SHOE SHOPPING, AMONG OTHER THINGS

First up for today, I have a few more photos from yesterday:

 ABOVE: That back hedge just needs to grow about a metre higher, then we will have some privacy from those neighbours.
On our other boundaries the hedges are higher.

 ABOVE:  Dante loves this, Archer, not so much.

 ABOVE:  This is Chris, Bex's brother.  He's a nice guy.  

 ABOVE:  Wee Archer chillaxing on Griffin.  I doubt 'chillaxing' is a bona fide word, but too bad.

 ABOVE:  Awwwww.... too cute.

 ABOVE:  Dante was upset because I wouldn't let him dig in the lawn with his TINY spoon!

 ABOVE: So Grandma (that would be me), gave him the garden trowel and let him dig in the unplanted end of this garden.
He was thrilled and dug a great big hole.

NOW.... I am finally allowed to talk about the social event coming up... the reason I had to buy a new dress...

STEVE AND BEX ARE GETTING MARRIED IN A FEW WEEKS.  

We are thrilled to bits of course.
Bex decided to crochet herself a lovely shrug to wear over her dress...

ABOVE: It is light and very soft.  She's a clever tart!

So... it's all very exciting.  Bex is even making her own flower bouquet... she's making ribbon roses!  I have seen it as she's been making it, and it is going to be gorgeous.

Right, back to today.

Instead of going to Patchwork, today I am going into town to find some shoes to wear to the wedding.

I'm going to pick Lacy up as well, so she can get outta the house.

ONWARD...

1.19 pm:  I have had the most awesome shopping expedition today!
The very first shop I looked in for shoes, and Lacy spotted the PERFECT matching shoes for my wedding outfit!

 ABOVE:  The dress and floaty top that I'm wearing over it.

ABOVE: THE SHOES... Not only are they the right colour, but even the pattern matches the dress!!!
Meant to be obviously.  I am just so happy to have found the perfect outfit for the wedding.

Originally I hadn't planned on buying anything new, and just wear some tights and a nice top.  But then I was told I had to get something NICE, as I am the 'Mother of The Groom'.  

So glad I listened.  

After the shoes shopping, we went to Chartwell Square for a quick lunch, then I took Lacy back to her flat, and then I came home.

It's getting warmer again... so I stripped off me winter clothes and am now in a lovely summer maxi dress.  

10.59 PM:  Well it's been an awesome day...but now it's time to head off to bed after, a cosy evening indoors.

LOVELY SUNDAY ANTICIPATED

Today Steve and Bex are visiting for the day.
Steve has to measure up a big deck for Stew's boss.
Then he will be building it over the next few weekends ... all going well.

Today, as he's only measuring up, I hope he can do a little job here too.

We want to remove the railway sleeper seats that the previous owners built on the patio.  When they get hot they 'bleed' out tar.  It's revolting, and clearly you can't actually sit on them.

So we are wanting to take the sleepers off, and replace them with normal timber so you can sit on it.

Then I can use the sleepers as edging for a new garden in the bare corner under the kitchen/lounge windows.

What else for today?  Well spending time with the little boys of course!  I miss them so much, I'm looking forward to more frequent visits from them while Steve is working on the deck.

Right, that's all for now... catch ya later.  Have a nice day.

ONWARD...

Awesome day... everything is going as planned.
The guys have done the measure up for the deck, and now they are going to try taking the sleepers off the seating supports.

 ABOVE: This kid is such a hard case.

 ABOVE: Not sure if he likes it... but eventually he shoved the whole thing in his gob.

 ABOVE:  that's the sleeper seating... hopefully they will be gone soon.

ABOVE:  I have a few daffodils scattered around the yard.  Next season I hope to have heaps more... I'm going to get more bulbs and put them around the fruit trees.

More photos:

 ABOVE:  Steve undoing the bolts holding the sleepers on the supports.

 ABOVE:  That is wet, dripping TAR.  Revolting shit.
You sure in hell could not sit on that.

ABOVE:  Now they are flipped upside down and form the edge for this new garden.  I plan on getting some hydrangeas for this corner.

