Art for Heart's Sake

We Cracked 9 Degrees C!!

Morning on another chilly but at least slightly sunny last official day of Autumn.  Yesterday we managed to crack 9 degrees C but only just!  I don't think I can remember a day as cold as that in the 10 years we've lived here, just amazing!  

We are forecast to have some rain this week at some stage so the temperatures are back on their way up a little.

I had a busy day yesterday - in the morning I walked Chester because rain was forecast (didn't happen, just cloud), then I cleaned part of the bathroom and dusted and vacuumed the bedroom thoroughly.  In the afternoon I started sorting out/changing round my studio a little bit (taking things from my desk and putting them on a shelf after moving some of my older art-works.  I really need more space and freedom on my desk so I can work more easily.  At around 3pm my dearest friend Janet bought Pete, the florist who buys my gift tags (and a very good friend of hers) around to meeting me.  He's up here for the weekend and it was SO lovely to meet him!  He's ordered 21 of my tea light holders so as soon as I've finished the gift tag order I'll work on those.  I am SO SO indebted to Janet, who took some of my gift tags down to Pete last year, without her I wouldn't have found such a special outlet for my creations.

At 3.30pm I took off into Nelson to pick up John and the rest of the late afternoon was spent with John unpacking.  We went next door briefly for a drink and then had a yummy dinner here.

Today I need to prick out more seedlings so I'd better go and get started.  Smiles.. 

A Long Six Weeks!!

Hi, on another VERY chilly morning.  Oh brother it's 12.10pm and it's only 8 degrees C out there.  We had a frost early hours of the morning then the cloud came over, hence the chill.  Am I allowed to say I LOVE it??!!  I have the fire roaring in the house, my housework is finished and I'm about to go out and start organising my studio.

A long six weeks - oh yes it has been.  I didn't mention it but John has been away on  holiday for 6 weeks and he's coming back today.  Oh my goodness I am so looking forward to having him back.  I've missed his company and yes his bad jokes! and it's been REALLY hard keeping up with everything around here - especially in terms of the  more heavy things like filling and lifting the coal bucket.   I've been pretty much exhausted by the end of each day and I haven't been sleeping all that well over the past week or so, just too much on my plate.  

He spent 3 weeks in Vietnam with one of his sisters from the UK and then 2 weeks+ in the UK.  I mentioned he was already halfway to the UK more or less so why not carry on and see his extended family.  Too good an opportunity to miss.  We couldn't afford for me to go and I'm not a great traveller anyway so I was very happy to stay here and as you will have read, I'm far too busy to leave home for long!!

John's just landed in Auckland and I'll go and pick him up from Nelson airport late this pm.  The big car's battery died about 3 weeks ago so I only have the little car - had a sudden revelation - I don't think his suitcase will fit in the boot because we could only just fit in in when he left and I know it has a few more things in it.  I am borrowing one of our neighbour's vehicles just in case!!  Giggle, crikey just as well I thought of that.

I have a bottle of bubbly in the fridge and we're having fillet steak, salad and my spicy oven fries at John's request... hmmm somehow I THINK he may want to rethink the salad in this temperature.  Baked potato, baked carrots and peas sounds better to me!!  

I need to make my lunch.  Smiles..

Wriggle Those Toes!

Hi, yes you guessed it, another beautiful hard frost.  I'm leaving in about 45 minutes to go to ballet class and I'm sitting here wriggling my toes, trying to keep them warm.  I've just finished cereal with hot milk to keep my inner boiler going!  

Yesterday pm I vacuumed and dusted the living area.  Oh brother when you burn coal and wood the dust that is created is, well, ermmm... brown!!  Ugh!  The heat the coal provides and longevity of burning re the wood is well worth it though.

I'd better fly, so much to do before I leave.  More tomorrow.  Smiles..

Ice on Pond Across Road This Morning!

Morning on another beautifully FREEZING morning.  We had a gorgeous frost this morning, harder than yesterday but, strange but true, the temperature was 6 degrees C warmer.  It was 0.3 this morning instead of -0.3.  

