Sharing experiences from my life, places I have visited, crafts I have created, and hoping to inspire other people in this journey we call life.
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I just realised that I have loaded up my latest pages but forgot to load up the pages before them. So I will now update my blog with them….and you will have heaps to look at and be inspired by 🙂 My next post won’t be scrapbook pages….okay 🙂
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Our Welcome On Wednesday (WOW) scrapbooking and card making mornings are well on the way for this year. We usually have 4 of us here each Wednesday but have actually had 6 ladies a couple of times. It is such a lot of fun and even though we only get 2 pages done each week, we all enjoy being together and the bonus of creating beautiful pages. I love scrapbooking! I also love looking through my finished albums. So as you can imagine everywhere I go I take my camera with me. I can’t miss another scrapbook opportunity, even though I still have heaps of photos waiting to be scrapped! I hope my pages will inspire you to create some for yourself. I certainly don’t mind you copying my pages….I also get ideas from other pages I see and love…enjoy 🙂
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I just realised that I haven’t loaded anything onto my blog since last year! And there has been so much to share as well! We had everyone home for Christmas, even C2 and D2 from London, and we had some fabulous family times together. C5 turned 20 on the 15th of January, D2 turned ? on the 19th of Jan, C6 turned 18 on the 24th of Feb, G1 turned 15 on the 24th of Feb as well, G3 turned 6 on the 5th of Feb, G2 turned 6 on the 29th of Jan, and Robin turned 57!!!!!! on the 2nd of Jan!!! WOW!!! So many birthdays and so much fun! We had a big family holiday in Rotorua and Hamilton to show D2 some of New Zealand. We also walked our walkway twice. Once with C1, D1, G1, G3, C5, her bf, C2, D2, Robin and me; and the other time with G2 and G4 on their bikes…I walked/ran behind them! Jordan worked at Powerco with Robin and C5 over the holidays and stayed with us most of the time as well. He is doing well at Uni and is onto his second year. C5 is now onto her final year of nursing and has been working at Taranaki Base Hospital. She has also left home and is flatting with a friend who is doing nursing as well. C6 has entered her Uni years. She is now living at the Auckland Uni Hall…and loving it I must say (by the looks of her photos oin Facebook….a little worrying I must add). No….seriously…she is a good girl and is studying hard. So that leaves Robin and me at home alone!!! After 6 children and many years, we are now home alone!!! Thank God for our Scrapbook/computer room! It entertains us nicely! I am loving the lower work load I must say. I only need to do washing twice a week! My house stays tidy..everyday! And the bathroom is amazing! It stays clean and we don’t have masses of towels to wash everyday! I do miss the company though and the girls brought LIFE into the house (boys did too, but that was many years ago really as C4 left home at 17 and he is now 25). We picked up G2 and G4 last weekend for 3 days and that was a very special time. I love having some of my Grand children in NZ even if they do live a 3 hour drive away.
Our family was also in 2 magazine publications. C4 and D3’s Wedding was featured in ‘New Zealand Weddings’ and G1 was in ‘Dolly’ magazine as a model! I am so proud of them 🙂 and have copies of both magazines to keep forever!!!
I am once again very involved in mainly music and have been leading the second session all term (and helping with the first session). We have 40 families coming along to that session (the same at the first) and we have lots of fun. I love singing and as I don’t worship lead anymore it gives me an opportunity to keep music and singing alive in my life…and hopefully blesses a lot of people at the same time.
Mum and Dad celebrated 64 years of marriage on the 4th of March. Well done I say! We all went out for tea and spent the night chatting about our childhood! We had lots of laughs and I think Mum and Dad realised just how much we appreciated our family and them as our parents. We took some photos outside the restaurant and had a laugh as we looked at the photos. The restaurant name was ‘The Ugly Duck’ and we took the photo under the sign. I was right under it! It was a bit of a shame that Rodney wasn’t there (as all four of us girls were), but we did get a family group photo on Christmas day 🙂
I’ll attach some photos as a sample of the time from November 2011 until now March 2012. Have fun browsing them xx
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C6 has had her final day at Sacred Heart College. That means my baby has finished school! How scary is that! Although she is happy and can’t wait to get to Uni next year, I am feeling less excited. Home is not going to be the same without her! At least C5 will still be here (when she isn’t at WITT, the hospital, with her friends or at Powerco…busy girl that she is). Robin and I are going to have lots of time with just the two of us…I guess we will cope 🙂 Mmmm lots of time to scrapbook, do other craft and maybe go away and explore more of NZ and maybe another overseas trip???
Last Tuesday evening we had the school prize giving and then Wednesday night the leavers dinner! C6 had a fantastic time with her friends. This week has started off with exams for her. The first being Statistics at 1pm today. She really needs to get good marks to be accepted into Uni. The type of degree depends on her exam results. It may be Chemical Engineering, but it may also be a Science degree???
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Does anybody ever read my blog????
Lately I have stopped writing on my Facebook profile and the only person who noticed is D1. I thought that I would just write on my blog but wondered if I am just writing into nothingness? I guess I can still share my thoughts , dreams and my everyday life and leave it at that, but I did think that this is a great way to link up with family and friends. Perhaps there are only a few of us really that use their computer on a daily basis?
