The Lockdown Gang - 🦞 Lobstars Unlocked 🦞

Good afternoon All

*I've just come in from the garden. Didn't achieve much but I did take the shears to the mock orange (can't spell its proper name) which was getting out of hand. I did apologise and pointed out how necessary it was considering how bossy it gets with it's neighbours. And it was overhanging the little pond. We inherited a very small preformed pond with a frog living in it so had to incorporate it into the garden. I've bought a tiny pond fountain powered by a tiny solar panel, so it meant decimating the mock orange thing. There are still tadpoles in there keeping the water clean. I've noticed over the last few years that many never change into frogs. I suppose it was always thus and I never noticed.

I've heard Doodle, that it doesn't matter what sort of honey is used as long as it's natural honey which hasn't been heat treated in any way. That the lovely stuff the local beekeepers sell is just as good as Manuka.

I hope your spider bite is less irksome today Kaimoana, Did you see the spider? Was it huge? They are wonderful creatures, I rather think they may be quite clever. A bit like octopuseses. Intelligent on a different level.

(And yes, I have met a dog and agreed to have her. An eight year old golden cocker spaniel bitch from a breeder. She stopped breeding with her a while ago, and doesn't advertise the 'retired' dogs but keeps them until the right person turns up. Which apparently I have done! Not for a couple of months as I'm off to Rome in a week or so with my DD2 and family and they're the back-up carers. So we've agreed on the end of October. I can call over and get to know her a bit in the meantime and get insurance and beds and vets and such like sorted. She's a bit of an unknown quantity as she's always lived with the breeder and never been on a lead! No need as they have paddocks. I'm not sure how house trained she'll be either!)*

I pressed the wrong button. Meant to preview and posted instead! The * don't work with paragraphs do they!

Exciting to be meeting your new dog Nfk I hope you like eachother and this middle-aged mama dog will be gentle and easy.
Lovely that you are going to Rome too.

I had a surprisingly nice day today after a rather sad one yesterday.
I saw a beautiful film about a man who coped with his grief of losing his wife to cancer by turning stinging nettles into fabric and making a dress.
The project took him 7 years by which time he had come through the worst. His devoted dog was by his side throughout
A real weepie.
The nettle dress

www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/17/the-nettle-dress-review-dylan-howitt-textile-artist-allan-brown-a-husbands-grief-becomes-a-thing-of-beauty-in-lyrical-documentary

I’ve had a touch of the autumn blues for a few days. Now it seems I’m going down with a cold. Sore throat and feeling very snuffly tonight
Nfk I like the thought of you having a chat with your orange thingy. Explaining it had become a bit unruly. Perhaps it was a case of light trimming or being put on the naughty step
So pleased about your dog news. I do Hope you get on together. It will be strange for you both but I’m sure the camper bubble will be better with her with you
Yes the asterisks do work with paragraphs but you have to put one at the beginning and one at the end.
Do hope you have a nice time in Rome with your DD and family. I’ve never been but would like to have done so
Grammaretto, sorry you’ve been feeling a bit sad. Glad you had a nice day today. The film sounds a surprising one. Not something people would think of doing

Kaimoana like you I couldn’t hear the accents either.
I Hope we’re not in for a bad winter. We haven’t had a great summer apart from a few hot days
Grammaretto I have just watched the trailer on YouTube for the Nettle dress. What an amazing story. All that work and such a lovely result
ixion I’m feeling sorry for myself with my sniffles…….could I have a hot drink (with some brandy) and some biccies please ….sniff sniff. 🤧

Can you wait til the next England 🏉 match, Doodle?

( Rugby ball featured, not a peanut, btw )

Who's nabbed Jeeves? 😱

sounds.bl.uk/categories/accents-and-dialects?fbclid=IwAR2S7aLABF6pgu3oqjua__NSA3thm0OJ8sRD44-ewTd9TwNMQcy0RuJDffs

Third time lucky?
I enjoyed the ladies from Morningside discussing what they call the loo/bathroom/ lavatory/etc.

I've not seen Jeeves Ixion. But I've seen Sparky who has fitted a new fan in my shower room. My life is so exciting!

