FELT

After last night's fiasco with some crappy, thin felt, which fell to bits once I'd sewn it on the giraffe... I'm thinking of alternatives.

Like making the mane out of fabric?  It can be done, just might be fiddly.  Or polar fleece?  But I ain't got any suitable polar fleece.  *sigh*

So, I will try with fabric first I suppose.  No way am I going into Hamilton for just a tiny bit of felt or fleece.

 ABOVE: We have horns and ears!  At least they came out right!

 ABOVE:  It's going to be a decent sized giraffe once it's finished.  Sure doesn't look like one right now though.

ABOVE:  What I'm having to use while my big Brother (Mc Dreamy) is in getting serviced!  It's like sewing with a toy machine!  So small and lightweight.
I had to read the bloody manual to remember how to use it!  Derrr.

I've decided to go to Aqua Fit again this morning.  I might just go to morning tea at Mrs X's house yet!  WELL ... she DID give me her address.  ha ha ah! 

OK... I'm off.  Catch ya later.

ONWARD... 

ABOVE:  Today's pick from the tomato patch.  I won't run out of sweet cherry tomatoes in a hurry.

And... I'm not going out.  I've got too much to do here.  *sigh*

So I'm sitting here, minding me own business, when I feel this 'THING' crawling along me arm.

I let out a shriek!  Thinking, it's bound to be a bloody cockroach, there's heaps around here... but NO.

ABOVE:  A caterpillar.  Lucky I didn't swat it without looking!  He would have made an ikky mess on me arm for sure.  *screwing up me face* 😥
So, he got dispatched out the door quick smart.

And now.. on to jobs.

One of my jobs for today was to go through the suitcases of clothes I've got in my wardrobe.  Clothes that are either too small or too big or the wrong season... stuff that's been in storage for YEARS!

ABOVE:  It was a good thing to do!  I ended up with this big pile of clothes to get rid of!  So I text Kelly and asked her to come look at them, there were a few things I thought she might like.

Sorry Lacy, NOTHING in that pile would fit you at all!

ABOVE:  Kelly found half a dozen items that she liked and took home.  I'm crabby about that multi coloured dress, I love it!  But, it's never going to fit me.  

AND if it ever did, I can always borrow it back.  *smiles*

I spent the afternoon hemming some new trousers of Stew's.  MEGA HATE hemming trousers.

Then I did another pair after dinner.  Cranky as hell now.

And it's so bloody hot it made me even crabbier.  30 degrees in my lounge, so we turned the air con on.  It took 3 hours to drop to 25 degrees!

And that is all I have for today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LACY, AQUA ... THEN GIRAFFE

First up for the day, another birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂 LACY.  I hope you behave. 👅😜💜

I'm off to Aqua fit first thing this morning, I'm really looking forward to it.

After that, I'm coming home and sewing a giraffe.

That should be fun eh?

QUESTION:  I can't decide which way to go with the first giraffe...

ABOVE: The top fabric is the body of the giraffe, and on either side are the ears/snout/horns/hoof and hoof pad options I've selected as options.
Which option?  Purples, or Yellow/Orange?

I will leave you with that to ponder while I go swim.  *smiles*

ONWARD...

Aqua was lovely today.  Like usual, I never really feel like going, but once there I actually enjoy it.
It's a great way to start the day.
And I'm starting to feel like one on the group, and have lots of lovely chats with various people.

Today I tapped one lady on the shoulder and told her I would come to her place tomorrow for morning tea.  And then I told her she didn't need to provide anything to eat as I was on a diet...  Sounds good eh?

NOT.  It was the wrong lady!!!!  I thought she was a lady who had invited me to morning tea at last week's class!  Too funny, cos the lady this morning just said 'OK, I live at..."!

I apologised for just randomly inviting myself to her place and laughed it off.

Maybe I will go to her place one day, ya never know.

Can't sew yet, I've got to post a couple of things first.  So I'm off out again, but should be home soon.  That giraffe-to-be is waiting.

Fook it.  I have come to a halt on the giraffe already.  I don't have felt for the mane and tail tip.  And I'm not going into Hamilton for a tiny bit of felt!  It can wait till I next have to go in, which should be when Keera's glasses arrive.  That should be in the next day or two I hope.

