Sorry to be so long!

Sorry everyone. I haven't been very well this week. The dreaded anxiety disorder has been playing up, so I've basically come home from school and made tea, then curled up in a ball on the couch until bedtime. Don't worry, I've been to the doctor. Mr B has prescribed lots of sun over the Queen's Birthday weekend, and we had a wonderful walk out at our new territory today. I even found a handful of windfall feijoas and ten cents. Good omens, I think. The air was fresh and I saw sheep, pigs and a donkey.

I'm going to bore you all with more photos of the progress on the house. I must get working on some other things to take photos of. I haven't done any sewing apart from some stuff for school.

Today the foundation men poured our slab. It is all shiny because it is wet still.

The buckets are where the showers will be. Richard, our builder, says the framing arrives next Friday, and by then the drainlayer will be finished. In three weeks we will have a roof. It is going so fast. I'm going to make a little garden bed to heel in some roses and other things. I've started pillaging my garden. Richard didn't bat an eyelid when I told him where Merlin's (Mr Bunny) house would be built, and said there should be a bit of leftover timber for compost heap creating. I need untreated stuff though. I'm going to have 3 wooden bins in a row so I can turn it properly, and have the compost curing while I make a new pile. I've got a fat plastic bin, but it is hopeless for turning. I'll still use it, but it takes a long time to make compost. I'm going to have a worm farm too.

We are off out to Di and Al's place for dessert and to watch the rugby final. Di and I will probably watch a DVD. She usually has a good supply. I've got soup bubbling away. Just my usual minestrone recipe, but I had a bok choy to use instead of the usual cabbage. Should be fine. I put lots of celery leaves in too because I love the flavour of celery. I should be making all sorts of soup recipes, but why mess with perfection? My minestrone is like therapy. Delicious and full of vegetables. Yum, I'm off to have some. XXX

Saturday

Mountain climbing on my new house!

New coat looking fabulous! Weightwatchers starts again tonight. Good hair though.

New gumboots. These are really cute. I got them at The Warehouse, which I must say is up marketing itself quite successfully. My old ones are all split (plus I stood in a dog mine and haven't scrubbed them yet). These are for visiting the building site as it is rather muddy.

Tonight is the pudding-off challenge at Mrs CT's house. I have made a pavlova from the Weightwatchers cookbook. It has a meringue pavlova (rather than the recipe I usually use which has items in addition to the meringue egg white and sugar). Mum will know what I mean. Plus it has a ricotta and yoghurt whipped up topping (with icing sugar to sweeten), then it is topped with fruit. In my case boysenberries. Apparently we are having pizza, but because we are having puddings I am going to make myself a big salad to eat instead. See, told you I'm back on the Weightwatchers. Not going to the meetings though. Too many miserable looking plump people paying over cash to stand on scales and buy the overpriced, underflavoured Weightwatcher's food. My jeans are digging into my tummy and I've decided to make a stand. So Taming the Chocolate Baby will explore my lower calorie cooking experiments. Shame I'm so greedy. I'll set myself some goals tomorrow, and any fatties who want to join me confessing their sins and offering support will be most welcome.

Books to the rescue!

I thought you'd like to see the results of yesterday's pie baking frenzy.

And in rather sinister close-up:

If it wasn't such a gorgeous golden colour I would think it was a close-up of a teenage boy's face.

I loved eating it, but it wouldn't win any prizes in the home baking section of an A. and P. Show. I'm guessing that the main problem was that the pastry was "tough" which seems to be the ultimate crime in pastry making. Certainly no problem to eat, but it lacked the "short" quality of a good shortcrust pastry. And left a lot to be desired in flavour. So when I was out looking for communication motivators for my students (long, complex story - not really a bloggy one), I spotted this pretty book. It contains a recipe for apple pie, and many other delicious, traditional goodies. Just the thing, I thought.

I also found the latest (in NZ) copy of English Country Living. A glorious treat for later.

