Tuesday, Tuesday...

Today has been busy, but then Tuesday is always busy

 once things get going again for the year.

I usually have most of the morning at home, 

which is just as well because today I slept in. Oh dear.

Then it is time to go over to my little mothers' place for lunch 

and up until this week I was picking up a friend to go over as well.

But her routine has changed and now she joins us later.

Today I had an extra hour to muck around in even though I'd slept in

and managed to get a little bit of tidying up done in the garden.

Mum runs a small study group and we all take our own lunch

and she puts on the tea and coffee.

And always a little dish of lollies for us to pick at.

We are only a small group but that doesn't matter.

We are all 'older' ladies, the oldest in her mid 80's 

and the youngest in her late 50's. 

None of us feel old though.

We always watch a video and then we are supposed

to discuss it - and we do have some interesting discussions,

but not necessarily on the subject.

Later, when everyone is gone 

and we've tidied up a bit,

little mother and I usually go grocery shopping.

Normally our friend comes too and we then

 end up at her place drinking more tea,

 and 'putting the world to rights'.

Which is what happened today, 

altogether a pleasant afternoon.

We don't buy our frozens' that day!!

By the time I get home in the late afternoon 

I'm ready to collapse in a heap with a coffee nearby

 and chew on the chocolate bar and grapes 

that little mother gives me for taking her shopping.

My chocolate fix for the week!

She would buy petrol but I won't let her 

so the chocolate helps her keep a feeling of independence I guess.

After tea tonight I went out for a walk, not as long as usual though, 

mainly because I was a bit later leaving 

and I didn't want to get caught in the rain that was threatening.

Well, that's it for now,

have a good week 

and I'll see you next time.

Diana

Catching up

Well we are just back from holiday and catching up on everyone. 

First of all I'd like to say thank you to those of you who have visited from the GYB party. 

I promise I will get back to you soon. I was using a tablet while away but couldn't really figure out how to comment although I did visit some of you. 

And I didn't really want to spend too much time on it anyway, not fair to my GKB.

**************

As we usually do at this time of the year we went up to the caravan at Cromwell for a few days.
It was so hot we didn't really enjoy it, the temps hovered around 30C most days.
The grass is burnt to a stubble and the area round about is tinder dry.

tent and cabin area at camping ground,
that brown stuff is grass

One very hot day we decided to get in the car and go 

for a run up the road a bit to visit a cousin we hadn't seen for a while. 

No matter if they weren't there, the car was air conditioned!

I got out at the top of the Lindis Pass to take a couple of photo's 

and it was quite a pleasant temperature.

 Of course we are up in the mountains here, 

or should I say the foothills, 971 metres above sea level.

Then on up to Omarama where my GKB's cousin lives.

She and her partner run the camping grounds/motels there.

Unfortunately they weren't home but we had a back up plan

 and visited friends who run a B& B which was just around the corner.

After a very pleasant hour or so we headed home again

 through some lovely countryside.

The pic above was taken from the parking lot at Tarras, which someone has described as:

like being dropped in the middle of nowhere. 

There is a tiny (and I mean tiny) shopping village with about 6 tiny shops and a school, 

 a parking lot and a solitary unmanned petrol pump.

Nothing else in sight. Lovely views though.

We were actually hoping to make a comfort stop but the facilities were padlocked! Ugh!

And this picture is Lake Dunstan just up from where we were staying.

We drove alongside the lake for a while and it is quite pretty in places.

My GKB goes trout fishing here and sometimes brings home tea.

The dark green areas you can see are the vineyards/wineries.

It is good wine growing country and dotted with vineyards.

While we were away we also celebrated our wedding anniversary 

and took ourselves out for dinner.

A waitress kindly took our photo, two in fact. 

My GKB looks good in this one and I look better in the other one.

 Oh well, you can't win them all can you,  haha.

And this is what we had, vegetarian fettuccine. 

Not because we are vegetarians but I don't like mushrooms

and that is what was in the other pasta dish. 

And my GKB just follows his leader :)

We had a really nice evening out.

