Art for Heart's Sake

Hot as Heck Yesterday!

Hi, it's Tuesday and I just realised I didn't post yesterday.  I shot out straight away to go next door to do an hour's gardening at 7.40am and the day just raced away from me after that!  Not helped by a couple of bird dilemmas, thanks Monty!  He killed and ate a waxeye (tiny native bird), then a mouse.  I was putting on my shoes on the verandah when I vaguely saw something out of the corner of my eye and then the cat shot inside too.  I suddenly realised a gorgeous native fantail had flown into the bedroom looking for flies (they do this often) and before I could stop him Monty had jumped up at it against the window.  I grabbed Monty and more or less threw him into the bathroom, slamming the door and raced to try and rescue the bird.  Bless it's heart it died in my hand straight away, dear wee thing.  I was SO upset because I wasn't fast enough to save it.  I buried it straight away and told Monty off very sternly!  Not long after that Monty was in his bed in the living room.  The doors to the verandah were also open and I think another fantail must have flown in because next thing I came round the corner to see Monty on the verandah looking at me with ANOTHER fantail in his mouth.  No way was I going to let him have this bird if I could help it!!  He dashed down the steps and under the house closely followed by me.  I could see his tail just sticking out from under the house and there really was only one thing for it - I pulled it fairly hard!!  Next thing the fantail shot out from under the house, landed in a nearby tree, ruffling it's feathers as if to say ''what the heck happened there!!''.  Phew I was so happy I'd managed to rescue it.  Needless to say Monty was shut inside for the rest of the day!  I know I really can't blame Monty for the fantails, they did come into our house.  He's been really good lately and hasn't caught many birds at all - maybe he was making up for lost time!

Sheesh kebab though, a bit hard on the heart.  Needless to say I didn't sleep very well last night because my digestion was a bit upset - too much anxiety!

I've been making good weeding headway in the main perennial bed and I also worked on colour plant labels and hand-written labels for the punnets of plants I am taking to Bay Landscapes tomorrow pm.  I normally take them on a Friday but it's Good Friday this week so I need to get them there early.

I'll be attaching the labels etc this morning.  I'd better go and get started.  Smiles..

It was Hot, Now Cloudy, Yay!

Hi on a lovely cloudy early Sunday afternoon.  This morning was a bit cloudy but when the sun was out it was HOT HOT HOT.. ugh ugh ugh!!!!  I was trying to work in the kitchen garden but I just couldn't bear it!  Add to that I'm feeling slightly worse for wear due to that ''last'' glass of wine at midnight and you have a recipe for me being sluggy (not a word but I like it!!).

My fish concoction was lovely last night.  They didn't eat much as usual so we've just scoffed the rest of it for lunch, yum!

I'm tossing up whether to record my fortnightly radio show today (which is what I normally do) or tomorrow morning when my brain is more together.  Hmmm a tough decision.  I think I'll try to do it today and if I sound REALLY bad I'll re-do it tomorrow. 

On that note I'd better go out to my studio.  Smiles..

I've Been Cleaning AGAIN! ugh!

Hi, giggle, yes I've been dusting and vacuuming the living room/dining area because we have friends coming for dinner tonight.  I have to say I've decided it's worth leaving the dusting for a few weeks because when you do it BOY do you notice the difference!  Major giggle.. that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!

I went to the shabby chic market this morning - that's the market I had my stall at last November.  I didn't have a stall there this time partly because the price has gone up again but also I am just too busy growing plants and making gift tags for the florist in Christchurch.  I didn't feel I could do the stall justice this time.  I may do one in Spring, I'll see.  I had a good wander around and managed to find a lovely new three slim drawer box that will be PERFECT for my paint brushes and palette knives.. I'm so excited about it.  I'll take a photo when my brushes are in it.

Yesterday was an odd day.  I got quite a lot accomplished but I felt sort of off kilter and frustrated most of the time - it was hot too which might have been the main reason.

I've made the dessert for tonight and bought monk fish (my favourite) for the Tuscan-style fish ''stew'' we're having.  I had to add some vegetable stock to my sauce this morning because I realised when I was thinking about it in the early hours this morning - it might be a bit rich!  I'll put it on around 6pm for another burst of cooking and to reduce a little.  I just hope it tastes okay, eeeek!  I still have to pick chives for my smashed potatoes.

