Just When Things Begin To Look Normal

So I was back on track and doing my wee blog again.  Ready to commit and make weekly stitching and reading posts when what happens? We decide to move! I have had to pack up my craft cupboard and book shelves.  I packed 9 boxes of books!!!! and that doesn’t include the couple of hundred books that are off to good will next week.

How did we accumulate so much crap in 10 years!

I haven’t stitched in 4 weeks.  I’ve not finished a book in 4 weeks. In fact I’ve barely picked a book up at all in the past 4 weeks.

We move this weekend and unpacking never takes that long as packing so normal viewing will resume very shortly.

Here’s a cute picture of my cat Simon as a consolation 🙂

Advertisement

14 May 2020

Today we moved to level 2 but I’m not going to dwell on that 🙂 I’m going to focus on my stuff instead.  Do a wee round up of projects completed over the past few months 🙂 I really do want to get back into the habit of this 🙂

My first grandbaby was born about this time last year.  I made this for her room 🙂 Its a free pattern from a wonderful artist.  If you want to follow her she is on Facebook as Cross stitch patterns by Maria Brovko https://www.facebook.com/groups/CutePatternsByMaria/

My brother turned 40 & got married on the same night.  This was my present to them.  I just love it! The colours are stunning when you see it in real life. It’s an Etsy pattern and I will make it again one day for my own home 🙂 https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/518613247/when-life-gives-you-lemons-cross-stitch

Sorry if this offends anyone.  A very good friend of mine got diagnosed with cervical cancer early last year.  It was very very aggressive and she only had a small chance of survival but she did it.  I made this for her during that time. Again it was an Etsy pattern https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/464519735/cross-stitch-pattern-fuck-cancer-raise?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=fuck+cancer&ref=sr_gallery-1-30&organic_search_click=1

I do very intense full coverage cross stitches most of the time.  They are extremely time consuming with most of them taking at least 3 years to stitch.  They are also very fatiguing to stitch.  Due to this, every so often I need a wee break which I am currently doing now.  I’ve found a wonderful designer called The Witchy Stitcher and she does some awesome gothic horror works with fairly simple designs.  I’m not usually a huge fan of the simple designs but I love hers.  I stumbled on her by accident when one of my stitching groups were talking about something called the Universal Monsters SAL (Stitch  A Long) which was about to start and featured, that’s right, the old school Universal movie monsters.  I joined up and loved it! Had a absolute ball stitching it and when finished it went to live with my cousins 5 year old boy who also loves it 🙂

 

I had that much fun stitching this that I promptly signed up for the next one featuring more modern movie monsters, Chopping Mall.  I’ve very nearly finished this one 🙂

I’m only doing snapshots of this one at the moment as its more fun for the big reveal at the end 😉 If your interested this link will take you to both SAL’s 🙂 https://www.thewitchystitcher.com/sals

Last, but not least, where I got to with Warm My Heart before I needed a wee break.  This is about halfway done now.

So many teeny tiny stitches haha 🙂

Till next time xxx

Its the end of a lockdown baby

I fell off the blogging wagon.

No reason really, I just stopped.

I guess I probably felt like I was just talking to myself, which I probably am.

Its time to start doing it again I think.  It’s a great way for me to keep a record of what I’ve been up to.

So what have I been up to? Tons of stitching, a bit of charity work, a fair amount of actual work (with lockdown ending next week I had 12 quotes accepted yesterday afternoon and made my first appointment for re-opening morning) and a whole heap of staying home in my bubble.

What have I learnt in this time which has been 1 month & 5 days in NZ?

