MARLEY TO NEW GROOMER

 

Marley goes to the new groomer first thing this morning.  I hope it goes well.

I tried brushing her out last night and she got all crabby with me, and even tried to snap at me!

And that is why I don't groom my dogs.  They do not sit still, and they fight me all the time.

This will be the first time Marley has been groomed by a man.  I've no idea how it will go.

OMG, I just remembered something else.  She goes NUTS when an Asian person walks past our driveway.  YIKES.  The groomer is an Asian man.  I am positive she's been teased by Asian kids walking past the house, due to her behaviour.

Gosh it might be a disaster!

Time will tell I suppose.

Now.  While Marley is at the groomers, I have a little job to get done outside the house.  It will involve me having a nice little walk as well, which is awesome.

It's not something I will talk about today, or even in the near future... it's to do with our long term plans.  Ducks in a row shit.

ABOVE:  Marley was NOT impressed being bathed by Lacy yesterday afternoon!  She hates it so much.  At least it was WARM Marley!

ABOVE: Looking less than beautiful Marls!  Lacy looks good though.

ABOVE: This is the Kiwiana Braid Runner I got partly made yesterday.  It's lovely.  I will quilt it sometime next week, along with any others I get done over the next few days.

GUINEA PIGS...  I am 'babysitting' Lacy's guinea pigs while she's out of town for about 6 days.  Gosh I better not forget them... can't have them die on my shift!  I must feed them, make sure they have water, shelter, fresh grass, bla bla bla. 😂😊

ONWARD...

9.10 am:  I just dropped Marley off at the groomers.  I have a sinking feeling I've made a big mistake taking her there.

I could not understand the man much at all, and when I told him what I wanted (shaved short all over), he didn't seem to understand what I was saying either.

So God knows how Marley will  look when I pick her up.  I hope it's not a disaster.

Because I was flustered by the time I left the groomers, I came home.  I'll do my little 'job' after I've picked up Marley.

Right now, I'm in the sewing room, about to start on my next Braid Runner.  Heat Pump is ON... cos it's cold today.

ABOVE:  And she's back.  It's definitely not the best groom she's had, but it's OK.  She was good for the groomer, he had no problems except for cutting her nails.  He simply didn't do them!  So I've got to get her out walking on concrete to wear them down more.

I'm very relieved it isn't an utter shit job to be honest!  He scissor cuts, so it has the potential to be ragged, but it's not too bad.  For $50 I'm not going to complain.

And now I can go out and do me little job.

COLLEEN:  We are not thinking of moving 100% due to a barking dog.  There have been many conversations over the past few weeks and it is agreed to be the best thing for us ... IN A COUPLE/FEW YEARS TIME.

ABOVE: And there we have the next Braid Runner, ready for quilting.  It is busy.  It is 'out there'... but it will sell.  Because it's different.

I'm now going to make a start on the next one, but I won't get it finished today as it's already almost 5 pm.  And I always stop once Stew gets home from work.

8.33 pm... Stew arrived home as per usual.  I got him some dinner, had some fruit and yoghurt for my dinner, then settled down to watch some TV.  Boring.  There is bugger all on a Friday night.

Stew is a happy man though.   He's watching rugby in the lounge.  Power to him.

I might go to bed early.  I'm bored and it's warmer and more comfy in bed.  I can scroll through shit on me phone in bed.

LET THEM

 

Today I am going to start with something I read yesterday, that resounded in me so strongly:

Are you familiar with the “Let Them” theory?

I’ll tell you the more I grow the more I am okay with accepting the “Let Them” in my own life and relationships. Even family can mistreat and disrespect you.

This is something that took me a very long time to learn. I used to tolerate a lot because I didn't want to lose people. I learned the hard way if they were really my people they would never treat me like that. Don't make the mistake of being so understanding and forgiving that you overlook the fact that you're being repeatedly disrespected.

Let them be upset.

Let them judge you.

Let them misunderstand you.

Let them gossip about you,

Let them ignore you.

Let them be "right."

Let them doubt you.

Let them not like you.

Let them not speak to you.

Let them run your name in the ground.

Let them make you out to be the villain.

Whatever it is that people want to say about you, let them!

Kindly step aside and LET THEM.

