i heard there was a whooping cough eppidemic in NZ, mostly up north and they are telling people to immunise. It seems all the old illnesses are coming back again.

suzy59nz - 2013-06-02 12:39:00

I was going to Blenheim for a wedding, remember? LOL. I have seen babies with whooping cough and it's heart breaking. Wedding ok but as expected I was right about the smoking and I was a bit disappointed with how the 'bride' and her sister treated the groom, I's brother. A bit trashy, I thought. I didn't expect it from adults in their 50's but maybe I'm a snob.
One more day of our (well mine anyway) holiday. I have to say I don't feel rested at all with the wedding stuff going on, txts about the shop and work throughout and ACC worries. Plus a tom cat came in through the cat door which we leave open when we are away and we had to wipe his smelly stuff off the walls in the conservatory and kitchen. It was pretty rank when we walked in. Sigh.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-02 16:07:00

Thank goodness house smells sweet this morning! I'm going to steam clean the floors this morning anyway and was going to do the outside windows too but pouring outside. Also have to make the trip across town to pick up the end of month stuff. It's taken me all week to knit an 8ply baby jacket. It's aran with a moss stitch yoke, looks really effective but not great to knit.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-03 10:01:00

You are right Suzy . Heaps of people up here are sick. One darn virus after another.

makerealbany - 2013-06-03 20:10:00

I completely forgot about the Wedding grizzly lol. What a bugger about t he behaviour. I am never surprised about how people act regardless of their age lol. Darn stray cats. That happened to my son once. It was awful. He had to get the carpets cleaned and it has happened to me at another house. I think we have had this conversation before!!!!!!!way back when ha ha. I am knitting K a scarf just like his big sisters. He wants the same colour. Asked me to make him one just like Dees. That's his pet name for his big sis.So cute.

makerealbany - 2013-06-03 20:25:00

Despite the weather yesterday I got lots of washing done and lots of knitting in the afternoon. I can't find the buttons I had put aside for the jacket I finished while I was away. So annoying. But I've done beanie and gumboot sox as well. Working on prem bootees currently BUT today I have to go to work. Sigh. We've been watching the Great British Bake Off on Prime and can't wait for the final next week. They make things I've never seen before and so different from the other cooking shows. I'm definitely having a go at the Choux cake they made last night. Yummy!

grizzly4 - 2013-06-04 07:41:00

I watched that as well grizzly. It looked delicious. I really like that show.

makerealbany - 2013-06-04 10:36:00

We are making CD clocks this morning at the Women's group. I've been planning it for ages since I. bought one on TM. Has taken that long to organise all the bits. LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-05 07:36:00

Show us a picture grizzly. Great activity. J and I have to make play dough. He is still coughing.

makerealbany - 2013-06-05 10:07:00

Got the fire going. Heat pumps in house just not warm enough unless you have them on 23. I start coughing and get a dry throat no matter how much water I drink. Nothing beats a fire lol

makerealbany - 2013-06-05 16:27:00

Agreed! But no hope for one down here. Got to work yesterday really early to heat the place up for the women's group then ran some errands. I had heat pump on 28. Got back to find it had switched itself off because it was defrosting itself in our -2 morning. Absolutely useless.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-06 07:59:00

So much for modern technology aye? It is a great drying day here so my sheets are out. I baked yesterday and my daughter was given a huge chocolate cake as a thank you gift from a family she supported. So I had to dash to the neighbours and give them some to their delight. It was beautifully iced as well. Trying to steal 10 mins here and there to finish this scarf. They want them so jolly long these days.

makerealbany - 2013-06-06 13:42:00

I'm working on a prem hoody jacket in pink and white stripes with the word pink knitted in to the occasional white stripe. LOL. Talking about technology - I worked all yesterday afternoon on an online funding application that is due today. Clicked on 'submit' and 20 minutes later still hadn't gone through! Grrr! Of course you can't save the online ones either, luckily I printed a copy for our records but still have to insert all the info to have another go this morning. Sigh.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-07 08:04:00

That totally drags you down grizzly. I detested the online funding applications lol a necessary pain in the neck ugh!!!!!!! Hoody jacket sounds cool. Have your grandchildren seen the Gruffolo DVD and the Grufolo Child . My grandchildren love them. Not sure why. Lol. I am child free and off out for the day. Yippee

makerealbany - 2013-06-07 10:12:00

My daughter just bought her first home, she has had such a lot of trouble getting a mortgage. First Anz said yes they could have have a certain amount calculated on their earnings and deposit, the finaly managed to find a house only to be told no, it is $20,000 over gv we will only give gv. why were they not told this, aparently all the banks are doing it now since the earthquake, wont go over gv. My daughter went to a mortgage broker Mike Pero, he mananged to get them a mortgage with BNZ at the final minute lol, they almost lost the house, there were going unconditional on Wednesday and didn't get the mortgage sorted till Wednesday, talk about stress.. She is now going to pull our of ANZ who she has banked with since she was 5 years old, she is going to tell them why too. Just not fair to say yes we will give you this much and then pull the rug out from under them.