1. I really am a hermit:  I’ve loved being at home and only being allowed out for essentials.  I could happily continue to live like this in my bubble.
2. The less you do, then the less you do: By end week 2, early week 3, I realised that all my motivation had fallen out the window.  I was doing less and less and not caring too much.  As that could potentially become a problem I’ve reintroduced routine to my life.  I bought box hair dye and removed my Covid-19 styles and set myself a timetable for my day 🙂 Up between 7 & 8, breakfast then some sort of exercise (walking, downstairs gym, yoga . . . ) and chores.  Work until 11 or 12 at dining table. More chores like prepping dinner etc.  Watch government update at 1pm.  Free afternoon for anything I want 🙂
3. I’m a hugger: I miss hugging people when I see them.  Standing 2 meters apart and waving sucks.  I’ve seen my boy a couple of times as he lives just a k down the road but I haven’t been allowed to hug him.  My girls all live in other area’s so we’ve been limited to text’s, messages and phone calls.
4. Man we can drink: I’ve never gone through that much wine in my life!  Week 4 has been all about not drinking alcohol.  A friend of a friend said that the glass guys should have moved to a weekly pick up instead of fortnightly during lockdown and she’s not wrong.
5. I don’t miss takeaways: I know a lot of people have been doing this part tough but I haven’t missed them.  Mind you, I’ve had the time to cook properly and its something I enjoy.  We’ve been doing the groceries once a week and getting enough for some great meals.  We’ve had risotto’s and pasta’s and chicken saltibocco and nacho’s and my version of KFC DoubleDowns and loads of other things.  Admittedly we had Hello Fresh for 3 nights each of the first 2 weeks but I found I was happier cooking what I wanted instead.  I even made gnocchi from scratch including the sauce.  I’m kind of concerned that when it all returns to normal next week then this will change back again because being gone 12 hours every working day doesn’t lead to a lot of energy for cooking when you get home.
6. I’m going to read all the books and catch up on all the crafts: Nope. 3 books and 1 craft haha the time has gone really fast.
7. And the most important, Life is precious: I’ve had my tanty panties on a few times over the past week or so as I’m tired of hearing about how much the economy is taking a hit, and how much businesses are suffering.  Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand where these people are coming from and what they are saying and it saddens me the number of businesses that will go under but isn’t life more precious than money? Wouldn’t you rather you came out of this with your family intact?  I can’t think of anything worse than still having our business but because we chose to ignore the realities of how bad this virus can be our family gatherings are smaller and quieter.  Yes I know people die every day and I know death is the only guarantee that you are born with, but if its preventable, isn’t it our moral and ethical responsibility to do everything in our power to prevent it?  If you saw a person being attacked on the street wouldn’t you at least try to save that person? How is this different from stopping a physical attack? With this virus you can be contagious for 2 weeks before showing signs.  In that time you contaminate god knows how many people if your wandering around willy nilly, hugging and touching stuff.  Do you really want to be Typhoid Mary?  Do you want to be the reason that someone dies?  That’s the reality.  In New Zealand we have very successfully squashed our curve.  Unfortunately the roll off from that is a bunch of douches wandering around saying that the lockdown was unnecessary and an over-reaction.  Over 100,000 people have died from this in 3 months world wide but because we only have 12 or 13 deaths then we over reacted? I personally believe that the reasons our numbers are so low is because we reacted correctly.  EVERY death is a loss.  Just because you didn’t know them personally doesn’t mean that their life didn’t matter.  New York is loading their dead into refrigerator trucks and burying them in mass graves on islands.  One nurse talked of wheeling a deceased patient our on to the street and going past 3 padlocked refrigeration trucks before finding one with room for his person.  An aged care facility in New York had over 20 which included 2 caregivers pass in a weekend.  They had to stack them in the hallways. We’ve been very lucky here and our government as supported us admirably.  Yes our profits will be down for this year and probably next year too.  Yes most of us will be living a simpler less expensive lifestyle for a while we rebuild our cashflows and economy.  Holidays might be at home this year.  Nights out might be the treat rather than just another Saturday.  I noticed on Tuesday that Domino’s are interviewing for 1000 staff to start next week.  That tells me that they laid off nearly everyone rather than supporting their staff during this time even though the government had a staff support package. They didn’t even try.  Never buying Domino’s again I can promise you.

Wow, sorry about 7.  I didn’t realise I had quite that much of a rant in me haha to quote Dr Seuss ‘A persons a person no matter how small’.

