Art for Heart's Sake

Ermmm I Was Doing So Well!!

Hi, and oh brother I'm so sorry.. the last three days have been mad!  I had a wonderful time at the open class on Thursday night - oh my goodness, there was four of us from our adult class and 4 senior students so it was just right and there was no need for me to feel daunted.

Our teacher, Valerie, who is in her 80's was magical.  She is so elegant, poised and so, so, so, limber it's incredible.  I came away from the class feeling really good, very body-tired but wonderful.  We did a lot of barre exercises I've never done before and some of them were simple but really effective.

On Friday we decided not to have a ballet practise so after I'd done my animal tasks I headed out to our local farm shop to get vegies, then headed into the mall to buy us four new pillows.  They were half price which was fabulous.  I came home via Bay Landscapes for a cup of tea.  In the afternoon I did some compost spreading using the little trailer I bought John for Christmas on the back of the ride-on mower.  It is so much simpler than lugging wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of compost to various areas.  I've put thick compost on the part of the perennial bed I've weeded.

Yesterday I pottered in the morning doing this and that and then we headed off to have lunch with friends at their home in Cable Bay.  It's called this because it's where the undersea power cable takes power from South Island hydro-electric dams across Cook Strait to the North Island.  It is the most beautiful spot around 45 minutes drive from here each way.  We had the most lovely Greek-inspired lunch and left at about 5pm.  

Oooh one exciting piece of news is Louie (8 or 9 week old rooster) is trying to crow!  We heard him for the first time yesterday - a rather ''interesting'' high-pitched sound but how gorgeous.  I'm hoping he'll do a REAL crow, unlike the two roosters we've had before him!

Well I'd better get back to the farm shed, I'm pricking out vegetable seedlings today even though it's Sunday!  Oh something else exciting, I've just picked a bowl of black mulberries from our tree and I'm going to make a crumble for dessert.  Mulberries aren't common in New Zealand so I'm so happy to have one!  Smiles..

It Rained!! and Feeling Nervous!!

Hi there, oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh squuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee we woke to rain this morning.  I was absolutely stunned to realise it was raining because the weather forecast last night on the news showed now sign of it, just a bit of cloud.  It rained quite steadily most of the morning until 11am or so when it stopped.  The sun is trying to come out now and I'm hoping it doesn't manage it!

I spent a couple of hours at Bay Landscapes this morning organising my plants in the rain and I didn't mind one bit that I was getting soaked.   The coat I wear isn't waterproof and I had water dripping down inside my gumboots but hey ho, it was R A I N!!

I'm feeling a bit nervous at the moment which is so daft of me.  This evening I'm going to my first EVER open ballet class at the studio.  This means a class where anyone that does ballet at the studio can turn up for the class.  Ermmm this means dancers with legs that go up beside their ears pretty effortlessly whereas mine, especially my left one, struggles to get above knee height.  Gulp...  I know I'm silly to feel nervous but I can't help it - I'm scared I'll make a complete twit of myself or the other dancers will wonder why I bother.  I need to remember I am dancing for ME, no-one else, just ME!!  One thing is for certain I won't be wearing my demi-pointes because they look like pointe shoes but I won't be going en pointe!  Giggle, crikey!  See, I am nervous!  Bah Philippa get a grip!!

I'm about to head to the farm shed and do some pricking out.  Wish me luck at ballet class, gulp!  Smiles..

I Will NOT Mention the Weather.....!!!!

Hi, I promise I won't, no I won't.. oh yes I will... IT'S SO SO SO HOT AND HUMID I CAN'T STAND IT!!!  The rain that was forecast hasn't eventuated, we did have cloud cover this morning but it's gone and the sun is HOT HOT HOT.  It is very unusual for the Nelson area to be humid for more than a couple of days and this has been going on for a week now.  I must stop moaning!  It's just I can't stand being hot.  

Today I managed to get some more weeding done in the perennial garden this morning and this afternoon I've been writing and then labeling plants to take to Bay L tomorrow morning.  My lovely friend Janet called in this pm for a cup of tea which was wonderful.

I am about to go out to the paddock to check on the young chooks.  This hot weather can't be nice for them either especially in their smaller run.  I can't wait to be able to move them into the larger run and chook house with Gertrude.  I can't see me waiting for 2 months.. I think 1 month will be long enough.  I will just have to see how big they are in another two weeks.  Maybe if I talk to them and ask them to put on a major growth spurt!!