**************

Now we are away to deliver

fresh stone fruit to the family, 

have a wonderful week, 

Diana

joining in the fun at:

Roses of Inspirationl

Grow your blog

I am joining Vicki at 2 bags full for her Grow your blog party.
Below is just a little information about me and my blog.
I hope you will enjoy what you read and
maybe even join me as I go along.

I started this blog because I needed a hobby 

and as my niece had started blogging I thought I could too. 

Initially I intended to keep track of my walking

 but the blog just took off in it's own direction 

with an occasional nod to the walking.

I write about whatever is happening in my life at any given time,
which could cover anything from family to church activities...

...holidays to books I might be reading,
and even sometimes my walks.

And all sorts of stuff in between.
I usually post photos taken by me
 or one of my  family members.

This is me with Tabitha the donkey.

No, she doesn't belong to us.

We do have a large ginger cat though.

Have a lovely day,

Diana

Walking and strolling

We have been very good with our walking and strolling, my GKB and I.

Sometimes we stroll along the Silverstream and have views like this to look at.

This was along the 'left bank'. 

When you get to the end of our street and go onto the floodbank 

you can turn either left or right. 

One side is flanked by the Silverstream and farmland and in the case of the 'left bank', 

it is farmland on both sides.

If you turn right it is private dwellings on one side, 

most of them have lovely gardens to admire, 

and the Silverstream and farms on the other.

It is a shared space, 

cyclists, joggers, walkers and dogs with their humans.

It's never boring.

We met a dog with her man a couple of days ago,

she takes him out at 1:30pm every day

 regardless of the weather, so he said.

I meant to get a picture of them but got so busy talking I forgot.

Oh well..

Sometimes, like today, we head for a park. 

I wanted to go to the library before we head up to the caravan 

so we took a walk around the gardens at the adjacent park.

They are dressed in their mid summer frocks at the moment

and are rather pretty.

House sparrow.
 I believe he is a male, as the males wear a bib on their chest.

We had a bit of a sit before we headed home again

and this little fellow came looking for crumbs.

He had a few mates with him but I'm afraid we disappointed them all

 because we hadn't really thought about feeding the birds.

Maybe next time we'll be better prepared!

We are off to the caravan in a couple of days,

so until we get back look after yourselves.

Have a good week everyone,

Diana 

We have a date!

Way back in July 2010 I started this blog with the intention of it keeping me accountable for when I trained (haha) for when my sister and I decided to 'do' the rail trail. The blog has gone it's own way, with the occassional nod to my walking and other exercise. And often lack of it :)

But we now have a date!

March 2016.

And we have a mode of transport.

Feet!

We will walk it - hopefully it will take us no more than four days, 

maybe three with luck and a good wind.

We have enlisted my GKB to drive a camper van 

which we'll sleep in at night and he can go fishing during the day, if he wants. 

And as he is a fisherman I don't think he'll have any problem with that.
So now I  need to go walking in earnest.

My GKB has to go walking three times a week 

so I am going out with him but it is more of a stroll than a walk.

.His legs get too painful if he goes too hard at it.

So far we have strolled along the beach once or twice

and earlier this week we went to the lake on a beautiful day

 and walked around the lakeside for a bit.

We've also strolled down the floodbank at the Silverstream. 

My GKB gave up after about 10 minutes, he hasn't learnt to pace himself yet.

 So I took off by myself for a brisk walk to the end of the section we were on.

 On one side was an extremely low Silverstream and on the other the playing fields.

It has been very hot and sunny for the last month but today

 the temperatures dropped and so I went out by myself.

I walked away from town and headed down to a crossroads where I usually turn back 

but today I decided to go a little further, straight ahead.

I've driven down here and knew there were some old homesteads

as well as some new modern homes but have never walked down before.

The picture above is Islington, one of the old homes,
and below is the entrance to Chelmsford, one of the new residences.
You can see the end of the garages through the gate.

Anyway, all that is to say, we finally have a plan and now I need to knuckle down.

