That must have been scary having that shake. Even my grandson was shook up down there. Making more jam today just trying to find a space on the table to make a sandwich ha ha hope today is a ok grizzly.

makerealbany - 2013-01-21 10:32:00

Yay yesterday is over and I even knitted a baby beanie when I got home! (Craft bit) LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-22 06:58:00

Because of the lack of swimming pools we have hired an inflatable 12m pool for the day with water balls! Fire Brigade is coming to fill it for us. Yahoo.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-23 07:05:00

Sounds like fun. My grandson who works in Hornby and lives in riccarton has been looking for a new flatting situation. He has answered so many ads and only got to look at 6 has to move out this weekend as his lease is up. Been looking for 3 weeks but no luck so will have to go into a hostel until he finds a place. He told me not to worry but!!!!!! He is a fairly quiet guy and doesn't want a party flat. So hard when he is so far away.

makerealbany - 2013-01-23 21:23:00

I can imagine, and all the students will be looking at present.My daughter lists her student accommodation when they all become empty late November. They are all taken again within 2 weeks and rent paid through summer even if the students aren't there till February just to make sure they have somewhere.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-24 07:14:00

Well it has been another hectic day and now I am babysitting while my daughter and SIL go to see the Hobbit. I cooked little E,s first birthday cake and my daughter iced and decorated it. Party tomorrow 39 adults and 29 kids whoopee. Lol. My grandson K who was in hospital recently had another 2 lousy days. Seems brighter tonight his mum says. I have a curried rice salad to cook for tomorrow. Finished the Bean salad so easy peasey another lot of party prep done. My garden is not liking the lack of rain. I am recycling water from the sink as well as cold tea,etc. Plums still abundant and my freezer is full. Pantry is full as well and I am beginning to look like a plum. Ha ha. Got two bales of hay from the local reserve today now we are trying to convince my SIL to build a chicken coop but he has started on my deck so I do not want to pressure him, well not much anyway lol.

makerealbany - 2013-01-25 21:03:00

Will just confuse him asking for more than 1 thing to be done at a time. I have to pace my requests as I. will either get stressed or forget the first thing I asked for which is usually the most important. LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-26 10:12:00

Messy family day yesterday with people coming and L5 staying overnight. Lots of errands to do today - the most important one to find somewhere that can put one of our hanycam movies of the boys when they were babies onto a DVD. We found the movie accidently when we organised the camera to sell on TM. Thank goodness. I have been working on a variety of beanies for the shop. The one I did last night I like so much I might do a matching jersey and sox.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-27 08:31:00

That was a good save grizzly. Had a fab party for little E yesterday. All of the children had a ball. So did the rest of us lol stayed late last night because we were all having such a great time. Everyone loved the cake and the proud Dad even had 2 slices and he never eats cake ha ha. I was asked for my Curried Rice salad recipe as that was a hit as well. I feel really onto it ha ha. Just back from taking the kids to the Hot Rod Show. Another good day.

makerealbany - 2013-01-27 14:24:00

I'm glad the party went well, makerealbany. Huge numbers of people attending by the sounds of it! Looks like saving the movie on to DVD is going to be more difficult than I thought. I thought Harvey Norman did stuff like that but apparently not. We also remember being able to get normal size video tapes with no guts that these wee tapes slot into and play as normal but don't know where to find them either. This could be a bit of a mission.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-28 06:50:00

Could be grizzly. Years ago I had all my photos from assignments in the pacific put on DVDs. I kept the DVD player too ha ha. I got them done in a photo store but nowadays? A is rearranging her Nanny's schedule as little J is off to preschool 4 mornings a week soon. He loves it. M starts school in 2 days. So I will take J and his cousin to preschool and A can take M to school before work. J finishes preschool at 12 and then has a nap on the way home so his Nanny can start at 1 30. I don't see any point in her starting earlier. I will still have loads of time to do my thing even picking up K at 3.30 once a week and bringing him back to Orewa. I am here now and so ismy great grandson. He and his uncle are causing havoc but his daddy is here as well so Nannyis just taking it easy cleaning and cooking. Lol.

makerealbany - 2013-01-28 12:52:00

Looks like you are going to be just as busy this year! LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-29 07:52:00

