Art for Heart's Sake

I Tried, I Really Did!

Hi, giggle, oh brother what a week I've had so far!  It seems to have been throwing me curveballs at every turn.  I started the day yesterday assuring myself it was going to be a good day and it was sort of, but not really!  Aaaggghhh....  I must not sweat the small things...

Today I woke up in the middle of a dream where I was laughing... I was lying on my back with my legs curled up having a really good belly laugh.  Needless to say my mood this morning if 50 million times better than it has been all week!  Yay for laughing in your sleep.

I've managed to bathe Chloe's wound under her chin for two mornings now and I think that's all I need to do re that now.  She is eating her antibiotics in her meat 2x a day so that's wonderful, long may that continue. 

I went for my first walk since Saturday (when I had a fairly long one) this morning.  I've been a bit naughty this week because I was trying to go for a walk almost every day or at least every second day.  My leg is a bit tight especially behind my knee and I'm not sure if that is because of lack of walking or too much standing in one spot - doing hedge Sunday/Monday.   I will go for a decent walk tomorrow morning too.

Yesterday I sowed some more vegetable seeds and potted up some perennials from my garden.  I'm going to pot up some day lilies and a potentilla that's never really done much in this garden.  I love looking around and spotting something I can break up and sell.  My perennials are starting to move slowly but surely at Bay Landscapes so that's really exciting.  Most of my perennials in the nursery are dormant at the moment but it won't be long before they are springing into life. 

I must finish my cup of tea and leap out into the garden.  Smiles.. big ones..

''Gorillas'' in the Mist!

Hi on a rather misty Wednesday morning - wow it's Wednesday already, where is the week going?!  I feel really naughty because I haven't been for a walk since Saturday.  I've been doing lots of walking around the property but it isn't the same as a good lengthy, steady walk.  I really ought to go for one today but I feel totally exhausted.  I think the fraught day I had re next door's cat has caught up with me. 

I didn't find Chloe at all yesterday but she was there this morning so I bathed her wound and she is eating her antibiotics in her meat so all's good so far.  Fingers crossed!  I don't need the angst I can tell you!

I piled up a bit more of the hedge cuttings yesterday but each time I went out there it started to drizzle or rain so I need to carry on with that today.  I spent a bit of time in my studio in the afternoon and also did some housework in the morning too.

I must take a photo of the hornbeam hedge for you too - will try to remember to do that today. 

That's about all I have to report today, my brain is feeling numb for some reason, I wonder why!!  I'm determined to have a happy day today and am about to go and sow some more vegetable seeds and get some plants ready to take to Bay Landscapes on Friday.  Smiles..

Oooh....

....it's drizzling!  It felt really strange this morning waking up to a cloudy sky because we've had blue skies for about a week (except for the odd cloud here and there).  It started drizzling about 10 minutes ago and I think it's going to turn into proper rain.

I'm feeling a teensy tiny bit irritated this morning.  My neighbours are going away for 12 days and I'm looking after there cat, ducks and chooks which is not a problem at all USUALLY!  This time I'm a bit perturbed because Chloe (cat) had two teeth out last week and has developed an abcess which was drained at the vet clinic yesterday.  This means I need to bathe they drainage site once a day and give the cat antibiotics 2x a day.  This would be fine except Chloe is NOT like Monty.  It is very hard to do anything with her except stroke her.  Add to that the fact that she disappears whenever they go away and you have a recipe for stress on my part.

I guess what is really frustrating me is I would put my friend/neighbour in this position.  I would have asked the vet clinic to hold her for a few days while they treat her to get the worst over with.  They let her out this morning so I doubt whether I will see her before they go.  I am going to insist that I keep her inside because otherwise I won't have a hope in heck of cleaning her wound or medicating her. 

Right that grump is aside!  On an exceptionally BRIGHT note... the hornbeam hedge is DONE.  I spent a few hours yesterday armed with loppers and hedge clippers and managed to get the top as even as it could possibly be.  The hedge will look a bit bare at the top this season but it looks so much better now it's shorter.  I'll be able to keep it under control with hedge clippers.  Our loppers weight a ton so my shoulders and neck are a bit stiff today.  We also started collecting up all of the pieces we cut off and putting them through our crusher/mulcher.  It doesn't chip the wood exactly but sort of crushes it into pieces.  I'm going to put the mulch back down at the bottom of the hedge to help suppress the weeds.  We also have a few thicker pieces to use as firewood next season.  It's really satisfying utilising things from our land.

