You can never have enough...

[Roma]

Good morning. 

Overcast and I see rain and thunder storms are expected later.  The garden will appreciate it even if K9 won't like the thunder part!

We have gf and vegetarian family members so I've learned to cook with lentils,  chickpeas and tofu. Good to have some practice meals up your sleeve Mica 

My mum's Memorial next weekend and plans are going well,  no guarantees with the weather though! Everyone we've invited attending so it will be good to have a family catch up.

Another good session on the cross stitch last night.  Enjoyed watching the Great British Sewing Bee at the same time. 

Had better get k9 out before any thunder. 

Have a good day all.

[kiwimade64]

Housework is done, the upside of downsizing our home is it doesn't take long to do. I watched the Great British Sewing Bee on demand last night after MrK went to bed. Much easier to watch it without him lol. I didn't think those sailor suits were a thing now. Just goes to show nothing really goes out of fashion. And I loved the winning costume of Mrs Haversham, it really did look spooky as the kiddie walked it down the runway.

[Roma]

The rain is just starting to set in. 

Yes, a well deserved win for Miss Havisham costume. I see a BBC Great Expectations miniseries with Olivia Colman as Miss H has just been released ... look forward to seeing it, should be good 

[popeye333]

Housework is done, the upside of downsizing our home is it doesn't take long to do.  I watched the Great British Sewing Bee on demand last night after MrK went to bed.  Much easier to watch it without him lol.  I didn't think those sailor suits were a thing now.  Just goes to show nothing really goes out of fashion.  And I loved the winning costume of Mrs Haversham, it really did look spooky as the kiddie walked it down the runway.

It was an awesome Costume, I liked the darleck too

[popeye333]

Wow

Turns out the garage door had worn itself out. And has been replaced.

I will have to make sure Missy gets nowhere near the remote. It's very sensitive and Very Quiet. Works from the lounge too, so I'll have to put the keys in a cupboard..

Since she is a smart fart who has set off the Medical alarm and turned the tv on at night time lol

[kiwimade64]

morning ladies Hopefully we have a fine day today.

That's good about the garage door, popeye It will make life easier that's for sure.

oohhh a mini series of Great Expectations, roma! I can't wait to see that too. It won't be MrK's thing but that's what 'On Demand' is for

I'm not sure what we are doing today, the garden is slowing down and doesn't need the upkeep it needed over 'summer'. There might be some time spent at the sewing machine if the weather doesn't play nice.

This morning I was reading Stuff and the perspective cartoon was a tribute to Georgine Beyer. She was a real force of nature We need more like her.

Happy crafting

[popeye333]

Morning everyone

Mixed weather today I think. We had a few short downpours and thunder yesterday.

Oh Kiwimade, that's for sure, the dam thing was driving me potty. and the extra walking didn't help either. I hung the keys up last night lol.

Im cooking this morning. I always prefer to do stuff in the mornings.

I put the lamb in the crockpot last night, so I've just turned it back onto high to heat the stock for the gravy up. The sausages are in the pot to par boil. When finished on here Ill prep the roasties and boiled veges and put them all on and fry the bangers.. And then its plating up about 16 times lol.

But that's it done for the freezer. There's a few other simple things I will buy like sausage rolls, and some more Alredo packets. I love alfredo with pork and I have quite a few chops in the freezer too.

MrP was in such a better mood yesterday and last night.. Possibly cos when I arrived they were doing their exercises, playing old London wartime music, for some silly reason they set me off crying.. yet I normally can sing along no problems. So I sat crying, singing and doing my exercises too.. My right / bad leg is strengthening too, I can lift it higher than I could in the start.
So hopefully it will help post surgery.

Have a fab day everyone

[Mica]

Morning all
Lovely sunny day

Glad you got the garage door sorted Popeye.

DSIL is now also +ve  don't envy them caring for a very active 18 month old while sick. I guess we have been there anddone that I have just returned from doing a small shop for them, included a few treats.