XXX

The Big Hole and Apple Pie

I hope you are all having a great week. I am in one of my crazy busy moods, and thankfully the horrid cold is slowly fading away, so I have the energy to unleash. I've been organising lots of stuff at school. And tonight I whipped up a batch of my minestrone soup, and decided that the last of the farm apples needed eating up. No Nanny to make a pie, so I decided to have a go at making pastry myself. I am guessing that 50 years ago most women my age would be able to make pastry with their eyes closed (possibly even wearing one of those dresses with the big puffy skirts and tiny waists). I've hardly ever needed to make pastry before, so I had a quick look at the internet. Hmm. Didn't look too hard. Just use twice as much flour as shortening (butter in my case- lard being extinct in my house). Use a bit of salt, sugar for a sweet shortcrust and water. It looks ok. It rolled out nicely and looked suitably rustic and lumpy. We shall see. I got Mr B to get me some cream, so lashings of that whipped up will disguise any deficiencies in my domestic abilities. It is looking golden and yummy, with some frantic bubbling at the edge of the pastry where the apple is either crying out for mercy, trying to escape or cooking merrily.

I thought you would like to see progress. This was THE HOUSE near the end of the day yesterday.

And here is my lovely big pile of wonderful soil.

Right. I had better go an pop my domestic hat on again and get my pie out of the oven. Mr B is doing his best impression of a 1950's husband too, reading the paper with his feet on a cushion. I'd better be a good wife and feed him. XXX

The non-picnic

Welcome to our non-picnic. We'll pop the cork on the non-wine (sparkling grapejuice- red and white).


Can I offer you a chocolate biscuit? Guaranteed to be real ones.


Digging the first hole where the front door will be. As you can see, velvet is suitable for all occasions.


Well, trying to dig the first hole where the front door will be. Call in reinforcements!


My hero! Victorious! After all of that great work building our house, let's go to brunch at The Thyme Cafe.

The big digger arrives to enlarge our hole tomorrow. Fortunately I will have nothing to do with it. The foundation should be poured within about 7 days. I started the rampage today, and have just been packing up the first box of clutter. Apparently when selling a house clutter is a bad thing. I attacked the garden with fervour too. Plus made a casserole for a couple of weeknight dinners when I'm too tired to think about cooking. Going out for tea tonight. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and has a brilliant week. XXX

Ps. Thanks to Mr and Mrs CT and The Fergs for attending the non-picnic and having a few laughs over digging a very small hole! XXX (Next time I'll get twice as many choccy biscuits).

Button me up!

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post. Feeling a bit better today. Not nearly so tired, and I had a non-contact day (no teaching, just paperwork), so that took the pressure off a bit. I am looking forward to Project Runway later, so I hope I can stay awake that long. I love watching designers at work, even if it is in a reality TV competition. I get inspired, and I get a few tips on how to get the best out of my dressform and Muse, Ruby. Plus I love the drama, the tantrums and the disasters. And the beautiful creations (if there are any).

So on to some creative stuff. These are the first pieces from the Poppy Black "Button me up!" range. They may, in fact, be the only pieces, since I am far too busy to go into production. Plus I made them out of recycled pants and two recycled skirts (total cost $6 with spare material for other small projects). I machine embroidered the stems and leaves (Grandma's old cotton) and used vintage buttons from my stash. I sincerely hope I didn't unconsciously copy anyone elses work, and request that no-one copies these (I think they are awesome enough to be copied).

"Button me up!" cushion. Recycled linen front and angora-wool blend blue reverse. Left side looks wonky because I haven't sewn it shut in my haste to show you. I've stuffed it with some dacron offcuts. A nice pillow inner would be much smoother, but not free or recycled!

"Button me up!" scarf. Materials as above. You can see the blue angora-wool reverse. The light is making it look rather wrinkly, which it is not in person.

Love the buttons!

The blue one in the middle really catches my eye. I always like vintage flower shaped ones too (on the left).

