Art for Heart's Sake

''Dance On, World Off''!!!

Hi honeys, it's Friday pm and I'm taking a short break from pricking out seedlings.  It's been another busy couple of days, especially yesterday!  I seemed to be chasing my tail the entire day and was feeling quite irritable and stressed by the time I left for ballet class (delivering some tomato plants to a lovely client on the way).   My heading here ''Dance on, World Off'' is something I saw on Facebook and I have to say it is SO true!  The minute I step into the ballet studio the rest of the world and my life just fades completely into the background and I don't think about anything except ballet until I walk back out of the studio door.  It's absolutely wonderful and so good for my soul as well as my body.

I felt so so happy and yes, blessed, because Valerie (our teacher on Thursdays who is 78) took time before class to help me work on my arm movements.  It's REALLY hard for me to relax my hands because as Valerie said ''your hands are strong, gardener's hands''.  I tend to do my arm movements as though I'm pushing something or someone away, instead of my arms looking graceful and soft, moving as though I'm pushing against water.  Valerie helped me so much and I tried really hard to have more relaxed arms and hands during class yesterday and this morning too.  I got to the studio a bit early today so spent some time working on my arm movements.  

We have a date for my ballet exam, 6 December in the morning!  Oh my word, gulp!!  I'm thankful we are in the morning section because I tend to fade after lunch!  My mojo will be at it's peak which is a good thing at least.  I'm getting nervous already!!

Well I'd better get back to my pricking out because they won't do themselves.  I'm doing perpetual spinach at the moment and then will move onto 8 punnets of petunia seedlings.  Smiles..

Woke to Torrents of Rain!!

Hi there, it's Wednesday evening and I'm just in my studio shutting down my computer and working on some gift tags!  Yes, I managed to work on the first 20 gift tags for Pete this morning because the ground was too wet for me to garden next door.  We woke up this morning to BUCKETING rain.. It was like an opaque curtain outside our bedroom ranch slider doors, just incredible!  It stopped shortly afterwards but we did get a total of 42mm overnight which is a fair amount of moisture!

Today apart from my gift tags I've been labeling plants for Bay L tomorrow, I delivered plants to MCS this pm and I also sowed some more seed and pricked out a few punnets of seedlings late this pm.  

Tomorrow I will deliver my plants, then go gardening next door, prick out more seedlings, work on my gift tags and then go to ballet class about 2.30pm, delivering some tomato plants to a lovely friend on the way!  Phew!!  Spring madness continues.  Smiles..

Where's the Day Gone??!!!

Hi, it's 4.30pm on Tuesday and having a holiday yesterday has completely thrown my brain out of whack.  I keep thinking it's Monday today, except of course I had ballet practise this morning so it must be Tuesday!

I've spent most of the afternoon labeling plants for MCS to be delivered tomorrow, organising plants for Bay L on Thursday and pricking out more seedlings.  I've just sown two types of courgette and some pumpkin seeds too.  I MUST remember to do them every 5 days or so for the next month because November is the main time to plant them.  

I popped in to Bay L on my way home today to see what had sold over the weekend and I have to say I was quite shocked that it looked like ''not a lot''.  Apparently they were a lot quieter than they thought they'd be and sales are down on last year for October.  We have decided it must be the weather - there's been a lot more rain this Spring than we are used to, at least over the past few years and that will have put people behind with their garden prep.  Not a lot we can do about it, it's the weather after all!

I'd better get inside and sort a few things out.  Photos are coming soon I PROMISE!!!  Smiles..

Time Out!

Hi, its Monday pm and it's a holiday Monday here today - Labour Weekend.  I'm so happy - I've managed to spend some quality time either in the kitchen garden or perennial garden each day this weekend.  I also managed to plant up the garden in front of the totara log (I will take a photo for you).  This garden is a trick one, it is a high raised bed and it always dries out REALLY quickly and gets invaded by the roots of a nearby buddleia too so I weeded it a few weeks ago, tossed on heaps of compost and sheep manure and then mulched it with red clover straw BEFORE planting it up.  It has three roses in it - one is ''Jacqueline Dupres'', another's name escapes me at the moment  and I've just planted Rugosa ''Blanc Doublet de Coubert'' in it too - a gorgeous double white rugosa rose.  I've added quite a number of perennials to it too, including two gorgeous gentians I bought last year.

