DAY TRIPPING

Today I am taking Bex, Brylee and the three little kids on a day trip.

First up we are driving over to Devonport to check out the fabric shop... then a wool shop.

After that... we shall be taking the Devonport ferry over to the city centre and walking up to the Sky Tower and taking the kids up to the top to see Auckland from up high.

I reckon it's going to be an awesome day!

And I hope it's a distracting day because today my Mum is in a Sydney hospitsl for surgery on her back and I'm just a bit worried.

There's a few other things going on with other people in another family circle today too.... so distraction is good all round.

 ABOVE:  Brylee enjoying the concert last night.
She loved it. HEAPS.

ABOVE: Looks like they were pretty close to the front! 

Now... as for how Bex felt about the concert?

This was her face when I asked her how much she enjoyed the concert:

ABOVE : Something tells me she won't be accompanying Brylee to the next one!

FUNNY.

ONWARD...

10.41 am: and so far so good!  Fabric shopping DONE. Bex is off finding a longer time park here in Devonport so we can hop on the ferry to the city.

Right, we are safely home again.
Our day was awesome, and fun, and tiring!

I will show you a few photos tonight, and the rest tomorrow.

 ABOVE:  My fabric purchases... I couldn't spend as much time as I would have liked in the shop due to 'children'... but I did manage to find a few nice pieces.
I can always go back another time so not a problem really.
Cushla's in Devonport is certainly one of my favourite fabric shops!

 ABOVE:  I got this cute little pattern too.

ABOVE:  Next door to Cushla's was a Hospice shop... I found a few handy plastic boxes for the sewing room and a nice Tupperware container too.

ABOVE:  Look how happy wee Archie is to be 'helping' carry Grandma's shopping.

 ABOVE:  Next door to the Hospice Shop... was an art gallery... and I had to go in!  The blue dog!!!!!   Got a 'spare' $27,000 ?
You too can have a huge blue dog if ya do!
It was amazing... if a bit quirky.  Not my cuppa tea really.

 ABOVE: These two were happy to pose with the dog, but Archie was having none of it!

The lady in the shop was just lovely, and perfectly happy that we only came in to look at the dog, and we were allowed to take photos, which is very unusual for a gallery.

 ABOVE: Now while I would NEVER spend that sort of money on a blue dog, these Rhinos would be in my house in a flash if I had a shit load of spare cash in me wallet.  Which I don't, hence they are still in the shop. *sigh*

You really would have to be a millionaire to afford that sort of art work.

 ABOVE:  Excitedly awaiting the ferry...

 ABOVE:   Here it comes.... our's was the ferry on the right.

 ABOVE:  It's docked, and off we go to get on it.

 ABOVE:  Happy, excited kids.  Brylee?  Not so much.  Her and Bex were tired and had sore legs from standing up all night at the concert.

 ABOVE:  Yeah, the back of the ferry.... I love seeing the churning water.

ABOVE:  Coming into Pier 1, Port of Auckland. That weird shaped building is called The Cloud.  It is used for events, and looks amazing at night when it's lit up with coloured lights.

ABOVE:  a few more happy snaps from on the ferry.

My Mum has come through her surgery well by the sound of it. It's early days, she faces a long recovery and rehabilitation period now.  

And that's all I have for now, I'm cold as buggery and want to wrap and and warm up.
Catch you tomorrow with a few more photos.

ALL PACKED AND READY TO GO

Well... Brylee and I are off soon on our two day jaunt up to Auckland.
It's going to be a lovely visit... today is just going to be getting up there, spending time with the kids and the girls going to the 5SOS concert.A

Tomorrow I have an entire day planned with Bex, Brylee and the little kids.

It will involve fabric shopping ... and more.

But for now... we are heading off shortly, hoping the weather holds so we have a pleasant trip up.

Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: Finally in Auckland safely.  Bex is thrilled to bits with a little gift I got for her... a spinning wheel. I got if off an FBG friend who was giving it away... so I snagged it for Bex. Seems I'm now the BEST MOTHER IN LAW EVER. *smiles*

ABOVE: I'm bloody cold! Got THREE blankets and a hot water bottle on me!


6.45 pm and the girls are at the concert. It's not started yet so Bex is hunting Pokemon!  Steve and the kids were doing the same thing here a moment ago too.

ABOVE: Doesn't Bex look EXCITED...lol.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting/busy day for several reasons.
But for now.... it's goodnight from me.

WALKS?

Today marks the start of the 2nd half of the Fat Bottomed Girls Urban Challenge for me, and quite a few others.

