Wednesday 22 October 2014

I can't believe I'm actually going to write this but ...... I almost wish we were heading into winter rather than summer.  Yip I really said that - lol!!  And that from someone who loves summer. Notice I did say almost as I really am pleased that summer is on it's way, loving the sunny days, longer evenings, bare feet, shorts and t-shirt weather.  The reason I'm looking forward to winter is because my new wood burner has been installed and I want to use it.  Actually  I have had it on twice, not because I really needed it but there were a couple of coolish evening so I tried it out.  I love it.  The heat is amazing.  So nice to have the whole house toasty warm.  Here is a pic of the before and the after.


Unfortunately I do have to do a little bit of tiling as we discovered that they had not tiled under the old gas heater. There are tiles ther but they are the old tiles that they covered with the new bigger tiles. I am thinking of getting some sort of contrasting mosaic looking tiles to put into the empty space.  Haha I will probably find that I just live with it the way it is for the time being, it's not so noticeable as the wood burner sits over the top of it and in winter I will probably store some firewood under the wood burner and then it wont be noticeable at all.  Thankfully I was able to sell the gas heater which was a bonus.

Since I wrote last I have had a very busy few weeks.  I had an awesome day with my sister chicks from Wellington.  It is always so nice to be able to spend the day together but sadly it always flies by too quickly.  I feel very blessed to be able to call these two ladies not just my friends but my sisters as well.  They are wonderful listeners and encouragers and are a great blessing to me.

I have finally spent a whole day in my sewing room actually sewing.  I  finished 2 dresses that were waiting for hems and buttonholes and I made 3 other dresses from scratch.  It was an awesome feeling to be so creative.  I  can't wait to do some more sewing this coming weekend.  I have the spring cleaning bug and my sewing room has had a major overhaul last weekend.  I have been doing a lot of sorting out of fabric, measuring, labeling, and pricing for the Fabric-a-brac that I will be attending on the 1st November.  I am hoping to sell as much as possible of my fabric stash - and I have a BIG stash.  Once I was done with that I decided my sewing room needed a clean-up and that is exactly what it got, even the wardrobe got tidied.  I rearranged my sewing tables as well and I must say I'm very happy with the way things look - all neat and tidy. Almost a shame to mess it up again by sewing - lol!!  Inside the house I still need to spring clean the laundry, the downstairs office and the garage, but I think I might wait with the garage  till some of the boys are here to help.  Oh and the back shed could also do with a clean out - that is a job I'm not too keen on as I'm not sure what sort of creepy crawlies and little critters I might discover.  It'll def be a gloves on job.

I have been busy outside as well.  Last week I did the lawns twice in one week - the first day I did it without the catcher as it was pretty long, the next day I went over it again this time with the catcher on as I didn't like all the clumps of grass on the lawn.  My friend Diana reckons I have OCD - lol!!  She's probably right.  I can get a bit pedantic about some things. I just like things neat and tidy.   I even managed to mow the bank thanks to the ramp Dad sorted for me - 3 planks of wood.  It worked like a charm and means I can do it by myself.  Tomorrow if it is still nice weather I'll do the lawns again as they are growing so fast at the moment.  Diana's hubby Hillary came over with his chain-saw and chopped down 2 Camilla trees that I wanted removed and also cut the lower branches off both the lemon and orange trees so that I no longer almost scalp myself when trying to mow under them.  I even managed to get some firewood out of the removed trees. I also found a whole lot of very dry firewood under the deck which Hillary kindly cut up.  I've become a wood and stick collector - lol!!  It is a shame to throw branches away when they can be saved, dried and used as kindling.  That's recycling right!!!!  

Life can be cruising along just fine when bang you hit an unexpected bump. That's what happened the other day when I suddenly developed a tooth ache. I tried to ignore it but that didn't work very well at all, so reluctantly off to the dentist I went.  The dentist discovered that my molar had a crack in it, hence the pain esp when eating something cold. Much drilling and tension on my part and it was all fixed. I am pain free, well almost, the pain to my wallet is still being felt.

I have finally decided to do a course (assuming Work and Income will pay for it) on accounts admin and payroll.  I think I need to get some sort of qualification as there are a number of jobs I can't/don't apply for because I don't have the relevant skills.  It'll be good to have something to work towards and that I can add to my CV.

All in all I am  becoming content with my life, although I still have moments when being alone gets me down.  But I am finally finding my rhythm and my walk with the Lord grows stronger daily.  I continue to put my trust in Him and seek His guidance in my life.  I know that the Lord loves me and that I need to look to Him (which I do) but sometimes I can't help thinking that love with skin on would be nice too.