The hard truth is they know how much they are hurting you. They just simply don't care. They did it knowing it could cause them to lose you. They did it anyway. People that love you care about how they make you feel.

The end.

Let them go.

There will be people that would rather lose you than be honest about what they've done to you. Let them go.

The lack of respect was the closure. The lack of apology was the closure. The lack of care was the closure. The lack of acountability was the closure. The lack of honestly was the closure. Let them go.

Make the decision to no longer sit at tables where you might be the topic when you get up. Let them go.

You can still be kind. You can even still love them deeply. But do it from the distance they created in their words and actions. Access to you is a privilege they have proven they can’t be trusted with. Let them go.

You don’t need to tell your side of the story. God already knows. Let God fight the battle for you. Let them go.

It’s taken me a long time to get here. Sleepless nights, countless tears, managing a range of emotions filled with anger, disappointment, confusion and deep hurt. Lots of self reflection, self preservation, deep prayer and seeking wisdom from those much wiser than me.

If you are struggling with this please know you are not alone. We will never understand why hurt people hurt people. But we can do the hard work to grow ourselves. Because healed people do in fact heal people.

Don’t you dare let them steal your joy.

Don’t you dare let them steal your light.

Don’t you dare let them steal your peace.

You are in control of that.

Hold tight to what you can control and release your grip on what you can’t control.

Let them go.

I let them go. And it was/is the best thing I ever did.

Now... back to my 'normal'.

Thursday. No walk today.

No firm plans.

I might do some work inside the house.

There's a few areas inside the house that I could work on de-cluttering. Kitchen cupboards. Another wardrobe.

OR...I might even sew something!

ONWARD...

😖😕

I should have known I couldn't just walk into the sewing room and start sewing.

ABOVE: I've gotta spend a couple of hours cutting out friggin stips. Grrrr. This is the back breaking part of sewing. And this is probably why I've been putting off coming back in here.

11.15 am: I've had to stop cutting. 3 hours and my back is done in.

So, I'm back in the house, taking a little break before having some lunch.

Can a barking dog drive me mental? Why yes, yes it can.

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't such a high pitched yelping... that never stops. I seriously want to tape it's fucking mouth shut. It's now HOWLING as well.

A GOOD REASON TO MOVE I THINK. Let that sink in.

NO, we are not moving RIGHT NOW, but in the future ... FOR SURE.

And because I'm a 'DO IT NOW' sorta person, I'm getting my ducks in a row NOW. Hence the massive de-clutter going on here.

I needed SOMETHING to do!

Our potential move isn't for a few years, so please don't ask WHEN. lol You will find out our future plans in due course.

I have had an excellent afternoon and evening!

I got one runner ready for quilting by dinnertime. I'll make a few more over the next few days before quilting them all in one go.

Stew went to the pub, and I spent a couple of hours at Steve 'n' Bex's. A lovely evening.

Home now to our freezing cold house... time to get the heated throw on!

Catch ya tomorrow.

WALKING AGAIN THIS MORNING

 

Possibly another wet day ahead of us by the look of it.

Never mind.

I'm off to Cambridge for an FBG walk.  They seem to have toughened up a bit, and will walk in a bit of rain!  It's only looking cloudy out there right now, so we might get lucky.

I had planned on staying in Cambridge for the entire day, and attend a funeral this afternoon.

But my plans have had to change, as the person who bought my bookcase is coming after lunch 'sometime', so I need to be home for that.

I'm relieved in a way, as funerals are not a nice way to spend ya afternoon.

While I'm in Cambridge, I'll drop off all the stuff in the back of me car to the local Hospice Op Shop.  Another load off my mind.

Once home, I won't be sewing!  I've said I would do that for the past few days, and I've simply not gotten into the sewing room!

I'm totally distracted by my de-cluttering!  And I don't think I'll be stopping any time soon.  There is so much to go through, sort out, keep, or get rid of.

ONWARD...

The walk today was a bit challenging.  1. It was bloody hot!

2. There was a long, fairly steep hill involved.  Not my favourite thing to do, walk up hills.

ABOVE: A good bunch of us today.  And a stunning day for it.  I would have preferred the clouds to have stayed, but oh well.  

Now that I'm home, I am going to have something for my lunch, then head off and find somewhere else to declutter!