There is a walk on at 10 am which I will be going on.

Then there is another one at 1.30 that I'd like to get to as well.

The reason I want to get two done today is because tomorrow Brylee and I are off to Auckland for a couple of days.

Brylee won two tickets to a 5 Seconds of Summer concert, being held tomorrow night.

She is going with Bex. I have ZERO interest in attending a boy band concert!
But, I am looking forward to a trip up to Auckland in my new little car.  It will be interesting to see how much petrol I use.  Probably bugger all, it's really not that far to go after all.

So, later on today I need to pack a bag, and bedding for both of us.  I'm taking a double airbed for myself, and Brylee will be sleeping on the couch.
I'm looking forward to spending a bit of time with the kids, we haven't seen them in three weeks.  

Here's the placemats I made yesterday:

 ABOVE:  I am thrilled to bits with how they came out.  And they are really lovely animal prints.  My favourite is the sheep.  Sadly, they are the only ones I have... there's two of each block, except for the white/black rabbit, there's only one of him.

While I'm up in Auckland I am going over to Devonport to Cushla's Fabrics.  I might get lucky and find some nice animal fabric there?  Ya never know.  I've only been there once in the 2 years since we moved here.

So, certainly time to visit them again.

Right, I better get moving, I've got a walk to get ready for, and some washing to get on ... not that it's going outside anytime soon.  Still raining, miserable and wet.  edit:  It's turned into a glorious day! Sunshine and nothing else.

ONWARD...

12 noon:  First walk done and dusted.  It's not raining today!  In fact it's a glorious day out there, and I got rather HOT on the walk. 
It made me think, do I want to get out there at 1.30 and do another one?

Yeah... I probably will and I will no doubt get all hot and bothered, but it will be worth it.  I know I will feel happy once it's done.

I didn't lose .800 grams this week to crack the 20 kilos.  Grrrrr... but next week I will for sure.
I think I'm holding water again... so will just wait for that 'WHOOSH' to happen again.  Slow and steady is better than the alternative.

ABOVE: This morning's walking group.  It's neat how we mix it up and see different walkers on most walks.  Though there are some girls who can only walk before work or after work walks, so I don't get to see them very often as I tend to do the day walks now.

Let's see who's on this afternoon's walk eh?  I know at least ONE girl from this morning's walk will be there!

 ABOVE:  DONE! Two walks in one day, that might be a first for me?  Can't remember.  But it was good, while it was fine, it wasn't too, too hot.
And there were four of us on this walk who had done this morning's one as well.
And Cleo the dog, she did both too.

ABOVE:  I loved seeing the dear cows, all of them hugely pregnant.  Some were curious cows and came up for a sniff, so cute.

And YES, cute or not, I still eat beef! lol

All up today, I walked 10.3 kms, not a bad effort at all.  Seeing as I will be spending the next two days doing bugger all walking, it was worth doing.

Well another stupid Blood Sugar low this afternoon!  Clearly I'm not eating enough midday to counteract all the activity I'm doing.
*sigh*  I will have to reassess what I'm eating at lunchtime me thinks.

Quiet evening here, as per usual.  Winding down for the day.  Packing for tomorrow.  
Catch ya tomorrow.

NEXT BATCH

So, I finally got my last lot of coasters and mug rugs finished last night:

 ABOVE:  This lot took me a couple of weeks as I was a bit lazy!  I tend to not rush when I know I've got a few weeks till my next market.
There would be a few more in the pile, but I sold 6 coasters to a chick down in Wellington last night. 
They will be heading off to her on Monday.

 ABOVE:  I am not a cat fan, but I do think this fabric is darling.
I've got a few more placemats in this fabric to sew up yet... but they can wait.
I want to do these next:

 ABOVE: Farmyard animals.  I only have about 12 blocks of them, I think they are just gorgeous too.

So, that's what I will probably be doing today.  

Not sure what Stew wants to get up to today?  Maybe a trip into Hamilton?   Who knows.  He's probably told me ... but I forgot.  
Sometimes he talks to me and it goes in one ear and right out the other... selective hearing loss.

I employ that when the kids talk to me too sometimes... they talk too much.  It's all just 'background' noise.  *laughing*

As I'm still in bed... I might just roll over and examine the inside of me eyeballs for a bit longer.  NO rush is there?  It's Sunday after all.

ONWARD... 

5 pm:  and WHOOPS!  I have been so busy sewing ALL DAY... that I forgot to update the blog!  
Sorry girls.
I hadn't even turned the computer on today!

