Living the Good Life

FIVE SEXUAL TECHNIQUES TO DRIVE HER WILD ~

2012-01-28T18:42:00.001+13:00

#1: WET HANDS
Yep, it is the wet hands technique. Certainly one of the most popular among most women polled for this article. So simple. So exciting. You will leave her breathless.

-Fill the kitchen sink up with hot water and add a few drops of a scented dish liquid. Not too many, you don't want it to be harsh. There are many very nice scents out now, from vanilla and lavender to grapefruit. It is completely up to you.
-With a soft cloth in your hands plunge your hands into the water and get the cloth very wet.
-Now, moving slowly and gently place a dish in the water and rub the cloth across the surface of it... over and over again.
-Place the dish in clean rinse water and repeat until she is moaning with pleasure.

#2: VIBRATE ME BABY
This technique utilises what many women think of as toys, it is a little more difficult and takes a little more muscle. Extra credit on this one if you wear a black 'wife beater' shirt at the same time. Are you man enough?

- Carefully pull the vacuum out of where it has been stored. You know you want to.
-Plug it in and push all the right buttons.
- Slowly move back and forth and back and forth across the carpet, you will know when to move to a new spot.
-Move to the next spot and repeat as long as it takes to get results.

#3: THE WET T SHIRT GAME
This game is pretty easy, although you will have to think quickly while in the midst of gettin' your game on. If you can handle the amount of agitation and vibration in the first few minutes you will be okay until the end.

- You will need two piles... no I did not say poles, I said piles.
-Put everything white and light coloured in one and everything dark coloured in the other.
-Fill the washing machine with warm water and laundry soap (this is imperative... use the amount suggested by the manufacturer).
-Add the light pile. Close the lid.
-Write her a love letter about how great her eyes are while you are waiting for it to finish.
-Repeat with the dark colours except use cold water.
-Quick note: If your wife is screaming "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Don't stop what you are doing... that is called domesticus interruptus and it really is frustrating for women.

#4: WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN
This is best used as a quickie, whether in the middle of the night or during a chaotic afternoon. She can't say no to this.

-When you put the toilet seat up, put it back down.
-Every time.

#5: TONIGHT IT'S ORAL GRATIFICATION
I know... I know... you almost can't take any more verbal titillation. Good thing this is a short list. This last one is amazing. It is incredible... it definitely saves the best for last. This one will take some time to master. Work on it while using other techniques several times a week and then just expose your big secret to her when she least expects it. If you already know this technique you should be using it to its full potential by adding to your repertoire of tricks.

-Learn to cook a whole meal.
-When she has had a particularly rough day run her a bath, preferably aromatic with LUSH bath stuff.
-While she is bathing fix your incredible dinner (hot dogs and popcorn does not count)
-While she is still relaxed from the bath and satiated with dinner proceed to technique #1

Ohhh yes! Yes! Yes!!

Friday funny - Ten thoughts to ponder

2012-01-27T09:52:00.004+13:00

Ten thoughts to ponder

Number 10-Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9-Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Number 8-Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

Number 7-Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks, months, maybe years.

Number 6-Some people are like a Slinky-not really good for anything, but you still can’t help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

Number 5-Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospitals, dying of nothing.

Number 4-All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

Number 3-Why does a slight tax increase cost you $800.00, and a substantial tax cut saves you $30.00?

Number 2-In the 60′s, people took acid to make the world weird.

Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

And The Number 1 Thought----
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

- - and as someone recently said to me: Don't worry about old age it doesn’t last that long.

♥Have a great weekend ya'all!♥

A walk on the beach - Raglan 25.01.12

2012-01-26T10:44:00.005+13:00

It was such a glorious day yesterday it seemed such a waste not to go walk along the beach at Raglan and enjoy the equally glorious evening....

The tide was out, I don't think we've ever seen it as far out as that before, it looks a little like the moon....

Mount Karioi rising 756 meters (2480 ft) into the clouds

The only time I have long skinny legs!

This is such a cool Bach, click here for more info

Afterwards we drove back into Raglan and had fish and chips at the Orca Restaurant I washed mine down with an ice cold sweet cider! Life doesn't get any better than this.

More tea vicar?

2012-01-23T20:08:00.005+13:00

Before heading over to the Salvo after lunch, Sue I had morning tea.

We sat in her 'Pimped up ride' and drank tea out of gorgeous china tea cups, tea tastes so much nicer in a proper cup!

All photos taken by Sue, see her post here

Shall I be mother?

Thank you sweetie!

Little fingers out dahlink!

It was a perfect day!

Helping out at the Op shop today.....

2012-01-23T18:45:00.005+13:00

Spent the afternoon helping out at the Salvation Army today and found a few treasures that I was able to bring away after making a donation......

Woollen blanket to add to my stash

Some fabric, DMC thread

Some gorgeous wool

3 scarves

Grey top

Cardi..love the colour

My find of the day has to be this hand knitted cardigan/jacket, I was almost wishing for winter to get here so I could wear it!

..and some bling, 2 sets of earrings and a cute wee brooch

I may well be back with a second post today, I'm just waiting for Sue to share some photos which I know you are going to love! If not today then tomorrow for sure!

Craft - A new project; Picnic rug

2012-01-22T12:19:00.006+13:00

Found a bag of fabric at an Op shop not so long ago that contained a part finished quilt top. I thought "Cool! I'll have that and finish it off!" Well things are never that simple are they. Not sure what method it's previous owner was using, if any, but it was bizarre to say the least. They had cut similar sized squares and it seems were pinning single pieces together as they went. most odd! Anyhoo, I thought there's no way I'm going to do that, it would be a nightmare, which could be the reason it was in the op shop in the first place.

It was rather labour intensive but I ended up unpicking the lot!

Ironed it all flat.....

Sorted into piles.......

Then recut them all by trimming the edges, they are now 6 inch squares....

...and if I need more squares there is plenty more fabric!

In it's new life it will be a picnic rug, Sue and I are having a 'Christmas work do!'

I know! It's not Christmas and we don't work together, I don't even work outside of the home!
Anyway all will be revealed at a later date when
a) I finish the rug
b) It stops raining enough to actually have a picnic
c) I can get time off work!

Watch this space!

Just do it!

2012-01-22T08:44:00.003+13:00

This has been floating around on Facebook, I thought it needed to be shared......

In the garden - January 2012

2012-01-21T13:34:00.013+13:00

Now that it's stopped raining for five minutes we've been able to get outside and try and reclaim parts of the garden. With so much rain and warm weather the grass and weeds had grown so much it was ridiculous. The driveway as you came in was a mess, a few days ago we tidied the entrance then made our way clearing grass from the top of the wall that runs along the length of the driveway to the house. The grass had grown almost to the height of the fence!

Joe dug out the grass on the first section, we'll put some weed matting down and then get a load of river stones

The other half he's cut with the push mower for now....

.,... from the steps that lead to the barn

The flowering garden.......
Silk tree

Views from the mailbox

In the productive garden....
The onions went in a month late and have been harvested a month late
but we've had a fabulous crop

Look at these beauties!

We've also grown the best garlic ever!

A variety of lettuce which we are now picking regularly for salads

4 varieties of tomato; cherry, beef, moneymaker and roma plus a cucumber in here

Green beans

Yellow courgettes

Green courgettes

..plum tree

....and finally my ever present mutts!

Clyde and Max

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Suesday and a bit of a shoesday!

2012-01-20T17:54:00.010+13:00

I think summer has arrived finally, I'm feeling rather hot and sweaty, bet you really wanted to know that! Arrived at Sue's this morning, she took the morning off work, and she had these gorgeous goodies waiting for me, nothing like having a bagful before you even get out! Awesome, thanks petal! So what do we have here? Lovely dusky pink/lilac shawl, seen here with the pink dress. 3 necklaces, Sue remind which ones you made!ETA: below I've stated which necklaces Sue made) And this rather lovely bag....

ETA This lovely thing made by Sue

This one made by Sue as well.....

Also in this lot was this gardening book, one day I may get around to designing a garden, at least I now have a book for reference..

As if all those lovely goodies weren't enough I got these too and wore them all day, check out Sue's blog here

Okay, eventually after a cuppa and a natter we hit the shops, finds today....

