HAPPY 34TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

 

34 YEARS MARRIED!  36 years together, and many, many more if we are lucky.  Love you darling.

Everyone is going in different directions today.

It's called, doing ya own thing day.

Mike and Joyce are off to Auckland to look for car parts.

Steve 'n' Bex are staying home.

And we are going on a day trip again.

So ... it might be a bit quiet on here till later on this afternoon.

Here's a few photos from last night to keep ya going:

ABOVE:  It was Kayla's birthday yesterday, so she got to choose a painting.  This is what she chose.  It's called 'Fireworks'.

ABOVE:  Can you tell we are not a 'sit around the table' sorta family?

We only do that on Christmas Day usually.

We all just sit where we can be comfy.

ABOVE:  Kinda funny... Griffin was holding the last piece of his burger, and Coco snuck up under him and grabbed and ate it!  He was gobsmacked.  😂😅😆

After that the girls got put to bed.  

ABOVE:  Bex was like, OMG GET OFF... you are crushing me!!!

ABOVE:  Lacy and Doug.  YES, they are now dating. He seems nice.  

And that's it for now.

ABOVE:  JULIE & SCOTT:  Happy Wedding Anniversary to you too!  28 years today... well done.  Julie is a blogger like me, and we have 'known' each other for probably about 14 years or so.  (http://www.momtaxijulie.com/)

I was very surprised to receive these from Stew this morning!...

ABOVE:  We now have a gorgeous collection of this blue pottery.

4.30 pm:  Well... we have been, seen, yakked our heads off, eaten and left again.

We were only gone for a few hours... and the day's weather did not improve one iota!

ABOVE:  It is a seriously MISERABLE day out there.  Cold and wet.  And of course, here in the Waikato foggy too boot.

I've not got any photos of our little trip today as it was a private affair.  I might have photos to share if and when they are available.

It's nice to be home again... first thing I did was turn the heating on.  The house was bloody cold!

I don't have to cook this evening.  We are going to have Pizzas.  Yaaa!

8.20 pm:  Phew!  It's been a long day!  Lots going on.  I just got Miss Muppet to bed, so now I can just sit back and relax for a while.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FAMILY DAY

 Plans for the day?

Not sure.

We will have family here all day I'm thinking.

I think we will head off to a park with the little kids at some point, then lunch at the mall.

Yeah, sounds like a plan.

And those tulip bulbs have to be put in the ground... so that's like, top of the list.

Well... it's been a snuggle on the couch sort of morning.  We have another super foggy day.

It's 11.15 am and it's only just starting to lift a bit.

We are off to Chartwell soon for lunch and a wander around the shops.

Mike and Joyce love our shops.  😊

ABOVE:  A classic photo bomb!

ABOVE:  Waiting for kids who are shopping.... big kids.

ABOVE:  I got Joyce a present!

ABOVE:  I can't think WHY it got thrown back at me!  Pffffft.

ABOVE:  Mike and Joyce went shopping after we all got home... and came home with gifts for the little kids.

ABOVE:  Steve and Bex and OVERJOYED that the boys now have noise making Star Wars Swords.

ABOVE:  And Keera has a resin jewellery making set, and a bag you can colour yourself.

That should keep them entertained for a while.

8.10 pm:  And OMG... 14 for dinner tonight.

A full house.  And it was wonderful.  Noisy, but wonderful.

And everyone had home made lamb and chicken burgers, such a good way to feed a crowd!

Now... all is quiet.  Small kids are in bed, adults have gone home.  Stew is watching rugby and I'm about to watch something on Youtube... then bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

DAY TRIP

Stew has the day off work today.  

So we are heading over to Tauranga for a day trip (in my car).

As Stew's car has sprung a problem on him, we can't be away as long as we wanted, as he will have to take it to the garage this afternoon.

So, we won't be doing as much as we had planned, but never mind.  A change of scene will be great.

And well... there's a couple of rather good fabric shops over there too. 😂😏😊

Mike and Joyce are coming up from Palmerston North this afternoon.  As it's the last long weekend until October, they decided to come up again.  It's been wonderful how much we've seen them this year!

Stew did a talk for The South Waikato Parkinson's Society yesterday.  As a 'Thank You', they gave him these:

ABOVE:  Gorgeous Orange Tulip bulbs.  Seems we must plant them this weekend.  😊  I'm sure we can do that.  I just have to think about where to put them.

