Trip to Palmerston North with peter

On Saturday 25th Peter and I flew down to Palmerston North - glorious weather for a day trip - everything went smoothly. The girls gave him a big hug, Callum was his usual laid back self, the girls showed him their reading and Jonathan was able to show him the new kitchen and all the trees in the backyard. Callum wanted me to play soccer with him, oh my goodness I am much too stiff to do such tricks now, although I try. They wanted me to go for bike rides etc, I think they think that when I come it is playtime. Our trip back was uneventful also, and Peter had a Georgie pie at McDonalds in case his dinner back at the home wasnt enough.  Glad we did it, it is the right thing to do but difficult to know if Peter really remembers it. Hopefully the kids will remember that we made the effort.
They are doing well at their swimming - with a bit of luck I might get to see them swimming in October.

I have been off to art class again, I think I need to take breaks - tend to try and paint in a 2 hour stretch  at the class and make mistakes near the end. But reasonably pleased with the outcomes.

Peter junior came up on Monday and has taken the campervan off for a week. His daughter Kiri is coming over from Sydney and they are going to do the Coromandel.

I am still very stiff on the legs if I sit down for any length of time - doing exercises but not sure how to get them better. Also counting calories and hoping that will assist in dropping some kilos!

Other than that - weather is still alternately downpours and blue skies - sooo changeable! But magnolia trees lining the roads are beautiful and my daffodils and freesias are good. As soon as the ground is not quite so muddy and it warms up I need to get the garden ready to do some planting and make decisions about raised garden beds etc.

Spring daffodils but very changeable weather

Well, eventually I went to the physio and found that I have done something to the gluteus minimus and gluteus maximus which are muscles in my butt. And they attach to something with tendons which means the pain in  my butt is tendonitis! Anyway - some exercises and strengthening is approriate and I am on the end.

Been trying to motivate myself in  very! changeable weather. Still havent mastered the heater. Some gorgeous days but some really bad wind and storms passing through (no tornadoes - though Taranaki got a beaut one).

Been an interesting couple of weeks - I currently have my friends two little white fluffy dogs for a few days. She is overseas and her husband has been called away out of Auckland - they are cute and no problem except the puppy ( about 8months old)  fetches anything that is not tied down to chew on and drag around the house - looks like chaos. In the middle of that, I had been struggling to stop Tui constantly licking a sore spot on her leg and she had to be either bandaged or wear one of those conical collars. It is healing nicely, so I took her to the vet to have her teeth cleaned ( under anaesthetic) and whilst there they took off a little cyst she had on the top of her head ( shaving a 2" square patch around the incision and stitches - she has a bald top knot! Oh dear, she does look funny! A very expensive visit all round - I am going to have to allocate as much for dog servicing as for car servicing!

One of the Orewa exhibits

I took some ladies up to Orewa last week for a stitch art exhibition called Toss the Floss - some very nice work on show.

I finished a table runner to send to catherine - she had given me the kit about 5 years ago - great to be able to find a home for it, and fun to do a project I didnt need to buy more fabric for!


Then I decided that I should utilise the campervan and pop off somewhere nice for the weekend so I went to my favourite place on the Coromandel - the bay at Kirita. Absolutely gorgeous warm day Sunday, millpond sea - new lambs frolicking everywhere including right outside my campervan - thank goodness Tui is such a little gem and doesnt chase animals or chickens.

By the parking lot at Thames

Mums ready to lamb right outside my door.

View from my bed

I did go to my art class yesterday - not sure if it is turning out quite how I expected - I suspect Amanda is a better teacher than Claudia but the traffic is certainly less and it is very low key! So far not much teaching involved but at least it forces me to "have a go" - I need more practice - I think I am a reasonably good copyist but not sure that I will ever be a real painter - watercolour is very challenging! I think Uncle Geoff was an Oil painter and so was Uncle Bob.  I really need to loosen up!

Mucking around a bit - lots of things on my to do list but I am not really getting started very well!

Atleast I have now updated this blog so on with the list!

