Art for Heart's Sake

Photos of Garden Group and My Flowers Can Relax...

..a little and I'm sure they are heaving a big sigh of relief, as are we!  As much as I love having garden groups visiting the garden it is quite a lot of work.  I must take a moment to thank my dear hubby John who makes sure the lawns always look fabulous before a garden group visits.  Garden groups aren't really his thing so it means a lot to me. 

I truly appreciate his patience with my constant gardening and also leaving things lying around because I've suddenly remembered something I have to do while I'm in the middle of doing something else (hence the whiteboard markers on the windowsill of the bedroom this morning.. ack!).  Somehow I think I've always been this way.  I seem to recall constantly losing things as a child because I'd dropped them somewhere when I suddenly decided to do the next task at hand, crikey!!   Looking back I think I get this attribute from my darling Dad, bless his heart so it's just a part of him in me which is lovely.

The first members of the garden group arrived at 6pm and the rest at 6.30pm.  They sat down immediately to eat their picnic tea at the top of the hill looking down to our pond.  There were 23 people in all (25 counting us) which is pretty amazing.  After eating I judged the decorated hats (men and women, very cute) then I gave them a tour of the garden.  We started in the kitchen garden and worked out way back.  I didn't sell many plants which surprised me a bit but there we are.  They left around 8.45pm and we collapsed onto the couch. 

Here's a photo of them having their picnic, also one of part of the group in the kitchen garden.

Great photo John!!  Today I am going to take stock a little.  I need to make a list of all the things I want to get done in the garden, plus things I need to do for Christmas which is sneaking up fast.  I've just realised I will be putting our Christmas tree up in 1.5 weeks, wow!  Time is flying.  I really really REALLY must get my christmas cards made by the end of this week!  Eeeeek.  Smiles..

A Neat Photo!

Hi, crikey I just saw my post from yesterday and it wasn't exactly ''quick'', giggle!!  I had a good day in the kitchen garden yesterday and that made we remember to post this photograph John took when the garden group were here two Sundays ago.  He took it when I was out in the kitchen garden talking to a few of the group and I love the way the hornbeam hedge is in the foreground, like a picture frame.

I managed to get some compost onto a couple of areas of the kitchen garden beds and planted my beetroot and broccoli seedlings and two types of bean seeds.  I tossed a lot of compost (gently because of my back which is still sore) onto that raised bed that nothing seems to want to grow in even though the soil in it is about six weeks old.  I made the mistake of putting 1/2 in 1/2 topsoil and compost when usually I would do 1/3 topsoil to 2/3 compost and I think there just wasn't enough oomph to get things started.  The only thing that is doing well are my two lots of peas!  Fingers crossed the extra compost makes the difference. 

This evening the last garden group for the year comes here armed with their picnic tea.  I am looking forward to them visiting because they are pretty much a lovely bunch of people but I have to say part of me will be very glad when the visits are over for this year.  My body needs a bit of a break and I need to start concentrating on Christmas too.  It's amazing to think December is only 1.5 weeks away! Eeeeeeek!!  I have loads of watering to do today so I'd better get started.  Smiles...

A Quick Post Today!

Hi, I hope you're all having a wonderful start to your week.  This will need to be quick this morning because I need to get out into the kitchen garden before it gets too hot.  That's the one thing about having vegies in an area that gets full sun all day - eeek the heat can be so intense.  It's not looking as though we are going to get any rain in the foreseeable future so I need to water the raspberries very deeply before we cover them because they are starting to ripen already. 

I picked another big bowl of beautiful! ripe strawberries last evening - that makes about 4-5 in total so far which is just amazing.  They are so delicious and John's frame he made is protecting them from the birds perfectly.  Watering them is a bit tricky because I don't want to water them from above in case the fruit gets too wet and goes mouldy.  Aaah I've just remembered I have a type of soaker hose that I could wind between them.  Must look at doing that today too if my back can cope with it.  uck

Bertie is looking awful this morning and I'm worried that the stress of us drenching him (one tiny drop) has affected him badly.  His comb was bright red and perky yesterday and today it's darker red and almost purple on the tip and he didn't come bouncing downstairs the way he usually does in the morning.  I've managed to tempt him down with tomato and pear so at least that's something.  Crikey I hope he rallies again, bless him, I do love him so even though I know he's just a rooster.  I guess he is a big part of our family, we've had him over 6 years now.

On a brighter note our eleven ducklings are growing like weeds and it's lovely to see them enjoying the great outdoors.  Speaking of which I must get out there!  Big smiles...