I'm going to head into my studio today, after I've vacuumed and been next door to hopefully see Chloe and find out what I need to do.   Smiles...

Happy Monday!

Hi on this gorgeous but rather cold Monday morning.  It's going to be a stunning day but oh boy it's cold this morning.  The frost didn't seem as bad but the temp coming off the ground is freezing!  It's 9.45am and it is just starting to warm up.

I'm a bit worried about Lizzie (our oldest little bantam chook).  I noticed a few days ago she was sitting slightly hunched looking as though she was having trouble swallowing.  I picked her up and realised her crop was empty but I could feel a hardish lump in her ''throat''.  Not knowing what a chooks throat is supposed to feel like (hmmm did I post this a couple of days ago???) I'm not sure if it is normal or not.  I've been putting down some chook food mixed with warm water (forming a mush) and she has definitely been eating it and her crop was more full when I picked her up yesterday.  Today she had a trail of liquid coming out of her beak so I have a funny feeling her crop isn't working properly.  I've ground up some oyster grit and added it to the mush in the hope that it might help.  The dear wee girl is amost 8 years old so I know her days are most likely numbered, I just hate to think of her suffering.  I tried to pick her up this morning to massage her crop for her but she headed to an area under the house so I couldn't reach her.  I'll try again later.

Yesterday we did battle hornbeam hedge.  Battle is the word because it is no fun being ''whipped'' by branches of this hedge.  Both John and I got a few whips in the face.  John used his new small chainsaw and quickly managed to cut the main trunks down to 6ft.  I'd been around the hedge using a 6ft stake and marked the cutting spots.  That was really hard to do because it was difficult to get the stake down by the trunk in amongst all the branches.  I have to admit a few expletives were said rather loudly at times!  Today I am using the loppers to even out the other top branches.  The hedge looks so much better already and I know I will be able to maintain it with hedge clippers at this height, phew!  No more standing on the back of the ute which felt very precarious (like last year).

I must get a cup of tea and then head out there.  It's going to rain tomorrow so I desperately want to get it done today.  Smiles..

Grumpy Goat!

Morning on this rather chilly Sunday morning.  It was frosty and now some cloud has come over so it is not warming up much!  Ooooh yesterday we got our 10 grapes planted in the paddock.  We are going to grow them as bush vines rather than training them onto wires - a total experiment but it will be fun.  You'll laugh when you see the photo I will post when I've taken one because they do look rather pathetic at this stage.

Gertrude the goat is REALLY grumpy this morning.  I took over her silverbeet and pear this morning and she was fine but as soon as she finished it she started charging around all over the place like a man woman!  John went out to take her down the hill to put her somewhere to eat lots of good things and she took off on him and he cut the tip of his thumb in the process.  I have no idea what is wrong with her except we are much later than usual this morning so she possibly was very hungry and bored.  Crikey!  She doesn't know how lucky she is, we don't ignore her and make sure she is safe and fed.

Today I am measuring and marking the hornbeam hedge ready for John to cut it back with his new small chainsaw!  Yes I'm letting him near my precious hedge with a chainsaw - am I mad??  Giggle.

Last night we had the most gorgeous meal at a local restaurant.  We haven't been out for dinner for months and it was so delicious and enjoyable.  I must fly now as need to go and clean out chook house, yummy!  Smiles..

A Quick Post!

Hi there, just a quick post today because we have been out all morning - went for a walk, then went to hardware store to swap my gumboots (wellington boots) over because they had split after just 6 weeks!!  Crikey!  I also bought some seeds and John bought a small chainsaw which will be just perfect for smaller jobs around the property, including lowering the height of our hornbeam hedge around the kitcheng garden by at least 2 feet!  I've realised it is miles too high to be manageable.  I want to be able to clip it with hedge shears without standing on the back of our utility truck to do it!  Phoop!  More tomorrow..  Big gardening smiles..

A Busy Morning!