7.24 pm:  And our visitors have gone.  We ended up having Bex's brother Chris and his fiance Anna here for the afternoon and dinner too.
It's always nice having 'extended family' over.

Now it's time to wind down, tidy up and relax for the evening.

SHOPPING AGIAN

Today we are heading into Hamilton to do some shopping.

I bought a dress yesterday to wear to an upcoming funeral... and I thought I could use it for another event in the future.  But NO... seems people want me to wear something colourful to the next event. 

So... OMGosh, I have to go buy ANOTHER dress!

Such a hard thing to have to do... lol!

Once we have found me a dress, I'm not sure what we will get up to.

There's a few jobs to do around the house, so we will probably head home and get on with them.

Tomorrow Steve, Bex and the boys are visiting, so that shall be lovely.  

And that's all I have for now... so ...

ONWARD...

1.58 pm:  Well, we went into Hamilton.
First stop a dress shop we had never been in before, in Barton Street 'Lane'.  OMG!  Talk about basic, tent like, ikky... and MEGA expensive!  WTF?  Their clothes were so 'average', how can they charge over $300 for a shift dress?

Walked out of there in disgust, and we headed over to The Base/Te Awa.  
Walked into one of my favourite shops there, and found 2 DRESSES and a top!  One dress for the next social event, and one for summer.

ABOVE:  not the best photo ever, but you can see the top half of one outfit I got today.  There is a dress under that top... and I love it!
And I have all the accessories that match it already.  SCORE!

After finding 'the dress', we went over to Chartwell Square, where we had lunch.  Came home, and now?

Get the washing done.  Oh yeah.

12.05 am:  Another late night, which is not unusual for me.
It's been a very quiet evening.  Another night with no Coronation Street, boo.

Time for bed.

LETS GO SEE...

After getting some housework done this morning, Brylee and I might just go into Hamilton and see how Lacy's first night on her 'new' bed went.

The bed we bought was second hand, so I'm hoping it wasn't too uncomfortable? 

(OH, in case you ask, Brylee is on study leave from school)

After that, we might have some lunch in town then come home again.

Brylee has a sleep over at a friend's tonight, it's her friend's birthday.  So we need to pack her an overnight bag, get her bedding sorted and arrange a 'plate' of food for her to take too.

I feel nervous about it all!  She's never been on a sleep over before... well not one that I can remember!

I always worry when they are doing new things.  It's the mega protective 'Mum' in me.  I can't help it.

So, that's my day sorted... let's see if anything else crops up eh?

ONWARD...

2.10 pm:  And the day has gone like this so far:

- Into town with a view to visiting Lacy, then shopping.

- Instead, we picked up Lacy and dropped her off at our home in Cambridge, so her ex-boyfriend could come over from Tauranga and get her car going.

- Back into Hamilton, went dress shopping as we have a funeral to go to in the next few days.

- Found perfect dress for the funeral... and I will wear it again for the next social event too.

- Home in time to watch Lacy's car getting fixed, then Lacy driving off into the distance.  

I hope it gets her to Hamilton!  At least it's not parked on my lawn any more.

 ABOVE:  Lacy's room all sorted now.  

ABOVE:  Lacy and her ex getting that car going...

ABOVE: Bye bye Lacy... hope you get there!

HA HA... SHE GOT THERE.

All is good... except for... 

NO CORONATION STREET!  Stupid TVNZ decided to cut it out this week in favour of the ParaOlympics!

OUTRAGEOUS!  So not happy about that.

I still stayed up late tonight, watching some taped programmes on the telly, and playing jigsaws on the computer at the same time.

But, it's now... 1.30 am and I really should go to bed.

HAPPENING SOONER THAN EXPECTED!

Yesterday, around mid-morning, Lacy managed to find herself a flat in Hamilton!

She is sharing with one other, a person she knew many years ago.

So, I got onto Trademe and bought her a bed, then yesterday afternoon I went down to the local Hospice shop and I managed to buy two sets of drawers for her too.

First thing this morning we will go down and pick them up.
Then pack up my car and take it all in to her new place in the afternoon.

We can pick up the bed after 6 pm in Hamilton too.

