Art for Heart's Sake

I Was All Set....

... to post yesterday evening but this morning I realised I didn't!  I also didn't put my computer to sleep or sign out, crikey!  This ought to tell you how tired I was by the end of yesterday.  Giggle.

I had a busy day with one thing and another including a fairly intense 1 hour 15 min ballet practise from 1.15pm.  I stopped to get some potting and seed raising mix on the way home so didn't walk back through the door until 3.45pm.  I decided not to walk the dog because I was physically tired, in a good way!

Today it started off cloudy and cold again (it was like that all day yesterday) but now the sun has come out and there are some interesting white clouds in the sky.  A cold southerly is working it's way up the country, today I think, and tonight's temp is supposed to be 1 degree C in Nelson which means we could even end up with a - figure tomorrow morning on our weather station thermometer!  That will make for a cold start and a very cold ballet studio tomorrow morning!

This pm I'm off to ballet class via Bay Landscapes and also I need to get myself a new pair of canvas ballet slippers.  Mine have finally given up the ghost and I'll just keep them for practise from now on.  I've sewn the area under my toes about 7 times and now I have a hole appearing in the top by my big toe so I think they've done there dash!  It's quite uncomfortable doing ballet move with a hole in the canvas under your big toe. Squeeeeeeee my badge of honour - I've worn out a pair of ballet slippers!!  

I spent an hour gardening next door this morning and now I'm about to either sow some seeds or gesso one edge of my big canvas ''After the Storm'' so I can continue to paint the edge gold.  Some of the turquoise paint ended up on the entire top edge so I need to gesso it first or it will show through the gold paint.  Off I go!  Smiles..

A Glorious Winter's Day!

Hi on a stunning Tuesday afternoon.  After a few days of dull skies I have to say it is lovely to see the sun and blue sky again.  I don't want it to hang around for too long because change is good but it is lovely!

This morning I did all sorts of things including vacuuming the house, writing plant labels and labeling plants.  This pm I'm about to head out to the potting bench to pot on some perennials and herbs into larger grade pots because they are a bit root bound so they need potting on.  This also means I can sell them as bigger plants which is good too.  I love potting things on for a change rather than constantly pricking out seedlings.  As much as I love doing it, I know that come the Spring I will be doing that almost every day or at least every second day.  I need to strive to catch up with things in my nursery too.  

Yesterday when we were looking at the root ball of the tree that had fallen over I suddenly realised some of my precious treasures had fallen onto the ground because the wooden pallet they were sitting on had rotted completely!  Yikes, I quickly picked them up and l luckily I think I only found one thing lying outside its pot!  Phew.  John has just bought home a new pallet so I'll have to rearrange them on that.  Just as well I noticed or they could all have been on the ground.  By treasures I mean my trilliums that I grew from seed and other very special perennials waiting to be planted.  

Well out to the potting bench I must go!  Smiles..

A Weird Thing!

Hi on a slightly cool but fine Monday, except for a few clouds floating over the sun every so often.  For a little while late morning it felt like Spring again but it seems to have cooled off again now.

Yesterday we did get a few more squalls of heavy rain but they didn't last long and there was a bit of sun inbetween.  Around 3.45pm I headed out to the paddock to give the chooks some treats and as I came through the farm gate that leads to the paddock through our hedge I suddenly heard a very weird sound.  It was sort of creaking which got louder pretty quickly.  As I took a couple more steps into the paddock I looked in the direction of the sound, just in time to see one of the big macrocarpa trees that form part of our hedge, tipping over and falling onto the ground.  On further investigation I realised the entire rootball of the tree had lifted out of the ground!  Crikey, it gave me a fright that's for sure!  What a heinous sound it made as it came down!

Unfortunately now we have a view through the existing cherry tree (deciduous) and a magnolia (evergreen) to the subdivision across the road which is on a steep hill.  There are only five houses going up that hill but unfortunately we can make out three of them.  This might sound a little silly but after 11+ years of not being able to see any houses this is really disturbing my karma!  As I said at least we have those other trees as a buffer.  Now we just have to hope that more of the trees, particularly the ones on either side of the fallen one, don't decide to go too!  We do intend replacing the hedge because it is now completely unmanageable in terms of height (no-one will cut it because the lay of the land on the paddock side of the hedge is too steep and it's dangerous for any major hedge-trimming vehicles to tackle) but not for a few years yet.  It will be a tough thing to do because our house will then be completely visible and up until now it's been totally invisible to the outside world!

Here is a photo of the tree that fell.  You can just make out the cherry tree/magnolia in behind it.

Well I need to go and do some pricking out this pm so I'd better get started!  Smiles..

Weather Warning = WRONG!!