Visitors quilting and the first half of August.

Very few photos this month, but it has been quite busy with a lot of catching up of little tasks.

The first few days after getting back from my trip to Palmerston north was actually pretty sore - I think I have pinched the sacroiliac nerve - pain in butt and weakness in right leg which made walking and sleeping quite uncomfortable.. even now 3 weeks later I have not got it entirely sorted - found exercises with the aid of Mr google and have been trying to do them often but "pain in the butt" literally.

However, visitors have provided some great bright spots.  Starting with My friend Gretchen arriving for morning tea with her friend  Sally on Friday two weeks ago ... was a great catch up - these are people I would love to see more of. Gretchen was the first NZ woman engineering graduate back in the early 1970s and the only woman who has been President of IPENZ, she  is off for 10 weeks overseas including catching up with Barbara S for a week in Southern France! Then Brian and Fern brought the campervan back on the following Sunday night and I dropped them off at the airport early the next morning. Brian Baxter then arrived for five days on his way back from the funeral of his 100 year old mother. We had a great time catching up on all sorts of odd jobs, new clothesline, cleaned gutters, bought bits of carpet for campervan, sorted out all the light bulbs including a light on the garage door opener (which I didnt realise I should have had) and the outside security lights.. Mitre 10 and Bunnings did a roaring trade. I left him to his own devices and the tender care of Tui when I went out on two nights and he visited a cousin he hadnt seen for many years using my Auckland Transport card on our train and bus system. Apparently it all worked very successfully albeit time consuming!

My Philosophy groups started up again, so I am back into the swing of those two nights each week, and a residential weekend last weekend. have started in a new watercolour painting class in Pukekohe every Tuesday afternoon  (traffic is much less stress than going in to the CBD) and it will be interesting to see how that progresses.. 
Oh, I also got to attend the Awards ceremony and hand out money to the women who had won scholarships from the Kate Edger Educational Trust - one of the awards was even named after me... that was fun!

With my friend Margaret away on her big quilting trip to the UK I have had the ladies round here every Thursday and another couple of visits from quilting friends who wanted a hand.
So what with haircuts and visits to the vet, and taking Peter out to see Robyn's new puppies, it has been quite a busy time.

I have been in this house almost a year now, and I finally met the neighbour on the "sea" side last week - I had heard a new baby crying and the little one is now 3 months old. New people moving in on the other side this coming week, so obviously something is always changing.

Yesterday was the local Quilting Guild and I am the "Education officer" so I had prepared a little demo on a couple of methods I had been taught on preparing circles for applique - I was a bit tired but apparently it went well and people are pleased with the learning opportunities I have been presenting for them.

It is a beautiful day today all over the country according tot he weather man, and I have been able to get out and do a little gardening before I go up and get Peter - to take him out for a drive and/or walk. The daffodil bulbs I planted have done well and look so beautiful I am reminded of the old hymn "All things bright and beautiful.... On Friday we went for a drive in the campervan while I emptied the tanks at the Pulman Park dump station, and we had a tea break watching the airplanes and helicopters at Ardmore Airfield.

The children in Palmerston North went  to their first swimming carnival yesterday and did pretty damn well for kids who had to compete in the 9 and under class. Annabelle in particular had only had 4 "lessons" and apparently acquitted herself awesomely. Callum had a 3rd and a 5th and a 6th and pleasingly his classmate was also there, so that will be an incentive for him to keep going.

Amy's son Marcus ( who swims really well) with Annabelle and Callum at their first event

Oh, and in my spare time I have almost finished a table runner for Catherine, baked a couple of cakes and made lemon Honey.

I need to get out and do more exercise- been eating not wisely but too well this winter so I need to be a bit more disciplined  - hopefully this hip thing will get better - I am going to phone a physio this week as I have been getting a bit frustrated with it.

So, yeah, I think I have been busy! But still have had time to read a few books  - this retirement needs to be viewed as a God given opportunity to indulge in some of the passions I didnt have time for when I was working.