Friday 26 February 2016

It's still busy :)

The day after we went to the futsal at the beginning of the week...


...we met my niece and her husband for
 coffee at Wal's Plant and Fun Land.
They were in town for two nights, visiting from Australia.


And we  all (apart from Sis) met Ahyla for the first time. 


Little Mother's second youngest great-grandchild. 
She's 18 months or thereabouts, a wee cutie.


Afterwards some of us played mini golf 
and some of us kept Little Mother company 
guarding the bags, phones, cardies etc.
It had started out cool and cloudy but by
 the time we finished early afternoon it was really hot
 and so everyone came round to my place for refreshments.
I live just around the corner - handy. A very pleasant day.


A couple of days later and we are awaiting Sis
 and Little Mother's arrival for lunch.
My GKB has made a batch of scones 
so we'll have them with a good hot cup of tea or coffee.
And that's a bag of windfall pears next to them waiting 
for me to peel and stew along with a bag of apples.
************
Some of you have asked about Futsal. Futsal is a modified version of football (soccer). The kids play it indoors, five a side and 12 minutes each way. It's a good way for them to keep up their footy skills in the off season.

sharing today with Amy at:
and also with Stephanie over at:

That's it for today.
Have a good week,
Diana

Tuesday 23 February 2016

A busy 24 hours...

...or so.

My little mother had a hospital appointment yesterday morning.
My little sis, the middle one, was flying in from 
Aussie yesterday morning. Luckily my two daughters
 offered to go and pick up their aunty from the airport, so
 I was able to go into the hospital with Mum. 
We all arrived back at her home within five minutes
 of each other. Great timing :)


We had a quick cuppa and I went home for lunch.
Both daughters sat and chatted for a while. 
A little later I had a phone call from sis, could I take
 her back out to the airport to pick up her rental car,
 about tea time. Not a problem. She thought it might have been cheaper to pick one up in town but not so. You live and learn!


Finally we found the right rental desk, in a completely
 different building to all the other rental companies. Who knew?
Unattended! If desk is unattended Ring Bell ONCE ONLY!
So we did, we were too scared to do otherwise, the notice had already told us off, or so it felt. But I have to admit it was also tempting to ring the bell twice just to see what would happen. Anyway it wasn't long before she had her car  
and she and our little mother drove away home.


Tonight we all went into the Edgar Centre in the city
 to watch my grandson, Jack, play futsal. This is him 
in goal, later in the game he was out with the other players.
He was terribly embarrassed that his great aunty
 and grandmother were taking photos. 


Making a save :) They lost the game 3 - 2 but it was 
only the first one of the season and that wasn't a bad score.

I was really quite surprised at all the sports that were there practising. The photo below was taken as we were leaving;
tennis courts nearest us, then marching teams with the futsal competition happening beyond them. Behind us the cricket 
nets were getting a workout as well - batting practise.



Tomorrow we will spend the morning out with 
our niece and her little family as they holiday around 
the South Island before heading back home to Australia.


sharing this week with Stephanie over at:

Have a good week.
Until next time,
Diana

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Roses, roses, roses

Don't you just love roses? There are so many different types.
Some are dainty and refined and 
others are blousey and right in your face. 

I don't even pretend to know the names of these roses, 
they are just some from around my property 
I thought you might like to see.
Some are fragrant, most are not.


These two I can see when I'm standing at the kitchen sink.
Hanging over the fence from the neighbour's section, 
the top one looks like red velvet, in reality slightly darker
 than the photo, but not much scent.


This is another one hanging over the fence, I don't mind at all.
It is a little bedraggled and windblown but still pretty.


One my daughter gave me when she moved houses.
She only has a tiny garden and didn't want 
to leave her roses behind. Again no scent.
She gave my little mother a couple too.


Now this one I do know the name of, it's called 'Rock n Roll'.
The photo doesn't do it justice, it's very flirty.
Another one from my daughter. So pretty.


As is this beautiful yellow one, just gorgeous.
This is the same as one she gave her Gran.
Very true to colour. Isn't it brilliant?


And this one is very special although a bit windblown as well.
It is a cutting from my grandmother's bush. 
Mum also took a cutting. When let to grow it is rampant 
and we have had to keep it cut hard back 
so it doesn't take over the back section.
A white rambling rose, it is called Mrs something or other.
Maybe Mrs Simpson, the time frame is right. 
Once upon a time I knew.