I can't wait to work on my next project. What will it be? I've got three skirt ideas mulling around, including the apron skirt. Plus I have decided that Miss Dog needs a couple of respectable blankets for lounging on under the heat-pump, or by the fire. Maybe polar fleece with a waterproof reverse and some embroidered/appliqued detail. She is a girly dog, after all. They must be easy wash and quick dry. Maybe she need some fleecy dog pyjamas (no, my dog has her dignity intact, and it will remain so).

For those of you who were wondering what "The Secret" is, it was originally (I think) a book by Rhonda Byrne. I was lent a copy of the DVD documentary kind of movie version by my boss, who swears by it, as do most of the other senior staff at school. It is new age, self-help kind of stuff, which I don't usually prescribe to, but is so positive and fun that it can't do any harm. After all, being grateful for what you have and working on feeling positive about everything that you do has to make for a happy day. It does, except when you are in a foul mood because of a cold that one of your students gave you because he didn't stay home when he was all sick and snotty. My students can't blow their own noses, and you don't want to imagine the results of a very grotty nose unmanaged by a teenager. UUUgh! Not much to be grateful for there. Maybe I should be glad it wasn't TB or the plague. No, actually I'm thankful for my vast supplies of rubber disposable gloves.

Enough whinging about that! I've got flooring samples on my living room floor. I have an idea about what sort of carpet I want. My kitchen is going to be fabulous and country looking, and will most likely have a granite bench and cream cupboard doors. Mr B bought the kitchen appliances. Mrs CT will have space in her storage lockup shed so I can start packing and declutter around here. Hopefully the weather will be good over the weekend as we want to do the long-awaited celebration picnic on our new land before our builder starts making a big, fabulous mess. Have a fantastic weekend everyone! XXX

THE HOUSE is started!

I can't believe it. Our builder started work today. He has been building the boxing for the foundation. The photo above makes the section of land look quite small, but it is almost 800m2. Mr B and I are going to visit on Saturday so he can show me the progress.

I should be mega happy, but I had a day off school today because I have a bit of a cold, and I am soooo tired. I slept all morning. Very hard to keep my positive frame of mind when I am feeling crappy. I managed to work on a cushion. I made it out of two horrible skirts, one linen and the other a wool-angora blend, that I got from the second hand clothes shop. Will post photos once I have stuffed it.

Friday tomorrow! Thank goodness. XXX

Goodies for me!

Today is my first whole day of following "The Secret" way of thinking. I had a pretty good day really. I felt good, and although it wasn't an easy day, I made it to home time with energy to spare. I had a few lovely discoveries today.

I picked my entire crop of kiwifruit. Here they are:

Two perfect fruit. They looked so pretty inside that I had to show you. They are smaller than the shop-bought ones, but longer in proportion to their girth. I must say that kiwifruit are not something I will be growing in my next garden because they grow so huge, and you need a boy and a girl vine. You can get some sweet little ones that I think they call cocktail kiwifruit. If that doesn't grow too big it might be worth a try. They are horribly expensive in the shops. Regular kiwifruit are really economical to buy in season. I boycott the ones imported from Italy out of season. It seems utterly ridiculous to import them from around the world when the locally grown ones are so abundant for much of the year.

Look what I found in the mailbox today. A parcel from Meg.

Inside was the beautiful coat she got for me from the NZ auction site Trademe. Look at this amazing fabric!

I am going to wear it with all black and look very stylish indeed. And here are the long-awaited mint flavoured Kerstiens Dragon Drops. Meg was desperate for us to try them, but we got a bag and they were all fruit flavoured. Fruit was delicious, but it was the mint ones she was excited about. She had to do a special order. The Kerstiens people were very obliging. They were worth the wait. They have dark chocolate on the outside and peppermint fondant with chocolate fondant swirled through it, and just a hint of some kind of liqueur flavour. Utterly delicious.