Edited by suzy59nz at 4:10 pm, Fri 7 Jun

suzy59nz - 2013-06-07 16:10:00

I'll say Suzy the swines. Congrats on them finally getting it sorted. What fun moving into their own home. When do they move in? You will be busy that day or should I say week ha ha. I must admit I have enjoyed being around as my kids moved into their homes even if it was to babysit,clean or just to provide food lol

makerealbany - 2013-06-07 18:35:00

They move in mid July about the 14th i think, so many numbers and dates have been thrown around i forget. Will be nice for them to have their own home, no more paying rent and paying someone elses mortgage. I must buy a Shark vaccuum cleaner and and give them my one, it's still good but i would love a Shark. I will probably look after the dog for the day when they move, she is only small and gets lost easy lol. They have lots of people to help.

suzy59nz - 2013-06-07 21:35:00

How exciting for her! Congratulations. There's no loyalty with any of the banks, I don't think, they are just businesses like any other out to make their profit. Like doctors too. I. needed a form signed for our lifestyle protection insurance claim and they insisted he make an appointment and then charged him $27! This is after stuffing around with ACC as well. I. has been off 2 weeks now and ACC have only just been sent the info they need from our GP. This of course is after I's employer refused to pay holiday pay for the week we were supposed to be on leave because his doctor's appointment was on that Monday. He got 80% of a 40 hr week instead. No worries for them or the doctors, I guess they can pay for their bills, rent and food on the table, why worry about anyone else?

grizzly4 - 2013-06-08 09:52:00

Even the hospitals are the same grizzly. My daughter had paid study leave for training which she did and the hospital board has a private company that you have to claim from. Every pay day she kicks up a stink and she still hasn't been paid yet. She has so many days in lieu because of working public holidays and when her son was sick she put in for a lieu day, her manager signed it and she didn't get paid. She is furious and they wonder why they are so short staffed. Asked her to work an extra shift at a moments notice and she refused. Don't blame her. I told her to go to the union to hurry them up. It's ridiculous. Heaven knows when she can take her lieu days because they are always so busy. Public health system is failing. Acc claim she has in is the same. Private company and absolutely couldn't care a less.

makerealbany - 2013-06-08 20:46:00

The dog will be better with you Suzy. Otherwise it will be an ordeal for her. Our little dog is sitting on his bed near the fire. My daughter and Sil are at the rugby with my sons watching the All Blacks. They have a builder in for the weekend. Doing up one of the bathrooms. P just sits staring as if to say "oh oh here we go again" lol he is a pretty laid back little guy until he is on guard duty. Hates two of the couriers. They beep and we have to put him on the porch ha ha.

makerealbany - 2013-06-08 20:52:00

He sounds great! Had a reasonably laid back weekend thank goodness except for the end of month stuff for the shop. Did lots of cooking and baking on Saturday, very therapeutic!

grizzly4 - 2013-06-10 07:48:00

Had a day off from babysitting today so had a good clean in my cottage. The framing is up for the roof over my porch. Whoop whoop cannot wait for the iron to go on. Finished Master 4s very long scarf lol and am now knitting him a matching beanie. Crocheted 4 face clothes for my daughters cleaner. She is a lovely girl. She is English and her family in England disowned her and her family because they came to NZ for a better life. They are a lovely couple and have 2 boys. They have just bought their own home. They work hard and all I can say is her family back home ought to be ashamed of themselves. Even her mum and sister are very hateful and hurtful. She no longer contacts them because they have been here 6 years and not even a card at Xmas for the boys. My daughter has just had her claim with ACC over her husbands death sorted. What a relief for her. He has been dead nearly 15 months. Thank goodness she can now see light at the end of the dark tunnel she has been in. She has struggled health wise because of the stress but she is a trooper. I am so relieved.

makerealbany - 2013-06-10 16:07:00

We've had our ACC claim approved as well and one of the insurance ones, thank goodness. Now we wait to see what arrives in our bank account.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-11 07:50:00

