G'day all,

I agree with Marnie, you should submit the stapler story to the Reader's Digest or similar Slavika. I enjoyed reading the story and of course we can all relate to it in some shape of form You wonder at times if 'they' think we are stupid or something.
Pleased that the re-upholstery of your d-i-l's furniture was a fun experience and turned out well.

Trudy Nice to 'see' you again. The 5 months old already, wow! I love my garden as well and cannot wait to get it looking the way I want it to. At the moment I have it just so it can be easily maintained.
Computer language can be daunting, in my experience the simplest interpretation is usually the right one. It took me a long time to realise that and invariable I would think the obvious is just too simple I am sure I can speak for Lily as well, that we would be more than happy to share any knowledge we have to help you.

AnnGood news from your doctor, I hope the results from your doctor continue to be good.

Peggy I hope your 'yard sale' went well. It is always a bit of a dilemma regarding vets but if your loved pet needs attention I guess you do as much as you canand your budget allows.

Well my sister is getting better and now just talks non-stop but is very appreciative that she was able to stay here. I will just have to continue to be patient, it was easier when she was quite sick

More problems with my tilers and it is still NOT finished. Winter has really hit here and we have had some horrendous storms and heaps of rain. So much so that my front yard was flooded and I had to try to unblock the stormwater drain All is well but it also has meant more delays with the tilers. Of course had the original completion date been kept to, the weather would not have been a problem!
I told them I was leaving for NZ on Sunday when in actual fact I am leaving on Wednesday morning. I have now told them that I have changed my flight and it MUST be done before I go and I cannot change my flight again. This morning they would get here at 8am, by 10am no-one. So I rang again and well surprise, surprise they had slept in and will be on their way immediately. Do you believe it, yes I am sure you would

Tomorrow I am taking my ds and his wife out for lunch and this afternoon I will get out in my garden and get rid of some of the cobwebs in my head and just dig around a bit!
Monday I have another challenge!
As most of you know we have a Landrover and the little Mercedes Dream machine. Before dh left he told me to take the Landrover for a run every now and again, of course I use the 'dream machine' mainly. Last Thursday I had to take my sister to the dentist etc. and thought I give the Landrover a run, well it wouldn't 'run' would it! It has dual batteries and dh has explained to me how I can jump start it easily!@#$%$#@
and then go for a fairly long drive to re-charge the battery. Then when I come home to disconnect the battery in the Landrover and the Mercedes before I leave for NZ.
I will let you know the outcome and if it really is as easy as dh says it is!

Have a great weekend all,
Cheers
Maria

Hi all
Maria: Yet again another 'experience' with people who say they are going to be there, and then don't show. Hope your dh is right and that you can do the battery charging easily. Can you call on your ds. He would probably guide y ou so that another time is would be easier to do.

Slavika: glad you and your dil had such a good time together and accomplished so much. What colors are you using? We are having a thunder storm so will depart for now. 'See' you later. Ann

Hi Everybody
Thanks for the kind words about sending my "staple story" on to Readers Digest but I think I will just keep my stories for you gals.
Maria sorry your tiling job is turning into a "story" too. They slept in....oh please what a way to run a tiling outfit.
Peggy how is your niece's dog making out now? They are like little sad children when you have to take them to the Vet.
The fabric my DIL chose for the sectional sofa is a pale sort of blue/grey (without a pattern). She just recently painted the family room in blue. We went to the fabric store yesterday and got the material for the toss cushions. She chose one fabric that has a gold background with swirl type pattern in the same sort of blue/grey and also a dark reddish shade. The red is another colour she wants to bring into the room. I had given her a old foot stool that I had stored in a corner of my laundry room and she is going to redo the legs and we will cover the top of the stool in that same fabric. She also got a co-ordinating fabric in the same gold background but with just an odd "dot" here and there in blue, and that reddish shade. The last colour was a solid in the reddish shade, so there will be three different patterns of cushions but about 8 or nine actual toss cushions. We got some fringe to put on some of them, and a couple we will sew on buttons or tassels. We managed to get them cut out yesterday and I sewed up three of them and she took them home to stuff them and hand sew the opening. They went to the lake early this morning but tomorrow my DIL and granddaughter will come back into the city and pick me up and we are all going to a bridal shower for my nephew's future wife, which starts at 2:00.
Marnie do you work full time? I think I knew the answer to that question, but it got lost in my head someplace. LOL.......
Last Tuesday evening my son was digging up the little vegtable garden my DIL has in the corner of the yard when DH and I stopped over to deliver something (neither DIL or the princess were at home). Our son was going out of town the next day and she wanted it done as she had already bought her tomato plants. A couple of years ago she had planted strawberries and they seemed to be doing very well, and I laughingly told my son not to dig THOSE up. He pointed to what I thought was "old onion" from last year that had gone to flower) and asked if he should dig that up. I said......"oh sure that is just last year's onion gone to flower". As soon as he dug it out of the ground I thought YIKES, I shouldn't have done that, because I really don't know much about gardening. Well it was "CHives" and I guess that is how they look and apparently some people even sprinkle the flower on salads. My DIL had a good laugh at what I had done (as my son was sure to tell her, that I TOLD him to do that).
Today I went to the Market Gardeners and bought more chives and I also bought a a little "sign post" from the dollar store. I painted the little sign post white and wrote "Chives by Baba" on it. I then went over to their place and planted the chives and put in the little sign. I feel better now.
Talk to you all another time.

