Tuesday 4

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...

Let's talk about your week okay?

1. Is anything interesting on TV this week?  What will you be watching?

We quite enjoy The Brokenwood Mysteries. A New Zealand  programme so we understand the humour, it's a comedy/drama and now into it's tenth year. Each episode usually features a well known New Zealand actor as a guest star. Other than that I enjoy Thursday night when Jacqui and I chat on the phone while watching The Great British Sewing Bee. We try to pick the winner in each catergory and critique the outfits :) Friday nights is also relaxing with The Repair Shop. I love some of the stories that go with the items brought in and find myself grinning widely when the owner sees it restored. 

2. Any books on your horizon right now? What will you be reading?

I'm reading a couple of books at the moment. One is by Jonathan Cahn - The Dragon's Prophecy. Very thought provoking and I'm only able to read small sections at a time. The other book is Gaylene's Take by Gaylene Preston. I went to school with Gaylene and she was the principal speaker at the dinner when I went over to our school reunion. She is a film maker and her book is interesting. Her style is very chatty which makes it an easy read. And it helps to know some of the places and names she mentions. I'm enjoying it.

3. What's been on the menu lately?  Any new recipes caught your eye?

I've seen a couple on YouTube that I like the look of. I liked the look of some easy bread and berry puddings, comfort food because it is winter. But I'm not a cook and so simple and quick are what I like. Last night we had mince pie with potatoes and mixed vegetables. More comfort food :)

4. Who will you spend time with this week?

Later today I'm going to visit my friend in the rest home. Jacqui has been doing some clothing repairs for her so I'll take them in. And I'll deliver a parcel for our newest addition to the family to his grandmother.

Earlier in the weekend we went to see Arlo who turned seven. He's into all things army at the moment so we gave him a little tank with toy soldiers. And later in the day he went to the circus. Lucky boy, the circus arriving in time for his birthday. Here he is with his Dad.

Here is the link if you would like to join us this week.  Tuesday 4

 

And that is about all for this week.

blessings to all,

Diana

Tuesday 4 - How?

How?

 

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...

Let's jump right in...

1. How did you end up in the place where you are living?

We've lived in three different towns and five houses since we were married. This was the fifth and last move obviously. Our previous house was a cold and damp and we almost immediately applied for a State House. There's usually quite a long waiting list for these houses but we were given one within a few months. I met one or two people who were quite put out that we had been given one so quickly, we were accused by them of jumping the queue and "how could you get one so quickly when you've only just moved here?" We didn't do anything except apply and our current home was inspected as everyone else's is. Anyway, we were put into a house that was only three years old and a few years later had the opportunity to buy it - and here we've been for nearly 50 years.

Our home prior to putting the front fence up. The cone? Who knows?

2. How did you end up with the job you have/had?

I was a nurse in a previous life, the one before I married. But the job I retired from was as a caregiver in a newly built Rest Home. They advertised for staff and I was interviewed but passed over. Then a couple of months later they called to see if I was interested in doing a few night shifts. After that I became a part of the furniture and worked in all the units and on all shifts as well as a short stint in the laundry. I worked there for over 20 years and retired when I was 70.

3. How did you end up with your life partner?

Well Bob is a dart player, he doesn't play any more but still follows the game. My cousin and I went down to the local pub to meet some friends and I walked through the door and straight on through a dart game. Literally. I walked between the dart board and the player who was about to throw his dart. Bob. He came over and introduced himself afterward and we've been together since.

No, I'm not floating, just perched on the very edge of Bob's chair.

4. How did your weekend go and how is the week ahead looking?

Busy, busy, busy. Saturday we went shopping for Theo's birthday present and Sunday was church followed by a shared brunch. On Monday we had a lovely busy morning with Arlo, morning tea, spending his pocket money and then the library. and I still have a couple of afternoons volunteering in the shop, a doctors appointment, bible study group and a visit to my friend in a rest home. So reasonably busy.

Spending some pocket money.

If you'd like to join in or read other's experiences here's the link:  Tuesday 4

Take care until next time,

Diana

Christmassing

One of my nativity sets. Can you see what's wrong here? Joseph has gone AWOL. My youngest brother, when he first knew Joseph was missing, said he'd probably adjourned to the local inn to get away from all the busyness in the stable what with all the visitors that keep turning up :)

A look at my eldest daughter Jacqui's living room where she is decorating for Christmas as well as entertaining her grandson, Arlo.  School is finishing this week for the summer holidays but Mum and Dad are still working.

