Art for Heart's Sake

Now there are 94!

Hi honeys, so sorry for my silence, time just seems to be slipping away from me again!  We've had a noise day and a half (Monday, Tuesday morning) while 6 or our big eucalypts were cut down.  Four guys arrived on Monday (after a phone call on Sunday night) all set to abseil, saw and chip the 4 HUGE eucalypts at one end of the round about where it joins our drive.  We call it a roundabout but it's really just a mound of soil with a driveway around it!

Here's a before shot:

and after:

They also took down the very tall forked eucalypt (and one of the trees beside it) that was looking at us through the dining room window around 20 metres away (the tree that is not the window, grin).  This is the tree that was completely freaking us out during those ex-cyclone storms because it was literally leaning towards the house.  It wouldn't matter which direction the wind was coming from, our house would have been history if it had fallen.  There are still a lot of trees that could possibly do the same thing but most of them aren't quite as wide in the girth!

I can't believe it is Easter at the end of this week.  Daylight saving finishes early on Sunday morning which is a good thing.  It's so dark in the mornings at the moment, it's very hard to wake up.

Well I'd better get back to work.  I'm madly potting up perennials at the moment, some of which are very special ones I've grown from seed.  More soon I PROMISE!  Smiles.. 

A Busy Weekend in the Garden!

Hi honeys, I got quite a bit of gardening done in the kitchen garden on Saturday and some in the perennial garden yesterday so I'm a happy gardener!  I love the weekends when I get time to do just a bit of what needs to be done in my gardens.  During the week I tend to concentrate on seedlings, sowing seeds, potting up perennials and packing up orders so that, along with my ballet practise on Thursday and class on Friday morning takes up much of my week.  I don't count Wednesday night ballet because I wouldn't be doing anything in the garden/nursery then anyway!

This season I planted a long pepper plant that I grew from seed.  I love long peppers, they have such a delicious flavour and are so easy to slice up for salads etc.  They aren't hot, just delicious.  I'm stunned by the height of the plant and as you can see it's not in a huge pot, approx 15-20L. It's done so well (there are a lot of peppers coming and more flowers) and today I've moved it into my tunnel-house to protect it from cooler night temps... I'll definitely be growing heaps of these next season. The name escapes me (the seed is buried in my big seed case).  

Well I'd better go and pack up my boxes of plants that are being shipped tomorrow.  Smiles..

 

Plants and Ballet!

Hi Honeys, I've been really busy sorting out orders, potting up perennials for orders and replying to email enquiries.  It's wonderful - I just wish I could keep everything in order inside my brain!  It's like one big scrambled mess of plants and seeds in there!  Giggle.

I've just shipped an order of 60 plants off today and I'll be holding my breath until they are delivered!  It's so nerve-wracking sending such a large order away.  Out approximately 100 orders I've only had problems with delivery re two of them so I guess that's really pretty good.  Fingers crossed nothing happens to that order.  There were three other orders to go today too.

I'm madly potting up perennials and splitting up some of my stock plants to add to my stocks for this coming Spring.  I've also got my big plant stand back from Mapua Country Store so I can now go crazy and sow all of my special perennial seeds.  

Ballet is going well - we started learning Classical Award One the week before last and I love it!  The barre work is lovely and relaxing in a strange way.  We have just started learning a complicated Allegro in the centre and that truly is a challenge for my brain - a bit like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time, eeeeeek!  I will get there, it's just going to take a LOT of practise.  We have 3 Allegros to learn and then a Ballet Variation which is quite long.  The exam isn't until December so at least that's something.  I've been doing a bit of practise at home - mainly barre because there's not enough room to do centre work in the living room.  Maybe I'll have to find a patch of lawn outside that is flat with no duck deposits on it and practise there!

Here is a photo of me en pointe at the barre.  I'm doing EXCEEDINGLY basic barre pointe work  - we don't start pointe at the barre in class until Term 2 so it's important I don't do too much without guidance.  I'm so excited to be right up on the ''box'' of the shoe.  

Well I'd better get into the farm shed.  Smiles..

Plants, plants and more plants!

Hi honeys, at the moment my brain is full to the brim with plants, seeds, seedlings, orders, paperwork.. aaaagggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!  I am definitely working on overload at the moment which is good in some ways because that is when I'm usually most efficient but it also means I get over-tired very easily too.  I have so many seeds to sow at the moment and just when I thought I'd be able to do it my vegetable seedlings need pricking out today so once again my seeds get put on the back foot.  Vegetable seedlings are definitely high maintenance compared with perennials.  When perennial seeds germinate it is possible to leave them in the punnets for a few weeks if necessary, before pricking them out.  I don't do that often but it is good to know I'm able to if I'm too busy elsewhere.  That is DEFINITELY not the case with vegetables.  Brassicas (broccoli etc) grow at an alarming rate and soon the seedlings become too tall to prick out safely even sometimes with just the main seed leaves in evidence!  Crikey!

I've had a few orders in the past few days, including one very large one which is such a thrill for me.  It's so lovely to know there is a demand for perennials, more so than ever!  This year my perennial list is growing to grow significantly which I'm very excited about.

Well I'd better get into the farm shed.. vegetable seedlings won't wait for this woman!  Smiles...

 

 

Beautiful Rain!

Hi honeys, I'm enjoying my afternoon tea break after a challenging but wonderful morning ballet class.  We started learning IDTA Classical Award 1 work on Wednesday night, I practised what we learned yesterday afternoon and then we did it again this morning at class.  We've done the barre work and 2 of the centre work pieces so far.  We started the third at the end of today's class and oh dear my brain suffered.... it's amazing how over-thinking the moves means I stuff them up totally!  Peta gave me some correction which was wonderful and eventually I got there, if in a slightly shaky fashion!

I went to the supermarket on my way home and realised when I got to the checkout that I'd left my wallet at home!  EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK yes a little embarrassing because they had to get someone to put everything back.  There is no way I was going to drive all the way back into Nelson after getting home so John's getting some of the things this pm while he's out.  I had everything I was looking for plus some delicious bread rolls for lunch, but I couldn't buy them, sigh!  I had to giggle at myself on the way home.

I've been potting up more perennials and I need to have a major re-organisation of the area behind my studio - some plants need to be moved into a bit more shade and vice versa.  I'll try and tackle that next week.

Beautiful soft rain has been falling off and on today - not much but I love it!  Hopefully it will clear for the weekend so I can launch myself into the garden.  

Well I'd better get up and get moving.  I need to take some extra plants to Mapua Country Store this pm as well as doing a bit more potting up.  Smiles..