Jigsaw 7 - European Street

 I acquired this jigsaw for free, and it is only 500 pieces. Not my usual size but I really liked the picture so thought, why not?

It had some fun shapes to the pieces so I didn't mind a change to the normal.

Jigsaw 6 - Electric Shop

 Another one in the shop series. They are the same design but just the content changes. Very easy to do and just like the cheese shop.

Jigsaw 5 - Blooms and Bouquets

 A very old one but still cute to complete. Do have some others from this same series but one was missing a piece (so that got thrown out) and the other one just does not inspire me at the moment, so it can stay in the pile until another day.

Obviously, all the greenery was difficult to do but I don't mind a challenge

Bye Bye Roof

 Through the years work has been completed on the house, mainly inside, but some outside (leveling the garden and adding a deck). On the outside, once the deck was completed, I have always wanted a permanent gazebo/pergola, somewhere that can be a dry area to sit when it is warm but maybe raining. The other thing I have always wanted was a fly screen door on the back door that leads on to the deck.

In the warmer months of the year, which here in NZ equals at least 6-7 months I like having the back door open to allow air flow, but the flies get in an annoy me.

Several years ago, I did look into a screen door but the small, angled roof over the back door stopped this from happening. Now though, I have found a suitable pergola to attach to the deck and so the roof can come down

This will allow the pergola to be placed close to the back door and allow cover that the roof gave when stepping out and not immediately getting wet in bad weather.

I may have only been waiting for something like this to happen for the past 10 years!

Although now, I can maybe start looking at the future of one day getting a screen door on there.

Craft Room

 I have always wanted a craft space to call my own.

My mother has an amazing space for all her material and threads for her embroidery, and yes, there is a very large red sticker on the door informing all that enter that anything in there is mine (one day) Although I will be happy to share some of it with my sister-in-law. My mother knows this, and we laugh about how she can't get rid of anything as I may want it after she is not here any longer. By the way, she is likely to be here for at least the next 5-10 years, so it is not as morose as it sounds!

Ok, one advantage she has is that she lives alone and therefore had every right to transform her spare room into a craft area, no one else was using it!

Me, well obviously for the past 20 years I have been a mother to 2 adorable boys, and while I would never change any of that, I was a very hands-on mother and could never find the time to hide away to do any craft without them coming to find me! I just knew I had to bide my time until they didn't want me as much to be a part of their day.

I did then move out of the house and whilst I did get back into crafting whilst I was away, moving back meant everything got packed up again and it has taken me a long time to actually unpack the boxes.

Since moving back, my eldest son has now moved out. What if he comes back, I hear you say? Yes, he could but seeing as he has moved 600 km away (not that that makes any difference to him wanting to come back) he has also just got engaged to his girlfriend and so I sadly, don't see him wanting to move back home any time soon. But if he did, the room would be his again in a heartbeat.

Until that time ever comes around, then I have moved the furniture around and have started to create a craft storage area. It took time and planning, two things I like. I searched websites for units to use and shelving that may be suitable and finally came up with flat pack kitchen units that were sturdy and cheap from the local hardware store. I measured and planned to gain the best storage space that suited what I needed. I have a combination of several products from 2 stores, and I have plenty of space to put baskets full of items and also some flat shelving for papers etc.

It is not finished, as now I have the fun task of unpacking my boxes and working where each craft item goes as I do several different crafts from paper to knitting, to sewing to anything I want to give a go. Well, apart from painting and drawing, can't do any of that to save my life!

This was the start and then I finally got the last of the units in place. I brought some beautifully stained pine to create a work surface on the top and it is now all secured in place so nothing will move. It is not secured to the wall, as most pieces are away from the wall, but the units are sitting flat on the floor so not going anywhere.

Whilst I may not have a lot of space in this room to create lots of craft and I may still have to move downstairs to a bigger table to complete some things, at least it is stored in the open and I can find what I am looking for, or at least I will be able to when I am finished.

Chiefs Rugby

 Many years ago, I can't actually remember when, but I do know it was before 2019. I started working for the regional rugby team on a casual basis.

It had started a few years before that even, that I wanted to volunteer and do something. I saw an advert for volunteers to help at major sporting events, when held in the city and so I went along. I did this for a few years, always in a role of greeting people and getting them excited and prepared with their ticket for the gate ahead. Or even just answering questions about where to find something.

Then they asked if anyone was interested in casual work instead? It would only be on the 6-7 game days in the season, but we would work inside the stadium instead in some capacity. I was working on a casual hourly basis at the time (although it was equal to about 3 days a week all year so wasn't that casual), and a little extra money was not going to do any harm. The games were always going to be on either a Friday night or sometime over the weekend and that fit in with the boys and life in general.

I ended up as a gate supervisor. Support the staff at the gate as they do the ticketing and deal with/solve any ticketing issues that arose. We don't get to watch the game, well, the second half if we want to but we are always working during the first half.

I have written about sunny days at the game in the past few years.

It is actually now a role that I really don't need to do, I actually work full time permanently and so the money necessity is not there, but for some reason, I just don't seem to give it up when they ask each year if I am available for the next season ahead. When I first left the family home, I decided that keeping it on was a good idea as yes, it did bring in a little bit of playing money, and it got me out of the unit, where I was living alone and so it was good for me to have something other than my job to focus on (I do not class this as a job, although it has its stressful piss me off moments for sure!) and despite everything else, it is still actually a little bit of relaxed fun, and I enjoy the atmosphere.

I did justify itself to me by saying that the small extra $$ I received were good for spending money for my travels and seeing as I was just in UK and Rarotonga last year then it does help my travel fund, not enough to buy a plane ticket but allows for some extra spending money when on holiday.

Last year, we all complained about how unprofessional we all looked in the uniform/outfit they wanted us to wear. We are front facing with the patron and they are usually annoyed about their ticket not working or being wrong and obviously, I am the one stood there informing them that they can't come into the stadium until they go and get their ticket sorted, which believe me, some take great offense to! So, to have this person, dressed in casual with a large yellow bib hanging off of us looks crap, in my opinion and I feel we should be dressed much smarter.

This year I asked if it was alright to dress a little smarter and NOT to wear the bib?

The new manager agreed and so I got myself a smart suit and shirt with a necktie for winter and presented myself in a different way. I don't always have to wear the jacket, especially when it is 25c outside, but in my opinion (and that of another colleague who followed suit and wore a smarter outfit) we now look professional, more in control and people are definitely kinder in the way they speak to us as they feel we have some authority and are not just a casual staff who is being paid minimum wage to cause them hassle on game night. (We are casual minimum paid staff, but it doesn't show)

This season has started for 2025, and yes, I am back here doing it all again 😃

I have said that I would really like to move to a corporate serving role inside the corporate boxes and not stood outside in all weathers. After all the years I have been doing this, it would be nice to be inside and doing a different role, but secretly, I think I would miss my gate (although not some of the drama and crap I deal with that we are just not paid enough per hour to deal with)

Watch this space next year

Jigsaw 4 - Bric a Brac

 A very busy jigsaw that had lots of colour and pattern but very small and intricate design. This, however, did make for an easy puzzle to complete