NEW WEEK

For the first time this summer, our pool went cloudy.  I forgot to put chlorine in it and turn the pump on for two days.... and boom!

A light green pool yesterday morning.

I was gutted.

ABOVE:  I took that photo last night, after I'd bombed the pool with chlorine and Anti-Algae.  I hope it's looking better later on today, after I've run the pump this morning.

ABOVE:  The little bridge that was over the pond finally found a new home.

Stew put it in the back garden, behind some shrubs. It can be seen easily.  I put the old boats on top of it.  It's filled up an otherwise dead area.

ABOVE:  Marley was so adorable yesterday, lying with her sloth toy.

She just loves her toys... she has a favourite, until it is eaten (by her) or just falls to bits.

At the moment her love is the sloth.  (photos NOT staged!)

ABOVE:  But, she is a little bit fickle.  Steve comes FIRST when he's around!  Our dogs just love him so much.

I think it's cupboard love though.  He feeds them tidbits.

I'm happy that today I am off on an FBG 20/20 walk in THE EVENING!  No more early morning starts for me.

Well, I hope not.

I'm hoping the New Concept Walks take off and become a regular thing within the FBG framework.

It will suit so many of us who no longer feel up to trying to complete the Urban Challenge, or just find walk distances or pace do not suit them.

It's something to look forward to today.

Stew will be back working in the office this week, so it's back to normal for me.

First up... get the washing on, then tidy up the house, attend to the pool, etc.

Catch ya later.

I know of people who are screaming and yelling  about protecting themselves from Covid, and don't send their kids to school, don't go to places with crowds of people... because it's all too risky!  They tell everyone their health is compromised, they are vulnerable people. 

And then they go to the protest in Wellington!  Where there's over a thousand people milling around, no social distancing, no mask wearing, and MOST of them are unvaccinated to boot.

WHAT THE FUCK!!!

Talk about double standards.  Hypocrites.  Bull shit artists to the extreme.  

And TODAY 'someone' said he's not scared of getting Covid, yet they have been trying to keep a kid home from school so it doesn't catch Covid and give it to them?  WTF?

Make up your fucking mind.  You don't want to catch Covid from a kid who goes to school.... but you are NOT SCARED of catching Covid?  Which one is it ya fucking moron.

Meanwhile in La La Land... I've been tending to the pool for two hours.  Trying to get the Ph levels right, and scoop out more of the leaves that got blown into it during last weeks storm.

The debris is not helping correct the levels I reckon.  Right, back to it.

I do not usually publicly state how I feel about Politics, Religion, etc, but today....

YES!  Finally our Police force are taking decisive action to curtail the protestors in Wellington!  About time I say.  They have the right to protest of course, but to disrupt, harass, trespass, deface our War Memorial, threaten to kill, spread misinformation, take no Covid precautions and god knows what else?  NOT ON people.

Hopefully the new concrete barricades do their job and the protestors leave.

PROTESTORS:  YOU DO NOT REPRESENT ME.

ABOVE:  Why yes MAGPIE... I do have steam coming out my ears!

Bed hair and I don't care!

WOO HOO.... the pool is finally starting to come right.  I've probably got ONE more tweak of the 'Ph Up' to go, and it will be perfect again.  I hate it when the pool is not right.

ABOVE:  After 3.5 hours.... the levels are perfect.

The pump has been on for hours and it's almost 100% clear again.

I've been doing housework all morning, on top of working on the pool.  It's now time to take a break and just relax.

I have to sort out dinner for Stew next.  He can eat his dinner while I go walking in Cambridge this evening.

Hmmm... some healthy debate going on here.  Not too much though, thankfully.  I don't want or need to go to 'war' over this.  I respect your opinion, and you respect mine.  End of Story.

*Some comments have not been published due to their inflammatory/aggressive nature.  To call me a 'Nazi' is DISGUSTING* 

I just had the most wonderful swim with Bex and the boys.  The pool is still slightly off colour, but that will come right in a day or two.

It is just so calming to get in and cool down, let the day's shit flow out of ya and just enjoy the cool water.

