One month has already gone, so life should be back to normal.

Honestly, January has disappeared!!  

As for life being back to normal, well what is normal?  I guess being back at work, having the Spare home from his travels, but our house is nothing close to normal with the addition of Toebee!!  He consumes my time in such good ways, and he is providing us all with plenty of entertainment.  

So the last few weeks have been sort of like this:

A couple of weekends ago now TOF and I drove up to Auckland Airport to collect our rather jet lagged youngest son, the spare.  It was so good to see him again, even tho he and I regularly chatted on a video call thingy that is free through face book.  Technology is amazing!!  He had a wicked time away but was over living out of his suitcase and ready to get back to little old New Zealand.  Well they do say, "There is no place like home".

I was showered with gifts!!  Gorgeous embroidered cushion covers bought from a market in Qatar.  TOF and I got a bag of bite sized Daim bars from London to share, our favourite English treat.

When going to an Ikea store he asked what would I like him to get me, not knowing what an Ikea store is.  So I said just a catalogue would be fine. We so need one of these shops in NZ!!  Some duty free Jadore so I smell divine!!!  And the Diary of Anne Frank he got from Amsterdam after visiting her home.  He is a good son isn't he!! I feel loved.

Our plum tree has had the mother load of plums this year.  Many a plum has been given away and Jam has been made.  I still have some to bottle, and maybe make more jam.  They are so delicious and organically grown as the tree is not sprayed and it grows in the chicken area.

I even made a Plum Cake!!  This did not last very long as it was that good!

It would seem I was on a roll in the kitchen so I made a Caramel Oat Slice.  This to was bloody yum.  No cook books for me, just been searching ideas in Google.

Big has taken on the role of older brother/father figure with Toebee.  Guiding him when he is outside in the garden.   I am so pleased there is no hissing and fighting.

 

As for the dogs, well Sheba is like a nanny, look for her and you find Toebee.  Oscar is just laid back and non fussed with the kitten until he tries to drink off him, prodding and sucking away contently on Oscars white curls.

It is safe to say that they are all getting on really well. Phew!!

As for the girls, they are interested in this fast moving fluffy ball but they aren't getting close.  Old Joan has pecked Toebee so he is wary of the chickens.

The garden is floral, fragrant and one of the best places to hang out in.  My Hoya is flowering and so is my Hibiscus.

I got spotted in the garden one afternoon!!

Me and the Heir, the eldest son took the black dogs to the park across the road from our home.  I forget how nice it is to have a big open grassed space surrounded in lovely big old trees.  Sheba and the Heirs dog Stella loved it.

Stella is growing fast and such a sweet little girl.

I have slowly done the rounds of my favourite charity shops.  Of course I have walked out with some colourful additions for my wardrobe.  I have other clothes I have purchased off Trade Me but all in the wash, so maybe next post I will model them for you, hahahahaha!!!

I bought these beautiful plants off a lady I know who grows and sells plants from seeds and cuttings.  Begonias remind me of my grandmother Lil, I have four now.  The ones in the middle I cannot remember what they are but the flowers are like velvet.

 How cool is the inside?

Every woman needs her own tool box full of tools right?  This was on a massive discount so TOF said yeah go for it.  This may mean me doing my own maintenance now, well I have the tools!!

The fur kids got toys.  Why would you buy pet toys for the big bucks when you can buy a bag full for the little bucks?  I make sure none have those plastic beads or plastic eyes, noses etc.  Pets are like toddlers after all.  The book is a kids book but I must admit I do find David Walliams pretty funny so I will probably read it myself.

Speaking of reading I finished the book above the other day, 'Devil Boy' by Murray Annals a local man, also my nieces father in law.  This is his second book and just as good as his first.  Now I look forward to his third book he is working on now.

For some reason most of my clothes pegs are broken.  I went looking for replacement ones as the ones I have always used I can no longer find. I was drawn to these ones with their flower heads, now I need more as they actually not only look good they work well too. But true to form, I cannot remember where I purchased these ones from!!

How beautiful does Mr Biggles Mc Big Cat look,

trying to blend into the garden.

Last weekend was a long weekend with Monday being an Anniversary day for us in our part of the country.  TOF and I took a drive out to Raglan, Manu Bay to be exact.  A fishing comp had been on so we were meeting friends at the prize giving.  I packed a thermos and enjoyed lovely views while sipping on my hot Earl Grey.

The large ship in the top photo was actually laying internet cable, so the story goes.  Apart from plenty of small fishing boats, plenty of surfers were enjoying the waves and the sunshine.

A 106.8kg Striped Marlin was caught, which was impressive to be so close up to.  I am pretty sure it was destined to be smoked and feed a fare few people, that made me happy.  I like the sound of tag and release for such amazing large fish, but any keen angler would be happy to land something as magical as this.

Our Summer so far has been up and down weather wise.  We have had sunshine, rain, wind, and lets not mention the humidity.  But now we are in February it should be more settled, may those long hot days settle in, hopefully with a gently cool breeze on the side.

The rain and warmth makes the 'shrooms grow in the chicken coup.

I trimmed one of my flax tree things the other day and got inspired to weave the flax leaves.  I love the colour and texture.  Today a place mat tomorrow baskets??

When I came inside I discovered a baby preying mantis had hitched a ride on me.  I only realised this when it landed on my laptop, then it proceeded to climb.

Now for an overload of Toebee photos, because he is just so cute!!  So funny seeing himself in a mirror, he just could not work out where that other kitten was.

 

Buy an old potty and he thinks it is his!

 He plays hard then collapses into a deep sleep, just like a toddler!

Life is one big adventure for this small boy and he is taking this household along for the ride every day.

I hope you are all well and happy and I shall try my best to get my blogging mojo back up and running on a weekly basis, then you will not have to suffer through endless photos and mumbling.

***BYE***