5 October 2009

Sunday is a day of rest


The latest waffle weave dishcloth.

I was home alone yesterday. Hanno drove down to the Gold Coast to help Kerry and Sunny buy a car. It's actually Sunny's car, she's saved enough to pay cash for a good second hand car and as she's coming home from work in the middle of the night in a very busy tourist town, I think it's an excellent idea that she's not waiting for the bus to get herself home safely. Like Kerry, Sunny is a chef. Hanno and Kerry had done some online research during the week so armed with his notes and a bag of goodies - homemade ginger beer, soap and some zucchinis, Hanno set off early Sunday morning for the two hour drive.

A gift - time alone at home.

I had no plans, I wanted to see the day slowly unfold of its own accord, so I loaded up the washing machine, fed the animals, let the chickens out to free range and settled down to read an old copy of British Country Living while I had breakfast. I love that magazine, I haven't bought a new copy for a few years now but I have several years worth of them to browse through and when I do, I always find something interesting.

There was no need to make bread but the floor needed sweeping so I ignored that need and went outside with Alice to watch the chooks and walk around the garden. I was hanging the washing on the line when the phone rang. It was my friend Bernadette asking if she could drop in. "I'll be there in ten minutes." I looked at the floor and decided against sweeping, instead, I filled the kettle and checked the forum. Bernadette arrived right on time and instead of coffee she wanted only water so we sat with our drinks on the front veranda. Bernadette is ill and although she's a keen crafter - particularly knitting and crocheting, she's been unable to concentrate enough to do anything. It did my heart good to see her with her craft sack, from which she removed her crochet. I asked her about milk jug covers, I had an email recently about them and after doing an online search realised there aren't many patterns available. Bernadette told me she has a book full of patterns so when I'm at work this week, I'll call in to her place and pick up the book.

I'm not a crocheter at all, but I like to try my hand at everything that will produce what I use. I need more milk jug covers, I only have two but I often have two potions fermenting, and I would like a few more covers so I can wash them frequently and still have some in use. When I have the book of patterns, I'll choose a simple one and share it here. Maybe you'd like to crochet along with me. I know there is at least one lady who will.


Lucy, our Old English Game chook.

When Bernadette left, I checked the forum again then made a sandwich for lunch and sat down to watch a recorded episode of Time Team. When the TV came on it was on the ABC which was featuring the Iowa State Fair. What a great fair that looks like. Much like our Royal Easter Show in Sydney that I used to visit almost every year with my sister when we were little girls. I love agricultural shows. We don't have a butter cow like they have in Iowa but we have a hall filled with home cooking like cakes, jams, bread and scones. It's quite something to win a prize at the Royal, I'm sure the same applies at the Iowa fair.

I watched TV for a short while, then went to sleep in my chair and woke again when the phone rang. It's a delicious pleasure relaxing on a Sunday afternoon and with the TV droning on in the background, drifting off to sleep. I took my knitting outside then and sat with Alice, knitting, for 30 minutes. Then off to collect the eggs - which I didn't do because we have two broody hens at the moment and they're vicious. They were both sitting on the nest, staring out with their beady eyes, I knew I'd be in trouble if I picked them up. So I left them for Hanno with his gardening gloves. We have some girls who, when broody, don't mind us picking them up, but not these two. (I just let the chooks out this morning and there are three brooding now.)

Late in the afternoon, I made a stir fry, looked at the unswept floor again and decided to give myself the day off from the floor and any guilt associated with not sweeping it and I spent some time on the forum. Hanno came home just before 7pm.

What did you do yesterday?
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38 comments

  1. Well for me in England it is still yesterday (!). I started the day by labeling some wine I had bottled on Friday and put it away. I made some buns, one lot raisen one lot chocolate chip - they will be for the lunch boxes this week. AND then the phone rang - did I still want an allotment, would we like to have a look. I was so excited to get such good news. I knew there was a very long waiting list so had not expected this news this year. We biked up there, chose our plot and came home smiling and planning

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  2. What a lovely day Rhonda :) And I'm glad your friend is feeling well enough to crochet :)

    It's still Sunday here, but it's been a busy weekend with pockets of restfulness. Saturday was a trip to our local Women's Institute market for tea and home made cake (which is every Saturday morning), and meeting up with friends.

    Then home for some writing (I'm nearly there!), then a visit to a small harvest festival with another friend. Then more writing in the library until 11pm, then out for a curry with some more friends (not normal at all, but a special occasion).

