Art for Heart's Sake

A Link to Newspaper Article

Hi, here is the link to the newspaper article they wrote after talking to me about the accident.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/89857710/witness-describes-hearing-horrific-accident-after-fatal-crash-near-nelson

A Horrendous Crash Near Us Yesterday!

Hi, well yesterday was a fairly eventful day and not in a good way!  I was sitting in my studio enjoying a cup of tea at about 10.45am when I suddenly heard a muffled bang, then another louder bang and the most hora rendous noise of what sounded like screeching metal that seemed to go on forever.  I leapt out of my studio, grabbed the phone and immediately dialed 111 (NZ emergency number).  As I was describing there had been an accident I walked across the grass to get a better sense of the direction of the crash so I could tell them.  There were two car horns blaring and they seemed to go on for minutes!  We are 250 metres from the coastal highway (one of the main local highways) so it was incredibly loud.

When I got off the phone I sped next door and was waylaid by one of their staff members so I didn't get to the scene all that quickly.  When I got there it was so horrible.  There was a 4wd with it's front completely more or less gone and there was a tarpaulin over the driver/passenger seats which I knew was NOT a good sign.  Without going into too much detail I could see blood on part of the car too and the caravan they had been towing was badly crumpled up.  There was a truck on its side and another car on the other side of the road facing into the road.

There were lots of people helping and the emergency services arrived shortly after I got there so I realised I would just be in the way if I tried to help.  I used to belong to St John Ambulance when I was a teenager and I remember a lot of what I was taught.  I headed home and tried to continue working but it was really hard to settle to anything.  The rescue helicopter flew in twice to take casualties to hospital.

I got onto Facebook and sent a message to Nelson Live which is part of the Nelson Mail newspaper, just to let them know because they often post details of accidents etc on their page.  They thanked me and later that day I was phoned by someone at the Nelson Mail to get my perspective on the aftermath of the crash and about how I was feeling.  In amongst all this I read posts from Stuff (nationwide news service) and it soon became clear 2 people had died and 5 were injured, some seriously.  The road (main local highway) was closed to traffic from the time of the crash until last night.  It looks as though the car that was facing inwards had done a u-turn and the truck driver had to swerve to avoid it, crashing into the 4wd towing the caravan.  This is still to be confirmed.

Something like this really puts your own life into perspective!  I was feeling really vulnerable on the road this morning when I drove to ballet.  You just never know when something will happen, it's extremely sobering!  I was watching every other driver like a hawk today.  

This pm I'm going to sit and calmly write plant labels and then label my plants for tomorrow.  I didn't dance very well this morning at practise and I think that was partly the after effects of the shock of it all.  I didn't realise that even just seeing the aftermath of an accident as bad as this would throw me for such a six.  Time to breathe and be thankful for my wonderful life!  Smiles..

Website News!

Hi there, it's Sunday morning and I'm about to leap out into the garden while I can.  I say leap but my left knee is playing up again so I'm not doing anything too radical.  I felt it twang a bit at ballet on Friday morning when I was doing the Grade 5 warm up.  At one stage I have to bend my left knee with my right foot off the ground while moving forward and my knee definitely doesn't like it!  Humphhhhh...  I went to ballet yesterday morning and it was fine.  I was careful during the warm up not to put all of my weight on it.  This morning it's pretty stiff and a little sore but it will right itself.  I'm rubbing Arnica Plus into it and that helps a lot.  The main thing I need to do is keep it moving so I'm going to do some gentle barre plies this morning which will help it.

Ooooh big news, my new website will be up and running soon!  A dear friend is putting it together for me and it will include my plants, seedlings, art, links to my radio shows and Facebook pages, blog etc and also have a section for garden advice where I will offer tips and tricks and also you will be able to ask me questions.  I got a sneak peek at the layout yesterday and it's going to be lovely and very easy for you to be able to move between different sections, order plants etc.  I cannot wait!!!

We have Fiddler rehearsal this pm and need to leave here around midday so I'd better get out into the garden.  Smiles..