*Sorry ixion, got sore throat. Couldn’t wait so Jeeves has brought me some warm soup. Not been right all day. My head feels very fuzzy. Off to bed soon I think.
Grammaretto pleased to hear Sparky is still around. Has he finished all the jobs you wanted yet?
Will have another go at your link

Forgot my * 😡

Well I tried again Grammaretto and I do get through to a website about dialects but nothing about toilets or Morningside. Do you have to enter something in the search box? I did listen to one which was dialects from different places in the UK where people said where they were

Sorry you still have a sore throat Doodle but glad that Jeeves is looking after you. Was the soup any good?

I wish you could hear the dialects.
There were some good Yorkshire and Norfolk ones too. You have to choose a region and scroll down

I borrowed an angle grinder from the tool library today and ground my kiln shelves clean. Glaze gets spilled sometimes in the firings and spoils the surface. It was most satisfying but smelled terrible.

Ofcourse sparky has more jobs to do. He was so late, my lodger had gone to bed so he couldn't do the things in her flat.

The roofer is coming tomorrow at 9am. It will probably be raining so he'll not be able to go on the roof.
Night night Lobstars

Roofers, Sarky, angle grinders - are you falling apart up there?

Sunshine at last in my neck of the bush – could Springtime really be here?

Went to BLV Support group but it has grown and 40+ people all talking at once is not a situation I find comfortable. I may have to stop going.

Another meeting tomorrow but at least there, people take their turn (“point of order Mr Chairman”), even if later, there is robust discussion. I can always go sit in the sunny outdoor courtyard.

My spider bite itches. No Nfk I didn't see it but the two poisonous spiders which live here (all imports from Oz) stay in the bush; only the White tail comes indoors. It’s bite is typical of my symptoms: irritating but not dangerous.
There are 2 things which bite: mozzies and White Tails. When I first came here I reacted very badly to mosquito bites and still have the scars, but that ceased decades ago. By a process of elimination and that it happened at night in my bedroom, it’s a reasonable guess.

I am making friends with the children across the road. Mihi Terina showed me the certificate she got at her new school for her “brave attempt at te reo Maori and waiata.”
She loves craft work so I may suggest she come over sometime to do colouring. Artoa's little girl Ng’aia does this already. I download and print pages (Hello Kitty is a favourite). She happily chatters as she makes these into artworks. I then laminate them.
It’s lovely to have children around.

Poor old Sparky, I hope he's not sarky

Hope you're feeling better today, Doodle.

Lovely to hear you have the presence of littlies to put spring in your step, Kaimona. I did see the sponsors of the NZ Book Awards - reckon you're in there with a fighting chance. Would you do a 'Meet The Author' and book signing session? Ooh er.

Has your roofer been, Grammaretto? Is Sparky rebooked?

It is exciting to hear that we have a Gang dog to look forward to. I expect she will keep her own name. It is probably one of those incredibly posh kennel names which go on forever but which gives way to an everyday familial! Is it an acceptable one? Hope so!🤞

In an uninspired couple of hours at the weekend, I tracked back to the very first Lobstar thread to see how it all began. My, we have come a long way since then! Mixed fortunes, it must be said: sadness and celebration.

"If we knew then what we know now"

You are certainly having a busy time Kaimoana and how nice to be able to open the world to a new generation!

DGD 6th birthday was a nightmare for her DM because somehow the hall had been double booked and the kitchen wasn't available so the pizzas couldn't be heated .
DGD was oblivious. She just thought even more children had come to play!

The roofer came but left when he checked the weather forecast. It blew a gale this afternoon.

The house is falling apart but I am trying to stem the flow.
I am doing a pottery project for an architect who came today to check my progress telling me to start again
He is going to plan an eco house for me to build in the garden, complete with a pottery workshop.
I am sorely tempted.

Where is Jeeves? I could do with a comforting hot chocolate.

Ixion I too was thinking of our earliest thread last night. Some of you may remember my talking about a Dutch lover from way back. I've just heard he's died. Many happy memories though, including an alfreso lunch overlooking a field of sunflowers,

MissPuss, the cat of my wee family has had to be put to sleep. She wasn't very old but had been abandoned, so adopted my son. She wasn't a cuddly cat but sweetly tolerated Gubbins, who was gentle with her but still more tactile than the cat liked and wouldn't allow anyone else to touch or hold her (except my DS).

