A birthday celebration and a special meal

I cannot believe that we are already in the middle of January.  Can you believe it?  Back at work we are all still struggling with that "end-of-year-not-quite-very-productive" feeling.  We do have a public holiday coming up next week Monday so that is great :-). 

This weekend it will be me and my next photography assignment.  I've done my first one and got a great mark, so I'm very pleased, but it is a little daunting because from here on it will be actual photos and my tutor is a professional photographer.  I've finally taken the plunge and ordered my new computer as I'm getting 20% discount through work and my current laptop won't be all that good.  I'm really excited (and I don't like waiting, but will need to wait for delivery).

We had a lovely few days with Mr P's birthday celebrations.  I baked the cake and his daughter decorated it for him.  He really likes lollies :-)

I'll have to upload the photo of the cake later on as Blogger seems to be acting up (sigh).

Here are some flowers that Mr P's brother's partner brought us.

Mr P saw this one programme where the chef made a very yummy meal and he decided to try this out.  He is so proud and let me tell you it was really really yummy!  He even made the ice-cream all by himself :-)

Taking first steps

Yesterday I took the first step in my goal to become a photographer.  I signed up for an online photography course.  Exciting and scary at the same time.  Exciting because it will be great to have the guidance of people who are experienced in the industry and scary because I am sometimes way too critical of myself making it hard just to go for it.  It is comforting though to know that I am not the only one feeling a bit scared and anxious (when I look at the Facebook group).

So I went to the doctor the day before.  About my shoulder.  The one with the mystery pain.  The thing is I haven't been doing anything that could cause strain and it is only when I breathe deeply that I feel this pain.  So of course I Googled and according to Google I might have lung cancer (the type that you more typically get from second hand smoke - I personally have never smoked but grew up with parents who did) or breast cancer or it could be gall bladder or liver disease.  So by the time I go to the doctor I was a mess.  He looked at me and then asked "have you been losing weight?" "well, no I've gained some - mostly through bad eating" "Okay, people with cancer usually lose weight".  "Do you cough a lot?" [shake head], "do you ever cough up blood?" [shake head] and then he listened to my chest and did this tapping thing both sides and declared that this is most likely just a knot somewhere due to the time I might spend at the computer at work.  Me and my runaway mind...

Yesterday I went to work in the morning and then not long after started feeling incredibly sick.  Nausea and stomach cramps.  Like waves - coming and going.  I didn't actually get sick as such, I just felt really unwell.  So I left early afternoon.  Got home and pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in bed.  I'm glad I didn't actually get sick, but it was horrible to feel the way I did. 

I took today off as I don't feel 100% just yet, but do feel better than yesterday - thank goodness.

How are things on your side of the world?

Back from a break away

This morning it was back to work after a short break.  It was so hard to wake up early this morning to get ready to catch my train to work.  It takes about an hour to work on the train.  So usually I sleep or I read.  Work was fairly quiet as lots of people are still away. 

We had a nice few days away to Hawkes Bay.  It was lovely.  The weather was great.  The motel where we stayed had a pool and the kids (my kids that is, Mr P's kids weren't there) spent as much time as they could in the pool.  Miss B made a friend.  One of the favourite things we did was yesterday where we spent the whole day at Splash Planet with its pools and water slides and different kinds of rides.  Miss B met up with her friend so I didn't see her until it was time to leave.  Mr P, Miss C and I had a lovely time exploring the different rides and pools.



Mr Cat was so happy to see us - he's been cuddly since we came home last night.  I was a bit worried as Mr P's daughter was asked to look after him - to come and feed him and spend some time with him, but on Sunday we got a text to say she hasn't been coming since Friday afternoon because of the rain and wasn't sure if she would be able to.  So we needed to make some urgent plans.  I think next time we might just have to book him into a cattery.

Today I saw a great promotional offer for an online photography course and I am going to look into it.  This will be one of the first steps in my dream to become a photographer :-).

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my doctor.  I have been having a weird pain by my right shoulder for the last few weeks and so I want my doctor to check it out.  Unfortunately I Googled and one should never Google anything...

A few photos

Mr P and I waited for 2014 last night.  First we went to the neighbours (at the place we are housesitting).  They left a note on the door to say we could come and see their fireworks.  It was pretty cool.  We didn't stay until midnight and went back to "our place" to wait for 2014 with a few games of Dominion. Dominion is my favourite card game and Mr P recently became totally hooked.  We then spent a bit of time talking about what we are both hoping 2014 will bring for us. 

I realised today that one of my priorities is going to have to be a new computer.  My laptop is super old, extremely slow and almost no space for the photos I like to take.

I've been taking my camera with to the lifestyle block and here are some photos I have taken :-)

A Kereru / New Zealand Wood Pigeon.  This one was really high up in the tree.

 

If you are done checking me out, I'd appreciate some food...

