Art for Heart's Sake

Shopping & Gardening!

Hi, it's Saturday evening and I'm about to start cooking our dinner.  We've had a lovely day today - it started with a trip up to Motueka (around 20 min drive) to try and find a birthday present for my bonus son, David, which we did!  We had a lovely time looking for it and got a few other things we needed too.

This pm I've been in the kitchen garden.  I've planted some more broccoli and either brussel sprouts or cauliflower (the label had come off my seedlings), only 3 of those.  I'm loving the way the kitchen garden is looking at the moment and everything is growing really well.  The soil still has some warmth in it but how much longer that will last I don't know.  The evenings are definitely getting cooler - I can feel the chill coming down around 4.30pm now, it's so lovely!

We desperately need rain though, oh boy some of my kitchen garden beds are rock hard and ARID!!  I can't believe how dry they are under the weed cover.  Phew thank heavens I've managed to attack them so I can water them thoroughly and compost them to within an inch of their lives!!

More tomorrow honeys, I must fly and cook.  Smiles..

An Exciting Photo!!

Hi, it's Friday afternoon and I'm sitting here working on some gift tags for Bay Landscapes.  I also need to go out to the tunnel house to check my darling seed trays and seedlings to make sure they don't need watering.  I may have to do some pricking out this pm too, we'll see!

This morning I went to ballet practise and it was lovely as usual.  Julia's barre work is just magical to do and it also focuses a lot on balance on demi-pointe with hands away from the barre.  Boy it is pretty amazing to do and very hard work which is great.

I think I mentioned Robyn (neighbour) was doing a detachable overlay for my tutu.  Here is a photo of the progress so far.  There is  still quite a lot to be added but isn't it scrumptious!!  The white bits are where tissue paper is attached at the moment for sewing.  It is sitting on top of my tutu in this photo.

I'd better get back to my gift tags, they won't make themselves!  Smiles..

Wait for it.....

....yes it's another lovely day - oh blast and bother!  We've more or less had no rain to speak of this month and it is starting to show.  I've had the sprinkler on several areas of the garden with more to do.  Please do a rain dance for me!!!

This morning I went down to Bay Landscapes to drop my plants off.  My flowering punnets (annuals) don't seem to be selling all that well so I'm rethinking how many I will do in the future.  I adore growing flowers so it's hard to think I need to cut back but realistically it's not economically viable to try and compete with the big guns (hardware stores) who can sell annuals (sometimes really unhealthy looking ones) much more cheaply than I can.  I need to prick out some more seedlings today so I will but I think I will pot some up just for me too so my garden can be super colourful!

This pm I also need to work on 20 gift tags for Bay Landscapes and I'm really looking forward to doing them.  Oh how I love creating my tags!!

Well that's about all my news for today.  It's lunchtime and I'm STARVING!!  Smiles..

Today has Gone!

Hi, it's 4.55pm and I just realised I hadn't written this yet!  I've had a funny day today - lots to do but not a lot of motivation!  Bah!!  

I really don't know where the day's gone but I do know that I forced myself to be busy.  I labeled the plants for Bay landscapes this pm and then I tidied up trays of plants in the tunnel house, sorting them out.  

Yikes I really don't have much to report today.. tomorrow had better be a far more full-on day!!  I have pricking out to do and was going to do it this pm but then I watered them.  Let me tell you, there is nothing worse than trying to prick out wet seedlings because the seed raising mix clings to their roots and it can cause quite a lot of damaged roots when I'm trying to gently separate them.

More tomorrow honeys. Smiles..

In the Middle of Seed Sowing!

Hi there, it's 3.40pm and I'm in the middle of madly seed sowing.  By the time I've finished I will have sown 27 punnets of different vegetable varieties, phew!  I need to prick out flower seedlings too but keeping vegetable seedlings going in a more-or-less even fashion week to week is more crucial it seems.  

I get a little frustrated because my one true love is growing flower seedlings, whether they be perennials or annuals.  My flowering punnets don't seem to be selling very fast and I know this is mainly because I am competing with the big hardware stores who can offer flowering punnets (and vegetables come to that) at incredibly low prices.  The one thing I will NEVER compromise on is quality and I know that is why my vegetable seedlings sell really well even though they are more expensive than elsewhere.  I will persevere with the flowers and any that have to come home will just end up in my garden!

This morning I went to ballet practise at 10am, rather than 2pm because of school holidays.  Julia was there too and oh my goodness she is making such a HUGE difference to my dancing, right down to the the way I hold myself and other miniscule details of barre work.  I told her how thankful I am today and I really mean it!  

Well I'd better get back to my seeds.. they wait for no Philippa!!  Smiles..

Pricking Out Like Crazy!

Hi, it's early pm on Monday and it's Anzac Day here in New Zealand.  John left at 10am to sing with the choir at a service, then this pm the choir has their two hour concert.  I would have liked to have been able to go but I have so much pricking out to do (seedlings) that it's simply ridiculous.  I find vegetable seedlings can become too tall and straggly to prick out almost overnight so when they are at their peak I can't ignore them!

I've just finished lunch and will be launching myself back at them in a few minutes.  It's funny, after the hornbeam hedge trimming we did Saturday and Sunday my arms just want me to do absolutely nothing.  They have that heavy, slightly achy overtired ''I don't want to do anything'' feeling that makes me giggle!!!  Needs must I'd better fly back to my potting bench.  Sorry this is a bit short today!  Smiles...

A Couple of Photos

Hi, it's another... oh dear.. I'm not going to say ''boring'' day weather-wise here, giggle.  It is sunny with a stunning blue sky but today we also have a rather LOVELY SW breeze.  It is so nice to feel some air movement after day after day of still, fine weather.