I took the bin down the drive this morning and spotted ice on the surface of the pond across the road.  It is REALLY early for this.  We normally don't see ice on that pond until around July.  Oh I hope this bodes well for a cold winter, we need one so badly, or at least I do!  It is going to warm up again tomorrow and over the weekend, with rain forecast.  This is great because we really haven't had much rain at all and we could do with some.

Yesterday late pm Caroline (neighbour) came over and helped me get the furniture back to its normal position - oh my goodness what a relief.  It was very practical having it where it was for almost 6 weeks because it meant I could work on my tags at night with the TV in the background but oh boy the living room just feels so amazing now it's back to normal.  

Today I'm getting plants ready to take to Bay Landscapes this pm and then I have to vacuum, prick out more seedlings and sow some more seeds.  Another busy day ahead.  Smiles..

Freezing Morning!

Hi, oh boy it was cold this morning, -0.2 degrees C which is really cold for the end of May. Squeeeeee, I just love it so much!  I adore frosts - they are nature's glitter!!  I crunched my way over to the chook house and then through the very white kitchen garden.  All of my summer crops have finished and winter crops love frost.  It does slow down the speed at which they grow but that's a small price to pay.

It's really strange but the older I get the more I LOVE the cold.. how ridiculous!  I'm sure it's meant to be the other way round, giggle.

My tunnel house had frost inside and out and went down -0.5!!  My plants look happy enough, except maybe for the basil I have in a pot.  It might be time to ditch that!  I'm a firm believer that heated glasshouses really aren't great for vegetable plants.  It's different if you are growing crops like cucumbers etc out of season for retail sale, of course!   It means that the plants I take to Bay Landscapes are already hardened off to a certain extend even though the are being grown under cover.  They don't go backwards at all once I take them there.

Today I've swapped my summer and winter wardrobes and I have decided this coming spring I need to be truly BRUTAL when it comes to weeding out my clothes (even use gardening terms here, giggle).  There are so many things I haven't worn for years and they just need to GO.  I would rather have only a few things I wear a lot than a whole lot of stuff taking up room for no reason!  

I am going to finish putting cardstock on the rest of my gift tags then it is time for me to move back into my studio.  I need to put the furniture back where it was and give the house a really good spruce up.  I've been vacuuming weekly but the dusting, ermmmmmmmmm NO NO NO, giggle.  Crikey, what a nightmare!  I'll have to do it with a damp cloth and it is going to take a while.  That's a plan for Saturday morning!

I'd better get on with my tags.  Smiles..

An Autumn Carpet!

Morning on another beautiful sunny morning with a cold breeze!  Crikey we need some rain, yes believe it or not we really do!  I had to water my vegetables in the kitchen garden yesterday morning which is pretty much unheard of in late May.  Oh dear!  I also realised I hadn't watered my nursery plants for a few days and a few were looking worse for wear, gulp!

Here is a photo of a gorgeous autumn ''carpet'' of leaves on the edge of my woodland garden.  The photo doesn't do the colours justice, they're stunning!

My tree dahlia, Dahlia imperialis, is in full flower at the moment and is creating a beautiful ''bower'' as I walk towards the clothesline.  I didn't get John to tie the thick, tall stems early enough and the dear thing is leaning right over.  If it was upright it would be at least 15ft tall, if not more, no joke!!  It's huge!!  Here is just a section of her flowers.. so pretty to look up into!

Today I'm spending the rest of the day pricking out vegetable seedlings.  I must get myself a cup of tea, I need one after gardening next door!  Smiles..

Wind from the South Pole!!

Hi on a very chilly but fine Monday morning.  The wind is fairly bitter but it's a lovely day.  I've just come back from gardening for an our next door and have watered my nursery.  Yikes we haven't had much rain and I've forgotten about the nursery!  Some plants were fairly dry to say the least.  I hope we get rain soon!

