And by 10 am I have already made myself a dilemma! I bought a picture frame a while back and it fits 18 photographs. I have over 30,000 in my library now and have no idea which ones I am going to print out to put in it. Think I have managed to narrow it down to 103 with no people, just photos from NZ really and I wanted them to be quite colourful. Maybe I ought to do it in categories like the children's game of 'Guess Who?" which could be fun.
I have changed the cartridges in the printer too and the colours just aren't quite right either but because the apertures in the frame are all different sizes, I can't send them away to be printed so may have to make do which is frustrating. Then I have to find a wall to put them on! Oh my gosh and it's only Monday. The decisions of the retired woman!!!!!
Oh I did go to the Garden Centre at Nicholls the other day to buy some bargain plants; they have some good deals on at this time of year and I bought a pink Gaura (front left above) as well as a few bushes and primroses for the spring, to go with the white one which has been brill.
Derek who has been away 'up north' said that New Plymouth was OK, big and busy with around 60,000 people which makes it huge compared to the mere 3,000 here.
I picked him up from Queenstown Airport on Friday; it was good to see him and have him home again. With an hours run there and an hour back that was the afternoon gone. It was a beautiful day too and the airport was packed with people coming in to the area. It is so nice to see 'new' people getting so excited about what they are going to do while they are here, it is like an airport 'buzz'.
Never take for granted the beautiful places in the world. I have been lucky to live in at least two destinations that people flock too and try very hard not to take them for granted but get out as much as I can and enjoy them with the people that can only 'peek' at them for a short time in their lives.
Saturday was lovely here and it was the Queenstown Food and Wine Festival so we hopped back up the Kawarau Gorge to spend the day there along with what seemed to be half the population of Queenstown. It was much cooler there than it was at home so we took jumpers along thank goodness.
We walked around Queenstown afterwards to be on the safe side and went to the Asian supermarket to pick up some noodles etc (I have been trying to get kaffir lime leaves for the Thai soup I love to make but can't get any anywhere and they only sell the dried ones in there!) then on to the Remarkables Sweet Shop to buy some fudge - a passion fruit one and a creme brûlée one. They make the best fudge and you get to sample some others before you buy too.
The wine makers in the Gibbston Valley have nearly finished putting on the nets to cover the grapes. They were saying in one of the talks we went to that if you don't nearly 10% of the crops goes to the birds and there are not that many birds to eat them here.
So yesterday we had a flump day, we spent a lot of time reading. Derek did some writing too and while we caught up with 'Sherlock' and the wonderful Benedict Cumberpatch and Martin Freeman, I did some hand quilting. I have two more quilts to do in the wings and also started a jumper for myself in the evening that I should have had done by now. It is a sleeveless one that I got the wool and pattern for when I was home in the summer and is knitting up nicely.
My sister Julie and good friend Ellen went to Olympia yesterday to the Wool and Stitchery show there so hope they had a good time and got some great wool. It is so nice to see that knitting and crochet are a 'hit' again - as much so here as in the UK - and lots of young people are really getting in to it too.
Derek wants to walk in to town in a while to get some milk, more good wholesome exercise. I know my muscles are tighter from all the walking we do but just wish it was having a better effect on my weight and waste line. I know, portion control!!!! And it is definitely an age thing!
I will leave you with a slideshow of my house today; I went around taking photos first thing this morning as I didn't think I had enough photos for my blog but obviously did and now don't know what to do with these except this!!!!