    Today has been more restful. A small lie in, a bit of tidying, and a long, three hour breakfast-and-chat with a friend who stayed at our house last night. Then, yep, more writing, all afternoon, while watching the birds out of the window.

    (then part of my tooth fell out, but we won't talk about that, lol!)

    I've actually got a few days by myself later this week, which I'm going to use as an opportunity to write, write and write, as well as some sewing (finally!), cooking, cleaning, gardening, resting...

    Have a peaceful week

    Jenni
    xx

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  3. What a lovely, peaceful day! :-)

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  4. I was going to say it's still yesterday here but Lizzy beat me to it. I started the day with a skype to my granddaughter but she has the flu and was NOT in a mood to talk to Grandma.
    OH cooked breakfast,I love having my breakfast made for me such a treat.
    I sorted Ben's whites and put on a load of washing. Set the breadmaker and made a tray of chocolate flapjack. Morning tea with OH and Paddy. Checked forum and read a couple of blogs. Put the washing on the line while watching the rain clouds but they skitted around us today. Thank you.
    Lots of knitting this afternoon finished a dishcloth for a ravelry swop and did a bit more of OH's Christmas socks.
    Started dinner, pork,pots,cabbage,mashed parsnip and corn on the cob. Then made a steamed syrup pudding to finish up. Now after eating all that I am just sitting here reading a blog or two.

    Pippa

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  5. Yesterday I pottered around in the garden, went motor bike riding with hubby and youngest son, did the washing and enjoyed a glass of wine on the verandah while admiring the garden (ignoring any weeds I saw) and just generally relaxed. Please do share the milk jug patterns. You are right - there aren't many out there and I would love to make some - knitted or crocheted I don't mind...vbg.

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  6. It is still Sunday here as well. Shelled and froze October beans and crowder peas, cooked some of the October beans and made some egg salad. My 7-year old granddaughter spent the night last evening and her mom came around noon and left around 3:00p We had a good visit. My husband has a nasty cold so we are now lounging and will have our beans and bread soon. I don't crochet well at all either but would love to crochet along with you!

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  7. Like Hanno, my husband and I drove two hours to visit our son. He has exams at Uni this coming week so we thought a visit from Mum and Dad was in order. We spent a lovely day visiting a seaside town with him, filled him up with homemade cookies, spoilt him a bit and then the long drive home. Today its back to work!

    Lynda

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  8. Sounds like you had a wonderful day.

    Best Wishes,

    Melanie

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  9. We have a house full of the flu here, but was able to make a dutch baby for breakfast and homemade pizza with some fresh basil and ricotta on it along with the sauce and mozzarella.

    I was so excited to see your mention of the milk jugs! Thank you for keeping it in mind.

    I wanted to mention something for your friend who is ill. A year and a half ago I had complications from a surgery that spiralled out of control. Between the illness and all of the medications to try to help me heal and control the pain, I couldn't focus or concentrate, and I was so weak. But I had just learned how to knit, and I was able to make this http://www.knitlist.com/2003/babybib.htm and when I was feeling a little bit better I added different colors and a few lines of purling and was able to feel productive even during months of being bed ridden. I was all set for baby gifts and it kept me afloat. I hope this might help someone else.

    Thanks again,
    uvuz4

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  10. oh rhonda, lol, you very much deserve a break from the floor! we've all been there. : )

    sounds like you had a nice day. i got up early to get some greens from the farmer's market for homemade pesto, and some more ball jars i needed for storage and freezing. stopped at a local bakery for some pastry. our city held its annual art fair yesterday, where i was able to pick up quite a few christmas presents from local and regional artisans. .. this made me very happy! the weather was beautiful. i ended my day by babysitting.

    would you mind posting the waffle weave pattern? i am currently knitting some dishcloths for christmas presents in a simple ribbed pattern and thought a variety might be nice. i like this look. thanks!

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  11. oh ... just realized your sunday is done, and you were asking what we did *today!* hehe ... just around dinnertime here.

    i tidied a bit this morning, made some banana/raisin bread, then had coffee and dillied on the computer for a couple of hours. took a bath, then dillied some more looking at recipes, then got up and made homemade pesto (to freeze) and stuffed magda squash for dinner. plan to spend the rest of my day taking a walk to dump my compost bowl which is overflowing (to the fruit flies' delight...ugh), work on a scarf i'm knitting, and tidy up my place with a vaccuum.