I went for the purple for the giraffe by the way.
It's a better contrast I think.

It actually took quite a while to trace out and cut the pattern out onto the fabric, longer than I thought it would take that's for sure.

I don't think I will be whipping one up in a day!

I've now got a damn headache, so will just blob out for a little while.  It's the heat and humidity getting to me.

I'm glad some of you realised just how funny it was me inviting myself to a total stranger's home for morning tea, and her agreeing!  ha ha ha!  

I started sewing some bits of the giraffe together tonight.  Fiddly shitty thing.  I found some felt after hunting for ages that I thought would do (brown) and stitched it onto the head, then the head parts together, yadda yadda.

Then the bloody felt fell to bits!  WTF?  Old, thin felt.  So I had to unpick the lot.  Total waste of an hour of my time.  I've stopped now.  And will find better quality felt or polar fleece to use in a day or so. 

My eyes are having trouble focusing, so time to head off to bed.

INSPIRATION

So I get to Weight Watchers last night, and quite a few ladies are busy cutting pictures out of old Weight Watcher magazines, and sticking them on card.

I ask what are they doing?  To be told we have to make an 'Inspiration Board'... to illustrate WHY we joined Weight Watchers.

So, I look around.  Everyone is cutting out pictures of ... healthy food, fit looking people, nice clothes etc.

And I'm like ... in me head... thinking... NAH.

So, I do what came to mind immediately, and cut out a big gap in my card:

 ABOVE:  My 'Inspiration Board'.  

When our WW Leader asked us to show her our boards, I showed her mine.  She was puzzled.

So I explained.   My inspiration to re-join Weight Watchers was:

 ABOVE:  MY FAT FACE.

ABOVE:  AND LET'S NOT FORGET THE BOOBS.

Cos as I explained, every time I look in the mirror, or put me bra on, I feel unhappy.
That's not my face.  Those are not my boobs!

I know I can look and feel SO MUCH BETTER. I had done it before with Weight Watches, and wanted to do it again.

 So... that was my 'board'.  I made most of the ladies there laugh.  My job is done.

Losing weight should be ENJOYABLE along the way too... and I do my best to make my time at the meetings ENJOYABLE.  Otherwise, I simply wouldn't go.  I go there for support, and to hopefully, support others too.

Oh and in case you missed it last night, I lost 2.1 kgs this week, and have now lost 8 kilos since starting WW again.  Slow, but steadily downward.

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR GRANDDAUGHTER EMILY,  we hope you have a wonderful day.  If you are having a party, we would love to come!

And now... I'm off to get the washing on, and then sew.

ONWARD...

I took myself out for a little day trip.
Once I've had a very late lunch... I will come back and show and tell. *smiles*

ARE YOU READY FOR A PHOTO FEST?...

Today I decided, spur of moment, to go to Matamata.  Cos there's a nice little patchwork shop there.

It took me 35 minutes to get there, so it's not that far to go.

I first off, went to the patchwork shop:

ABOVE:  Half the shop is dedicated to amazing cushions, the other half is fabric.  

ABOVE:  I'm going to make this panel into a set of two placemats and coasters.  As a Christmas gift for someone.

 ABOVE: This fabric will be really good as borders for small things.

ABOVE:  And this fabric ... oh yes, I have a definite project in mind for it!  I am smiling just thinking about it.

NOW... I have to THANK Sue #2 for this!  I decided to check out the local Op Shops in Matamata...

ABOVE:  I ended up visiting 4 of them.  *sigh*

 ABOVE:  Luckily, I  only found two things I wanted, this bedspread (brand new!) and ...

 ABOVE: This nice winter top.

AFTER the op shops, I went into a really nice looking gift shop, and found these:

 ABOVE:  You are supposed to hang necklaces off it?  NAH.  I will find something better... eventually.  I just liked it, ok?

 ABOVE:  a gorgeous candle for my bedroom... funny, it matches me nail polish too.

ABOVE:  AND finally... this funky little teapot!
I am tempted to make it a pretty skirt and not actually USE it.  ha ha ha.