I hope you enjoyed my roses as much as I do.
I'm sorry I can't tell you anything much about them.
I'm not much of a gardener but I like gardens. 
My daughter and her daughter are gardeners - 
that gene seems to have bypassed me and my little mother.

joining Stephanie at:
and Amy at :

Have a great week, 
it's 30C here and we are melting.
Ice cream time I think.
Diana

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Books, veges and other stuff...

Well it has been one of those weeks where I seem to have been busy but couldn't tell you what I've been doing. So please, take a load off your feet, make yourself a cuppa and take five minutes and I'll see what I come up with.

What I can tell you is that I have completed my first book in the reading challenge I'm taking part in. I wrote about it here. I quite enjoyed it even though it was a study resource - '30 Days to Understanding Church History' by Max E. Anders and Judith A. Lunsford.
It was easy to read and understand, chapters were short and there was a test at the end of each chapter. I've started another one which I think will take the rest of the year, I've been reading it on and off for about 20 years and only got to the end of Chap. 1 this week so I'll read others in conjunction with it. One day I might even tell you what it is :) I definitely will if I ever finish it!


Today was Shrove Tuesday so we had a pancake morning tea at church this morning. My GKB was coming but missed out because he has come down with a cold and is a bit miserable with it. There was quite a good turnout and we had the vicar and one of the ladies making the pancakes. I had mine with maple syrup. Yum. Some kind people had brought produce from their gardens to share so I came home with rhubarb and a courgette. Actually it is a bit big for a courgette but not quite big enough to be a marrow.
 I'm sure it will still be tasty.


Quite a while ago I said I would show you some of my 
demitasse teacups.These are more that my GKB 
used to bring home for me on a Friday night after work 
when we were first married. They are rather dainty
 and pretty and are stamped with
fine china, Japan.


Aren't they gorgeous? Very feminine.
I love the gold trim on them.


And of course it is Chinese New Year, the Year of the Monkey.
In fact it is the year of the Fire Monkey.

This big celestial dragon was in one of the city malls when we went in on Monday. Sorry the photo's are not clear, it was behind glass and the mall lights were reflected in it. Unfortunately the Lion Dance wasn't taking place until 7pm and we didn't want to hang around for another four hours so headed home. 


A close up of the dragon, if you look closely you will see that he has caught the 'sun' and is holding it in his mouth. I'm not sure whether that bodes well or not.


joining Martha at:
and Stephanie at:
And also with Amy at:

Wishing you all a 
Happy and Prosperous 
year of the monkey.
Diana

Friday 5 February 2016

Quirky...or just a bit different?

I took all of these photos except the one 
at the bottom which my daughter took.
It is entitled 'The Bee Lady' and has a 
notice beside it which I can't read, so your 
guess about it is as good as mine.
I think it's pretty weird looking though.


An interesting concept.


Daughter's cross eyed owl.


A letter box dressed in our national football team's colours.


We came across this colourful couple while in Te Anau last year.


And last but not least, 'The Bee Lady'.

joining Amy at:
Five on Friday

Wednesday 3 February 2016

A day trip

Saturday last week was our 45th wedding
 anniversary and as it was going
 to be a nice day we decided to drive through
 to Roxburgh to buy some stone fruit from the orchards.


We stopped at Ettrick to have lunch
 at the tearooms we have been frequenting
 for several years whenever we go through.
 It had been getting rather shabby 
and run down so we had almost decided
 to find somewhere new.


But we're both pleased we didn't. 
It has changed hands and is now nice and
 bright, has a modern menu and the outside 
area has been done up as well. There is a
 children's play area, an aviary and plants for sale.
We spent a very pleasant half hour there.


Then we were off to explore the orchard 
roadside stalls. I love it when they invite you try 
the produce before you buy. I usually do, I love 
stone fruit. We went to several and came 
home with apricots and plums for all the family.


At one of the orchards when we pulled 
in to park we were confronted by this gal.
She looked like she was going to challenge
 us for being on her patch, haha. She was enjoying
 the shade and having a munch on some of
 the lower branches while she was at it.

All in all a good day out, we like to 
spend our anniversary together.

Until next time, 
Diana