Art for Heart's Sake

One or Two Images from Vatican Apartments

The images on the walls and some of the ceilings of the Vatican apartments were just too beautiful to believe.  I also loved some of the patterned ceilings too.  Hope you enjoy!  Smiles..

A Busy Day!

Hi, oh my goodness I have a busy day today.  I need to get my tax return completed online this morning and then pack for my long weekend this pm, plus do a few other bits and pieces outside and then some!  We are going to my hairdresser this evening for a ''decade party'' which will be lovely so I need to get our salmon bake (for dinner) made this pm too.. phew!

Over the next couple of days I'll share some more photos from our trip.  I won't be able to post from New Plymouth but I might ask John if he would like to post something for me instead!  He will be here holding down the fort and the animals (not literally, giggle).

I am really looking forward to seeing my mum - she's 85 in October.  Hopefully I will get to spend some quality time with my sister too and my gorgeous niece Jessica (who I haven't seen for a few years).  Jessie is 22 and will be finishing law school by February 2013, which is so exciting.  She is such a bright spark and is very like me in many ways.  We have the same tastes in many things and her feet even look like mine which is just so amazing!

Okay I'd better fly and get this blasted tax return done.  Big smiles... 

The Sun is Shining, Yay!

Hi, yippee the sun is shining this morning and it is lovely.  There is a chilly breeze but that aside, at least it's not raining.  I don't think our ground has ever been as boggy as it is at the moment.  Each footstep on the grass emits a loud squelching noise, ugh! 

Yesterday was really cold (well cold for Nelson), we didn't reach above 10 degrees C.  We went grocery shopping in the afternoon and popped in on Monty again to take him a little woollen scarf and a woollen pompom I made a while ago so he'd have something familiar when we bring him home next Tuesday.  Part of me is going ''good grief what are we doing - a kitten with a young dog, what a circus it will be for a while'', but the other part of me is going ''he's gorgeous and deserves a good home''.   I think the latter is winning, just!

John has been working hard with Chester when he takes him out for a walk in the afternoons, making him strictly heel and if he goes ahead making him sit until John catches up, then heeling again etc...  I am so thankful because today, for the first time, I didn't have to yank Chester back once.  I was saying ''heel'' pretty constantly and he seemed to be listening which was great. 

Today I am going to do my ''real'' tax return, I finished the draft yesterday.  I also want to sow some more seeds and I need to start thinking about what I need to pack tomorrow for my short trip to New Plymouth to see Mum, my sister and my niece.  John is going to be animal minding for us and the neighbours who have gone over to Australia for a couple of weeks.

Okay I'd better go and hang out the washing.  Big smiles...

Black Ice Around This Morning!

Hi, yikes it's a little bit icy out there this morning.  We had showers most of yesterday and the temp fell to around 2 degrees C by 6pm last evening with rain.  I was so hoping for some snowflakes - but no, it didn't get quite cold enough.  This morning all of the steps on our verandah etc are very slippery, and still are at 10.20am!  I hope John is okay doing his deliveries this morning, I worry about the van on the roads in weather like this.  I know he'll be really carefull though, just hope everyone else is.

The day before yesterday I managed to get a bit of weeding done in the garden outside John's office and while I was doing it I decided to dig out a few pieces of red dwarf alstroemeria.  When I planted it there I thought it was going to be a tall one and ever since it first flowered I've been meaning to move it, it just looks wrong in that bed.  I have potted up some pieces (some have foliage and some do not) so I can sell them at the market later this year.  Yesterday I sowed some Clematis integrifolia ''Alba'' seeds and I'm hoping they will germinate.  I haven't sown these before but thought I'd give them a try.  This is a herbaceous clematis  - I have a few different ones and I love them.  This means they behave just like perennials, dying back each year, then coming away again from the base.  I sorted out my seeds a week or so ago and I am going to sow holus bolus because I have some quite unusual things that I think will sell well.  I also need to sow some common but very sought after things like delphiniums too.