Hi there, it's Sunday morning and I was expecting it to be pouring with rain but so far we've just had a few heavy ''showers'' with dribbly bits inbetween.  It is so frustrating when they issue weather warnings and they turn out to be nothing particularly exciting!  Giggle.

This morning I spent some time working on my accounts and we are about to head into Richmond to get a few things and to have lunch together for the first time in AGES!  

This pm I'm intending to continue cleaning out the pantry and re-organising it.  We tend to end up with a horrible jumble of things on each shelf and it makes it so hard to find what I'm looking for when I need it.

The slow-cooked lamb curry I did yesterday worked a treat and it was delicious.  We both tend to like our curries on the dry side so even though they start off with quite a lot of liquid I remove the lid near the end of the cooking time and let it reduce down to almost zero.  The meat was tender and so yummy!  I threw in some cauliflower florets, freshly picked from the garden when I removed the lid of the casserole dish and they were divine!

Well I'd better get going, we're going out soon.  Smiles..

A Fruitful Day!!

Hi, it's Saturday evening and I have about 2 seconds before I need to leap back into the kitchen to complete my lamb curry, baked potato and peas for dinner.  Yes most people have rice with curry, but not us!!  We love a baked potato, there's something about that luscious flavour with curry that just works!

I am having to rush dinner a bit because John is heading next door to watch the All Black rugby match.. don't ask me who they are playing, I haven't got a clue!  What I'm more concerned about is whether he will be able to stay awake!!  Jetlag gets him every evening at around this time - his eyes are sort of open one moment and then closed majorly the next.  It is REALLY irritating, especially if he's watching the news at the time (which I loathe!!!).  Bless him, I hope his system gets sorted soon!

Today we were busy, I helped John with the upper foliage/limbs of the eucalypts that were felled a few weeks ago, then this pm I spent some time in the kitchen garden weeding the asparagus patch.  I also made broccoli soup (no recipe, just out of my head) for lunch and prepared a lamb  curry for slow cooking straight after lunch.. It's been on a low oven for 3.5 hours now.  Unfortunately I think the cut of lamb means it is going to be tough no matter what which saddens me.

I'd better get back to the stove, need to dish in 30 minutes at the latest or he'll be late for rugby start!  Smiles..

Dancing, Dancing!!

Hi, it's Friday afternoon and I'm about to head to my neighbour's to plant some very pretty primula in a fairly dark part of her garden by their front door!  These primula are white ones and also shades of pink and they look fabulous in shady areas at this time of year and do really well!  I also have some dwarf antirrhinums (snapdragons) for her pots on their verandah too.  I looked at the plants this morning and thought ''how on earth do I get them looking so healthy''.  I promise I'm not being egotistical - I just don't know how I manage it without any chemical or organic sprays!  I must be doing something right!  Maybe it's the way I say ''morning honeys'' whenever I go into the tunnel house each morning, giggle.

Ballet class was just gorgeous late yesterday afternoon.  We've started the Royal Academy of Dance Grade 6 barre work and it is truly beautiful to do.  Lovely music and it's very graceful.  Oh how I'm going to love learning it!  We also did a bit of work on a polka repertoire they will be doing in Peta's show in September.  I'm not sure yet whether I will be involved in it or not - Valerie thinks so and wants me to do be involved  but Peta has told me she doesn't want adults doing ballet in her show.  This leaves me between a rock and a hard place in my Thursday class!  I will just love it anyway no matter what!! 

This morning's class was lovely too and we may be doing a couple of items in the show but it just depends on timing and whether Peta can get someone to help teach us.  We don't have much time to learn two routines and do them well.  It won't be ballet because that is just not done apparently (makes me a bit sad) but it will be something, maybe comedic.. hmmmmm.  

Well I'd better get gardening!  Smiles..

 

Oooh and Squeeeee Look at These!!!

Hi, oooh I'm so excited, look what John bought me home from the UK (he's been away over there for two weeks with his son).

Aren't they gorgeous!!  Royal Horticultural Society Seal of Approval, deer skin kid gloves for pruning nasty prickly creatures like roses, gooseberries, brambles and more!  Oh my word, no better gift in my eyes!!  They look so lovely I'm not sure I can bring myself to use them.. giggle.

John arrived home last night after a week away with the choir, touring part of the South Island, then two weeks overseas with his son, David.  They also went up to Scotland briefly and over to the Loire Valley in France for 4 nights.  He also bought me back some Wensleydale Cheese (my absolute favourite) and Fleur de Sel.. the best salt in the entire world!  I don't use a lot of salt in cooking but when I need it this salt is DIVINE!