ABOVE:  Walk stats for today.  Not that long a walk, but the hill made up for it.  

3.10 pm:  And I'm fuming mad as hell.

The lady who bought my bookcase turned up at 3 pm.  Looked at it, and said, NO, I don't want it after all !  

I had already paid the 'success fee' to TradeMe' and the listing had been withdrawn.

So I was not happy as you can imagine.

Luckily, TradeMe refunded me the success fee immediately.

Now I have had to relist the bloody thing.  Grrrr.

AND I missed a funeral I really should have gone to, for nothing. 

I suppose there's a first for everything right?

Moving on... I am now going to list another item on my 'Get Rid Of' list.

Coronation Street is on... so after that I'm off to bed.  It's been a long day.  Catch ya tomorrow.

OUT IT GOES

 

Today I don't have a walk on, but I am on a mission.

First up :

ABOVE:  I'm taking this little unit over to Steve 'n' Bex's.  I took it out of the vanity/bathroom and it is now redundant.  They can use it I'm sure.

ABOVE:  In it's place is this cute cane and metal stand.  It takes up less room, and I really want to keep it.

I'm having a blast de-cluttering!  I am going to be getting rid of so much more over the next few months.  I have a plan.  NO, we have a plan.

And it involves getting rid of lots of our stuff.  You just don't NEED as much 'stuff' as you get older, it just weighs you down.

Stew, once he's 100% recovered from his operation, is going to get stuck into the garage clutter, and the back sheds as well.  

WHY do you lug, from house to house, all that stuff we simply do not need?  It's crazy.  And I thought I'd de-cluttered when we moved from Auckland to Cambridge, and Cambridge to Hamilton.  Ha ha ha.   NOT ENOUGH.

In fact, there were a few moves before those ones, where I got rid of stuff too.  But I have a very bad habit of buying MORE stuff.

I promise not to do that any more. 😂😊😉

I am going to do a few jobs around the house this morning, then go into the sewing room and get on with Braid Runners.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  I've been out for a short walk, more like an amble really. 

Then I dropped that unit off to Bex,

ABOVE:  It didn't take her long to find the right space for it.

After leaving Bex's, I went down to our local Kiwi Bank store... to find it was closed.  It was a 'combo' store, Kiwi Bank, Post Office, Book Store and Lotto store.  ALL GONE.

So then I had to go over to the Base to enquire about my new card, and why I hadn't got it yet?

To find that the guy I ordered it from 3 WEEKS AGO, at Kiwibank Rototuna, HAD NOT ORDERED IT!

So I was a bit pissed off.  I am now having to wait another 2 weeks for it to arrive.  Grrrrr.

Deep breath... worse things could happen.  

I've just had me lunch.

Stew's dinner is in the crock pot (pork roast), so I'm happy with my day so far.

Well another damn awesome afternoon.

I sold another of our wooden bookcases.

I am about to list our large marble top, free standing unit.

I got a bit sorted out in the garage.

Stew arrived home and he's now eating his roast pork and veges, and loving it.

I've gone through my baking cupboard, and anything I've not used since we moved here is going to the Op Shop tomorrow. Along with several other items from around the house.

My plans for the rest of the evening?

NOTHING.  I'm knackered.

I need to have my next Trulicity injection later on this evening, then I can relax for the rest of the night.

Might just.... catch ya tomorrow.

SIDE EFFECTS?

 

Yesterday DOGSTARS asked me if I had any side effects of taking Trulicity?  I have not mentioned them to be honest as I wasn't 100% sure they were true side effects or not.

But now?  I'm pretty sure I do have a couple of significant side effects.

One is extreme tiredness, way more than usual.

And the other is constipation.  I'm never constipated, quite the opposite in fact.  

I've had 'the opposite problem' ever since I had my gall bladder out over 20 years ago.  That operation was truly life altering, something I was certainly not warned about prior to having my gall bladder out.  

Let me tell you, it dictates where you can go, when you can eat,  and what you can do... all dictated by where the nearest loo is!

So it's been rather weird having constipation I can tell you.  NOT something I am used to.  I have had 6 days go by in one stretch, but usually it's 3-4 days between bathroom visits!  (#2's)

TMI?  Well I'm just letting ya know the in's and out's of taking a new drug! 😂😏

Mild laxatives have been necessary, thanks for the drugs Lacy and Bex!

