Greetings (at long last) lovely friends & readers
I did not mean to be gone for so long (2 months in fact) !!
Some early spring flowers - picked from my garden just this morning 💛
Just after I hit Publish on my last post, my dear 93 year old Mum became most unwell ... 3 ambulance trips in 10 days from the Resthome - Mum had Influenza A, a U.T.I. as well suffering a T.I.A. My eldest son & I drove down arriving just after midnight to the nearest City Hospital. I ended up staying for nearly 3 weeks until Mum was transferred back to the Resthome & became stable. It was a scary & anxious time & not one I would want to repeat. Upon my return our computer crashed & although I could read blogs on my phone, I couldn't comment. So I feel I have missed out on so much here in blogland & am happy to be able to post again.
About 10 minutes drive from Mums home is Ohawe Beach - I went out there frequently for walks along the wild west coast & loved it. I am over an hour from here to a beach so it was wonderful to be able to be so close to the sea.
I confess to being a bit obsessed with taking photos of stunning
Mount Taranaki - he was proudly wearing his white winter coat while I was there.
The top left hand photo is just up the road from Mums, on one of my walks & the top right one is actually taken from my bedroom window at Mums - you can just see it peeking between the rooftops. I grew up with this mountain out my bedroom window & took it SO much for granted. It never fails to take my breath away when I return.
While I was away I celebrated another birthday - 62 years around the sun!! My friend Lynley popped in with a Red Velvet cupcake & candle so I happily blew it out for her. Unfortunately just after our little morning tea Mum was rushed off in the ambulance yet again so my birthday involved 7 hours at A & E ... not exactly how I would recommend celebrating your birthday.
Luckily just before my son & I headed off late into the night I remembered to toss my bag of knitting cotton oddments into the car & I was able to knit lots of dishcloths to fill in the many hours spent sitting in hospitals or Resthomes. I use * this free pattern * & I have knitted so many I can now remember it off by heart.
I miss these two so very much when I am away ... the ginger girl frets & doesn't eat properly until I return, then she sulks with me for a couple of days & then goes back to normal 😉😸 (well normal for her)
While I've been away we have been getting a nice new wooden fence built. This is very exciting for me ... we have always just had a wire fence between our section & the farm & it was falling down, to put it mildly. Every time I would peg out my washing I would be trying to straighten posts that the cows had knocked over. This new post-&-rail fence goes right around the outer perimeter of our section (260 metres) including the depot yard at the end which we rent out.
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| (Click on the photo to enlarge it for a better view) |
The Mr bought one of the farm tractors home to remove the old posts & the furry two found it so incredibly fascinating climbing all over it & checking out the different smells of all the barn cats that live at the farm.
Inevitably there have been some Op Shop visits on my recent trips. The St Vincent de Paul Op Shop in Mum's town had a large stack of plates for only $2 each. Of course I need more china plates like I need a hole in the head, but however ............. these ones came home with me. The two on the far right were only $1 each & the others were all $2 - how could I resist ???!!! 😯
There were other op shop purchases but I think I will show these as I repurpose/upcycle them.
My daughter-in-law Sarah would send me lovely photos of my Grandson while I was away to brighten my days - I absolutely adore this one of Alec, sound asleep with the cat on the bed.
Long time readers of my blog may remember the post I wrote about her finding this feral kitten that was so unwell - you can see how dear Bruno has well & truly landed on his feet paws !! 💙
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend dear friends,
I shall be back soon as I have much to share with you,
Thank you for your ever-welcome visits here today,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x
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Hi Julie ,so good to see you blogging again.
ReplyDeleteFirst I would like to wish you a Happy Birthday .
And I know to well what you are going through , with my Mom and Dad , bless them .
I hope your mother stays well , it's so hard when you don't live near .
Love the photos you shared , take a rest now .
And enjoy your time . Hugs June .
Hugs June.
Here we have a bad heat wave and we can't waste any water now .
It's a strange year.
Have a lovely weekend hugs June.
Sorry Julie the about the comments all over the place the heat is playing the PC up.
ReplyDeleteOh! My goodness Julie...lot's to read, lot's to say....
ReplyDeleteVery upsetting about Mum, as you mentioned in
an e~mail...so pleased she's back in the rest home,
and stable...hope the pussy~cats are looking after
her now..! :).
And speaking of pussy~cats...i see the two furry
ones taking to the tractor..something new, and
something new to climb...l bet they enjoyed it! :).
At least when your away, they have each other!
Oh! And happy belated birthday wishes Julie....
62..Goodness! I was 62 once..l think..! HeHe! :).
As l always say..Onwards and Upwards, and
keep on smiling...I always smile every morning
when looking in the mirror for a shave...! :O).
Best get on...we're having four days of extreme
heat, drought in some parts of the country...No
rain for two months, my back garden is all brown,
including the grass...but..managed to have my
annual Barby last Sunday, covered the garden,
with umbrellas etc...so mostly in the shade.....!