New Zealand, we have dodged a bullet.  Lets be grateful and start our rebuilt.  Christmas this year is going to have pretty much everyone there 🙂

As my rant got a little long winded I’ll do another update later on what I’ve actually been up too 🙂

Kia Kaha everyone xx

Catching up with Cross Stitch

This crafting blog as become more of a reading blog of late but you know, I think its really more just about my life.  At the moment most of my focus, apart from work and family, is on the Popsugar reading challenge and getting my cross stitch done for my sisters wedding next year.  I really want it done by then so a stitching we will go.

Unfortunately this doesn’t make for exciting updates so I have been procrastinating until my ‘weekly’ folder has too many pictures in it and I need to clear it out.

Soooooooo with out further ado here are some of the photo’s of my progress over the past month.

 

To keep me motivated I have, as previously mentioned, that I have joined a Facebook group that has challenges for number of stitches completed and then issues badges.  This is great for keeping motivated 🙂

My most recent badges 🙂

So that’s all for this update 🙂

Ka Kete Ano xxx

April Crafty Bitches

As we are up for our next Crafty Bitches meeting on Saturday I thought it was probably about time I did the blog for Aprils meeting lol

The food theme was supposed to be Sweden but a last minute find of an over crowded freezer and a ham that required removing caused a change to Hawaii.

As I am completely slack I forgot to get the rest of the food photo’s but at least I nearly remembered in time for the Hawaiian pizza.

Now on to the important bit.

Amy had a remarkably busy month with painting letters for Benny Boy’s door, casting and painting his foot and then the continuation of her sampler.

Due to the elimination of plastics in our supermarket Mel experimented and made bag.

And I did some rug work

Ricki is in the final 2 months of her MBA so has been unable to do anything except that this month and I am picking that next month will be the same.  We are just happy she made it for a wee catch up 🙂

Linda has been a part of our wee group for a while but has never made a meeting before. It was fantastic to meet her and we are looking forward to our next catch up and getting to know her better.

Ana had some last minute visitors so was unable to attend in the end.

Looking forward to the next meeting which is our house and Russia 😀

Ka Kete Ano xx

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Surprised Me (in a good or bad way)

I discovered this fun blog via Death By Tsundoku Top Ten Tuesday is a meme originated by The Broke and the Bookish now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is:

This week the theme is: Books That Surprised Me (in a good or bad way)

For this I am going to scroll through my Goodreads Read List and see which ones were surprises for me 🙂

1: Bad way 😦         

Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Hardy tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, a beautiful young woman living with her impoverished family in Wessex, the southwestern English county immortalized by Hardy. After the family learns of their connection to the wealthy d’Urbervilles, they send Tess to claim a portion of their fortune.

I didn’t like it at all and I actually had expected to as I usually love classics.  I found Tess to be an idiot and the boys weren’t much better.  I struggled to the end only because I am stubborn and don’t like to leave anything half-finished.

2:  Good Way 🙂         

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel

In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of his secluded life–why did he leave? what did he learn?–as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded.

I was rather shocked to find I loved this book.  Normally biographies about people and events I’m not supper familiar with don’t hold me to the end and I tag out about midway but this was fascinating.  How he survived and the aftermath was gripping to the end.

3:  Bad Way 😦          

Go Set a Watchman (To Kill a Mockingbird #2) by Harper Lee

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch – ‘Scout’ – returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past – a journey that can be guided only by one’s conscience.

I was so excited to read this as Mockingbird is one of my all time favourite books and then so disappointed.  Key characters killed off and Atticus behaving in a very un-Atticus way left me sad and disappointed.  I wasn’t expecting everyone to grow up and it all be roses but this side-stepped way too far from where the original story was for me to enjoy it.

4: Good Way 🙂          

Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

An absolute delight of a debut novel by William Kuhn—author of Reading Jackie:  Her Autobiography in Books—Mrs Queen Takes the Train wittily imagines the kerfuffle that transpires when a bored Queen Elizabeth strolls out of the palace in search of a little fun, leaving behind a desperate team of courtiers who must find the missing Windsor before a national scandal erupts. Reminiscent of Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader, this lively, wonderfully inventive romp takes readers into the mind of the grand matriarch of Britain’s Royal Family, bringing us an endearing runaway Queen Elizabeth on the town—and leading us behind the Buckingham Palace walls and into the upstairs/downstairs spaces of England’s monarchy.