John rotary hoed part of one of my large rotational beds in the kitchen garden and I've started turning over the other one that I had already composted so I can plant some broccoli etc for winter harvest.  I want to get them into the ground this weekend if poss.  Back out to the garden I go.  Smiles..

I'm Cooking!

Hi there, yes, gasp.. I'm cooking not gardening!  We are having friends here for dinner tomorrow night and I am doing a simple ''tuscan'' fish casserole... ermmm in inverted commas because it's a recipe from my head! 

I've just made tomato passata which is the most divinely simple recipe that is perfect for freezing to use in pasta sauces, soups or casseroles during the winter.  I bought 5kg of stunning ripe fresh Italian plum tomatoes from our local vegetable farm shop this a.m. and I will get 2.5 lots of tomato passata from that which is about 10 servings (10 bags to freeze).  Yay!  It is scrumptious.  Annabel Langbein is a fabulous NZ cook.  Here is a link to her website: http://www.annabel-langbein.com/

I then sautéed finely chopped onion, carrot, celery and 1 red chilli before adding sliced red pepper and some white wine.  I ladled in about 3/4 of the tomato passata and it is now in the oven simmering away for about 45 minutes.  I'll put it in the fridge overnight then all I have to do tomorrow is reheat it and throw fresh chunky fish in about 10 minutes before I want to serve it.  Yum!  I might add some capers and sweetcorn at the last minute too, I'll decide tomorrow.

It is quite hot outside today so it's probably a good thing I am in here cooking!  I would much rather be out there but don't tell anyone!  Giggle.  I need a cup of tea!  Smiles..

 

 

I've Been Planting!

Hi on a lovely! cloudy Thursday morning.  There is the slight threat of rain in the air and oh I hope it comes!  I've just been planting a few things in the now open area of the woodland garden and I'm hoping to get a few more things in this morning too.  It's wonderful having a new area to plant.  It needs a lot of compost and manure, plus there are quite a few roots that I have to cut/dig out before I plant things too.  I've just planted a couple of campanulas (bellflowers) that have a reputation for spreading rather voraciously.   If you love a plant but it has a reputation for being invasive, give it slightly difficult conditions and this will help to keep it in check!  I refuse to do without plants I adore just because they have a ''thug'' reputation!  There are ways around everything when it comes to gardening.

I need to dust.. oh boy I need to dust.. groan, grunt, grinch!  We are having friends over for dinner on Saturday evening and I MUST dust the living room before then.  Hmmm I wonder if it can wait until Saturday afternoon??!! 

I am in the process of finishing Mum's painting and I really want to get it finished today.  I need to put two more coats on the side edges of the canvas, sign it and then it's done!  I'm going to hang it for a few days to give the paint a chance to cure before I use artist sealant on it.

It's time for my much needed mid-morning cup of tea!  Smiles..

A Busy Lovely Day!

Hi, yikes yes this is a late post!  I spent a lovely day with a friend, giving her gardening advice and then we went and had a delicious lunch and checked out a couple of lovely shops.  I was away from 11.15am until around 4pm!!  Crikey - so lovely and I truly don't do this enough.  It was a perfect day for gardening but sometimes we just need time out.  Loved giving Jacqui planting suggestions.. yay~!

More tomorrow.. dinner is ready.. Smiles..

Autumn Bounty!

Hi, it's Tuesday and the day seems to be flying by!  I went next door to do an hour's gardening from 8.45am, then I had my breakfast and spent some of the morning weeding in the main perennial garden.  I also had a lovely phone conversation with a dear friend in Christchurch.  We are like sisters and I love our chats, as does she.

Autumn bounty is upon us.  On Saturday evening we went out and picked most of our Reefton peaches because rain was forecast on Sunday.  Needless to say they are sitting in the trug, threatening me as I type this.  I KNOW I need to stew some pronto before they start to go off.. hmmmm bah!  Aren''t they gorgeous!!

 

Our quince tree is loaded too and I will be harvesting some to make quince jelly next week.  The tree is literally dripping with perfect fruit.   They truly are beautiful.

 

Yesterday I spent most of the day madly sowing seeds and I now have quite a few trays of punnets in the tunnel house.  I need to be diligent about watering everything in there because at the moment it is 40 degrees C inside it, with both doors and the vents open!  Crikey!  It will be brilliant during winter though.

I spent some time working on Mum's painting yesterday and it is almost finished.  I'm hoping to be able to send it to her next week.  Once it's finished I need to let the paint ''settle'' for a few days before I spray it with an artist sealant and send it to her.