I'm going to be pricking out some more seedlings for as long as I can stand the chill in the farm shed.  I love cold weather but standing in one spot in a cold draught isn't much fun!  I also need to work on some fabric tag backgrounds.

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time in the afternoon cutting back old hellebore (winter rose) leaves.  This is the perfect way to help ensure a wonderful display of flowers in winter because it allows light to get to the crown of the plants.  

I took Chester for a long walk again late pm, I love the chill that's in the air at that time of the day.  

Out to the farm shed I must go.  I promise to post some photos for you soon!!  Smiles..

 

I Need Warm Socks!!

Hi and brrrrrrrrr I am one happy girl.. it's chilly and I love it.  The only thing I don't like is having cold tootsies!!  I only own a couple of pairs of warm socks, the rest are cotton and let me tell you they are just not cutting it!  I need a pair of slippers too.. oh dear badly prepared!  

I also haven't changed my wardrobe over from summer to winter so I keep having to delve into the spare room wardrobe to get warmer tops too.  It's on my to-do list for this week.

Yesterday I continued battle asparagus patch and I have to admit I was swearing at the hedge 1/2 way through the day, giggle.  I have done as much as I can and removed as many of the roots as possible.  It's really frustrating because there are quite a lot of matted roots where the asparagus crowns are but I can't dig too voraciously there or I'll damage the crowns.  Sigh!  Today I'm going to dump about 6'' of compost onto the bed and forget it until Spring.  I will need to be diligent about keeping the asparagus bed weed and root free from now on!

The temperature didn't get above 11.6 degrees here yesterday, which is almost unheard of!  The cloud cover stayed around and it was perfect for gardening.  Today the sun is out but the temperature is still coolish and there is a cold breeze.  A freezing wintery blast is about to work its way up the South Island - we won't get any showers but we will get chilly temps.  Heavy snow is predicted for the lower south island.. boo hoo I wish I was there!

I managed to get some gift tag backgrounds done and this pm I will do some fabric ones.  A-composting I must go!  Smiles..

OOOOH.. It's Chilly!

Hi on a VERY chilly Saturday morning!  It's 10.45am and it's only 7.2 degrees C outside!  Crikey and heavens.  Oooh and aaaah... I REALLY want to get out to finish the asparagus patch but somehow this temperature is putting me off!  I'm sitting here in the house with my outdoor jacket on and my toes are FREEZING!!  I'm sure if I went out into the garden my blood would start flowing and I'd warm up fast.  Yes I must do it!  The sun is very weakly peaking through the high cloud so it may yet warm up!  

I started getting the background materials ready for my next lot of tags last night so it's tempting to stay in here by the fire and do them but I really want to finish the asparagus patch first!  

Yesterday was a very busy day.  I went to ballet class which was wonderful and then did all of my errands, getting home around 1.40pm and falling onto some food.  I was starving!  I put the groceries away after that and then did this and that including walking Chester quite a long way.  Needless to say I was pretty tired last night.

I had to put the e-collar back on Monty last night too because I realised he had rather a nasty small wound at the bottom of one of his ears, bless his heart.  These cat fights are a right pain!!  I put some chemi-scrub (antiseptic vet's wash) on it and so it would have time to do something I had to put the e-collar back on for the night.  Phooey.. he came in to sleep with me some stage of the night and proceeded to lie up by my head on the pillow purring like a train which was amplified by the collar!  Needless to say it took me ages to get back to sleep.

Asparagus here I come!!  Smiles..

 

Off to Ballet!

Hi, eeeek and aaaaggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  It's Friday morning and I'm rushing around like a chook with her head cut off!  I'm about to leave for ballet then grocery shopping plus, plus, plus!  I've realised I desperately need to get coal and wheat (chooks/ducks) as well and I only have the little car because the big car has a dead battery!  Phoop.  The coal and wheat will be in the boot and the groceries will be piled into the interior of the tiny car!!  Giggle, good mental image!

I must fly, more later or tomorrow, pant, pant!! Smiles..