A catchup and Tuesday 4

Spring came roaring in like a lion and as well as bringing us all the beautiful colours and flowers of spring it has thrown a good variety of weather at us us. We've had rain, hail, gale force winds and even some snow on our local mountain. And surface flooding on some of the streets.

I've been to a day retreat where it was warm enough to sit out on the deck for morning and afternoon tea.

I've worked in the shop on a couple of days when it was so cold and windy there were very few people out braving it and no customers.

 

I cooked for Friday Light one night and hope it stuck to their ribs. It was another bitterly cold evening and I was pleased to get home and hunker down in front of the telly.

And we've been to a hardware shop shopping for stuff for the bathroom. And no it wasn't exciting - it was new toilet seat. What I'd really like is a whole new bathroom but I don't see that happening any time soon. Oh well...

And that has been my week. Not very exciting but life is like that and I'm happy for the calm times.

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And now here is Tuesday 4

https://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Tuesday 4 in memory of  our friend Toni Taddeo..

Most people love to read.  It opens other world's to us.  Autumn weather is often conducive to reading as weather can be chillier and rainy. Cozying up with a book can be a lovely way to spend some time.

    How do you relax in the evening after dinner?

Generally we settle down and watch telly, but if there's sport on that I'm not interested in I read.

     Do you read in bed? What kind of books do you read?

Yes, I read in bed, first my bible and then whatever book I happen to be reading at the moment. It helps me sleep - usually. My taste is pretty eclectic but I don't like psychological thrillers. 

    Do you have a list of books you look forward to reading?

No, but I have authors I enjoy and I look out for them.

    What is the best book you've ever read and why?  Or.. how about the worst book you feel you wasted time reading?

Apart from the bible? Hmm. I really enjoyed the Lord of the Rings about ten years before it gained a cult following and was made into movies. I can't think of any books I particularly wasted time reading, oh hang on, what about Crime and Punishment. That was pretty awful, it took me about 10 years to read. But it wasn't really time wasted as it put me to sleep it was so boring 😕 and I only read it when there was nothing else on hand.

1. 
2. That's it for this week,
3. blessings,
4. Diana

Looking back on the week

 We had a day in town this week mainly because I had to take my phone in to be looked at. It's been going very slow and even telling me I had no internet connection when I was sitting in my own house. Anyway I'm hoping it's fixed now but to be honest I'm not sure. And the young fellow in the shop was not very forthcoming. I found out more when Bob went into another shop, we're with different companies, and I may change over when I have to update my phone one day.

Still it was good to have a wander and buy one or two things we need to take away on holiday with us. After we'd finished we went to our favourite cafe for lunch. Arrived just before the rush, by the time we left it was full. 

 We catch the bus in these days, it saves trying to get a park somewhere, the parking buildings are often already full. And it's amazing what you see from the bus, being higher up, that you miss when sitting in the car.

I've been in the shop as well but it has been very slow lately. I think in part because of the weather, it's been very cold and miserable, but also because of the economy. People are not buying a lot of books these days, we do great sales in greeting cards though :) But today it was a little different, I had two authors ring and enquire how their books were going. Quite exciting having a little chat to them.

I mentioned how cold it's been, again, and the picture above is what we woke to this morning. Thick fog which turned into freezing rain about midday. A lot of flights were delayed today, the airport is a few kilometres further down the plain than us. I just hope it doesn't happen on Saturday when we're due to fly out. Youngest grand daughter is taking us to the airport.

And a montage of my great grands with the quilts my sister made them and sent over from Aussie. Amazingly they all arrived on the same day and there were some excited little people ripping open parcels. She personalized them to what the three older kids are into and made up a lovely colorful one for the toddler.

And just because I can.

I was using a public rest room when I spotted these unusual tiles on the walls. I found them quite fascinating. Some of the chemical elements on the periodic table. I would have taken more photos but people were starting to look at me funny :)

Top left S 16 - sulfur.

Bottom right Sc 21 - scandium.

And that's it from me. 

Next time I post I'll be in Auckland or Mackay. See you then. 

Diana

Swede, bulbs and jigsaws

 It's been so cold this winter we haven't done much except hunker down at home and go out when we've had to. It's been wet and cold and sunny and cold and night time temps below freezing at times. That means it's cold when we get up but the living area is warm as we set the heat pump to come on about an hour before we rise. 

I've finished one jigsaw and got another on the go but I don't know how far I'll get with it. DIL Sofi gave it to me, it was one they were discarding  at work, and I've already had one shot at it. I didn't finish it that first time and I seem to be doing even worse this time around. I've got the border finished and a few pieces in and about 840 pieces that don't fit anywhere at all :) Never mind, I'll plug away and see how I go. I'm not promising I'll finish it this time either. 

