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:

Five on Friday

and also with Stephanie over at:

roses of inspiration

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

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:

roses of inspiration

Have a good week.

Until next time,

Diana

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:

roses of inspiration

and Amy at :

Five on Friday

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

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:

Martha's Favorites

and Stephanie at:

roses of inspiration

And also with Amy at:

Five on Friday

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

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

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