Splashy boys?  Didn't even mind them.  😂😊

It's nearly 5 pm.  Time to sort out Stew's dinner, then get ready to head over to Cambridge for me walk.

ABOVE:  Well, that's another lovely walk done and dusted.  

It looked like it might rain, but luckily it held off until I was on my way home again.

There was an amazing blood red sunset tonight, but I couldn't get a photo as I was driving home from Cambridge.

So now... it's the end of the day and I'm just going to relax till bedtime.

EARLY BIRTHDAY

 Today we are holding an early Birthday Lunch for Lacy.

It's her birthday on Tuesday, but we thought it would be nice to celebrate it while she has Keera with her.

So.   Today is it.

Lunch here,  with those who can make it.  

Stew's going out this morning to get a couple of supplies and a cake.  

What next?

Oh yeah.... what did I buy yesterday?

ABOVE:  A few more of those super cute, recycled glass bottles/vases!  I just love them.  I don't think I will buy any more though.  COS there's none left in the shop!  😂😅😊

So, apart from having family here for lunch and cake, it should be a normal sorta Sunday.

A sleep in even! 

"THOSE THAT CAN MAKE IT".   And she laughed and laughed and laughed.

Cos only Steve and Bex can 'make it'.

So, we shall have a very small, but happy family gathering for Lacy's Birthday Lunch.

So be it.

This will be the last Birthday Lunch or Dinner I send invites out to though. 

ABOVE:  Steve being an arsehole.  Turning a lot of my little vases/bottles upside down.  What a shit.

He did fix them again... clever boy.

ABOVE:  We have had a lovely lunch.  Lacy was thrilled with her gifts, particularly the Cat Runner, which can be used as a wall hanging as well.

She will be hanging it on the wall.

Everyone has now left... and it's lovely and quiet again.

I tried to have a nap.  And I laughed and laughed and laughed.

And gave up.

Too many messages.  Phone kept pinging.  Then my bladder started screaming at me.  

At least it works well.

I'm not thinking of dinner, it's 7 pm already!

No idea what Stew and I will have.  Probably leftovers.  If Lacy left any that is.

I'm signing off for the day.  I hope nothing else happens today.

DAY OFF

 Stew and I are taking today 'off' doing yard work.

Sure, there's plenty left to do around the back, but we are just done for now.

I'd love to go for a tiki tour somewhere, BUT... the way Omicron is spreading right now, it's just not worth it.

So, it's a stay home and relax sorta day.

ABOVE:  Coco being an utter hussy last night!  She loves having her tummy scratched and will roll over the second anyone comes near her!

Just a bit cute.

ABOVE:  Spoon vs. Insinkerator.  Insinkerator won.

So... sorry peeps, it's going to be a quiet day.

I went to bed too early last night.  Slept wrong.  Got the most awful backache this morning!

But anyway.... Stew and I have decided to go to Mt Maunganui for a day trip.  As Lynda said, ya can't hide away forever.

Less risky going to the Mount as opposed to Auckland though.

1.50 pm. We are having a really lovely time.

Nice big walk along the beach... and dipping our toes in when it got too hot.

7 pm:  We just got home, after having a really delightful day over at the Mount.

I am going to spend about an hour or so editing photos, then composing the rest of this post.

So... come back later!

Right, first up for our day trip, we decided to stop at McLaren Falls.  We have passed the road to these falls DOZENS of times over the years, but never gone there.

Today we did.

ABOVE:  I was very surprised how close they were to the main road.  And the falls were nothing like I had envisioned at all.

ABOVE:  I must admit I was rather under whelmed.  I am sure there is heaps more water going over the falls in winter.

ABOVE: The McLaren Falls lakes were very pretty.

We found ourselves among a Mini Convoy...

ABOVE:  A Mini Day Trip!  lol

ABOVE: Once at the Mount, our first stop was this shop again.  The Design Depot.  Lovely stuff.

ABOVE:  We got a 'couple' of things there, will show you what.... tomorrow.

ABOVE:  We took ourselves off for a walk along the beach.  All up we walked 3.75 kms.  It was wonderful!

There was plenty of cloud cover, and when we got hot we just walked in the water.