Sandals, as new: Vinnies...$6

Sandals, never worn: The dump!(I know!!) $4

Sandals: Salvation army in town $5.50

Top: Vinnies $3

Can't remember the name of the shop, kind of up market 2nd hand place, this Long Island top was $17.50, but was brand new, still had the label on, so my most expensive find of the day..

...it does however look pretty good with my dress that I wore today....

At the Red Cross shop in Frankton I found this huge piece of fabric for $2!! I know!!!

A thought for Friday...

...and on that note I shall wish you all a fantabulous weekend, I'm now off to swill this down me chops!

♥Cheers!♥

A flight of swallows....

2012-01-18T23:00:00.005+13:00

on my washing line today........

You may need to click on the photo to enlarge.....

Suesday - Quality not quantity

2012-01-13T19:00:00.004+13:00

I had a bit of dodgy start this morning, in short ..internet woes...moaning at Vodaphone shop...snot nosed little madam....me feeling very tempted to shove Vodem stick where the sun don't shine and she if she got a signal!! Anyway I still have my old Vodem stick thingie and that's how I'm back online...for now!
I hate starts to the day like that it puts me out of sorts for the rest of the day, Joe is so much better at dealing with complaints, I have no patience and can't understand why I can just smack people in the gob!
Vent over!

Found this rather lovely dress, well Sue found it actually, I missed it..told you I was out of sorts!
$9.99 from Save Mart, I love it!
Joe on the other hand doesn't like purple, I told him not to wear it... sorted!

Love the colours on this, you can't really pick out the purple in it, it's faded out in the photo..

It looks rather grand with the dress!

That was it today, I was pretty restrained but I need to be sometimes!

Now I have something to share, City Sue, my partner in Crime on Suesdays, has started a blog. So if you get a chance, pop over and have a look and say hi.
Disclaimer: I cannot be held responsible for anything that occurs there!!
Click here for a look 'You can call me Sue'

Have a great weekend! Friday funny coming right up!

Have a great weekend ♥

Have a smile!

2012-01-10T16:30:00.003+13:00

The weather here is crap!
Summer pokes it's head out once in a while but that's all it's done so far! Everyone's fed up and complaining of the weather, quite frankly I am over the rain!
The goats and the cows however are looking pretty good on it, we have more than enough grass and they are looking like big fat Buddhas! A bit like me really, I've eaten so much crap since Christmas, Joe will have to roll me off the sofa soon using a big car jack!

Anyway, enough whinging.....

Suesday and a walk by the Waikato river

2012-01-06T18:28:00.005+13:00

Had a lovely day, as usual, with City Sue today, a bit of op shopping, a bit of lunch and a wee stroll alongside the Waikato River, it was rather nice down there today....

Here's what I found today.....

Blouse (SaveMart) $7.99

Another blouse (SaveMart) $6.99

Skirt (SaveMart) $6.99
Jury's still out on this! :D

Brown bag (SaveMart $7.99)
Flower bag (Habitat for Humanity) $3.00
Sandals (Salvation Army) $4.00

Sue found this blouse and singlet(vest) for me at the Sallies where we volunteer

and she gave me these sandals that she was going to take to the op shop, it's rather handy that we have the same feet size!

Gorn fishin'.....

2012-01-05T10:17:00.008+13:00

Yesterday we headed over to the beach to our friends bach (pronounced batch = beach house) at Bowentown, near Waihi Beach which is on the East coast and the Pacific Ocean. We love it here and one day we hope to have a bach here ourselves.

We had to wait for the tide to come in before we could go out fishing on Pete and Kerry's boat, so we took a walk on the beach.

In the distance is Waihi Beach, if you look on the right hand column on my blog there is a slideshow of some photos I took on a recent trip.

Joe and Pete..

... it's peak summer time and as you can see the beaches are packed!

Heading out into the harbour for a spot of fishing.....

Joe preparing the rods..

My new rod, it's a purple Shimano Lipstix! Of course it is! I had to have a girlie one!

Kerry and Joe...

Pete and me..........

Me and my purple Lipstix....which is faulty 'cos it didn't catch any fish!

Bringing the boat back in.......

Some New Zealand baches.........

Kerry and Pete's family bach, Pete's family have a Swiss heritage, I wonder if that's why it looks like a cuckoo clock!

The beauty of the older bach's in NZ is that they are all unique, the newer, modern and mansion like beach homes to me, lack the character and charm of the traditional ones..

Pee stop on the way home.....don't worry we used the public loos!
Karangahake Gorge

Mount Te Aroha, the Love Mountain is shrouded in cloud....

Heading home into the setting sun....

Oh how I love this place

Cats were made for smoochin'...

2012-01-03T09:22:00.004+13:00

This cat was made for smoochin'..

..and that is what we'll do...

..and one of these days this cat is gonna smooch all over you...

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T13:24:00.002+13:00

New Zealand gets to see a brand new year first, so I'd like to be one of the first to wish you all a fantastic 2012 ♥

See ya'all next year!

Christmas Eve 2011 Tequila slammers!!

2011-12-27T10:47:00.001+13:00

Well I dunno how I managed it but I got this touching video uploaded!!

And it's all over for another year!

2011-12-26T16:48:00.007+13:00

Had a lovely couple of days, far too much to eat, far too much to drink but hey who cares lol!

Just a small collection of photos for you today..... hope you enjoyed your Christmas however you chose to spend it...

Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas day breakfast

At Raglan beach

Bubbles on the beach!

Sand dunes!

The dawgs

My boys♥

Christmas Dinner

Pavlova

Just chillin'

Cheers!♥

You can see more photos if you click here

A Kiwi Night Before Christmas

2011-12-24T15:56:00.001+13:00

A Kiwi’s Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all round the bach *

Not a possum was stirring; not one could we catch

We’d left on the table a meat pie and beer,

In hopes that Santa Claus soon would be here
We children were snuggled up in our bunk beds,

While dreams of pavlova danced in our head;

And Mum in her nightie, and Dad in his shorts,

Had just settled down to watch TV sports,
When outside the bach such a hoo-ha arose,

I woke up at once from my wonderful doze.

I ran straight to the sliding door, looking about,

Jumped out on the deck, and let out a shout!
The fairy lights Dad had strung up round the door

Let me see everything, down to the shore.

And what did I see, when I took a peep?

But a miniature tractor and eight tiny sheep,
With a little old driver, his dog on his knee (of course in the book this is a border collie).

I knew at once who this joker might be.

He patted the dog, and in a voice not unkind,cried,

“Good on ya, boy! Now, GIT IN BEHIND!”
“Now, Flossy!, now, Fluffy!, now Shaun and Shane!

On, Bossy! on, Buffy! on, Jason and Wayne!

Up that red tree, to the top of the bach!

But mind you don’t trample the vegetable patch.”
So up to the roof those sheep quickly flew,

With the tractor of toys, Santa and his dog too.

As my sister awoke and I turned around,

In through the window he came with a bound.
He wore a black singlet and little white shorts,

And stuck on hist feet were gumboots, of course;

A sackful of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a postie just opening his pack.
His eyes - bright as paua shell - oh, how they twinkled!

Like an old tuatara, his skin was all wrinkled!

He had a wide face and a round, fat tummy,

That looked like he’d eaten lots that was yummy.
He spoke not a word, but got down on one knee,

And placed a cricket set under the tree,

A present for Sis, one for Dad, one for Mum,

Then he turned and he winked and he held up his thumb;
He jumped on his tractor, to his dog gave a whistle,

And away they all flew, as fast as a missile.

I called out “Thanks,” as he flew past the gate.

He called back:

“Kia ora to all, and good on ya, mate!”

*(this is pronounced like ‘batch’ and is beach house)

The Perfect Couple Meets Santa

2011-12-23T18:56:00.001+13:00

Hahah! Had to share this with you! Click on the link !

The Perfect Couple Meets Santa

A Merry Christmas to one and all!

2011-12-23T09:40:00.003+13:00

♥♥Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas
and a happy and healthy New Year!!♥♥

A big thank you and much love to the followers to my blog and for all the lovely comments left throughout the year.

Sue, Joe & Michael xxxxxx

Last Suesday of 2011

2011-12-22T21:14:00.005+13:00

Managed to squeeze in a quick Suesday afternoon today whilst Joe was having a Christmas drink with his work buddies! I thought, or rather City Sue thought I should dress up for the occasion! So I did!
Dress, sandals, bag and jewellery all op shopped
Cardi bought new and cost more than the whole outfit put together! I like it though!