Yesterday we went to the Ngatimoti festival and took the burmese refugee John is teaching English, as well as his son.  It was a fun time and it was good to have about four hours off.  I have to say when we got home I really noticed the serenity of this property.  Yes we have traffic noise but the property itself just emanates a serene atmosphere.  I think it must be all of the plantings - they are looking so lush and divine at the moment because of all the rain we've been having.  

Well I'd better get back outside and make the most of the rest of today because work will be calling me for the rest of the week and it's going to rain more too so I have a few things I want to get into the ground today.  Smiles..

Gardening my Heart Out!

Hi, it's a GORGEOUS Spring Saturday afternoon and I've been able to spend most of the day in the garden!  Yeehah and yippeeeeeeeeeee!  I spent all of yesterday pm pricking out seedlings and then I sowed some seed until about 5pm, just so I could NOT work for the next three days (today included) - it's a holiday weekend here.  

This morning I put loads of gorgeous compost on the kitchen garden and added some special ''soil booster'' made by Bay Landscapes to a couple of areas.  This stuff is amazing - the vegetables grow beautifully with just a bit of it added to the soil.  So far I've sown some sugar snap peas, planted 20 red and 20 white onions, 3 broccoli and 3 cauliflower plants, 6 silverbeet and 6 rainbow beet, plus 6 lettuces.  I then protected it all from pukekos and birds using frames and my favourite Mikroclima cloth except for the onions - I put chook wire around those because hares and rabbits always eat the onion family to the ground!

It's now a bit later in the afternoon and I'm weeding by my small glasshouse... oh my word the soil is MAGICAL!!  In some parts of the main perennial garden the soil is puggy and very unpleasant to weed but this area is heavenly.  I had to take a break from the very irritating tough puggy weeding because it was making me a little irksome so I starting digging in an area where our ducks were sitting near the mulberry tree over last summer/all of autumn.  I had planted things but the ducks squashed them.  I have to say I'm not sorry they did now because their ''manure'' has made such a difference to the soil.  I'm going to plant a few more things and I'll protect them with criss-crossed sticks until they get established just in case the ducks decide to make this their resting place again this coming summer.

Well I'd better go and tidy up my weeds before calling it a day.  We're off to a local festival tomorrow - it's one I've wanted to go to for years and we are finally going to manage it!  I ought to be in the garden but it will do me good to have a break.  We are taking the burmese man and his son (refugees) that John is voluntarily teaching English each Friday pm.  I haven't met them yet.  Smiles..

Oops Trillium Photos Coming....

...soon... I totally ran out of time to upload them today!  This morning I shot out the door at 9am with my carload of tomato plants to get them to Bay L.  I have to say after I'd put them on the stand I stood back and honestly thought ''Philippa, be proud of yourself.. you have a great selection and they look amazing!''..  I'm not being egotistical I promise, it's just lovely to have so many different varieties available right on Labour Weekend here in NZ!  I was there for about 1.5 hours making sure my displays look good.

This late am and early pm I did some pricking out before I went off to ballet class just after 3pm.  Oh my goodness it was just so lovely.  Peta took it in place of Valerie and we did different barre work and also learned about 3 different repertoires - some short and one longer.  At times my feet had no idea what they were meant to be doing but I loved doing it anyway.  The girls I dance with on Thursdays are so lovely, especially one, Gracie!  She was the first one to smile at me when I joined the class earlier this year and she is such a honey.  

Well it's raining at the moment, yeehah, because we need it to rain fairly often at the moment.  The ground was just starting to dry out a bit but I'm not sad it's raining!  It's Spring after all and it will be a dry summer soon enough.

I'd better go and tend to our dinner!  Smiles..

I'm Tired but Good!

Hi, well here I am in the midst of one of the busiest weeks in my gardening year, seedling-wise!  The madness will continue for about another 4 weeks and then hopefully things will quieten down a little.  I know I need to ''make hay while the sun shines'' but crikey there's only one of me and I'm having trouble keeping up and staying sane, giggle!  

I've spent most of today labeling plants for Bay L and had to get John to drop off 7 trays today because otherwise I would have to make 2 trips tomorrow morning and then go out again into Nelson at 3pm.  I didn't want to have to make 3 trips so he took them on his way to do the grocery shopping.  I will head to Bay L tomorrow morning with a huge carload of tomato plants!  