The cat is currently felining me there is fur everywhere.
We had a lovely lunch with friends yesterday bonus the cafe gives 20% off gold card on Fridays so that was an unexpected bonus.  Dinner with another lot friends was also very enjoyable both thefoodandcompany

Only hems and snaps to do and overalls for DGD2 will be completed then I will give the sewing cave and machines a thorough vacuum  I try to clean the machines every month. Not sure what I will tackle next.

Coffee finished must move
Enjoy your day

[popeye333]

I'm cooked out lol

Just added it up. I got 44 meals for $115.. 13 of them being roast lamb.. So roughly $2-67 per meals, but rounded up to cover the stock cubes, cornflour and power, so say $3 a meal its pretty dammed good.

I looked at frozen dinners in the supermarket the other day and they range from $6-99 for the spag bol and macaroni type ones to $12-49 for the roast lamb ones.

I've done well and Now Im pretty much prepared, other buying some frozen sausage rolls and some packets of Alfredo to go with the pork chops I have.

I have a little mashed tattie and gravy left for my tea tonight, I might throw a sausage into it so really its 45 meals.

Time to do my games now and relax.

[Mica]

Mornjng all
Fine but nippy at the moment expecting another warm day

Popeye you deserve a rest after your food prep marathon.

I had a quiet day yesterday, so tired  had a nana nap in the afternoon and read my book.

Not sure what I will get up to today

Enjoy your day

[kiwimade64]

morning ladies We have a real pea souper out there this morning but the sun is trying to come through.

That's a lot of cooking, popeye, but worth the effort for after surgery. When we found out the first time MrK would need three months off work after his heart surgery I stocked the freezer with enough to tide us over as I knew things would be tight.

Another cruisey day for us today, I think. The little quilt top I sewed yesterday was awful lol but it will be OK for the Furry One's bed. He turned twelve yesterday We've noticed he's not quite as playful as he used to be and doesn't always want to chase that rabbit. But he is a deterrent to the new neighbourhood cat The birds are slowly returning to the garden after the cyclone.

Happy crafting

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I spent yesterday moving furniture around for winter cosiness and cleaning woodwork, sills and door trim inside and out. Painters are still here, week seven, my deck furniture and plants still being stored inside which is a pain, but at least now the carpenter has replaced a couple of dodgy decking boards so I have hope the rest of the work will get done eventually. Adding it up, a full two of the last three months we have been living in a building site, and it is wearing a bit thin now.

March is not my favourite month, too many grief anniversaries, but at least the weather is superb for a bit of gardening and plant pot sorting out. I am rather taken with a plant stand for the deck - it would get the pots off the ground, which as I get less flexible would be a good thing. We shall see how this next week's budget allows!

[popeye333]

Morning everyone

Im not surprised you have fog Kiwimade, Its very still here, no fog but very clear and quiet.

Yes my cooking is done.. The peace of mind it brings is just as good as knowing that I will eat well, and not have to stand too long. After the mess of the tummy surgery I want to make sure I eat well and hopefully not end up with another mess.
I hope to stock up on enough of the regular things so that I can do a online shop couple of weeks in.

The birds here have changed their clocks, they dont come in until 4ish in the afternoon. There is one Myna who Keeps me company when I mow the lawn. Talks away as if to say keep uncovering the worms. He follows me around and the mower doesn't worry him at all.

Im going to attack the linen cupboard today, cull it back to enough and that's it. And Im going to start washing the new towels, hmm I dont have a lot of salt, but should get some done. There is red, yellow, a purply maroon and white. All brought on special.

The odd things that pop into my head, woke up at 3 am thinking that the old office chair can go in the inorganic collection too lol. MrP made a repair, just enough for him to sit on when I cut his hair.. so that can go too.

Im sure the Furry one will love his new quilt Kiwimade.. they like being spoilt. Young Peter at the first rest home has two Jack Russels, well had, Im not sure what has happened to them now his partner has put him in a home and gone back to South Africa. So we were talking about the terrier Shake that most of them know how to do to get attention, a lap and cuddly blanket lol.

Right will finish my breakfast and get into the cupboard.