I'm hoping to do a bit more gardening late this pm but it just depends on whether I can take the heat.  There is a lovely cool light breeze blowing if you stand in just the right spot, which unfortunately is not in my garden!  More tomorrow and I promise NOT to moan!!  Smiles...

Squeeee More Gardening Done!

Hi, it's late afternoon and I'm a happy chappy apart from being so darned hot and sticky!  I've spent a couple of hours in the garden this pm - it was a toss up between pricking out two punnets of seedlings or weeding and the weeding won, mainly because it was cloudy if horribly humid.  I know I've been bitten by mosquitos but at least the sun stayed away.

This morning I went to ballet practise and had a really good one.  One of the girls who does ballet with me is really good at helping me with some of my positions.  Because of my hips I don't tend to be able to put my legs out to the side at any great height (especially the left one) which I find really frustrating so without know it I tend to compensate by letting my legs go up more to the front when they should be to the side in some of the barre exercises.  I am going to try really hard to rectify it.  One of the main things that is really hard to grasp in ballet is managing to think of ALL the things you need to concentrate on at one time.  

For instance, you might need to make sure your arm is in the correct positions, your shoulders are down, your stomach is held in and you are holding yourself ''tall'', while getting your lets to do what they're meant to be doing.  Crikey!!    I came away feeling really good though and some of my turns on the floor are getting much better and more controlled.  YES!!

It's time to go inside and have a lovely cool shower before I expire!  If it would only RAIN!! Smiles..

A Molten Pool of Philippa!

Hi there, oh my goodness it is SOOOOOOO hot out there!  It's humid at the same time which is just abysmal.  There was a bit of cloud cover this morning so I managed to get about 1.5 hours of weeding done in the main perennial garden.  Phew, better than nothing.

I've discovered a really good way to get Bunnykins more used to me and I don't know why I haven't been doing it since we've had him!  Last evening I decided to climb into his enclosure (which is about 1m wide and about 3m long) and crouch down so I don't look like this big ''thing'' leaning into his cage to stroke him.  He was so cute - he did a few silly dances at the end of his enclosure then gradually made his way over to me, nudging my hand, sniffing my shoes and dress.  I did the same thing this morning and will continue to do it twice a day until he'll let me pick him up.  It may take a few months but I'll get there.  He's very good about letting me stroke him a lot which is lovely.  Oh I keep saying ''him'' but we still don't know what sex this bunny is!  I've seen Bunnykins lying on his/her side and tried to see if I could say ''bits'' (giggle) but I don't think I could.  

Getting back to my weeding, while I am doing it I am keeping a tray of potting mix handy for any seedlings or pieces of hardy geraniums I uproot by mistake and some pots with cutting mix in them.  I took some Penstemon ''Snowstorm'' cuttings this morning.  This will save me traipsing backwards and forwards to the farmshed with the odd disrupted seedling etc which in turn will save time!

I am determined to develop a healthy balance between gardening in the morning when I can and working in the afternoon.  This way I hope I can get the garden back to some semblance of order and keep it that way!  That's my main aim this year - to find my balance, and not just in ballet!  Back to work I must go, pant, pant.. if only the darned sun would GO AWAY!!  Smiles..

An Open Ballet Class!

Hi, oh my goodness it's another warm day but at least there is some cloud cover today!  It is fairly humid and just occasionally a delightful light breeze wafts across to just cool things off a bit.  I've started weeding part of the perennial garden and will carry on soon.   

It was a very hot night last night and it looks like we are going to have a few more to come.. ugh, I just don't sleep well when the temps above 14 degrees C at night.

This pm I have a couple of people coming to visit my nursery so I spent some time this morning weeding part of the steps that were completely overgrown.  It's one of those things that I've been putting off for weeks so today was the day.

Squeeee I'm excited, there is going to be an open ballet class this Thursday evening with a different ballet teacher from our usual one.  It's an introduction to the new year and is open to all students of all levels.. gulp, I will be a bit nervous being seen by other dancers other than the 5 I dance with.  Crikey, what if I make a fool of myself, ermm oh well I'll just keep my head up and do my best!  Eeeek.. I may not wear my demi pointes for that class.

Well I'd better get back into the garden.  Smiles..

A Lovely Evening!

Hi, it's almost lunchtime on Saturday and I'm struggling to do anything today.  I have awful lower abdominal cramps which is most unlike me.  When they stop I'm left with a dull achy discomfort.  I don't think it's anything I ate last night and John is fine so I will just wait and see if they ease off.  Our neighbours are meant to be coming to dinner tonight but I may have to postpone it yet.  I hope not but one thing is for sure I won't be good company if I'm still like this.

