Art for Heart's Sake

I ''Owned'' It..

Hi there, we had our last official ballet practise before the exam next week, this morning.  It went really well and Kerry, bless her gorgeous heart, took time to run through a few of the steps from Grade 1 and 2 because we might be asked to do some of them in the unseen part of the examination.  We practised our Variation A several times, which is a repertoire near the end that we most likely will be asked to do solo.  On the last go Kerry suggested we ''own'' it by pretending we are on a stage with an audience that we can't see so the stage is all ours.  I have to say it made a BIG difference to the way I danced, yay!!  Now if I can just do that in the actual exam for everything.   I will try!

The rest of my day has been a bit odd... On a personal level I received an email from a dear long term friend of mine telling me she doesn't want any contact with me indefinitely because when we talk she feels bad for days afterwards because I'm good and successful at everything.  Good grief, no I'm NOT!!  We talk on the phone once a week (or used to) as she lives in a different city.  Needless to say I was a bit gobsmacked, especially by some of the things she said but one thing is for sure - I NEED TO LET IT GO!!  I know, as she also said, it is her problem not mine so I just need to know that I supported her to the maximum degree but she has issues that I simply cannot help her with.  I'm hurt but I will not let it affect me, especially one week out from an exam!

I've spent the rest of the day labeling plants and writing more labels for plants I will deliver on Thursday.  Well I'd better go and put my dinner on!  Smiles..

Don't Screech.... Christmas Tree is....

...up.. but don't panic, it's not decorated yet!  Giggle.  This year I'm determined to get our tree decorated on 3 Dec and because we have a really busy week this week I asked John to put it up last night so the tree can ''settle'' before we hit it with our lights and decorations.  It look so gorgeous next to our fireplace even without the decorations.  The question is, am I going to be able to resist putting decorations on it until this coming Saturday?????!!!!!

We are having very weird weather today.  It started off cool (6.7 degrees overnight which is cold for late November) and since then we've had sunshine, wind, spits of rain, more sun and more wind.  It's a bit chilly in the wind but is very hot in the sun so I've been taking my warm over-top off and on all day!  Very confusing.

Our rehearsal for Fiddler when really well yesterday pm.  It was from 2pm-4pm but we must have been doing something right because we finished at 3.30pm.  I have to say it is amazing how good all our voices sound together considering that was only the second time we've EVER sung together.  At one stage I had goosebumps listening to the tenors, altos and baritones singing part of ''Sunrise, Sunset''.  We don't have a rehearsal again next week because they've realised they have a matinee that day so there will only be two more rehearsals before we break for Christmas, coming back to rehearsal on 11 January.  I have a feeling time is going to fly and it will be April before we know it.  We start the choreography in January too.

Well I'd better get back to the farm shed to sow some more seeds.  Tomorrow is my last practise at the studio before my Grade 3 exam next Tuesday (gulp!).  We have a Grade 3 class on Friday morning too.  I keep thinking I ought to be practising a lot at home but I find it just isn't easy.  I don't have a proper barre and the height of the kitchen bench isn't quite right so I'm more likely to damage myself.  As for the lack of space and the carpet in the living room - the centre work just isn't feasible.  I am going to do some theory study over the next few days though.  More tomorrow honeys.  Smiles..

Sunday's Here Already!

Hi, and yes I've done it again!  The last two days have just completely disappeared into the ether it seems!  Firstly a Monty update - he's FINALLY back to his old self and I'm just hoping he stays that way.  He followed me out to the chook house this morning with his tail curled over onto his head, as happy as a sand boy!  So cute!  He is still on anti-inflammatory liquid but I think there is only enough for tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed!  I'm pretty sure he had a relapse because of the earthquake.  We are still getting aftershocks but so far I'm not feeling them and I'd like to keep it that way!

Friday I had ballet class and then I spent the afternoon pricking out seedlings and sowing more seed.  Yesterday I played hookie from the garden in the morning and went with my neighbour to a wonderful vintage market.  I managed to get a wonderful 16 drawer small cabinet to store a lot of my small chipboard embellishments for my gift tags.  Yippeeeeee, they will be so much easier to find now.

Last evening I checked my emails to find one from Mapua Country Store asking for more plants!  This threw me into a bit of a spin because I took quite a lot down on Wednesday.  I quickly made a list of some I could take today and John helped me put them in trays after dinner.  This morning I labeled them and headed out just after 9am to deliver them.  Sure enough there was very little left of the Wednesday lot which is wonderful!

This pm we have our second rehearsal for Fiddler so that takes about 3.5 hours out of our day by the time we've driven all the way across to the other side of Nelson (about 30 mins each way) to go to it.  From mid-January the rehearsals will be held in Richmond or Motueka, both of which are 10 or 20 minutes away so that will be much better.

I'd better go inside and vacuum/dust.  We are putting up our christmas tree to let it ''settle'' before we decorate it next Saturday - I can't wait!  Oh how I love Christmas!  Smiles..

It's Cooler, Squeeee!