We had a bit of a debacle re him getting home though.  It was a bit murky when I was driving into Nelson airport at 7pm but it didn't look too bad.  I soon realised there were a few problems happening up in the air judging by what people around me were talking about.  I started to get an irksome feeling.  John's plane was due in at 7.45pm but this kept being extended until around 8.25pm they finally announced it had been diverted to Blenheim and they would be bused back (it's about 1.5 hours drive) to the airport, arriving some time after 10.30pm.  Eeeeeeek, sitting in a cold empty airport was not my idea of a good time and I was SO SO SO tired.  When I spoke to John after they landed in Blenheim he told me to drive home and he'd find some way of getting home from the airport.  He finally got home at about 11.40pm by which stage I was over-tired.  A fellow passenger very kindly dropped John off on his way to his home further up the highway.

Needless to say I'm a bit jaded this morning!  I'm off to pot up some perennials.  I have ballet class this pm and have to drop plants at Bay L on the way.  Smiles...

Oh Good Grief, Giggle!

Hi, ermmm I was sure I'd posted yesterday, I really was!!  Dang and blast it...  I had a very busy day what with one thing and another, mainly the other which was irksome!!  

I got the plants I'm taking to Bay L tomorrow labeled and in the farm shed just before it really started raining.  I was pricking out seedlings in the afternoon in a very gloomy farm shed space, even with the big spotlight on.  It was the shortest day yesterday and I truly love that it felt like it.  It just doesn't seem right when the shortest day is bright and sunny for some reason.

Our winter so far is beyond weird.  This morning I woke to a temperature of 14.3 degrees C at around 6am which is just ridiculously warm for winter.  All over the country we are experiencing warmer temps than normal and I'm wondering what this is going to do to the ski season this year.  Last year there was snow galore but this year I think it's melting as fast as it is falling.  There is a cold snap predicted for next week but as far as I know not one ski field is open yet which is really late.  This has a big effect on localalised economies where retailers in places like Central Otago rely heavily on winter trade during the ski season.

I'm off to ballet practise this pm and I haven't quite got my head around when to have my lunch.  Practise starts at 1.15pm, so I need to leave home around 12.40pm at the latest.  You'd think I could eat my lunch at midday but if I do that it means I'm dancing on my lunch less than an hour after I've eaten it - not a good feeling I can tell you.  I'm not going to have anything heavy, just a tuna wrap but I will need to eat it at around 11.30, and I'm struggling to get my head around that for some reason!  Giggle.

I have to go out to the airport this evening so I will be having my dinner earlier than usual too - yes I'm all out of whack today!!  I'd better go and make my wrap.  Smiles...

It's Finished!!

Hi there it's Monday and yes, yesterday came and went again!  Crikey I don't know where the time's been going lately.  I was very busy doing lots of little things, mainly inside the house because the weather was murky.  It started to rain off and on in the afternoon.

One thing I am beyond excited about - I've finished the 30x36'' canvas I started working on early last year would you believe!  It sat in my studio for months untouched because I was too busy with my seedlings.  I've had it in the living room for the past three weeks which is the best thing I could have done.  I've been working on it in the evenings mainly.  Here are three photos.  The first one is a little dark, it was cloudy yesterday.  I'm going to take another photo when the sun comes back out.  The second photo I used flash so you can see some of the shimmer and ''water'' at the bottom.  The third photo is my favourite because it really shows some of the elements well.  Here it is.. ''After the Storm''

I still need to do the edges of the canvas and I'm going to paint those gold as I normally do with all of my work.  Well I'd better get going, I need to get ready for a meeting here at 10am.  Smiles...

 

Two Lovely Frosts!

Hi, yes Friday came and went in a rush of activity!  I had to leap out the door just after 9am to go to ballet class and from there went to coffee with a couple of my classmates, then grocery shopping, then vegetable shopping, then home at 2.15pm.  I gulped a tiny bite of lunch while putting the shopping away, then had to start the sauce for the pasta bake I was doing for dinner because a neighbour and friend was coming over.  After that I walked Chester, then did my usual evening animal tasks, filled the coal bucket, got some wood and collapsed on the couch finally at about 5.30pm!  Hence no post!

Today I've had my neighbour over for a cup of tea, my dear friend Janet called in for a cuppa and to take home some of my pasta bake because there was too much left over.  I've managed about 3/4 of an hour in the kitchen garden, have just had lunch and am about to head back out there. 

I have a ''sea'' of coriander which is self-sown and I feel REALLY bad having to just dig some of it up and toss it in the weed pile.  I am going to make some coriander pesto but I can do that with the main part of the ''sea''.  The seedlings I'm weeding out are growing amongst my brassicas, competing for precious nutrients!

We've had two lovely frosty mornings thank goodness - I was beginning to think winter just wasn't happening.  Unfortunately we are meant to have warmer temperatures with some unsettled weather that is heading our way.  This winter is just plain WEIRD!!

Time to leap!  Smiles..