It makes a nice change... usually he gets given bottles of wine and chocolates!

Now... I better get outta bed.  We are leaving fairly early, seeing as we have to come back earlier than first planned.

... 12.45 pm, and we are safely home again.

ABOVE:  When we left it was a pea soup fog... all the way to the top of the Kaimai's.

ABOVE: Then the sun came out.  It was lovely and fine in Tauranga.  

No other photos... I forgot to take any!

And I didn't end up getting any new fabric either!

ABOVE: Heading home, and would you believe it?  Fog all over the Waikato the minute we started going down the Kaimai's again!

It's STILL foggy right now here in Hamilton.  I wonder if it will even lift at all today?

We are now gunna have some lunch, then take Stew's car into the garage.  Fingers crossed it's not gunna be off the road too long.

ABOVE:  "DAD" !!!.... Dad where did ya go?

Maybe he's coming back soon?

😂😅😆

Yeah.  He's taken his car into the garage... if they have to keep it I will go and pick him up.

ABOVE:  Liam is looking great!  Not too much swelling or bruising.  And he looks happy enough, which means not much pain either.  So relieved.

Stew just rang.   

And AMAZING news about his car!

The mechanics took it for a drive, put it up on the hoist, tightened a couple of things and said... "It's fixed, take it home, no charge" !!!!

NO CHARGE!   Goodhue Automotive, 225 Anglesea Street,  Hamilton, YOU ROCK!

8.24 pm: Well... we had the 'usual' family here for dinner tonight. 

Steve, Bex, Dante, Archer, Mike and Joyce.

I made mince/bacon/cheese pies and mashed potatoes.

ABOVE:  A beef stew is always better a couple of nights later. Particularly in a pie.

ABOVE: These two arrived just as dinner was ready too.  Good timing.  

So, we are now enjoying a quiet evening.  The guys are watching friggin rugby, how typical.

I'm not going to be up too late tonight... feeling quite tired.

ON THE MEND

 Yesterday was a big day for our grandson Liam. He had a Divergent Squint in both eyes, which was FINALLY surgically fixed.

Exotropia, or divergent squint, refers to an eye that turns or diverges outwards. Exotropia may occur from time to time (intermittent exotropia) or may be constant. You may only notice one particular eye drifting out, or it may be either eye that deviates, known as an alternating exotropia.

Above is an explanation of his condition.

He will be seen by the specialist in a couple of weeks to check his progress.

ABOVE:  Sleeping like a baby after his surgery.

ABOVE:  I hope the bleeding has stopped this morning!  

As the surgery was done 'inside' his eyelids, there's no stitches to worry about.  

Amanda said they are expecting lots of bruising... you can already see some along the top of his upper eyelashes.

Poor little man, I hope he isn't in too much pain today.  

I hope for good reports during the day on how he's doing.

As for what I'm up to today?  Dunno.  I have no plans.  The floors need washing, so I might do that.  Yaaa... now I have plans I suppose.

9.30 am and well... I haven't mustered up the energy to get a move on yet.  The floors ... well they ain't going anywhere are they?

I know once I decide to do them, it won't be JUST washing the floors that I will have to do.  

It will be all the sweeping and vacuuming, moving stuff off the floors and so on.  And then I will have to clean the bathrooms as we have visitors this weekend.

One thing just spirals into another eh? 😏😕

ABOVE:  Morning report on this little guy.  Puffy eyes, no major bruising yet.  His big sister, Emily, gave him a care basket.  How gorgeous.

Looking GREAT LIAM!

11 am:  The friggin floors are clean.  Still have to do the vacuuming, and clean the bathrooms.  But, now waiting for floors to dry.  And that might take a while cos it's not exactly warm.

Which is good cos my back is not liking all the bending down.  I can sit and watch something on Netflix for half an hour.  I'm actually watching 'How To Get Away With Murder'.  Absolutely loving it.

1 pm: Faaarrrrk!  How on earth did I do all the vacuuming, ALL THE TIME, with my Kirby?

It's exhausting using it.  I've done probably 1/4 of the house and I'm done.

OH, before you ask:   I'm using the Kirby cos I wanted to do a deep vacuum, not a quick, surface vacuum.