Strolling three times a week with my GKB and three times out by myself.

I'll give myself a day off on Sundays.

That should do it - as long as I keep it up!

Have a good week,

Diana

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...so why isn't it March yet?

The Christmas tree is down and packed away and everything is beginning to return to normal. 

So why isn't it March yet? It feels like it should be.

 So much has happened this past two weeks I can't believe it is only a fortnight since Christmas.

What on earth is she on about? you may well be asking yourself. 

Well here's a wee look into my past two weeks.... 

at the beach

As you know before Christmas  I was involved

in the church 's Christmas outreach to the community

 and it was a lot of fun. 

Then it was straight into preparations for Christmas day

 as everyone was gathering at our place.

Eldest Grandson arrived on Christmas Eve and we went

 to the evening church service with his sister and my little mother.

One of the ladies there wanted to get a photo of us all together., 

so here it is below.

Caitlin, Andrew, me , little mother

We had a lovely time over Christmas, the weather behaved and the kids,

 big and little,  played outside in the sun. 

We all ate too much and drank just enough and generally had a convivial time.

Christmas puddings

Two days after Christmas my grandson and his partner departed

and I was rushing around getting beds changed and remade 

for my Aunty and her daughter who were arriving to stay the following day.

You see, just two days before Christmas my little mother's sister had died

and we now had a funeral to look forward to. 

This leaves just three sisters out of a family of six siblings.

So as well as getting ready for Christmas 

I was also trying to find another aunty in Australia 

who was in the middle of shifting cities. 

Well not literally, she was the one moving, not the cities.

Old phone disconnected, new one not yet on. 

But when you've got Facebook it's amazing what you can do.

Mission accomplished eventually, thank goodness for technology.

my little mother and her little sister - a bit blurred, sorry

The funeral was a nice gathering of extended family

with a group of cousins all round about the same age. 

So nice in fact that it was decided that maybe we should have a family reunion - 

and because I was the oldest cousin there I could organise it. 

I'm letting that sit for a while and will check back after things have settled down a bit. 

Am I up to it, I think so but with help, otherwise forget it.

a group of cousins

While Aunty was here we went shopping for a 'grandmother of the groom' outfit,

and found a pretty one for her, then after a couple of days they went away back home.

And New year hadn't arrived yet and I have to admit 

I was in bed by about 9:30pm New Years Eve.

No seeing the clock strike midnight for me.

In the meantime my sister had also arrived  

from Australia for a few weeks holiday with our little mother.

She likes a busy holiday, doing stuff

so we went to beach a couple of times with her 

and I went shopping when she bought presents to take back for her grandchildren.

And that is just my side of the family.

Aramoana beach

A nephew and his wife on my GKB's side were also down from the North Island on holiday

and wanted to catch up, so off we went for an afternoon at the Botanic Gardens.

We really did enjoy our day out with them and the kids, 

and my GKB's sister and her husband. 

A fun time all around.

fun riding the train at the gardens

It really has been a busy time and I haven't even mentioned

 that in amongst all that we have also fitted in two hospital appointments.

Which is probably the reason I was sitting in an empty coffee bar 

a couple of days ago looking a bit like a stunned mullet.

So with all that has been happening my question is,

 "Why isn't it March yet?"

Blessings to one and all,

Diana

joining in with:

roses of inspiration #2

New Years Day 2015

My sister is over from Aussie for a holiday so today we took our little Mother down

 to the beach because she enjoys walking on the beach and we hadn't been for quite a while. 

Mum, sis, daughter

There was a bit of a stiff breeze blowing but the temperatures were pretty good. 

On the way we picked up my daughter who is on holiday 

until Monday and at home by herself. 

We all had a great time, just strolling and enjoying the day.

And some of us played 'silly beggars'.

No they didn't really slide down there but I'm betting 

my grandsons and their father would love to have a go.

And what better way to finish off the day than with ice creams all around.

Happy New Year to you all. 
May 2015 bring you all you could wish for.
Blessings,
Diana

linking up with:
roses of inspiration #1
wake up Wednesday