Actually the earrings were from a $2 shop!

My wee haul today, some bling and pair of black sandals that don't look like they've been worn!
Necklaces were about $4 or so each, bracelet $2 and the shoes $7

Also spotted by the eagle eyed City Sue this shortbread dish!
Not bad for $4, and the shortbread should look very pretty!

It's a baking day tomorrow, so see ya then!

Christmas cake recipe.............

2011-12-22T07:17:00.000+13:00

You must sample this CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE.

Ingredients:

* 2 cups flour

* 1 stick butter
* 1 cup of water
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 cup of sugar
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 cup of brown sugar
* Lemon juice
* 4 large eggs
* Nuts
* 2 bottles wine
* 2 cups of dried fruit

Sample the wine to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the wine
again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and
drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a
large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this
point it's best to make sure the wine is still OK. Try another cup...
Just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 eggs and add to the
bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit up off floor. Mix on the turner.. If the fried
druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a
drewscriver. Sample the wine to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two
cups of salt. Or something. Check the wine. Now shift the lemon juice
and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or some
fink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360
degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner.
Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the wine and wipe
counter with the cat.
Go to Waitrose and buy cake.

Bingle Jells!

Tuesday titter!

2011-12-20T12:06:00.004+13:00

I've been a bit slack haven't I in the blogging department! If someone would like to let me know what happened to the last week that would be grand! Ta muchly!

Had an email today, thought I would share, cos it's a good'un....

CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE DISTURBED ~

* 1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

* 2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

* 3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

* 4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

* 5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and... Trees and....

* 6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

* 7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

* 8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

* 9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

* 10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells.....

Promise to be back soon, it's all go here I tell ya!!

Suesday and well frock me!

2011-12-13T18:13:00.006+13:00

Had an awesome day out with me op shopping buddy City Sue.

One was wearing for the occasion.......

Blouse Op Shopped, under $5
Jeans given to me
Sandals op shopped $5

Gorgeous bag op shopped $5
Jewellry, op shopped

Op shop spoils today as follows!

Well bugger me I'm wearing a dress, $9.99

...sandals $5.99

Wonders will never cease, another one!
Dress $18.99, brand new still had the label
Shawl loaned by City Sue to hide my fat arms!

Sandals, $9.99, look brand new and are kumfs, they even have a little heel! Ooer missus!

Blouse $6.99

Not a bad days efforts! Total spend today $51.00!

It's done!!

2011-12-10T07:43:00.003+13:00

Thank Gawd for that!

See before here

Friday funny - Christmas lights

2011-12-09T09:26:00.003+13:00

Hi Sweetheart,

I am sorry about getting into an argument about putting up the Christmas lights.

I guess that sometimes I feel like you are pushing me too hard when you want something.

I realize that I was wrong and I am apologizing for being such a hard-headed guy.

All I want is for you to be happy and be able to enjoy the holiday season.

Nothing brightens the Christmas spirit like Christmas lights!

I took the time to hang the lights for you today and now I will be off to the golf course.

Again, I am very sorry for the way I acted yesterday.

I'll be home later.

Love you……

Have a great weekend ♥

Just had to share this!

2011-12-04T20:13:00.001+13:00

Raglan in the rain

2011-12-04T18:04:00.004+13:00

Took the dogs to Raglan earlier, even though it was raining! Well we are English! If we stayed in because of rained back in Blighty, we'd never have left the house!

Friday funny - Xmas present

2011-12-02T09:27:00.003+13:00

The latest toy has hit the shops.....a talking Muslim doll.

Nobody knows what it says, because no one has the guts to pull the cord!!

Oh and while you are here, you must click here , make sure you watch the video

Have a great weekend ♥

Friday funny - Take two...

2011-11-25T19:50:00.004+13:00

They met at the singles club meeting and discovered over time that they enjoyed each other's company.

After several weeks of meeting for coffee, Claude asked Maude out for dinner and, much to his delight, she accepted. They had a lovely evening. They dined at the most romantic restaurant in town.Despite his age, they ended at his place for an after-dinner drink. Things continued along a natural course and age being no inhibitor, Maude soon joined Claude for a most enjoyable roll in the hay.

As they were basking in the glow of the magic moments they'd shared, each was lost for a time in their own thoughts.....

Claude was thinking: 'If I'd known she was still a virgin, I'd have been gentler.'

Maude was thinking: 'If I'd known he could still do it, I'd have taken my tights off '

Have a great weekend ♥

Halfway there..........

2011-11-24T15:43:00.003+13:00

Joe's going great guns now and got all this done yesterday. Rain had been forecast but it never came luckily, it arrived today though along with gale force winds. He can't do much more until the scaffolding is moved along to the next half. It's looking good though eh!

One of my jobs was to paint the trim Joe put around the edges on the window seat, that's done now...

That window is rather comfy and nice for reading in...it's also rather comfy and nice for nodding off in!

Don't you just love this fabric? I got it from Spotlight in a sale, I'd had my eye on it for ages. The people who made the seat cushion up did a splendid job..

Yup!

2011-11-23T10:20:00.004+13:00

Nuff said!

I want to share a blog with you today

2011-11-21T07:31:00.005+13:00

Not just any old blog but Lea White's blog
Living Life now in Kiwi Land (click on the bold letters)

Lea organised a Funrazor event to raise money and awareness for the Child Cancer Foundation, a cause close to her heart.
Quote: " They were with us from the very first day we received the devastating news that our nearly 4 year old was diagnosed with cancer. And our little girl endured 830 days of treatment. During this time she collected more than 1,300 Beads of Courage. Each bead represents something that happened on Bianca's journey. So doing something like Funrazor gives us a chance to help raise funds for the Child Cancer Foundation who gets no government funding and this is our chance to give hope to all the other families who are currently walking this journey and sadly who will tomorrow and the next day and the next day still walk this journey."

I just wanted to send my congratulations to Lea for a job well done and how can anyone look that gorgeous after having their hair shaved off.

Go and have a read and then when you're done, make a donation, I will be today.

♥

And a little more................

2011-11-20T17:48:00.003+13:00

Joe was on night shift last night, so I really didn't expect anything to get done today. But it did, two coats of karaka (green) on the barge board and the lighter colour underneath which, for anyone who may be interested is double pearl lustre. Next he'll use 'Terrain' on the main part of the house, but that won't happen until Wednesday, he's on day shift Monday and Wednesday.

Another long outstanding job was putting the glass in these doors and finishing them off...
tick box!

At last things are getting finished!

2011-11-19T18:08:00.010+13:00

Those of you that have been following my blog for a while (well done for having such staying power) will have more than likely been bored rigid in the past with posts about, renovations and home improvements. We did heaps but today I want to talk about the exterior painting: It all started here and I recapped here and the original post here

I have to say that the renovations all got a bit much and when we actually moved into the rooms here we just stopped and I wish we hadn't as now we are having to finish off all those little piddly arsed jobs!

One major job that we hadn't been able to finish was the back of the house, the highest point is very high and we couldn't afford to hire scaffolding. Joe now works with a chap that has his own! Darned handy that is! So here are a few photos for you to see what Joe has been up to with Michael helping.

The back of the house, lookiing rather shabby, ignore the decking that's a whole different story!

After Michael & Joe had put up the scaffolding, Joe set about taking out the bad wood etc under the eaves

There were quite a few birds nests up there...

New boards and some other repairs complete and ready for sanding...

Because of the restrictions of the scaffolding, Joe is having to do one section at a time, once he had sanded this area he was able to start putting on the primer/undercoat...

Tomorrow he will being the top coat of paint, then once he has painted down to the ground, the scaffolding will be moved across to the next section and he will begin again!

And as another year passes.......

2011-11-18T15:39:00.003+13:00

.....you are never far from our thoughts dear Shannon, remembering you as always with love ♥

♥Love goes to your mum Kim, dad Paul, big sister Cassie and your brother Kyle♥

xxx Raspberry kisses xxx

On guard.....

2011-11-14T20:00:00.003+13:00

I'll look this way and you look that way, bark if ya see summink!