Henhouse Update!

Hi, well I got Bertie and Lizzie's house all sprayed but I haven't done the ''girls'' one yet.  I just simply couldn't face it even though I know it is best to do both at the same time just in case.  I haven't seen any red mites in the girls' house but that doesn't mean they're not there, especially as I cleaned their house yesterday after doing Bertie's one only to realise I may have spread the mites on ME!  Eeeek, ewww and double ewwww.  As a gardener I'm used to red mites but still, ick! 

Our chook houses are a wonderful design, A-frame in shape and unfortunately this means there are loads of nooks and crannies for these little critters to live in and also some that I simply couldn't get the sprayer to.  I used a pressurised small sprayer with a very fine spray nozzle but if I'm really to do the houses properly I need one that has a long wand with a spray nozzle on the end so I can really reach all the areas.  I also had to try and spray the downstairs area which is dirt, including the underneath of their floor upstairs and this was almost impossible.  I was also very aware that even though the spray is 100% organic it's still not a great idea to get it all over oneself.  It really gave me the heeby jeebies to be honest and I was almost tearful at one point just because I really don't like doing this sort of thing.   I really hope I've done it well enough to be effective.  Once the house was dry I put new straw downstairs and let Bertie and Lizzie back in while I dusted the nooks and crannies in the top house with 100% Diatomaceous earth.  This is a natural product that also helps to kill the mites.  To top it off we decided to drench Bertie and Lizzie too with a particular product recommended to us by our specialist chook lady.   I really didn't want to do it but I think it's necessary in this case because poor Bertie has been through so much and it will kill anything that is biting or sucking at him.  He was really patient while we did it, as was Lizzie, dear souls.  We don't need to, but to be on the safe side we won't eat any of Lizzie's eggs for a month (she's not laying at the moment anyway). I sprinkled some of the diatomaceous earth in the girls' nesting box too just in case.  Phew what a couple of chook-concentrated days! 

I have one last garden group coming on Wednesday evening.  They are bringing a picnic tea with them and will wander round the garden and nursery as well.  I started tweaking the irises near the entrance from our driveway (studio garden) and oh dear, what have I started.  I won't be able to tidy it up completely because I haven't got time so now it looks slightly ermmmm scrappy to say the least.  Hopefully they won't notice!  Crikey!  More tomorrow.  Smiles..

Spraying the Henhouses!

Hi, eeeek and urrrgghhh I have to spray our henhouses in a few minutes with a 100% organic product, Poultry Shield, then when that's dry I need to dust them with a natural earth dust beginning with D...  I can't remember how to spell it off the top of my head.  I will keep this short because I really need to go and do it so the houses have time to dry.  It dries quickly which is something thank goodness.  It's a bit breezy outside but if I leave it much longer the wind will really come up which isn't great.  I don't want to leave these dang mites for another day.  Oh hang on, did I mention what happened yesterday??!!  NO .. giggle.. or did I?  Crikey I can't remember.. if I did I'm reapeating myself!!

I was doing my usual cleaning out of the chook houses when I realised, much to my intense horror, that Bertie's house was infested with red mites.  I did my best to get rid of as many as I could but I knew I had to do something.  Our local poultry specialist has an amazing website and I saw Poultry Shield on it.  So happy they have something that is organic as I am petrified of nasty chemicals.

I'll tell you more once I've done it because I just really want to get it done.  More later.  Smiles..

Tiny Rain!

Hi, it's nearly 10am on Sunday and normally John and I would be waiting at the gate at Nelson Growables.  This is a fabulous garden fair that is on once a year and it is really! good.  With John being in Christchurch and a gardening group coming again on Wed evening I decided it was better for me to stay here and do a few things.  It's just not the same going by myself even though I know I would enjoy it and it would be great to see all of my gardening acquaintances that are always there.  Yes, it's okay to say ''no'' to things sometimes, even though it's niggling me a little!!  Crikey, giggle.  I also need to have my nursery open as often as I can at the moment so that's another reason it's better if I stay here.

As for the rain predicted yesterday, we got a piddly 7mm, which is just so pathetic.  Grump, grump, grump, still it has freshened everything up. 

Yesterday afternoon I tidied up my studio and vacuumed up as much dust as I could see.  I noticed some bird droppings and when I looked up, sure enough, I could see a bird's nest in the gap where the gib board meets in the ceiling (it's a peak roof).  I had seen sparrows going in under the surfeit on the west side but we decided they must just be roosting in there and there wouldn't be enough room for an actual nest - ermmm WRONG!!  I just hope there are no dead bodies in it, or it could become rather unsavoury, ick ick ick!