Dry as a bone here. Had to get another load of water in yesterday. Went to Spotlight today and got wooden blinds for my bedroom. Sick of drapes and this way I can have the blinds open and still have privacy. Ha ha. Spotlight had 60 percent off so instead of $600 I paid $230. I am very pleased. Also got some material for a cot cover for my great niece. Pay for a metre get one free. Spent time this afternoon making salads and pesto to stock my fridge after cleaning it out ho ho. Just finished my ironing. Now off to bed to get some more much needed sleep lol

makerealbany - 2013-01-29 22:51:00

Lots of changes afoot at work this year I think.Our building was repaired finally over the Christmas break but nothing has happened about the road outside so still being thrown around a bit when trucks go by (at least every 10 minutes!). Two full time staff are looking for homes away from Christchurch and I have had to be very clear about what I want or don't want if/when they go. I am happy with my role and my hours. And of course we still have to hear the final decision about the schools that feed into our programmes. I finally have time to catch up on some housework this morning before going to work. Usual routine has been all over the place the last couple of weeks. I am still knitting the wee jersey, beanie, sox set and I'm loving the effect. The main colour is baby blue but using an Opal type variegated wool in blues and caramels to do a 2 row stripe every couple of centimetres. That variegated sock wool is so expensive to use for jerseys so decided to try this option.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-30 07:31:00

We have roadworks outside our gate. Bit of a mess up there. Yes you would have to be clear if they want to move away. Nothing worse than getting hardly any notice when you have contracts to adhere to. I finished sewing myself a dress this morning and found a place to leave my sewing machine set up. Yippee. Cut out a dress for M who just loved her first day at school. That pattern sounds very pretty grizzly. I found some sox wool in my stash. Don't remember buying it lol. Still knitting my cotton top. Ss

makerealbany - 2013-01-30 15:17:00

Roadworks!!!!!!!! I have 4 sections of 30km/h on the way to work at present. Plus when I pick up childrenfrom another school to drop them at one of our programmes there is a 25minute wait to get about half a kilometre. In this heat with talkative children it's a night mare. Worse still one of the boys for the next 2 days has a toileting problem!!!!!

grizzly4 - 2013-01-30 16:43:00

I bought a 100g ball of McKenzie 4ply yesterday in lovely variegated pastel shades of lemon, blue, pink and green. 100% merino wool and so soft and I thought a could do a girly version of the set I've just made. It was $17 per ball but I didn't think that was too bad for 100g balls. Really looking forward to seeing how it knits up. Only have to sew the wee blue jersey up and put buttons on the shoulders then I can start the new one. I'm still trying to work out which pattern to use for the fabric with the pretty border. I'm not really into gathers onto a waistband or on a basque with my hips. LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-01-31 07:06:00

Me either grizzly lol. I know how frustrating it can be with children in the car at roadworks !!!! The guys outside stopped the traffic for me so I could get to the end of the road pushing little E's pram and taking the dog for a walk. One of them told me I was brave walking on the road lol. I always walk down our road and it is a nice walk for the babies. I got a parcel of wool yesterday ha ha. Never enough time is there. M's first day at school went very well. Big sighs of relief all round. I am now going to knit for an hour or so. Little E has been picked up by her Mum and I don't have to leave to pick K up until 3.

makerealbany - 2013-01-31 12:52:00

Can you believe it's February already?! I've finished my blue set and now I've started a white one with this newball of wool as contrast. The wee sock i did last night looks really effective so looking forward to working on the rest today as I have the day off. Yesterday was so hot (32) and there is no air conditioning in my office. The kids I picked up yesterday afternoon thought I was very clever as I took a round about route that meant I cut across the traffic jam to get to the programme instead of sitting in the traffic jam. I'm glad I don't have to worry today, though and next week I'm dropping them off to the programme on our main site again which will be a lot easier (until they start work on that road).

grizzly4 - 2013-02-01 07:24:00

Had a lovely morning in the shop this morning and Sue and I had a great catch up after all these weeks of not working together. I've pinched a nerve in my back somehow which isn't great for the weekend of gardening I had planned with family not coming over.What a waste!

grizzly4 - 2013-02-02 14:01:00

Hope your back is feeling better grizzly. How nice to have a catch up with Sue. I spent yesterday baking to fill the empty tins. Lemon Shortcake and Choc Marshmallow squares. I knitted and watch the Star Trek movies. My back was crunching so I took it easy. Today I have been sorting out recipes for the glut of melons and cucumbers I am starting to get. It is still as dry as a bone here. I have to make something for a great,great niece's first birthday on the 16th. So am about to decide on a dress or knitting her something. Decisions ,decisions lol.

