RIP....a sad time....

OK...so I didn't get back here as soon as I had hoped...sadly, my Mum passed away 2 days after my last post.

She had been very unwell for the past few months....a consequence of a fall in early May....but she had been struggling with Parkinson's Disease for the past 6 years. This had impacted her mobility, which was so hard for me to watch as she was such an active lady, and in the past few years her cognitive functioning had deteriorated too. 

I was there when she died....by a bit of a fluke chance...although I kind of like to think she maybe waited for me to arrive before she went, as she went only 5 minutes after me sitting down with her. So the last week and a half has been a blur of phone calls, funeral arrangements, lawyers visits etc....and I had to fit going back to work in there too. 

I will miss her terribly, but it is comforting to know she is no longer in pain or struggling to move.  RIP Mum.

I have been feeling very tired but I'm hoping I am coming right now. For me, this time brings back lots of difficult feelings and memories, of the death of our son (9.5 yrs ago when he was nearly 10 years old) and we have since also lost my day (in 2006) and Steve's Mum (in 2008)..I know...I need to just take it slow and look after myself...easy to say but a bit harder to do!!! 

So today I'm off to a friends to do some scrapbooking....I'm going to try and finish an album I have been doing about the renovations my son and his wife did on their house when they first bought it, about 4 years ago....it's on the market now so it's timely to get it done. I will try and post some pics of my scrapping.... 

 Caio 

 Sandra

It's been 3 long years....

So....hellooooo....it's me here..... ...there seems to be an echo...... I haven't blogged for 3 years and 12 days and tonight I just feel like starting again....because I can...because I miss being able to flick back and read some of the hum drum that is life ticking by...so I'm going to pop in here and post occasionally....not to keep in touch with people (I can do that of Facebook) but to record stuff.... I'm a bit out of practice, so if there is anything I need to know about privacy settings and the such like (I really don't want a new man friend from Utah or Manchester or Chile lol)...and anyone who reads this would like to tell me what to watch out for....I would appreciate it... Otherwise my plan is to pop in occasionally and record what's going on chez moi...in my little corner of the world....just for me....and anyone else who might fancy a bit of an 'ordinary life' read.... Tonight I am cold...like chilled to the bone cold...so I have turned the leccy blankie on and I may take a warming dip in the spa before bed....tomorrow I have a new group I am starting at work in the morning and my first infant observation visit for my first Post Grad paper (bubs is just under a week old...I have to stay "removed"...that'll be interesting)...so I will be sitting at this computer writing it up tomorrow night...or should be at least..... OK...there's a start....will check back in in a day or two... Ciao Sandra

A couple of recent piccies...

....of the very lovely grandies.

Taylor...

And Porter.....

Cute huh????

Caio
Sandra

I asked my eldest DS....

.... do you think you could have found a more messy occupation??
Izzy, our Gibstopper .....



...and his mess....




Caio

Sandra

OK...Time for a renovation update...

...still bedlam and huge mess (can't believe how much mess a gibstopper can make lol)

But we can see progress and the ensuite and downstairs bathroom are almost done.....just the odd cabinet, glass door, painting of window frame and mirror/s and glass splash backs to go. Kitchen and dining room are painted, tiling is done in entranceway, 2 x bathrooms, laundry and other bits but no functioning kitchen yet. Lounge should be ready to paint next week and the oven should be in and benchtops measured and ordered. Here are some pics....not good ones but all I can manage in the mess (my washing machine is currently in my office/scraproom...go figure lol.)

This is a peek at the kitchen...looking into my new huge pantry....shelves arriving next week I hope and I'm only stocking it with yummy goodies lol!!!
And the new wine rack above where the fridge is going...now we can't afford the wine to go in it lol!!

The flash new heated towel rail in the ensuite...

....and a peek at the tiled (double) shower in same ensuite (there is the same set up at the other end....so cool..

And the installed but not yet working gas fire in the lounge.....