Hi there and yes I'm squeeing because the temperature is cooler today.  It was fairly hot overnight and the temperature in the bedroom didn't go below about 21.7 degrees C, hence I didn't sleep very well.  I kept waking up!  This morning it was still quite warm but now the wind has changed to the NW and it's lovely and cool!  I have ballet class late this pm so I'm glad it's not as hot as yesterday or I would melt.

I did something really silly yesterday pm - I dragged/semi-lifted 25kg of wheat x 2!  It was sitting in the sun and it needed to be in the shade. John was busy and I didn't want to bother him so I decided to move it myself.  I didn't really lift it at all.. but it was enough to upset my left leg later in the day!  If I walk with my normal gait I get a cramping feeling in my leg which is telling me I've strained something.  Bother bother bother, especially with my ballet exam coming up in about 1.5 weeks!  Silly me!!  I have a feeling ballet class will help sort it out because it often has done so in the past even with rather nasty muscle strains.  I'll let you know!  Note to self:  DO NOT SHIFT OR LIFT ANYTHING OVER 10KG!!!!

Well I'd better get back to my potting bench because I have to leave for ballet in 1.5 hours.  Smiles.. p.s. would you believe I'm starting to think about my new text colour for next year!  2017 is not far away!

Crikey, it's HOT!

Hi there, well much to my disgust it's REALLY hot today!  We had 25 degrees C predicted so I'm hoping it doesn't get any hotter than that, which to me, is already pretty unbearable.  It's not meant to last, we have showers predicted for tomorrow and some rain on Friday.  Yippee!! It was so windy early this week and the ground is drying out really quickly! Ugh!

Yesterday I rushed off to my mock ballet exam at practise in the morning.  It went well - I only fluffed a few things but that's to be expected!  Susie and I just have to try not to look like startled rabbits when we're doing the centre floor work!  I am concentrating so hard but I did manage to ''lighten'' my facial expression at times because I could feel it.  Now if I can just do that for all of the centre work I'll be fine!  Crikey!!

I spent the afternoon labeling plants and writing labels.  Monty is not 100% yet.  Did I mention I took him back to the vet on Monday because he had blood in his urine again?  Poor lad, I wish I could help him more.  He is back on the anti-inflammtory/pain relief and this time he doesn't seem to be tolerating it as well.  He's lethargic and not really interested in eating which is one of the side effects of the icky stuff.  He needs it to help take down the inflammation from the cystitis which is what the vet is sure he had.  It's called feline idiopathic cystitis and is normally caused by stress.  He had a scan, full bloods and another urine sample taken on Monday ($450 worth, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek).  One thing that was interesting is she said when she scanned his kidneys she didn't see any stones but it was like looking at the ''night sky'' with lots of little sparkles.  Trust my cat to have ''glitter'' in his body!  Giggle.  We are going to change his food to one that helps break down the sparkles so they don't end up being rocks!

Well I'd better carry on working.  It's too hot to be outside so I'm going to work on my gift tags instead.  Smiles..

Blustery Day & Another Vet Visit

Hi on a very blustery warm Monday morning.  Eeeeek I can feel summer approaching and I'm NOT READY!!  Yikes and eeeeeek again.  The wind today is a warm SW.  

I am about to head out the door to an optometrist appointment via the vet again.  Darling Monty is still not right and last evening I saw a tiny hint of pink in his urine which means the blood they found in it a couple of weeks ago is still there.  It seems to me it is feline cystitis so I'm not sure what they are going to do about that.  He was on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories before they got the results of his urine test so we continued with those even though there wasn't any horrible bacteria in his urine, just a little bit.  Hmmmmm, obviously antibiotics don't do much to help cystitis!   Here's hoping we can come up with something to help him because I can tell he's feeling really uncomfortable poor love.

I'm hoping I won't need new lenses for my glasses although I'm thinking it probably will happen this time.  There was slight deterioration in my sight this time last year but it wasn't bad enough to warrant new lenses.   I have a complicated prescription and new lenses always cost over NZ$1,000 which is just what we don't need right now.  Fingers crossed again!!

Well I'd better go and get ready to leave.  I have to get Monty into his travel cage in the next ten minutes which will be no mean feat I can tell you!  Smiles..

Busy Day in the Kitchen Garden!

Hi, it's Sunday pm and I'm about to head back out to the studio garden to carry on weeding.  It's a tough garden to work on but I am determined to get it looking good because it is the first garden we see when we come up the drive.  I'm going to plant lots of asters (I grew seedlings for Bay L but they didn't sell), bedding dahlias, cosmos and lots more zinnias to give a total blast of summer colour!  It's a curved raised garden that goes on for about 30 metres so it will take me a while.  I will compost and plant as I go to make me feel as though I'm accomplishing something!

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the kitchen garden.  I planted some radicchio, another yellow courgette, beetroot and also sowed some dwarf bean seeds.  I am going to try very hard to succession plant this time - only put 8 beans seeds in and in 2-3 weeks I'll put another 8 and so on so we have a continuous crop into autumn.  I ended up giving the asparagus patch another weed too.  Oh brother that was hard work - blasted couch grass, aaaggghhhhh.  I'm going to mulch it with some red clover straw in the next few days or maybe not until next weekend.  It depends how much seedling work I have to do this week. 