Jacqui arrived in for a chat and a cuppa yesterday bearing gifts. Half a swede, that will be nice in some vege soup, she'd got three from a roadside stall, and a boot full of spring bulbs. She's going to sort the bulbs out and bring some back for me. They'll look nice out the front when the jonquils die off - daffodils, gladioli and pink and white hyacinths. 

Just for something to do we went in to the Warehouse and had a wander. We came home with a new toaster, which we needed and a new blouse for me. I decided I needed a light long sleeved top for when we go over to Aussie next month. Their temps have been a lot cooler up north than  normal this year. Sometimes down in single figures.

I've also worked a few extra days in the shop as well and last week I had a wee fellow come in with his mother. They wandered around and picked out what they wanted and then while Mum was still browsing he came up to the counter and put his sticker  book on the counter and said "Now you pay for this." I smiled and said "No, I haven't got any money." With that Mum arrived at the counter and paid and he was happy. He was only three and knew when you went to the counter someone paid. I guess he thought it was me, because he didn't have any money :) His Mum and I had a wee giggle about it.

And with that I'll finish.

Keep well, keep warm - or cool - and I'll see you next time.

Diana

ps. Texas you are in my thoughts and prayers.

A mundane week

It's been a pretty mundane sort of a week. I've done my chores, and worked at the shop. So this post is a mish mash of nothing very exciting.

The most exciting thing to happen was when the recycling bin wasn't picked up and emptied. 

I arrived home from the shop to a very irate husband, he watched the truck go right past so he rang the council. They said leave it out and they'll come back for it. That didn't happen which meant waiting another fortnight and more recycling building up as we only have a small bin (which is usually big enough for just the two of us). I think his reasoning was that we've done our bit, the council could have done theirs! Never mind, if that's the worst we have to worry about we're lucky :)

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It's Maori language week or Te Wiki o te Reo Maori. I look after the  fb page for our local Christian bookshop and I nearly forgot to list our Maori language bibles and other books. But it is done, phew, and the week is not over yet :) Next week is Chinese language week, I hope I remember to list the Chinese bibles.

And thinking about the shop, one of our volunteers has just finished so we are left with only three of us to cover the shifts. But so far we are coping and have another girl arriving back in town in a week or so. As soon as we decided to go back to our summer trading hours the weather packed up so less foot traffic at the moment.

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Vanessa, youngest daughter, had her birthday on Tuesday but has been unwell so her card and wee present are still sitting on my kitchen table. We'll pop over when she's feeling more up to it. It's also a friends birthday in a few days and she will be celebrating at the glaciers on the West Coast with her family so I'll get hers to her on Sunday when we head into church together. 

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I'm trying to read Prince Harry's book Spare. I'm not happy with him but thought I should read the book in case I am misjudging him totally! It has been known to happen :) I'm not sure how far I'll get with it. I found the first chapter a bit cringe worthy but it seems to be getting better apart from his obsession with his  mother. I'm only up to chapter 8, very short chapters.

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And here's what my GKB dished up for tea last night. Curry rice rolls and chips. I'm not complaining :)

And that's it from me for another few days. 

Have a good weekend everyone.

Diana

Round up of the past week

It's been a busy week. Monday was just the normal round of housework and making sure I had everything ready for the Aglow meeting on Tuesday night.

Tuesday I spent a bit of time finding last minute substitutes for people who couldn't get to the meeting after all, for various reasons, so couldn't help as had been planned. But it all worked out well and we had a great meeting. People are pretty good at filling in on the night anyway but it's nice to have things organised.

Wednesday is my half day in the local Christian bookshop where I volunteer. We have people come in for all sorts of reasons, some want prayer, some want to drop off a prayer request and others just want a chat. Some even buy books or gifts!  :) It's a nice wee shop, selling a great range of goods from books and clothing to cards and gifts.

Thursday saw me up with the larks - before 6am - so I could be over at my friends house for a 7:45am start on our trip south. I don't like to rush in the mornings. We were headed to Gore, which is a couple of hours drive away, for a combined Aglows board meeting. People come from all over the south of the south and it's good to have a catch up with those we haven't seen for a while and to meet the new board members.

 Below is a picture of the back garden of the house we met at, a great space for relaxing and chatting over a hot or cold drink. The lady of the house said the garden didn't look too good this year - I wish my garden didn't look this too good :) We arrived home about tea time and I was pleased to see my bed on Thursday night.

Friday was walk the dog day again. Sassy was really excited to see me as the last few times I've been over we've been out walking. Today we went over to John Wilson Drive. which has the beach on one side and the golf course on the other.

 All dogs have to be on a leash as it is baby sea lion season and some of the mothers have taken their pups over to the bushes by the golf course to keep them safe from any bull sea lions. They stay well hidden usually but sometimes come out and sunbathe on the road or on the course. 

And no, Sass is not pooping, just wondering why Granma has to take a photo of her - again :) she's got better things to do.

This pic is just for fun. I love the mural above the centre shops.

There is an optometrist on one side and a cookie shop on the other.