Hi, it's early Friday afternoon and I'm just back from getting our weekly vegetables and also from picking up 10 gorgeous Betula Nigra (river birches) from Appletons Tree Nursery.  This is the nursery I worked at one winter about 6-7 years ago, grading trees to be sent all around the country.  These birches are stunning and they love swampy, damp ground which is right where they are going!

Yesterday I planted a Morepark Apricot tree in the kitchen garden and started on the blueberry patch.  Boy that patch is hard going, it is jam-packed with couch grass.  I managed to get 1/3 of it done though which is fabulous.

This pm we are thinking about planting our trees but it's blowing a rather brisk SW wind so we might be better to wait until tomorrow.  They are going in a dip in our paddock so it might not be too bad out there, I need to check.

More tomorrow.. Smiles...

Gift Tag Mojo!

Hi on a beautiful Thursday morning.  It's lovely to have the sun back - yesterday started off fine and then clouded over.  We had a good frost again this morning too.

Yesterday I spent some time stacking wood against the house and also managed to do a bit of weeding in the perennial garden and spend some time working on my gift tags.  I was finding the larger size a bit of a challenge because suddenly I seemed to have so much space I had to fill.  I've now discovered a world of opportunity, especially using beautiful fabric so I'm on a roll again, yay my mojo is back!

This afternoon I'm starting battle blueberry patch which will be exceedingly hard work but I'm looking forward to it. 

I've noticed a bit of a deterioration in Lizzie (oldest little chook) over the past few days.  She tends to sit a bit hunched and swallow a lot - it looks uncomfortable.  This morning I managed to get her into a corner and pick her up and I have to say her crop was feeling pretty empty and I could feel what could be a lump in her throat (I know the feeling, giggle) but I could be wrong, not knowing what a chooks throat is supposed to feel like!!  I've seen her looking as though she wants to eat but she doesn't pick up anything so I decided to make up a warm mash of their food this morning.  We'll see!  Dear thing, she is almost 8 years old and that's REALLY old for a small bantam.  Keep your fingers crossed!

I must fly and get back out to my studio!  Smiles..

New Beds...

... garden ones that is!  Here are a couple of photos of the two larger beds we have developed in the kitchen garden.  These is two separate beds in two different spots that we've joined together to make larger areas for my rotational vege crops.

Yesterday I managed to get the very prickly gooseberry patch thoroughly weeded (there was just one dandelion root that I could not budge, right in the middle of one of the bushes), composted and heavily mulched.  I neglected my poor gooseberries a bit over summer and they lost their leaves really early.  I was a bit worried I might have killed them which would be sad because two of the five are the beautiful ''Pax'' variety - http://www.waimeanurseries.co.nz/our-products/berryfruit-and-vines/gooseberries/pax/  Mine were given to me by a very special friend and they even survived being looked after while I was overseas for 2 years in the early 2000's.

Today I am going to prune my roses and work on my gift tags.  Smiles..

Freezing Cold Wind Doth Blow!

Morning on this beautiful but very cold Tuesday morning.  There is a freezing cold SW breeze blowing which gets right into your bones.  Perfect for gardening in though (she said again!).  A lot of NZ is experiencing a nasty wintry blast with snow to fairly low levels - not us though alas, we have blue sky and sunshine.

Here are the two raspberry patches.  The first one is the existing patch that I've been working on and the other, the new patch.

I finished mulching them yesterday with John's help and then I moved onto the strawberry patch, weeding, feeding and mulching.

Late yesterday I was attacking the asparagus bed which again is invaded by couch grass.  I am going to keep an eye on my asparagus which has been in the ground for about 7 years.  It's meant to crop for 20 years (that's why preparation is such a big deal before you plant) but I'm not sure mine will be able to weather the couch grass storm.  I might have to plant a few new crowns up by the house - I may start them from seed this year so they will be ready to harvest in about 3-4 years when my existing ones might be slowing down.

Today I am throwing sheep manure pellets onto that patch and weeding the gooseberries I hope.  The weeds hug the base of the plants making it almost impossible to get them out because of the prickles on the gooseberries.  Clever weeds, I say! 

I desperately need to work on my gift tags too.  What a conundrum, gift tags, kitchen garden.. hmmmm.  Smiles...