Art for Heart's Sake

A Hot Wind Doth Blow!

Morning everyone (or evening where you are), it's Monday and there is a hot gusty SW wind blowing today.  Ugh...  We have had lots of SW winds this summer, it seems, which is rather odd.  Because Nelson is coastal we usually get a cooling sea breeze each afternoon, but not this year!  

John has gone for a walk and then our usual weekly personal training session for 30 minutes (without me, sob!).  I am here keeping an eye on Chester.  I have to say it will be so good when we can take him with us to public places like parks, rivers etc.  Thank heavens we have a paddock we can exercise him in (only 30 minutes a day still at this age), we would be going completely stir-crazy on a small inner-city section.  My only wish is that we had a full fenced section so we could just let him wander out the front door, but this is just not possible.  Our paddock is almost fully fenced - there's a gap where we take debris through to our next door neighbour's paddock where he has a burn-off each year.  I'm thinking we may need to put a gate across it and one at the top where the paddock meets the house garden area.  Sorry Ruth, yes we still haven't done a map of our section so you and others can visualise what I'm talking about - maybe that could be a winter project for John?   To fence the area that leads from our house to our drive that goes straight down to the road and in the other direction right down to the pond would just be far  too costly.  I hope you are now not too totally confused?? Giggle..

Today I desperately need to do some potting on of herb seedlings and I need to sow some more seeds too.  I also have to try to finish or at least almost finish Jessie's 21st gift tag today too.  John will be out until lunchtime so I think my afternoon will be full!  I'd better go and check on the dog, it's very quiet in the living room and he has just started getting up on our sofas to sleep, when we're not looking.  This means ''Chester, outside'' (for a few minutes at a time) in very firm tones so he gets the message the sofa is not his territory!  It's interesting watching him test his boundaries slightly more each day.  It's also interesting getting him to do outside as I refuse to do the ''drag by the collar'' thing as that is too mean.  We get the lead instead, if he won't come.. stubborn boy!  Needless to say it's tiring for us too!  What can I say - he is LOVELY!  Smiles..

Happy Sunday

Hi there, well it's Sunday and I'm chasing my tail!  Giggle..  I'm trying to get the rest of my vegetables planted in the kitchen garden which also means we need to take barrow loads of compost from the very end of the main top garden all the way down to the kitchen garden - bad planning and hard work! Crikey.  

Yesterday morning I thoroughly enjoyed Zumba and spent most of the rest of the day keeping an eye on Chester while pottering around achieving very little.  I desperately need to work on a birthday gift tag for my gorgeous niece Jessica who is turning 21 this coming Friday.  I am giving her a set of pearls I've had for years - they have a lovely sheen to them and I just am not a pearl girl.  They will look stunning with Jessie's blonde hair and beautiful face so I hope she likes them.  I think I've seen her wearing pearls in a photo or two.  I need to get my present in the mail courier post by Wednesday so must get the tag started today - gulp!  I want it to be extra special!

Here's a photo of Chester, he's growing up so fast!  His coat is getting darker especially down his back by the day.  

Sabah needs to go back to the vet on Tuesday (it's a public holiday here tomorrow, darn it).  We found another bald patch on his back much further away from the site where we used the Profender topical worming treatment so I guess he is still having a reaction to it.  The original bald patch has hair growing back.  Poor lad, I feel so bad as only agreed to liquid topical worming stuff because they didn't have a pill popper and we need one to medicate Sabah with tablets.  Double crikey!  I feel like such a bad mother.  

I hope your weekend is going really well.  I'm off to plant and then to gift tag!  Smiles..

Photo of Lyn's Gift

Hi here's the photograph of the gift I made for Lyn's birthday.  I am really happy with the way this came together - I will admit it took me a couple of weeks to get it 'just right'.  I hope you like it.  I so love making gifts for people I love.

Zumba and more

Hi there, well I'm just back from my Zumba workout for the week and it was just fabulous.  I really love the way I feel afterwards - energised and yes, awake!  Crikey, giggle!  Last week there were only 3 of us in the class which always worries me because there is a chance if too few people go too often they will can the class, which would really upset me.  Today there were about 8 of us so PHEW!  I could go to different classes in our district but there are always around 60+ people at those and I would feel completely swamped.  I don't do ''crowds'' very well.