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  12. Well, in Oklahoma it is still Sunday so I took my daughter to the movies and drove to our rent house which we are selling. We lived there for 10 years and we needed to say goodbye to our old home. Yesterday, Saturday, we observed Sabbath like we usually do and it included a long afternoon nap and I crocheted a lot. I don't know if I would necessarily need a milk jug cover, but when you post the pattern I will print it off and see about making it. I am absolutely addicted to crochet.

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  13. I so agree with you Rhonda that Sunday is a day of rest. This morning I cruised the internet then had coffee and doughnuts that my hubby was good enough to go out and get. Later I watched a movie and knitted on some wash clothes. After that I put up a large bag of apples and am now steam water bathing them.
    My daughter came by and we talked at the kitchen table . She took home with her some canned peaches as well as applesauce and apple cake. I have a steam burn from lifting the kettle lid without a glove on (not to smart on my part).
    All in all a nice day except my hand is painful.
    Thanks for your post
    Eye

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  14. Yes, it's till Sunday here, and I have spent virtually the whole day at an exhibition of the Staffordshire Hoard in Birmingham. Three and a half hours queueing and one hour looking at the fantastic gold exhibits. Also two hours in the car travelling to and from it! It gave me the first opportunity for a long time to spend time talking to a good friend.
    So, a cultural day - tiring but worthwhile. Tomorrow will be a quiet one, but will manage to make time to see another good friend.

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  15. Yup, still Sunday here in NM, too. But I've been up since 4am (I think) anyway so... So I decided to learn a new craft today: locker hooking! I've had the book for a while but haven't done anything with it with the new little one on the way and all of the rearranging etc that we've been doing. I didn't make anything useful this morning, but I think I am going to try my hand at making some Christmas stocking with it.

    I just woke up from a little nap that wasn't restful at all because of this fetus I am growing. Yesterday (October 3) was my due date and I've been contracting hard off and off for the past few days but I've been contracting off and on since June because of my anxiety so I don't know when to start worrying about it.

    Not a very restful Sunday, but I did make pumpkin pancakes this morning so it hasn't been too bad...

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  16. Your Sunday sounds like such a nice day. It's so funny because I am making those exact waffle weave dishcloths right now! My mother-in-law gave me the pattern, I wonder if she got it from you? It is still Sunday in California and my husband and I just woke up from a nap. Sundays are the best. We are always so busy that I love to just rest up all day Sunday. And, I never do a thing around the house. It can wait until Monday:)

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  17. I stayed overnight at a close friend's place in the Blue Mountains. It rained the entire time (not unusual for the long weekend!) so we chatted while our combined mob of 8 kids played happily.

    Glad you had a relaxing day, Rhonda. It sure makes a difference to the week!

    Cath

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  18. I'm glad you had such a lovely day, Rhonda! And I would love to crochet a milk jug cover along with you and the others here! I hope Hanno was able to collect the eggs safely.

    It's still Sunday here, and we just finished a dinner of fresh potatoes and green beans with some baked fish. Yummy. Homecooked is always so good!


    Autumn Hazen

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  19. In the American Midwest it is also still yesterday. :)

    As I have a chronic illness, sometimes I have bad days. This weekend left me on the sofa when I wasn't doing my necessary work. (I'm positive it is the change of seasons... cool and damp air.)

    I must admit to watching cooking, gardening, and travel shows on TV. I drifted off a couple times when my husband was at church.

    I'll have to look into the forum. I've been part of a women's forum for over ten years, we started as part of an emergency preparedness website in the late 1990s. You can develop such deep friendships.

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  20. Sounds like you had a wonderful day.

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  21. I was at work all day. I'm just home, out on my slippers and sat down here at the computer to catch up with friends. My daughter and I need to go to the store to pick up groceries. (I really need to get my garden going next spring, so I don't have to visit the store as often!) Then I will make dinner, eat and get myself to bed.

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  22. For me yesterday was a day of some rest some church some family. I started off pottering around doing my normal morning things and getting ready for my daughter in law who is boarding with us for 6 weeks. Then we went off to church for a few hours of fellowship and returned to have our son and his wife here for dinner. We ate our dinner (a slow cooker meal) outside in the cool of the evening. A lovely day.

