Art for Heart's Sake

Cloudy and Chilly!

Hi on a cloudy and chilly winter's Thursday morning!  We didn't have a frost this morning because there was too much cloud cover so the temp bottomed at 7 degrees C!  

On Tuesday afternoon I played hookie from potting up, digging over the old strawberry patch again to get out as much couch grass and convolvulus root as possible before heaping it with compost and then planting three gooseberry plants.  They will have to compete with these horrible rogue weeds and I will need to be diligent re weeding the minute I see weeds coming up!  How I will do that, I'm not sure!  I'm going to mulch too but I've run out of red clover mulch so may have to use barley straw instead.  

The wood shavings I put on my raspberry patch really are there to help make the soil more acidic.  The couch grass is already coming through so a thickish blanket of mulch is needed too.   Humphh..... the birds are also having fun kicking the wood chips around, bless their hearts... grrrrr, giggle!

Well I must fly out to the potting shed.  Smiles..

Team New Zealand and Frosty!

Hi on a very proud Tuesday morning here in New Zealand.  As you will most likely know by now Team New Zealand have won the America's Cup and I'm so excited for them.  I have very strong memories of our win in 1995 because Dad went in to surgery to have his second triple bypass just as the race was about to start.  His first words to me when he woke in recovery were ''well, did we win?'' and I still remember the huge groggy smile on his face when I said ''yes''.  

As a born and bred New Zealander I am beyond proud of our many achievements in sports.  I am not a sporty person but I recognise how incredibly talented a lot of our sports people are.  For such a tiny country in the grand scheme of the world we excel at many things.

I've had my head buried in the sand during the America's Cup because I don't handle competitions well at all.  I get very stressed and on edge so it's best I don't try to watch it.  I logged in to Facebook this morning and a friend had posted we won.  WE don't have Sky Sport so John was watching delayed coverage - I was able to leap out of bed and go and watch knowing we had won (I didn't tell John that till afterwards).  Such a magic moment!

That aside, we had a magnificent frost this morning.  I took a couple of photos in our white paddock so I'll post them tomorrow.  I'd better get outside to do some freezing cold potting up!  Smiles..

Team New Zealand and Frosty!

Hi on a very proud Tuesday morning here in New Zealand.  As you will most likely know by now Team New Zealand have won the America's Cup and I'm so excited for them.  I have very strong memories of our win in 1995 because Dad went in to surgery to have his second triple bypass just as the race was about to start.  His first words to me when he woke in recovery were ''well, did we win?'' and I still remember the huge groggy smile on his face when I said ''yes''.  

As a born and bred New Zealander I am beyond proud of our many achievements in sports.  I am not a sporty person but I recognise how incredibly talented a lot of our sports people are.  For such a tiny country in the grand scheme of the world we excel at many things.

I've had my head buried in the sand during the America's Cup because I don't handle competitions well at all.  I get very stressed and on edge so it's best I don't try to watch it.  I logged in to Facebook this morning and a friend had posted we won.  WE don't have Sky Sport so John was watching delayed coverage - I was able to leap out of bed and go and watch knowing we had won (I didn't tell John that till afterwards).  Such a magic moment!

That aside, we had a magnificent frost this morning.  I took a couple of photos in our white paddock so I'll post them tomorrow.  I'd better get outside to do some freezing cold potting up!  Smiles..

Crikey, Where Did...

...the rest of the week go????  I apologise sincerely for my silence.. it just WENT!  I've been busy potting up perennials to increase my nursery stocks for Spring, also ordering new business cards and return address labels which I received on Thursday and they're GORGEOUS!  

I delivered plants to Mapua Country Store on Wed and Bay L on Thursday - my sales are WAY down at Bay L versus last year and I know exactly why - it's not just the weather unfortunately.  Their bulk vegetables that people can buy singly are having a major effect on my sales.  That's just the way it is and I won't let it phase me!  All will work out just the way it's meant to, that I am sure of!

I can't believe in about three weeks I'll be starting to sow tomato seeds... crikey!  The shortest day is now behind us and from a gardeners point of view that means it's all downhill until Spring.  So far June has been pretty dry and slightly warmer than usual I think.  We have had a few frosts but not very many.  I'm hoping July and August will prove to me much colder to kill off bugs and diseases in the garden.

Today I've moved my strawberry plants from the area I moved them to last year.  They didn't thrive at all and I've also decided NOT to put down weedcloth before I plant because even though the weed cloth sort of kept the weeds at bay it also meant it was very hard to feed my strawberries really well because the compost etc just sat on top of the weedcloth which meant my strawberries got dirty anyway!  I've moved them to a better site weed-wise too.  Just buttercup and a bit of couch grass - NOT convolvulus thank heavens!

