DAY TRIP

 Today a small group of the family are going on a little day trip.  I might even pack a picnic for all of us too.

We do know where we are going, but I'll keep that to myself for now.  

ABOVE:  Our lovely 'rusty bird bath' is not holding up well in the wet weather.  Or having water in it 24/7.

ABOVE:  I went to drain some water out of it during the week, and could see it was falling to bits.  So yesterday afternoon we visited Bunnings and found something to replace it with.

ABOVE:  A Terracotta bird bath bowl.  It's not as funky as the rusty one, but it's still OK.

ABOVE:  I asked Stew to put the old rusty bit on the front fence.  Which he did.  

I hope it stays there and doesn't rust more and fall off.

ABOVE: There's piles of fabric all over the place!  What a mess.  But, luckily I do have masses of fabric to choose from for all the flowers, leaves and stems.

I am going to have to do a big tidy up after this runner is finished, that's for sure.

ABOVE:  I worked on the Flower Runner till dinner time last night.  Then I was just done.

I will get back to it tomorrow I think.  Today is 'family time'.

Right, I'm off to start me day.

Catch ya later.

It is now 4 pm.  We just got home from our day trip.  I have several hundred photos to weed through and download a 'few' to put on here.

I will be doing two  lots.  Some today and some tomorrow.  We went to two different places.

We had a really lovely day.

Lots of laughs and just enjoying being together.

Right... off to edit photos ....

Right.  Editing took exactly an hour!  

First place we went to today was... the Hamilton Zoo.

It was Steve's suggestion.

We met up with Steve, Bex and the boys at the Zoo.

ABOVE: We were very surprised when we arrived to find so many improvements!  New car parking, viewing tower, new playgrounds, and so many other good improvements.

ABOVE:  We arrived at 11 am, so were there before all the animals had been fed.  Once they are fed they literally go to sleep and you hardly see any of them.

We saw most of the animals that were there today.

ABOVE:  Sorry ... I had to.  Steve spotted a recumbent wheelbarrow.

Riveting.

ABOVE:  The boys pointing out a picture drawn on a panel.   It was a 'Hunting Dog'...

ABOVE:  Funny.

We all felt very sad for the Hunting Dogs.  They have to sit in their enclosure, right beside another encloser that holds their 'normal' food.  Gazelles.  I would call that torture!

I bet they never get Gazelle for dinner.

ABOVE: Sorry, I have to throw in pretty scenery ones sometimes.

ABOVE:  We stopped by the Savannah and had our picnic lunch of Chicken and Cheese on buns.

It was wonderful.

Every now and then we would hear an announcement over the speakers, informing everyone about what animals were about to be fed.

ABOVE:  Stew said "Thank You for visiting Hamilton Zoo today.  If you proceed to the Savannah, you will be able to witness the Harvey Family enjoying their lunch".

*snort*

ABOVE:  I didn't want to bore anyone with copious photos of animals, but as the Rhino is my FAVOURITE animal... I just had to.

ABOVE:  Taken from the Viewing Tower, which is new.  Quite a few steps to get to the top, but worth it.

You get a 360 degree view of Hamilton and it's surrounds.

Probably the funny story of the day:

We were approaching an enclosure, and I heard Steve say "Look for the Lemurs", so I presumed there were Lemurs in the enclosure.

So, I'm looking and looking, but can't see any.  

By the way:  There's a Zoo Attendant standing by the enclosure too.

Then I spot an animal moving on a tree... but ???

I say " I can see it, but that does not look like a Lemur, it looks like a Red Panda!"

I turn to the Zoo Attendant and say, "That's a Red Panda, NOT an Lemur".

He looks and me and almost laughs at me.  The sign right beside him says RED PANDA.

Then Steve and EVERYONE starts mocking me.

The shits.

The LEMURS were in the next enclosure.  Derrr.

After walking around the entire zoo, we left for our second destination.

Steve, Bex and the boys did not join us there.

More on that ... tomorrow.  With photos of course.

It was a really, really lovely day.  And now, it's back to just Stew and me.

And we will have our usual 'Darby and Joan' evening.

