Art for Heart's Sake

Hi, It's Monday!!

Hi there, yikes yes I missed yesterday - we had friends stay overnight on Saturday night and Sunday morning just disappeared.  I was really busy for the rest of Sunday writing and recording my radio show and lots of other things so simply forgot to blog!!  Ack!

This morning I am pricking out numerous vegetable seedlings and I'll be doing it most of the afternoon as well.  After that I'll need to sow more seeds of everything I've just pricked out!  Pant, pant.. it's getting hard to keep up with what I'm doing and Spring is just around the corner (officially, tomorrow!!).

Bad weather is forecast from this evening into tomorrow with strong winds and heavy rain.  Sometimes when the wind comes from the East (as it is meant to) we don't get the brunt of it here because we are a bit protected from the easterly.  Here's hoping!  It does mean the rain will blow straight into the door of our chook house so I will have to almost close it this evening.  Sebastian is a silky bantam and they hate the rain!  It will be interesting to see how the tunnel house reacts in high winds if we do get them.  It is meant to be able to withstand gales so should be fine.

When I was washing my hair this morning I felt something in my left eye and when I looked there was a blasted hair right across my eye.  I made the mistake of blinking (darn it) so now it's somewhere right at the bottom of my eye or at the back of it for all I know!  I can feel it, it's not sore but I can just tell it's in there.  How does one extract a hair from the eye?  I've tried using eye rinse 3x to no avail.  Luckily I'm going to my optician for him to check my lower eyelid tomorrow so maybe he'll be able to flush it out if it hasn't come out by then.

Back to my seedlings I must go!  Smiles..

Murky Weather and Seeds!

Hi, it's Saturday afternoon (hmmm mornings just aren't happening at the moment, giggle) and I'm letting my lunch ''go down'' before I head back out to the farm shed to do more seed sowing.  I've sown petunias, begonia, marigolds, phlox and more this morning and this pm I'm doing some more vegetable seed.  

The next two months are going to be full on re seed sowing and pricking out - especially when it comes to things like capsicum, courgette (zucchini), tomatoes and other summer vegetables.  It's a bit early to be sowing capsicum but I can do the first courgette for glasshouses and the tomatoes will be for glasshouses too.  In all of the South Island and the lower half of the North Island the optimum time to plant summer vegetables out in gardens is around mid-late October.  Everyone always wants to get them in earlier than that but there is always the chance of a late frost.

We have a ex-work colleage (and friend) of John's and his partner coming to stay the night tonight which will be lovely.  It has meant a mad scramble to get the spare room habitable and John has been doing housework this morning, especially the dusting because our woodburner tends to spit out dust like you wouldn't believe.  I am so thankful he is willing to do it because I don't have time to do everything.

It's a murky day today weatherwise.  We were forecast to have rain most of today but so far we have only had a bit of mist.  Parts of the Nelson ranges are getting heavy rain until tonight - it looks as though we'll miss that.  We are going out for dinner tonight too which will be a treat!

My farm shed is calling me!  Smiles..

A Quick Post!

Hi, it's Friday afternoon, 3.25pm and I've had a good but busy day so far.  I went to ballet which was WONDERFUL.. we learned a few new steps and I managed to ''GET'' them!  Squeeeee!  Then on to a local private hospital where my neighbour is (Caroline had keyhole shoulder surgery yesterday).  I didn't stay long because she was very tired and nauseous from the morphine they gave her today for the pain (now on something different!).  

After that I headed to 185 farm shop for our vegetables and got home around 2pm.  I downed a cup-a-soup for my lunch as hate eating that late and since then I've been planning what seeds to sow which I'm about to do!  More tomorrow.. pant, pant.. Smiles...

Seedlings and Orders!

Morning on a rather dull, slightly chilly Thursday morning.  It looked as though the morning cloud was going to clear a while ago but it's come over again and the temperature is dropping by the feel of it.  Rain is predicted tomorrow and for most of next week - this is great in terms of my getting lots of indoor work done, like my Christmas gift tags that I wanted to have finished by the end of August.. hmmmm not really started yet, yikes!!

This morning I'm busy labelling punnets of plants and writing invoices etc for Bay Landscapes this pm and also the orders I'm sending around the country next Tuesday.  I need to get them done today so I can email them off.  I like to have payment before I send my plants to their new owners.

I'm hoping to sow some more seeds this pm before I head off to delivery my plants.  Yes, another busy day!  Smiles..

 

What to Do First??!!

Hi, it's Wednesday morning and I've just made a list of the plants I'm going to take to Bay Landscapes tomorrow.  My seedlings are selling really well which makes me SO happy.  I'm gobsmacked by the quality of the seedlings I'm producing, they are amazing - bless their hearts.

I'm spinning on the spot at the moment and am not sure which was is up!  I was awake during the night mithering about everything I need to do and in what order.  I made a to-do list on Saturday and have managed to cross quite a few things off so I moved it on to today's page in my diary and added more things.  I am typing this while I'm having a tea break so I am not taking up time when I could be doing something else.

My main priority is to get more seeds sown and to carry on weeding that gnarly bit of ground I mentioned yesterday!  I'm also going to garden for my neighbour for an hour this pm.  

