Art for Heart's Sake

A Beautiful Wedding!

Hi, yes I stayed up last night to watch the royal wedding.  The actual ceremony started at 10pm our Friday night and I managed to hold my eyes open until after they'd appeared on the balcony.  I did go to bed at around midnight because I had to be awake at 6.30am for Zumba this morning (as did John - though not for zumba!) but I lay there and thought 'this is ridiculous, I have to see them on the balcony', so I got up again.  Needless to say I am very tired today partly because I woke up at 4am and lay there worrying about Sabah.  Crikey.

I really thought the wedding was lovely and thoroughly enjoyed all of the pomp and ceremony and especially the glorious choral music.  I used to be in a church choir when I was young and I really miss sining all of that wonderful choral music.  As for Kate's dress (Catherine as she is now called), wow it was absolutely stunning.  I loved how fine her veil was and she looked so radiantly happy the whole time.  Sigh.. romantic, it was!

I do have to say a few of the guests had the weirdest hats on that I have EVER seen!  Good grief, what were some of them thinking??!!!  Good entertainment value, giggle.

This pm I am going to be in the kitchen garden spreading compost and hopefully doing a little more weeding, before composting.  We are forecast to have a bit of rain this coming week so it's a perfect time to get it done.  John is also picking up 11 tiny Lavender Pacific Blue plants on his way home from dog obedience (this is the most gorgeous english lavender and is very hard to find so I am thrilled we managed to get it) so I will need to plant them this pm too. 

Right I'd better get going.  Oh and Sabah finally pooped (excuse the expression) this morning and is eating a tiny bit of food, so things are looking up.  I was really worried about him yesterday and last night, he looked really miserable.  Fingers crosssed he continues to eat more.  Smiles...

Sabah Not Great, Me Rushing!

Hi there, this is just a quick post for now as I am about to rush out the door for a lovely morning with my dear friend Jacqui.  We are popping up to Motueka to ''do'' the shops.  I will just be window shopping but it will be such fun!  I hardly ever get to do this.

Sabah has slight pancreatitis and as I am writing this he is in his bed inside and hasn't eaten a thing this morning, or had anything to drink.  This is not good as it is a sign he is feeling pretty yuk!  Yesterday they gave him his fluids, a long acting antibiotic and a short acting steroid to calm things down.  He ate a little bit when he got home but not much at all.  He hasn't pooped yet either which is another sign his whole innards are up the creek.  If he still hasn't eaten or pooped by lunch time I will have to take him back to the vet so they can monitor him.  Sigh....  I so hate it when he's sick, I worry heaps.

Anyway must fly, more later.  Hugs and ''get well Sabah'' smiles....

Sabah is at Vet!

Hi there, well our day started with one very unhappy pussycat!  As I've mentioned our gorgeous Singapore street cat (rescued from the SPCA in Singapore in 2003) has inflammatory bowel disease - basically an 8cm section of his intestines is permanently inflamed, raw and puffy looking.. ouch!  We manage this problem with a special hydrolysed protein diet.  Of course if he eats a bird or mouse etc, it can cause slight flare ups to happen.  This morning our dear boy refused to get out of his bed and when he did he was trying to vomit without much success (oh that looked painful!).  Needless to say I took him to the vet and he is now having sub-cutaneous fluids (under the skin which does help him) and they are taking bloods and checking his urine too.  I have to say it has been ages since he looked so miserable.  Please keep strong thoughts for him, I really love him dearly.  He seeks me out several times a day and it feels weird not seeing him around even for a day!

 
I will phone the vet later to see if he needs to stay in overnight - I do hope not because he never eats much anyway (not that he's hungry right now) when he has to stay there. 

Yesterday I got more heavy weeding done in the kitchen garden and John went to get two more scoops of the fabulous odourless fish compost that I swear by.  It is amazing stuff!  Today I will be unloading it via wheelbarrow and planting some more beetroot and some chinese cabbage seedlings.  Speaking of which, I'd better get going!  Big smiles... slightly pussycat worried ones..

Garden Girl Overalls

Hi, it's Wednesday so that means we are flying out the door this morning so I can go to personal training at 9.30am.  John will take Chester for a walk along a nearby dog-friendly beach and then we have a few errands to do on the way home.