This came up on a kindle special so I bought it on a whim and then ignored it for ages.  When I finally started reading it I fell in love.  It was a beautiful, light-hearted whimsical read that I would not hesitate to recommend.

5: Bad Way 😦          

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in her newfound obsession by Norman, a young man from the royal kitchens, the Queen comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with the routines of her role as monarch. Her new passion for reading initially alarms the palace staff and soon leads to surprising and very funny consequences for the country at large. 

After reading Mrs Queen Takes the Train I was excited to read another version of the same story.  I was not that 😦 Apparently the Queen, who tends to read things that the average mortal would struggle with, doesn’t know what a lending library is.  If they had given her a couple of trashy romances or the latest top 100 thriller then I probably could have gotten on board with the story but this was not the case and I found myself rather disappointed.

6:  Good Way 🙂          

The Left Hand of God (The Left Hand of God #1) by Paul Hoffman

The Sanctuary of the Redeemers is a place where children endure brutal cruelty and violence in the name of the One True Faith. Lost in the Sanctuary’s huge maze of corridors is a boy. He is strange witty and charming, and violent. But when he opens the wrong door at the wrong time he witnesses an act so horrible he must flee, or die.

This was bought for me by one of my children as a gift and I wasn’t 100% sold that I was going to like it.  The first few pages nearly lost me but the love for my child caused me to continue and I am well pleased I did.  I loved this book and keep meaning to track down the rest of the series.  I would have gotten them the next day but neither had been written when I got this one.

7:  Good Way 🙂

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia, and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O’Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of the poverty she finds herself in after Sherman’s March to the Sea. A historical novel, the story is a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, with the title taken from a poem written by Ernest Dowson.

This sat on my shelf for about 15 years before I convinced myself to pick it up.  I bought it because I love the movie but the size of this novel is rather daunting and I feared that might equal boring . . . but it wasn’t.  I couldn’t put it down once I started and not only was it a great read but I learnt heaps.  I live in a different country so my entire knowledge regarding the civil war in America has been gained via movies and television so finding out a bit more about what happened before, during and after even if it was just one woman’s version.

8: Good Way 🙂

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens–until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state’s best witness, but she can’t remember what happened before her very own eyes–or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show–destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.

I think this is my favourite Jodi book.  I fully expected not to like it as I had just read We Need To Talk About Kevin and Sandy Hook had just happened but I was completely engrossed.  As all of Jodi’s books are, it was poignant and thought-provoking and a little confrontational at times.  Very pleased I picked this up.

 

9: Good Way 🙂

Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon #1) by Dan Brown 

 When a world renowned scientist is found brutally murdered in a Swiss research facility, a Harvard professor, Robert Langdon, is summoned to identify the mysterious symbol seared onto the dead man’s chest. His baffling conclusion: it is the work of the Illuminati, a secret brotherhood presumed extinct for nearly four hundred years – reborn to continue their bitter vendetta against their sworn enemy, the Catholic church.

In Rome, the college of cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Yet somewhere within the walls of the Vatican, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. While the minutes tick away, Langdon joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to decipher the labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome to the long-forgotten Illuminati lair – a secret refuge wherein lies the only hope for the Vatican.

But with each revelation comes another twist, another turn in the plot, which leaves Langdon and Vetra reeling and at the mercy of a seemingly invisible enemy…

I only read this because everyone else was reading it.  Yes,sometimes I can be a bit of a sheep.  To my surprise I loved it.  The beginning was a bit slow but wow the second half of that book moved fast!

10: Bad Way 😦

The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon #2) by Dan Brown 

Harvard professor Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call while on business in Paris: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered inside the museum. Alongside the body, police have found a series of baffling codes. As Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, begin to sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to find a trail that leads to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci – and suggests the answer to a mystery that stretches deep into the vaults of history.