Very quick post, busy day.. now about to eat dinner.. More tomorrow.. hugs and smiles

This Week Has Escaped Me AGAIN!

Hi, oh brother I had no idea the last time I posted was 3 days ago.  This week seems to have been completely mad even though we haven't had any Fiddler rehearsals since last Sunday!  I was going to have a week of calm to catch up on sleep etc before rehearsals become even more intense from this Sunday but somehow it just hasn't happened.

On Wednesday I delivered plants to Mapua Country Store and then spent some time in my studio in the afternoon because it was SO SO hot outside.  I did do some pricking out of seedlings and sowed some seed too.

Yesterday I delivered to Bay L in the morning and then John got home from a few days away in Auckland.  Oh Chester has an upset tum again which I am putting down to the stress of John being away.  He really is Daddy's boy - so now he's back on special food for a week.  If he gets a runny tum again he will have to go into the vet to have scans etc to see if they can find the cause of it.  I'm fairly sure he's just a stressy dog which won't be helped by being on meds for epilepsy.

I had ballet yesterday pm and again this morning.  My darned left knee tweaked again this morning doing one particular move and now its aching a bit.  I've slathered it with Arnica Plus and may put a support bandage on it before ballet tomorrow.  It's not too sore, just a bit bothersome.  I want to make sure it doesn't get REALLY bad though!  I don't think grovelling around on my knees on the floor in Fiddler is helping somehow!  My knees are 54 years old after all!

This pm I am gardening for my neighbour which I am not looking forward to because it is sunny and hot again.  There is a breeze so I'm hoping that might help.  I can't NOT garden because it pays for my ballet.

That's all for now.  I hope you're having a lovely end to your week wherever you are.  Smiles..

A Lovely if Hot Day!

Hi, it's late pm and I'm in the middle of sowing some more seeds.  I spent most of this pm labeling plants ready for delivery to both places this week.  I'm really excited about my ''affordable'' perennials in punnets - 3 of a variety for NZ$7.  I'm still doing my single perennials in 12cm pots for $7 each too.  Some customers won't want three of the same thing but if they do the price is really affordable.   It's a win/win as I may have mentioned before because if they don't sell straight away and start looking a bit stressed, I can pot them on into larger pots so I don't have to just throw them out the way I did with annuals.  

I am still doing a small range of annuals (special ones) for Bay L and I'll supply Mapua Country Store with a few punnets of different annuals each week too.  

This morning I went to ballet practise and after a bit of a slow start I really got into the rhythm of it.  Moving around on my knees in ''The Dream'' sequence for Fiddler is not doing anything for them.. giggle.  They are 54 years old after all!!

It's been another sunny, humid day but at least it's not quite as hot as it was on Sunday and Monday so that's something.  

Well I must get back to my seeds.  Smiles..

Summer Appears to be Here!

Hi from a ''melting pool of Philippa''.  We've had horrid humidity for the past four days and its not showing any signs of going away!  This makes pricking out seedlings or doing anything outside fairly unbearable for me - oh how I wish I coped with heat better.

Yesterday's rehearsal went really well - we went straight through Act 1 which includes most of the songs - ''Tradition'', ''Sabbath Prayer'', ''To Life'', ''Sunrise, Sunset'' and ''The Dream''.  The only songs we're not doing choreography in are Sabbath Prayer (the chorus part sings off-stage) and Sunrise, Sunset.  There was loads of dialogue too so I think the entire thing took well over an hour if not longer.  We went over The Dream sequence again after a short break and rehearsal finally finished at 4.30pm.  

I got home to a VERY VERY hot house, hungry pets and hungry ducks so I had a lot to do before I could finally sit down!  Oh I had to water things too.  It was a relief to sit down and eat dinner.  I didn't get to bed until late for me and I finally managed to go to sleep at about 11.40pm!!@!!  Needless to say I slept fitfully because of the heat but I don't feel too bad today, just a bit tired.

