"The more one gardens, the more one learns; and the more one learns, the more one realises how little one knows." Vita Sackville-West A Joy of Gardening
I don't really like to complain..............but just when the storm clouds are gathering on our horizon and I am trying to buckle down a bit. The washing machine decides to turn up its toes for good. Leaving a ton of soggy half washed washing -
A huge pile of dirty washing. A sink full of handwashing to do -
And lots of dripping small boys clothes.
On the upside, living in Hawkes Bay, there is a lot of good sunny weather to dry it all. And another benefit of living in New Zealand, the washing machine is not in the kitchen like in British homes. It is out in the washhouse in the garage, where I can make as much soggy mess as I like.
How do you tell the difference between Pampas Grass and the native Toe Toe (pronounced Toi Toi, I hope)? We have this magnificent specimen of either one of the above, in completely the wrong place. If it is Pampas Grass it will have to be removed and dumped. If it is the native Toe Toe I will attempt to move it to a more suitable position. If you know please leave a comment.
I love living in New Zealand. I love the life style and the culture. This evening we went to see the amazing Wellington Ukulele Orchestra. It was 10 times better than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be really good. They did covers from ELO, Cream, the Smiths, the Beatles and Salt and Pepper to name a few. In a slight aside, I did not like the Smiths, too much angst for me, I just wanted to tell them to pull the socks up and get on with life, but I really enjoy their music if other artists perform it. A bit of a shame I missed out on so much excellent song writing, I should be more open minded. Back to the Ukulele Orchestra, if you ever get the chance to see them, go don't think about it just buy the tickets, you will have a brilliant time. In fact I want a Ukulele myself now. I forgot to mention the amazing performance of a local ukulele player. I am sorry I forgot his name. But he played George Harrison's "While my guitar gently weeps" on an electric ukulele, he was incredible.
Its my youngest's 10th Birthday today. I ordered 10 of his favourite cup cakes from Sweet As Cupcakes at the farmers market. I loved picking them up they looked so good in their beautiful boxes tied up with a spotty ribbon. Because his birthday party is next weekend we decided to take him out to the movies this afternoon as an extra treat. We went to see How to Train a Dragon. A brilliant, funny movie which we all really enjoyed. Peter and I decided to take some healthy snacks to the movies, instead of paying three times the actual price for some sweets we did not really want. I had some grapes and raspberries from the farmers market and Peter had some dried fruit. When I got out my snack box at the cinema my youngest sat there with his popcorn and his head in his hands, saying I can't believe you actually brought that with you. Isn't it good when you can embarrass your kids.
This is what I have been working on recently. Finishing painting the house before winter sets in. I have finished the front. Sanded, undercoated, washed and painted the south side of the house (I was going to say back side, but it did not seem quite right). Just in time. There is a bit of a storm hanging around our horizon at the moment. Therefore any spending on the kitchen has come to a halt. Peter has made a couple more cupboards, from left over bits. But it will be a while before we get the work benches. But as our friend Katherine from Calafornia is visiting we decided to just go for it and christen our kitchen with its first dinner party. We had a great night. At least I did. The layout changes worked so well.
Earlier this year I decided not to buy any more fabric until I had used some of the stuff I already have. I think I did quite well lasting till the end of March. Unfortunaly, I was distracted by some Amy Butler fabric and forgot I was not buying any more. I think I can be excused, I did get a good bargain.
I don't really like to complain..............but just when the storm clouds are gathering on our horizon and I am trying to buckle down a bit. The washing machine decides to turn up its toes for good. Leaving a ton of soggy half washed washing -
A huge pile of dirty washing.
A sink full of handwashing to do -
And lots of dripping small boys clothes.
On the upside, living in Hawkes Bay, there is a lot of good sunny weather to dry it all. And another benefit of living in New Zealand, the washing machine is not in the kitchen like in British homes. It is out in the washhouse in the garage, where I can make as much soggy mess as I like.
