Busy

For quite some time now I have been working on illustrations for a book, written by a friend. At last I think I'm finished!! Check out my new improved witch...in this picture she is in the process of disappearing!

  For the past two days I have thrown my energy's into cleaning up our carport come wood shed...it used to be a wood shed only...

..but now there is acutely room for two cars, and the wood!

...and now I've even painted the fence!

 And, I'm happy to say that at last I have a crafty project on the go, thanks to my wonderful far -away cyber friend Carol!

Cow poo!

Hello to every one out there in blogger land. This week has been a little busier than the usual at our house. Aimee and her lovely flat mate Bridget have been at home. We have been blessed with the constant aroma of 'cow poo'. The girls have been working 5am to 7 pm every day on a local dairy farm. Tonight, after work and a shower they head back to Dunedin. Aimee begins her brand new job as a Four Square girl tomorrow morning. We will miss them both, but not the smell!!

Camden and Abby arrived home very late last night and headed off into the hills at 6.30 this morning . No doubt everyone will arrive home hungry at some stage!

Tonight we are off to a 21st up the Haka Valley...I will not be drinking anything alcoholic by the way, because last time I did that I forgot when to stop!!

Now that the house work is done and my clothes line is too full to add anything else I'm off outside to mow the lawn...once you start for the summer your at it all of the time I know, but I figure I have to do it some time!!

I still have not sunk my teeth into anything crafty,its been about 3 month now...Hmmm...not sure whats up with me these days!!! Life just keeps getting in the way.

Anyway Carol and I have organised a swap between us, because Carol is 'struggling as well to find inspiration. So soon I will have something crafty to share.

Wishing you all a safe and happy weekend.

Gardening

These past two days I've been pruning...with my chain saw!!....

 By the end of yesterday the trailor was covered over, (photo below) but now the whole drive way is pretty much taken over by off-cuts!

  My herb garden is springing into life again, check out my garlic...it lives!!

Hi there, still very little to report on the craft front I'm afraid...but I have just up-dated the Paper Chase Blog so check it out here. Also find us on Facebook  we would love to hear your creative ideas. Today we are talking 'fussy cutting', pop in and share your favorite fussy cutting techniques or ideas with the rest of us!

I am sad to say That Birds of a Feather Craft Together has come to a halt. I would like to say a HUGE thank you to my dear crafty friend Carol for her awesome inspiration and wonderful creativeness, she was the brains behind this blog and I have enjoyed working along side her. Thank you to the ladies who have kept us going by partaking in our challenges and sketches, you are all an inspiration to us. I love seeing your works of art and will still be popping by your blogs regularly!



Now I'm going out into the garden to prune some roses...not very exciting I know, but a job I keep putting off, and as the sun is shining I thought it was high time I made an effort.

Before I head out amongst the thorns I just thought I'd shear this with you, I pinched it from my friends face book status...

The biggest obstacle to any kind of transformation is the voice that tells you it's impossible" Geneen Roth
Interesting exercise when you want to achieve something big....
who's voice is it telling you in your head that you can't?
where have you heard it before ?
who said it and when?
Why do we allow ourselves to keep living by it?
Ask yourself this when you are feeling like giving up, or feel like something is impossible......

...nothing is impossible, not really!!                 Have a great day everyone

Lost and Found

Things are very slow on the craft front at my house. I am tiring to get my illustrations finished for a children's book that has been written by a friend. The witch has given me some grief, but is almost complete at last.
This morning I went on a Dog hunt. Eldest son lost two of his dogs last night and they were still missing this morning. However just after I phoned dog control this morning I received a phone call from a farm, a little way from here. This farmer and his wife had spotted two dogs that they thought might belong to Cody. So I jumped into the van and after driving for quite a while up a farm road, still coated in plenty of snow I spotted the 'terrable two'. They both looked pleased to see me and quickly tucked up in the van to catch some well needed zzzzz's on the way home. They have both been fed and are now tucked up fast asleep in their kennels.

Thought today I'd share a favorite song ,(see below)  I love Jame's Blunt music, and this song is one of my favorites. His performance here is just gorgeous, he puts so much feeling into this one!

Fire and Snow

Today has been a little on the chilly side, but tonight is going to be alot on the chilly side! Just a short while ago I snapped this photo out of the upstairs window, but by the time I grabbed my camera and memory card and got outside  this spot looked like .....

 ...this! the snow is falling thick and fast still, so I guess our trip to Timaru tomorrow will not be happening now. I dont think my Tui has seen snow before!!

The snow looks so nice doesn't it, but I feel sorry for the lambs and calves about to born in this

 Aimee was on her way home from Dunedin, an hour ago, but rung to say she was stuck in the snow, and had not even made it as far as the Motorway!! Camden and Abby have headed to Kakanui for the night as its going to be impossible for them to make it back to Dunedin. So at this stage they plan on coming back here to Duntroon tomorrow, and weather pending maybe heading back to Dunedin tomorrow afternoon, although I'm picking they will be staying here for another night or two by the looks of things!