I went for a look in Millers on the way home today. It is a furnishing shop, but, as I predicted, I left with no more ideas. It is a very middle-of-the road, rather boring shop. So I popped into Toffs, which is a second hand clothing shop. We call thrift shops op-shops over here. I popped into Toffs, which is a warehouse full of clothes and a few books and general crappy stuff, to look for some linen to craft with. Can't show you the clothes I found because they went straight into the wash. Lets just say Toffs appears to just take used clothing and hang it on coathangers without a wash. It has a horrible stale old clothing smell. I also found this Monica Dickens book. I read "Kate and Emma" up at the farm and loved it. Now I've got the complete versions of five books in this one big fat volume.


A Sad Postscript. Don't read if you don't want to hear about cruelty to animals.


I have been keeping one eye on "Border Security," which is a television programme about customs and immigration in Australia. I just saw a horrible feature about snakes that were imported illegally from Thailand. It makes me so angry that someone would put living creatures in little boxes and send them in the mail. Wildlife smuggling. Just awful. Another display of disgusting human greed. I'm terribly sorry to say that the snakes had to be euthanased because of the risk to Australia's reptiles, which I can understand. But what a awful, awful waste. I love snakes. So many people shudder at the thought of them, but they are so beautiful and elegant. We don't have snakes here, so I've only seen them in captivity in Australia, sadly. I send out my love to all of the snakes in the world. May you be left to live your lives in peace. XXX

Chamber Music Afternoon

Gosh I am musically exhausted! I had a chamber music afternoon at the Christchurch School of Music. All of the participants were adults. Mark Walton, the Music Director of the Christchurch School of Music, is hugely supportive of adult musicians, especially adult beginners. I really do prefer playing with adults after a week at school with my students. I played with my regular trio, which consists of me on the 'cello, a violinist and a pianist. They are much more advanced and experienced than me, so the group really challenges my skills. We had two great tutors today. I must say that by the end of rehearsals I was playing pretty well, and the performance wasn't quite as good, but that was the nerves. I am really pleased I gave it a go! Sorry, no photos.

Today I watched The Secret on DVD. Have any of you seen it, or read the book? I guess some people might think it is all hogwash, but it is such an amazing positive way of thinking. That's just what I need. It can't do any harm. More on Taming the Chocolate Baby as I get the time. I had a great example of the thinking today. I decided to be really positive about performing today. At the end I was calm and happy. I'd hashed up some notes, but played lots of the piece really well. A friend of mine also played in a group. She was wonderful to listen to, and I really enjoyed her performance. I had noticed a bit of a mess up at one stage, but it made no difference to me. When we left together she was berating herself madly for playing "the worst performance ever" and sounded so annoyed with herself. Actually, she had arrived at the same time as me and already had a bee in her bonnet that she went on and on about. I had a great afternoon with lots of learning and laughs. My guess is that she went home and thought what a terrible time she had had, and how badly she had done. Maybe The Secret is going to work for me! It is all about thinking positive thoughts.

Enough ranting on. I've got a few jobs to do and they WILL be fun! XXX

Interior Design for THE HOUSE

It is time to really start thinking about interior design details for THE HOUSE. All of these pretty fabrics are from the Welsh company Elanbach. I have had a drool over their website tonight.

I love this fabric as it features some of my most favourite flowers. It comes in a wide variety of colours, including pretty blues, creams and stone. Elanbach don't appear to have stockists in this part of the world, sadly.

Tomorrow we meet with our kitchen designers. I have some pictures of how I would like my kitchen to look (from Country Living, of course). But I'm sure price will limit what I can have. I'd like a clean, simple look with painted wooden joinery, but I'm sure a laminate finish will probably be the affordable option. Cream. Then I can match anything with it. Plus I want the perfect handles. I'm fussy about handles. I must post a picture of my perfect kitchen cupboards and shelves, made by Daddy Black. Mr B said I'm not allowed to take them with me to my new house. I guess half of the kitchen here would be gone if I did. I'm sure Daddy Black will make me one or two pieces of furniture for my new house. He is great to work with because I just give him a plan of what I want and he makes it. It is too much to expect him to make me a whole bespoke kitchen though.