I was a bit early with my third candle last week - so -

have another JOY filled week :)

Blessings,

Diana

Some celebrations

Sitiveni turned 4 last weekend. It was a time to celebrate with his family and some of his little kindy friends. He had a Spiderman theme and mum made and decorated the cake for him. We just sent some cash up and mum took him shopping so he could pick out something himself. He bought himself a Spiderman glove that squirts water :) What else would a 4 year old boy buy :)

 

A week or so earlier Arlo turned 6 and he also had a party with his school friends. He likes to read so we gave him a fun book about a farmer who blew up the cowshed. And a card. A 5 year old card! I received a message from his grandmother "please message 

Great Granma and tell her I am 6, not 5." Oh dear. I knew he was turning 6, how did I make that mistake? But all is forgiven and we sent him another card with the correct age on it :) 

And I was celebrating getting my new specs, until I got them. Everything is beautiful and clear but nothing is sharp. So they need to go back but I need to see the optometrist again before they can be adjusted and can't get in until next week. Which also means I have to cancel an afternoon tea engagement as well as they're both at the same time. But I do need the specs adjusted so I'll grin and bear it. Otherwise wait another week. 

Tomorrow is a holiday for Matariki, the Maori New Year, so I thought I'd go and take a photo of our towns' matariki star cluster in the dark but it didn't turn out as I'd hoped as there are too many lights around it. A shame as I think it would be quite striking otherwise. 

A short explanation of Matariki taken from the internet.

 Matariki, also known as the Māori New Year, is a time of celebration, remembrance, and looking forward, marked by the rising of the Matariki star cluster (Pleiades) in the winter sky. It's a time for communities to gather, share stories, reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future.

Alice and Sitiveni are all dressed up in their Tongan national dress tonight to go to Alice's school celebration for Matariki. Sitiveni took part in his kindy kapa haka presentation earlier in the week. 

And just because I can - eldest daughter Jacqui sent me this photo of a feijoa she had sliced in half and captioned it

'It looks so happy. I don't want to eat it...😥'

And I'll leave you there.

Enjoy your week wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

Until next time

Diana

A trek up Baldwin Street, Dunedin

Baldwin Street is the steepest street in the world. 

On Saturday a small group of us walked up it at granddaughter's request. She has set herself a monthly  challenge and the January one was this walk. She invited people to go with her and nine of us set off from the bottom. Seven of us made it to the top.

 

Looking up from the corner. The bottom is tar seal, the top concrete so vehicle tyres have something to grip. Someone tried to get up on a motor scooter while we were there but never made it.

Not one of our team making hard work of it. Some walked on the road and others, like me, took the steps.

We noticed that the locals were in tee shirts and the tourists were all in sweatshirts, jackets or hoodies. Too warm and muggy for that.

Pausing for a breather and looking back at where we'd come.

A not very flattering shot of Jacqui, me and Vanessa at the top with Arlo. 😄 Contemplating the downward journey. It was very steep, I saw one older man having trouble and trying to go down sideways but he decided the steps were the best bet. 

I decided I wanted to walk down the opposite side to what I came up so had to cross the road. I'd slipped near the top on a little patch of gravel so Vanessa took my hand. I thought I was well past having to hold hands to cross the road but apparently not. 😏

We'd been promised drinks and protein bars when we reached the bottom and here we are gathered around with them. It was fun. I think her next challenge is to donate blood but I can't do that due to the medications I'm on unfortunately. Still I'll join in where I can. 

 One of my sisters in Aussie has decided she'll try and do the equivalent with us. She walked up to their local lookout, not as steep but a greater distance.

Here is a link to a Wikipedia article about Baldwin Street if you'd like to read a bit about it. I think it makes an interesting read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Street

That's it for today, stay safe, stay well and enjoy life, 

until next time,

Diana

A wonderful family Christmas

 Christmas is over for another year and we are sitting relaxing on a quiet Boxing day. We managed to do everything we wanted and I even managed to bake us a Christmas cake. I bought tins of biscuits and chocolates for the family instead of baking them cakes this year. I don't think they minded. 