makerealbany - 2013-02-03 11:17:00

Aha we are finally getting some drizzle. Great for the garden. Went and visited little E to watch her walking. Tee hee so cute. Am about to try a new recipe for preserving Egg plant. I got a pile of recipe books from the library and any that are interesting I put in my book. Photocopier is not working so handwriting is necessary ugh. I don't know about you but it gets awfully tiring ha ha.

makerealbany - 2013-02-04 15:56:00

My garden and lawns are happy now with the rain over the last 24 hours. But it can stop now, I don't like feeling cold. LOL. My back is slowly improving thank goodness, I'm so busy at work there's not a lot of time to think about it. We had a nasty jolt yesterday that had some of the kids on the programme running for cover and me moving out of the way of the fan on top of the computer table.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-05 07:10:00

Well it has stopped raining here. I really wanted a couple of days darn it. Poor kids and poor you grizzly. I can only imagine what I would be like if I was there. More baking today and sewing. Did some more mending which I detest at times. Especially my daughter's fancy materials that are awful to mend. Going to sit and knit another cotton top as soon as K is asleep ho ho. Tidied up some sewing tins and baskets today. How do they get in such a mess? Found stuff I do not even remember buying as well as a packet of elusive buttons. Also found 4 packets of Shirring elastic. I knew I had some black somewhere lol.

makerealbany - 2013-02-05 17:51:00

My daughter has decided she wants to have a bbq party on Saturday for her graduation. Some of her fellow graduates are going up the hill to a party in cashmere but Rochelle says it is too far, so here at our place it is. she has made a list, people we all know as family friends and a couple of her friends so should be good, lets hope the weather warms up a bit. We bought a new gazibo so heres hoping .

suzy59nz - 2013-02-05 21:38:00

It seems that all the dates we were given for the sausage sizzles are for March not February so lucky for me I am not going to be all sizzled out before BBQ at my sons on Saturday. LOL. It's going to make March very hectic with sausage sizzles, stall at Barrington and all the dismantling of the shop for EQC repairs to start after Easter. I've got to arrange something for I's birthday that month as well as going back up to Blenheim for Easter. PHew I'd better rest up this month now.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-06 17:24:00

I have Mondayitis on a Thursday! LOL. I can't get my head around having a day off mid-week. The video tape of the boys when they were babies has successfully been copied to DVD by a place in Merivale Mall for only $30. Feels really good to have those home movies saved.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-07 07:20:00

That's great grizzly. Well I have had a very good day. Met my daughter after dropping the boys off at preschool. Went shopping to buy her a new vacumn cleaner( I can have mine back now whoppee) then we had lunch in the mall. I came home and had J for awhile. He is being potty trained and is so proud of himself ha ha. After he left I put my Mustard Pickle on and have just made a dozen jars. Now I have some ironing to do while I watch Dr Who lol. Picked up a lovely pram blanket pattern today. Spotted in the Hospice shop while my girl was paying for her cleaner. Eager to try it out. Later ho ho. You have a busy Barbi month in March grizzly you will be sick of looking at sausages. Lol

makerealbany - 2013-02-07 17:42:00

Congrats to your daughter for her graduation Suzy. It is as hot as hell here during the day cooler at night. Saturday will be a great day.

makerealbany - 2013-02-07 17:44:00

Sausages are right up there with mince, I have to say, not my favourite food at the best of times. Kind of like KFC, I have it every 12 months or so and happy not to have it again for at least another 12 months. LOL. I have finished my cardy set and a separate pair of bootees as well. My blanket is half way there. Just bought a ball of Opal sock wool on TM in pinks and yellows. Looking forward to seeing what I can do with that.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-08 07:18:00

I watched an item on the news last night regarding the difficulties cyclists are experiencing with car drivers opening their doors in front of them and was feeling quite supportive of them. Shortly after I took some scraps from tea out to the gate as I. had already put our green bin out for emptying and almost got bowled flat by a young woman racing along the footpath on her bike!!!! Considering the pain I have been all jolly week I couldn't believe what almost happened! Of all the inconsiderate things to do! All these demands cyclists make - what about the rights of pedestrians on our footpaths? We already have to negotiate dogs and their poop, youngsters on skateboards or roller blades, and enormous baby buggies - all of which I give way too, I might add, but I draw the line at cyclists!

