It is not a disaster....

but it is rather frustrating and curious. I am referring to my two great obsessions at the moment. Gardening and cooking. So the garden......(more about the cooking another time).


The garden in growing wonderfully, in fact looking back at photos of the raised garden bed at the beginning of it's life it really has transformed. However the local cats and I are having a few problems over bounderies. There are several cats in the local vicinity and all take full advantage of the large garden toilet we have. When we started creating the veggie patch they were delighted, so to allow the seeds to actually grow - and not be scattered all over the place we enclosed the bed in netting. Not that attractive but certainly did work. No longer did we have poo deposits in the well dug ground. However now the vegetables have done their thing and grown, I needed better access for the picking and so on, so the netting came off - all was well for a while!
I have been dutifully clearing up the poo for several days, and have tried various methods to deter such antics. Childrens windmills - I now have four and they look great, plus can be easily moved to the spot of requirement. Then I read about trying twine or string with strips of plastic bags tied onto. Oh and of couse have put in the bamboo sticks and sprinkled the curry powder, cayenne pepper, chilli flakes. Need to start drinking coffee at home so I can use the coffee grounds in this mixture.
But all of this is to no avail. And at the death of a beautiful row of radishes just peaking through the earth I have caved in! The radishes were tossed around, covered in earth (along with the lettuce seedling) scattered, and looked very very sad.
So the netting has returned, at least until the latest seeds start to grow. I actually have no idea what will grow as it was part of my frustration at the attacks that I have just thrown in loads of all the seeds I have. Now they have been mixed and scattered by the cats it will be very interesting!



The garden is however still a joy, there have been three broad bean pickings and several of brocoli, plus some caulifower (all rather good with a great pie). I eat at least one strawberry each time I'm in the garden - but here I am fighting the ants and the slugs who seem to be beating me to them. They seem to start to ripen but not quite finish then suddenly are ruined and I did have a moment when I was about to pop a strawberry in my mouth when an ant came out of it!

Leeks are looking good as are the tomotoes. Rhubarb also growing well - not sure when I supposed to pick that though. Raspberry, blueberry, sunfloweres, sweetpeas, lettuce, herbs, cabbage, rocket, peas......I'm quite enjoying this.

Star Wars Day


Star Wars Day, originally uploaded by KTandCoffee.

Annmarie, Duncan and I watching The Empire Strikes Back.

Dunacan and I had started about 10am with episode 1. We had great food all day (porridge, raw veggies with humus, then pizza). The shame was we had to go to the pub for farewell drinks (this was my last full day in the UK) at 8pm, so we only made it halfway through The Empire Strikes back (heh four and half films not bad). The event obviously needs reapeating and successful completion

Wishing I'd listened more to grandad in the garden.





Wow, been back in NZ for 3 weeks now. Lots of days at work (some good, some not so good) and seem to spend the rest of the time getting lost in the garden. I picked my first crop of broad beans - the excitment was incredable. Though marred slightly by finding some for sale in a small posh supermarket thingy. You see, I decided to grow broad beans because last year I couldn't find any to buy. The discovery of these small posher supermarkets places has been good though so I'm not moaning more smirking at the irony.

I was, however still delighted, like a child opening christmas presents (who am I kidding - like me opeing presents - I love presents), when I popped opened the pods and squeezed out the beans. Some were a bit young and small and I only had enough to make a very small portion of Nigellas Broad Bean Bruschetta (the reason I was looking for broad beans in the first place as it is soooo delicious). Well it was a wonderful small portion, helped by adding freshly picked mint, as all the herbs have burst back to life.

I now know to wait a bit longer before picking the next batch - there are quite a few begging to be picked at the moment, but I'm waiting for Adam to return from Perth.

39 Things



My wonderful friend Em, who keeps me sane and insane at the same time has propelled me into several computer related hobbies - well flickr and blogs. So in my travels of these I have come across lovely pictures and stories. One such blog has inspired me to commence making more lists (I make enough I know so any format or excuse will do). The idea is that on your birthday you make a list of 'things' to do in your year. Now the blog of inspiration uses the number of her birthday, but Em has always maintained that, OK we're 38 years old, but we are entering our 39th year on the planet and so the list should have 39 things on in the lead up to being 39 - have I lost you all yet. To add to confusion, both my friend and the author of the blog where I borrowed this idea are called Emma! Anyway...the list.....
    1. Go skiing in the south island
    2. Have a surfing lesson
    3. Canoe the Puhoi River
    4. Sell something
    5. Stay in a tipi
    6. Get better at jogging and be able to jog all the way around Cornwall Park
    7. Get Adam on a horse
    8. Find a dentist
    9. Admit to myself that I've lost my glasses, get over it and get some new ones
    10. Write more letters to folks and friends
    11. Do the local kayak course
    12. Get a poster made of our Rome photos
    13. Plant more
    14. Have a big BBQ
    15. Toast marshmellows
    16. Sleep in the VW van
    17. Plan an exciting winter holiday abroad
    18. Do more that scares me
    19. Join a book club
    20. Have more balloons in my life
    21. Make postcards
    22. Create a scrapbook for Lizzie and Jane
    23. Get my own scallops from the sea, cook them on the beach and then eat them
    24. Climb a tree
    25. Lay in a hammock
    26. Sleep on a beach
    27. Get a tatoo (have had a long chat about this and may strike it from the list)
    28. Create some homemade pickles
    29. Get stronger arms
    30. Keep a diary/journal to start on my birthday for a whole year
    31. Print more photos
    32. Create a canvas print
    33. Send joy in the post
    34. Watch the clouds
    35. Find a hairdresser I can talk to and knows how to cut curly hair
    36. Make a will
    37. Watch an international cricket match (Duncans picture on canvas an optional extra)
    38. Read more
    39. Smile

















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