I'm working on a gift tag for my sister's birthday early next week.  I need to get it finished by tomorrow evening because I want to post her present on Friday.  I'll remember to take a photo of it for you.  I love it already and it's only 1/2 done!

More tomorrow honeys, I need to fly.  Smiles..

Puggy Soil!

Hi, eeeek and ewwwwwwwwwwww I just started weeding an area of my perennial bed where the weeds were looking matted and close the the soil surface.  Oh my goodness, to my horror the soil is very puggy and wet even though we really haven't had a lot of rain this winter!  

Immediately a slight sense of panic gripped me because there is always a chance some of my gorgeous perennials in that area may succumb to wet feet!  Needless to say I can't do a lot today because I am off to ballet practise in about 30 minutes but I'm hoping to get a decent amount done before the rain sets in again on Saturday.  I can't weed it totally because it is just too wet but I can get rid of the main matted weeds and open up the soil a bit to let some air in.  

I was out this morning getting my hair trimmed so it's one of those days when I really feel as though I'm not getting much accomplished.  I'm only typing this now because I've just finished lunch and need it to ''go down'' before I go to ballet practise.

I am working on my christmas gift tags but have not made much progress so that's on the agenda for the rainy weekend.  I'm also half way through making a gift tag for my sister's birthday in early September.    

More tomorrow honeys.  Smiles.. 

 

A Scrambled Brain, Giggle!

Morning on a surprisingly chilly Monday morning.  I wasn't expecting a frost so waking up to 1.7 degrees C was a bit of a shock.  For some reason I thought it was going to be warmer than that!  A bit of rain is predicted later today so things should warm up then.

I managed to get everything done that was on my list for yesterday so that was great.  I have so many eggs in my ''basket'' at the moment that my brain is feeling VERY scrambled.  I have made a ''to do'' list but unfortunately as fast as I cross things off I suddenly remember something else!  

I am hoping to get into my nursery to start a major tidy up.  I've had some orders from some lovely people who heard my radio segment on Saturday so this morning I've been putting those plants aside.  

I desperately need to get my Christmas gift tag order done so I can spend September and October concentrating ONLY on plants and gardening!  This is the only way I will catch up with everything including weeding the garden and splitting up more of my stock plants.  This lovely cold winter has meant I haven't been able to split plants up during winter the way I normally would.  Spring is going to be frantically busy and it starts (officially) next week!  Thank heavens daylight saving starts on the last Sunday in September - I need all the daylight hours I can get!

I hope you are all well wherever you are in the world.  Majorly large hugs and thanks again for reading my daily blurbles!  Smiles..

A Link to My Radio Segment

Hi it's Sunday afternoon and I'm having another very busy day.  I'm about to do ballet practise too.  

Here's the link to my radio segment on the nationwide Radio Live Home and Garden show yesterday morning.  It's about 20mins long.  I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed doing it!

http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Geraniums-why-do-we-love-them-so-much/tabid/506/articleID/94770/Default.aspx

Let me know if the link doesn't work.  More tomorrow.

Where Did Yesterday Go Again!

Hi, it's Saturday morning and yes I missed yesterday.  Somehow it just disappeared, giggle.  I went to ballet class as usual in the morning and then came home via a local hardware store to get more potting mix.  By the time I'd had lunch it was about 1.30pm and I headed straight out to the kitchen garden to finish weeding the gooseberry patch (prick, ouch) and then started on the asparagus patch.  The couch grass is coming through again and I am DETERMINED to keep on top of it this season.  Asparagus is worth the extra effort!

This morning I was live on a nationwide Home and Garden Show, talking about my passion - hardy cranesbill geraniums.  I really want to get this fabulous genus of plants better known in New Zealand.  Anyone reading this in the UK will be pretty horrified to know that there are only about 6 varieties (if that!!!) available in garden centres.  There are a couple of mail order nurseries (apart from me) that also have a fairly good range of these gorgeous creatures.  

I must fly out to the garden to finish the asparagus patch and then I am going to be sowing flower seeds this pm for Bay Landscapes.  Smiles..

Sun, Blue Sky and a Breeze..aaahhh!

Morning on a gorgeous Thursday morning.  The sky is blue, the sun is shining and there is a lovely breeze blowing.... WAIT... eeeek it feels like SPRING!  Oh brother, am I ready for this, NO NO NO NO NO!  I know for a fact that my seedling growing business is going to keep me frantic during September-November!  

My tomato seeds have FINALLY started germinating which is fabulous.  I was a bit worried there for a while, especially as I'm growing a lot of one particular type of tomato seeds for a lovely elderly man as a favour.  No pressure then, aaaggghhhhhhh!

This morning I'm getting seedlings ready to take to Bay Landscapes this pm and then I am going to try and get the gooseberry patch finished.  

I primed my gift tags late yesterday so they are ready to start.  The weather forecast is for rain from Mon-Wed next week so I'm hoping to be able to delay doing them until then.  This weather is too precious to miss - I need to do some gardening desperately, as well as more seed sowing.  Luckily I have no pricking out to do this week.  

My seedlings are calling me - waiting to be labelled.  Smiles..