I'm heading out to the studio now (while my lunch is settling) to work on the final touches then I'll be back out in the garden.  Smiles..

Happy Housework.. URGH!!!

Morning on a lovely coolish, cloudy Monday morning!  Yesterday rain was forecast in the afternoon so we made the most of the morning.  I carried on spreading cow manure and sawdust (well mixed and aged from next door's farm) around the woodland garden while John cleared out the gutters on the house (heavy rain was predicted) and he also cut back a Clematis montana that was growing on a trellis at the back of the house.  It had spread right up to the roofline in one spot and was also diseased so it really needed a hard cut back which is what it got!  Will it survive?  Time will tell.

Just before the rain started I shot out to the kitchen garden to harvest dry coriander seed.  I'm going to store it for cooking instead of just sowing it.  How lovely to have our own culinary seeds!  John was mowing part of the paddock but he stopped and helped me collect them too.  Oh, giggle, John took the trailer full of clematis debris out to the far side of the paddock using the ride on mower to tow it.  Ahem, I just had to ask for a ride back in the trailer - yes you guessed it, the rotter took me on a VERY bouncy tiki tour of the paddock, while mowing!!!!  Such fun - I love doing slightly mad things like that!

After lunch, I couldn't put it off any longer... ermmmm I HAD to start the housework.  I will admit, I haven't dusted the house for ummm, errrrmmmmm ahem, about 7 weeks!  I can hear you all gasping in absolute horror!  Housework truly isn't my strong point and never has been, especially when the garden is calling me VERY loudly whenever I think about doing it.  I do vacuum at least every couple of weeks (sometimes once a week, gasp), but as for dusting, I LOATHE IT SO MUCH!  Living in the country it seems I dust and the next day it's all back again.  Anyway I got the bedroom dusted, de-cobwebbed (we have oodles of spiders, they help catch mosquitos!!) and thoroughly vacuumed - also the bathroom and hallway.  Today I need to tackle the living/dining room.  Sigh.

Before I even THINK about doing that I'm gifting myself an hour or so in the studio.  I haven't managed to do anything to Mum's painting for a couple of weeks and I really want to!  Life keeps getting in the way!  Bah!  Time to do the dishes, do animal tasks and then studio here I come, no matter how briefly!  Lots of seed sowing/pricking out to do too!  Smiles..

A Little Planting!

Hi on a beautiful Saturday morning.  I've just been out planting a few things in the part of the woodland garden I've been working on.  Squeee I had a revelation too - I have had quite a few oriental poppies waiting to be planted for over a year now and I just realised they would be perfect in this spot.  It's well drained and it gets a bit of shade in the late afternoon during summer when the sun is at its most fierce.  Top that off with the fact that their flowers are HUGE so John will love them and you have the perfect spot!

Yesterday pm we moved my pansy and viola seedlings into the tunnel house because they weren't growing quickly enough.  I also sowed a punnet of each colour to be pricked out later.  I've realised my method of sowing directly into punnets with potting mix at the bottom and seed raising mix at the top works really well with vegetables but flowers tend to have a more erratic germination rate so I end up with empty sections which is not a good look!  At least if I prick them out I know I'll have full punnets to sell.  It's more labour intensive but more efficient in some ways too.

My cup of tea is finished so I must fly back out to the garden.  Smiles, Philippa

A Busy Morning!

Hi there, yikes it's 1.20pm and I have to get myself outside pronto.  I was out all morning getting our vegies and also going to Jellicoe (where I used to work on Tuesday mornings) to check out their new fabric store.  Oh my goodness....  ummmmm....errrrrr.... wow!  Beautiful fabrics and trims and I managed to get some gorgeous 1/2 metres of the most beautiful fabric for my gift tags. 

My gorgeous friend Janet heard from Pete down in Christchurch and my gift tags are really popular, which is so fabulous!  I'm really excited.  He will be placing another order soon, hence my hunt for more beautiful fabric to use on the backgrounds. 

I need to spend some time making some more embellishments for my tags too, so if it rains on Sunday that's what I'll be doing, along with making apple sauce because our wild apple tree is LADEN with stunning cooking apples - too good to waste.  I just stew them, put them in my food processor and pulse them slightly then bag and freeze the ''sauce''.  I don't like adding sugar or any spices to my apple sauce, it's just pure apple goodness.

Time I got outside - I need to sow seeds!  Smiles..