Meet Chuck......

2011-11-13T11:27:00.005+13:00

Well what's left of him! A couple of years ago we raised a Welsh black steer for the freezer, he had such a lovely wooly coat that I wanted to get the hide tanned, seemed such a waste to let it go down a hole! Anyway after two years of it sitting in the bottom of the freezer we finally sent it off to be done. It came back a few weeks ago and it was put in the loft whilst we had a house full and I had forgotten about it until yesterday when I had to go into the loft for something....

It's so soft and fluffy! Have to watch out for black cats sleeping on it though, ya can't see 'em!

Suesday....

2011-11-11T17:59:00.008+13:00

Apart from the shoes, everything (not undies ugh!) I wore today was been found in Op shops, cost of outfit and jewelry, probably less that $25!
Op shop finds today..

Look Smart $8

$5 from Habitat for Humanity! A bit disappointed with this one, I didn't notice in the shop that it was so bobbly!

I didn't notice the bobbles because I was distracted by this!!...gorgeous bag $5

..five 'new' tops from the Warehouse, $1.97 each!!

..a bit of a saving!!

I had to pop into the supermarket to get something for dinner, and I was rather perturbed to see this (below)... it is quite clearly NOT a two person lift, it's a bloody BBQ...jeeze! Don't nobody know nuffink these days!?

I asked my buddy just how far she would go for me! She said she would jump through hoops...think we need a bigger hoop!

Joe's on nightshift tonight so I'm off to scoff sweeties!

Lest we forget!

2011-11-11T08:29:00.003+13:00

Every year, on 11 November at 11 am – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we pause to remember those men and women who have died or suffered in all wars, conflicts and peace operations.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them. Lest We Forget.

See ya when I get me new glasses!

2011-11-08T14:49:00.004+13:00

A new me!

This morning I looked pretty hawt, but me hair was a mess!

But now I've had me hair cut, well I'm just more hawt!

Of course it now helps that I can now see!

I thinks I looks very clever!

Suesday resumes!

2011-11-05T10:18:00.004+13:00

We haven't had a Suesday for nearly a month, what with everything going on here I hadn't the time to go for a play! That was remedied yesterday, as our HelpXers have now moved on, I'll do a post next week about them.

Some of the Op shops were a little disappointing yesterday, although I did find these rather nice tops....

From Look Smart on Te Rapa I found these first 3, total spend $20

From St Vincents in Frankton, this rather pretty bolero top for $3

From the Alibi outlet shop, also in Frankton, I bought (new) 2 singlets (vests) $5 each

and finally in Look Smarts 2nd shop in Dinsdale I bought this for $5

Friday funny - Man of the house

2011-11-04T08:23:00.004+13:00

A husband had just finished reading a new book entitled,
"You Can BE THE Man of Your House."

He stormed to his wife in the kitchen and announced,
"From now on, you need to know that I am the man of this house and

my word is Law. You will prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I'm done eating my meal, you will serve me a scrumptious dessert.. After dinner, you are going to go upstairs with me and we will have the kind of sex that I want!

Afterwards, you are going to draw me a bath so I can relax. You will wash my back and towel me dry and bring me my robe.

Then, you will massage my feet and hands. Then tomorrow, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"

The wife replied, "The fuckin' funeral director would be my first guess."

I know it's Wednesday, but last Saturday...

2011-11-02T18:48:00.010+13:00

Well actually the event was on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the weekend of Waikato's World Agricultural and Pastoral Show, it was also the Royal show, no idea why they call it that! :D We went for a look on the Saturday.

There didn't seem as much there again this year, sadly with each passing year it gets smaller. But still things to see, such as...

Big hamster balls, to shove yer kids into and keep them contained for hours!

Failing that you could attempt to launch them into space!

There was a very tall man with no feet!

And a very small man with no hands!

I told Joe he was to buy this for me, can't imagine why he made a rude noise and walked off..

There were Boer goats, not such a good turn out as in earlier years, many don't show anymore, us included......

What do you call a sheep with no legs?
A cloud!

Absolutely no comment!!!

Some Backpackers......no..... Applepackers.......erm...no...ah yes! Alpacas!

Yum!

Gotta use this for a caption contest I reckon!!
There were little horses......

..and big horses.....

and horses with cart thingies

and some in the shoe shop!

Well Frock me!!

2011-10-28T15:52:00.004+13:00

Yesterday was our 21st wedding anniversary, I made the comment that had I murdered him I could have been out on parole by now! Hindsight is a wonderful thing innit! Anyway as I'm too old to be breaking in a younger model and as he's still a work in progress, I'll keep him!

As usual it wasn't until I'd signed into Facebook yesterday morning and saw the Anniversary wishes from family and friends, that I remembered what the day was! We're pretty hopeless with things like that. We knew our anniversary was coming up and we knew we'd most likely go out for a meal, what we hadn't planned was a night in a hotel and a boozy night out on the town! Joe rang and booked a room that morning and late afternoon we drove into town, leaving the HelpXers to their own devices.

Our room.....

Checking out the bed... no smut please!

The view, everyone should have a view of a giant chess board at some time in their lives! Other people would want the sea or mountains, but to them I say Pffrt! Until you've seen a view like that ya ain't lived!

Joe looking for the room service number to have champagne sent to the room, we went down to the bar in the end..

Stop press!!! Yep that's a frock, would ya believe it eh, me in a dress, last time I wore one was about....21 yrs ago I reckon! (One must also remember to keep ones knees together when wearing such a thing!)

and another one of me in a frock, just in case you didn't believe the first photo!

After our bottle of champers in the hotel bar, we took a walk into town, luckily we didn't have to walk far, there was a pub next door! I'm having sex on the beach here...it's a bloody cocktail! Jeeze you lot have dirty minds!

Joe had a Guinness...

Richard O' Brien, who wrote The Rocky Horror Picture Show, has connections with Hamilton New Zealand and there is a statue of Riff Raff in his honour. The fact that NZ immigration refused him a Visa recently to come and live back here is a whole new story! Here is my interpretation of the dance........
After my abysmal attempt at dancing there was only one thing I could do, and that was have another drink! A Martini, shaken, not stirred! Oops I nearly lost me cherry!

By now we were feeling hungry so we went to have something to eat, we had a rather delicious pizza and a Greek salad that was washed down with another bottle on bubbly!

We went into another couple of bars then had some Shenanigans playing pool...oh no! That should read had a game of pool in Shenanigans!

I went to the Doctor and told him I felt like a snooker ball, he told me to get to the end of the cue!

By now things were getting a little hazy.....

Oh yeah...Joe was there too!

It was a very long game of pool, because someone kept moving the bloody holes!

Then it was time to crash.....

Ya know the best thing about our room was that ya could get a shampoo and set! Joe said that is wasn't a hairdryer, it was a lamp! But I didn't believe him, it was quite clearly a hairdryer!

HelpX update.... a link to view the progress

2011-10-26T09:09:00.005+13:00

Hello all, man it's been manic here, there is so much being achieved it's fantastic! We still have our French boys, Tim has been and gone and now we have Julia all the way from Connecticut in the US. I'm afraid it's just a link for you today. Once I get some time to myself again I'll soon get back to normal. Our HelpXers are here until Tuesday morning when they leave to carry on to other HelpX hosts and hopefully easier jobs than we've been giving them!

Anyway, enjoy!

Just click here to view the latest photos of the work achieved over the last week or s0, it's a link to my album on Facebook. I'm too tired and too lazy to post all those photos and comments again.

Friday funny - Best speeding excuse ever!

2011-10-21T07:58:00.005+13:00

This may be us someday" ...

When asked by a young patrol officer, "Do you know you were speeding?"

This 83-year-old woman gave the young officer an ear to ear smile and stated:
"Yes, but ...... I had to get there before I forgot where I was going."

The officer put his ticket book away and bid her good day.
Makes perfectly good sense to me.

Have a great weekend!
The last week has flown past with a big fat whoosh! Loads of work achieved here. Updates coming soon.

A Golden Wedding Anniversary

2011-10-15T07:15:00.006+13:00

50 years ago on the 14th October 1961 my Mum Wendy and Dad Michael were married at St Mary's Parish Church in Luton, Bedfordshire

I would like to wish them both a very Happy Golden Anniversary
with love always from Sue, Joe and Michael.
♥♥♥

Sorry we can't be there to celebrate with you at the big party Saturday night, but we will be thinking of you both, have a great night.