The Chickens taken through the window

Just love the little quails.  They are so fast and I had to try and take photos through the window.

Saying goodbye to 2013 and ready to say hi to 2014

I cannot believe that 2013 is about to come to an end.  It feels as if it happened too quick.  I remember waiting for 2000 to come and of course all the uncertainty that went along with it.  Will planes come crashing down to earth?  Will the ATM steal all our money?  Will our computers blow up?  And now that is about 14 years ago.

The last few nights we've been housesitting for some people on their lifestyle block (like a small farm).  It is fairly basic with no cell phone signal, but it is beautiful and so peaceful and quiet. If you sit quietly a few Californian quail will come running around.  They are very skittish so you can't make sudden movements and they are not tame, but they feel comfortable enough to walk around seeing what they can find to eat.  They are so cute and so fascinating. A while back I thought I'd get some quail eggs to hatch and then keep quail for their eggs, but we'd have to keep them in an enclosure as they would be totally exposed on our property and at risk of becoming some or the other cat's (maybe even our own Mr Cat's) lunch or dinner.  I'd have to do some research into it though.

Part of the housesitting duties is to feed the chickens and ducks every morning and night.  They are so cool and will stand by the gate waiting for you to come.  The ducks make this funny wagging movement with their tail feathers. Then we go and have a look to see if there are some eggs and this morning Mr P found a just-laid egg.  A new way to describe something very fresh - "so fresh it is straight from the chicken's butt" :-).  And every second day we water their tomatoes.

I think I could quite happily stay on a lifestyle block with enough space for all the animals I like and would like to keep, become more self sufficient that sort of thing.  I like the quiet.  I like how peaceful it is.  I also like that it is still close to shops and that sort of thing.  Not sure if this will happen one day or not, but in the meantime, I do like our place.  What I like about going to this place is that it sort of forces you to slow down for a bit.  Clear your mind for a bit.

I'm glad 2013 is about finish and done.  There were some great moments, but lots of challenges also which I will be glad to put behind me.  I've certainly learned a lot about some people and that was incredibly hard to learn, but that is life.

Now with 2014 just ahead of us, it is time to put some goals in place I think.

• This past year I invested in a great camera with the idea that I could do photography on the side.  I've been passionate about photography since 1995, but have never had the chance to really learn how to do it properly.  I have now done a basic course, but now I need to develop my skills and confidence. So that will be my aim - work on getting more experience with my photography.

• I need to lose some weight.  This will need to happen really really soon.  And getting fit - so I will be looking at some fun running / cycling events and prepare for this.

• I need to become better at saving.

• I want to make things to go to craft markets / Saturday morning markets.  

• Fix the garden.  Big time.  It is annoying both Mr P and me.

• Quality time when I have my kids.  So often they end up choosing to play on the computer or watch TV and I need to bring better and healthier activities into their play.

 Well, I have to go off and do a few things before we go off to our housesitting "home away from home" to see in the new year.

I wish you a wonderful and successful 2014 and may this be the best year ever for you! 

A brand new start

The last hour or so I have been trying to come up with some or the other interesting name for this blog, but all the good and inspirational names have all been taken.  You can't imagine how many of these blogs had 1 entry - the starting blog post and then nothing more.  So maybe blogging wasn't quite as exciting for these people as they thought.  It doesn't help me though as their blog names are all taken. 

Anyway, I finally came up with this one - "Butterflies and Cherry Blossoms".  It wasn't really what I wanted, but it will have to do for now.  I guess for me I love spring and summertime.  There is something refreshing about it.  A signal of new life.  A time to dream and start living again after the cold winter.  A new day after a very long night. So I guess this is what I want for myself.  I want to start living again and focus on my dreams and try and make it happen. 

I'm not quite there yet.  The living part I mean.  The dreams and ideas are all there, crammed within the walls of my mind, but I need to find a way to make it happen.  This isn't easy, because trying and making it happen means taking a risk and taking a risk means I could fail, but keeping the ideas stuck inside my mind - well that's safe isn't it?  The reality though is that I cannot spend my life dreaming, I actually have to start living. 

I used to blog.  I used to love it and spent a long time doing it, and then I gave it up for a while for a number of reasons (that I'm not going to talk about in this particular blog entry), but now I will start again.

Mr P and I live in a smallish town with Mr Cat.  We have the most lovely view just behind our property.  Almost like living on a farm, except it is not our responsibility - the cows and the sheep.  I have 2 young girls that I have every second week.  The other week they are with their dad.  Mr P has two grown-up kids out making their own mark in their world.  I wouldn't say finding our feet in this relationship has been easy, but we are working on it.  Anyway more on all of us a little bit later. 

For now I will take some time setting up this blog and going out meeting other bloggers whose stories I could follow.  I love reading other blog entries :-).

Bye for now...