On Christmas Eve afternoon in recent years our church has combined with one of the other local city churches to put on a free family festival. There are bouncy castles, food stalls and games and competitions and the last half hour is a presentation of the Christmas story. The local community has received it well and numbers have grown each year. I usually invite my little great grands and this year Arlo came along. He had lots of fun and food. The other two were away out with their paternal grandparents :)

That night I went to a Carol service at one of the local  Presbyterian churches as I'd been unable to attend any of the Christmas services in my own church for various reasons :(  It was a lovely service and I managed to sit with a friend I hadn't seen for quite some time. When I got home we watched It's a Wonderful Life on DVD, I always enjoy this movie at Christmas time.

Christmas Day dawned grey but warm and a bit humid. It was already 20C when we left to have breakfast with our eldest daughter at 9:30am. It stayed grey and muggy all day. Breakfast was simple, only the four of us and we had bacon, eggs, tomatoes and new potatoes chipped and fried with toast. Followed by tea or coffee. Just what we'd ordered. We never have a cooked breakfast so really enjoyed it for a change.

And then about 11:30ish we headed over to our eldest grand daughter's home to deliver presents and wish them Merry Christmas. We sat and chatted over a drink and Christmas fare for a while and headed home again to watch the live stream of our church's Christmas day service that had been held while we were having breakfast. Aaron had recovered from covid which was just as well as he was the service leader :)

Before long we were away again to our youngest daughter's home where most of the family were gathering for a late Christmas lunch. Yes, all the covid patients were finally testing negative by Christmas Day. Luckily we were able to open the doors and let the kids run around outside, and in. Lunch was cold ham and salads which we followed with cold desserts. Gifts were opened in stages, whenever someone felt like handing some out, which made for a nice relaxed time.

 Eventually in the early evening  we arrived home after a busy and enjoyable day - just in time for the King's Christmas message followed by the Princess of Wales' 'Together at Christmas' service. Tired but happy. I'd like to tell you I slept like a log but I think I'd eaten too much sugary food and found myself sitting up reading at 2 in the morning.

I hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as ours was.

Until next time enjoy the remainder of the Christmas season.

Diana.

It's Friday - gym day.

I decided last night that if it was a grey cold day when I woke up this morning I wasn't going to the gym. I don't do cold if it can be avoided. The forecast was for -3C overnight so there was a definite possibility of a bleak, grey day today. But I woke up and the sun was trying to shine and there wasn't any wind. So I toddled off and about halfway to my daughter's house I remembered I was meeting her at the gym not at home as usual. 😏

When I arrived my daughter was there with Theo and his mother. 

He's been going with his mother ever since he was an even smaller dot than he is now and the noise and bustle doesn't seem to bother him at all. I thought the noise might upset him, but no. Why are gyms so noisy I wonder?

 

After we were finished our session we kidnapped Theo and took him for a walk around the block while his mother finished off. 

Then I remembered that my other daughter was coming for a visit with Arlo after lunch so I headed home without the usual after gym hot drink with the others.

Arlo was happy, great grandad had set up his construction set and got the big lego blocks out. Later he got out some of the board games and he and his grandmother played a couple of games of snakes and ladders. He starts school on 4th June, five already, I don't know where that time has gone.

My daughter also gave me this burgundy 

jacket for Mother's Day. I love the colour. 

When she left she took three bags of feijoas with her to give to family and friends. They have just started to fall and the tree is absolutely laden. The apples in the other bowl are from my son's tree, so that is a good saving on fruit - I like my daily fruit fix :)

And that's it for today.

Until next time, keep well, keep warm.

Diana

Some unexpected visits

 It's been a real autumn week weather wise but that didn't stop us from catching up with both our southern great grand boys.

First off was an invitation to have morning tea with Theo and his Mum and Granma at the Village Green. And of course we didn't turn down the opportunity. It was a miserable day but we had all gathered just after 10am. The Village Green is part way between both our suburbs and is at a sports ground - so no searching for a carpark. Yay! And the first thing we saw as we went through the doors into the restaurant was a roaring fire.

We put our orders in, my GKB and I had cheese rolls for breakfast, and were directed to a reserved table by the window. Youngest daughter, also known as Granma, works here so the boss came over and sat with us for a few minutes and had cuddles with Theo. Orders arrived and we spent a very pleasant hour or so chatting together.

