You can never have enough...

[JanW]

Another beautiful day in HB - but definitely a nip in the air first thing - I flicked my heat pump on first thing just to get me old bones cracking - tempting to just sit around but doing some pickled onions are on the agenda later or maybe tomorrow
Popeye you should have been given a book listing the tasks your housekeeper must do - she signs it and you sign it that she has done what is expected - that’s with Access - but some I have had have been awful and don’t take lightly any queries why something hasn’t been done - you might find dishes aren’t on the list - they are excluded on mine - low and high dusting but nothing in between - wipe the kitchen units but not the benches or appliances - vacuum but nothing can be shifted like a foot stool - nothing to be shifted in the bathroom - so shampoo etc has to be taken out of shower - not sure if every agency is the same
Everywhere you go you are being photographed- ATM machines - most checkouts when you use your card - most of the big chains are using facial recognition Foodstuffs should have just installed it - the mistake they made was wanting a change in legislation to allow them to use the cameras to stop previously trespassed shoppers from re entering the store with their knives or sawn off shotguns to protect the staff -
unfortunately a supermarket in Rotorua stuffed up and that received publicity of course the system recognising criminals who are abusing staff and threatening them with weapons very rarely makes the headlines .It will be interesting to see how much publicity the finding that the rat foot the mother claimed was in a product bought from her supermarket actually came from her home .A shopper plastered all over Facebook that she had found a piece of chicken bone in a hot cross bun - it was lemon peel but still people post about the chicken bone .Mistakes do happen but a rats foot in garlic bread made a great story .But the mouse that held up the first kiwi fruit heading to Europe was real .There is a huge walnut tree behind me in the reserve - the rats definitely pass me by leaving walnut shells on my lawn - Robie added me to his rat killer contractors site list so he calls weekly now to bait my little tunnel things - yuk

[popeye333]

Certainly hasnt been any talk about what they cleaners are meant to do.

Until this morning that is. They are to wash and dry the dishes. Dust, vacuum, nothing high for the dusting tho. And clean bathrooms.
As I suspected the one that came yesterday wasn't the same as the week before. They will both be told what they are to do.

Bobbie has Gone.. I dont know if I've been lied to or not. Dianne text me and said she had been told she was gone, so went and checked her room. Totally empty and her name has gone from the door.

I rang the manager. Who said she got a phone call late last night. She told me it was a surprise for her too.. Not 100% sure I believe her. I phoned the new place, another CHT in Manukau city. Have left my number with them incase Bobbie wants to talk to me. And the Co-Ordinator is meant to be phoning me. It has a secure dementia unit. I called David and we will go visit her if they say its ok. In the next few days.

Sad cos she was so happy yesterday, and looking forward to celebrating our birthdays. Odd that I had decided to take her present in. So I will take it to her when we are allowed to visit. I dont know if they will want her to settle in first or not. If I dont hear from them today I will phone, until I get some answers.

Dianne will be here soon so thought id get temu up before she got here

[kiwimade64]

ick... rats.  The Furry One has one bailed up behind the compost bin now.  MrK is with him so hopefully they can catch it.  There was a walnut tree across the road and when we pulled the wall and fire out eight years ago, we found a hole in the floor where the rats were coming into the wall space to eat the walnuts.  There were walnut shells everywhere. I had  even seen a rat eating a walnut in the middle of the road and found a stash of shells behind our garage. I told our neighbour about it and he cut the tree out that day.  I didn't expect him to do that!  We were extremely grateful for that.

Edited to add, wow, that was quick, popeye.  But a secure dementia ward is probably the safest place for her to be.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

It is a staffing thing. The moment a resident needs extra staff off they go to a secure unit. That's what happened to my Mum, one day an easy walk away, a day later three bus trips. So I moved house...

Not good memories.

Power bill arrived yesterday, no low user, no early payment discount, 98 instead of 60 odd, and no 'we are not part of that arrangement' when I queried the $110. Buggeration. I will remember though, soon as the contract is up.

[popeye333]

Yeah I am glad she is safe and secure. Was just soo fast and I feel horrible telling her all about the birthday next week and then she's gone.. I can live in the hope that she forgets. it can work at times.

They sure can work fast, they did with Peter too. So we shouldn't be surprised.

Had a nice visit with Dianne. Shes going to take me up on Friday so that will be really good. We did a joint order on Temu, so what comes up in adverts now will be signs that MrP would love, and some American face masks for motorbike riders.

Wow Kiwimade, hope they catch the rat.. there's some animals that I simply wonder why they have to exist. Rats are one, and my hatred of anything that stings lol

[Lilith7]

That's a shame for Bobbie, Popeye but as others say, it maybe that she doesn't really realise which perhaps might be a good thing.

Good luck with the rats KM, I can't stand them either.