ABOVE:  Ya can't go to the beach without getting the obligatory seagull on a post photo! 

ABOVE:  Yep, I got a gull on a rock too.  lol

ABOVE:  And I WAY preferred seeing my man on the beach, instead of the stark naked guy and his girlfriend!  Cheeky buggers... it's a very public beach.

After our walk we grabbed some food and then visited my friend Pip.  She built an amazing home just one street back from the beach last year.

ABOVE: Pip has a really good view of the Mount.

ABOVE: The AMAZING mural in Pip's master bedroom!

ABOVE: Her home is so funky, so many unique features!  And colour!  

ABOVE: And her boundary fence is amazing and unique and stunning... and has a panel I made.  Can you pick which one is mine?

ABOVE:  The other unique feature in her home is her slide.  It starts upstairs, winds around OUTSIDE her home then arrives back downstairs in the foyer.  So fun.

Right, that's all I have for now.  I will sign off now and catch ya all tomorrow.

I'M A DICK

 For the past few days I've been suffering from a nasty headache.

Like right between my eyes, and radiating back to the top of my skull.

Made worse when I stand up.

Then it hit me.

FAArk, I've been forgetting to take my medications.

For about 5 days by the look of it.

WHOOPS!

That means my blood pressure is no doubt up, hence the headache.

And yeah, my blood sugars too.

The reason this happened was because I started leaving my pill box above the fridge, so kids couldn't get into it.

Bad move, cos then I forgot them.

ABOVE:  They are usually right in front of me on my computer desk.  I think they have to go back there.

As for kids, well the only young one I need to worry about isn't here that often. So I think it's safe to put them back on me computer desk.

I'm sure to remember when that kid is here to put them up.  I'm too much of a worry wort not to.

ABOVE: The last time Stew worked from home, he was in the lounge.  Now that's not possible due to the change around in there.

So he's in the dining 'room'. 

It's a lovely space, he can look out at the road, who's coming and going, and he's got a nice cooling window right beside him too.

Not to mention his lap dog.

She's loving having Stew home during the day.

I am up extra early this morning as I'm heading over to Cambridge for an FBG walk.  I hate getting up early, but I've promised myself that I will do at least ONE walk over there every week.

I am loving the new concept walks .... today's walk will be the 2nd one.

10.20 am.

Today I woke up at 4.30 am.  And that was it.  I kept clock watching, making sure I didn't sleep in and miss my walk!

Sure makes for an early start to the day.

I'm happy to say I got over to Cambridge with half an hour to spare!

So... I watched the sun rise:

Then everyone arrived for our walk.  I think there were about 12 of us, maybe a couple more?

It was a great time to be walking, not too hot yet.

ABOVE: I did 3.13 kms in my 40 minutes, which is about the same distance I did on the 1st 20/20 walk, just slightly less.

There will be another one next week, which I am certainly looking forward to.

After the walk, a few of us went to a local coffee shop to re-hydrate and yak.

ABOVE:  Just a beautiful morning with lovely friends.  

After that I stopped in at the Fish Van and bought some Salmon Dip.

ABOVE:  I was luckily the first person there, waiting for them to open.  

And now I'm home, and Stew and I have had crackers, cheese and salmon dip for morning tea.

Poor Stew was on a Zoom call when I put his crackers in front of him.

Then he had to sit there, talking to staff, while sniffing the dip!  hee heeeee hee.

DEE:  shit sorry! I felt quite yuk after my walk.  I lay down and tried to have a nap, but that didn't work.

So I've been replying to quite a few people who have commented on the state of my driveway, I put some photos on Facebook.  Lots of ideas and suggestions.

It's just been a very quiet afternoon really.

Steve, Bex and the boys came over for a swim and stayed for dinner.

We all chipped in and got Chinese Takeaways.

Now we are just sitting around yakking about life in general, and FUCKING COVID.

Today's numbers were 1,929!

Getting scary high numbers.  

Again, sorry I totally forgot to update!  

Right, that's me day done.  

I'm going to have a nice quiet evening with Stew.

Catch ya tomorrow.