My garden in summer 2010

My garden in summer 2010, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

The same view in summer .

Garden gate, winter 2011

Garden gate, winter 2011, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Winter snow July 2011

Winter snow July 2011, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

This potted plant looks like a Christmas pudding!

Winter pear tree July 2011

Winter pear tree July 2011, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Pretty pear after recent snowfall

My little palazzo

Being information-greedy, I couldn't resist finding out more about this little house. It's the Palazzo Contarini Fasan, built in the 15th century, also known as the house of Desdemona because some romantic legend links it to "Othello". The Contarini were a very noble family that provided 8 doges for the Venetian Republic. Naomi Campbell's boyfriend was in negotiation to buy it for her, so that's the kind of money I'd need. On the negative side, it has no water access, and I think I'd try an bargain them down over this. It's in Venice, and has no water access? That should knock at least a million of the asking price. Naomi doesn't deserve it anyway, it's far too lovely for her, and all she'll do is have parties in it and trash the place.

Palazzo on the grand canal, Venice

Palazzo on the grand canal, Venice, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

This is the little palazzo that I would like to be given. It's just over the Grand Canal from the Guggenheim and has that Moorish look typical of Venetian architecture. Also a great view of Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana. You wouldn't need to go out much it you lived here, just sit in the sun at the window and watch everything.

Fountain with waterhorses and cute frogs in Vicenza

Fountain with waterhorses and cute frogs in Vicenza, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

I really liked this fountain. The waterhorses are a very Venetian symbol, indicating that Vicenza was once part of Venetian territory. i don't think the frogs have any symbolic function - they just spout in a very charming way.

Enjoy your ride

Enjoy your ride, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

The old Opawa shops are no more. They have been demolished. Did we enjoy our ride on the Great Earthquake Bicycle? Not much.

The onion-y bed

The onion-y bed, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Here's the cosy little straw-covered bed for shallots, garlic and elephant garlic, surrounded by bricks rescued from the old bicycle shop site in Opawa.

Winter sowing success

So! Looked at my winter-sown seeds yesterday and many have germinated. Cavolo nero, red cabbage and chicory are  all up and growing quite vigorously. The red onions have germinated but look a little weak, and the flower seeds have not eventuated, apart from the Freeth House poppies. Sweet peas are up, too, so out of ten punnets, seven have come up. Hopefully, I can keep them going on till the weather gets warmer. A few more broad bean plants are up, but these look a bit weakly.
  Nothing else much to report, the weather has been fine but cold so I have been doing lots of gardening - pruning, weeding, etc.

The lovely Julian

The lovely Julian, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Julian J., popular TV presenter and talk-show host (Live at Julian’s, Hey,hey it’s Julian J., All the way with Julian J., etc.) and gnome-about-town has smashed the closet door wide open in his new autobiography “ Hello, boys!’ Secrets of Julian’s past life are revealed, and he makes surprising revelations about the twilight world of gnomosexuality. “There’s so few gnomen (gnome women) around, that gnomes are forced to seek comfort from their own kind. But it’s no hardship at all, it’s such good fun!” he quips from his comfortable seat in a friend’s conservatory. (“I’m not an outdoor gnome. I don’t do cold and wet and muddy”, he says).
Expect to find out some little known facts about the on-again, off-again relationship between gnomes and hedgehogs, and the dirty on those Dutch gnomes - “It’s not just their hats that are red and pointy, I’m telling you!”, he laughs.

Hundredth post

Who would have thought it? On to two hundred.

Blugger

Blogger has just changed its format. its a bit boring now, more like Wordpress. The way the blog appears to readers is the same, but the internal workings for bloggers is different. Nothing is constant but change. For some odd reason I seem to have 17 new readers in the United States, why I don't know. I'm still aiming for world domination, to get one reader in every country in the world. This is probably a vain hope, since there are still many countries who don't have the Internet. They don't have clean water or enough food either, but I reckon they'll get the internet before they get the essentials of life.
Saw a woman on TV last night called "the human Barbie". She has spent eight hundred thousand pounds on cosmetic procedures on herself. if she had donated this money to medical research we would probably have a cure for cancer by now. But death will get her in the end, HaHa, no one escapes the Grim Reaper and all she'll be is a beautiful corpse. Ever wonder what happens to breast implants when a body is cremated? Are the ashes and smoke toxic?
Feck, this is grim stuff. Change the subject.
My winter sowings are starting to germinate. As expected, cavolo nero is off first. It germinates in 4 days in warm weather, I don't know anything that goes so fast. Some poppy seed that I gathered at Freeth House when walking the Cape Campbell track (lovely, try it) several years ago is also looking promising. I don't know what colour the flowers are as I only saw the seed heads so this will be something to look forward to. This is what I love about gardening: always looking to the future, always striving to make this year better than last.

Marino Marini's sculpture at the Guggenheim in Venice

Marino Marini's sculpture at the Guggenheim in Venice, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Love the strength and energy of this re-working of the equestrian statue genre

Seeds, seeds

Planted some seeds out in trays as part of an experiment in winter sowing. There's a blogsite about winter sowing that's quite good (just Google winter sowing) that's inspired me to experiment.
When I was a child and a novice gardener, I noticed that seeds sown in autumn and established to the first two pairs of real leaves before the first frost made very strong plants that had a head start in the spring, but I've never tried sowing in winter. My other experiment overwintering peppers is going on OK, they are still alive anyway.
Also considering how to make a glasshouse or a cloche out of old window frames. My worry is that the old glass is a bit brittle and may be dangerous to cats and self.
Ordered some seed from Franchi Sementi,(www.italianseedspronto.co.nz) the Italian seed merchants, now available in New Zealand. Round zucchini ('Tondo di Piacenza')and a bush tomato ('Astro Ibrido').
I did buy these in Italy, but MAF confiscated some of them on my return. I bought six different kinds of seed - two cucurbits, two chicories and two other flowers. MAF confiscated one of the cucurbits, one of the chicories and one of the flowers, leaving me with the conclusion that 1) they don't really know what they're doing. (No doubt someone 'out the back' said "just take three off her") 2) next time I will not declare seeds, and 3) that round green zucchini and bright red chicory will start appearing at Auckland farmers markets next summer.
These were not wild gathered seed, but properly packaged and processed seed grown by, you guessed it, Franchi Sementi in Italy, and purchased at reliable retail shops (not under the counter, psst-wanna-buy-some-dodgy-seed type transactions). The only difference is that in Italy I paid the equivalent of $2.50 a packet and here they sell through the website at $7.50 plus GST and delivery! I was angry; "welcome back home, you scuzzball seed-smuggler you". Thanks very much, you really know how to make a Kiwi feel welcome in her own country.