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  23. LOL! I love how you kept looking at that floor Rhonda, I'm sure you dealt with it today but gee it made me laugh. So glad that Bernadette is up to crocheting, I hope you both had a nice visit.
    Yesterday I did the weekly bake -- three loaves -- which I mix in the breadmaker and cook in the oven. I'm making progress with adding in different flours, the loaves rise nicely even as I up the wholemeal and 7 grain. While that happened I had a lovely Web surf and dropped into the forum a couple of times. Spent some time watching the Gardener build the Girls' Palace aka as the chicken coop, just another week and the girls arrive!
    I did some knitting in the afternoon while watching tapes of River Cottage and Costa's Garden Odyssey.
    Today it's a public holiday, I've done the weekly clean and the Gardener is putting the roof on The Palace. We're off to lunch together shortly.

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  24. Dave and I stripped 2 sapling trees, to use in making a trellis for our passionfruit vines.

    Glad you had a peaceful Sunday with Alice and the chooks. :)

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  25. Hi,Rhonda. Red letter day for us yesterday as we drove 188.2 klms to pick up our 3 rhode island red bantams.
    They are so beautiful. Laid 2 eggs within 2 hours of being introduced to their new home. These are the first chooks we have had for quite a few years as we get free range eggs from a farmer here quite reasonable but theres nothing that compares to having long conversations with a friendly chicken.

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  26. It sounds like you had an enjoyable and peaceful day. My husband and I were up before dawn to drive 30 miles to a car boot sale as we plan to downsize next year and have a lot of "stuff" to pass on to new homes (and let's face it, the money is needed right now too!). We had an excellent morning and the sun came out after lunch so I was able to potter in my herb plot, cutting back and weeding, and then picking some autumn raspberries still warm from the sunshine. I'm afraid they never made it as far as the house! My purple French beans are still producing enough for a couple of meals a week and now LOTS of seeds to plant next year, wherever we happen to be.

    In the evening I finished knitting a winter hat for my son. I have made a few for little ones in the family for Christmas gifts this year, so the ribbing is automatic now . . .

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  27. There are just two hours of Sunday left. The day was spent with my youngest son at home. One of two veggie gardens needed to be cleaned up for winter. The last of my green tomatoes were picked along with a few red ones. My grandson visited at nap time so his parents could enjoy a movie .. then we all ate a nice hearty soup with toasted garlic bread and a green salad .. the last from my garden ;( This evening we got out a few beautiful red ears of popping corn .. rubbed the dried kernels off the cobs and popped up a nice kettle. Time for a bubble bath and a book before bed.

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  28. We finally got the keys to our new house last Friday so Sunday was our first visit to our new house, finally after all of these years of dreaming and imagining! On the way we stopped in to our friends house and gave them some wood we had picked up at a demolition site, then continued on our way to the new house. We unpacked some boxes from our shed where they've been stored (unfortunately we're not able to move in just yet) and then our friends (where we had dropped off the wood) came to visit and my friend brought me 2 beautiful hadmade cushion covers as a housewarming. She had shown me the one she'd made for herself and when I admired them so, she decided to make 2 for us, isn't that absolutely beautiful of her? Then we had fish and chips for dinner with them, after they'd gone we watched a dvd on the computer and then retired to our separate lounges for a reasonably good night's sleep!
    What a blissful day
    Cheers
    Judy in Adelaide

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  29. Sounds like you had a wonderfully relaxed Sunday. Glad your friend is stronger. My mom is a cancer survivor (13years cancer free!!) so there is hope for recovery and back to "normal" for her. In September our church moved mass time from 6pm to 9am which made all who have been asking for the change so happy! October is our hamlet's month to clean, do the flowers, offering, ushering etc. and since it is morning mass the council decided to provide coffee and snacks so it is our month for that as well. It was wonderful! People made time to hang out and talk and spend some time with family, friends and neighbors. After that I played board games with my sisters, nephews and nieces, son, cousins, and some friends and had a wonderful dinner all together thanks to my mother. I love Sundays!

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  30. First I have a question: When you make a dishcloth, how big is it and what kind of yarn do you use?

    I had a nice Sunday helping my parents prepare for the week. I attempted to fry chicken for dinner (it tasted good anyway), and I'm getting better at knitting and working on Christmas presents (very simple patterns).

    Have a good week!

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  31. I love saving all of my mags, like you did. I find as time goes on my tastes and interests change. I cant go back and read articles I had overlooked before.