As for my motivation levels.. hmmmmmmmmmm pretty non-existent today!  I'm off to the doctor this pm because I noticed a small ''mole'' (brown patch under the surface of the skin so may not be a mole?) on the instep of my right foot has changed.  It looks as though it is disbursing and isn't a horrible colour but it's best to get it checked.  I didn't realise a lot of nasty melanomas occur on the soles of the feet and aren't noticed because we don't tend to look at the bottom of our feet in great detail all that often.  

Well pricking out waits for no Philippa!  Off I go.  Smiles.. 

Act 1 Rehearsal This pm!

Hi everyone, I hope you're having a lovely weekend wherever you are.  I'm spending some time in my studio this morning resting my singing muse for rehearsal this pm.  I really wanted to garden but as I'm going to be on  my feet for most of the afternoon I decided art time was better for me!  I have two canvases underway at the moment.  One I started quite a few months ago and the other just last month.  I'm not sure where either of them are going at this stage!  

I love mixed media art but I have to admit actually DOING it scares me a little.   It's ridiculous really because there is no right or wrong way to approach mixed media.  You really just have to go for it and enjoy the journey.  I tend to do layers of colour and texture with texture paste rather than by adhering lots of embellishments onto a piece.  I'm trying to break that mold!

Here they are.. the first one is 30x15'' and the other is 12x12''. 

Well I'd better go and start thinking about an early lunch.  We start rehearsal at 1pm and I don't want to have a full stomach when I need to do some choreography.  Smiles..

A Lovely Couple of Days!

Hi on a very humid Saturday afternoon.  The air feels incredibly heavy and sticky which is not conducive to comfortable gardening.  I'm hoping to get out there soon to so some and am just praying the sun doesn't come back out because when it does it's like being inside a broiler!

The class on Thursday late afternoon was amazing - I found myself doing INTERMEDIATE ballet which was a bit of a shock, giggle.  It's above RAD Grade 6 which is after Grade 5 so is also that much more difficult.  I managed pretty well throughout the barre work but struggled to a little bit during the centre work.  Some of it was okay though.  

Friday morning class was great and I can feel myself picking up the Grade 5 work fairly quickly.  I'm able to retain the moves in my brain more now too which is wonderful.  This morning I went to Grade 4 and Grade 5 free classes, 45 mins each so now I'm feeling a bit tired!

Thursday night's rehearsal was fairly full on and we didn't get home until about 9.30pm.  I had to go out in the dark and water the tunnel house because I had to leave home at 3pm to go to ballet and we didn't come home before rehearsal so I couldn't do it earlier in the evening.  I finally got to bed around 10.20pm, read for a bit to try and calm my  mind but then found myself tossing a turning quite a lot before I finally managed to get to sleep.  It was a rather unsettled night and I felt very tired yesterday morning.  Ballet fixed that and then I spent the afternoon pricking out seedlings and sowing seeds.  Needless to say about 4.30pm I completely ran out of steam so I sat for an hour watching TV with my feet up before I started doing something about dinner.

The cloud is remaining so I must leap out into the garden!  Smiles..

A Long Afternoon/Evening!

Hi there, it's Thursday pm and I'm about to get changed before heading out to ballet class.  I'm meeting John after that and we're grabbing a bite to eat before heading to Fiddler rehearsal again.  We've been rehearsing one particular scene (singing and choreography) this week and tonight we are tightening everything up.  It was really interesting last night - the musical director pushed us to put a lot more passion into our singing and I have to say it made one heck of a difference.  As a novice ''actor'' I find it quite hard to gesticulate while I'm singing - my background is in choral singing where we aren't allowed to move our arms or bodies much at all.  I know it will feel more natural on the stage than it does in a rehearsal hall.

This morning I delivered plants to Bay Landscapes including the first of my ''affordable perennials'' in punnets.  I will take a photo of my stand next week (I meant to today but forgot).

Well I'd better go and get changed.  It's going to be a late night again tonight but at least I slept better last night.  Smiles..