Oooh! I'm getting excited! XXX

Excited!

Guess what? I've been selected for the Reader Panel for the New Zealand House and Garden magazine! I had to write answers to a series of questions about the magazine to be selected. I am one of twenty people on the panel, chosen from hundreds of replies. The Reader Panel gets to contribute ideas and answer questions about the magazine to help to shape its future. The great thing about NZ House and Garden is that it is already moving towards being more friendly and "real", with lots of interesting articles. I can highly recommend the May issue. There are even miniature ponies! My lovely mother-in-law gives me a gift subscription for my birthday, so I'm a lucky girl.

It is always exciting to get a subscription magazine in the mail. Well, unless it was Hunter Monthly, or Diesel Mechanic Weekly. Actually, one of my lovely students often brings hunting magazines to school. Their editors' ideas of a good cover is a dead animal picture with the (usually hairy and unkempt looking) man and the weapon that took its life. Don't you worry, NZ House and Garden readers. There wont be any hairy men with tools, working on a house or garden, featured on the cover.

I feel like I've won a prize! I really thought I could be a great member of the Reader Panel when I wrote the answer to the selection questions. Maybe that positive attitude helped along the way. I'm a happy chicken :) .

Darling Mummy's Birthday

Happy birthday Mummy! All the way over in France on the trip of a lifetime. I haven't got a fabulous photo of you. Next time we are together we must have a photo shoot and get Mr B to get a decent picture of the two of us. So I decided to put a photo on of what I think would have to be your greatest achievement. Us. (Plus one extra- Ryan, treasured son-in-law).


This was taken in the Botanical Gardens when we decided to recreate the famous photo of us as little people riding the 4 seater rocking horse. Unfortunately our search for the horsey was fruitless, and we ended up looking like a bunch of weirdos in the children's playground with no children. The boys couldn't wait to get out of there. Actually Meg and I couldn't wait to get away from the hoards of small children.

Oh, by the way, sorry none of us have given you grandchildren. Just granddogs, grandcats, grandguineapigs and a grandrabbit. You know the situation is pretty hopeless when one of your daughters says she couldn't possibly love a baby as much as she loves her dog. That wasn't me, by the way. I've already got 7 giant babies, and I don't need any more. There's always the seedlings.

For anyone who doesn't know my mum, she is an outstanding daffodil breeder and grower. She was even asked to judge a very important class in an Irish show recently. She is an international daffodil judge. I grew up with the annual daffodil season. During Spring, the only way to spend quality time with Mum was to go out to the daffodil patch and help her to hunt for show quality flowers. There was a brief time when I looked like a promising candidate to take over the empire. I won the Champion Bloom at the Christchurch Daffodil Show on my first attempt. I promptly retired from showing, having reached the pinnacle of success (in my opinion). Of course Mum has reached much loftier heights, and has created some absolutely amazing seedlings.

So dearest Mummy, I am so lucky to have you as my mum. May we have many more years of birthdays, the Crazy Snake, and the best pavlovas in the world. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Our builder stakes his claim!

Look! Our builder put his sign up on our land today. Pretty exciting. Mr B is talking with him about access, driveways, munching up the land with heavy equipment etc. I will really believe it is going to happen once the land gets dug up. Plus we are meeting with the kitchen people on Saturday. I wonder if they can make my Country Living kitchen?

I have to say thank you to all of the lovely people who have left me comments. I was so thrilled to get 8 today (and I had only written one myself). I am feeling pretty crappy with my awful ongoing headache, and my students were a bit of a challenge today. I don't usually write anything about them, but one of them was howling repeatedly for long periods (kind of like a scream- that loud) today. It is hard when they can't tell you what is wrong, and you have to just keep on running the class programme with the noise. Anyway, I love them all to bits, and a bit of screaming is hardly worth getting my knickers in a twist about. It is just that with one eye feeling like it is going to pop out of my head with pain, and feeling kind of sick at the same time, it is hard work. I love my evenings 'cause they are my creative time. I get disappointed when I can't do anything but do a bit of blogging and lie down. I've got another brilliant plan for a skirt (if I might say so myself). XXX