ABOVE:  Forgot this photo!  Miss Muppet, totally knackered after a long day.

9 pm:  And that's it for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FROM...

MAKING PROGRESS

 Late yesterday I did a little bit more work on the Flower Runner:

ABOVE:  I think these circles might be a little too big... so will cut them down a bit before stitching them on.

Then I will work on flowers.

ABOVE:  Driving off the Expressway into Cambridge yesterday, I looked for the rabbits.  I saw a large cat sprawled out in the sun... so I really didn't expect to see any rabbits.  But, I did.  Two of them.  I only got one in a photo while I was waiting for the lights to change.   The 2nd one was much darker in colour.  He took off into the brush.  I hope that cat isn't eating baby rabbits!

ABOVE:  Yesterday's walk photo.  You are not 'allowed' to post walk photos anymore, but hell.  I bleeped out everyone's face, so this should be ok!   If not, well shoot me.

Apart from working on the Flower Runner, I'm not sure what else we might get up to today.  It's supposed to be another lovely winter day, so let's just wait and see shall we.

Almost 12 and I've been working in the sewing room for a couple of hours.

DOGSTARS:  Yes, you may be on to something there.  Though I will be adding some flowers to the centre.

ABOVE: THIS is a nightmare!

There is no way I'm going to completely cover this in flowers.  It's just TOO MUCH work, and as Dogstar said, it doesn't need it.  So I'm taking half those freaking stems and flowers OFF.

Looking out the window at our stunningly gorgeous day, I decided Stew and I should really go out.

So we jumped in the car, grabbed a Subway sandwich and had a little picnic down by the lake.

ABOVE:  It was GLORIOUS.  I took some extra cheeses and bacon to add to our Subway Sandwiches.

Interesting story:  Last time we bought a Subway Sandwich, we got extra cheeses and extra meat.  And our Sandwiches cost approx. $25 EACH.

Today we took the extra cheeses and cooked bacon with us, to add ourselves, and our Sandwiches cost $13.90 each.

AMAZING difference in price.

ABOVE:  King of the Castle, a Pukeko in a ? Tree.

After our lunch we visited Bunnings for a something for the garden, will show you tomorrow.

Now?  Relaxing.  Might go back in the sewing room.  Might not too.

ABOVE:  Miracles DO happen.  4 children found alive after enduring weeks in the jungle, after surviving a plane crash in Colombia. JUST AMAZING. 

8 pm:  I worked in the sewing room until dinner time, then came inside.  It has cooled down considerably, and I'm freezing.

We are expecting a frost tomorrow.  Ikkkk.

Just doing the usual now, watching TV.  Keeping warm.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FROM...

SQUASHED IT

 I managed to squash me right index finger last night at the pub.

I went to sit down, grabbed the seat to lift it forward... and sat down.  *scream*   The bloody seat part wasn't attached to the legs part, and me finger was trapped between the two, and I sat down.  With my finger trapped between the two chair pieces.

That hurt like b'jezus.  And it throbbed for bloody ages ... I'll take a photo later if it's worth showing.  Last night it was starting to bruise up under the finger nail.

So in future, check the seat is secure before sitting down!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our dear Friend, Karen J.  We hope you have an awesome day Chick.  Sorry we can't visit you this time.  😊💜💚💗

Today I'm going straight into my sewing room and putting the heat pump on.  I'll be warm and toasty in ten minutes flat.

I will be working on the Flower Runner most of the day.  I doubt I'll get it finished, because I haven't made one like this before.  So that takes me longer.

Catch ya later.

10.10 am:  and.... it's a beautiful day out there.  From where I'm sitting in the sewing room, I can't see a cloud in the sky.  

My finger hasn't bruised up as much as I thought it would, just under the nail.  It's still sore af, but I'll live.

ABOVE:  I am ready for the day.  Diet Coke, Crackers, Hummus, Basil Pesto and a hot mix of Mocha and Caramel Latte.  Yum.

11 am - ish, and I hear a door shut inside the house.  I'm like, what the F?  What was that?  How did a door close on it's own?

So I get up to investigate and out of the blue, Brylee appears.

