My Life Today

 Loving anyone is hard work but I love this... I got this off of Facebook and there was no author supplied but on further searching I have found that it comes from this beautiful book

 Just 1 week later and the next one is complete. I brought this one for myself as it was fun and cute and sometimes that is all it takes for me to like a jigsaw design. I am currently working from home this week, so a little more time to play.

 Some days you just need some fun

 One day they are little and then one day they are huge, and grown up and working the coffee machine themselves, for themselves. But I would never change anything because at the end of the day he is my baby and I will always love him to pieces.

 Saturday morning again and parkrun day This was the weather across the countryside as I drove to parkrun at 7.30am! Think we are in for some gorgeous sunshine today when this all burns off, which is does very quickly and easily at this time of year here in the Waikato. Oh, and yes, I was stopped on the side of the road to collect these shots.

Many years ago, whilst still working for the same company as I do today, I was on a different contract. I was casual and hourly paid. Whilst this worked fabulously whilst growing the boys, as life moved on and things changed then it didn't work well for us. So when an opportunity arose to pick up some fun casual work on the side, I took it. Not 100% sure on how many years I have been doing this now but I still do kind of love getting out there and doing something different. What do I do I hear you asking? I work as a gate supervisor at some rugby games. It is 4 hours of watching the people come through the gate and ensure the tickets are being scanned correctly and problem solving any issues with the tickets. I always love the view of the stadium as I walk through to my position before anyone enters the venue Overall, it is a fun thing to do and always makes me smile

 And another one down. I do have work and I do have a life but suddenly, spending some time each evening working on the jigsaw is my thing, so I am going with the peace and quality 'me time' whilst I am in the mood for it. This was a fun simple one, and after the initial set up, actually very easy to complete. I usually have the tv on, playing something that I don't have to concentrate on too hard and can half listen to whilst working on the jigsaw

 The thing with completing so many jigsaws is what to do with them after you have finished them, or obtained them and waiting to complete them?  If I have enjoyed and loved a jigsaw then I will continue to keep it to complete it again another time (maybe a few years later) and this then means that you need storage and a lot of it! Where I currently live then I have a sneaky storage gap behind my tv And then I also have some storage in the top of a cupboard. The ones in the cupboard are probably ones that it will be a while until I complete as I am not enthusiastic about the design, or they were given to me and I will complete them, but need to be inspired to complete the design.

 No 3 of 2024, just seem to be in the zone for puzzles at the moment. A lovely bright coloured one to complete with lots of different areas to work on. Took me a little bit of work to complete but a lovely one to do

 In the last 2 years I have marvelled at the wonder that the world gives us every day. I am appreciating all that I see, all the beauty and the shear wonder of colour and pattern. Today the clouds had an awesome pattern effect with the sun shining This was at 7.30am on my way to parkrun (31) Yes, it was a hot morning but so much fun to be out in the fresh air, setting me up for a great day ahead, refreshed and exercised.

Here in the Waikato we have perfect conditions for hot air balloons and this morning, on my walk to work, I could almost reach out and touch this one. I honestly thought they were in trouble and were about to come down in a populated area! Obviously they were just trailing along on the wind path and did eventually rise more into the air 

I currently live on my Aunt's horse farm. Now I am not much of a horse person. I will happily say hi to them and stuff as long as there is a fence between me and them!  I have learnt many things since moving here but have no desire to want to ride them. Fell off of a horse many years ago, and yes, I have got back on another since but riding is not something that I have ever been particularly interested in. I am still in total awe of anyone that does ride and the ease with which they make it look spectacular and fun. However, doesn't mean that I won't help with the horses so when asked to help at an event then I was more than happy to. Here are the bales that the horse and carriage had to enter and then move around in a certain order. They again, made it look so easy but I know it wasn't and yes, a few did manage to mess it up.

Whilst starting a new jigsaw is exciting, the sorting of pieces can be monotonous and a little boring. Some how I always manage to miss at least 1 edge piece and find it halfway through completing the jigsaw. I also don't very often buy brand new jigsaws. We have a very good active Facebook market place running with people selling jigsaws so I always buy from there and I happily sell mine on their too. Of course when you get a second hand jigsaw then some people are very good at putting the pieces in a  plastic bag inside the box, some are not! However, this person kindly put everything in a plastic bag but also separated the edge pieces!  To me, half the fun is finding the edge pieces at the start. I almost made the decision to mix everything together and fully start myself. I didn't, I accepted the found pieces, just wish they had fully separated the pieces, not sure what the point was of separating the edge pieces and then mixing in a few middle pieces in the same bag?

Still trying my hardest to get out and move after work to keep my steps up. Always helpful when the sun is shining and the animals are out watching you. The animals had no comments and happily just stayed in the shade of the tree.  

 Today I successfully finished my second jigsaw of 2024 and it was not an easy one either. Another gift from Christmas and it started off really well but then I hit the cat part and wow, that took time and a different way of doing jigsaws for me. I actually ended up having to separate the pieces into shapes and read the jigsaw as I completed it. It took a lot of time 'trying' different pieces until I found the correct one and then move on to the next piece. I am usually a just straight out of the box searcher for pieces and it comes together but not this one. It was sent to test me for sure. I got here eventually and I am glad I never gave up. On to the next one......

parkrun runs on volunteers, and couldn't survive without them. There are many different roles to play and they do not all involve large amounts of time. Obviously one of the biggest roles is that of Run Director. The person who coordinates the whole morning, looks after all the volunteers, starts the event and generally is in charge making sure everyone has a good time and achieves their event for that day. I never dreamed of becoming a director but less than a year after returning to parkrun I got asked if I was interested and so today, with a little supervision, I undertook my first solo director role. Everyone there was amazing and very supportive, the sun shone and the rain stayed away. Everyone successfully completed the course and the results got submitted on the computer with no hiccups or issues on my part. These pictures make it look so easy but I think my heart was racing the whole time!