John gave me the most amazing pair of ''Garden Girl'' gardening overalls for Christmas and now the weather is cooling off I can wear them!  I will be living in these overalls from now until mid-Spring and just adore them.  They have pockets EVERYWHERE and I love that they have knee patches too because my jeans are always getting muddy knees!  It seems a shame to get these overalls dirty, but I'm determined I will!  Hmm does my stomach look big in these?? Yes, darn it, giggle!

 
Right must rush, more tomorrow.  Smiles..

 

A Beetroot Warning!

Hi, I hope you all had a fantastic Easter break with friends and family.  I can't believe it is the 26th of April already - where on earth is the year going.  Varoom is all I can say!

Now to my beetroot warning, giggle.  Ermmm how do I say this - it pays to be aware that when you eat oven roasted beetroot (or lots of beetroot in one sitting) it may have an interesting effect on a certain bodily function the next day in terms of colour!  I got one heck of a fright yesterday morning and I have to say it really scared me.  All sorts of nasty scenarios were going through my mind, so I let my fingers do the walking on the internet in the afternoon and found, to my delight, that yes beetroot dye is not digested and even gets into the bloodstream - how amazing is that!  Needless to say this morning I approached the bathroom with some trepidation, only to emerge saying YAY THANK GOODNESS! Giggle, ermm well enough about that!

I got my heritage broad bean seeds into the garden yesterday afternoon and also managed to make some progress with the couch (sounds like a sofa!) grass in the blueberry patch too.  John, bless his heart because he loathes digging/weeding, loosened off the area on Sunday so it is not quite as hard to do.  I'm hoping to get a lot more done today.  At the moment it looks a bit like rain but I don't think it will - strong SE winds are also forecast but so far, so good.  It is lovely and cool too.  I have a cute photo to share with you tomorrow!  Smiles...

A Weird Photo, Giggle

Hi there, it's Easter Monday/Anzac Day today and the sun is shining for the first time in a couple of days.  It's always a novelty here when it's cloudy for more than a day and it gave me a chance to spend some much needed time in my studio going through my stacks of decorative papers (scrapbooking papers, even though I don't scrapbook!).  I adore beautiful papers and it's lovely rediscovering what I have in my stash.  I always see lots of papers I've forgotten about and think ''I could do this with that'', then of course it goes back into the pile and when I need it I can't remember which pile it is in!  Aaagghhh...

Here is a rather ermmm weird photo I wanted to share with you today.  I love my curls and they looked so pretty yesterday I just had to take a photo.  I started getting silver hairs (note, NOT GREY!!!  I simply don't do grey) when I was in my mid-twenties and they are fairly evenly scattered through my locks.  I am very comfortable with them and like they way they shimmer in the light (if this sounds odd, they really do gleam when the light catches them.. giggle I sound like a gemstone!).  What is a bit strange is I also have some auburn in my hair too even though for most of my life my hair just looked dark brown/black.  Are you confused yet???  I am!  When I put my hair up I have a rather strange combo of dark brown, auburn and silver!  Anyway enough of my gabbling, here is the photo. 

 

I'm really tired today, can you tell?!  We went out to our friends, Jacqui and Richard's house for dinner and didn't get home until midnight.  A little too much wine was consumed and we had to be awake at 6.30am this morning because John had to go to personal training (even though it's a public holiday).  I'll leave this here before I continue gabbling... Hugs, smiles and I promise I'm not strange..giggle..

 

Happy Easter!

Hi, it's Easter Sunday morning here and I am sitting in my studio working on a couple of gift tags.  I haven't made any for a while and suddenly realised I need to make 4 in about a week, crikey!

Yesterday was a busy day - John and Chester came with me and dropped me off for Zumba class, then they went for a walk.  When they picked me up (giggle, sounds as though Chester is a person here) John told me dog obedience was called off, due to the weather and also lack of students because of Easter.  Yay, I thought, because I really didn't want to go. 

In the afternoon I made four chocolate covered marshmallow easter eggs, exactly the same as the ones I made last year.  I didn't take any photos yesterday but here are a couple I took last year, for those of you who didn't see them then. 

