Getting back on track and a little Op shopping......

 

 

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may have wondered what happened to my updates on my weight loss with Jenny Craig........well no point making excuses or lying is there so I will come right out and say that I fell off the wagon! Oops! It just kind of happened around, during and after my 50th birthday, too much celebrating and well ya know, too much food and  too much booze basically. So when I got the call from Jenny Craig a few weeks ago it was the kick up the pants that I needed to get back on track. Long story short, 4.4 kgs had snuck back on! Not bad I thought considering what I'd been up to. It is however most annoying as I'm still trying to get those 4.4kgs back off, and it didn't help having Michael's 21st recently either. Sigh! 2.4kgs to go before I'm back to where I had got to before the lapse. My original goal was to lose 20kgs before the UK trip in August and if I'm to stick to that goal I will have to lose on average 1.35kgs a week over the next 6 weeks. Can it be done?? I'll give it damn good try!

As I was out today getting weighed and Joe at home asleep after a night shift, it seemed only right and proper that I visit a few op shops. Be rude not too as I was passing and it's all for a good cause! 

At the local SPCA shop I bought these magazine for 20cents each

St Vincents De Paul had theses sundae dishes for $3 each

The Salvation army shop in town were selling CDs for $3.........

 ....and the bag was $7

Habitat for Humanity had these cute napkin rings for $2...........

......small knitting bag/basket thing for $3.....

.....and this rather cool jacket for $10, I don't think it's been worn!

....and that's it for today. If there's nothing on the TV to watch tonight, I might just watch a DVD.

See ya next time ♥

Forgive me friends for I have sinned....

...it's been two weeks since my last blog! I have shown unblog like behaviour, I have not written a single entry in that time, I have not left comments on other blogs. I have been a spendthrift and had lustful thoughts of party things, I have coveted all things Hawaiian and of the beach. I have however thought of the poor and needy by buying my coveted things from op shops and have been mindful of the earth by buying second hand goods from the temptations of Trade Me.
I intend to do penance for my wicked ways and say 100 hail Caesers, I like salad! I will partake of wholly wine and not have impure thoughts of cake and other such evil things, the Sainted Jenny Craig would not allow such things especially as I have foregone 1KG in bodily weight this week.

So I ask of your forgiveness and hope that the following photos of such a plethora of coveted scrumptiousness will make up for my tardiness!

Right enough of that bollox......just look at this lot!!
Actually, first I should explain something, at the end of February I have a birthday, a BIG birthday, one with a '0' on the end, we had intended to go a cruise but that's been put of for a while as we're taking a trip back the UK later this year, so can't do both. The next best thing is to bring the islands to me!
We have a big barn, full of stuff of little or no use, so it's being cleared and will become party central, AKA Club Tropicana Beach, there will be a band, cocktails, lamb on a spit, a sandy beach and so much more, more of which I am about to show you...

Over the last couple of weeks we've managed to find the following on Trade Me, in shops and  in op shops.....

 

 a box of goodies

 plastic glasses for the p*ssheads!

 cocktail glasses

 lanterns, also in blue and green

 

grass skirts AND coconuts!!

I found this little lot today....

BUT and it's a BIG but...the way too cool and most awesome thing of all, 

found on Trade Me has to be this..

 

3 umbrellas in total 

annd they threw in a box of shells and a umbrella base too!

 

We have a HelpXer staying with us at the moment helping us with jobs around the place, her name is Alice and she is from France. She is a designer of childrens clothing and also is very good with computer graphics, she very kindly designed my party invite, she used one of my photos that I took in Rarotonga and did this with it...

I've had so much fun finding these things and I can't wait for the party, Joe is technically organising the whole thing but as he works I've been finding the props! I had an uncle that worked for the BBC in the props department, I think I may have inherited some of his genes, I reckon he might have been pretty proud of my efforts so far!

Other things found today, 

a petanque set $5

 

kaftany thing $6

fabric $1

necklace that matched the colours in my top perfectly, $3

and that's it, for now! Other stuff is going on but that's for another day! 

See ya soon, I'm off to cook dinner......

Suesday, JC and a bit of yarn bombing.....

It was a glorious day today for our weekly Suesday, in fact it got rather warm and there was me in boots!! Hope the weather holds then I can ditch the winter clothes and start wearing some of my lovely summer stuff! Before I went for my weigh in at JC we checked out Habitat for humanity and I walked out of there empty handed!! 

Hard to believe I know, I felt quite virtuous and told myself I was going to be restrained all day. 

It didn't last of course in the Red Cross (in town) I bought some very cool bottle openers for Michael, they only came to $6 for six off them, so I was still feeling pretty smug!

Next we checked out the Salvation army, and things started going downhill where I found these rather gorgeous cross stitch pictures and an old map of Essex, a county in the UK where my dad is from...

I would like to point out that I put back three items of clothing to get them, my halo was only slightly tarnished!

 It was then time for me to have my weekly weigh in at Jenny Craig, 200gms this week and 500gms last week bring my total loss to 11.2kgs. I was measured last week too and overall I've lost 73cms!

I have to say I am really beginning to notice it with some of my clothes, I've cleared out quite a few things that were just too big! That's the beauty of only paying a few $'s for something, get some wear out of it then gift it back to the op shops or pass on to someone else. 

Sue recently posted about some yarn bombing she had seen in one of the local parks, you can read her post here. I wanted to go see it too, so as it was only a few minutes from JC that came next

Here are the photos...there's a few..enjoy..

 

I spotted some poppies around the Spitfire plane and as I got closer I realised they were all knitted and crocheted!

  

After not finding a thing in Hamilton East we grabbed a bite for lunch and then whizzed to Five Crossroads and had a look see what the Sallies and the Red + had. Again not a lot on offer I was beginning to feel all virtuous again.. :D

Bought a bag of fibre fill, Sue kept telling me to get stuffed, she's so not funny! :D

 

....some flower thingies $8

..and a quilt pattern for $1...

Time then to head back to Frankton and I came away empty handed again, so thought perhaps the dump shop would be better, it was marginally, found this thing..$7.....thought it might look good decoupaged and a with a trailing plant sticking out the top..

also found a little ironing board which will be lot better for pressing seams on smaller quilting projects

..and finally our last stop of the day was the Sallies in Grandview where I nearly came away empty handed again but this gorgeous wee brooch caught my eye and for $3 couldn't be left behind...

and upon closer inspection when I got it home it can also be worn as a pendant necklace and it's got some kind of clip on the back, no idea what that does!

....and that's it! Hope you all managed to get to the end without nodding off! But it was a fun packed day filled with colour and sunshine, how could I not share all that?

That's all folks!

♥♥♥