So, I have been sewing:

ABOVE: See that pile on the sewing machine?  Well that's what I've been doing.  They take TIME... time to add the side pieces, time to cut everything out, cut and add the batting, then the backing, turning in the right way, and now all I 'have' to do is the top stitching.

It all takes time.  In fact, quite a bit of time.  I reckon most people look at a hand made placemat and think, simple.  Yeah simple, but time consuming.

Anyway, I'm about an hour or two off finishing them, so I'm happy.

Then I'm going to do a big tidy up in the sewing room before starting on the next lot.

It's been a lovely day in the sewing room. I've watched a couple of Jason Bourne movies, and now I'm watching 'You've Got Mail', one of my favourites... TOM HANKS.  *drool*

Stew had a roast of pork in the oven.  I'm not having any as I had a very late lunch... another seafood salad.  Think I will just keep sewing now till those placemats are done.

Catch ya later.

DONE.  And now ... well tomorrow, I shall be making a few more mice.  Cos they are cute.

Clearly, having a seafood salad for your LATE LUNCH is not enough food for the day.  I just had another nasty blood sugar low.  Grrrrr... they are so horrible.
So, peanut butter and cheese on toast, a hot chocolate drink and I'm all better.  Well I will be once the stupid tingling stops.

And on that note, I'm signing off for the day.

THIS IS TOO... TOO FUNNY

So... yesterday I'm yakking to me Mum ... she lives over in Australia.  
And after a long conversation about this, that and the other thing, she finally says she has a confession to make.

She sounds really hesitant and worried?
My mind is boggling... what the hell is she going to tell me?

WELL! Seems that after me blogging for 12 years, she's finally started reading my blog!
Yep, nothing is secret from her any more.

She was really worried that she was 'going behind my back' by reading the blog and not telling me.  Silly woman!  I don't mind at all.

I might just have to do a wee bit of self moderation though.... ahhhh... NAH!

I know she HATES me swearing... but I told her too bad... if she is going to read my blog, she will just have to put up with the odd swear word... or ten!

ABOVE: This is my MUM... "Hi MUM"!  Don't ya look lovely with your new shopping bag!  Mum is 81, and looks amazing.

See... I can snoop too Mum, though it's thanks to your friend Christina up the road, I pinched that photo off her Facebook!

Mum is having surgery next week on a dicky back... so we can all think of her next week, and hope for a speedy recovery.  Knowing my Mum, she will be hell fire bent and determined to be up and 'skipping' again real soon.

Now, back to mundane things.  Today we are going to get a new light fitting for our ensuite.  The light/heat lamp thingee died.  We have no lights in there now!

I priced them yesterday while I was in Hamilton, so we will get one today.  If Stew can't work out how to install it, we will have to ring an electrician.  

I think Brylee is working a good chunk of today, so it will just be Stew, Griffin and I most of the day.

Griffin needs to vacum and do a few odd jobs for me... must write him a list!

Stew can sort out the light, and then we should go through his clothes too.  Sadly, he doesn't have a suitcase full of smaller clothes to fall back on.

As he got a little 'bonus' from work for his 20 years, he might need to spend that on some new work trousers. 

Me?  Housework.  Washing. School uniforms must be done... but only for another three months!!!!  That is so awesome. 

Oh and I've got another recipe to try.  My niece Christina gave it to me, Coconut flour pancakes.  With Cream Cheese and some other shit in it.  I can't wait to try it.  Maybe for lunch?  With Sugar Free Maple Syrup... I love the stuff.  *drooling*

If they come out lovely, I will post the recipe on here later.. OK MUM?  lol  Too funny knowing I can 'communicate' with me Mum on here now.

ONWARD...

So far the morning is going well.  I've got the washing on.... toned me hair, made the bed, tidied the garage and this:

ABOVE:  Well OK, I've only done one so far!  But I had to show you how well my Skechers  are coming up with that shoe whitening product!

Lesson learnt in this, DON'T soak your sneakers in NAPISAN!  They go yellow!  I was horrified to see how bad they looked after I did that.  Totally unexpected result.

So at the supermarket yesterday I spied that KIWI Whitener and thought it was worth a try.  BOOM!  It works.   So I will now do the other one and wait for them to dry.

Ha ha!  Like anything is going to dry today... it's another foggy, damp day.  

Just had this delivered:

ABOVE:  A smallish, chest freezer.  We sold our small vertical freezer a little while ago as it didn't hold enough, so have replaced it with this one.  Now we should have enough freezer room again.
It's been a right pain not being able to buy extra bread/milk and veges cos we couldn't fit them in anywhere.