I do have an amazing life! We live in a fantastic house. It isn’t perfect but it is ours and as I always say, it is a work in progress. I don’t think it will ever be finished. We have been painting the outside walls for approximately 10 years! Each summer we try to do just a little. Enough to make a difference but not too much to make us sick of the job. You see the whole outside of the house was sprayed with a product called ‘Rhino Coat’ and man is it hard to get off. We have to use heat guns and scrapers and it is a very slow job! Today we painted the last of the back wall…yay!!!! I did one very silly thing and painted one whole area in white, which I thought was topcoat. I did say to Robin that is was drying a bit dull too! It wasn’t until I was nearly finished when I  looked at the bucket of paint and found that it was UNDERCOAT! I know…you would think I would have checked that out properly before I started. Normally I would have! Today, I was pretty upset before we started. Robin had plans to build the base for his new water tank! I wanted to finish the painting so we could get the big planks of wood off our conservatory roof! These were used to stand on so we didn’t break the Novalight roofing, but they also made a horrible noise all night long when the wind blew…and they kept me awake at night. I wanted them down! So being grumpy at the thought of possibly another week of broken sleep, I got determined to get up on THAT ROOF and paint the wall myself! Did you know that I hate getting up on the roof? Well I do and even worse is getting back onto the ladder to get down! I guess that somehow I worked myself up so much that checking the label on the paint bucket was the last of my thoughts! Although I did think I had checked that it was topcoat. So after finishing the layer of undercoat over the first topcoat…I had to do another layer of topcoat paint to finish the wall off. Thankfully Robin felt sorry for me and he left the water tank for another day and helped to finish the painting. The planks of wood are now off the roof, stored in the back shed, and the wall is finished!
We now have to finish the front of the house and then it will be painted all around. Maybe this summer?
After that it will be the flat (which is connected to our house), we will need to paint it the same colour as the house….so we actually have another whole house to paint! I guess that by the time we finish the flat we will need to start all over again….what a lovely thought…NOT! At least the preparation time won’t be quite as painful as this time 🙂
Yesterday it rained all day so I decided to do some sewing. I cut out and sewed at whole patchwork area to make a single bedspread. I am thinking of giving it to C6 to put on her bed at University Hall next year. I just have to get some more material to finish it off. I will post a photo as soon as I can. I also managed to do a little internet shopping! Just as well it’s pay week! I love www.simonsaysstamp.com as they have set postage prices unlike many other American internet shops. I just have to be patient until my little package arrives. Hopefully it won’t take too long as I have ordered some Christmas papers to make my Christmas Cards with.
Tonight is Sunday and I love our Sunday night dinners! Tonight we had 10 of us….well 11 but Jess was a little late. A couple of months ago we decided to have family dinner get togethers and have it at different places each week. It was our turn tonight and we had Chinese takeaways! We all put in towards the meal and the person whose place it is at gets to chose the type of takeaway! Last week we had fish and chips at Mum and dads place. The week before it was Indian at Judy and Lens!
Right..time to sign off and get myself ready for another busy week! Robin is already in bed. He and Jordan leave for work at 7.30am. C5 is working at the hospital 3-11pm tomorrow and C6 has her first exam! I have to get to church to set up for mainly music…and catch up with the washing and housework…fun fun fun. I also have to start my J100 readings. 5 to read before Thursday night homegroup. This week I plan to be much better organised! PRAY for me PLEASE…I am such a time waster 🙂
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Robin and I mowed the lawns last night and the place always looks so much better afterwards. You don’t notice the unpainted outside walls so much and the ‘work in progress’ renovations seems to pale against the lovely show that the trees make at this time of the year. We are really settled in our home and can’t imagine living any where else in the world. But in saying that, we aren’t apposed to a move somewhere else. C1 and D1 have joked about buying a home in Sydney with a Granny flat attached. Now that could be quite tempting! In a years time both girls would have left home and this is a BIG place for just Robin and me. The only positive thing about staying here then, is the fact that we have plenty of room for all the family to come back to…at any time…but especially at Christmas. I just love having us all together. This Christmas is going to be great. C1, D1, G1 and G3 are coming from Sydney; C2 and D2 from London; not sure about C3 and the boys (G2 and G4) but they will probably be here some of the time; C4 and D3 (from Sydney) are coming in the new Year; and of course C5 (and her bf) and C6 live here. It’s going to be fantastic. I can’t wait!