Yesterday was a day when I really didn't manage to achieve what I wanted to until late in the afternoon.  I wanted to get all of my vegetable plants in the ground but what with one thing and another, it just didn't happen.  I did manage to get a couple of everything planted in the glasshouse in the morning and most of the other plants were in the kitchen garden by 5.45, unprotected from white butterflies though!  We protected them this morning.  White butterflies adore brassicas (broccoli etc) and if you don't keep them off while the plants are young they get decimated very quickly which is so demoralising!

Today I will get the rest of the plants in the ground too and must do some more weeding if I get the chance.  John looked after Chester while I was out this morning so it's my turn to let John do something he wants to do this pm.  Chester has a bit of a humphhhhhh evening last night, not sure what was going on but boy he was moody.  Today he seems to be back to his normal self - I guess dogs have moods too (giggle!).  Right it's almost lunchtime and I'm starving.  John's gone to a neighbours to lend a hand for a few minutes so will work out what to munch when he gets back.  Smiles.. p.s. I will post a picture of the present I made for my dearest friend, as soon as I can.  She absolutely loved it!  Double smiles..

The Universe!

Hi there, well I'm confused!  The universe is playing major tricks on us it seems.. crikey!  I think I mentioned yesterday that our internet provider was providing us with a free turbo mobile broadband t-stick that was going to have much better coverage - well it duly arrived yesterday pm and yes, you guessed it, it DOESN'T WORK!  It works from a 3G type of coverage and in our area we don't get 3G very well at all.  The blasted TURBO bit worked more slowly than the basic t-stick we have and are still using.  Honestly, how flipping ridiculous is this!  

So now I am WAITING for a phone call (again) from the internet provider's resolution team to see if we can get an extra free (original type) t-stick and another Sim card so I can use it in my laptop (even though the speed is pretty slow).  We have to get something out of them for all our trouble.  Enough of those gripes!  I'm sorry I need to gripe but it does me good to get it off my chest.  I write it in good humour, I promise!

That aside, yesterday was as predicted - hot, hot, hot!  It got to 33.6 degrees C at one stage and I was melting.  Taking Chester out to go to the toilet was a very hot experience in the early afternoon, poor wee guy.  Needless to say I didn't manage to get much gardening done at all so all the lovely vegetable plants are still sitting here waiting to be planted.  I'm going to do it later today after I've been to see my gorgeous friend, Lyn.  

I hope wherever you are your week is going more smoothly than mine is and the weather is being kind to you?  Big hugs and smiles...

It's Going to Be Hot

Hi everyone, well oh brother, it is going to be a very hot day today.  Earlier in the week rain was predicted for today but NO - instead we have brilliant blue sky and a prediction of 26 degrees C which means on our property we will probably get over 30.  Ugh is all I can say.  I really need to get some vegetable plants in this morning but I have a feeling they will wilt horribly around the middle of the day.  I really ought to wait until tonight but we have puppy pre-school which means a late dinner and somehow I think I will be too tired to plant tonight.

One tiny bit of good news (well better news) re our high speed internet problems is that after writing a letter to the CEO of Telecom explaining in great detail all the things that have happened, particularly the fact that our problems have been caused by someone giving us incorrect information in the first instance on 10 Nov last year, we have made a tiny bit of progress.

They are giving us a turbo t-stick that has much better coverage than the one we are currently using (we hope!) free of charge and they have also agreed to an 8GB package for a 4GB price, plus a discount for six months (to be reviewed if no fixed broadband by then, heaven help us) that takes the cost back to the amount we are paying per month for 2GB.  Crikey, how complicated that sounds.  At least that's something.  Please keep your fingers crossed that the new t-stick works well for us.  

I finished the present I was making for my dearest friend and I will post a photograph of it tomorrow after I've given it to her.  I am SO happy with the way it worked out.  Ok, I'd better fly out the door to do morning chores re rabbit, chooks etc and then leap headfirst into the garden.  Oh I harvested a big bowl of blueberries yesterday - very proud and they are delicious, with more to come!  Smiles..

Vegetable Planting Time

Hi there, this morning I went out to our local hardware store and got a variety of vegetables for late autumn/early winter harvesting.  I'd love to grow all of these from seed myself but right at the moment I simply don't have time to do it properly.  My aim this year is to manage it in spring this year!  I got purple sprouting broccoli, side-shooter broccoli (broccoli raab, yum!), silverbeet (green beet), rainbow beet (has lovely colourful stems and is slightly less tough than silverbeet), kohl rabi, tuscan black kale and little gem lettuce plants.  Most of these are going into the kitchen garden and I will need to rig up the cloches over them to keep the white butterflies off.  

