Craaaaazy

buon giorno... come sta? ....

I am here!!!!

and if you want to really see where this is....

can you see me waving??

Andando oggi per l'Italia

Siamo così emozionanti.

Una intera settimana - appena Mike ed I - nessun capretti!!  

arrivederci i miei amici

Italy bound... nearly... last few items being finished today....

Mike and I have just been grocery shopping so the kids won't starve...  who knows they might even cook something for themselves!!!     I am doing a big roast dinner tonight - so at least they will have had one good meal this week!!

I am about to head out to get a mani pedi so I have beautiful feet and hands!!   Left it until the last minute and hoping they still look nice the day of the wedding. 

When I get back - I will pack my clothes etc.   

We have left that until the last minute because one of our cats is going to have a meltdown as soon as she sees the suitcases!!   She spends the whole time getting into the case and stopping you going any further!!   One of these days this is going to happen!!

Then tomorrow we are off!! 

First to here... 

which is Frankfurt Airport, Germany...

then to here....  Rome, Fiumicino Airport

then we will be on our way in the car over to Bari....

ANZAC Day - Lest we Forget

  A.N.Z.A.C.

I am looking forward to today.   We are getting together with a bunch of expat kiwi's and having an ANZAC Day lunch at a local restaurant.   Will be lovely to talk to everyone - and we will all understand each other :-p

Another kiwi group has organised a Dawn service tomorrow morning up in SanFran with a BBQ afterwards but we will not be able to go to that.

I have just finished baking a load of ANZAC biccies and will take everyone at the lunch a bag of them - as a memento of the day and the lunch.  I really wanted to give everyone a poppy like above but I could not find a pattern to successfully make one - and with the last week being so busy getting everything finalised to leave for Italy on Monday I ran out of time!

I am getting VERRRRY excited!!!

 

Hold out your hands to feel the luxury of the sunbeams.

and we have certainly been feeling them the last few days...  phew it has been hot hot hot!   As a result my garden has just gone wild.  

The roses have all burst into bloom madly.. the smell is just gorgeous... unfortunately.. the heat has also beat into submission many of my spring flowers.   The daff's were pretty much over but all my tulips from Amsterdam were coming into their own.     Hopefully the cooler more normal weather which is on its way back will let the rest of the tulips bloom as normal.

Took this photo on Monday - it is a daffodil out of the last lot Mike brought back from Holland - this bag had a mix of very unusual daffs!

taken at 3pm today ****phew......

seems a little early in the season!!!

Crops, Dresses and Crapped Out Knees!

not necessary in that order!!    But to catch everyone up.

The dress!!

I realise I never came back with the results of the dress for the wedding in Italy I am going to.     A quick reminder of the two (although I got the one on the left in a celery green)

They finally arrived - and both of them looked fantastic on. 

 I, of course was drawn to the green one *quelle surprise* ......NOT *lol*...  However - although it looks nice and light and floaty it is VERY heavy to wear.   The 'overtop' is not a light stretchy material as it appears in the photo but actually all beaded (glass beads at that!!) and is REALLY weighty.    If the part of Italy we are going to is anything like the rest of Italy that I have been to - and is hot and humid - I would absolutely in it.   

As I said they both looked lovely on.    I got my daughter Hannah to cast her eye over and give me an honest critical assessment of them both as well.     I said to her - ok I got off the plane and I am bloated and the bloat did not go down.. and now I have eaten a big wedding banquet and I am stuffed - then I stuck out my stomach as far as I could.

Hmm!!! 

In the green dress when I did that it looked like I had swallowed 2 turkeys!!
But in the blue dress - I could have been 200 months pregnant and you still could not tell!!

SO THE BLUE DRESS WON... although bugger it did not come in green!!      Oh and the shoes I picked out - fit beautifully and look lovely - however now will probably not be able to wear them because of my knee BAH!

My knee

It is getting better.. slowly.   However last Friday's ART session on my knee was so painful I actually wound up crying.   I don't think I have EVER cried when I have been there - even when my back was at its worst.   The bruise that came up almost immediately was rather large - and you should see it now - it is huge.   However I suffered through it all, iced it when I got home and put up with it.... well sort of put up with it - I will admit to having a bloody good bawl when I got home because it was so painful.   My knee was really really swollen, and part of my calf and shin on Friday and Saturday but that seems to have gone down now.    It is feeling today like I can walk normally - but I am not overstressing it - I don't want to go backwards!