Bloody hell... forgot something!  I went into Hamilton on my way home ... OK, I had to pass Cambridge to get to Hamilton, but so what?

I took my big Brother sewing machine into 5 Cross Roads to get serviced.  It will be away *SOB* for about 2 weeks!
I bought these from there too:

ABOVE: Just two fat quarters.  Very cute though.
After THAT... I actually came home.  My stomach was screaming 'fed me', I hadn't had anything to eat all day!
So I had some salad and surimi.

NOW... I have about half an hour before I pick Keera up.  Relax time.

After having a busy day, it's been nice to have a quiet evening.

Time for bed.

A WOMAN'S PREROGATIVE

I can change my mind eh?

Like... totally go back on something I said just last week!

I can't HELP it.  I saw some super cute things at Ribbon Rose yesterday, and I just have to make them!  NOW. 

 ABOVE:  I got some Steam a Seam, more handy clips (I use them instead of pins), some wool for felting, and those two adorable patterns.

ABOVE:  I got these 4 fabrics to make giraffes with!  I mean... I couldn't resist!  They had a giraffe made up in the shop and it looked so ADORABLE!  I must make some!

And the teddy too.  So, so cute.

Sooooo.... this means UFO's are once again... going on the back burner.  Oh Dear.  😆😉

It's patchwork group this morning, so I'm going to take along the paper pattern, and copy it onto card, then read the pattern and suss it out.  I'm not that crash hot at following patterns, so it might take a bit of working out!

Before I head out to Patchwork Group, I am going to ring the Vet and get Tallulah an appointment.  She stinks.  I mean, really stinks.  I think she's got an ear infection, or something like that.  She's just super smelly for NO apparent reason.  

But, she's been scratching her ear, so maybe that's the problem? We will find out.

ONWARD...  

ABOVE:  Amazing 'breaking wave' clouds over Palmerston North this morning!  Wish I'd been there to see that.

Tallulah sees the Vet this afternoon... so all going well she should be sorted out soon.

12.34 pm:  And I'm home from patchwork.  I got the paper pattern transferred onto card, next step is to cut out the fabric.  Exciting!

Everything is growing like CRAZY in the garden!  You'd think it was Spring...

 ABOVE:  I'm not a huge fan of camellia's, but this one smells lovely.

 ABOVE: It's been so wet, we have fungus/toadstools growing!  
Also, plenty of winter fruit coming along too.

 ABOVE:  I may only have a small vege patch, but it's plentiful!  My rhubarb plants survived being transferred to this little planter box.

 ABOVE: This native plant had a baby.  I wonder if I can move the baby to another area?  

ABOVE:  this tree amazes me!  It's tripled in size since I bought it... and that was only a few months ago!  

And that's all for now.  It's like a sauna again today, the only relief I can get from the constant heat is to sit in front of a fan.  

One of my new blog readers (Janice) told another blogger about me and my blog a few days ago.
So, Sue W left me a comment saying 'Hi', and I did the same back.  Then she told another blogger friend of her's, also named Sue, and we got in touch too.

And today, Sue # 2 popped in to say 'Hi' in person!

We got on like a house on fire, and have organised to have lunch on Friday, here at a new pub... both Sue's and me.  And according to Sue # 2, I have to be called 'Sue' too!  lol

I don't know how that will work out...

but anyway, here's the two Sue's:

ABOVE: Sue # 2 is a Hamiltonian and SueW is an import from England.   I am really looking forward to seeing them both on Friday.  *smiles*

Thanks for getting in touch girls, and thanks Janice for starting the ball rolling.  (((hugs)))

I took Tallulah to the Vet.  As I suspected, she has an ear infection.  So now we have ear cleaner, ointment, steroids and eye drops for her.  All going well, she should be feeling much better in about a week.

In half an hour I am out again, this time to Weight Watchers.  I will be returning the 'Magic Tracker' and starting to use my own tracker.
It certainly does help tracking everything that goes in your gob!
I am expecting a loss of around a kilo, maybe a bit more?

DRUM ROLL.... and I lost 2.1 kgs this week.
Happy with that!  Now to do it again next week.... but maybe not 2 kgs again.  I'm going to aim for 1 kg.