Slavika: What A story about the stapler! Cant believe all you went thru!
You sure finished that sectioanl pretty fast. Would of taken me forever and a day

Trudy: Your Angel sounds so adorable! Cant blame you for spending all the time you can with her! I owuld be happy to help with the computer any any way that I can. I dont have this adobe CD writer.

Ann: Glad the news from the Dr is good!

Peggy: How was the yard sale?

Maria: Whats the tilers problem? Did he say how long it would take? Splet in? Good business sense

Been a busy weekend for us. Yesterday went up to a winery. Was fun and today went to an Arts Festival. Didnt buy nothing. They sure had some nice stuff tho. But nothing caught my eye.


Later !

G'day all,

Last day home tomorrow!
Catching up on some washing etc. today and then attempt to use jumper leads to start the Landrover and go for a long drive to charge the battery. I will go slowly insane if I was here for much longer with my sister, she just follows me around everywhere and asks as many questions (if not more) than a 2 year old
It is a public holiday here today so hence no tiler, he should be here tomorrow to finish off.
Spoke to dh this morning and he said we will definetly be back sometime in July so here's hoping

Be back tomorrow before I go because then I will only be able to post perhaps once a week.

Cheers
Maria

Hi everyone I'm back again and really have spent the whole morning just reading all your posts. So much has happened since I last posted and it was only a week ago.

Trudy I can't believe that the angel is now 5 months old. I think back to when mine were at that age and know what lies ahead of you. They are wonderful at that age and so knowing.

Maria Wednesday has come around so quickly even although you have had all that trouble with the tradesmen. Have a nice flight over to NZ mate and enjoy yourself whilst there.

Slavika I agree with everyone else that you should send the story about the stapler in to Readers Digest. I know that you write for just us but you have hidden talents.

Marnie Your dinner out will not break your point bank if you have calculated carefully. Have fun and eat what you want.

Ann Glad that your Doctor gave you good results.

Peggy I presume that your "yard sale" is the same as our " garage sales", they are always successful and are definitely the thing if you need the cash.

Well ladies until next time love to all I have forgotten and above all.

Take care,



Jenye

Slavika I am laughing at your chive story. Here you are planting them and I am trying to get rid of them. I put some in years ago and they are so pretty when they bloom. I used them in cooking. Well last year they magically came up EVERYWHERE. It is sort of like the play The Little Shop of Horrors. I think their roots go down to China or maybe Maria better watch out-they will start appearing in her yard. I spend at least 10 min a day trying to get rid of them. Next time I will put them in a pot.
Jenye yard sales are the same as garage sales. There were no treasures this week. Now if I had little kids that would be the place to buy baby stuff and toys. I am always looking for something different to paint on. I like baskets too.
Lily would love to visiting the wineries. You always seem to go to fun places. We went to an art and craft show yesterday in Oxford. I didn't buy anything but a bar of handmade soap. I love different kinds of soap. They always smell so good.
Maria hope you get the car started so you can get away from your sister for a while. Do you think you will be missing her while you are gone?
Hi Ann and Glenda?

G'day all,

The last thing to pack up is my computer so I thought I would quickly come here before doing that.
I am just about going insane with my sister, she just never shuts up with inane rubbish
DS thinks I am a bit unkind at times but last sunday he experienced the same for 2 hours and when he spoke to dh this morning he said he was feeling very sorry for Mum!
The worst part is that she doesn't mean anything maliscious and so you feel guilty. She has very little in her life so when I stripped the bed this morning to wash the sheets she took half an hour to tell me the pros and cons of rotating sheets
Enough of that! By the way we never did get the car started, I just couldn't cope with my sister hanging over my shoulder offering advice. I rang dh and told him I will disconnect the batteries in both cars and he can use jumper leads to start the Landrover when we get home again.

DH is picking me up tomorrow from the airport in Auckland and then we drive back to Hamilton (about a 2 hour drive).
The tiling is finished and it looks great. I now want to plant 15 English Box plants this afternoon and get a little hedge on the way and then I am just about done.
I will look out for the chives Peggy I have never had the problem you speak of with chives but I have with mint.