So she should be all set up by tomorrow night, and I will have my spare bedroom back!

FUNNY STORY:  As we were walking through the Chartwell Mall yesterday, before we went into the movies, Lacy said to me:

"Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?  Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?" in a happy, but annoying way.

I replied,  VERY LOUDLY, with a fist pumping action:  "YES, YOU'RE LEAVING MY HOUSE!"

Ha ha ha!  Lots of people turned around and stared at me... but seriously, I didn't give a shit!
There were two security guards walking near us, and I was worried for a second that they would come over and ask if I was alright!

I am rather happy obviously.  She's been OK to live with, EVERY OTHER DAY.  The rest of the time... YEAH, NAH.

She's like our own little version of Jekyll and Hyde! Every family needs one.  *laughing*

So, that's what I'm doing today.

I'll be back later with updates... as I do.

ONWARD...

Oh I did remember to take a photo of the patchwork fabric shelves at Spotlight yesterday...

ABOVE:  All jumbled up, BUT... fairly tidy compared to my previous visits there.  It still does my head in seeing all the colours muddled up.

11.21 am, and we have been down to the Hospice shop and picked up the two sets of drawers, and Lacy has loaded everything of her's into the back of my car...

ABOVE:  Loaded and ready to go.
Only she can't move in until after 2.30 this afternoon, so she's clock watching now.
It's going to be a long 3 hours before we can go into town.

2.40 pm:  Lacy go a text to say she could move in a bit earlier than expected, so we took off to Hamilton and I dropped her and all her stuff, took a photo and skidded the wheels.

ABOVE:  She's got all afternoon to sort her stuff out... and she will get her bed tonight.  SORTED.  No longer living here. 

Just spent the last hour tidying up the bedroom Lacy just vacated, it took that long as I decided to move the bed.

NO mean feat as I had to take all the bedding that is stored under it OUT, get the mattress into the hallway etc, before I could move it.

Brylee helped with almost all of that, and Griffin arrived home from school just in time to help get the mattress back on.  MY god those things are heavy!

ABOVE:  By moving it around, and much closer to the window, I've created a much larger space on one side of the bed.  

ABOVE:  It's such a lovely room.

ABOVE:  I wonder if the next visitor who stays in this room will enjoy the pretty lights?  lol

11.40 pm: Stew got home just before 6 pm, so once he had changed out of his work clothes, we went into Hamilton, picked up the bed and took it to Lacy's new flat.

Then we came home, and I cooked dinner.  After that, a nice quiet evening ensued.
Now, time for bed.

OFF TO THE MOVIES

Well I decided today I was going to see 'Sully' at the movies.

ABOVE:  I am dragging Lacy with me to watch the latest Tom Hanks movie.  She will probably hate it, but I'll gag her with popcorn.  lol

I just love Tom Hanks movies, so fingers crossed it's another good one.

In case you missed it yesterday, our home's name is :

HIDDEN VISTA.  I came up with that name after lots of thought.  When you turn into our driveway, our home looks very small and ordinary, but once you come inside and see the backyard... most people go 'WOW'.  
It really is a gorgeous backyard, and it's really hidden from the road.

Not to forget, the house itself goes on and on once you are inside.  You would never guess it was such a big house from the road.

So, there ya go, that's how I came up with the name.

Now all I have to do is make the name plate.  I bought the letters from Spotlight yesterday.  I have to go back there today as I grabbed a 'U' instead of an 'I'.

I really dislike the Hamilton Spotlight store.  It's messy and disorganised and the patchwork section is the worst I've ever seen.

In the Auckland stores, they have organised the fabrics in colour 'order' on the shelves.  So all the colours are separated.  If you want a blue fabric, you can just go straight to the 'blue' section.

Not in Hamilton!  It's all jumbled up and an utter mess.  It does my head in just looking at it!  I'm tempted to take a photo and show you.  Yeah, I probably will.

So... that's me plan for today.  Catch ya later, and I hope you have a lovely day. *smiles*

ONWARD...

SULLY... was exactly as I expected.  I enjoyed the movie, but I doubt the kids would.  Not enough action for them.  