This morning we carried on with the hornbeam hedge and I'm laughing at my arms at the moment.  The petrol hedge trimmer is quite heavy but I manage to use it pretty well.  My arms are now stiff and it takes two hands to hold a cup because they feel a bit weak.  Even typing feels weird!  What do I expect, I ask myself??!!   

I took a photo of myself in our new hallway mirror before I went out for dinner on my birthday and Judith took one of me when we were out at lunch on Thursday.  Unfortunately my iPhone doesn't take fabulous photos and I forgot to take our camera so I don't have one of her to post here.    I promise I'm not being egotistical posting photos of myself, giggle.

This pm we need to finish the hedge so we can forget about that job for another year.  John has just gone out to get some petrol for the ride-on mower and also our 4wd utility which I will be driving along the side of the hedge while John finishes trimming the top.

I'd better go out and do some weeding while I'm waiting for him to get back. Smiles..

A Busy But Lovely Time!

Hi, yikes yes I missed yesterday because Judith (my sister) and I were so busy!  We took off to ballet practise at 9.15am and came home afterwards via coffee and two very pretty shops that took a while!  After a quick lunch Judith did some weeding for me and I pricked out some seedlings.  

Judith took some video footage of ballet practise but when she sent me my barre work videos via email they didn't come through which is a bit of a shame.  I have got my floor repertoire to the track from Les Miserables though which may or may not be a good thing.  I watched it this morning and oh boy it's so hard to watch myself.  I am concentrating so hard that my face is interesting to look at, plus I look ever so slightly clumsy to me.  Yikes is all I can say!  Having said that it's a really good tool so I can try and improve the things I realise don't look just so!  I really wish I had the barre work to look at because that is the foundation for everything I do in the ''centre''.  Never mind.

We went out for dinner last night and had a lovely time, plus delicious food!  

This morning we were awake at 4.45!!!am!!!!! so we could have a cup of much needed tea before taking Judith to the airport to get her early morning flight back to New Plymouth via Wellington.  Needless to say I was rather bleary eyed after going to bed at around 11pm last night!  It was weird how slowly the morning went because we were up so early!  

I have planted some more leeks and John has started cutting the top of the hornbeam hedge around the kitchen garden with a petrol hedge trimmer he bought a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately we've hit a big snag, it is REALLY hard to start and keeps stopping.  John thinks he knows whats wrong so he's going to take it back to the big hardware store he got it from.  They may try to get it looked at but I think if we've only just started using it they ought to give us a replacement no questions asked!

Well I'd better get back out to the kitchen garden.  I want to get a few other things planted because there is a chance we will get some rain tonight, fingers crossed!!!  Smiles..

 

About the Kitchen Ceiling!!

Hi gorgeous ones, it's been a lovely day here AGAIN!!  Crikey this is getting rather monotonous, hehehe.. oh for some cloud cover I say!  We're meant to get a tiddle of rain on Saturday and then the long range forecast is for another whole week of blue sky and sunshine.. humphh!  

My sister arrived around mid-pm yesterday and we had a lovely cuppa with the person who dropped her off.  John arrived home and he proceeded to decant the fermenting grape ''must'' from the big plastic bin into a glass demi-john to continue the process.  He had a lot of trouble getting all of the ''must'' out of the liquid so some ended up in the demi-john too.  A bit later on Judith was in the kitchen and said ''ermm John it's overflowing!''.  Sure enough it was oozing down the sides of the demi onto the top of the microwave.  He poured some off and put it back, this time inside the big plastic bucket just in case it happened again.

I was cooking dinner when I looked over and saw that yes it was definitely overflowing again and this time some of the ''must'' had ended up in the curved parts of the piece of apparatus that sits on top of the cork and blurbles as gas is released.  John and Judith both came into the kitchen and while we were standing there looking at it, suddenly it erupted all over part of the kitchen ceiling.  It was like a Monty Python skit after that.  We were all in total hysterics, meanwhile I was in the middle of cooking our chicken curry for dinner.  Judith got on top of the stool and wiped the ceiling really well but yes it is slightly grey now so it will have to be painted again!  Crikey.. the joys of wine-making, giggle.

Today I went to Bay Landscapes with plants while Judith went out with her friend for brunch.  I came home and we took off up to Motueka (about 20 minutes drive away) so I could take her to a truly BEAUTIFUL shop called ''The French Store''.  We spent quite a lot of time there and then ended up sharing a salad for lunch at a cafe nearby.  

I'm about to fill the wood box and then hopefully relax a bit.  I ought to be pricking out but I'll do that tomorrow pm instead.  Smiles..

A Lovely Day!

Hi there, I had a lovely birthday yesterday although the afternoon was a little weird!  John spent most of the time in the garage doing something so I'd more or less figured out what my present might be and yes I was right, a table tennis table, squeeeeee!  I love playing table tennis but don't enjoy clubs really so I've wanted a table for YEARS!  It folds up so all we need to do is drive the car out of the garage, roll the table into the centre and put down the two ''leaves'' to play!

John took me out for dinner to a local restaurant last night and we had a delicious meal.  I ate far too much, drank a wee bit too much red wine and generally had fun!

Today I gardened next door for just over an hour this morning, then came home and vacuumed AGAIN because there was a bit of debris from outside on the floor again - the joys of living in the country and having doors open all the time.  Since then I've written labels and labeled plants ready for delivery tomorrow and now I'm waiting for my sister to arrive.  It's really hard for me to settle to anything and I'm dog tired as well.  That will teach me to go to bed at 11pm instead of my usual 10pm!  Yikes..

I'm going to go out to my potting bench to prick out some seedlings while I wait for Judith.  Smiles..