Oh and mum don't be dancin' on the tables ya hear! You've just had yer hip done woman!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

PS Gorgeous weren't they? :D

Friday funny - Have a great weekend ♥

2011-10-14T07:58:00.003+13:00

....and they keep on soldiering on

2011-10-13T11:06:00.007+13:00

To all of you that left lovely words of comfort on the post about Saffy, thank you, it means a lot that you care ♥♥

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't get around to sharing these with you the other day, so here are some photos of what the boys achieved on their 2nd day

Cleaning out the goat bays: before

......after

....before

..after

The barn; before

..after

..the hay stack; before

....after

Weeding the veggie garden paths, meet Sebastien

Did you know we had a one eyed dog??

Look how funny that looks upside down!

There has been a lot more done since these photos were taken, the weather over the last few days has turned to crap, but never fear my house is getting one hell of a Spring clean!!

RIP Sapphire 20.07.04 - 11.10.11

2011-10-12T07:18:00.009+13:00

There always seems to be in life something to bring you down with a bump. With all the work being completed around here with our HelpXers we were on a bit of a high, then yesterday when giving out work instructions I noticed Sapphire was holding one of her front legs funny, I had a look and it was broken. Damn, I assumed it was one she had broken a few months ago. She was helped into a paddock where the other goats wouldn't be able to bother her and I called out the vet. When she came I realised it wasn't the same leg as before, it was the other leg, double damn.
We are having issues with the goats again with their general well being and it seems even though we are giving supplementary vitamins and minerals they still seem to be lacking. I always expect them to look a bit shabby coming out of winter as they shed their winter coat, but that is almost finished and I've noticed that they are looking underweight and lack that healthy shine. So whilst I was deciding on the best course of action regarding Sapphire, the vet gave the rest of the girls some B12 with selenium and another who hasn't looked to good a thiamine injection/s.

After a discussion with our vet, who incidentally is great. I made the decision to have Sapphire put to sleep, I just felt it wasn't fair to her in her current lack of condition to cope with another broken leg when the other one, although okay, may have been weakened by the extra use it was going to get. Also with so much on our plate at the moment I couldn't spend the time with her that she deserved. I said my goodbyes and Joe took her into the barn with the vet and she was quietly put to sleep. It was quick and painless.

Sapphire was one of my original four boer does that we bought back in 2004, the year we came to New Zealand and the first animals we had on our lifestyleblock. Her twin sister is Emerald who we still have although she is the one who needed the thiamine injection. Sapphire produced some lovely kids, in fact she gave birth the the very first Little Gem(stud name) a daughter called Brea. Saffy loved a smooch and I would only have to say to her "Saffy, where's my kiss?" and she would come and rub her face against mine. I shall miss that and her.

♥RIP my beautiful Sapphire♥

Sapphire resting her head over her daughter Brea, my favourite photo of the goats

HelpXers on the farm - A paddock cleared

2011-10-08T15:33:00.008+13:00

Well almost cleared...if you read the last HelpX post you will have seen what our boys cleared in a morning. That afternoon they made a start on clearing the paddock you see behind the boys in the first photo. When we moved here there were two enormous felled pine trees, what you see is the last of the cut firewood.

Building a bonfire to burn what isn't worth keeping

Room for plenty more yet and Guy Fawkes night is not too far away!

I think they like playing with the old Landrover!

Wood shed, plenty there to get through next winter

I don't know what it is about NZ farmers but they do love to burn stuff, namely stuff that doesn't burn, like glass, metal and tin cans! Just throw the bloody stuff in the recycling bin why don't ya! They filled about eight 25kg sized feed sacks with stuff we will need to take to the dump.

After some very hard graft by three amazing young men the paddock now looks like this, you can't see everything that has been done but this is by far the most dramatic.

..and a view thrown in for good measure. ETA I forgot add the view lol

This weekend they get to rest and get back into it on Monday.
I don't know if any of you are watching the Rugby World cup that is being hosted here in New Zealand, but tonight is the first of the quarter finals. Joe and two of the French lads have gone up to Auckland today. Joe has a ticket for the England versus France game tonight, the boys will be watching it in a bar, it should be a real battle. as neither team will want to be heading home tomorrow. Either way someone will be feeling sad when I pick them all up from the bus station on Sunday afternoon. I just hope it ain't Joe!

Friday funny - Mistakes, I've had a few...

2011-10-07T14:30:00.005+13:00

And some Dumb fengShui for you:
A mirror on the ceiling in the bedroom can cause monumental frights and ghastly visions

A banana sewn into the back of a pyjama top could cause disgruntlement

Don't leave your doors open at night, as your positive energy will dribble down the front steps. Also burglars might get in. And maybe wilderbeests.

Have a great weekend and laugh a lot.♥

HelpXers on the farm

2011-10-07T07:42:00.004+13:00

Last year we had two lovely lads here on the Help Exchange Scheme they worked very hard and it's such a great way for young people to see the world and get to sample a little of peoples way of life in the countries they choose to visit. This year, so far, helping us is Pierre, Clement and Sebastien, 3 French lads travelling and working in New Zealand for the next year. Unfortunately their visit didn't start too well as their van and most of their belongings were stolen and so they had to look at alternative ways of getting around the country, hence them being here with the HelpX scheme. And I'm glad they are here because in just one day they have achieved so much.

Meet the boys, Pierre, Clement & Sebastien

Note the boots!

Let the work begin..

First job, clearing the drive border
...before....

...after...

They have also made a start on clearing a paddock of firewood, I'll show you that when it's finished. They say many hands make light work!

Happy Birthday Shannie Mac ♥

2011-10-05T08:06:00.003+13:00

And another year passes and still we miss you ♥
Remembering the daughter of Kim and Paul and sister to Cassie and Kyle on what would have been her 17th birthday today.

♥Happy birthday beautiful girl♥

Op shop finds today

2011-10-03T19:45:00.005+13:00

Some of you may know that on Monday afternoon I volunteer at a Salvation Army Charity shop. I mentioned in a previous post that many things get biffed out because they have the slightest mark or flaw, so if I think something will come right by a wash or small repair I save it from the bin, they don't have the time or the facilities to do so. I filled a small bag with clothes for Michael's girlfriend today and they have already been passed onto her via Michael as he called in at City Sue's while I was waiting to be picked up by Joe, so I can't show you any of that.

I thought however you might like to see some of the finds from today.....

Got these for a small donation

This had the smallest mark and you may be aware of my obsession for embroidered linen, this was too bloody nice to let go, so I snaffled it..

Friday funny - Enjoy!

2011-09-30T07:21:00.002+13:00

I must have been beamed up somewhere this week, the last blog entry was on Tuesday and now it's Friday! Maxine just about sums it up really!

Anyone with a teenage boy or is related to a teenage boy or has seen a teenage boy in the street will enjoy this!

Have a great weekend! ♥

A - Z of me

2011-09-27T09:37:00.005+13:00

Over on Vintage Vixen's blog today she has done an A - Z of me, well not me, but of her, if ya know wot I mean! ;-D Being a nosy sod I thought it was great, I found out a whole heap of stuff about her. So I thought I would do the same as I hadn't really thought about what I would blog about today. So here goes...

A=Age; 48 1/2, gosh I hate seeing it written down! Still feel like a 21 year old.....but where would I find one?

B=Bed size; King, cos Joe has a fat arse!

C=Chore that you hate; Cleaning the loo, see 'B'

D=Dogs; Max the foxie, Clyde the border collie and Bonnie sadly missed. we got cats and cows and goats and chooks too!

E=Essential start to you day; Tea and a pee, not necessarily in that order

F= Favourite colour; Don't really have one, depends on my mood, so black!

G=Gold or silver; Silver, but if someone were to give me say, a gold nugget the size of small truck, then it would be gold!

H= Height; 5ft 1in, I'm under tall for my weight!

I=- Instruments you play; The kazoo and the spoons. I think I'm pretty good on a piano after a couple of bottles of wine!

J=Job title; Homemaker, mother, wife, a good sort! (Director of Joe's small business, I direct him to do stuff)

K-Kids; One son, Michael, aged 19, flown the nest, ratbag!