That's good grizzly. I have been experimenting with circular needles for the beanie. Read a good hint to knit backwards and forwards for 4 rows and then do the circle. It is working,,,, I am so pleased. Tried it a few years ago but gave up because I kept twisting the knitting. I am on a roll now lol. Off to get a Mammogram today yuk. Always hurts like hell.

makerealbany - 2013-06-11 10:01:00

Well I didn't go because I started coughing. It just hit me like a darn sledgehammer. So I have a ruddy virus compliments of my grandchildren lol. I slept all afternoon so now I am wide awake. Bring on the knitting.

makerealbany - 2013-06-11 21:34:00

I'm sorry you're not feeling the best, makerealbany. I hate circular needles with a vengeance! And wouldn't you know it the insurance company that assured us they would cover our bank payment from last night didn't stop the payments coming out of our account anyway!!!! GRRRRRRR. WE are feeling very defeated at this point. Off to Airforce World with the Women's Group this morning (in thick fog).

grizzly4 - 2013-06-12 07:57:00

Yesterday my poor son found his beautiful turtle had died during the night. She had been a 21st present 8 years ago and had been a wonderful part of their family. R.I.P. Chartreuse. I formed an attachment to her when she lived in my bath for 2 weeks during the earthquakes.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-13 07:40:00

Oh how sad. I had a turtle for about 8 years then the little ratbag got out of the house pond and walked two paddocks away to the big duck pond. We would see her sitting basking in the sun but couldn't her catch her again. The new owners inherited her lol.

makerealbany - 2013-06-13 16:11:00

I like your turtle message more than mine. My son is so upset and I don't know how to help him. My grandsons won't talk about it at all. Things are getting a bit much so I'm taking time out from the office tomorrow and running some errands for work from home. B4 is 5 on Saturday so all the grandsons will be at school, no more babies.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-13 19:27:00

awwwwwwwww poor Chartreuse, remember her in your bath when we had a shower at your house during the 3 weeks we had no water after Feb earthquake, she hissed at me lol. Rochelle had a turtle, Murtle..............she now lives in someones pond.

suzy59nz - 2013-06-13 20:43:00

Oh you lucky girl grizzly. So all the babes will be at school. I have 3 left. 4, 2 and a half and 18 months. Ages to go lol. Your son will have some neat memories. My grandson in Christchurch still talks about his cat that died when I was minding it. I had it for 3 years though. Finished that beanie on the circular needles. Think I was quicker on two needles lol. Hardly any sewing up though ha ha

makerealbany - 2013-06-13 21:32:00

I slept in till 8.30!!!! Didn't even hear the recycling trucks go past this morning. In this age of technology etc I can't believe people can't do simple requests. Rang Tower insurance to explain the situation with ACC etc and to ask them not to take out our premium payment tonight, knowing that they automatically just double the amount next month. Apparently they can't do that, can only happen if the direct debit fails for lack of funds, for goodness sake. I am emptying that account this morning to protect the money in their for our rent next week. The things we have to do! Not my pay week next week so things better sort themselves out quick smart!

grizzly4 - 2013-06-14 09:46:00

I'll say grizzly. What a worry. I cancelled an insurance once and they kept taking the premium out for 6 months until it was sorted. Now I do Internet banking, I just change whatever, whenever,no more direct debits. I want to keep control lol. My throat is on fire grrrrr I have antibiotics so fingers crossed it eases tomorrow. I have a free weekend. No one wants my bugs ha ha. I am going to sew all weekend. Yah

makerealbany - 2013-06-14 19:58:00

Sewing? Are you working on your quilts?
B5's birthday today, we are all meeting up for a game of ten pin bowling this morning and a bit of a party lunch. I'm a bit disappointed with our present for him but every time I checked an idea out with my daughter she said she had already bought him that. In the end there was nothing left except to add to his Lego. Hopefully I will have a quite afternoon before tea at my son's. Not looking forward to seeing Chartreuse's empty tank. I've started taking my knitting when I visit, otherwise nothing gets done. LOL. Currently working on another sleeveless, hoody vest for the shop.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-15 09:19:00

It's been raining heavily since yesterday afternoon! Great for the ducks but starting to flood my garden. Too wet to rescue the last of my carrots so hopefully stops soon. Luckily we have a good system with the laundry now. B5's birthday was lots of fun and tea at my son's was wonderful.
Have to bake today but then it's knitting and reading on the agenda and toasties for an easy tea.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-16 11:06:00