Points to note:
- every tradesman thinks that their part is the most important bit (except maybe the builder, he was flexible and cruisy) The Tiler was precious, the gibstopper is very messy and steals my coffee (but he is my son and I love him dearly lol), the plumber and sparky just pop in and out when we call and quietly go about doing their own thing.
- we will probably run out of $$ very soon...aaarrrgghhh!!
- I'm sick of takeaways and BBQ, no room to prepare food and handwashing dishes in the laundry tub.
- Installing the spa pool first was sheer genius and probably one of the few things keeping us sane. Too bad we might run out of dosh before the kitchen is finished ha, ha.
- the lovely labradors are wondering if they will ever be allowed inside again....they have to stay out as they can't read the tilers "Keep Off" signs (remember, the tiler is precious).
- I would probably renovate room by room next time, not all at once
- I have to laugh or I will cry!!
- I'm over choosing taps and light fittings...and I have to choose one more tap this weekend....eeeekkk! Who cares, as long as the water comes out surely!!!

Will post more again.

Caio

Sandra

Does this look like progress...??

Over the last week or two, we have gone from this (dining room).....

....to this....

...and this (kitchen)....
to this.....
The island is from our old kitchen and won't be part of the new one. We have put in a big pantry so we don't have room for an island but we are having a "peninsular".....with a "waterfall" no less. Watch this space.

Meantime we continue to have to live with this (lounge).......
and this (bedroom)....
All we seem to do is shift stuff around so the work can be done.

The anticipation of it all being finished is almost too painful to bear lol.

Ciao

Sandra

YIKES....

...it has to get worse ..... before it gets better.


Now we have NO walls in the lounge, kitchen, dining room and stairs.

At least the lights still work, as does the bbq and the shower and toilet. Not much else is functional tho lol.

Now the builder is nearly done and once the plumber and sparky have done their thing, we have all the gibbing and finishing to do.

Sleep.....overated lol.

Caio

Sandra

YIKES....

And it's got worse...

I came home from work tonight and it's got worse. This is what Simon, our nice builderman, has done to my diningroom ceiling...

Its half gone and I now have a sky high hole over the stairs....exciting stuff eh!!

Caio

Sandra

Just so you know...

...why I'm not around much lol.

This is my kitchen and dining room at the moment.



I had a great time at Autumn Escape (away from all this) last weekend. Will try and post pics sometime but computer has died so dealing with laptop amidst all this......bear with me.

Caio
Sandra

Bad blogger...

...but never mind. For anyone interested, here are some photos of our house...so far.

In the beginning it looked like this...



Then this....





Still lots more to happen inside and out yet...more mess no doubt. The bricks will be painted grey to match

HAPPY NEW YEAR...

Alright...I know I'm 13 days late but at least it's not halfway through January yet...well not quite!!
2010 has started with some excitement for us....the builders are back but more importantly....

INTRODUCING.....
Porter Oliver Patton
Born 10th Jan at 6.52pm after a reasonably easy labour and 2 pushes....and he looks just like his sister when she was 7 days old don't you think.

So far he has been a dream baby for his Mummy and Daddy....and Nanna and Grandad are very proud.

Caio

Sandra

I said I'd be back...

....with some more images and news from 2009....

...before we run out of 09 and start 2010....

Scrapwise, it's been a "spits and spurts year". I've done a few pages, a few (mostly uncompleted) mini albums and been to a few events. Highlights would be Autumn Escape and I'm booked in for that one next year....luxury scrapping at Waireki Resort, just out of Taupo.
And Delys and I had a fabulous weekend scrapping (well I scrapped anyway ;-) ) at the Queenstown Spring Scrap Retreat
It was lovely to meet some of the scrappers from the deep south, and what a fabulous setting. Lara runs an amazing retreat I hope to return in 2010, maybe with DH in tow.

In May, I signed up as a Stampin Up demonstrator...mainly coz I love their products and wanted the discount. I have been doing a few demos/workshops and running some classes at my house. This Christmas I shouted myself a fabulous storage caddy (well, its more like a major piece of furniture) and here is a piccy of what your Grandaughter can do to your ribbon storage when you are not looking lol!!! Workwise, I have done too much this year and maybe hope to rectify this in 2010 by doing a bit less private work. I will still be working fulltime and doing my RJ and a few private Supervision clients (like maybe 4 not 9 lol)

Elliot has completed 6th form and is returning to do the 7th form next year. He has some good friends who he spends lots of time with and he is currently helping Steve with the renovations (lots of painting)
Toby enrolled at Uni (thru BoP Poly here in Tga) in the 2nd semester and is now studying towards a BBS or BSocSci. He is coaching rowing again....Otumoetai College moved from Tga Rowing Club out to Bay Coast during the year and he is enjoying coaching on a river rather than in the harbour...no early mornings!! He considers rowing his lifetime calling I think and just loves it. He is currently away with about 30 or 40 mates at Rhythm and Vines in Gizzy......poor Gizzy is all I can say!!