Lacy and I came home after the movie and now I'm watching Home and Away, taped from last night.  Obviously a lazy day!

Soon I will pull finger and get some housework done.  So, boring shit for the rest of the day.

Some.... thing.... is.... happening.... tomorrow!
YEAH!  I will be a bit busy..... tomorrow.  I will tell ya all about it.... tomorrow.  *ha ha ha*

Another awesome day... and another coming up tomorrow.

OFF TO HAMILTON

I'm off to Hamilton today.
Patchwork group at Donna's Quilt Studio.

On my way there, I will pop into Spotlight to get some batting, as I want to start constructing blocks and joining them together.  

I'm doing the new Dresden Plate quilt using 'Quilt As You Go', so I need the batting.

While at Spotlight I will be getting the letters for our home's Name Plate.

I will start 'work' on that tomorrow.  *smiles*

Anyone got a new guess on our home's name?  Remember, the name starts with an 'H and a V'.  So H..... V....  Does THAT help?  lol

I will put you out of your misery tomorrow if no one guesses correctly today.

Right, I better go and pack my sewing machine and what nots up and get them in me car, ready to leave in a couple of hours.

ONWARD...

FINALLY!... someone has guessed ONE  of the words!  PINKY:  Vista is correct!  But Harvey is not.

Class today was neat.  I just love this Tuesday class so much.  It makes it even better that it's held in the shop, so I can BUY shit while I'm there!

Gotta love that.  I got the batting I needed, and some new multi-coloured threads too.

ABOVE:  Massive clue now!

Come on, someone has to get it right!

Oh and IF you think you have worked it out, try and explain how I came up with the name.  *smiles*

That made it too easy!
BLONDIE (Sharon) got it....
Our home's name is .......

'HIDDEN VISTA'

Now ... how did I come to choose that name eh?

And Lynda guessed that part...

It's because when you drive in, the house looks rather small and ordinary... but when you walk in and see the view out the back most people say 'WOW'!  And because the house is way, way bigger than it appears from the front too.  Hence, Hidden Vista!

I love the name, it's a bit twee, but still nice.

9.09 pm:  Well it's been a nice day, and I'm sure tomorrow will be too.  Trying to decide if I will go to a movie on my own tomorrow, or drag Lacy along, or wait and go with Stew?  Hmmm.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

I'm starting to believe Spring is really here now!
Not only are the days getting longer, but it's getting warmer every day.

I was worried last week that our plum tree blossoms would be blown away in the shitty weather we had, but...

ABOVE:  NO!  We now have heaps of blossoms on one tree.  It must be an early plum, and different from the other two plum trees.  The other two do not have blossoms yet.  

I can't wait till we get to see what sort of plums we are going to have!  I love plums... and am looking forward to making plum jam too.

NEXT:  shist pavers leading to the Hobbit House:

ABOVE:  It is now very clear to the littlies where the 'path' is.  Stew also moved the little green bush on the right further over, so there is more room to get through.

NEXT: Lacy called me outside at late dusk last night to take a photo of the sky ...

ABOVE:  I adjusted the shadows with photo editing, but nothing else.  It's a pretty cool photo.

And that is about all for now.

OH... last thought... I've been trying to come up with a name for our home... cos I love it so much it NEEDS a name.
It's taken quite some time, but I have come up with one.

I will reveal it once I've made the name plate *smiles*

Don't bother trying to guess.... cos you are bound to be wrong!  lol

ONWARD...

So.... I decided it was a perfect day to wash all the windows and windowsills.  Brylee and Griffin are home today, as its a Teacher Only day at their school.

So I got them to help me do the inside windows...

 ABOVE:  She tried to avoid getting her photo taken... 

ABOVE:  Silly girl tried to hide behind her lamp... ha ha ha!

I have decided to give you the beginning letters of our house name... let's see if anyone CAN guess it?

I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE, SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH:  HV

Good luck working that out!  The 'V' might be easy (or not), but the 'H' might stump you.

Well... it's 10.18 and I've spent the evening at Patchwork Group.  I did some crochet around a knitted cot blanket tonight.  Most of us do some hand work at the evening meeting, either knitting, sewing bindings on quilts, embroidery and so on.