Oh! And tell Blackie the bunny rabbit was very
nice..even Fudge had a little bit...! HeHe! Bless!xx
🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷 🌷🌸🌷
So sorry to hear about your mum, hopefully she is getting the best of care. Happy birthday. X
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your sweet kind comment 💗
DeleteWhat a few difficult months you and your entire family have been through. Sincerest wishes that your mum can now have a quiet and long relaxing Spring and Summer. Your hands were most busy with the knitting. Good thing to have something worth while to do when just waiting and worrying. Miss Pip may not have eaten well enough, but at least her and of course, Blackie were easily entertained by a huge human piece of equipment. And with your new stash of plates, you'll be concocting new artwork. Happy Birthday. The good gift for that was your mum recuperating. Our dog-days of summer just ended this morn with 50 degrees and no more humidity. It will be nice for the rest of August. But it did dry up here after months of slogging in the rain. I now carry buckets and buckets of water to flowers and bird baths. So glad to see you again. Lynn and Precious xx
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Lynn & Precious. I have been reading about your long hot summer on our news reports & it is concerning that they are forcasting one for us including a drought. Very hard on the cows on the farm & the grass does not grow when we get droughts.
DeleteA difficult time for you Julie especially as you had just settled her in her new home. I hope you get to spend some time in your home now and that Mum continues to improve. That new fence looks like a great improvement and such fun for your cats too. Looking forward to seeing lots of makeovers and upcycling soon. xx
ReplyDeleteJulie, I am praying for your mum. It's so very hard on the body, especially for women, as we age...and your mum is amazing for her age. What a treasure of a daughter you are. :-) Those plates...I never see anything like that in our opshops. Enjoy them! xx
ReplyDeleteOh Julie, it is so good to see you back and a wonderful (as usual) post. I absolutely love the picture of your Mother's hands. It really touched my heart. There was always something so dear about my Mother's hands. Hope your Mum stays well for a long long time. You are such a good daughter. Those kittie cats of yours are so so adorable. And all the dish cloths!! I've been meaning to take a crocheting class at the senior center...just to learn to make dish cloths. :) Yours are the prettiest I seen anywhere. A friend came for coffee one morning and happened to see my dish cloth...she could not stop laughing. It was so ragged and full of holes, I folded it in half and stitched it together. We have a craft show coming up soon so I can purchase a couple new ones. :) The dishes you found are very pretty. Sorry, didn't mean to go on and on.
ReplyDeleteI did not think your cats did anything but sleep, yes, they must have had a grand time sniffing that tractor. Hope your mom get better soon and you have her around for a very long time. hugs
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your sweet kind comment 💗
DeleteI’m so glad your back. I hope your mom gets better.
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com
Thank you so much - that is so kind of you 💗
DeleteDo sincerely hope your mum is stable, these are difficujlt times for you and the constant rushing over when she takes a turn for the worst is going to be a challenge. Glad you are home, belated happy birthday dear friend xxxx Betty
ReplyDeleteSo happy for your return and thankful mom is stable. I am very worried about my mother in law. She is failing. This is so hard. I would love to come tour there sometime. Maybe in a few years we can hire you as a guide. Hubs mom and dad did a mission there about 35 years ago. They spent 2 years with the Aboriginals.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kim .... I have been reading about your dear Mother in law on your posts - yes they do concern us when they get older & we worry for them. I would absolutely love to be a guide for you & hubs if you ever get over this way Kim. xx
Deleteoh Julie you have had a time of it... and your blog posts were missed! All the best to your Mum as she recouperates . Lovely cloths you made... you have such pretty yarn pieces. pretty plates too.... the colour of the centre ones is gorgeous and unusual... a kindof soft minty teal....
ReplyDeleteGood to have you back...
Hugz
Oh and Happy Birthday to you....xx
ReplyDeleteSorry to read you've had such an upsetting time, with your dear Mum being unwell. I'm sure having you with her makes her feel much better. Great idea to take some crafty bits to do whilst waiting around in hospital, it doesn't feel like lost time then.
ReplyDeleteOh good to hear your mum is better Julie, Happy Belated Birthday! Gorgeous plates.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, Julie. I was beginning to wonder where you'd got to and was hoping it wasn't anything to do with your Mum. What a trouper she is, coming through all that and equally, what a trouper you are for being there for her. Happy Belated Birthday greetings to you, Julie. Hope this finds you revived and well. (everytime I see those pretty dishcloths, I say to myself 'must put them on the 'to do' list! I've lost count of how many times I've said that now!).xxx
ReplyDeleteWonderful to see you back in blogland Julie. I hope your Mum is well again and settled in the home. Spending that time in A & E would be stressful for anyone! You got a lot of lovely knitting finished. Happy belated birthday Julie, I hope you got to enjoy your cake. The cats give you a laugh don't they, I wonder what would have happened if they came face to face with the barn cats?? Your plates are lovely. Good you got the new fences troo.
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to sit and read your post. I am so sorry that you have had such an anxiety inducing time with your poor Mum being so ill. Mt Taranki is spectacular and what a view to grow up with. I am glad you were able to spend some time on that beautiful and wild coastline! We are fortunate to have our sewing or knitting to keep,our hands and minds busy during thes long stretches of waiting. I too love a pretty china plate.....hard to resist. Very cute photo of little kitty cat with your Grandson. Well done on,the new fences xx
ReplyDeleteOh, so sorry about the challenges to your Mom's health. That is tough--and tough for you who love and care for her. That is such a poignant photo of your Mom's hands.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had some restorative things nearby--the beach and the mountain view.
Not the birthday you would choose, but you were where you needed to be. At least you had a friend looking out for you to help you celebrate.
You were smart to have something for your hands to do--you were very productive.
The kitties look so cozy. And it is hard to believe that is the same kitty as before, on the bed with Alec.
Julie it's lovely to see you back. Hope your Mum continues to progress favourably and settles into her new environment. What are you going to do with those plates????!!
ReplyDelete