It has poured here all day. I knitted a feathers and ostrich beanie. Black ostrich around the brim and black and blue feathers for the main part. This is for me lol. I have a purple one the same and wear it more than any of my other hats. I also worked on a quilt. I put in 3 cards of pins through all 3 layers. Took hours and I managed to stick myself several times grrrr. Still not the best but keeping myself to myself lol. My grand daughter who is 18 attended her last school ball last night. My daughters sent me photos. She looked stunning. So natural with a lovely dress she had made to her own design. I am so proud of her. Hard to be believe she was our little tomboy. She looked elegant without exposing all the skin her friends did. The amount of make up most of the girls had on was terrible. Instead of 18 year olds they looked like women of 30. The world is changing so much. I cooked pea and ham soup yesterday so tea is easy for me lol

makerealbany - 2013-06-16 17:22:00

Just the pressure on your fingers pushing in that pins would be bad enough let only sticking yourself! Mine ache thinking about it. I finished my hoody vest and I started a wee aran jersey. I'm trying to use up all the wool I've had for ages.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-17 07:37:00

My hat has been nabbed by my grand daughter so I will have to knit myself another one. I have started a beanie and scarf set for my youngest grandson who has been wearing one of his sisters. Lol he won't give it up and as it is really frilly and pretty his father is getting worried. Ha ha. Men are so silly at times. The sun is out at the moment. Yah.

makerealbany - 2013-06-17 13:58:00

The sun is shining here this morning but forecast doesn't look good for the end of the week. Hopefully the snow isn't too bad or doesn't come at all as I have to get across town for doctor's appointments etc on Friday. Oh yes, and work LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-18 08:52:00

M and J are here for a bath and sleepover tonight. There will be a plumber and builder working at theirs tonight. I pulled a muscle in my right leg today so it will be fun tonight not lol. It really hurts like the billio.

makerealbany - 2013-06-18 16:24:00

OW!!!
I'm trying to get everything organised in case we are snowed in. Hopefully if I'm organised it won't happen!!

grizzly4 - 2013-06-19 08:03:00

Hopefully it won't snow. I haven't had a chance to check the news yet. No Mainly Music for J and I today. Too hard to bend down lol. Just finished cleaning up the mess from the plumber and builder. They are young men and very tidy. In fact best tradesmen we have had. I got on the Deramores site last night and spent up ha ha. Free delivery is good. Wool4less was going to be another 36 dollars. So I did not order there.

makerealbany - 2013-06-19 10:43:00

I haven't heard about Deramores. Will check it out. I keep getting Damart catalogues in the mail for some reason (women's clothing). Haven't bought anything as yet ' cos some things are a bit old looking. Oh, that's right I am old. However they are the only place I can get a white merino from.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-20 09:28:00

I haven't heard about Damart either grizzly. It is freezing here and raining. We have had hail as well. It looks a hell of a lot colder down your way. I made bread today and thawed out a stew for a quick tea. Got my candles handy and my electric blanket is on so if the darn power goes off I am set ho ho. My virus is slowly weakening and my leg muscle is healing nicely. I am knitting another hat and scarf set. At less they are quick lol

makerealbany - 2013-06-20 18:57:00

Omg the thunder is dreadful. I filled a flask with hot water just in case. Silly Jed keeps wanting to go outside and two mins later he wants to come inside. I really need a cat door . It's pouring out there and I have to keep drying him grrrrr

makerealbany - 2013-06-20 21:33:00

I woke up with a shocking headache this morning. Neurofen not even touching yet. Just as I called in sick it started dumping snow. So cold!!!!!!

grizzly4 - 2013-06-21 09:35:00

Just watching the news gives me the shivers. You poor people down there. Stay in bed and keep warm grizzly. Just ignore everything and look after yourself.

makerealbany - 2013-06-21 23:01:00

Schools over on the east side were closed anyway yesterday , so was work. Snow didn't come to much anyway, thank goodness, here in the city. Worst was when I had to go out for more neurofen. LOL.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-22 10:30:00

Going to a High Tea to raise funds for my 16 year old granddaughters choir today. They are going to Europe for a competition. Not sure what you wear to a High Tea lol. My Midwife daughter told me her hospital is desperate for bootees for newborns again. They have a lot for the premi babies. I took her up some wool yesterday as she has started knitting again. Yippee. She said it is too cold and wet to do anything outside. So I will knit some up in my spare time this weekend.

makerealbany - 2013-06-22 11:49:00

How posh! How did the High Tea go? Did you wear a pretty dress and heels?
I didn't realise the hospital gave out bootees to non-prem babies? They must go through heaps!
Family day yesterday, watched DVD's and ate comfort food. I've definitely put on weight this last month between the stress with I. not being at work and then the extreme cold. I am basking in the sun writing this today though. Heavenly.

grizzly4 - 2013-06-23 11:16:00