The Sauvignon Blanc made me do it!

Temp reading in the SHADED part of our yard today.

The kids making a splash of it all.
Our flag flying at half mast in rememberance of Sir Ed Hillary. Great man, great life and the best thing for me has been the fact that we let him know how much we valued him while he was still alive. RIP, mate.

What did I do today?

We finally got the pool finished! It has been in need of TLC for ages, finally drained it and sanded, fixed leaks and repainted it. Then the kids decided they wanted to draw stuff on it as well...see how clever they have been? A crayfish/lobster and a seahorse no less. They also did jelly fish, starfish and dolphins.
While the kids splashed about, the "grown ups" (and I use that term loosely) did this.....
I also bought my husband some of this stuff 'cos he really likes it! Good ol' Wobbly Boot (yes it really is self explanatory) from Harrington's Brewery.
The Wobbly Boot reminds me a brew I tried in a funny wee pub years ago somewhere in Surrey, UK (I think)...theirs was called Tangle Foot for obvious reason.
As for me, well I am quite fond of their Scrumpy. It's perfect for that end of the afternoon, sun's finally on the run and the wind has dropped...What did YOU do today?

Tee shirt messages

Over the years my husband has had quite a few tee shirts with messages on them, they have ranged from hilarious to downright tacky. This one and the one below are my favourites from last year.
As for this photo, what in blue blazes...do you think he is changing his mind manually??? (And no, that ain't my husband)

The Beach. Just incase you don't believe me. The proof.

bababababba, that's all folks!

We have crabs!

I have to say I was rather peed off myself. I had great plans for today...picnic and everything. we had the hamper all but packed and what happened? Ok, maybe I deserve this (thanks from you guys up "North")...it rained.
Anyway, I decided what the heck, my parents forced me into many a rain-filled picnic and it never did me any harm. Just ask that guy in the white coat....
Anyway, my eldest daughter and I toddled off anyway to a beach. Where we found this duck. yep. A duck. Kinda like finding a pork pie at a Jewish wedding really, but a duck none the less.
Then we headed off to Sumner (one of our favourite places in Christchurch any time of year). This building caught my eye mainly owing to the spacey buildings being built (too many builts?) above it. Its an old part of the City anyway.
And there you have it. We got crabs, my daughter and I. Just goes to show the importance of going to the right places at the right time. I have to say we beat many a grandparent and their rather smaller grandchildren to these crabs...there is an art to it. Come visit sometime and we will show you. If you think you're up to it that is!

I reckon it would be fun if I introduced you all. I only stated blogging because Pixie said i shoud give it a go. Anyway, the above photo wa taken by me...it's a pine cone stuck between two boulders...you rudeys!!!

Since then, I have visited so many blogs it's not funny. And I feel bad about the ones that Ihaven't got back to as quickly as I should, if at all, however...it seemed to me a great idea if i could introduce at leat those blogs who I had found throught Pixie. So, from Pixie Idecide to get nosey. From there I decided to follow my interest in Coronation Street, there I picked up on Flaming Nora and from there I nosed on thru the Blogs that were there....which led me to The Diary of an Old Cheeser, to Bloggertroplis....to others and also Meggie (the first person I didn't know who bothered to comment...) and from the wonderful Meggie, who has such a wonderful blog, I also found Mike! That has actually been a good thing, he is such a docile bloke we should all have 'em in purse size.....Of course, I have been an obvious tart when it comes to shopping. What do I want...when do I want it...anyway, I want to make it clear that I have valued EVERY comment that you have made. I didn't realise that it would make any difference to me if anyone commented or not. But. As Reluctant Blogger has said,yep..it does...thanks. And if I win LOTTO I will make sure we are together in a very nice way....so. I guess, in some ways if I wanted to and you wanted to...the you have all been tagged to explain your presence. I am just thankful. Jeez, if you knew me like Pixie we would all be phucked.

Thank you so much. And. On the strength of comments by Old Cheeser I'm waiting on acceptance or not from a promenant magazine...cheers, Simon, you gave me the courage to press the "send" button. Yikes!!!!!

Big wide sky. I love New Zealand.

New Years day and we had the kids at a river, swinging out over it on a big rope....summers like we used to have...back when the summer was longer and hotter............
and sea shells weren't that odd...this one looked like a toe-nail.
Of course, chocolate comes in many forms and colours...this is fudge.

Happy New year to all. Let's hope it is, even tho' tonight I watched with horror about the people who attempted to take refuge in a church only to be burned alive in it. Jeez. OK. so the news artcile on the link doesn't mention kids but the verbal one did. Either way, people died. What the fuck? Jeez. Louise. Am I missing something here? How smug are we.

Happy New year. Let's actively try to make surethat it ain't the "same ol...same ol..."