Here is a photo of the duck that appeared here the morning after the massive earthquake.  She is a muscovy we think and is so pretty.  We've named her Tabitha and she is still here.  Well it's back to my weeding I must go!  Smiles..

Mock Ballet Exam, Gulp!

Hi honeys, it's Friday evening and my computer is now in the dining room while John tries to work out what is going on.  My computer was working like a dream on the internet yesterday - really fast.  Today, NO NO NO NO, fright from the first minute I turned it on it just wasn't right.  This pm John realised it is not working on the web extender in my studio so we moved it into the house to see if it made a difference.  Yes it did but we can't work out why it won't work on it in my studio.  John is in the process of doing all sorts of scans to see if something has corrupted something!  I hope we solve it because I don't want to have to have my computer inside the house.  It belongs in my workspace, my studio!

Ballet class was really good this morning.  Peta wasn't there again so Kerry took our class.  I am feeling good about everything with only a few hiccups (2.5 weeks to go, yikes) but the one thing we both need to work on is not looking terrified while we're doing the centre work.  We need to look as though we are enjoying it!  I truly am but I'm concentrating so hard my face looks very serious and pinched at times.  Crikey!!!  

Kerry has decided we will have a mock exam at ballet practise this coming Tuesday.  We will wait in the kitchen and then she will ring the ballet exam bell to tell us to come in and it will be all ''exam'' from there!  Oh my goodness I'm nervous already.. Gulp!

When I got home I pricked out some more seedlings and John mowed the top lawns and quite a bit of the paddock and then the belt broke on the ride on mower!  Sigh... the paths in my kitchen garden are getting really long again but never mind, I will just have to ignore them!

We are having smoked chicken rice salad for dinner and I'm looking forward to it.  I made it for myself a few months ago and we had smoked chicken that needed using so I decided to do it again.  

Tomorrow I'm planning to spend some time in the kitchen garden and the studio garden as well.  There are so many areas of the flower garden that need weeding but the studio garden is the first thing people see and it's the perfect spot to put all of my extra bedding plants for colour.  

Well I'd better go and get the lettuce ready for dinner.   Smiles..

What a Week!

Hi honeys, sorry I missed yesterday, I was having internet issues AGAIN!  It is possible they are now finally sorted, fingers crossed!!  

Well it seems mother nature really has it in for NZ this week.  Wellington (capital city) was completely cut off by major flooding on Tuesday as if earthquake damage in the CBD wasn't enough.  Last night they had an earthquake jolt closer to Wellington and then a tornado hit part of the Wellington coastline!  Good grief..

My week has been busy and slightly hassled, what with the internet, our neighbours' cattle getting out onto our driveway several times and a few other things.  I'm looking forward to ballet class late this pm and tomorrow morning as that will sort my brain out!  

I'm about to go and sow some seeds so I'd better go and do it because I go out in just under 3 hours and I have a lot to do.  Smiles..

More Aftershocks... and Rain in Places!

Hi there, well I managed to sleep last night thank heavens...  I went to bed just before or around 10pm totally exhausted.  I did wake up about 4 times during the night but I forced myself to not think about the possibility that it was an earthquake that woke me and sent myself back to sleep.  Phew is all I can say.  I now know that I was woken by at least one very strong tremor but at the time I didn't realise it!

Aftershocks have continued all day today with a couple of 5.8 and 5.2 ones.  It's amazing when you realise a lot of them are only 1 minute apart!  

That aside I've had a good day.  I had to rush to ballet practise leaving home at 8.50am after gulping some cereal because I only got the text message that it was on at 8.30am!!  Crikey!!  We only had an hour practise instead of 1 hour and 3/4 but that's okay.  It was SO good to be dancing.

I've spent the rest of the day labeling plants and then I played ''hookie'' from my pricking out to plant a few seedlings in the kitchen garden.  I just needed to do it for me!  I had to laugh.. yesterday we had a big cattle beast come through the adjoining fence from the farmer next door and we managed to direct him down the drive and into the back paddock.  This pm I headed towards the kitchen garden and then stopped in my tracks because I could see a rather large derriere sticking out behind the hedge at the entrance to the kitchen garden.  Eeeeeek.. needless to say I backtracked and phoned our neighbour's wife and she got one of the farm hands to come and get him.  Hmmmm we now have major hoof marks in our paddock, some are 6 inches deep!  He led the man and his two dogs a merry dance and then disappeared, we presume through the gate to the back paddock because the latch was broken.  Crikey, never a dull moment!  At least it didn't eat my vegetables!  John was out or we would have dealt with it together.  I know it wouldn't harm me but it was HUGE and they are very skittish at the moment because of the earthquakes.

It seems mother nature has gone mad here at the moment because our capital city, Wellington was totally cut off this pm by flooding.  Friends of ours live on a lifestyle block in a narrow valley north of Wellington and the stream in the valley is now a torrent covering their driveway completely and their road is covered by a huge slip!  Crikey again!!  The rain avoided us, we got some but less than an inch.

Well my dinner is in the oven, here's hoping for a quiet night.  There were two big aftershocks just after I'd finished eating alone last night.. eeeeek, I wasn't very happy!  Smiles..