Sorry but I didn’t like it.  Too much maths and stuff and I got bored.  Much prefered the rest of the series.  If I hadn’t already read the first one I would not have read this.

A week late but there you are 🙂

Ka Kete Ano xxx

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Quotes

I discovered this fun blog via Death By Tsundoku Top Ten Tuesday is a meme originated by The Broke and the Bookish now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is:

This week the theme is: Favourite Book Quotes

 

I confess I am very late with this one.  Last week was mad with kids to concerts, husbands attempting to severe toes and nana’s turning 90. Should have been posted last week but you know what they say, ‘better late than never’ 😀

1. To Kill a Mockingbird (To Kill a Mockingbird #1)

by Harper Lee

“As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”

I love this quote although I don’t believe that this just is just biased towards skin toning.  I genuinely belive that this is true no matter who you are cheating.  Anyone who deliberately cheats anyone at all is just trash regardless of their financial circumstances.

2. Rivals (Rutshire Chronicles #2)

by Jilly Cooper

“To bring the balloon of the mind that bellies and drags in the wind, as Yeats had so perfectly put it, into its narrow shed.”

Not even nearly close to a quote from the book that I liked but I am struggling for time so it will do.  Read it yourself if you haven’t already and if you have, read it again.  Loads of belly laughs lie within 😉

3. Carrie

by Stephen King

“She did not know if her gift came from the lord of light or of darkness, and now, finally finding that she didn’t care which, she wad overcome with almost indescribable relief, as if a huge weight, long carried, had slipped from her shoulders.”

Ahhh learning to accept oneself.  Such a wonderful feeling before mentally locking down a gym and setting fire to ones peers.

4. Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels #1)

by Anne Bishop

“A woman with an education may be able to spend more time sitting in a chair instead of lying on her back. A sound advantage, I should think.”

There is some real truth in that statement.

5. Written in Red (The Others #1)

by Anne Bishop

“Whether you’re beaten or pampered, fed the best foods or starved, kept in filth or kept clean, a cage is still a cage.”

Again, there is some real truth in this statement.  Coming from a relationship where I could have anything I wanted as long as it was deemed acceptable by him indoors and I did as I was told this really does ring very true.  A gilded cage is still a cage.

6. Wizard’s First Rule (Sword of Truth #1)

by Terry Goodkind

“There is no such thing as pure good or pure evil, least of all in people. In the best of us there are thoughts or deeds that are wicked, and in the worst of us, at least some virtue. An adversary is not one who does loathsome acts for their own sake. He always has a reason that to him is justification. My cat eats mice. Does that make him bad? I don’t think so, and the cat doesn’t think so, but I would bet the mice have a different opinion.”

Gotta love Zed. Nuttiest wise old guy ever written.

7. Postmortem (Kay Scarpetta #1)

by Patricia Cornwell

“He was pushing fifty, with a face life had chewed on, and long wisps of graying hair parted low on one side and combed over his balding pate.”

No wonder he lived alone.

8. The Wee Free Men (Discworld #30)

by Terry Pratchett

“They can tak’ oour lives but they canna tak’ oour troousers!”

Bahahahahahahahaha

9. Cross Stitch (Outlander #1)

byDiana Gabaldon

“Does it bother you that I’m not a virgin?” He hesitated a moment before answering.
“Well, no,” he said slowly, “so long as it doesna bother you that I am.” He grinned at my drop-jawed expression, and backed toward the door.
“Reckon one of us should know what they’re doing,” he said.

Always a bonus if someones got some idea what they’re doing on a wedding night 😉

10. Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #1)
byLaurell K. Hamilton

“I sounded like Horton the Elephant. “A person is a person no matter how small.” What the hell was I doing standing in the middle of a cave, in the dark, surrounded by wererats, quoting Dr. Seuss, and trying to kill a one-thousand-year-old vampire?”

It’s line’s like that and you laugh out loud that get you addicted to books 😀

Phew that one was hard work.

Ka Kete Ano xx

 

The Ocean Hates Me

I appear to have taken on way too much this year.  Turns out I haven’t read hardly any blogs since mid January (took me all day today to catch up on a months worth!) and, worst yet, I have only written 4 myself (and they were mostly in the same week). The next few will be catch-ups so I apologise in advance if I bore you.