So, it's almost bed time, so I shall finish for the day.

WAIT FOR IT ...!!!

I have a doozy of a post for today!
Some fun photos from our family dinner last night:

Amanda brought her make up, she sells Younique makeup... so she decided to give us girls a face mask... it was a charcoal mask designed to draw toxins from our skin...

 ABOVE: Don't I look GORGEOUS???

ABOVE:  Kelly and Lacy had their faces done too. Ange skipped it cos she was watching the rugby in the lounge with the guys.

 ABOVE:  Yep, she looks adorable... I'm sure.

 ABOVE:  What can I say?  Amanda photo bombed our threesome.  

 ABOVE:  I don't think I've ever seen us looking so.... DARLING!  ha ha ha!  Really, it's the most hideous photo ever!

 ABOVE:  The kids only got to play outside for a little while before it got too dark.

 ABOVE:  The little kids trying on new clothes that my Mum sent back with Kelly from Australia. Kelly spent a week visiting her Grandmother in Coffs Harbour.  She had a wonderful time by all accounts.

 ABOVE:  Dinner time.  Ange has a new name.  'RED'.  She dyed her hair bright red for her daughter's 21st birthday party.  Seems lots of us have been dyeing our hair lately!

 ABOVE:  feeding the masses.  It works so well if I just put the food on the bench and let everyone help themselves.

 ABOVE:  Four sad little faces.  They were put in the 'naughty' corner because they made the couch tip over while they were on it ... luckily no one was hurt!

After dinner, and the face masks, the girls put make up on themselves, and the little girls got a wee bit on too.

So, it was a lovely evening.  Way more noise than we are used to I must say.  Kinda breathed with relief when those little monkeys finally quietened down.

Now as for today.... we are getting a visitor.  Another of my Uncles in fact!

I am so thrilled that by getting in touch with one of the uncles over in Tauranga has started the ball rolling with getting back in touch with all of them!

Charles also lives in Tauranga, and is my Mum's 2nd youngest brother.  He's just retired and has time on his hands.
So he's coming over.  I'm so happy!

So is my Mum.  She feels happy that when (in her words), when she pops off, I will still have my maternal family around me.  And my own immediate family of course.  *smiles*

BUT FIRST up for today ... The Animal Behaviorist is coming over to observe Tallulah, her behaviour and how we interact with her.  After that she will go away and work on a plan for us, so we can hopefully turn her anti social behaviour around.  

Though, in saying that, the little bugger was quite good last night with all our visitors.  She only growled and snapped a couple of times!  Otherwise she was a perfect angel.  Little tart.

So, that's my post for today... so far.
I'm sure there will be more... after the dog lady and visitor have been!

ONWARD...

4.16 pm:  And what a neat day again!
The dog trainer arrived at 10.30 and she immediately started working on Tallulah.  Giving her treats when she did as requested.  She showed us how to train her to sit, and how to distract her from negative behaviour with treats and positive praise.

It is going to take quite some time to get her behaviour under control... but it will happen.

Coco needs training too, but on a lesser level.

So, half way through the two hour session, my Uncle Charles turned up.

I felt a bit stink that I had to almost ignore his arrival until after Clare left.  I think he understood.

 ABOVE:  This is Charles, he (or course), bears a strong family resemblance to all my other Aunts and Uncles on my Mum's side.  It's neat seeing family who I instantly recognise.

ABOVE: Charles's mint '77 Camaro.  It's in epic, original condition, the only addition Charles has made is a noisy muffler!

 ABOVE:  Me 'n' Charles.  He's only 7 or so years older than me. Behind those glasses are blue eyes like mine.

Because the teenagers and Lacy literally drooled over Charles's car, he took them for a drive, which was awesome.

After Charles left, we popped over to Mitre 10 to get a few things for the garden.  Pavers for leading to the Hobbit House, rhubarb plants, mint plant and prickle killer.
The Onehunga weed is started to grow... so we want to kill those buggers before they become a problem over summer.

Dinner tonight is going to be sausages, salad and wedges I think.  Oh and there's a small fruit pie left over, so that might be consumed as well.