Art for Heart's Sake

Still Chasing my Tail, but Happily!

Hi, yes another week has gone by and oh my goodness, it's almost Christmas!  How in the world did that happen??  I'll be putting up our Christmas tree this time next week - so exciting.  I love EVERYTHING about Christmas but especially our tree!  We've kept the same theme (crystal and gold decorations) over the years and add one or two special decorations to our collection each year.  This year I'm introducing a hint of very pretty soft pink to the mix instead of red.  Just a touch here and there.

I sent off 8 boxes of plants on Tuesday which meant I spent most of Monday packing them up.  I go to a great deal of effort to try and ensure they are packed tightly into their boxes (lots of newspaper scrunched in any gaps) and are nestled in straw or wood shavings to help protect their stems etc.  These are my ''children'' I'm sending out into the world after all!

Ballet has been going really well.  I have 6 days before my Grade 5 exam and now if my body can just hold up for the next few days.  I was stretching up in the hot water cupboard yesterday morning to shove some washing in when I felt a slight ''ping'' on the left hand lower side of butt where it meets thigh.  Needless to say I was so irked with myself and ''Murphy's Law'' most of yesterday.  It's fairly stiff but I'm working on it - Arnica Plus works a treat and I'm keeping it moving.  I did plenty of gentle gardening yesterday and it eased it a lot so will do the same today plus some gentle barre work.

One thing is for sure, no matter what my body is doing or feeling on the day I will dance my heart out.  The exam is 30 minutes and I've told my body it can collapse in a heap (not literally) afterwards but it HAS to maintain itself during the exam or else.    I am well aware that my body is 55 so it is doing REALLY well and I will always have these glitches happening.  

Well I'd better get back out to the garden.  Oh brother it is SO dry here!  We haven't had much more than 15mm of rain since mid-October and it's horribly demoralising I can tell you!  Fingers crossed we get some rain soon but it's not looking good.  Smiles..

 

Chasing the Shade & Another Frantic Week!

Hi honeys, yes I'm still alive - just chasing my tail every day or so it seems.  John has just returned from a month in the UK which does explain why my posts have been even more erratic than usual.  I've been doing all of the tasks he normally does, plus all my usual ones.  Add to that the fact that my website has really taken off and it's all very exciting if a bit frenetic!

At the moment I'm ''chasing the shade'' around the perennial garden, weeding where I can.  This is resulting in a rather patchy looking garden but there's nothing I can do about that, I simply CAN'T garden in full sun in mid-20 degrees C temps.  We have had no rain to speak of since John left really, maybe a measly 15mm or so and it's so frustrating.  I would just love one rainy day or night to give all my plants a breather.  I'm also having to water my entire nursery stocks every day and it won't be long before I'll have to do them morning and night.  I'm watering the tunnel house about 3x a day - it's getting up to 50 degrees C ++ most days now and I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy a huge roll of shade cloth so I can drape it inside or maybe just throw it over the top outside, I'm not sure which.  I have to do something because 50 degrees C is just too hot for much of anything.  My plants are coping REALLY well despite it - with night temps dropping to around 9 degrees C sometimes.  That's huge swings and roundabouts.

John came home on Friday so I'm hoping things will calm down a bit now and I may be able to get more gardening done.  I need to sow a truckload of perennial seeds too which I will love doing.  

I'm not sure if I mentioned that I won't be supplying Bay Landscapes with seedlings after December.  I'm being squeezed out of there slowly but surely (not my the owners who are my dear friends, just by circumstances with some of their other workers) and it is time I moved on.  I will still supply Mapua Country Store in the meantime and will also have plants on my plant stand forever.  It does mean I will be able to concentrate more on my perennial stocks which is what I really want to do.  I'm getting major wonderful feedback about the quality of my plants and the fact that I stock things the larger garden centres don't have.  I had my 72nd order this past week which is so exciting!

Well I'd better get back out to my weeding in the shade.  Smiles..

Another Frantic Week!

Hi honeys, yes it's been another frantic week for me, with very long days and me running around in all directions doing all sorts of things!  I DID manage to get some gardening done on Wednesday when a dear friend came over to help me.  Such a wonderful, gorgeous, helpful Elizabeth!  I played 'hookie' from my seedlings for a few hours which made me feel guilty but we got some of the really gnarly weed-ridden studio garden done which is great.  Lots more to do!  

I've just purchased the most amazing two-pronged evil tool, hand-forged in Europe, for attacking strong buttercup roots.  I'll post a pic tomorrow!  It wasn't cheap but then no good gardening tool ever is, nor should it be - it's longevity we're after!

Ballet has gone well this week - I suddenly realised there are only three more weeks until my exam.. for me that's 6 more classes and 3 more practise sessions, plus whatever I can do at home.  I can't really do the centre work here - carpet just doesn't cut it, but I can do barre work and some of the centre work that doesn't require lots of room, on the lino in the kitchen.

We had quite a stormy night on Tuesday night - very gusty NW and a little bit of rain FINALLY!  Only 15mm then the SW came back on Wednesday and dried it all out again.  They are predicting a very hot summer unfortunately, whoas me!

Well I'd better go and feed the chooks, then I'm going to collapse with a drink and some nibbles, I'm starving!  Smiles..