Steve has been madly taking photos all year and teaching photography at Capture-it. He left Pizza Hutt at the end of July and now works part-time as Breakfast Chef at Hotel on Devonport and does his photography teaching.
He launched his business as a professional photographer in November and is looking at specialising in Event photography.Those who know him will not be surprised at this...big events have always been "his thing"

Right Oh...I'm off to continue sorting and tidying my scraproom so I can get back into it again. Might try and post some pics of some LO's/mini albums a bit later.

Caio
Sandra

Hello out there...(this one is for Carol...waving frantically)

OK...so April to the end of December is a loooong time. I've found with blogging that if I leave it for a while, catch up is a hard game to play. So I leave it longer, and catch up gets harder, as so on...you get the picture.

2009 has been a very busy year. In fact, the last few months have been so busy , that I have crashed somewhat, and I am revising how I do things next year. Those of you who think I work too hard can heave a heavy sigh of relief and say "I told you so".

I will leave you with a few images from 2009 to let you know a little of what has been happening in my world...and I will return.....
I became a Stampin Up demonstrator (hobby level)
These 2 wonderful people are going to have another baby
They also bought their first house
We (finally!!) started major renovations....


And somewhere in there, my beautiful Grandaughter turned from a baby into this adorable little girl ;-)

I will call in later with some more images from 2009.

Caio
Sandra

I was going good...

...there for a while (during the Amazing Scrapobook Race I blogged a few times) but then that finished and life got in the way again. Never mind. I didn't win the Amazing Scrapbook Race....but that's OK. I had a blast for a few days, doing some pretty fast LO's which taught me that I can get into it if I put my mind to it. I'm going to Autumn Escape anyway...and I'm hanging out for it btw...but I'd had my eye on winning another place for a friend...who needs a good thing to happen right now. Here are some more of the LO's I completed....



Lots happening at the moment. DH and I had an awesome weekend away here and did very little but hang out together. It was just bliss. We are trying to get away together a few times in the year for a weekend or so. While we were away, DS achieved this at Lake Karapiro.....
For you non rowers, this is huge. To coach a crew to silver medal at Maadi Cup is a huge achievement at 19 and we are very proud of him!!! Same DS is moving out this weekend into a flat with 2 of his mates and he (and we.....ahem) is very excited about that.
I have a job interview tomorrow and am starting another module next week for some study I am working on. It'll be nose to the grindstone for me for the next month and a half.....after lots of scrapping and enjoying myself at Autumn Escape

OK...must go. The builders haven't started yet but it won't be far away...and then bedlam for a while...aaarrrgghhh!!


Caio

The Amazing Scrapbook Race

So in between the usual life happenings around here...I've been travelling around the world with the above competition at SBO
First night (Friday)... we were off to Canberra and had to do a LO using products sold at Aussie Scrap Source. This is mine. I've been wanting to scrap this old photo of Elliot ofr ages. It's out of focus but all our old photos are because our camera was broken for a long time. We didn't have the dosh to fix it then either :-(
OOOps the only photo I have of that LO is on the other computer and c**p so I will post it another day.
Saturdays we were off to Papua New Guinea and we had to scrap a page using the colours of their flag - red, black, white and yellow. Here is my page. And last night we went to China... and we had to scrap a page using handmade embellies. I'm not sure what I was thinking with this page but I really like it. I made the felt flowers and felt/chipboard buttons (using the sizzix) and the butterfly and other bits and pieces were using the slice and cuttlebug

Back to working full on again today so I'm not sure how many challenges I'll get done but I'm enjoying the motivation to get into it and get something finished.

TFL

Caio