L=Live; Born in Luton, Beds UK, now living on an 8 acre lifestyleblock, near Hamilton, NZ. Moved to NZ in 2004

M=Mother's name; Wendy, when Michael as a child found out his nanny's name he said "Nanny, can you fly?" (We'd been watching Peter Pan......a lot.... oh so many times!!)

N=Nickname; Don't have one but Joe called me 'Slapper' the other day! Does that count?

O=Overnight hospital stays; One week in 1992 after a caesarian section having my son, and more recently here in NZ when I had my gall bladder out. Would like to go in sometime, but only if they give me morphine again!

P=Pet peeves; When the cat pukes on the carpet! On no that kind of pet peeves...erm, drivers who don't indicate, drivers that indicate and don't turn! Drivers in general! Litter bugs and currently Facebook!

Q=Quotes from a film;

After all tomorrow is another day - Gone with the Wind

Do you feel lucky, punk? -Dirty Harry

Akuna matata, it means no worries - Lion King
Come with me if you want to live- Terminator
I'll be back - Terminator

R=Right or left handed; Right handed but I'm an ambidextrous gesticulator (see 'P' re drivers!)

S= Siblings; Brother and a sister, 3 & 6 years younger than me

T=Time you wake up; Depends on what bastard wakes me up!

U=Underwear; Urban legend says big red bloomers!

V=Vegetable I hate: None, I'm too closely related!

W=What makes you run late; I don't run anywhere, I move at a much more sedate pace, think large cruise liner docking with the aid of tug boats!

X=Xrays you've had; chest Xray. Had a few ultrasounds and a mammogram, industrial size! Not broken any bones yet, give it time, you should see my chest, it plays havoc with me balance...or that could be wine?

Y=Yummy food that you make; All of it I would hope, any complainants will be shot!

Z=Zoo animals; Elephants(otherwise known as Phunt phunts, so called by Michael after watching Jungle book...a lot...oh so many time!) Big cats.

I enjoyed that! Hope you did too. Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to post an A-Z about you! Looking forward to being nosy...oops I mean, reading it!

A bit of Spring cleaning and some lovely linen

2011-09-26T15:39:00.007+13:00

Spring is in the air, there is blossom on the trees and as you drive around there are lambs skipping around in the sun

Blossom on the plum tree

The bulbs we planted when we buried Bonnie, our dog, have been lovely, I still miss her dreadfully :(

Spring cleaning

The kitchen needed a darn good clean, it was in a bit of a state. So I set to it today and gave all the cupboards a wash.....

....cleared the benchtops of clutter

.....organised my spice racks

..and generally gave it a jolly good scrub!

All cooking, baking, tea making etc is now banned and the kitchen is just for looking at. Anyone caught breaking the new rules will be shot!

Meet Billy Beetroot and Charlie Cabbage

Lovely linen

I have a bit of a passion for embroidered linen and if I see any when I'm op shopping I find it very hard not to buy it. The amount of work that goes into them is pretty amazing.

As I was in Spring clean mode, I decided to iron the clean linen that had been sat in a pile for quite some time, then I found most of it a home.

Most of these are napkins, the piles on the top right I believe are handkerchiefs, they are too small to be napkins. When I hit 600 posts here I will be giving them away, so keep an eye out as it's coming up soon.

Pretty gorgeous aren't they?

A productive day here for me, I now have a back ache (housework should come with a Government health warning). Not sure what will get the once over tomorrow, I might do some sewing instead, I still have the last strip of the Christmas round robin quilt to do.

♥Hope you're all having a good day in your part of the world♥

Friday funny - Senior Crafts (2 0f 2 posts today)

2011-09-23T10:21:00.004+12:00

This photo was taken in a senior centre, somewhere in the world.

The course was, 'How to prevent Alzheimers'

The project of the day was, 'To keep your mind working, create something from memory'

Aww bless!

Today's dumb Feng shui:
If you have a ceiling fan, do not place a chair beneath it and then stand on the chair

A super Suesday - (post 1 of 2 posts today)

2011-09-23T09:43:00.008+12:00

You saw the results of the op shopping trip yesterday, and now courtesy of City Sue(CS), you can see what else we got up to......

Lambies on CS's nieces Lifestyleblock

Dog whisperer, big dog = big wus!

The Victorian Glasshouse and Hamilton gardens

Succulent house, the plants that is!

Tropical house. Boo!

Tulip display

Oh tip toe through the tulips..la la la...

Great shot CS

Russian bell tower

Built by a Russian with 3 testicles, his name, Whojanickabolockov!
(Just kidding)

Molly, she lives at the gardens

She has one blue eye and one yellow eye

Op shopping buddy extraordinaire and todays photographer, Sue

The joys of spring, the hills are alive with the sound of knees creaking!

We stopped for some lunch in the Memorial gardens in River road which is funnily enough on the river, the Waikato river

Spitfire

..and lunch, I was hungry! Okay!!!

..an awesome day.

Friday funny and today's dumb Feng Shui coming up.

Today Sue shall be modelling........

2011-09-22T19:58:00.004+12:00

Had a lovely day out with City Sue today, did a bit of op shopping, took a drive out in the country and strolled around Hamilton gardens to see the tulips in flower, they were just gorgeous. I of course forgot my camera (I was being hustled out of the house this morning and left it in the laundry) so I didn't get any photos. City Sue did and she is going to send me some so I shall be sharing those with you soon.
In the meantime I thought you would like to see some of the lovely things I found today and also some others bought recently.

This whole outfit(not shoes) cost $17.50
Leggings $5
Blouse $5
Cardi $7.50
Shoes $8 (Bought previously)
Necklace; small donation where I volunteer

Blouse $8
Necklace & pants/trousers & sandals ; small donation as above

Blouse $8
Pants/trousers & necklace; donation as above

Not bad eh!

ETA Todays Dumb Feng Shui: If you must have a toilet do not decorate with pictures of Princess Margaret as this will play merry hell with your inner woosh.

Decluttering the office

2011-09-21T09:06:00.006+12:00

We've been using the office for over a year now, it doesn't seem possible that over a year has passed since we pretty much finished the renovations and started using the upper level of the house again.

Some jobs didn't get finished, mainly because Joe had had a bellyful of renovating and being stuck inside, I can't blame him, but if you don't finish things off they just stare at you until they are done. Joe can switch into tunnel vision mode at anytime (it's a gift) and he can't see the things that annoy the crap out of me! They say a woman's work is never done, if that is true then a man's work is never bloody finished!

Slow progress is being made however and we are making a determined effort to get those outstanding jobs done. So I'll post about those when complete.

Now we seem to have our mojo back, I've got back into declutter mode. Again! It's never ending trying to keep on top of it. So yesterday I got ruthless in the office, it had stuff filed on the floor, the shelves were just storing a large black bag full of papers that were not needed anymore and my workspace was a shambles.

Here are before and after photos, well during and after photos as I had to charge the battery on my camera. First; My workspace!

Taken from my workspace; The built in cupboard. And yes that is a gun! It's an air rifle, bought for shooting possums!

Built in cupboard and the floor filing space! ;-DAfter a few hours of sorting, drinking tea, discarding, drinking tea, checking Facebook, drinking tea, reorganising and a celebratory cup of tea, it all now looks like this....

My workspace;
We took the shelves off, they made everything dark, they will be re-used in Joe's workshop.

The built in cupboard;
May I introduce the floor! That tall white box has the new light in it, it's been there a year! The cupboard;
It still looks pretty full, but it is much better, the files on the top left shelf have been emptied of paperwork and I've managed to condense it all into the 2 large black box files to the right. Most likely I could lose a lot more, but I'm okay with what's left. At some point there will be doors on this cupboard, it's currently at No 35 on the 'Still to do' list!
A much calmer space to work in now, even if it does look a bit boring, I will look out for some nice pictures to add some colour to the walls.

As as we are on the subject of calm spaces, here are today's Dumb Feng Shui quotes (more than one today, trying to bring them in line with the one's I'm putting on Facebook)

#1 Your house has a wealth corner. There are some items you can place there which will cause you to make more money. Buggered if I can remember what they are!

