Art for Heart's Sake

Market Day!

Hi, today dawned, well errrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm, dark, for want of another word.  Crikey it was pitch black when I peeled open one eye just after 6am.  Here in NZ we are on daylight saving from the last weekend of September until the first weekend of April (it was extended by three weeks a couple of years ago) and I, for one, struggle at this time of the year because the mornings are becoming really dark.  I am a morning person but it needs to be light for me to register it IS morning!  Giggle.

John dropped me off at the market around 7.45am and I set my stall up in a rather freezing cold hall.  The weather ''bomb'' that was predicted overnight hit mainly the north island so we got off really lightly here.  We did get some most welcome rain for a few hours so that's wonderful.  We were quite shocked to see snow on the distant ranges, quite a good dusting, which is really unusual for this time of year.

Needless to say foot traffic at the market was a bit slow to begin with and I didn't sell as much as I have the last two times.  I did sell a few plants though and got lots of compliments about my art which is so lovely.  Yes I'd love to sell some of course, but it is great having people telling me it's gorgeous.  That compliment alone makes it worthwhile.

I will upload some photos of my latest glass tea light holders that I've done tomorrow.  It is 2.30pm and I really must get outside and get something done in the garden.  Smiles..

Typing from Bed!

Hi,giggle, no I'm not I'll, just playing with the Blogsy application on the JOHN's iPad. Loops r capitals. I have to type one fingered which is really strange for a touch typist, giggle.

We are under weather watch because a big storm or weather bomb is heading across the Tasman sea towards the north island and the top of the south island. It doesn't sound nice at all with very heavy rain and gale force winds. We might just catch the tail of it, they're not sure.

I'm wondering if the market will be on tomorrow. I really hope so because I've done 6 more glass tea light holders and they're pretty. I've taken photos and will post them soon. The storm is set to go through very quickly so we may be okay.

Today we have a few things to do around the property and I'm going to check if anything needs securing down. I also want to do a bit more weeding if I can. Ooh yesterday I harvested a whole trug full of plums next door and I'm going to dry them in our dehydrator, yum!!

I'd better get up and start my day. Smiles...

Eeeeek, an interloper, giggle...

Hi, yikes, do you see what I see??  Yes my dear hubby hijacked my blog last night to test out a new app on his iPad..  Hmmm I'll have to keep an eye on him!  Giggle, just kidding!   This means I will be able to blog as often as possible when we are away which is just great.  I can't wait to keep you up-to-date with what we are doing and our house-sitters too.

Yippeeeeeeeeee, it's officially Autumn today!  I have to say it certainly feels like it - there is a cool breeze blowing and we got some more rain last night which was just delicious.  I woke at around 2.45am to hear it pounding on the roof.  Unfortunately my brain started working and I didn't get back to sleep for quite a while.   I have so so much to do in the next six weeks, including 4 extra radio shows and an extra magazine article, not to mention the instructions for everything that needs doing re watering the garden, feeding animals etc, plus all the weeding and feeding.  Crikey, and I wonder why I'm in a big mental muddle most of the time, not to mention overly-emotional, giggle!  Breathe girl, breathe!

Today I am sorting everything for the final market stall of this season.  This is the last market until October and I have quite a selection of plants, art etc this time.  I also want to type up a ''what's coming in October' sign.  I'm planning on increasing my range to include delphiniums, lupins and a few other special perennials.

Speaking of which I'd better get off my rear end and go and start!  OOoh the rosehip syrup worked brilliantly and is totally delicious with sparkling water.  I only got about 1/2 cup of syrup but hey that's still really special!  Smiles..

Test

This is John testing out the Blogsy app on his iPad

 

A test post

Hi this is just a test post, trying out john's iPad. Smiles...

Rosehips!

Hi, it's leap day here today (29th) and it always feels a bit strange to be having an extra day in February.  I'm sure there are a lot of people celebrating their ''real'' birthday today!

Yesterday I was doing more weeding when I realised a rugosa rose near the glasshouse had quite a load of ripe rosehips on it.  As you know I love these old roses, not only for their fragrance but because they produce the most luscious hips (giggle.. no, not bodily ones!).

This rose is rather special because it popped up as a seedling in my garden in Island Bay, Wellington in the late 1990's and when I moved from there I took it with me.   I think my sister babysat it when I was in Singapore for two years and then it was transported down here from the North Island (along with quite a lot of other plants) when we moved in.  It is a cross between Rugosa ''Frau Dagmar Hastrup'' and ''Scabrosa'' and is very pretty.  It does tend to sucker which can sometimes happen with rose seedlings.

I have eaten rosehips straight from my bushes in the past and apart from all the seeds they are really quite delicious.  I decided to try my hand at rosehip syrup so I picked the hips and simmered them for around 20 minutes, mashed them and then put them into my jelly bag to strain overnight.  Needless to say I don't have a HUGE amount of juice but it will make enough for us to get a few tastes of it. 

It was a chilly day yesterday and it spat with rain off and on all day which was really weird considering the weather forecast.  We got some rain last night too which made me happy re my composting etc.  Today it's cloudy and I think there is a possibility of more rain later.  I don't mind how much it rains because the garden loves it.

We are going grocery shopping this pm so I'd better get out in the garden while I can, then I'll make the syrup.  Smiles..