After another week I have decided the pathetic!!! tomato plants (bad mother!) in the glasshouse just have to go.  They are not going to produce much in the way of fruit at all so they are just taking up space.  I will plant one lot of broccoli and the silverbeet in there instead.  I think I will have to wait until tomorrow morning to plant everything, partly because I need to toss some sheep manure around onto the beds first so that when the sprinkler goes tonight they will swell up nicely in time for me to dig them in and then plant.  It is also miles too hot out there to spend time planting and it wouldn't be fair on the seedlings.

Chester is continuing to thrive and apart from the 'terrible 2's' he has in the evening he really is a very good puppy.  Right I'm off out into the garden.  Smiles..

Phew, Made it onto the Internet Finally!

Hi, I really hope your week has started well.  Yet again I've had terrible trouble getting onto the internet today, the mobile broadband keeps crashing out before I get anywhere.  I am waiting to hear from the Telecom customer resolution team member who had said he would phone yesterday (Monday) at 2pm.  After calling him at around 3pm I suddenly realised it was Wellington Anniversary Day so that was the end of that (I remember him mentioning he was in Wellington).  Needless to say, I've tried to get hold of him this morning with no luck and just hope he will phone at 2pm today instead.  

Chester had his vaccination booster yesterday morning, plus a vaccination for leptosporosis too which we need to get him protected from as we are rural.  He also had to have an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory shot for the allergic reaction under his arm (leg?? giggle).  Dear wee man was full of drugs by the end of it.  

Crikey I'd better post this now as internet just crashed AGAIN!  Pookies... More tomorrow... So sorry!  Smiles... 

Happy Monday

Hi, well it's Monday morning again and I've realised it is only 11 months until Christmas Eve again.. Giggle..  ahem.  I can hear you all groaning from here!

Today I'm off to the vet with Chester again.  Last Monday evening we noticed a couple of small lumps and a slight redness in his ''underarm'' of the left leg (hmm what do you call that area on a dog?  Underarm doesn't sound quite right).  We didn't think much of it and were going to get it checked this Wednesday when he's due for his second vaccination.  Last night we noticed it was looking a lot more red and where the spots were there is now a bit of a swollen area.  Crikey, I felt so guilty for not looking sooner and taking him to the vet then.  It doesn't seem to be bothering him so I'm hoping it's nothing too nasty.  We'll get his vaccination done today as well.  

Yesterday John went fishing with a friend so I pottered around doing a bit of weeding here and there, plus checking on Chester and giving him a couple of training sessions.  I made sure he had a much quieter day and his mood was not as weird in the evening as it was on Saturday night.  John took him back out to the paddock around 8pm for a short run around and that seemed to help too.  Chester is trying to dominate me occasionally - barking at me when I'm sitting on the couch nibbling on something but not doing it to John.  When I'm tired I get a bit upset about this but I know I just need to ignore him, stand up, avert my eyes and part my lips slightly.  He needs to know he is the omega in the pack and we are the alphas, at all times.  It's hard work and I for one am feeling pretty exhausted emotionally, but it's only been a week after all.  He is doing really well and so are we, we just need to work on both being consistent with commands, etc.  

This pm I need to pot up some more herb seedlings and possibly sow some more seed.  Oh, we got a bit of drizzle yesterday which was just heavenly.  The sky is clearing now but it is coolish for a change - the bedroom was a lovely 16 degrees C last night and not 24 upwards! Right I'd better start my day.  Hugs and smiles...

Aaagghh to our Internet Provider

Hi there, so sorry I am late posting this today.  Right now I could so do something nasty to the company that isn't supplying us with fixed broadband (can't because of huge long waiting list as I've mentioned before).  Today we haven't been able to get on at all until now, 3pm!  I have my radio show to send to the radio station and it is an MP3 13mb!!  Crikey...  Takes ages to load through our mobile broadband setup so need the link to be stable which it certainly isn't today.  Hmmmm enough of my moans!

I have managed to get some gardening done today.  John is out fishing and I have basically left Chester to his own devices, asleep mostly, checking on him every 10mins or so.  Last night he was in a VERY weird mood and I put it down to his day yesterday somehow.  Hopefully he will be better this evening as I just wanted to run away and forget about him for a while - most unlike me!

Sabah escaped yesterday while I was out in the morning but he came back in before I got home from the birthday lunch I had to go to.  Today he's out again and has been in a couple of times for food which is good.  

Well I'd better go and get this email sent if I can.  More tomorrow.  Smiles...