Well on that note I think that is about it for another chapter. 

Until next time.

Love and blessings.
Jolanda


Saturday 4 October 2014

It's Murphy's Law!!!!!

No sooner was my gas heater turned off than the weather went pear shaped.  The temperature dropped to winter temps  which resulted in the best dumping of snow on the Tararua's we've had all winter.  In fact since having no gas heater we are onto our second cold snap already.  I decided to use the oil column heater that I had been given, but for some reason it wasn't working so Dad gave me the instruction book to read.  But before reading the instructions I though maybe it would be easier to use the small fan heater I use in the downstairs office. Sadly that was not to be - it went - as in it turned on - but for some reason it wasn't heating, just pumping out cold air so no use at all.  I plugged the oil heater in instead and after reading the instructions turned the dial and there was a poof sound and a terrible smell and that heater had died too and fearing a fire I very quickly unplugged it.  Two heater down!!  I even thought (only  for a fleeting second  mind you) about sitting in the bathroom as it was nice an warm in there thanks to the towel rail being on.  My sister in law suggested that I could  fill the bath with pillows so I'd have a comfortable place to recline.  I must say candles can be a good source of heat and with the sliding door to the dining room shut the lounge does become warm-ish.  Thankfully I now have an old bar heater to use when I need it and thankfully to date it is still going.  The good news is that I can almost guarantee that as from this coming Wednesday the weather is going to improve - because that is when they are coming to install my new fire!!

My brother Ron and Dad are going to build me a wood storage shelter in an unused part of my back yard but close enough to the back door that I don't have to cart a full wood basket for miles.  I'll do some before and after photos.  It is an area that isn't used at the moment but does need mowing so I'm all for less lawn.  Better order some fire wood too.

It is a bit strange to now have no children living in Levin.  Something I discovered I do need to adjust too, and actually grieved over a wee bit.  Their lives all move on - as they should - but I must admit to feeling a bit stuck and left behind.  Not that I am making any plans to move as I totally believe that you shouldn't follow your children around, and anyway I have 4 so how do I choose???  I'm actually feeling a lot better about it now that time has moved on a bit.  We will just have to make an effort to stay in touch, but I guess that is the case in so many aspects of life.

Last week I had a lovely day out Op shopping with one of my best and oldest friends.  Not that this friend is old (although she is older than me, but only by about 11 months 2 weeks)  but we've been friends for years - in fact we worked out that we'll be hitting 38 years of friendship next year.  We decided that when we get to our 40th anniversary we'll do something special, DV, - no idea what we're going to do yet but we've got time to think about it.


Although we have had some cold days we've also had some lovely warm spring days as well.  Last week Wed was glorious so I made the most of it and spent the day outside.  I managed to get the lawns done, the veggie garden turned over and some veggies planted, my asparagus is starting to sprout new spears - yum.  I transplanted the strawberry plants which were growing in the veggie garden and planted them into containers for up on the deck.  Now there is just the front garden to weed and mulch.  I'm not really sure what to do with the front garden.  At the moment it's a bit of a wild mess with bulbs popping up all over the place.  It really needs some structure.  I'll have to give it some thought.

Mum, Dad and I did a trip down to Wellington 2 Sunday's ago to visit Dad Nugteren.  Nephew Andrew was also in Wellington and did the morning service.  Dad Nugteren came to Church which was wonderful, but very tiring for him.  We were thankful that we got to see him at Church because he was fast asleep when we went to the rest home to visit him - 2 nurses tried to wake him without any  success so we left him a note and headed back to Levin.  We plan to go down again sometime in Nov.

Rejection sucks - big time and it does little for your self confidence.  Last week Monday I had 2 job rejections in one day - it sure put a bit of a damper on my day.  I have been giving things some thought and when I go for my next meeting with my case working I will talk to her about maybe doing a book-keeping or beginners accounting course.  Or maybe I should go down a completely different track and do a hairdressing course.  It'll give us something to talk about.

I am really looking forward to this coming week - I'm having a 'chick' day with my 2 very dear friends from Wellington and of course my wood burner is being installed.  I am also planning on carry on my 'spring cleaning/sorting' which I started today by sorting out the wardrobe in my sewing room.  Today I did the wardrobe in the spare room.  I have applied to have a stall at the Fabric-a-brac event in Palmerston North at the beginning of Nov and want to see if I can sell off some of my fabric and accessory stash.  

Well that's it for another installment. 

Until next time.

Love and blessings
Jolanda