Have a fantastic day everyone

[kiwimade64]

I've been looking at our woodwork, sills and the like, too, OHH, and have decided the house needs that extra effort shortly. I usually do it room by room.

The Furry One is very good at that 'terrier shake', popeye. We have to look twice though as it could be a seizure. Sometimes it's hard to tell.

The recycling is all sorted ready for when the transfer station opens later this morning. Our bin people don't collect recycling, one of the few downers of being rural.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

So few rooms here it isn't a major job, and I use the Tuffy wipes for jobs like that, easy and they do a great job of transforming dusty sills into shiny white again.

I have discover the cane supports under my chairs are the perfect place to stash the outdoor chair cushions, so plan on recycling a black duvet cover into cushion bags so they 'disappear' when I stash them there. Living in such a tiny space means having double duty furniture is a very useful trick.

In the garden I am picking lots of snake beans now. They really do not come on until it starts to get hot and once they do they have new and very pretty violet pea flowers that last a day before closing and making beans. Something with wings obviously loves them! Next season I must grow more than just that one plant, though that single plant is certainly keeping me supplied!

[Lilith7]

Well done with the cooking marathon Popeye; you'll be glad of it later.

Went for our walk earlier & Madame Le Dog had a wonderful time snuffling everywhere as we haven't been that way for a while.

The garden has what's likely the last of the runner beans & tomatoes at the almost ready stage & the peaches need checking for ripeness later. The dew every night now encourages more growth, especially of the lawn so I'll have to keep it up to date every week now.

[popeye333]

Can someone please tell me how I ended up with 17 brand new towels? lol..

I went through the linen cupboard which is a large one, and was ruthless with sheets, duvet covers and a couple of old towels.
Put the supersized towels aside for a friend. I dont need such large ones these days. And have moved the new ones out of my wardrobe.
I will go through them and wash them in-between other washing. But 17? I must not look anymore.. I have the red and white ones, but also have some brought yellow ones that I got for a friend, I was going to sew smiley faces on them, but that never happened. And I have some purple/eggplant coloured ones I got from Pak n Save, they definitely aren't as good quality as the others which all came from Briscoe's on special

Ill ask on FB if anyone wants the linen, its all well used so could be rags. 2.5 black rubbish bags full lol.

[Lilith7]

Anyone here been to Raratonga?
There's someone asking for info about place to stay there over in general discussion; I can't help as never been there but thought it worth asking here for the poster in case you haven't seen the post.

[kiwimade64]

morning ladies Another foggy start to the day.

We haven't been to Rarotonga, Lilith, but we stayed at the Meridian when we went to Vanuatu and it was lovely.

My sister-in-law called in yesterday with her dog and our friend's Dalmation. The Furry One was exhausted when they left lol. She was on her way to Hamilton to pick our friend up from the train station and thought she needed a coffee and the dogs needed a pee Our friend was doing the train trip to Wellington and back again, it's one of the bucket list things she wanted to do before the cancer won't let her. She's also doing the South Island Alpine train trip shortly, health permitting. We have often said we would love to do those train trips

We made a family 'executive' decision the other day to have Christmas at home this year. Family are all invited but if they have other plans, that's fine. Early, I know!

It's time I found something to stitch so today I'll have a fossick around and see if I'm inspired.

Happy crafting

[popeye333]

Morning everyone

Very grey here today. Not cold tho.

Umm its 18 new towels Oops lol Will get salt this week to start them. but I also want to run some hot water through the machine and make sure its super clean before washing the white towels first. The red will be last and that's simply cos I know they are dropping fluffy fibres already.

Going to be an interesting watch on Fair Go tonight about public recycling bins.. From what was said on breakfast, it all goes in the rubbish anyway. Sad really.

Off to see MrP this morning. Ill ;leave the girls till Wednesday cos I want to see Emmerdale today. Poor Paddy.

Never too early to plan Kiwimade. Things can change later if need be.

I wonder if the fence is going to be started this week.. They have cut the stumps out I think. I guess the more prep they do the cheaper the next part becomes.

Have a fab day all.