Now.  Moving on.

ABOVE:  I bought that sweatshirt a year or more ago from Raglan.  I never wore it.  The colours just didn't work for me, so now that Stew has lost a significant amount of weight, he can wear it! And doesn't he look gorgeous in it?  

I think he looks lovely.

ABOVE:  Two adorable girls, just lying around.

Now, back to today.  I'm off to Cambridge this morning for an FBG walk.  I'll be home by lunchtime, when I will head into the sewing room to make a start on 6 Kiwiana Braid Runners.

Filling the gaps.

ONWARD...

12.15 pm:  home from Cambridge.  It was another longer walk today, and the company was lovely.  I stayed for a hot chocolate and club sandwich as well, which we shall call lunch.

ABOVE:  Once again I forgot to reset my walking app after we stopped for the photo.  So I got a friend to send me hers.

ABOVE: My phone recorded the steps, not bad!

According to my friends walking app, we did 6.73 kms today.

That's getting up there in kms I must say.

Now that I'm home, I'm feeling the cold, so I've put the heater on.  A bit later on I'll get into the sewing room.

ABOVE:  Today's walk photo... lol, I'm still loving putting funny faces on everyone.

5.35 pm:   I have kept myself rather busy this afternoon.  Sorting out a few things in the house, putting rubbish out, doing washing.... just normal house-wifey shit.

Stew should be home in half an hour, so I better think about what to feed him for dinner.

Backstory:  When we go out to dinner, we love to enjoy a couple of the giant jellybeans that are often offered afterwards.   

Dinner on Saturday night and NO JELLY BEANS.  Boooo.

Stew came home with a 'gift' for me tonight.

ABOVE:  Giant Jelly beans!  They are not in supermarkets.  He found them in a dedicated Lolly Shop in town.  How awesome.  Now we can have a couple when the urge to have something LITTLE and sweet hits.  Thanks Darling.

And on that happy note, I'm signing off for the day.

Catch ya tomorrow.

SLEEPING IN

 

If you are reading this and think I'm up early, you'd be wrong!

I typed this up, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Both Stew and I woke at 2.25 on Saturday morning, then had market all day.  So we are knackered.

Sleeping in today is top of our 'To Do' list!

When we do surface, we shall do the few odd jobs around the house that need doing.

At some point today, Steve (and probably the family) will come over, to suss out what needs doing to get both the new oven and cooktop to fit in the existing gaps.  And also, work out when to call in the electrician. 

It's all timing, and when he can do the work for us.

We are so lucky to have such a bloody handy son. 💚💙💜

Yesterday afternoon, while at Steve 'n' Bex's, Bex asked me if I'd tried the tea she was drinking?

It was a Bell Tea, but flavoured to taste a bit like Apple Pie!

APPLE PIE flavoured tea?  I never knew you could get such a thing.

She asked me to taste it, and I rather liked it.   So on our way home:

ABOVE: We bought two of the 'Dessert Flavoured' teas.

I am really struggling to drink enough at the moment, it's so cold I'm not even having enough Diet Coke.  And I'm getting cramps from being a bit dehydrated.

So, hopefully I can boost my fluid consumption with the teas.  And they are nice and warm, just what ya want on a cold day.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  And... it's not half bad!  I can still tell it's TEA, but it's not revolting. 😂😅😉

We stayed in bed until 9 am!  It was wonderful.

We are now off to the mall as Stew has an eye appointment.  Just a regular check up hopefully.

LOL... I'm clearly a MONTH ahead of myself. I'll edit the photo once I'm home. Derrr.

12.20pm:  And we are home again.  Stew's eye test went very well, he does not need a new prescription.  Excellent.

They also tested his hearing, and that's 100% as well.  He has NO excuse for not hearing me!  lol

We had lunch at the mall, kebab meat over some chips.  I was shocked at how much I COULDN'T eat!  I think I managed to eat about a third of what was served.

Clearly the Trulicity is working on my appetite.  WINNING.

I'm now going to just relax for a little while.  Stew is going to do a couple of outside jobs, then he will be chilling out as well.