But I think I will have to stop cos I'm just done in.

TIME OUT

The floors are STILL wet in the bathrooms ... so they will have to wait too.

Well... finally got all the floors washed and vacuumed.  The bathrooms are clean.  My job is done.

House smells lovely.

Stew will be home a bit later with our dinner.

Takeaways... Chinese something or other.

8.50 pm:  Stew arrived home all flustered tonight.

His car is making an horrendous noise ... so it will be off to the garage sometime tomorrow.

Time to wrap up the day.   

Catch ya tomorrow.

MID WEEK

ABOVE:  Apparently... Lacy has a pig.

It's name?  PURPLE.

Yeah. 

I've heard of being in the dog house, but the pig house?   

Nice to know the blanket I gave her is now in a pig's bed!

I expect BACON later.

So.  It's mid-week, and I'm literally counting down the days till the weekend.  I'm looking forward to having family here, it's Queen's Birthday weekend.  Monday is a public holiday, and Stew is taking this Friday off work, making it a 4 day break for him.

Today?  Grocery shopping.  I want to get supplies in BEFORE every other bugger goes grocery shopping on Friday!  It's bound to be hectic before the weekend.

And that's all I have for now.

Catch ya later.

Hey!  I wonder if Lacy will get chickens next??? 😂😅😊

9.50 am:  and grocery shopping is on hold for a couple of hours.

I'm babysitting young Archer.  He's got a sore throat so can't go to school.

Bex is working this morning so I get the kid. 😊

ABOVE:  Seems I have to show her other animals too. So there's Mate the horse, and Fluff the rabbit.  

No chickens 🐔🐤🐥.

2 pm:  Well ... after checking with the parents (for permission), this is going on today:

ABOVE:  Our grandson Liam is in surgery RIGHT NOW, having corrective surgery on his eyes.

He's got eyes that wanna do their own thing... so all going well after today they will behave. 😉

I will update later on with his progress.

As for me... I've done the grocery shopping, and put it all away.  And I'm starving!

Time for a rather late lunch.

Intermittent Fasting is a 'thing' here.  It's not intentional of course, it just happens!

6.15 pm:  And Liam has come through his surgery well, and is now home recuperating.

It will be a two week wait to see how well it went.

In the meantime, lots of loves and quiet time for him I'm sure.

Stew is now home and I'm cooking a pizza for dinner.  

And... that's all folks!

I'm gunna have a quiet evening with Stew.

CALVES

 I reckon Lacy has found her true calling.

Helping out on a farm.

She seems to be in love with all the animals.

She sent me these two photos yesterday:

ABOVE: These are the first two calves born on the farm this season.

How cute are they?

I might just have to go out there one day and have a 🐔cluck🐔 over calves.

Can you believe it's the first of JUNE already?  First official day of Winter.

OMG where is this year going.  I think the older you get the faster the years go.

Well... looking back it seems faster.  While other things just drag.

But oh well....  moving on.  I might go for another walk this morning, it will depend on the weather.  If it's cold... it's a given.

AND I want to buy some slippers.  Me feet are freezing, and my UGG boots are too big and heavy to wear all day inside the house.

I think some of those soft fluffy ones, like me Oodie, might be the ones to get.  I saw some the other day, I just have to try and remember where?

Somewhere at the Base.  

And that's me for now... I'll catch ya later.

11.45 am:  And I killed two birds with one stone this morning.
I got my walk... all around The Base!  Nothing better than shopping and getting your exercise right? 😊

I can't believe my LUCK!  It's like, every time I go shopping I hit a SALE.

ABOVE:  I found where I'd seen those lovely soft slippers, Bed, Bath and Beyond.  And again, SALE.

ABOVE:  I decided to get socks and slippers, to see what works best.  Might have got Stew some too.  They say there are 'One Size Fits All'... so we shall see.

ABOVE:  Well... me feet are warmer.  But not too hot.  Wondering if I should have not worn my 'regular' socks under them?  Hmmm, will try that next.

4 pm:  I'm about to start dinner.

ABOVE:  We shall be having an delicious Beef 'n' Bacon stew, with veges.  

Dinner is done.  Warm socks are on Stew's feet, and he likes them.

Time to sit back and watch Coronation Street ... then bed.