grizzly4 - 2013-02-08 07:28:00

Yay it's the weekend. Going down to Ashburton today to pick up an old three wheel motorcycle (Trike) that my son is going to use for parts. I'm going 'cos there's an excellent craft village down there I rarely get to visit. Yippee. Will keep you posted when I finish shopping. LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-09 09:32:00

Had a lovely day yesterday. Beautiful weather, nice family drive and then time out for me browsing knitting patterns, wool and other peoples handcrafts. Lovely place. I wish there was somewhere like it in Christchirch that the Patch could be a part of. I was quite restrained though, bought wool for the boys beanies for Easter and a beautiful embroidered hanky that I thought I would send to Mum.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-10 09:57:00

Sounds like you had a lovely time at Ashburton. We had yet another birthday party for my neighbours little girl today. Yesterday I baked cupcakes for it. I also had my great grandson for the day and night for the first time. He is 2 years 4 months. He was good considering he is a very demanding little fellow. He takes after his mother because, his father is so easy going which is why she picked him for a father. grrrrr. I feel quite shattered lol. I am up at 5 tomorrow for a drive up to my daughter's so I am going to knit for awhile and then have an early night. The other day I must have touched something in the garden which gave me quite a reaction. I had blisters and welts on the inside of my left wrist and the same on the outside of my right arm. Anyway I had them all strapped up as they became red raw and very darn painful. I must have rubbed my eyes because they became infected and sore as well. Ah well they are coming right. I wore a big hat and sunglasses to the party ha ha. Bright light isn't my friend at the moment. I have had reactions to certain saps like this before so even though it looked horrendous I was not worried. My neighbour looked at me as if I should be incarcerated ha ha. My son went to the Puhoi Cheese factory for breakfast for his birthday yesterday and called in on the way home to drop off a Cheese pack for me. Yummy cheese. I have not been there but will go next time.

makerealbany - 2013-02-10 19:30:00

Really foggy driving up to the coast this morning. Chilly too. My daughter has inherited her son's cat. She is a Tortoise Shell and cute as well as playful. My daughter's other cat is not impressed lol. Grandson's car broke down so I jumped out of mine and then he took it to work. Aren't I a good Nana ha ha. Hope the day will be nice. Promised to walk to the beach with K.

makerealbany - 2013-02-11 06:51:00

A walk to the beach sounds better than going to work. Lucky I've got the shop first to warm to the idea. LOL. Should have gone to the beach myself over the weekend as I need a container of sand and some tussock grass for an art activity for the first day of the Women's Group on Wednesday. It seems no matter how much I get done there's always something I forget. Is it your cotton top you are working on? I have a 4 piece set to finish that sold on TM. Just have the wee mittens to do.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-11 07:08:00

Did go to the beach myself last night to gather what I needed for tomorrow's craft activity. It was lovely down there after the heat of the day but my asthma kicked in big time once we got home. Not sure what set it off. Finished the set I was knitting for TM. I'm leaving the decision about what to do next till this evening. I love anticipating starting something new. LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-12 07:09:00

Yes it was I finished it and a friend called around and that was that. Lol I wasn't too sure about the blue for me but it suited her. I had bought myself a blue linen shirt and wore it last week. I just felt it wasn't really me. So today I hand washed heaps of materials for my crazy patch quilt that I am going to make for myself lol.

makerealbany - 2013-02-12 20:07:00

Yah my grandson has a place to live again. He has been staying at a B and B. Sharing an old house with an American girl and a Gay couple so he is very happy. One of the guys has a cool old dog. He was born in the house and so was his owner lol. K says he can settle down again now. Has been running himself ragged between work, searching for a home and more work. Been eating on the run. I am so relieved.

makerealbany - 2013-02-12 20:52:00

Is this the grandson here in Christchurch? Fancy giving your top away! But I know what you mean about not feeling right about wearing certain colours. I'm the same about red. I decided to start B7's beanie last night. It's a pattern I get off TM - 2x2 rib with every second plain strip having a wee cable. Very effective. I'm doing his in gunmetal grey. I think they will be getting sox with their beanies and maybe a pair of fingerless mitts if their is enough wool from their hats.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-13 07:08:00

