why I got the dreaded 'T' word.

Went to go into the Med Lab for me blood tests, saw EVERY SINGLE CHAIR was full, and left again.  I'm not going to sit and wait for goodness knows how long!

I will go back at the end of the day, when it is bound to be quieter.

So now it's lunchtime and I might just get something to eat.  Russell (son) might be popping in shortly too, which is always nice.  I love that he just pops in.  *smiles*

And just like that... it's now dinnertime and I've just put a bacon and egg pie in the oven.
Should be nice.  Not made one of those in forever.

Not done much today... totally distracted by the 'T'... bloody sore.  Making me crabby.  Doesn't take much nowdays.  Forgot to go back to the lab for blood tests, will have to do it tomorrow now.

slightly frustrated to find there's a pill you can get to fix the dreaded 'T'!  Wish I'd shopped around now.  But, off to bed in a minute and will start the treatment.  Three days ... I can live with that.

TRIM FOR THE DOGS

Today the fluff buckets get a groom.  Both the little girls certainly need it, whereas Coco, not so much.  But ... I booked her in weeks ago, so she's going too.

I get a really good discount for taking all three dogs at the same time, so it is worth it, even when Coco doesn't really need a trim.

We were supposed to be having a SKY technician coming today to 'fix' our Sky ... but rather typically, since ringing on Friday night, our SKY connection has been going fine!  Derrrr.  Makes me wonder if they fixed it remotely?  Either way, it's going ... for now.

I'm going to investigate what we would lose/gain by dropping SKY and picking up Netflix?

Stew HAS TO be able to watch the sport!  I on the other hand, don't really care about the SKY channels anymore, there is bugger all I really watch now.

I will ask Steve next time I see him, he will know all about it.

Now, what else is on today?  NOTHING!
I am hoping most of my felt balls are 100% dry now, so I might have a go at actually linking some together as earrings.
I've been putting it off until I had enough balls made.  

There's enough made to do 3 pairs of earrings I think.  

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  CLEARLY... I have too much time on my hands!
See what I did?  lol

I just got called a Crazy Woman!  Brylee came home and said 'Who puts a skirt on a Tea Pot?"

Well ... obviously me.  I had thought of it ages ago, so an glad I finally did it.

So the dogs look gorgeous.  Coco actually looks no different. The little girls though... nice and short again.

They have been sleeping off the truama of it all since they came home.

They go back in 6 weeks, but not Coco.  Even the groomer agreed she didn't need to.  I'm still getting the 'multi dog' discount though, so that's great.

It's gotten stinking hot this afternoon, I'm sitting in semi darkness in the family room... all the curtains are closed.  It keeps the heat out a little.

DOGSTARS:  just for you:

ABOVE:  All looking gorgeous.  And tired.  *smiles*

Time to start dinner.  Tonight we are having Teriyaki Chicken and rice.

Dinner was so good!  It's been ages since I cooked Teriyaki chicken... it's a family favourite for sure.

I've enjoyed watching some good TV tonight, while doing a jigsaw on my computer.
Nice to chill out after a hot, sticky day.