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It’s now November and I am happy to say that we have had a few really hot days! I just love summer! I have been enjoying all the blossoms on our cherry trees and also the wisteria. Each day I see new growth and the green leaves appearing as the blossoms die off. I have also been able to enjoy eating my breakfast out on the deck, and being able to laze in our new conservatory (when I can make time available). Today I have hung out 3 big loads of washing and although the weather is a little changeable, seeing it all blowing in the wind and drying nicely is such a satisfying feeling for me. I love getting it all in dry and then and folding it up nicely. That is probably my favourite housework job! I am not a kitchen person…although I did make a lovely quiche for lunch and a big banana cake as well. C5 and her bf are happy to be together again as her bf has just come home from University for the christmas holidays. He has got a job at Powerco with both Robin and C5 so all three of them will be going in to work together. C5 has finished her second year doing nursing and her bf his first year studying engineering. C6 went to the Francis Douglas leaving dinner/ball last night with her boyfriend (I will post photos when I get some). She has her leaving dinner next Wednesday night. It’s so hard to believe that my baby girl is finishing her high school years. She plans to be studying Chemical engineering in Auckland next year, so is hoping to do very well in her final exams! Robin and I are filling in our lives with our various hobbies. We seem to be in the AS room (the anti-social room), as the girls call it every night we can. Actually it is the scrapbook room, which Robin has now invaded with his computer and double screens! He says he has to come out with me or we will never see each other. It really is a fabulous room and so warm and inviting, I just love it 🙂 I am really quite happy to share the room and Robin and I seem to talk more out in the room than inside the house. We thought last night that we could actually live in it if we had to…just need running water/shower/toilet and a sink! We have a microwave, a grill oven, a kettle, a toaster and a fridge already. I had a lovely suprise present from D1 on Thursday. It is a cute book on scrapbooking and has awesome little quotes in it. The card she made me was a real tear jerker! She wrote the nicest things in it 🙂 She is an amazing daughter in law…I love her! One little quote from the book…
‘It’s about the art and it’s about the writing – but more than anything else, scrapbooking is about the memories’
I loaded heaps of scrapbooking photos on my page last time I blogged so this time I am going to put up some photos of the views from my windows. The scene I see when I look out from my home each day (weather permitting of course). I hope you enjoy looking at what I see and it brings you some pleasure as well.
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I have just got back home from 15 days in Australia. C1 was going to the Formula 1 car races in Singapore and D1 suggested that I go over to keep her company. Booked a 5 day holiday and then my work said that I needed to take 10 days off in a row…immediately. I didn’t argue! Phoned and changed the flights and ended up with a 15 day holiday. The first 3 days we stayed in Sydney and then we all flew up to Brisbane for 6 days! Stayed at the Hilton and lived the hard life….NOT!!! Visited Australia Zoo, Dreamworld, Southbank Beach and did some shopping….and lots of swimming in the lovely warm hotel pool! Back to Sydney and stayed for the last 4 days..home on the 15th day away! C1 and D1 always spoil me with a wonderful experience every time I stay with them!! And…I just love seeing G1 and G3! My 2 lovely grand daughters. Also spent some time with C4 and D3. They are both doing very well in Sydney and as newly weds…well they haven’t been married for a year yet. I managed to do 15 scrapbook pages using the valuable time every evening. Funny how I manage to get pages done while away on holiday, but not while at home! Darn housework and the busyness of life! Makes me want to quit work and spend more time doing crafts…that I love doing….life is too short…but I do need the money to spend on crafts as well…so I will continue to work!
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So now I have started to set up the new room, and it has been so much fun! I am very spoilt! I didn’t realise just how much scrapbook supplies I have, but I LOVE them all! I thought I would share a few more photos with you. Some of the room and others of my latest pages. I hope you enjoy looking and get inspired to create your own pages
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Well…I am seriously thinking about finishing up with Stampin Up. (AND I HAVE GIVEN UP). The new catalogue comes out on the 1st of September, and I have a huge decision to make. Do I buy the new products and keep up with all the Stampin Up supplies…or do I finish up and just use the products I already have? They do have some really lovely stamping and scrapbooking supplies available, but as I don’t sell (as a business) it does get a little extravagant buying the products for my own use every quarter….and I do have heaps of supplies! Only trouble is that I now have an amazing scrapbook room! Yes a ROOM! We have converted our family/games room into a big craft/movie room! It is fantastic…and nearly available to use…I just need to load it up!
I am so blessed….I can’t wait to have all my scrapbook supplies set out and have our next Wednesday Scrapbooking group meeting out in the room! Photos will follow I can assure you!
So can you see my dilemma? I could turn Stampin Up into a business and work it from home. But do I want to turn my hobby into my work? Will I still enjoy scrapbooking as much or will it become less interesting because it will be my job?
I have a decision to make and I have to make it before the end of September.
The latest family news is that I have spent today at hospital with C5. She got her Gall Bladder out as it was causing her all sorts of problems and the doctors advice was to get it out so she would be more healthy. I have taken tomorrow off work to pick her up and be her nurse for the day. Me nursing a second year trainee nurse! It is going to be a interesting day. She was looking much better when we left her tonight so hopefully she will be able to just have a restful day reco-operating..and I can just spoil her 🙂
I have also had 2 weeks in Sydney seeing the family there. C1 and D1 went to Singapore for 5 days, so I drove G1 to the bus stop and G3 to school each day. Driving in Sydney isn’t as bad as I though it would be. Once in the car, it was just like driving around home, only the lanes felt a lot narrower! I have taken heaps of photos and will be busy scrapbooking them very soon. I managed to do some scrapbooking while there as well. So in my next post I will try to upload some of my latest pages to share with you.
Until then
Pam P 🙂