Another almost-coincidence Grammaretto My son was looking at houses in the UK and told by an estate agent that a new build might suit them. "Older houses keep you poor, truly old houses keep you a pauper."
I'm sure you can relate to that.

He's just had a commendation and promotion (DS not the agent ) so is squirreling as much dosh as poss away, now sure he won't invest in NZ property.

The promo mean instead of waiting for obstructive Council jobsworths to liaise and assist his Cyclone Disaster Team, he has autonomy to make decisions. Less frustrating and certainly less dangerous when lives are at stake.

Wishing everyone a happy day.

Grammaretto I should have known better than to think Sparky had finished his jobs. He couldn’t bear to be parted from you
soup was good thanks. Minestrone. Hot and a bit spicy. Still a bit snuffly but not any worse
You’ve had a busy day. I wouldn’t know what an angle grinder looked like let alone know how to use one
i have a memory one of my sons birthday parties. We had booked a hall and had two classes of children standing outside but the door was locked. They forgot we were coming. Managed to get hold of the caretaker who eventually turned up to let us (and the conjurer and puppets) in. It was a very long 20 minute wait. 😱
Your pottery project sound interesting. What are you having to do?
Kaimoana, we have had rain all day here today. Oh that would be a shame if you had to give up going to your group. Could they split into two groups perhaps?
Hope that spiders got a headache now, causing you so much trouble. That would be nice for you to see the children and do some craft with them. Children love someone who pays attention to them
Sorry to hear the news of your Dutch lover. Nice to have happy memories to look back on. Sorry about poor Miss Puss too. Nice to know she had some years of being looked after though. Is Gubbins ok?
Well done your son on his promotion. Good for him. With regard to new builds, he may need to be careful there too. Been a lot in the press here of shoddy workmanship and home owners waiting months for repairs etc
Ixion, yes I love the playgroup. Lots of babies too. You forget how tiny they are. Our two Yorkies had posh kennel names when we got them……never used. Can’t remember what they were now
Well how funny you mentioned the first lobstar thread as today I got a PM from its instigator. Dear Cherry sent me a message and says although not posting at the moment she thinks of us all and sends her love to everyone. Be lovely to have her back with us too
must stop for now my iPad has just told me it’s going to run out of petrol and needs filling up…..or some such thing. Sleep well all

Hello Doodle - I doubt the BLV group will split but I'm not too bothered if I have to stop going.

We meet for lunch and chat once a month and although they are lovely people, I can only ever talk to the two people at either side and when there is so much loud chatter, I find it hard to hear them even a few inches away.

There is quite a complicated social re-evaluation necessary when attending a group like this where people cannot see body language to pick up clues that someone else is waiting to speak or is bored with your repetitive, importunate conversation - hee hee.

As some may also have hearing issues, they speak loudly over everyone, all the time. In small numbers this is tolerable but not when there are so many voices all competing.

The other thing is, my budget doesn't really run to a restaurant meal every month if that's all I get out of these meetings.

It's not like the Kawhe Kaumatua group.
This Tuesday for instance, we learned how to make Maori fry bread, smoked salmon pate and seafood chowder.
We began with karakia as always then talked over our week (we have "5 minutes of Fame" each) and listened to the events other had attended. This is always hilarious as each person seemz to have a funny story to share.

Then we had a lovely sing along of old songs we all loved from way back and some fun exercise with an action song which got faster and faster!

There's a long and increasing waiting list for Kawhe Kaumatua because it's so enjoyable.

It's very hot today, a real summer's day, so I'm off to see if I can get my laundry out and dry before sunset.

Kaimoana I find it difficult to hear when there’s a lot of noise in the room too. I was wondering how people in the group manage. Not only knowing when someone wants to say something but reading facial expressions and mannerisms too
I like the sound of your other group better. The idea of everyone talking about their week. I bet you hear some good stories and enjoy the singing
I had a Waitrose delivery today and was chatting to the delivery man about how awful the weather had been recently. He was saying his shoes had water inside them when he got home as he’d been through so many puddles. We were saying how good it was today was a better day. …….. 10 minutes later I looked out of the window and it was pouring down with rain.. poor chap. 😱
Been good and tackled the bathroom today. Our shower floor has many small tiles as it’s base (not my idea but talked into it 😡) each group gets dust stuck between the tiles and they need cleaning with a small brush like a tooth brush. A job I hate doing but today was the day. Needless to say I couldn’t get up after kneeling down for so long. Thinking of buying one of those garden seat things for sitting down to do those sort of tasks.
Wonder what Grammaretto’s been up to today. More potting (in the studio or in the garden). Working in the cafe?