Rescued from the ragbag

As promised, some pictures of me in my newly made skirt. I've never taken a picture of myself in the mirror before. It is a wee bit wrinkled because I wore it all day at school. The front is made of the fabric rescued from a ragbag, and the back is fine denim. It is sooooooo comfortable! That is because Ruby, my dressmakers model, helped me to fit it to my body shape. Usually when I make skirts they don't sit right over the hips and waist, but with Ruby's help I was able to put darts in the right place and bring the seams in perfectly at the waist. I like the length too. I prefer wearing knee-high tights (preferably in fancy patterns) rather than full length pantyhose, and there's no way I'm flashing my knees and thighs to anyone. I'm an old-fashioned girl. I hate the narrow band on pantyhose that digs in and leaves unflattering flab bulges. I'm not a supermodel, but I like to feel good in my clothes (and stylish in my own way).

Miss Dog is forgiven after her unfortunate bread-stealing incident. I guess it was really Mummy's fault for leaving the tray within reach. You'd better get me a good Mother's Day present, Miss Dog! I think she is missing her doggy friends. She tried to get Monty to play with her, but he has taken shelter on my knee. She was very funny with Merlin yesterday as I had him inside. Rabbits make grunting noises when they are mad, but I guess you don't really notice unless your rabbit is a big one. Miss Dog wanted Merlin to play, but he just got mad and growled at her. Her response was to lie down on her back and grovel around in front of him very submissively, wagging her tail in her most appealing manner. He was not impressed.

Here is a great photo of the three girls with their cousin Flynn. He is a Kelpie-Labrador cross. He's the one standing on the bank. No, he didn't stay there. He got his fuzzy, chocolate britches wet. You can't really see them in this photo, but he looks like he has the cutest furry pants on.

Anyway, in order to alleviate any lonely dog suffering I took Miss Dog for a lovely walk in the freezing drizzle today so she could sniff everything (and give Mummy a quiet night because she has a tension headache -already- it's only the first day of term). XXX

100 posts!

I've made it to 100 posts. The reason I am really so thrilled is because of the changes I have made to my life partly because of blogging. I'm not sure I would be regarded as a very successful blogger in terms of the number of comments received, but just keeping a record of what I am up to helps me to stay productive and moving forward. Plus I love writing. I've even started my second blog, Taming the Chocolate Baby, in which I natter on about cooking and healthy, responsible living. So what have I actually achieved during my 100 posts?

• I'm much better on the computer and working with photos.


• I got a new sewing machine and use it regularly (I made a skirt today).


• I made it to Orchestra 3 with my cello, and got to play on the stage in the Town Hall.


• I joined a chamber group.


• I have started making quilts.


• I started making more presents, rather than buying them.


• I went to Australia and had an amazing holiday.


• We bought a piece of land and are about to start building on it (about 3 weeks and we will be underway).


• I'm working on being a more organised housekeeper.


• I'm developing my cooking skills.


• I'm improving my management and leadership skills at school.

Best of all, I'm excited about what I could achieve during the next 100 posts. Time to set some new goals I think. I want to:

• Develop my sewing skills by learning some new quilting techniques with each quilt I make.


• Design and make some clothes for myself, including an item made of Merino jersey fabric ('cause it comes in such lovely colours).


• Make Christmas presents (starting early).


• Move into my new house.


• Paint some of our old furniture rather than buying new stuff for the new house.


• Make some of the curtains and blinds for our new house.


• Be a frugal food shopper and make some fabric shopping bags.


• Learn more about food, where it comes from, how it is produced, and what I could do with it.


• Reduce my waste production.


• Use my slow cooker.


• Make the majority of the food I eat from scratch (reducing processed foods).


• Think about crafted products I could make to sell.