We tried the new pancake recipe.  This is how that went... the mixture was SUPER stiff so I added more cream... didn't  make any difference.

First attempt was done in a frying pan, as ya do with pancakes.

 ABOVE:  A bloody disaster!  They didn't spread out or rise, just sat there and burned.  They got tipped down the sink.  Obviously!

So then I thought, let's try the mix in the waffle maker...

ABOVE:  That went better, BUT....  they were DRY DRY DRY.  And tasteless.  And all crumbly.  Stew ate a few and then we tipped the last of the mixture down the sink.

 ABOVE:  I made the first two in the waffle maker, and this was STEW'S attempt!  Obviously he put far too much mixture in... what a dick.

Clearly, I won't be posting the recipe on here, no point endorsing a recipe that sucks!

In the end I had a seafood salad for lunch, which was OK.

The rest of today has been quiet, and productive.  I finished a stack of coasters and placemats.  I will be starting a new stack tomorrow... different fabric this time.  Farm animal placemats I think.

Time to sign off for the day, I'm freezing and want to snuggle up in a blankie and watch some TV.

THREE MONTHS FROM NOW....

This just sunk into my head late last night.

In approximately three months Brylee and Griffin leave school for good.

Which means, after 39 years and ...

- 7 Preschools/kindergartens
- 10 Primary Schools
- 4 Intermediates
and 5 colleges...

WE WILL NO LONGER HAVE ANY KIDS AT SCHOOL!!!

 I couldn't be happier!  This means we will be free of having to work around school timetables, school holidays, reports, fees, exam fees, uniforms .. OMG the list goes on and on.  
The next three months can't go fast enough!

We will be FREE from all that... finally!  Who has to put up with all that for 37 years STRAIGHT?  Not that many families, that's for sure. 

I know Brylee and Griffin are going to be thrilled to bits at the end of the school year, but they won't be as happy as ME.  *smiles*

Today is Friday... and first up for the day I am probably going on another FBG walk!
That will be three in a row (if I do it).  I'm hugely motivated to keep my walking up, it's helping me get so much fitter.  
I'm a bit worried about what I'm going to do over summer, when it's too hot for me to walk.  *frown*

Suppose I will just have to face that when it gets here.  I just hope this coming summer isn't as hot as our last one! 

My new way of eating is lacking in lots of vitamins and minerals... so I thought I should take a multi vitamin.  I had these in the cupboard:

ABOVE:  Only trouble is, I struggle to swallow 'normal' sized pills, so these are impossible!  I cut one in half... and it was REVOLTING to swallow.  The taste stuck with me for ages.  Ikkkk.

So, does anyone know of a GOOD multi vitamin I can take?  I don't want to buy another one and find it's still too big, or too disgusting to swallow!

If you give me some good ideas/suggestions, I will pop out later and get some, and drop off those clothes of mine to the Hospice Shop.  I forgot to do that yesterday.  

And that's all I have for now... 

ONWARD...

Oh I just remembered something!  Stew is finally getting his '20 Years with the Company' Morning Tea!  Seems his Regional Manager got back from holiday and realised it had been 'forgotten'... so he's having the 'official' morning tea today.  I hope he behaves and doesn't pig out!  He's been doing so very well on the diet too.

He must be coming up to his next HbA1C blood test too.  That is going to be very interesting!   His last two test results were 68, then down to 58 after being on 'the new diet' for a month.  So maybe he will go down to the 40's like I did too?   

I must ask him when his next test is!  I'm excited for him!

OMG I'm so crabby right now!

It's 3.20 pm and I've just got home from doing the grocery shopping.
Got home, decided to de-clutter and re-organise the two freezers contents.
Only, when I opened the freezer in the kitchen the ice box (full of ice) fell out.  Luckily I stopped it smashing on the floor with my foot, but damn ice cubes went EVERYWHERE.

So a massive clean up ensued, only a shit load of the ice cubes went UNDER the fridge/freezer unit eh?

So... melting water coming out for the past half an hour already.  Grrrr.  Just what I felt like after doing the bloody grocery shopping.

Luckily for me, Brylee is home to help... she's all shitty and crabby now too!

It was a good trip into Hamilton though.  I found some coconut flour at last at a Bin Inn, also got a couple of other things done before doing the grocery shopping. 

I also ran into a girl I'd known many, many years ago in the mall, so we had a good catch up too.  Last time I saw her she was a new mum, now her kids are big teenagers!  It's so nice when you run into someone from the past. *smiles*

She helped me find some purple shampoo to tone down the yellow in me hair.  Must try that later on, once I've cooled down and stopped being so crabby.