I've been happily reading your posts!

Your time at Kawhe Kaumatua sounds brilliant Kaimoana.

It was a busy day here. Glazing pots and packing the kiln first thing. The potters are meeting here tomorrow evening to set up the showroom with hot pots

I was at yoga and heard some loud creaks. The teacher assured me it was the floorboards not my bones.

This afternoon I listened to our local landowner talking about his long term plans for his vast estate. His speil sounded straight out of the Archers!

Your shower room cleaning must have been painful Doodle. That's the kind of job I keep for my young helpers. 😥

I want one of those gardener's kneelers too but for weeding.

Work tomorrow.
Hot milk and honey for me please Jeeves.

Grammaretto I imagine today has been a busy one for you.
Have you got yourselves ready for the show? Is it in your studio or are you taking the pots elsewhere?
Im glad it was the floorboards 🤣 I’m afraid the creaking here is certainly my knees as we’ve got concrete floors.
Sadly I don’t have any helpers and Jeeves is too snooty to assist.
Does the local landowner have a big estate? Is it near your home? Hope the show goes well. Let us know how you get on.
Kaimoana wonder what you’ve been up to today. Any more outings?
ixion are our team playing at the moment……it’s not tennis season yet is it 🤔(as you can see, I’m a real sports fan 🤣)
Wonder if Mamissimo is back from her hols yet. Can’t remember how long they were going for.

Your Tuesday Group sounds fantastic, Kaimona. I have a thing about proper fried bread, sadly replaced increasingly by hash browns in Full Englishes 🇺🇸☹️. Can you say how you go about yours, please?
Singing along to those old favourites? I'm sorry but I don't know how long you have been in N.Z, being late here to the 🦞 Gang🤦‍♀️. Do you have expat friends amongst your number or are these old Maori legacies?

Is your pottery setting up tonight going OK, Grammaretto and Doodle, have you regained an upright posture with that kneeling? I imagine you with small tessera-shaped indentations on your knees!

Our team did well last night, you'll be pleased to know, with a convincing win. We are still Big in Europe, getting there at home, tho' it's early days. Getting a bit nippy in the evenings for the cheerleading outfits. We are thinking about getting our vests out again for parading in the winter months.

I have been in communication with the good and the great at the Freemasons Hall in London. Interesting research, for another day!

Did Jeeves eventually pitch up?.

X-ed posts. Apols!

If that was my shower room Doodle it wouldn't be a toothbrush but a Spray n' Longbrush!
In fact, before I had homecare, I found that ubiquitous brush ideal for anywhere higher than I could reach.

Ah ixion Maori fry bread is different from Full English fried bread. For this latter (on the rare occasion I still have it), I leave just enough bacon fat/oil in the pan; get it hot and fry until crisp. Both sides sometimes.

Maori Fry Bread or Paraoa Parai is basically the same recipe as any white bread but instead of baking after risen, it's cut into palm-sized pieces and deep fried. It's then split, buttered and enjoyed, sometimes with a filling. Immensely popular though not with my innards - wheat intolerance. Pic of it being made.

The old songs are Maori ones because it's many years since any of my social life included 'Roll out the Barrel' and 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary'! . I first came here in 1973. I am the only Pakeha member in 120+ Maori though its rare we all turn up at once, only Christmas really. Kawhe Kaumatua is limited to 30 (H&S) but has a long waiting list.

I should have been at a rugby knock out tournament all day today with the kaumatua but I had arranged to go swimming with Mary. (did I tell you she had such a severe motor accident she was in hospital over a year!?)

It's dawned cold, grey and rainy and although I would have gone had I known earlier, I think I have the better deal this time. I'm about as sporty as our dear Doodle.
I think the last time I stood watching rugby in the cold wind was when I was 16 - in support of a boyfriend. My sacrificial days are over.

And what are the Laird's plans for Borsetshire Grammaretto?
Best of luck with the show. Does Sparky ever sleep I wonder?

*Pakeha (white person)

Jeeves, get yer act together Mate or you'll be down the dole office! No snootiness allowed.