    My dayd yesterday, we bought a few hundred perennial herb and flower plants at auction. We had to finish taking them out of the truck we barrowed from our friend next door. Then, our family (even the 5yr old boy and cranky pre-teen) helped us move two cords of wood from a bit over a mile up the road. We used our fourwheeler with a snow mobile trailer hitched to it. I got the best/worst seat in the house. I had to ride home sitting ontop of he wood. ;)

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  32. I've just finished running a gruelling 2 hour training session on grief theories, so it's good to look back at yesterday when I didn't have to be in work. I got up relatively early for a Sunday and left my husband asleep while I pottered downstairs and put on a load of washing out of No2 son's bedrom. He's going back to university today and hasn't done any washing since he came home from holiday a week ago so I guess he will be taking most his clothes with him and washing them there! I decanted 3 jars of hawthorn vinegar and two jars of mint vinegar and labelled them, then washed the labels off the original jars and put them in the dishwasher to thoroughly clean. Then I cleaned the washbasin in the downstairs toilet and made myself an egg on toast.Hubby joined me for breakfast and then he put the stew and soup I'd made on Saturday in the freezer and hung out the washing. I cleared the kitchen table and started on my sewing, but took some time out to sit outside on the patio with hubby while he talked to No1 son about putting an offer on a house -their first one! I sewed until lunchtime, then continued afterwards until I got too tired and went and checked my emails and talked to my parents. Hubby cooked tea - lamb chops and the remains of the vegetables from the roast chicken we'd had with No2 son and daughter on Saturday evening. Watched some TV while I tied the ends off of my sewing - 2 cushion covers filled with a cushion each, an apron with a draw-string bag to put it in for a friend's Christmas present. Checked emails again and read some blogs, then tidied all my sewing things away and went to bed.

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  33. I love visiting state fairs. Most in the US will be in the next month or two, but here in Florida (and in my home state of Arizona) the growing season peaks during the cooler months, so ours will be in February. Arizona's state fair is this month, but their county fairs are mostly in the spring.

    I've been knitting squares to make beanbags for a local Waldorf school's fall festival. It's been a good way for me to learn more stitch patterns. I've also got several sewing projects in the works, all involving the upcycling of old clothes- into toys, children's clothing, diaper covers and cleaning cloths.

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  34. Oh, you've made me so homesick. I grew up in Iowa, but have been in the SE US for almost nine years. I sure do miss the state fair. There's so much to see. There are several buildings housing crafts of all kinds, baking, home canned goods, produce, livestock, etc. All the entrants at the fair are there because they won top honors at their county fairs. What fun! I wish I could have been there this year, or at least seen the program you watched.

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  35. I do so love quiet days at home alone.

    I've knit quite a few dishcloth patterns, and the waffle weave is my favorite. Just love it.

    Yesterday was a nice quiet day of knitting for me. Then my husband took me for a special dinner out. And finally we swung by our daughter's just in time to read bedtime stories and collect goodnight kisses from the grandbabies.

    Heaven.

    kathleen

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  36. I love reading your blog and you inspire me to create a more basic, real home. I just made up a fresh batch of laundry soap this morning before work. My husband loves it!

    Oh, my goodness--I almost couldn't believe you were watching a show on the Iowa State Fair. I'm from Southeast Iowa and my husband and I love going to the fair! We go every year, and can hardly wait till fair time comes. This year, a woman down the hall at my work won grand champion dress design for a christening gown she made for her granddaughter out of her daughter-in-law's wedding gown (out of hundreds of sewing entries). And you would not believe how many food entries they have each year--thousands of them. There's so much you can't see it all in a day (we've tried!).

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  37. My Sunday wasn't really a day of rest! I got up early, made a batch of homemade blueberry muffins, went to pick up my son from the weekend's Scout camp from a nearby village, gave 1/2 the muffins to the very bedraggled and tired leaders :-), then drove my son to rugby for a game (that was cancelled but turned into a 3 hr training practice). When we got home, I spent the afternoon doing chores and tending to my son who had pulled a muscle in his back at training.

    In the evening, I did get to crochet a hat out of some lovely soft, jewel-colored yarn. All in all, a busy yet productive day.

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  38. Sunday....knitted two wise men for the shop and visited the instrument repair man with my broken french horn. He is married to a cousin so took my mum for a visit too. After that re opened shop and kept on knitting wise men as I still only had one left. (another cousin took 3 to send to a friend for Christmas)

    Somewhere in here the kids came back from skiing with other grandma and I did cook dinner - home grown farm sausages also from other grandma.

    Just a 'normal' weekend!

    viv in nz

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