Yes that's the one grizzly. Your Beanie sounds nice. I have to knit a few this year. Bigger heads lol. Mind you litte K at nearly 4 can fit little J's last years summer hats. One would never know he had been a sick little boy. That's the one with Kawasakis. He is 2 now and as Bonny as they come. Has legs like kauri stumps ha ha. Just back from walking the dog. Too hot went too late. On with the ironing before K gets here lol

makerealbany - 2013-02-13 10:44:00

It's been a bad, bad day. One of those ones you want to tell your boss where to shove the job... and it sounds as if I. had a similar one.Oh boy. Everyone atwork is getting really stressed about the decisions to be made about the schools on Monday. But even that's no excuse for passing the buck and getting someone else to put in hours of work to fix your mistake. Sorry for venting.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-13 17:36:00

My oldest daughter R got a new job today, working for work and income, she is really excited about it, better pay and good benifits, now they are looking at their own home she needed a better job with better hours and money. Only problrm is she is scared of telling her boss at the pet shop she knows she will go off her trolly, she relys on R so much, she set the new computer program up and runs a lot of the store. She is leaving it till Monday, told her any problem to just walk out. It's bad when you haeve to be so scared of your boss

suzy59nz - 2013-02-13 22:01:00

Congratulations, R.! When does she start? Won't putting off giving notice delay her starting the new one?
B7's beanie is great - really nice pattern, working on his fingerless mitts now.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-14 07:07:00

she starts on the 4th, she is handing notice in on Monday, she says she doesn't have a contract, she never got one apart from the 3 month one. So i guess one or two weeks notice will be good.

suzy59nz - 2013-02-14 19:14:00

Well..... the fingerless mitts pattern has turned out to be very different to what I expected. Shows how You look at a picture and think you know what you are seeing but..... NO! These mitts are lined with a contrast colour with a hole for the thumb shaped into the side seam. straight across the fingers. Once I got my head around the sewing up and turning back out the right way process I am quite impressed. They are so warm being a double layer of 8ply wool. B7 is such a cool dude I think he will be very impressed too 'cos they certainly don't look like kids mitts. LOL. He has taken a liking to purple this year so his mitts are the same grey as his beanie with a purple lining.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-15 07:20:00

Mitts sound cool lol. I could not find my quilting mat the other day but eureka I have now. The deck is progressing yah. Daughter had a bad day yesterday after signing more legal stuff. Inlaws are now trying to get their hands on her home. Absolute greedy bar-----. No hope inhell says lawyer but they keep throwing underhanded curve balls . I went up last night and spent the day with her. She is happier today. Tell your girl to hand her notice in Suzy I agree with grizzly. The sooner the better after all what can her boss do!!!!!!! Congrats on her new job .

Edited by makerealbany at 8:18 pm, Fri 15 Feb

makerealbany - 2013-02-15 20:16:00

My SIL has just got a job in New Zealand yippee.

Edited by makerealbany at 8:19 pm, Fri 15 Feb

makerealbany - 2013-02-15 20:17:00

That's great news for your daughter, makerealbany! And you, think of all the jobs he can do for you more regularly. LOL. Yesterday must have been a bad day all round, I think. I said to I. last night it's like 2011 we lived on adrenaline, 2012 everyone was exhausted really early on in the year and it just stayed that way, but this year we are losing that sense of hope, I think. I'm running out of ways to help my friends that are still waiting to receive EQC money so they can move out of their damaged homes, insurance companies won't talk to them until EQC settles and that money was promised in January! People are angry and abusive and becoming increasingly intolerant of the inconvenience of road detours (even though they are being managed really well in most cases), buildings shaking with passing traffic let only ongoing earthquakes, and now I feel sick about the decisions to be released on MOnday about the schools. My organisation is at risk, not just my job. Best case scenario is going to be years of upheaval finding different venues or negotiating with already existing programmes at schools that are merging. Next case scenario is our services could be decreased so that management and administration roles can't be maintained. Goodbye me. Worst case is we fold altogether after being great role models for smaller organisations in the same field for 24 years. #%*#! The government has no idea the impact their decisions are going to have on families and the supporting services around schools.

grizzly4 - 2013-02-16 08:10:00

That is a hell of a way to live grizzly. You are right of course the bloody government has no idea. All Government Ministers listen to their so called advisor experts and we end up with the crap. Reports that we see. Regarding Christchurch are the positive things now. It seems the media have given up on the long waits people have for insurance claims and progress, etc. Mind you the schools are a high profile at the moment. No matter how it turns out it is still a bloody nightmare for you.

makerealbany - 2013-02-16 19:09:00