There was no walk this morning with the FBG's either, it got cancelled at the last minute,  due to there only being 5 walkers going, when you've got to have 6.  Stupid rule that one... because it meant 5 women ready and wanting to walk one of the sections couldn't.  Too bad if anyone had arranged their day around going on the walk eh?  

That made me crabby too.

I think today can be re-named 'Crabby Day'.

I've just had a lovely, interesting conversation with me Mum.... MORE on that... tomorrow!  *smiles*

Now, it's 6 pm and I must get dinner on.... just for Stew, Griffin and me, Brylee is at work.
I won't be saying where she works, it's her business.  Ditto Griffin's job.

After dinner I will be sewing till Coronation Street is on, then I will be parking me bum in front of the telly to watch that.

10.45 pm:  And I'm watching Coro Street... blankie on, keeping warm.  Had another Blood Sugar low tonight, not even sure why it happened?  I had a decent lunch, and dinner was on track for the normal time.
Lows are bloody horrible!  It was worse than my last one too... took ages to feel better.
But... over now and all is good again.

Off to bed after Coronation Street... I'm freakin' tired!  It's been a long day.

WE ARE IN SEASON!

Marley is in season!  FINALLY!!!!  Really, really in season.  And she's almost a year old. Man that's late.
As for Denim, she's still having a false pregnancy... no season yet for her.  She's had me guessing a few times now, but no, nothing 'real'.  She can't be far off the real deal?

So, I now have about 8 months or less to decide if I'm going to breed off Marley, and all that entails. The biggest thing will be finding a boy... IF I go ahead.

I want a Bichon Friese, but that could prove difficult.  So I will wait and see.

This morning I'm thinking of going on another FBG walk.  Depends on the weather and how my knee feels.  It's still not 100% better.

No matter what, I will be working in the sewing room for the majority of the day.  I've got so much half done in there.  I've been a bit lazy the last couple of days. 

So that's me for now... let's see if I go on a walk or not...

ONWARD...

12.30 pm:  And I DID go on the FBG walk this morning.
WE have a fog, a thick, wet fog.  Horrible.
I actually wore my FBG jacket for at least half the walk, which I've not done before, it usually comes off within a few minutes.

ABOVE: So, another walk photo... I better get my camera out soon and get some more interesting photos!

For now though, I'm frozen to the bone and am trying to warm up.  Watching Home and Away before going into the sewing room.

Sorry... it's been a pretty boring day here.  I have spent my afternoon sewing.  Then I cooked dinner (lamb rissoles and veges), and now I'm enjoying a relaxing evening in front of the telly.

Catch ya tomorrow.

CHANGE OF MIND

Remember that large pile of clothes I had yesterday, the ones I was going to give away?

Yeah, well I was thinking about it and have decided to try selling them online.  Just on our local Buy, Sell and Exchange Facebook site.  I'm always giving stuff away, but thought, hell ... I could use the money!

Even if I put a super low price on things, it's still money in the bank ... my pocket.  There's a couple of dresses in that lot that cost me heaps and are hardly worn.  If I get $10 for them I'd be happy.

So that's what I will be doing this morning, photographing everything, then listing it.  If it doesn't sell, then I will just donate it away.

Other than that, I've got bugger all to do except HOUSEWORK. And who wants to do that?  *sigh*

I just checked the FBG Events page, and there's a walk on at 10 am... one I've done already this year, but I will do it again ... I need the exercise.  And the company is always good.

ONWARD...

12.15 pm:   back from an awesome walk and coffee afterwards.  I HATE WALKING, but with company, it's bearable!

ABOVE: Today's walk photo, and for once... I don't feel like an elephant in the photo!    I almost look 'normal'!

I'm so happy.

Now that's I've cooled off... I've been re-assessing my 'old' clothes.

ABOVE:  I'm going to try altering the two long, fairly new dresses for myself, take three bags full to the Op shop and that leaves one bag that my friend Sharon can go through.
Sharon, I hope you can use some of it, but maybe not for your island holiday?

LUNCHTIME.... off to find food.

Whoops!  I've been a bit quiet all afternoon and evening haven't I?

Well that's because I ain't been doing much, just chillin, making dinner, watching some TV. Bit lazy really.
I should be sewing, getting the latest line of coasters and placemats done.  Oh well... maybe tomorrow.

Time to sign off, it's getting late and I'm tired.