Hopefully the next 100 posts will see me being more self-confident. And I really want to have less down days. Plus I hate to say it, but for my health, I've got to lose weight. But I'm not going to obsess about it. I'm just going to work on my cooking skills and fight those anxious times when I'm dying to buy a king sized block of Cadbury chocolate and eat the lot (believe me- I've done it many times). I'm going to get out walking lots too.

So, even though I haven't got one, a toast with a lovely glass of Midori and lemonade, or a frozen strawberry margarita is in order. You know, it doesn't matter, I've had a great day living life how I want to, and that is enough for me!

A wee peek at the skirt I made today in production. I hate mucking around with patterns, so didn't use one for this. That fantastic fabric was in another teacher's rag bag! I'll get Mr B to take a photo of me in it and I'll post it if it looks ok. I've used a light-weight denim on the back and the print on the front. XXX

What to do on a wet Saturday.

Have a cup of tea. I found this dear wee cup and saucer at the Motueka Hospice Shop. It was among the brown and fawn items and had to be rescued.

Have a nap. Monty has taken possession of my my almost-finished square quilt. No chance of getting my hands on it now!

Miss Dog thinks having a nap is a very good idea too. Look at that shiny coat!

Stoke up the fire. Mr B got a big basket of wood in and we are lovely and warm. I should roast some chestnuts.

Admire other purchases from the Hospice Shop. They were pleased with themselves when I left! I was pleased to be able to spend money to support such a good cause (plus Mum is out of the country and I had to make up for all the trips she would make in there if she was home). I was also pleased to find some bits and pieces of vintage fabrics to create with. The green napkin is a very unusual colour and the most beautiful linen. I will probably embroider onto it. The embroidered tray cloth is so pretty. I think I might set up my sewing table again shortly. Plus I am making pumpkin soup for tea. Probably curried pumpkin soup 'cause I don't have any bacon to give it some extra flavour. Since I don't usually follow recipes a disaster may follow. I'll be happy to share it with you (in writing - I wouldn't make you eat my disaster). XXX

A post for Mrs CT

Ok Mrs CT, I am tagging you!!!! I'll be popping over to Canterbury Tales soon and I expect some blogging action. XXX

Update- Wow Mrs CT has written such a lovely thing about me on her blog- go and check it out!

I've been tagged

Tracey over at Sunny Corner Farm tagged me. I have to answer some questions about myself so you get to know me better.

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people and posts their name, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was living in a small apartment with Mr B. I was attending the Christchurch College of Education. I think that's right! We hadn't moved into our house here yet.

Five Snacks I enjoy:In a perfect, non weight-gaining world
Chocolate, chips, biscuits, ice-cream, cake.
In the real world:
Cherries, watermelon, crunchy apples, nashis, nuts.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Invest money so I always had an income. Set up an organic farm with a house for each family member that wanted to join in. Have a craft, plant and antique shop with a cafe and farm shop. Spend my time crafting and farming.

Five jobs that I have had:
Raspberry picker, retail work in a bookshop, gift and interior shop and flower and garden shop, primary school teacher and special needs teacher.

Three of my habits:
Worrying, making messes, procrastinating.

Five place I have lived:
Ngatimoti, Waimairi Road, Bealey Ave, here.

Five people I Want to Get to Know Better: (a nice way of saying TAG!) But don't feel obligated! Just do it if you want to.
Consider yourself tagged if you read this! :)

We're Home!

Take a look at these stormy pictures! The weather turned bad when we were driving through the Lewis Pass, and there was steady snowfall by the time we reached the Canterbury side. It was starting to settle. I am rather fond of snow because we only get it in small doses here. We were sad to say goodbye to Nanny, Daisy and the cats. We had such a lovely time with Nanny because we don't see her as much as we used to. We had a couple of her famous lamb roasts. We used to go around to her place most Thursdays for a roast when she lived in Christchurch. Nanny is really tricky about having her photo taken. I managed to get a few pictures of her and Daisy, when she didn't realise I was snapping away, but when she saw them she made such funny comments about how they made her look old that I wouldn't dream of putting them on my blog.