Feeling Autumnal

Hi, we woke to scudding cloud, a chilly breeze and a distinctly autumnal feel in the air!  I walked Chester and my hands got cold, which is very weird when it is still summer, at least until Thursday when autumn officially kicks in.  Here in Nelson we normally get our best weather in Autumn so it will be interesting to see how the weather behaves this season. 

Our day started with Chester being roared at for leaping into the fenced off bit of garden in his dog area and smashing down a lot of my precious perennials.  This garden was there before Chester and I don't want to have to get rid of it so John is going to have to thoroughly fence it off and I'll have to climb over the verandah railing to get down into it to weed etc.  These meds definitely seem to have changed Chester's behaviour - he's in puppy destruction mode and it's not fun at all.  Yesterday we left him by himself in the open plan kitchen, dining, living room are to test him out and sure enough about 5 m ins later John found him with his paws up on the bench which he's never done before.  There have been several other incidents in the past week or so too.  It is SO tiring always having to wonder what he's doing so we've had to start shutting him out on the verandah again when we aren't in the house, or when John is in his office down the hallway.  It's so sad because he was turning into such a gorgeous dog before all this happened.  Pookies is all I can say!  There are lots of times lately when I'd just love to go back to the way life was pre-dog!!  Don't get me wrong, I DO love Chester, I'm just tired of it all.

On a much brighter note, I did lots more weeding and composting yesterday and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm hoping the rain will stay away today (we've already had a few spits) so I can carry on.  I've run out of compost so John is going to get some more and in the meantime I'll continue re-weeding.  Hmmm I think it's cup of tea then out to the garden time.  Smiles..  ooh and I have to throw some sheep manure pellets around too so when it rains, as predicted, tomorrow they will swell nicely.. yum!  Giggle..

Hello Monday

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ermmm if I've already posted this, I apologise.. I can't remember if I did or not!  When we were at the A&P show in Murchison we went on a ferris wheel - something I haven't done for years - it was such fun!

Right now Chester is resting after his morning walk, I've hung out the washing, changed the bed and am now sitting here with a cup of tea and a seed catalogue - oh and typing this to you!

I have just put 8 more jars of damson jelly into the storecupboard in the laundry - that makes a total of 15 jars of deliciousness!  I also have three large jars of damson gin underway (oooh I must take a photo for you) too. 

So why am I looking at a seed catalogue?  This season herb sales at Mapua Country Trading have been down somewhat, particularly when it comes to sweet basil which is rather peculiar as it is one of THE most popular summer herbs and last year I sold a truckload to MCT.  Ah well, I think it could be because more people are growing their own vegies and herbs, possibly from seed - good on them!  Heather has suggested perhaps we try selling some flowering plants and she has left it to me to work out what.  This is rather tricky as there are only a couple of seed companies in total in New Zealand and their range is pretty limited.  I'm thinking things like different foxgloves, special aquilegia (granny's bonnets),  and a few other perennials.  Most of the seeds available are annuals and they're just not practical for what Heather wants.  I also need to be careful I don't limit what I can sell from my nursery (Astrantia major for example) because I can't be seen to be selling things that she is also trying to sell at a more expensive price when I'm growing them for her.  A bit of a conundrum I fear.

Yesterday I got a lot more weeding and composting done and I'm about to leap out there again today.  There is a bit of cloud cover thank goodness so I need to make the most of it. 

Oooh I'm working on a few little tealight glass holders again to take to the market this Saturday and I'm really happy with them.  I'll post photos as soon as they're finished.  Okay, off outside I go!  Smiles.

A Cool Start!

Hi, crikey it was a bit chilly this morning when we woke up, 8.3 degrees C which is fairly cool for this time of year.  It's a reminder that the first official day of autumn is this coming Thursday and I have to say it can't come soon enough for me.  Once it is no longer officially summer I immediately feel more invigorated, even if the days are still hot, giggle!

Yesterday I managed to get quite a lot of weeding and composting done in the main perennial bed - I still have around 2 more full days work to do to get it composted but what I've done so far looks lovely.  I'm not putting the compost on as thickly as I normally would, mainly because my perennials etc don't need as much food going into autumn as they do when they are coming out of dormancy in spring.

This morning we are going to repair my scarlet runner bean frame (complete with beans, poor things) that was knocked down by the wind yesterday.  I realised yesterday morning it was a bit rickety after the strong winds we had on Wed night but yesterday a gusty SW wind was blowing in the afternoon and it decked it!  I hope we can put the frame back up without damaging the bean roots.  Scarlet runners are perennial and they don't take kindly to root disturbance.

After lunch I'm going to make another lot of damson jelly.  I do find it hard spending time in the house when the weather is so lovely for gardening but I can't waste our produce and anyway it will be a good thing to do while my lunch is going down!  

Oooh the other thing I desperately need to do today is continue covering up our grapes.  We were eating our breakfast this morning watching a female blackbird and a thrush brazenly picking grapes that aren't even ripe.. little devils.  I must go and put some food out for them on the verandah railings in the hope they'll take that instead!  Fat hope I fear, giggle.   Hmmm I'd better get off here and go and DO things.  Big hugs and smiles for the rest of your weekend.  More photos next week!  Smiles..