I've done 5+ hours of ballet this week and it feels SO good.  I'm also wearing my pointe shoes for about 20 minutes each night to help break them in.  I've been a bit slack about doing it and I know I need to or it will take forever to break them in.  I did a bit of pointe work at the barre yesterday at practise with the Thursday girls which was lovely.

Well I'd better shoot back outside.  Smiles..

A Lovely Skype with Mum!

Hi, it's Tuesday afternoon and I've just finished a lovely 20 minute skype session with Mum.  We skype every week which is just wonderful.  They wheel her down from the hospital wing of the resthome in her lazyboy chair so we can skype!  I love seeing her gorgeous smile and always make her laugh even when she's feel grumpy with herself.  The wonderful thing is I have skype on my iPad so I can take her quite a distance away from the house and show her various bits and pieces in the garden etc, including her favourite bird, the tui.

I've been busy bagging up some of my geraniums as stock plants and putting them on pallets up on the ground behind the studio.  I had a big tidy up there yesterday, throwing out some very old plants and generally making the area look better.  

I did a lot of gardening on Sunday afternoon, on my knees mainly (with knee pads on) and the result is my pre-tweaked right knee is a bit tweaky again.  This is frustrating because I have three ballet classes from tomorrow so it has to be better by then.  It's not too bad and it certainly won't stop me dancing!

I've been working a bit on my new 30x30'' canvas and I'm loving the direction it moving towards.  There is still a lot more to do so I won't share any photos yet.  Back to the potting shed I must go!  Smiles..

Battle Buttercup!!!!

Hi, it's Saturday afternoon and a major battle is on!  I've let buttercup become tall and absolutely rampant through my perennial garden! EEeeeek what was I thinking!  I've been looking at it for a few weeks and today I've taken the major plunge to get it all out - well as much as I can this weekend.

Ballet class was great on Thursday and yesterday.  Yesterday morning I could really feel a slight shift (a good shift) in the way I was dancing the Grade 5 centre work.  Yikes my r is sticking on my keyboa  d so this post may have to be sho t!!  Giggle, c ikey!  E mmmmm will t y and fix it and come back!  Smiles..

Gorgeous Frost!

Hi on a beautifully frosty Thursday morning.  This is the first morning we've had crunch white grass and a frozen hose up by the house!  I adore frosty weather but I have to say I don't cope too well with cold toes!  I've got my merino and possum socks on but inside my rubber gumboots they don't make ANY difference at all.  By the time I'd done a few chores after breakfast and was sitting in my studio working my feet felt as though they were blocks of ice.  Needless to say I didn't hesitate to go inside, put my slippers on and start vacuuming!  I know, sick puppy, but the only way to get warm!

I'm halfway through and will go back and finish it in a few minutes.  I started potting up more perennials for my website stocks yesterday and I've also decided to put one of each variety of cranesbill geranium I have into a planter bag so I have permanent stock plants that won't be killed off if we get too much rain etc.  Some of my cranesbills are REALLY precious and if I lose them that will be it, I won't be able to get them again.  I'm loving the way my website has given me the oomph to be proactive re this!  Yay!

I'm off to ballet practise and class this pm after delivering some plants to Bay Landscapes.  This past May was the worst month ever in terms of sales of my plants which is a bit demoralising.  I know it's not the weather causing it, in fact I know just what is causing it but there is nothing I can do about it.  Without going into detail, I have a very positive outlook and I will come full circle in my own way in the end!  Giggle, that probably doesn't make any sense at all to anyone reading this, but it does to me!

Well I'd better get back to that vacuum cleaner, ugh! Smiles..

A Scrumptious Meal!

Hi, it's Tuesday morning and a lovely cold snap is set to hit later today, not bringing much rain but strong SW winds.  The overnight temp for tomorrow night is predicted to be -1 degree C, Oooooooh! big frost!

On Saturday night I cooked a divinely scrumptious meal with a bit of a long story behind it.  When we lived in Singapore for two years from 2004, we had a favourite indian restaurant that we used to go to on Boat Quay (a major tourist spot).  We disliked all the tourists but loved the food!  We always ordered a dish called Sabzi, a type of indian vegetarian curry.  This particular version is from North India and it is served ''dry'' rather than in a sauce or gravy as they call it.  

Since being back in New Zealand we have been trying to find a similar dish in indian restaurants here in Nelson but to no avail.  It's been really frustrating!  John finally found the perfect recipe on the internet and oh my goodness it is DIVINE!  Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.  Here's a photo - I served the Sabzi with tandoori style chicken cooked in the oven.