January was the hottest it has ever been in little ole NZ.  We have spent a lot of time swimming in the ocean and outdoors.  Turns out the sea hates me and keeps throwing its creatures at me.

First proof: I had a 20 cm Kahawai swim past me in a wave.  I ~excuse my language~ shat and left the ocean.

Second proof: Day after fishy surprise we are swimming away and a Shag popped up right beside me, looked at me, opened it’s mouth and went BEGARK very loudly. I shat and left the ocean.

Third proof: Day after feathered surprise we are swimming away and my hand starts to sting.  Lift it out of the water and find Blue Bottle (Portuguese man o’ war) jellyfish tendrils attached.  Thank god it was missing the rest of the jellyfish.  I shat and left the ocean to go home and hop about in itchy screechy pain for several hours.  FYI if are ever in this position just go stand in a hot shower.  Its the only thing that helps.

Fourth proof: Back in the water swimming away and nothing bad happens YAY then we get home to find I am COVERED in bites and have been attached by the Mount Mauler http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11776504 FYI: NOTHING helps for these.  You just scratch, put non working lotions and potions on hoping that layering may have an effect and await the end of the itch, approximately 3 days.  Doesn’t sound too bad does it, 3 days? I had over 50 of the bites and turns out sweat from incredibly humid nights does not diminish itch.  I was rather a Crabby Pattie by day 2.  You don’t want to know about day 3.

Fifth proof: Turns out Jellyfish stings are the gift that keeps on giving.  2 weeks after initial sting it flared up an itch lumpy weird mess.  Who knew that was a thing

When an itchy rash occurs several days to weeks after a sting, the rash may mean a delayed skin reaction has occurred. A delayed reaction can occur many times over the course of 1 to 2 months following a sting. You may have a fever, weakness, or joint stiffness or swelling. Medical treatment may ease the discomfort and prevent complications from a delayed reaction. https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/tc/jellyfish-sting-home-treatment-topic-overview

Sixth proof: Swimming away and I look down into the beautiful clear water to see a large crab with his nippers raised staring back at me.

I shat and left the ocean.

Ka Kete Ano xx

Crafty Bitches January 2018

After a wee seasonal break we are back.  Unfortunately we live in a country that puts all of its public holidays together in one spot so only some of us have made it back thus far but we are working on this 😉 In attendance were Toni & Ralph, Melodie, Amy & Brett and their 6 month old snuggle butt Ben.

The food theme for the evening was Australia as my husband wanted to use the BBQ.  Great in theory but bloody hard to execute when they eat pretty much what we do.  We did our best however with fairly good results.

The tummies were full, the pav was divine and the host family ate leftovers for 3 days.

The highlight of the meeting was the cuddles from our wee Ben.  I’m pretty sure he’s the most popular member of our group.

Mel kicked of the show and tell with her latest WIP.  She is crocheting a pashmina and has just started so not much to show but a good start has been made and we look forward to seeing it grow.

Annnnnnddddd that’s where show and tell stopped.  Toni got sidetracked playing with the baby and Amy left hers at home so the following photo’s have been taken from the general updates on our page.

Toni

Doctor Who scarf complete with reluctant male model.  Tiki which was a gift for a friend.

Amy

Toy for Ben

There was also supposed to be an update on the cross stitch but as it was left at home we will await its return in February.

Updates via the FB page are as follows:

Mel:

Lynda:

And that rounds up our month 🙂

Ka Kete Ano xx

Our house changed colour!

Our house was dark beige when we bought it and has remained that way for the past 7 years of our ownership.

Anyone that has met us knows that we are the complete opposite of beige people but as it was fairly recently painted there was no reason to change it.

Until now that is 🙂 I’ve gone for something a little dramatic but not over the top 🙂 Tell me what you think 🙂

This is the befores

And here we have the afters 😀

Not only that but my darling husband finally finished the fence he started November 2016 🙂

Now I get to do the gardens 😀

Ka Kete Ano xx