 
I adore making marshmallow - it's like magic watching it fluff up from nothing in a very short time - especially with my gorgeous Kitchen Aid mixer that I'm lucky enough to have.  Kitchen Aids are very expensive to purchase here in New Zealand.  John got mine when we were still living in Singapore - my fav Christmas present EVER!  It doesn't get as much use as I would like it to, mainly because we don't eat a lot of cakes etc - I may have to remedy that this winter.

 
 
 
Yum is all I can say.  Wherever you are and whoever you're with, have a lovely rest of Easter break!  Smiles...

 

A Busy Saturday Ahead

Hi, today I am off to Zumba early, then back home fast to go off to dog obedience.  They even hold the class if it is raining, hummmppphhhhhh.... not my idea of fun!  That will take up all of the morning and then John is off to our local rugby ground to direct traffic before and after a game.  He is a volunteer for the Rugby World Cup in November and this is a practice run.  He won't be directing traffic for the World Cup, but will be meeting and greeting the Italians (swoon, giggle) at the airport.

I have realised I need to make 4 gift tags before the beginning of May, in fact one needs to be in the post within the next couple of days to the UK.  Crikey, I feel pressure, giggle!  I will try to get them started this pm.

Here is a photograph of the shoes I bought in New Plymouth for my birthday.  They look a tiny bit masculine but believe me when they are on my feet, they look anything but!  I just love the shimmer they have.  Oooooohhh... scrumptious!  Smiles and I'd better fly! 

 

A Huge Hot Cross Bun!

Hi, it's Good Friday here and this morning we had a gorgeous hot cross bun made at a local bakery/cafe.  When I saw them I couldn't believe how huge they were, around 4" across!  Here is my beauty (sorry it's slightly out of focus):

 
Needless to say it tasted as good as it looks!  This morning I took Chester for a walk along one of the beautiful country roads in our neighbourhood.  It has fantastic views of the surrounding countryside and estuary and at the moment the autumn colours are just fantastic.  One really cute think Chester does - when he gets to a spot that has a great view he just suddenly sits down and gazes at it, very cute!  He is loose-lead walking really well with just the occasional blip.  One thing that we can't quite work out - there is a subdivision across the road from us and it is the perfect place for a quick slightly uphill walk close to home.  Chester absolutely loathes walking there - to the extent that he almost pulls our arm off trying to turn in the opposite direction.  He just doesn't want to go there, maybe he senses something we don't?!!  Needless to say it isn't a positive experience for him or us so in the meantime we just won't/can't take him there - how strange!

Today I am determined to get some weeding done in the kitchen garden.  Most of my permanent beds (blueberries etc) are in desperate need of a huge weed!  Rain is predicted for tomorrow and Sunday/part of Monday (at this stage) so I will fly now and go and get started.  Hugs and smiles...

 

The Days Gone Again!!!

Hi there, crikey it's 1.59pm already!  This week the days just seem to have sped by totally and I don't seem to have achieved much at all.  Ah well, we all have weeks like that.  This morning I went into our local town to do some grocery shopping and because it is the day before Good Friday here, the aisles were jam packed as were the checkout counters.  I got home around 12.20pm, unpacked the cold things while John made a quick lunch, then I dashed out the door again to go and get my hair trimmed.  Phew, I am now home and longing for a cup of tea!

This weekend I am hoping to get a lot of gardening done but at the moment the weather forecast doesn't look all that hopeful for Saturday or Sunday, with rain predicted.  I really don't mind that because we need to give our spare room a BIG sort out.  I also need to make my homemade marshmallow easter eggs with dark chocolate coating too.  I was going to make them last weekend but of course I was away, so that was the end of that idea.  I think I will end up doing them either tomorrow or Saturday pm so the ones I need to post will be late.  I only make 1/2 eggs because my mould is quite big and they are pretty rich (but heavenly!!).

Here is a photo of another ''exploded'' chipboard flower.  I love the vintage look this one has.  The gold effect came out looking a little more glitzy than I thought it would but I still love it!  More tomorrow.. Smiles..