BTW:  I lost .5 kgs this week, which is exactly what I want to be losing each week. 

3 pm:  We were not long home from the mall when Steve, Bex and the kids arrived.

Steve had come around to suss out what needed doing to get the new cooktop and oven fitted.

ABOVE: This is all I thought he would be doing today.  Pulling the oven out 'a little bit' to measure the gap for the new oven.  Same with the cooktop.

ABOVE: The next thing I know, he's pulling it all the way out, and sitting it on a chair in the middle of the kitchen!

ABOVE: So, I'm thinking I will have the old oven sitting in the middle of the kitchen for a week or so.

ABOVE:  But no!  He disconnected and removed both the old appliances, and put the new ones in place (for now).

ABOVE: The new Induction Cooktop fitted in the existing gap perfectly!

And it won't take too much for Steve to craft a new panel for the oven to sit in, and have a new shelf above it for all the oven trays etc, (where me finger is pointing).

The new oven is AMAZING... it has way more features than I realised.  I'm going to love using it.

I'm not sure how long I will be without an oven or cooktop, but as I said to Steve, I have two microwaves, a slow cooker and an electric frying pan I can use in the interim.  It's not a problem.

ABOVE:  Little Lily was in a delightful mood this afternoon.  So smiley and happy.

She is a whopping 7.5 kgs now, such a bonny 4 month old.

ABOVE: The boys enjoyed playing with balloons again today.  It is so nice and warm in our sunroom, such a perfect playing space for the kids.

ABOVE: Archer and Lily hangin' on the couch.

ABOVE: Dante trying to smile... always a mission to get him looking unlike a chipmunk!  lol

So the family have gone home now, and it's back to us just chilling out.  It's a beautiful afternoon here, quite warm for Autumn.

I had another cuppa tea late this afternoon.  It was the Caramel and Ginger one.  It has not settled well on my tummy at all.  I won't be having another of that flavour.

It's been a very quiet evening, just browsing the 'net, watching a bit of TV, just the usual.

I'm now heading off to bed a bit earlier than my 'norm', cos I'm feeling ikk.

Catch ya tomorrow.

TAMAHERE IN MAY

 

It's too damn early to be getting up!

AND it's freezing.  I'm gunna have so many layers on ... in an attempt to keep warm today.

And for the first time I'll be wearing me thermal socks and gumboots.  At least this time I won't have wet feet all day long.

The weather is looking really good, so at least we won't have to contend with rain this time.

So... bring it on.  Time to get ourselves dressed and out of here.

Catch ya once we are all set up, and I have time to update again.  I might even do a little video walk around later on.

ONWARD...

ABOVE: It was foggy first thing... but the sun is burning it off. Very nippy right now. Gumboots are NOT warm. 

Its a pretty full market today,  which is neat. 

ABOVE: All ready.... fingers 'n' toes crossed for a good day.

ABOVE: I was talking to Bex this morning about how cold my feet were... next thing I know... they turn up at the market with some pure merino and possum socks for me!  How awesome.  And they are lovely and warm.

ABOVE: They also brought the dogs out to visit us at market! They loved it here. So much to see. Lots of other dogs to sniff.

2.22 pm: And we are home again.  It was a very good market today, the sun came out, and so did the people.

I finally have some 'gaps' to fill ... which means I will be sewing next week. 😊😌 That makes me so happy.

ABOVE: Stew saw Tamarillos (Tree Tomatoes) on sale and bought us some.  They will go very nicely with my stewed apple and yoghurt for dinners.

Stew has now gone off to do his weekend shopping, and I am waiting for people to arrive.  They bought a china cabinet off me and are picking it up today.

After they have been and gone, Stew and Steve are going to Heathcote's to pick up the Oven and Cooktop.

That way Steve can suss out what needs doing to install them in our kitchen.

So quite a busy day!

Well.... the new kitchen appliances are in our garage, ready for installation in the next couple of weeks all going well.

I stayed with Bex while the guys got them.  

She was drinking TEA.

But not tea as I know it.   I'll yabber on about that... tomorrow.

For now, I'm warming up at home in me heated throw, waiting till dinnertime.

Stew and I are going to 'do' Indian again this evening.  We are too tired to cook.