[Mica]

Morning all 
Blowing a gail  from the south so nippy

Ran few errands yesterday, needed  a nana nap i afternoon not been sleeping well. DS dropped off his 2 late afternoon  so he could have game  squash.  DGS read both of his library books so I gave him a David Williams book that I had in my kid pressie stash 

Going to start sorting the office today it will require several bites  kaos  before order.
DH is on big hound babysitting DD and her family away today so DH stays at their house potters in the garden

Need to get up and get breakfast

Enjoy your day

[kiwimade64]

morning ladies Calm and very still this morning, perfect for the Dawn Parade. I see Whanganui are having their Dawn parade a bit later in the morning to keep their veterans warm. Damed good idea, I think.

Sounds very busy in between sorting stuff out in your home, mica. Pace yourself

I've made the most of the stillness and burned all the garden waste and our paper/cardboard. The cabbage tree leaves don't rot as quickly in the garden, but they burn well and make great ash for the compost bins.

Our neighbour is bringing tractor loads of sand later this morning to fill the tomo I'll buy him another prezzie card as a thank you

Our son phoned last night asking us to send his computer over to Perth. It's one he built himself so no, mum, I can't just buy another one in Aussie. I'll investigate prices as he doesn't have the box measurements.

Lest we forget.

[Roma]

Good morning.

Cloudy and cool so far, but the Dawn Parade here is always well attended. 

It sounds as if your scaling down is underway Mica. I'm one for lists when moving and also had 3 categories when it came to possessions ... keeping, sell/give away and trash! Sometimes you need to be ruthless!

Bobbi is in a safe environment now Popeye and she's lucky to have had you in her life. Dementia is a b@@tard but moreso for those around the 'sufferer'. I have a friend with their partner a fair way down the track with early onset dementia. Still at home but life is not easy at the best of times. 

The day is not looking promising weatherwise ... will see what it brings. 

We remember them.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I was thinking about Anzac Day as the bomber roared overhead at the crack of, this morning... I am an Army brat, I have five veterans on the wall of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, including my Dad, so I cannot be said to be a pacificist, but...

I wish we had a day when we remembered the innocents, the victims, of all our wars. Seems to me they outnumber the warriors and rarely get a mention as the years roll by. And we seem unable to stop making more of them.

Sadly.

[popeye333]

Morning everyone

Lest we forget.

Tad chilly here. I put a blanket over my knees while Im on the comp. Missy is snuggled in. Our Dawn service starts at 10-30 am with a shorter march up to the Cenotaph. For the More Senior peoples comforts. I wonder if they have the big arch they put up last year. There is bound to be photos in the paper.

Yeah its comforting to know Bobbie is in a safer place now. Sad cos its the same useless company tho. But Im going to talk it up to her, and how she finally got her wish to be somewhere better etc. I will miss seeing her so often tho. But dementia has that advantage of they dont know how much time is passing, at times. I will phone later today since they didn't call me back yesterday.

Had a lovely visit with Dianne. And she's going to pick me up tomorrow and we will go to the home. She had a bad day last week and actually got cross with her mother and raised her voice. It still upsetting for her as she has never done that before. So we talked about how stressful it gets, and that she has to forgive herself. People don't understand until they have been through it, just how stressful it can be. I said and Mum has probably forgotten about it already.

We put our order in for Temu and it will be here maybe at the end of next week. They are fast for sure. Tried to find her some t-shirts with cool pictures on, but the greater percentage are all polyester and spandex. She wants cotton. So I will have a better look today and see if I can find any, using different searches.

Missy is Nuts lol.. I was having some mixed berry yoghurt for lunch yesterday.. and yes she likes it.. She also likes orange juice.. The only thing she is fussy about is Blardy Cat food lol.

Have a fab day everyone

[JanW]

Thought I would share this - my old boy used to read it to the kids and grandkids

Why are they selling poppies Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today
The poppies,child, are flowers of love
For the men who marched away

But why have they chosen a poppy Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose
Because my child ,men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow

But why are the poppies so red Mummy
Why are the poppies so red
Red is the colour of blood,my child
The blood that our soldiers shed

The heart of the poppy is black Mummy
Why does it have to be black
Black my child - is the symbol of grief
For the men who never came back

But why Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain
My tears are my fears for you my child
For the world is forgetting again

[Lilith7]

Anzac day never fails to make me wonder at the idiocy of our species, & sad at the lives lost & forever changed because of it.
Those poor boys were off to do their bit for king & country. Off to see the world & have an adventure with their mates, & come home with wonderful stories to tell. Because they wouldn't be killed, not them. Perhaps someone elese but not them. Or their mates. Someone else.
Some other mothers' sons.
Some other woman's fiancee. Husband, brother, school mate.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I wonder if a gender breakdown has ever been done for war fatalities? Because I suspect just as there is everywhere else in our society, there is an imbalance between men, and women.