I'm not sure when I'm starting to grow things for Mapua Country Trading yet.  This is a little frustrating but there's nothing I can do about it.  Heather is busy revamping her website and that is taking priority over everything.  I will just wait for her to contact me I think (I've already emailed her a couple of times re meeting up to discuss the coming season) and if she doesn't, so be it.  From August my nursery is going to be open on Monday's and Thursday's so here's hoping I get some customers that way.  Which reminds me I need to sort out a sign for the bottom of our drive by the end of July..eeeek!

This morning I'm going to work on my tax return and then we are going grocery shopping this pm.  Big smiles and have a lovely day/evening wherever you are...

Not Much To Say!

Hi there, well I'm a bit late today posting because we have been into Nelson.  I had to go to John's accountant to get some tax return advice which ended up being fairly interesting in an odd sort of way! 

I don't have a lot to say today because my mind is filled with all sorts of ''stuff'' and useful thoughts just won't come out!  Crikey, that's most unlike me.  So I'll leave this here and post some pretty pics instead! 

The first is my first ever REAL raspberry macaroon.. oh my goodness it was divine!  Second is my sister-in-law's gorgeous house in Cuxac, South of France and the third is a small garden in Riom in central France.  Those flowers are tulips believe it or not!!  Smiles..

Happy Monday and Monaco

Hi, it's Monday morning and I'm just back from walking Chester.  There's a very chilly wind blowing today so I had to put pieces of tissue in my ears to help keep the draft out - very glamorous!!  Giggle.  I tried putting a scarf around my head to protect my ears but it just wasn't draftless enough. 

Yesterday I managed to get the area for my red onions weeded so this morning I am going to plant them.  We are expecting a few showers early afternoon so it will be great if I can get them in the ground before then.

I also need to decant my damson gin into small tonic water bottles.  I ought to have decanted it at the beginning of this month so I MUST do it today.  I promise I will take a photo of it for you - I still haven't managed to get the camera out of the cupboard.  I think I am allergic to it after taking so many photographs on holiday. 

I'm not sure if I've already posted these pics of Monaco but if I have I apologise.  The first one is the view looking across to the mega-expensive boats and the second is a dress that I would LOVE to own!  I had a look on my past posts and couldn't see them but that doesn't mean a thing, giggle!  Have a great day/evening wherever you are - I need to leap! out into the garden.  Smiles..

A Possible New Addition!

Hi, it's lunchtime on Sunday and we've had a bit of a busy morning which has culminated in the possibility of a new pussycat joining our family.  We had to take Chester to the vet this morning because his tummy upset is recurring which we now think may be caused by worms due to his stay in kennels.   Armed wtih worming tablets and bland food we returned home. 

While at the vet I saw the kitten that everyone has been telling me about!  To be honest I'd been avoiding going because I knew if I saw him I'd want him!  He is a lovely silver colour with black markings, a huge M on his forehead (like every good tabby has) and the most amazing tail that curves back right over his body!  They were egging me on to take him home today but I've decided to wait a week because I am going to New Plymouth this coming Saturday to spend a couple of days with my Mum and I want to be home pretty much full-time for the first couple of weeks of having a new kitten.  That's just me!  One thing is for sure the first word he is going to learn will be NO when it comes to birds!  Hmmm good luck Philippa..giggle!  Oh and his name is Montague.. Monty for short.. after one of my favourite UK garden celebrities, Monty Don!! 

I am about to go and record my radio show and then I'm leaping into the garden by the house, weeding so I can then plant some red onion seedlings.  I love red onions and I am so happy I'm not too late to plant them.  More tomorrow.  Smiles...

Bertie is re-Crowing!

Hi there, sorry this is a bit late today, we shot off into Nelson as soon as John had walked Chester, so I didn't get a chance to do my early morning posting. 