Here's a link to the recipe too:

http://www.archanaskitchen.com/kadai-vegetable-sabzi-recipe-mixed-vegetable-saute-with-spices

I sent off another box of plants this morning, bless John's heart for taking it into town for me, so they will be winging their way up north.  I'm still waiting for the ''postcard'' to arrive in the mail re my Google verification.  Once I get that my website will be much more visible on the web.  Apparently sometimes you can do the verification by phone which is instant but for some reason I was only given the ''by mail'' option.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr, bit frustrating.

Well I must leap out to the tunnel house and label some plants for delivery.  Smiles..

Gorgeous Frosty Morning!

Hi, on a totally gorgeous frosty Sunday morning.  The sky is blue, the sun is shining and the birds are singing their lungs out.  The nectar feeders are copiously feeding on the sugar water I put out and the sparrows, greenfinches and the occasional chaffinch are loving the sunflower seeds and wheat.  

I had ballet practise and class on Thursday, plus class on Friday morning so I decided I wouldn't go to ballet practise yesterday morning at 11.30am.  Instead we headed into Richmond after breakfast to get a scoop of Fish Compost from Bay L, then to run a few errands and enjoy a cup of coffee together.  We don't get a chance to do that much these days.

Yesterday afternoon I slogged (literally) in the raspberry patch in the kitchen garden.  It is so full of horrid couch grass that there is no way I can get it out from around the base of the raspberry canes.  I'm not going to stress over it though because raspberries are TOUGH!   I'm going to get as much of the couch roots out as I can and then I'm going to pile on the compost, sheep manure pellets followed by a huge mulch of either untreated sawdust (if I can find a wholesale source) or a compressed bale of untreated wood chips that we use for the chook house.  An expensive option (around NZ$28 I think) but it will take a long time to break down so may just be worth the cost.

Now a quick aside!  When we lived in Singapore we had a favourite Indian restaurant we used to go to which had the most beautiful Sabzi dish.. this is a vegetable curry and the version we loved the most was a dry one - i.e. no gravy!  I can't stand Indian food that has heaps of what they call gravy and we call sauce, ugh!  We've been searching for a dry version of this delicious dish for years and FINALLY John located one on the internet.  I made it last night and it was absolutely DIVINE!  I also did tandoori chicken (tandoori paste from a sachet mixed with yoghurt) to go with it.  A totally scrumptious meal!  Oh how I adore food!

Well I'd better get out into the garden again.  I need to finish the raspberry patch and then move on to the flower garden for the rest of the day.  So much to do in amongst my perennials it's scary!  Smiles..

 

Hi Honeys!

Hi, well as you can tell I've been really busy as usual!  It's been a bit of a mad week what with one thing and another but I feel as though I'm accomplishing something which is great.

I've drafted my tax return, pricked out seedlings, sowed seed, worked on my website, potted up some perennials for my website and lots more.  I didn't have ballet class on Tuesday late pm which was a bit of a relief that day.  I had so much to do I was spinning on the spot but I managed to get everything done that was on Tuesday's list!  The class has been put on hold until after the show that the studio is putting on in early August.  I'm not in the Mazurka after all which is a bit disappointing but I have volunteered to be a co-ordinator after a lot of hefty thought!

The girls I dance with on Thursdays (10-16) year olds are so special and they were very keen to have me as their co-ordinator during the show.  This involves looking after their costume changes etc (I think), making sure everything is just where it needs to be because some of the girls are in 17!!!!! items.  I have a feeling it will be a bit of a stressful job but I NEED to do it for the girls and for me.  It will be hard not being on the stage with them but I'll get to share in their excitement which is just lovely too.  I had a few tears which is only natural because I REALLY wanted to dance on stage with them but it's not meant to be so I'm just going to make the best of it.

I went to a new adult class at the studio last night 6.30-7.30pm which is really late for me and it was good.  I'm not sure if I'll do it next term or not because if I do I'll have to give up the Thursday class because I can't afford to do both.  Hmmmmm... I'm going to do the next 4 classes that are left this term and see how I feel.  I'm still doing Friday morning's adult class because that is our exam work and I have to do that one.  This sounds like a lot of ballet but it's no more than I was doing because the Tuesday class isn't on any more.. Phew, enough of that.. giggle.

The weather here is BEAUTIFUL.. crisp frosty morning with beautiful sunshine.  The sparrows and greenfinches (yes we have a few back this year, yay!!) are enjoying the sunflower seeds and wheat I'm putting in the feeders up by my studio.  I also have more sugar water out now and I saw the male bellbird for the first time this morning at the feeder.  We have a resident tui that sits and sings his lungs out near the feeder outside the kitchen for most of the day.  

Well I must grab a cup of tea.  Smiles..