I also delivered a good selection of plants, including tomatoes, to Mapua Country Store this pm.  I meant to spend 30 minutes to an hour pricking out seedlings but I played ''hookie'' and started some weeding in the perennial garden!  Naughty me, but it did me the world of good just to have a break and do something for ME!  I'm hoping to spend most of the weekend in the flower borders, trying to get some semblance of order weed-wise in amongst the chaos.  I will have to work on the holiday Monday because by then I'll have plenty of pricking out to do again.

Tomorrow between delivering and going to ballet I will spend a few hours pricking out too so I ought to be on target time and seedling growing too tall-wise!  It truly is a balancing act at this time of year.

Oooh yesterday late pm I went into my nursery for the first time for a few days and lo and behold my trilliums are flowering again, more magnificently than last year!  I took some photos so I'll share them with you tomorrow.  I must fly now, time for a drink and some nibbles - I'm starving!  Smiles..

Ballet Practise and I got a Part!

Hi there, it's Tuesday evening and I'm about to close my computer down for the night.  It's been SUCH  busy day, starting with ballet practise at 9.45am instead of 2pm which meant I had to rush around to get my animal tasks etc done so I could leave home just after 9am.

Ballet practise was really good - 1.5 hours of good, solid Grade 3 exam practise.  I came home via Bay Landscapes to check my stocks of plants and then came home to an email that I have a part in Fiddler on the Roof - Ensemble ''Mama''.  John has a supporting singing role as the Bookmaker or Bookkeeper (I'm not sure which!).  They are still looking for 7 males for key roles so fingers crossed they find them or the production may not go ahead.  That would make me really sad because one of my dreams is to be on stage and this could be my chance!

I spent the afternoon sorting and labeling plants to deliver to Mapua Country Store tomorrow and then sorted the ones for Bay L on Thursday.  Crikey it was hot this afternoon and the heat in the tunnel house was UNBEARABLE!  Ugh!!!  It won't be long before I won't put any plants in there to grow on because the heat will be too much for them.

It's the busiest two weeks of the gardening year at the moment with Labour Weekend (holiday Monday) this weekend.  It's the main gardening weekend so I'm taking oodles of tomatoes to Bay L.  I don't need to take much else because not a lot has been selling.. let's not get into the reasons why!!!  Makes me very grumpy!

Well I'd better go and put my dinner on.  Smiles.. till tomorrow...

A Very Busy Weekend!

Hi there, oh boy it was such a busy weekend.  On Saturday I took some more tomato plants to Mapua Country Store and then we headed to the new bakery in Mapua Village for a coffee which was a treat.  We really must take just a bit of time out each weekend to do that - I think it could become a Saturday morning habit, especially if I'm delivering more plants.

I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen garden, weeding the asparagus and raspberry patches and digging over the area John rotary hoed the weekend before.  I managed to sow a long row of carrot seed and also two short rows of white turnips.  Dad always grew white turnips and we used to have them steamed.  I love oven-roasting them these days, yum!  

Yesterday we were up early to head off to our auditions for Fiddler on the Roof at 9.15am.  My audition was at 10am and John's was at 10.10am.  I think mine went well... I was SO nervous and I could hear my voice was fairly wobbly at times.  I had to sing with no musical accompaniment too which made it even more nerve wracking.  I only sang it once so here's hoping!  John was asked to sing some scales as well so they could sense what his range is.  We went and had a cup of coffee then headed back for the dance audition which I REALLY loved.  Ballet has made the world of difference to my ability to pick moves up and retain them in my brain!  

We came home, had lunch and then headed out again - me to Isel Park to do a Q&A garden session at 2pm and John had a concert with the choir at a local retirement village.  He picked me up from the park at 4pm and then we came home via a quick stop at a local brewery with the other members of the choir.  We couldn't stay long because I had lots of watering etc to do here.

Needless to say today I'm pretty tired but feeling happy!  Fingers crossed we both get into the show.  We'll know sometime this week!  My tomato seedlings are calling me so a-pricking out I need to go!  Smiles..

A Lovely Newsy Post.. then...

...when I hit publish it dropped out of the website!! Aaagghhh.. I don't have time to re-write it because pricking out is calling me in the farm shed.  I'll write more tomorrow!  Smiles..