We had a lovely evening at my friend's 60th birthday celebration last night.  The food was lovely and my spaghetti cooking skills didn't let me down, it was just right, phew!  There were 28 of us at a long table in the garden - a similar set up to John's 60th that I put on for him here.  We got home around 11pm and fell into bed.

Today I had lots of plans re gardening etc but I just don't feel very well at all so that's not likely to happen.  I'm finding it hard to settle to anything but I think I'll try and work on the A4 vegetable description and photo lists I want to do for Bay Landscapes.  Oh I SO SO SO wanted to garden today though.. Pookies is all I can say!  Here's to feeling better quickly!  Smiles..

Aaagghhhh It's Hot Again!

Hi there, oh brother it's hot and slightly humid again today... so irksome!  I did ballet practise this morning and for someone who NEVER has perspired much while dancing no matter how hard I'm working, I did today!  Crikey!

Our neighbours are coming for dinner tomorrow night and I'm doing my the same meal I did for John's birthday a couple of weeks ago.  Pan-seared lemon, chilli, sweet smoked paprika prawns followed by Chorizo and monkfish paella, yum!!  I stopped off to get the very fresh fish and frozen prawns on my way home from practise.  The fish is now on a plate with baking paper over it, in the fridge.  I must remember to take the prawns out of the freezer before we go out for a friend's 60th birthday dinner early this evening.  Hmmm I think I'd better write myself a not or I know I'll forget.

I need to go and do some pricking out so I'd better get on with it!  Smiles..

Seeds Galore!

Hi, it's been another busy day and I'm only just getting the chance to post this.  I went to Bay Landscapes to drop off some more plants and spent quite a bit of time tidying up the ones that were there.  I bought home some of the instant colour spots (petunias already in flower) to give them a trim and a feed because they were looking very straggly.

I have decided I need to do a couple of A4 lists of my vegetable and flowering plants with a photograph and description, rather than having a lot of separate colour labels that go in the front punnet or pot in the row.  It is too labour intensive and frustrating when the labels go missing, which is happening really regularly.  This means the plants left in that row have no description, which in the case of flowers can be a problem for the customers because they don't necessarily know what the flowers look like or what conditions they like.  I haven't got time (or room) to handwrite all the info on my nursery labels.  It will take me a while to do the A4 ones (one for Autumn/Winter/early Spring vegies & flowers and one for late Spring/Summer ones) but it will be worth it in the end.

I had a lovely customer and her Mum visit me today and it was so fabulous to have someone in my garden who truly appreciates flowering plants and didn't mind the weeds.  I'm only open on Wednesdays now but am really happy to open at other times by appointment if I'm home.  They were coming from Blenheim (where David lives - 1.5 hours drive over a couple of steep hill saddles from here) so I was happy to open today for them.

Seeds galore - wow I'll say!  I ordered a pile of seeds on Monday and they arrived on Tuesday much to my surprise and delight.  That is until I looked at the invoice and realised the the price of 1,000 special Kale seeds has gone from $19 to $40!!!!!  I must phone and ask why the increase has been so huge.  They also substituted a couple of Campanula varieties with seeds that were $30 instead of $12 because they couldn't supply the cheaper ones.  I am going to keep the seeds (with a slight gulp) but I just wish they had phoned me to tell me about the extra cost of the kale (or at least told me when I ordered it over the phone) and to ask if they could substitute the Campanulas.  Plain courtesy if you ask me!

Right well I'd better go and finish mixing up my next batch of potting mix for some pricking out I need to do.  Smiles..

A Moment to Breathe!

Hi, it's late Wednesday afternoon and I've had a very full-on day!  I gardened next door for an hour this morning, after hanging out the washing and doing all of my animals tasks (which take longer these days due to the new chickies!).  Then I came home and wrote plant labels which I put on my plants after lunch, ready to go to Bay Landscapes tomorrow morning.  I spent the rest of the afternoon until now packing up 21 tea light holders for Pete.  I'm really happy with how they look.

Here is a photo of 7 of them (I did 3 of each of these designs as requested).

It was so wonderful to do some gardening in Caroline's garden and to find most of the soil was DAMP for the first time in what seems like months.  Her plants have really been struggling to cope with the dry up until now because she can't water - they need all of their water for their hydroponic business.

I am about to make 6 more tea light holders for a friend so I'd better get started on those!  I need them finished by Friday.  Smiles..