I am meant to go 3 times this week for ART - however if the bruising is still this bad tomorrow - then I am cancelling that appointment.   Not even counting the diggy fingers into the area that needs working that is tender - I just could not bear anyone pushing on the bruise!!

Monthly Crop

Had our Meetup monthly crop on Friday night.   What a hoot!  We have a core group that comes now along with the odd one or two newbies and we have such a lot of laughs.      I am not sure we are getting that much scrapping done - but we certainly have a good time.

Maybe its the wine that helps things along    We even have a bit culture... last Friday - we gathered around Mike's PC and all watched Susan Boyle off Britains Got Talent - SHE IS!!... plus we have good nibbles and converstion.    We were having a good laugh last Friday about Stickles.   We have decided that it really is CRACK for scrappers.

On today's menu - I am going to the mall!  BAH... it is a beautiful day here - meant to be 82... I should be outside... however our local BIG mall has cut their Sunday hours... sign of the times methinks!

I need to go and suffer through the salespeople at the cosmetics counters because I need some new makeup - mainly something foundation-ish.   Oh well... could be fun.. maybe I will get a makeover!

Oh yes... and did i mention earlier in the week I got my hair permed???

What a fantastic idea!!

I have often looked at the skanky barren pieces of motorway/freeway offramps around here and fantasize about sneaking down and planting stuff - I might do this instead!!   I read this on the Lush site.

Ready, Set, Grow!

Seed bombs are a great way to reach areas that may not be easily accessible. We encourage you to find these locations in your city and toss a Seed Bomb, watch it grow and make it greener and more beautiful. Unexpected flowers in unexpected places make everyone’s day!

How to make a Seed Bomb:
Seed Bombs are the ultimate tool for any Guerrilla Gardener. All you need is clay, soil, seeds, water and a bit of love!

Ingredients:
5 parts* clay
3 parts* compost soil
1 part* seeds (its best to use seeds native to your land)
1-2 parts* water
Large bowl

*Parts refer to any form of measurement size you want, cup, mug, black LUSH pot.

Directions
Step 1: Combine all ingredients, except the water, into a large bowl and mix well until ingredients are combined.
Step 2: Slowly add 1-2 cups water and mix until thick (similar consistently to cookie dough).
Step 3: Roll the mixture into quarter size balls and let sit for 2-3 days until completely hard
Step 4: Toss onto an empty piece of land and watch it grow!

Now get out there everyone and SEED BOMBS away!!

Not good for weight loss!!

last Friday my knee started playing up.   I had not done anything in the way of exercise over the previous week as I was busy doing all the things that need finishing up after a retreat is over.   I had fallen down, twisted it - nothing.    So I was not really sure what was going on.

Saturday it was a little worse, Sunday, more so - even though I was being very very careful with it.

Monday/Tuesday  - it was to the point I could hardly bear to put weight on it and going up a step was almost impossible - at times it would send such a shooting pain if I straightened my leg, or started to turn without turning my foot first  - that I would involuntarily yelp and swear.

So off to Dr Mike yesterday.   All I can say is

Evidently I more than likely have a torn meniscus.   It has probably been building up over time - and I did not really do anything to set it off - it just finally went.   Symptoms may include:

• pain, especially when holding the knee straight
• swelling
• knee may click or lock
• knee may feel weak

I had all of the above except swelling!!

I have to say over the last couple of years that knee has made a rather grinding sound when I bend it  - loud enough for others to hear - I just thought it was because I was getting old!!!   Evidently it was the sound of no more handy dandy tissue in there - and it was bone against bone.  

They did x-rays and although my knees show signs of arthritis and a lot of wear - they still show that they have a lot of wear left in them
.................which gives me renewed reason to get more weight off and give them a nicer life and more reason to be nice to me!!....................

 

So this has put a dampener on my fitness regime.   The only thing I am allowed to do over the next couple of weeks is free cycling  - no resistance and preferably on the stationery bike (which I hate).   I will have to be very careful about what I shove in my gob to make sure I do not gain weight!

I am going for lots of ART therapy (active release technique) and they are using the galvanic stimulator (which looks like the torture device out of Lethal Weapon!!) over the next week and a half before I leave for Italy so that hopefully I can least not be limping and hobbling and looking like a gerry while I am away!

I repeat