Later in the day I called around to a local rest home and visited with a friend. She has no family here and so there is a little group of us who visit and do her personal shopping for her. You can see the state of the weather in this photo but it was nice and warm inside.

Then the next day I had a message from eldest daughter, can Arlo and I come out and visit this afternoon? Of course we said yes. That was another wet and miserable day but a little better than the one before. My GKB set up the construction set before they got here, he always likes to play with it and it takes a bit of putting together and he can get the Lego and a few other games out himself. Guess what he decided to play this time? Chess! None of us play chess but we have a set so at some time one of the kids must have played. I think it was our son.

He taught himself how to set the board up, and we had a lot of fun playing 'Arlo's rules', but we have told him that there are other rules and he will need to learn them if he wants to play with other people. He is 4, turns 5 next month and will be away to school. Where has that time gone? He is the eldest of the great grandkids and Theo is the youngest at 6 weeks. 

Today the sun is shining and it has been nice and warm. We went for a drive to Outram for an ice cream and I went for a stroll up the street afterwards. As you can see, a beautiful blue sky day.

That's it for today, until next time

 be kind to yourself :)

Diana

Easter weekend

 Easter was a quiet time for my GKB and me.

 As well as it being Easter quite a few people tack Otago Anniversary day onto the end which gives them a five day long weekend. Many head off for a holiday break and sadly there are usually a good number of accidents and deaths on the roads at this time of year.

On the Saturday we had an unusual visitor. A magpie! I haven't seen one for years, probably since the big tree they used to nest in a couple of sections over was chopped down about forty years ago. So it was a bit of a thrill to see this one, we didn't get too close though, just left him in peace to do his foraging for bugs. He hasn't been back since so our backyard can't have suited him as a pantry :)

I attended the Good Friday service at our church which was quiet and contemplative, a lovely service. Who knew our pastor could sing like that? Wow! 

Sunday was a day of celebrating our risen Lord but I watched the morning service on live stream. We have a 25 minute drive to the other side of the city to attend in person. But Sunday night was a different story We had three adult baptisms happening and seeing as one was the son of a friend I wanted to be there for that. It was a wonderfully joyful service and the young folk who attend the evening service put on a lovely supper for everyone - and gave us goodie bags to take home!

For my four little people Easter had a different focus. Easter eggs.

Arlo had an Easter egg hunt at his grandmothers place. She only has a little garden but big enough to hide eggs for a four year old.

Alice and Sitiveni also had Easter baskets to fill, they had a hunt around their back yard and it was fun watching them looking so hard that they missed some right in front of their noses. I had a video of them hunting that I hoped to share but it refuses to load :)

I also like to get the little ones a book telling the Easter story and this year the older ones received The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story. The newest family member got a board book with felt pictures. I like to start them young with books. And both Alice and Arlo enjoy reading which is really good.

Exhausted after a busy day :), I think the kitten has more bed than wee Sitiveni. (For those of you who wonder, Sitiveni is the Tongan way of saying Stephen. He is named for his paternal grandfather which is also traditional for the eldest grandson).

Theo had a sleepover at his grandparents home over Easter as well.

And that is my round up of Easter.

Keep well, 

until next time, 

Diana

A play date with Arlo

 On Friday young Arlo came to visit us. He had wanted to visit the week before but I was volunteering in the local Christian bookshop so we made an 'appointment' for this week. I suggested to his gran that we meet at the playground if the weather was halfway decent - and it was. He had a great time playing in the preschool area under the trees and met some others his age to play with.

Granma and I sat under the trees and supplied snacks and drinks when they were needed. Of course after a while he wanted to explore the older kids area on the other side of the fence so we went for a wander out there. He had a go on the climbing net and one or two other pieces of equipment that were okay for him but as it is still school holidays there were quite a few older kids around which was a little intimidating for him.

And then it was over to the library where great Granma (me) had a book to drop off. That lead to a quieter visit and playtime out of the heat of the day. Colouring in and board games among them - and cars and trucks.

When he was finished we came back to my place for ice cream and berry fruit, for Arlo, and hot drinks and a biscuit for the grannies. Oh, and great granddad had set up the little construction rail set for him to play with while we had our drinks. 

Arlo is the eldest of our great grand kids and will be away to school later this year. Where does that time go?

That's it for now

Diana