I've now lost 8 kilos since I started WW again.  Slow.   But still on a downward slope.  

And on that happy note, I'm off to enjoy a quiet evening.

NO SIGNAL

Too funny.

Yesterday our television reception was interrupted by stormy weather.

And I glanced over at Keera, who was moaning about losing her TV programme:

ABOVE: How cute does she look?  *smiles*
She didn't really understand WHY the tv was not working.  Those drooping shoulders.  Awwww.

Today we are planning on going for a little drive. 
We want to get out of the house, even though the weather is supposed to be ikk.

So... until we get back, have an awesome day.

ONWARD...

SHOPPING.... Oh how I've missed you... SYLVIA PARK!

HOME AGAIN.  Did ya miss me?
I hope so.... even though it's very quiet on the weekends.

So, we went to Auckland for the day.  When we left it was pissing down with rain, but once we got to Auckland the day was lovely and fine again.

It was like walking around in a sauna though.

We went straight to Steve and Bex's home, and spent a couple of happy hours with them... had lunch then left for the mall.

 ABOVE:  The kids enjoying Teriyaki Chicken on rice for lunch.
I asked Dante to smile... that is what I got!  Silly kid.

After lunch we left Keera with them and took off for the mall and Ribbon Rose.

ABOVE:  A lovely outfit for Keera to wear in winter.  We also got the boys some clothes from the new H & M store in Sylvia Park.  It's quite a good shop, lots of variety and a decent price.

I spent about half an hour at Ribbon Rose, and ended up buying a few things.  I will show you what... tomorrow.  Gotta leave something to show tomorrow eh?  lol

After shopping, we swung by Steve and Bex's to pick up Keera, then headed for home.
But not before having a look at how the 'new' school is coming on in our old suburb.

 ABOVE:  Remember, it was torn down about 3 years ago because the entire school was a 'leaky building'?  
It's costing over $24 MILLION to re-build the whole school!

It will be interesting to go back in a few months and see it completely new.

Our drive home was good, no traffic to speak of at all.

Stew did a quick dinner for everyone, just sausages/baked beans/spagetti on toast.  I didn't have any toast.  I stayed within my points allocation today, rather happy with that.

I took my own lunch with me so I wasn't tempted to eat anything I shouldn't.

It's getting easier to resist stuff I shouldn't be eating.  

Winding down for the evening now, watching a new mini series called 'One of Us'.  

BLUE FANTAIL

Today we are going back to the Tamahere Market.
It's been a month since the last one, and a month since I put my 'name' on the Blue Fantail wooden garden post:

ABOVE:  So, today we can pick it up and get it home and find just the right spot in the garden to place it.
Stew has an idea where he thinks it should go, but I'm more like... let's try it in different places and see.

I don't want it to be in a place where it's vulnerable to getting hit with balls, or smacked into.

Apart from that, it's going to be a fairly 'normal' day.   Blasted housework to do, kids to entertain, bla bla bla.

ONWARD...

11.31 am:  And we have been to the market, and picked up our garden post.  And sheesh, saw and bought something else for the garden too...

 ABOVE:  This darling birdhouse!  It took a little while to work out where to put it in the garden, but eventually, we came up with here:

ABOVE:  A little house on top of a house.  *smiles*

ABOVE: After much trial and error, the garden post ended up here.  If it doesn't feel right there, after time, we can always move it.  The little tree to the right will be a mass of blue flowers in a few months.  

It's going to look gorgeous there.

 ABOVE:  I hope I don't 'find' anything else for the garden!  

Nearly lunchtime, and I will be having very little.
I've been suffering badly from reflux since last night.

ABOVE:  Pies from last night.  The reason for my misery.
When will I learn that I can't eat pies?  They always give me dreadful reflux!
I had to 'sleep' sitting upright on a couch last night.
I didn't get much sleep.

A nap this afternoon is definitely on the cards.

And yep, I did  have a nap.  For a couple of hours at least.  Certainly needed it.

Stew cooked a pork roast for dinner, it was delicious.  AND I tracked everything and still stayed right on my points allowance for the day.

I sure won't get reflux again tonight.  

Signing off now, I've got a couple of little jobs to do, then I can relax and watch Coronation Street.