Thats about it for now, 'speak' to you sometime from New Zealand.
Take care all,
Cheers
Maria

Good Morning, All

Well, the pigging-out (when my sister was here)caught up with me. Yesterday at WW I was up 3.4 lbs! Drat! However, yesterday was perfect food-wise. I need that old phrase as a mantra: IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT!

Maria, I bet I missed you: Safe Trip I hope you can access "us" when you get to New Zealand. So glad you finally got that tilling done. I'm thinking of getting a large patio tomato plant - I love fresh tomatoes. BTW, our sisters are exactly alike. Mine is a non-stop talker, too. I need quiet time and she can just gab, gab, gab until she falls asleep!

Slavika, I work 3 days a week. ...and that's enough. I'd like to stop full-time, but we need the income. I eventually would love to work for WW - either as a lecturer or weigher. Gotta get to goal weight and maintain before that happens!

You are all so creative with your pictures! I think it would be great if Maria & Lily could "educate" those of us who are not really computer-literate!

Today I'm going to see an Ear and Throat guy - since I had that cold, I've lost my sense of taste and smell. Frustrating for a person who loves to eat. When I can't smell onions cooking or coffee brewing, I know something's not right. I hope it can be corrected with some kind of antibiotic.

I'll check in after the doctor today.

Marnie

Slavika: How cute of you to do that with the Chives. You really didnt need to as they will be back as Peggy said. I have some. Pulled them up one year and they came back anyways. Never heard of using the flower on it before. Do love chives!

Maria: Have a good trip! Be careful! Glad the tiling got done before you left!

Peggy: We have so many winerys around here. Its fun to visit the different ones. Alot of people dont even know they are up there in the hills. And alot of them are better than the Napa Valley winery's. Sides much better to visit as it isnt as busy as Napa.

Marnie: Good luck with the DR. Hope it gets taken care of. Would drive me nuts not to beable to smell. Im sure you will get that weight off, not to worry!

Best get busy ALAS......

Hi All: Still no results from the bone density test. Today we went to the Dermatologist. DHhad to have a couple of spots zapped with liquid nitrogen.(pain) But I was just fine. He is very fair, and spent a lot of time in the tropics so now he is paying for it.

Marnie: You'll do it. We all take those trips backwaard once in a while. Just keep on keepin' on.

Ash: good to hear from you again. How is your WW progroam going?

Maria: Sorry I missed your last day, but I know you will let us hear from you when you have the opportunity.

Hey-Lily, Peggy, Glenda. Have a good day. Ann

P.S. Slavaika: Your stapler story is a good one to be passed on. The colors that you are using sound very nice. You are just 'too clever'.
Hi Trudy: Glad you are enjoying your little Angel. They do grow up so fast. Ann

Hi Everybody:

After filling out a ton of forms, I saw the doctor about my loss of smell & taste. He gave me a prescriptiong for some type of cortizone which I started this morning. I have to go and see him again next Monday!

I'm working on day 3 of staying within my points range - and yes, I've drunk the water (which is hard for me). Oh, and, our grocer did not have the Fruit 2/0, but plan to check at our Target.

Hope you're all having great days.

Marnie

Slavika - I loved your stapler story too. I mostly loved the description of 7-year-old Todd. What gets to be weird after awhile is having doctors who look like they are 10. You know, having your innermost being looked at by a kid. Ah well, the joys of being the older generation!

I haven't been here in awhile because work gets more and more stressful. They are trying to decide who gets the boot and who doesn't. When we both work here, that is a little bit more stress than I want at this time in my life, you know? Are you others in other states and countries having this bad economic time?

Went to a church function last night. We had a special program about marriage and we could bring our wedding pictures. So funny. I brought out 40-year renewal of vows ceremony (2 months ago) and most had their original pictures when we couldn't even recognize some people. And you know why? It was because of such huge weight gains in people. I came to the conclusion that aging is so much worse when somebody has gained 100+ pounds. That is also something we have control over, not the excess neck skin. Anyway, I cheated and everybody still recognized me.

Trying desperately to keep the stress level manageable so that I can keep the point level low enough.
Glenda

Marnie: got the fruit 2/0 at Sams Club. You might try from Walmart Clear american. It is a carabonated drink, and comes in several flavors. my favorites are Tropical and Mango/Peach. The carbonation is not too much. I think I like these just as well as the Fruit2/0. Difference is the sweetener. F2/0 used Splenda and ClearAmerican uses Nutri sweet. Hope you can find some.

Glenda: Nice to hear from you. sorry you are experiencing the stress at work. Just read that the city of Orlando is going to lay off some 200 people. Their city budget is in trouble. I heard a commentator the other day talking about how the American idea of deficit spending is finally catching up with us. We shouldn't spend what we don't have. But no government wants to bite the bullet, I guess.

Hi everyone. Have a good day. Ann