I literally jumped out of my skin before I realised it was her.  Man I'm jumpy.

So, it's the first day she's been able to drive after dislocating her shoulder and breaking her tailbone, falling down at skating.

ABOVE:  Three girls in a row.  Rather cute.  It was lovely to see Bry, have not seen her in over a month, if not longer.

She's now waiting to see a specialist in Auckland, as her shoulder MAY need surgery to stop it dislocating so easily.  Something that should have been sorted out years ago already.  Most annoying for her.

She has left now, and I'm back to my Flower Runner, which I'm making slow progress on.  But I am aiming to have it done in time for the next Tamahere Market on the 17th of June.  Easy peasy.

ABOVE:  Quilting the background before I can start adding the flower details in the middle.  Exciting.  Coming along nicely.

I will be stopping at 3 pm today as I have a walk planned in Cambridge.

ABOVE:  Phew, big job done.  It's taken two days to get the 'background' done.  Now I 'just' have to do the flowers.

And that will be done tomorrow.  I'm done for now.

7.25 pm:  And I'm proud to say I did indeed go walking in Cambridge this afternoon.  And I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the company.

The time and distance goes so much faster when you are walking with friends.

I really should try to attend more.

Home and I made Stew and I a wrap for dinner, they were rather YUM.

Now, usual evening.  TV.  Feet up.  Keeping warm.

Till bedtime.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FROM...

 

SLIGHTLY LARGER

 Right.  Today I'm going to work on making my first 'over the shoulder' bag.

Using larger snap closers.

I've got two on order, so they will hopefully get done today.

Plus a little 'manly' coin purse.

Once those three things are done, my orders will be finished.

After they are done, I would like to start a flower runner, similar to the one I showed you yesterday.

But my spin on it of course.

ABOVE:  Brrrrr, it is damn cold this morning.  I am going to ask Stew to turn the heating on before he leaves for work, so it won't be freezing when I get up.

Which won't be for a while yet.  

I finished the first shoulder bag.  I'm not happy with how the strap works.  So might have to do some unpicking and adjustments.

Right now I'm doing this:  

ABOVE:  Making a start on that 'flower runner'.  Cos when I make a stuff up (the strap), I need to walk away from it for a while.  It helps my stress levels calm down.

And the crabbiness.

OH THE CRABBINESS.  It's a real thing.  😂😅😉

ABOVE:  It's coming along.... but there's masses to do yet.

It's going to be a very large runner.  Probably end up being my most expensive one too.   So many of those fabrics were $32 a metre, or more!

4.35 pm:   Crickey what an afternoon.  It was just so nice after lunch, I decided to sit out in the sun in shorts and singlet.  Soooo lovely.

Then Bex and the boys stopped in to give me more snap closers.

I then went back into the sewing room to work on the flower runner.  DANG!  No white fabric.

So off I went to Spotlight, at the worst time of the day!

Every man and his dog was out on the roads.

So it took way longer than anticipated.  I just got home ... it took me almost an hour.

At least I can start working on that runner again,  first thing tomorrow morning.

The dogs have been itching like CRAZY, and I really think it is some sort of seasonal allergy.  BUT just to cover the bases, I bought some Frontline while out.

Let's see if that helps.  Probably not knowing my luck.

Stew went down to his local to have a few beers with his mates this evening.   I decided to join him once his mates had left, for a burger and chips for our dinner.

ABOVE:  It was a very nice burger, just like a home made one.  And the people who run the pub are lovely too.

We have decided to probably make it a regular 'thing' on a Thursday, or every second Thursday.

Now that we are home, the heater is on, so is the blankie, and my hot water bottle is heating up too.

This house is COLD.  While it's not an old home, it does not have double glazing, and yeah, that makes a huge difference.

Retrospective double glazing is horribly expensive, so we won't be doing that sadly.

At least, not in the short term.  Might be something to consider in a few years time.

Getting older means you do feel the cold more, I'm sure of it.  Like me Mum, I hate being cold more than anything else.  

Right, time to stop waffling and do something else.  Like feet up, telly on.  Then later, bed.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FROM...