Needless to say I can now see the surface of my table and I've moved my artist easel that holds my paints onto the right hand side of the desk for easier access.  It was across the room and it was a pain trying to get my paints out.  What is lovely is that I can use the easel as a table easel as well as a standing one so this will inspire me to use it more!  I must take a photo of my tidy studio for you.  Now I just need to spend some time creating my christmas cards.  I might start today, I'll see how I go.

I'm going to plant a pumpkin plant in the compost (from our vegie scraps, lawn clippings etc) that is ready to be used.  Our little compost heaps don't really make enough compost to use on the garden.  I long for three huge ones and may yet get John to make them.  We could use free wooden pallets that we can get from the local mega hardware store.  I have just the place for them too.  Think on, dot dot dot! 

I need to put my colour display labels out in the nursery.  Have a great day/evening wherever you are.  Lots of smiles...

A Shining Cuckoo!

Hi, it's a drizzly Saturday early pm and I'm back from town.  I managed to get my christmas wrap (I do a colour theme each year) and also a few small gifts so it was well worth going.  John is in Christchurch this weekend visiting his daughter, Claire, so I took the opportunity to browse the shops in the only mall we have here (amazing as that sounds).   

Oh I so hope it starts to rain properly soon, it's been drizzling off and on since about 9am but it's not enough to do ANYTHING to the soil.  I have the sprinkler on as I am writing this in the hope the clouds might get the message, giggle.

Last evening we were sitting having a drink when we heard a thump on one of our dining room windows.  I jumped up because we knew a bird had hit it and wow there on the ground was a shining cuckoo.  I've never seen one before and never really had much hope of ever seeing one.  They tend to stay in the trees and because of their plummage they are very hard to spot.  I knew there was a pair around because I've heard them singing.   I only caught a glimpse of it because it wasn't too badly stunned and took off more or less straight away (thank goodness).  I did manage to see it's BEAUTIFUL metallic green feathers though.  Wow wow wow!  Breathtaking.  Like all cuckoos it's habits aren't very nice, it tosses one Grey Warbler (a very special little bird) egg out of it's nest and lays an egg then when it's baby hatches the blind, naked bird uses a special groove in it's back to toss any of the grey warbler chicks or the other eggs out of the nest!  Crikey, it's a tough world!  Here's a photo of it that I found on the web:

Gosh I'm happy I got to see this gorgeous creature, even just for a second. 

This pm I am going to tidy my studio and then make a start on the christmas cards.  Ermmm it could take me all pm to tidy my studio!!  EEEEk and double eeek.  I'd better get started.  Smiles..

What a Beauty!!

Hi, oooh look what I found in the garden up by my studio!!  I noticed it a couple of seasons ago which was a lovely surprise although the flowers weren't very big.  This year it has completely outdone itself and I was gobsmacked when I looked past the quite small buds and saw this....

Isn't it just scrumptious??!!  A bird must have dropped the seed because, one thing is for sure, I didn't plant it.  It is more of a deep, deep magenta whereas this photo makes it look slightly reddish in the centre.  The fragrance is out of this world too.  It's little discoveries like this one that truly make me so happy!  Talk about the simple things in life.  I'd love to know the name of it.  The flower itself is quite flat when it is fully open and the way the sepals are on the bud I think it might be a gallica or damask rose or something, simply not sure.  If you have any ideas, please let me know. 

I have a fairly gnarly lower back today.  My left leg was giving away slightly on Monday or Tuesday night and today it hurts when I bend over or lift my legs up.  Sounds like a bit of sciatica to me as pain is around the sacroiliac joints in my lower back.  I think my body is telling me the mad gardening etc I've been doing for the past weeks might have been a bit much!  Ah well, I will just carry on because I have lots to do yet.  The raspberry patch desperately needs weeding so we can throw the covers over them to protect the ripening fruit from the birds. 

I picked another huge bowl of fresh strawberries from our 10 plants in the kitchen garden a couple of evenings ago.  Yummmmo, our best ever!  We've just been eating them by themselves like a piece of fruit, rather than putting them with icecream or anything.  Just divine.  I'd better finish my cup of tea and then get outside.  It's another gorgeous day so I need to water like a mad woman too!  Smiles..

I just had to share the photo of ''Felicite de Parmentier'' - isn't she GORGEOUS! I spotted her first flower this morning.. Yum she smells divine!! Even the sepals on her buds have a spicy resin fragrance..

Rosa alba ''Felicite de Parmentier''