The great news today is that Bertie (photo taken last Spring), dear dear Bertie the rooster, is crowing again.  He crowed several times in a row this morning which is just SO exciting.  His last note is slightly longer and more melodic too, so that's simply a big bonus!  There is still a way to go before his comb is completely vertical again (if it will be ever) but at least he has his crow back.

This morning we went into Nelson to the weekly market to get our favourite lavender hand cream.  It is made in the Nelson Lakes and is just amazing!  I can honestly say it is the best hand cream we have ever used and the lavender fragrance is gobsmackingly strong.  I also got some night cream - I usually use Clarins and have done for years but it is out of my budget zone at the moment.  I'm sure this night cream will be fabulous if their hand cream is anything to go on.

Late yesterday we found a stunning silvereye (waxeye) on our front verandah.  These are dear little birds, smaller than an English robin by about 1/2.  At this time of year they really enjoy the sugar water we put out for the tuis and the bellbirds.  Anyway we put it in a birdcage on a bed of straw and brought it inside because it sat there for about 45 minutes with it's head sort of waggling as though it had brain damage (i.e. showing no signs of flying away) and it was getting very cold outside.  It stayed by our fire overnight and this morning I let it go.  It was still looking a bit wobbly and fragile but the fact that it survived the night is simply amazing!  I did mean to take a photograph but, oh dear, I didn't get round to it.  I must get back into the habit of having the camera very handy so I can post photos for you.  I need to post a few more extra special photographs from our trip too so I will try to sort them out tomorrow. 

Tonight we are having an earlyish dinner because the neighbour and his son are coming over at 7.30pm to watch the rugby with John.  I will escape out to my studio I think to try and finish a canvas I'm working on.  In the meantime I need to get back outside to weed part of the garden so I can plant some red onions.  Smiles..

It's Frrreeezzziiinnnggg this Morning!

.. or at least it feels it!  It's not as cold as it has been but because there is so much moisture around I think it feels colder than it actually is!  Hmmm, does that make sense??!!  We woke this morning to loads of condensation on our bedroom windows, which doesn't happen often.  I think the temp changed pretty quickly so the house couldn't keep up.  Ugh, condensation is so horrid and is one reason why I don't like alumiunium joinery.  Our woodburner has a hole is the tray that sits at the top of the firebox so I'm finding it much harder to keep the fire ''in'' all night. 

This morning Jacqui is coming round again to continue the canvas we started.  It's so lovely to have someone to do arty things with, it makes such a difference to my mojo.  This pm I am doing housework - there is so much dust in the living room I just HAVE to do it! 

I need to fly and walk the dog before Jacqui gets here in just under an hour.  More tomorrow.  Smiles..

Another Busy Day!

Hi, it's Thursday morning and it's a bit of a chilly, grey day at the moment.  We had more rain overnight, not much but enough to make the ground even more soggy, ugh. 

Yesterday was fairly busy and I didn't get a chance to look at my tax, oh bother!  I really must do it today because I am going to see the accountant on Tuesday morning and tomorrow (Friday) and Monday mornings are too busy.  It's very weird but I simply can't look at this sort of paperwork in the afternoon, my brain just doesn't function.  I truly am a morning person it seems, or at least my brain is, giggle!

I tried something different this morning - usually I get up, shower and then eat breakfast before taking Chester for a walk.  Yesterday morning he was so ''antsy'' I found myself gulping my breakfast really fast.  I started thinking ''this is really silly, try walking him first then you can enjoy your breakfast''.  That's what I did this morning and it worked well except I felt as though I needed to rush my breakfast anyway so I could start my day because I was eating it at around 9.30am!  Crikey.  Yes I know I could get out of bed when John does... but it's winter and I find it too hard.. WIMP!!!

It's the shortest day here today so at least from tomorrow it's all downhill till Spring and the mornings will very gradually get lighter from here!  I haven't heard Bertie crow again so I'm wondering if I was hearing things, I guess time will tell.  Okay I must go and drag my tax out... ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!  I will post some more photos of our trip in the next couple of days, just need to organise them.  Smiles..