 AND...thank goodness I did cut down those dead trees yesterday because our wood supply is dwindling!

 This afternoon Camden had a Fire call out, and I managed to grab a couple of snaps of him (in uniform) between the fire and the fire station! Tui is checking him out!

Now, its back to the fire and some hot soup.

Stay cosy out there!!

Blue Day

The world is round and

the place which may seem

like the end may also be only the beginning.

Ivy Baker Priest

...okay, so today I'm having one of those 'blue' kind of days, might have something to do with lack of sleep, or maybe I need a holiday. Anyway, the only thing to do, when your feeling blue is to ...cut down a tree , or two, that was what I did anyway.

We had a couple of dead tress in our garden so I went out to have a clean-up, and what a nice surprise I got when eldest son turned up to help...

 Cody no sooner started when his chain saw run out of petrol, so he left again!!

 ...but youngest son come to the rescue when the chain come off my saw, and after fixing it he test drove it for me.

 And Andrew come to soak up a little of the sun and 'over see' progress.

Oh dear...yes I am looking like I'm in need of loads of beauty sleep...and a holiday me thinks!!

 Tomorrow we are supposed to be in for snow, but Jack Frost is well and truly tucked in for the night here at our house.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Last night we went to a Charity Dinner/Auction with dear friends Graeme and Robyn

I am not a big drinker, under normal circumstances, but have to admit to having had several glasses of wine too many!

 Even Graeme and Andrew are looking a little 'rosie' in the checks.

 Lucky for me....me (being the sober driver), that lovely daughter Aimee, who was coming home for the weekend didn't mind her trip home being interrupted ...soon its back to town we go to pick up her car.

The rest of my weekend will be very quiet!

Winters here

Winter is here for sure. We have snow all around us, but not in Duntroon it's self, which is amazing...and, if you ask me just plain lucky!

On Thursday last week Andrew come for a walk with me, he hasn't been since as he is still cold from Thursdays excursion! I took the camera I won from The Scrapbook Awards competition last month with me and had a play with it along the way.

Check out my 'snaps'...

I love to view the end of a winter's day from the top of this hill. The view is awesome. 

Andrew only stopped in the sunny spots! One of the many down sides of being a Tetraplegic is that ones circulation does not work as it should and 'cold' is an issue.

 

I just had to photograph this gate before heading for home.

....you may be able to tell that I pretty much walked home alone...Andrews only thought was to get back home  to the fire...

 

I'm pretty sure that this week it will just be Tui (my dog) and I out walking alone again.

Today Camden and Abby, who were home for the Fire Brigade AGM and dinner last night were to head back to Dunedin today, but the Motorway closed about mid-day, so instead they headed to Kakanui (to Abby's house) for the night. Maybe tomorrow they might get back to Dunedin, but its not looking like a sure bet yet as I believe the snow is still falling.

Hope all of you in the South, and the North are warm and cosy tonight.

Happy mail

Look at the lovely surprise I found in my mail box yesterday.....

I have this super talented friend who knitted this gorgeous scarf just for me. It's super cozy and could not have arrived at a better time, as just a couple of days ago we awoke to snow on the nearby hills.

Thanks so much Kristi, your an angel!

Clout!!

Ouch! My baby got in the way of Abby's space yesterday!! It was a case of having his head in the wrong place at the wrong time!! Poor Abby must have gotten quite a shock when her space landed in Camden's head! Camden does not look too perturbed about the 'clout' he received. This photo was taken before Abby took him to the hospital.

 Here's Camden today, not laughing quite so much!

 Aimee headed back to Dunedin this morning, bright and early because she wanted to get organised before the big night ahead...Rio (I think that's what she called it) Week, kicks off tonight, so basically her coming week will be one of partying and not much else!

                                                                        

This afternoon it rained...I'd almost forgotten what  rain looked like, its been ages since we have had any of the 'wet stuff' here. I love to listen to the rain on the roof, so took advantage of it and headed upstairs to my craft room to catch up on my mountain load of craft work.

Camden and Andrew headed off to the garage to do 'boy stuff'. So my day has been a quiet one. Not that I'm complaining!

Hope YOUR day has been a good one.

Not much news at our house. In the weekend Cody and Hannah took Andrew off to watch the "Mud Plug". Aimee was at work and Camden was off hunting with his team in The Hunt for Hell competition, which the boys managed to win. I spent my time alone doing house work, it took me pretty much most of the day. What an exciting life I lead!!

 Today Andrew had to go to the dentist to have a nasty cracked tooth fixed, so the trip to town took care of the best part of the day.

Tomorrow at lunch time we have our young mechanics group eager to get the four wheeler motor bike going and after that it is back to town to get Andrews toe nails trimmed.

I have been working into the small hours to try and get my Tickled Pink Stamps, and my Paper Chase work done, progress is slow. I do tend to get side tracked by my computer,I really should turn it off!