#2 It is better to sleep with your head in a bucket and your feet out of the window than to face the door

#3 Electrical force field energy is very ill-omened. If you sleep with your head near a power point, don't poke it with a barbeque fork

And today's : Toilets are very negatavistic. Do not have one in your home

Have a great day, smile often :D ♥

Bargain of the week

2011-09-19T12:26:00.007+12:00

I haven't been keeping you up to date with or showing you my op shop bargains lately, and there have been a few. On Monday afternoons I volunteer at a charity shop and often I am able to find and buy great bargains as they come in. This op shop is quite particular about the kind of stuff it puts out, if it has the slightest mark or flaw, it will never make it to the rails! To me that's just madness as the vast majority of stuff would be fine after a wash. They of course don't have the facilities or the time to wash anything as so much comes through the doors, so they either go for rags or end up in the dumpster! I've got a few lovely garments by saving them from landfill, all they needed was a wash.

I have to say that looking though my wardrobe this morning I was quite happy with how it's coming together. I'm not much of a clothes horse and I've never been keen on shopping, especially clothes shopping. Being short and round doesn't lend itself to much choice as the vast majority of clothing out there seems to be designed for tall slender things with legs up to their armpits!

However there are more clothing manufacturers making wonderful clothes for the larger lady, I applaud that, as now, on the rare occasion I go into a store to buy new there is a far greater selection. All they need to do now is realise that you don't necessarily get taller as you get wider!! By my reckoning based upon the length of clothes and the width, I should be about 7ft tall!

I always felt so depressed in the past trying to find something in a larger size that didn't look like a bell tent or like a nanna! I can happily say that clothes shopping is no longer a chore which, in the past, always ended in tears. It is now much more fun, in fact I even bought a dress recently! And for anyone that knows me, will gasp, probably faint or keel over and die as I don't do dresses or skirts! But this dress was lovely, I just need an excuse to wear it.

Op shopping is great fun, and we still get out as often as we can, it's the thrill of the hunt I think appeals! To find great clothes, be they designer or just good quality at a bargain price makes me smile. I go with my op shopping buddy Sue who is the Queen of op shopping and has the eye for a bargain, in fact the other day I spotted something before she did and she nearly fought me for it! hahah! She has trained me well.

This is the top, bought for $6 and fought over at the Salvation Army store in town

But the bargain of the week has to be this top, bought new in Farmers department store yesterday. They are having a 30% off sale, they also have a purple peg clearance, set away in the corner was the bargain rail, all items sporting a label with the purple peg, some also had an orange sticker with further reductions. The sign stated that all purple peg items had 50% off the lowest marked price. Originally this top was $40, the orange sticker had $10 on it, so at half that price I paid $5! 'Can't go wrong at that price!' said both me and the sales assistant at the same time when she clarified the price! 'It's mine!' I said. So without further ado, here it is!

I'll try and show more of the recent finds, I might even model them for you, although I doubt I will look half as good as the Vintage Vixen does, I would kill for her figure!

Friday funny - How to protect your passwords

2011-09-16T18:46:00.004+12:00

Important security information!

Given the current climate re: concerns for computer and data security, I suggest you take this message seriously. This is for your own safety and security!

If your workplace has been assessed and determined to be at a low level of risk, the following method is recommended to ensure no one can see your passwords or what you're typing:

For a moderate level of risk, this method ensures no one can see your passwords, what you're typing, or which website you're visiting.....

For a high level of risk, this method ensures ultimate security:

Todays dumb Feng Shui:
Red tassels will enliven any area. I personally have found it particularly helpful in the nipple department!

Less than 3 hours to the mountain

2011-09-15T18:53:00.010+12:00

Joe likes to ski, I don't. Who want's to spend the best part of a day or worse more than one day on their arse, and on that arse in cold snow? Not me, no sirree! I'll just be content to just look at snowy scenes on the Christmas cards I ask not to get but still do! :D

If my ample derriere is to be planted anywhere let it be on a sunny beach with a good book!

Anyway back to the snow. In less than 3 hours from our place, traveling by car, you can be whizzing down the side of a slippery mountain on strips of fibre glass (or whatever they make skis of), then you can sit perched on some flimsy looking swing seat or shove this thing between your legs and get dragged up to do it all over again! Fun eh!

However, in the next few photos you will see why it is such an attraction for so many people! Being on top of the world doesn't get more beautiful than this.

I will label the photos that Joe is in, the others are the work mates he went with.

For more information about Ruapahu and New Zealands largest skiing area click here

This is Joe

That's him too....look... there he goes! Whheeeeeeee..........

Todays dumb Feng Shui:
If it is too much trouble to look after live fish, simply put a can of sardines in your pocket!

I'm back..again! I'm in and out like a fiddlers elbow!

2011-09-13T09:34:00.004+12:00

Did you miss me?.... Whaddya mean 'Miss who?'?... Me! Ya know... me...Sue! Yeah Sue, the silly tart who ain't been posting much lately....the one who makes sure you get a laugh on Fridays!....Phew! I thought you had forgotten me altogether then!

Ok, finally I prised the credit card out of Joe's cold dead hands (not really but it was like that!) and I have bought some more GB space on Picasa so I can add more photos using Blogger and not Photobucket, which is great but it takes too long.

I will endeavor to bring you all up to date with what's been going on, so expect lots of posts and photos! Oh gawd I hear you moan...now don't be like that, ya know ya love it!

First up today, my wee nephew Mason who was born prematurely in April has finally grown into the clothes I knitted for him.

Isn't he just gorgeous? ♥

To see the posts of the things I knitted for Mason, click here and click here

PS At the end of each post for the foreseeable future(read run out of quotes) I shall share with you some Feng Shui, which is the traditional Chinese art of creating good fortune by rearranging furniture and intriducing special symbols such as wind chimes into your home. However this is not just yer ordinary Feng Shui! No sirree! It's special, it's Dumb Feng Shui, courtesy of Kaz Cooke who I would love to be my friend!

Todays Dumb Feng Shui

Your career can be enlivened by the introduction of fish to your living room. Eels can look very attractive bunched in a vase on a side table!

Friday funny - Inbred cat!

2011-09-09T13:49:00.002+12:00

Nuff said!
Enjoy your weekend! ♥

Friday funny - A short bedtime story

2011-09-02T09:37:00.004+12:00

Have a great weekend! ♥

ETA: A study has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle.
For example: if she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features.

However, if she is menstruating or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with duct tape over his mouth and a spear lodged in his chest with a cricket bat up his backside while he is on fire.
No further studies are expected on this subject .....

Friday funny - Rules of showering

2011-08-26T11:15:00.003+12:00

It's a bit rude in places so be warned, but not that any of you really need warning 'cos I know what yer all like! Have a great weekend.

How To Shower Like a Woman

Take off clothes and place them sectioned in laundry
basket according to lights and darks.

Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown.

If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to
do more sit-ups / leg-lifts, etc.

Get in the shower.

Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.

Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.

Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.

Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced.
Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.

Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash. Rinse conditioner off hair.

Shave armpits and legs.

Turn off shower.

Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.

Spray mold spots with Tile cleaner.

Get out of shower.

Dry with towel the size of a small country.

Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.

Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head. If you see partner along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

How To Shower Like a Man

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.

Walk naked to the bathroom.

If you see partner along the way, shake willy at her making the 'woo-woo' sound.

Look at your manly physique in the mirror.

Admire the size of your willy and scratch your bum.

Get in the shower.

Wash your face.

Wash your armpits.

Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off. Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.

Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area. Wash your bum, leaving those coarse bum hairs stuck on the soap.

Wash your hair.

Make a Shampoo Mohican

Wee.

Rinse off and get out of shower.

Partially dry off.

Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of bath the whole time.

Admire willy size in mirror again.

Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on. Return to bedroom with towel around waist.

If you pass partner, pull off towel, shake willy at her and make the 'woo-woo' sound again.

Throw wet towel on bed.

I KNOW YOU'RE LAUGHING BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!!!!!!

PASS THIS ON TO SOMEONE WHO NEEDS CHEERING UP, AS THIS WILL DO IT.

Normal service will be resumed here soon. I've decided I will pay for more photo space on Picasa as using Photobucket just slows everything down too much. So I'll be bringing you up to date with all the goings on here very soon.

FIVE SECRETS TO A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP

2011-08-15T18:56:00.001+12:00

1) It's important to have a man who helps at home & knows how to cook, clean & has a job.

