Keiths new name is "Crash"

Well last weekend was supposed to be a nice trip up to Coromandel - Keith riding up with Mt Motorcycles and me meeting them up there in the car. Friday night was shocking here - Thunder and Lightning and torrential rain. It had eased off Saturday morning but I felt uneasy about Keith riding and asked him to come up in the car with me - not a chance! The guys went up through Whangamata, Whitianga and then across to Coromandel. Keith phoned about 11 just as I was leaving and said it was beautiful weather up where they were. Great :). However upon my arrival at Coromandel I found a very sore, worried looking Keith sitting having a cup of tea. He had failed to take a corner on the bike. So back down to Thames hospital we went, returning 6 hours later with Keith in a cast from wrist to elbow & a bandaged ankle - luckily no break just tendon damage. Long story short he has now had the plaster changed to a half one by our own doctor as apparently both breaks are down near his wrist so no need for the full cast, and now we are just trying to work through the logistics of him getting to work as he can't drive - well he can physically but isn't covered by insurance if he does! Oh well it was nice to catch up with Rosalie and John in Coromandel - and the crew from Mt Motorcycles said they had a lovely meal on Saturday night - we had a burger at about 7.30 from a takeaway shop in Thames - not a lot of choice in that town on a Saturday night. Roll on the next ride :) Looking at the photo of the bike it is hard to tell there is any damage, he wiped off the front screen, mirrors & indicators - except for the front right hand side one, and has scratched the paintwork. It will be interesting to see what the assessor has to say. Happy days.

What a great weekend!

Keith and I had the most wonderful weekend. Our friends Rob & Helen came to stay along with five of their precious fluffy kids. They were showing in Kawerau. We were very excited to have Onyx come and visit - Onyx is the beautiful boy that we are going to take on as he needs to be rehoused. It almost seemed a little unfair to Brooke's memory for it to be happening so soon. What we needed to remind ourselves was that this had always been the plan and at New Year when we stayed in Napier Rob and Helen said it would be about 6 months - so here we are nearly 6 months down the track. Onyx spent the day with us on Saturday and slept outside in one of the kennels on Friday night, however Saturday night he seemed a little unsettled so Keith brought him inside to SLEEP IN OUR BEDROOM - can you believe that cos I surely couldn't. Nitro would be turning in his grave and muttering very loudly - he was about 12 before he was even allowed in the bedroom - let alone allowed to sleep in there all night and as for the cuddles up on the bed well we won't even go there :). Needless to say it appears that he has won our hearts and we can't wait for the 11th of June to come around so we can pick him up and bring him home with us to live. I am going to arrange to work mornings only for the first week as Onyx is used to having 8 other dogs around & Helen & Rob as they work from home. I am sure once he adjusts to being on his own he will be just fine. I wonder if he will be allowed to continue to jump up on the bed and the couch for cuddles - I guess time will tell. Once I get some photos of him I will post some. The photo above is him and Keith at the weekend - you can see they are happy together.

RIP Shezzam Brookby Star

Today has been a truly awful day. We had to put our beautiful baby doll to sleep. We took Brooke for a check up a week ago today and had some blood tests done as she had lost a lot of weight. We thought it was just an age thing - however it turned out she had a tumour in her liver. We planned to just keep a really good eye on her as she was still doing all the things she should be - eating, drinking etc, however yesterday morning she started vomiting bile and blood and it just progressed over the 24 hour period. Her dad held her in his arms while she was put to sleep. Now she is free from the pain and I am sure is happy to be reunited with our beautiful man Nitro. May the two of them run through the fields beyond the Rainbow Bridge happily until such time as we meet them again. We love you Brooke more than you will ever know. RIP my darling Angel.

Block 5 completed

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter . .

Block 4

The children were nestled all snug in their beds . . .

Block 3

The stockings were hung by the fire with care . . .

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you are having a fun filled long weekend - with lots of chocolate:). I have managed to get the next three of my blocks completed with the hand embellishing which I told myself I needed to to before I started on Block 5. I am really pleased with how they are turning out, however the "Letter to Santa" on block 2 has caused me some grief to say the least and I have given in and am going to buy a fabric pen and write instead of trying to embroider the lettering - this hasn't been completed yet. We have had a nice weekend so far, I had a nice time catching up with a friend from Auckland on Friday afternoon and then yesterday we went for a drive in the Z3 for the day to catch up with some more friends and family. Today a friend is having a family celebration for her 60th birthday which starts at lunchtime and lasts until we decide we have had enough. With the change in daylight savings time I was wide awake at 6am so got up and did the salads and things I needed to. I have walked my baby girl and an now about to embark on Block 5. I hope the rest of Easter weekend treats you all well. Take care. Loreen