Check out this funny old photo of me and these two gorgeous puppy's  (lady and Roy)

 I had a little bit of a play in photo shop , fixed up a few scratches and played around with the colour, and for an old photo it has come up okay. Might have to scrap this one, if nothing else it will give my children a giggle!

Today we went for a walk around the Duntroon Cemetery, really makes you realise just how short life is.

Yesterdays trip to Mosgiel was a big one. Camden's 'lovely' horse did not want to get into the float, I had to admire Abby's patience and perseverance. Rose had a major choking issue when she inhaled some hay she was eating into her lungs (or where ever it goes)?? And was a very sad pony for a little while. However today she is very happy and enjoying the sea under her hooves and the wind in her mane. I doubt she will want to go back to Mosgiel.

Photos compliments of Abby Bowman's face book page.

Horse'in around

Hi there. Not much news today, today was much the same as yesterday. Friday began when I woke up at 4am...feeling hungry!! I'm being very good on sticking to my 'no junk food and no food between meals' rule, but this morning was the third morning in a row that I have woken up at 4am hungry. And then of course my mind begins to think of peanut butter on toast (which I'm not eating either) and lots of other things, as your mind does when there are no other distractions. So once Aimee got up at 6 am I got up as well. One would think with such an early start I'd achieve alot in the day....but no I have to say that I did not.

Tomorrow is going to be my first ever go at towing a horse float, complete with two horses all the way from Dunedin...that's if I manage to get the float to Dunedin in the first place! Youngest son and his girlfriend Abby are coming home for their three weeks of holidays, and it would seem the horses must come to. So if your on the road and see a large white Transit towing a horse float then....beware !!

For the rest of the weekend I'm sure to be washing as Camden always saves his washing up to bring home for me.
Hope you out there all have an awesome weekend. And to those of you lucky enough to be at SENZ, have fun, wish I could be there as well.

Just because I hate to post here without a picture (words always look boring by themselves don't they) I'm going to pop on a painting I did a while back of our dear old dog Bonny

And here's another song form the album Adele 21...I'm in love with her music...can you tell............???

Walk with me?

I'm turning onto a new chapter of my life...not before time. I have taken up walking everyday and I've cut out junk food so I'm hoping for a new, slimmer, fitter, younger looking me. Watch this space!

Thought you might like to come on my walk with me today.....

First thing I pass when I get to the end of our street is the church, check out the little cross sitting in the window .....

     

 A right turn at the church and I'm on Earthquakes road...this is what I see....

  

Up the road I come across our three sheep, well ours by default really. We own a little farm cottage with a little piece of land and two of these sheep were left here for a short overnight visit by their owner, that was about three years ago, still no sign of the owner. One of the sheep had a lamb (but that's another story) and as its a bit of a chilly day we shall press onwards. 

 To the left of me the scene  looks pretty much like this for most of the way....

Looking to the right again and we see black sheep, these girls are not ours, but do seem to find me somewhat entertaining!

 Are you puffing yet?? I'm puffing a little bit

 This is why I always walk the same way everyday, I love the view and the peace and the feeling of solitude once I get to the top. (you may need to click on the photo for a better view).
The road that runs between the trees is the Kurow- Oamaru main road

My lovely dog Tui always comes for the stroll, and seems to enjoy the view as well

                                 

   

Often I carry on up the next hill, but today this is as far as we go because it really is getting chilly!

 It's the little things that make life big!



Today was another quiet one, I scrubbed my house from top to bottom, baked Louise cake and went for a long walk...thought I might be able to find my 'mojo' :-)

Mojo is still in hiding, but I did find this lovely quote that caught my fancy (not on my walk), so thought Id share it..

Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad, but it’s what’s in the middle that counts. So, when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will!

Hope Floats -1998

Aimee is coming home sometime to night, so my craft space is going to be a little crowed, my room is off her room, so unless I take the lift I have to trail though 'her space' which she is not always that happy about!

Aimee is going to find three weeks back in  Duntroon very quite after living the hi-life in Dunedin, check out these photos I stole off her facebook page...(sorry Aimee)

I'm guessing that's not orange juice??

 ...and just what is that guy doing with your hair???

Youngest son rang today to proudly tell us that he and his girlfriend Abby celebrate their 6 month anniversary of being boyfriend and girlfriend today...ain't love sweet. Today they are going out of tea, with a donation from us of course.

Here is a recent snap of the two of them.

 Eldest son is hunting still, the cold weather does not seem to phase him at all. Below is a photo he took on a recent 'outing'. Cody seems to be quite a 'handy man' with his camera. (This photo is worth clicking on for a larger view...check out the frost on the grass..Brrrrrrr )

 And, last but not by any means least here is a photo of the lovely Hannah (Cody's girlfriend). This German girl can give any kiwi girl out there a run for their money I'd say.

Hope you all had a great Saturday and that Sunday brings sunshine and smiles your way.

P.S Check out my two latest favorite songs below.