2) It's important to have a man who can make you laugh.

3) It's important to have a man you can trust & wants only you.

4) It's important to have a man who is good in bed & enjoys being with you.

5) It's absolutely freaking vital that these four men DO NOT know each other!

Just thought ya'all needed to know this!

Friday funny - Alcohol bad for the legs

2011-08-12T09:27:00.003+12:00

A man walks into a cocktail lounge and approaches Maxine sitting by herself and asks, "May I buy you a cocktail?"

"No thank you," Maxine replies, "alcohol is bad for my legs."

"Sorry to hear that. Do they swell?"

"No, they spread."

Have a great weekend! ♥

Peace and quiet

2011-08-10T08:45:00.003+12:00

With the news showing riots erupting in towns and cities in the UK caused by mindless morons, who if they wish to fight should perhaps be put on a plane to Afghanistan with their baseballs bats and put on the front line! Get the real men out there fighting back home to their families and let them arseholes see what real fighting is about!

This is my view today, and more and more everyday I am so thankful for it.

My thoughts are with the innocent people who have lost homes and businesses through the mindless acts of others.

Rant over!

Make someone smile

2011-08-09T16:02:00.003+12:00

And that's exactly what the cheerful chappie did when we had lunch and a hot chocolate at a cafe before going the the Op shop yesterday afternoon. It was nearly too pretty to drink!
♥Thank you cheerful chappie for making us smile♥

What made you smile today?

If you ain't having fun.............

2011-08-08T18:38:00.005+12:00

...........then ya ain't doin' right!

Och aye the noo, Jimmy!

Yee haw!

Have you had fun today?

Craft room gets an upgrade

2011-08-07T08:56:00.004+12:00

First I had this room, then I moved to this room

But I outgrew it, or rather my stash did!

So now I am in this room

Noice innit!

Friday funny - How to know whom to marry

2011-08-05T09:41:00.004+12:00

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan, age 10

-No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-- Kristen, age 10

2. WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-- Camille, age 10

3. HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
-- Derrick, age 8

4. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8

5. WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
-Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure)

-On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10

6. WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
-When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7

-The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
- - Curt, age 7

-The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
- - Howard, age 8

7. IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child )

8. HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8

And the #1 Favourite is .......

9. HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump truck.
-- Ricky, age 10

Have a great weekend ♥

Time's up! It's now August, how many UFO's did you clear?

2011-08-03T11:00:00.002+12:00

Heck we're already on the 3rd day of August here!

I didn't get everything finished that I listed here
I did complete these:
Dyed wool blanket

Aston's quilt

I don't want to give too much away on this one as it will be sent to the UK soon.

So I'm quite pleased that I have completed those two quilts.

Now to the round robin quilt, I have completed my strip

And up next for this month is this quilt.....

It would seem that I have now reached the full quota for Picasa for my photos, so now I'm using Photobucket, which is a bit of a palaver, but I don't want to pay! I know, tightwad! ;-D
I might just make the photos a tad smaller, what do you think?

Next up, Craft room upgrade!

Friday funny - Why raincoats are yellow!

2011-07-29T09:07:00.002+12:00

'nuf said!

Friday funny...or is it?

2011-07-22T08:39:00.007+12:00

Note to self:

Cancel credit cards prior to death!

Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die! This is so priceless and so easy to see happening - customer service, being what it is today!

A lady died this past January, and ANZ bank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge The balance had been $0.00, now is somewhere around $60.00.

A family member placed a call to the ANZ Bank:

Family Member:
'I am calling to tell you that she died in January.'

ANZ:
'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply'

Family Member:
'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.'

ANZ:
'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'

Family Member:
So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

ANZ:
'Either report her account to the frauds division or reporther to
the credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member:
'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

ANZ:
'Excuse me?'

Family Member:
'Did you just get what I was telling you . . . The part about her
being dead?'

ANZ:
'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'

Supervisor gets on the phone:
Family Member:
'I'm calling to tell you, she died in January.'

ANZ:
'The account was never closed and the late fees and chargesstill apply'

Family Member:
'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

ANZ:
(Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'

Family Member:
'No, I'm her great nephew.'
(Lawyer info given)

ANZ:
'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Family Member:
'Sure.'
( fax number is given )

After they get the fax:

ANZ:
'Our system just isn't set up for death I don't know what more I
can do to help.'

Family Member:
'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing
her. I don't think she will care.'

ANZ:
'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.'

Family Member:
'Would you like her new billing address?'

ANZ:
'That might help.'

Family Member:
' Rookwood Memorial Cemetery, 1249 Centenary Rd, Sydney Plot Number
1049.'

ANZ:
'Sir, that's a cemetery!'

FamilyMember: 'Well, what the &#@* do you do with dead people on your planet?'

I have no idea if this is true or not, but it wouldn't surprise me. Have a good weekend and FFS don't pop off!

Learning new skills in quilting

2011-07-21T18:47:00.006+12:00

Just over a year ago I made my first ever quilt and at about the same time I made this one which incorporated a stitchery centre. Over the last year I've practiced on being more adventurous and improving upon what I've have learned. Learning to piece fabric together better has been hampered by my sewing machine, it's a great little machine but it doesn't feed the fabric too well and it gets caught up, on top of that no matter what I did the tension adjustment wasn't working well and the cotton would become too tight and break. Very frustrating indeed, at one point I nearly washed my own mouth out with soap!! Joe happened to be passing when I was having one of my hissy fits and asked me what was wrong,
I said 'I need a new machine because this *#@!^% one is doing my head in!'
'Okay' he said!
So before he could change his mind he was shoved into the car and we went and bought me a brand new machine! Yessiree it's mighty pretty and I used it for the first time today at craft.
We are making a round robin quilt made up of strips, not the taking yer clothes off kind of strip I might add, cos I know what you lot can be like and I just wanted to get that straight from the start. Although I'm not adverse to a little naked quilting, whatever rocks yer boat I say, but at this stage for me to quilt naked it could end up in disaster as I doubt I couldn't concentrate on piecing together little bits of fabric with 1/4 inch seam and not get me magnificent boobies caught up somehow. Anyway that doesn't bear thinking about and I don't think I have enough experience yet to attempt anything that risky. Perhaps a future post on the health and safety implications of naked quilting could be worth considering, I mean you can't be too careful can you?
What was I talking about? Ah yes, a round robin quilt...each person makes a strip, made up of any style, technique etc they wish(as long as it is with the size limit agreed upon before starting) then when that's completed we all pass our strip onto the next person who will then add another strip, and this process is repeated until each person has contributed to each persons quilt. You end up with your original strip back plus, in this case, 5 other strips. How you finish the quilt is up to you. I hope that makes sense, because I've just reread it and my head hurts! Time for a gin!
The round robin quilt theme is Christmas

New skill learned today, making a star from ridiculously small triangles, but because I have a brand new machine that purrs and doesn't eat my work, it was a breeze.
My first strip will be based upon this bell pull, it may or may not have the red edging strip, that's still to be decided. Also it may not be as long as in the picture, due to size constraints I may have to stop at the 'Love' block. So some new piecing techniques here for me, plus some applique which will allow me to try out the blanket stitch function on the new machine.

I know I said no more new projects until I had finished all my UFO's but I only have two weeks to complete this before I have to pass it on. It could be a lot of fun but the pressure is on, I'm having to live up to the expectations of some very experienced and clever quilters. I'll keep you updated.

Oh! And meet my new machine!
A Brother NS30

Thoughtful Thursday........

2011-07-21T09:03:00.004+12:00

A question that was posed to the Dalai Lama,

“What thing about humanity surprises you the most?”

His answer "Man."

"Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn't enjoy the present. As a result he doesn't live in the present or the future. He lives as if he’s never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived."

Saturday snigger! (cos I forgot the Friday funny!)

2011-07-16T06:30:00.003+12:00

Is it Saturday already? Where did Friday go? Ah well, here ya go, summat to make ya laugh! Have a great weekend ♥

I thought this warning was very
IMPORTANT, so I am passing it on to everyone I know.
Please pass it on to the people you care about, relatives, friends etc
It is important they be aware of this danger.

Never
Never
Never
Never

Ever...

...fart in a wet suit!