Today I went to the church fair, and bought...

this embroidered tea-tablecloth

and these pastry-crust top terracotta pots

I didn't buy a lot this year, mindful of my aim of decluttering, but I did pounce on the tablecloth and the aged pots. The fair is a lot smaller now as the area around the church is still fenced off; the roof slates are all loose apparently after our Big Event four years ago! Yes, it's taking a very,very long time to get things fixed, and churches were probably the most seriously hit of all of our buildings, usually being old and poorly maintained. (The church in which I was christened has now gone completely, it one of the first churches in the province, and made of red scoria rock, not very durable under the best of circumstances.) There seems to be no plan for fixing the fixable buildings, and the Anglican church has faced huge controversy over the fate of its Cathedral; the Bishop wants to pull it down and put up a new one, but many believe that the old building can be restored. I don't really have an opinion on this. I've heard so many arguments now and seen so many plans that I've flagged it away as undecidable.  The stumbling block for the preservationists is that the Cathedral and the land on which it stands are Church property and legally, the Church can do what it wants.

Perhaps it's best just to ignore these questions and contemplate nature. Here is a stunning deep pink ranunculus that's come out in the last few days. I've tried to grow them before, but they need good soil, so this year I've grown them in the vegetable garden on the best soil I have, and the results speak for themselves. Spent some time today on my Women's Suffrage border, (purple, green and white) transplanting things and setting them out, only to have the wretched blackbirds come and dig them up again! 

Sick leave

Day off from work today. I've strained my groin. This is normally a rugby injury, but I don't play rugby so why?? I don't know. We've had a sudden cold snap here and it was freezing at work yesterday, so I think it may be something to do with being cold all day. The brilliant, wonderful architects who designed our building put the main door on the south side (which is the cold shady side in the Southern Hemisphere) so on stormy days the frigid winds come straight in to the library from the Subantarctic without let or hindrance. And the automatic windows that the same wonderful, brilliant architects caused to be installed were open all day! If only I could get hold of these architects (who, Goddess help us, won many awards for this building) and stand them in the 8 degree, draughty foyer for an hour, they might have a better understanding of what makes a comfortable workplace. On the positive side, I do get to stay home to drag my aching leg around the garden photographing the tulips. Which are just starting to pop out and are beautiful.

No, no, no.

We've just had a general election here in NZ. The bad news is that we still have the same right-wing government led by the same
evil jerk. I cannot understand people, why, why, why would you vote for someone who would willingly sell his grandmother to the highest bidder?  Or any bidder? Makes me want to puke. Expect more attacks on beneficiaries, less money for public services, more land sales to the Chinese, fracking towers on land and oil rigs out at sea. More surveillance, more poverty, more dodgy deals, more jobs for mates. The worst part is the crowing, the self-congratulatory crowing of this dunghill cock and his supporters. 
    I tried to cheer myself up watching a movie about the French Revolution. Bring on the tumbrils, where's my knitting?

Behind the special tree bearing many fruits - fascinating

Planting "Jelly King" crab apple

Beautiful spring day today, so out into the garden all day. These are the pear blossoms against the blue sky, beautiful in themselves but also with the promise of delicious fruit come February.

My main activity today was planting a "Jelly King" crab apple which has languished in a pot for the last three years. I was a bit shocked to see how little the roots had grown; hopefully in its new position, on a heavy silt loam with plenty of moisture it will flourish. I'm trying to get things out of pots. I find they require a great deal of watering in summer, as they dry out so fast, and many things don't really do well potted up. So into the garden with them, where they can hunt for their own water.

Turf removed (used my compost bin lid as a template for a nice round shape) and tree placed.

Firming in with dainty booted foot

Finished with planting at bottom - variegated symphytum, a couple of pansies and an orange viola. The stones are to stop the blackbirds pecking the plants up.

Jelly King fruit. (photo from www.chrisbowers.co.uk)

This is a small tree, 12 ft or so, so will not get too big for my garden. It can retain fruit all winter, as the birds do not like it. (Well, we'll see). I'm hoping it will provide a bright focus against the dark fence in an area that is a bit gloomy in winter.
  I once met a woman who referred to these in all seriousness as crap-apples! She thought they were called this because they were not good to eat raw, and wasn't pleased when I pointed out the error of her ways. Hah!
PS. "Jelly King" was bred here in NZ at Matthews Nurseries in Wanganui, but has been available in the UK for a while. (Not sure about USA or Australia).
http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/blogs/graham_rice/archive/2010/11/21/malus-jelly-king-new-ornamental-crab-apple.aspx

Magnolias

Had fun drawing/painting magnolias today. Not perfect, but okay.

Bonjour!

Amazing. Since I posted about Lucie de la Tour du Pin, I've had a huge number of hits on my site from France via Google. I assume she may be the subject of French children's homework questions, hence her popularity as a search term.
  Not much happening here at the moment. I worked today, so it's sort of a non-day really, but I did talk someone through printing documents, scanning to a USB and sending emails; I knew more than I thought, which is always a pleasant surprise, but I'm kicking myself too.  I'm reading this book at the moment, 

"Tips from your Nana" (Nana, pronounced Nan-na, Kiwiese for grandmother) by Robyn Paterson, all sorts of easy tips to make money go further, the sort of things our grand- and great grandmothers did during the war and the Depression (or mothers if you happen to be an Older Person like me). One of the tips was to throw your coffee grounds into the compost. Apparently they are a great source of nitrogen. Why did I not know this? When I think of all the nitrogen that I've just flushed down the sink over the years, I could spit. What a nitwit.

Summer is icumen in...

Verily, a day to sing cuckoo. Warm and sunny, I even had to get the hose out as some of the plants in the hotter parts of the garden are looking a little parched. Hung the bead curtain up too, to stop the early blowflies from coming in through the back door. Weeded edges, mowed the lawn, spread compost, re-made compost heaps, trimmed ivy and planted various stuff. Very satisfying.
PS. I've reversed the decision to get a kitten. The way things are going at work I need to keep expenses down, and although I would love one, it may be expensive if the kitten turns out (like Thomas) to have some chronic condition that needs treatment and a special diet. Poor Thom will just have to be a lonely only. (There is and upside to this of course; more food and more attention for the doted -on one). 

I've been reading...

"Dancing to the precipice: Lucie de la Tour du Pin and the French Revolution" by Carolyn Moorehead.
Lucie was a French aristocrat, born to a half-French mother and an Anglo-Irish father. Her world was the Versailles of Marie Antoinette, until the revolution turned that world upside-down. She was married (devotedly, which was unusual in that milieu) to Frederic, another aristocrat and one-time ambassador to Holland. After a great deal of horror, they escaped to America to live on a farm, a life Lucie loved but her husband did not. Lucie wrote her memoirs later in life (she lived to be 83), and was a great letter writer and keeper of letters written to her. 
    She was an unusual woman for her class and time. A loveless childhood spent with a witch of a grandmother who had no affection for her taught her self-reliance and resilience, and practical skills such as dressmaking and cooking, qualities she would need in her subsequent life. This is more than a biography though; the author manages to make it a biography of the revolution as well, with comments on people, fashions, literature and life-styles. Recommended for fans of female biography and French history.

Success!

Gorgeous hellebore

I've just sold my old typewriter (Imperial 66, the model I learned to type on) for $25.00 on Trade Me. I didn't buy it originally; I found it in the garage when I moved into the house. So that's $25.00 profit. Plus I no longer have to lug the thing around the house trying to find a home for it where it won't get in my way. Now looking for other stuff I can sell. Perhaps this will be my new career, selling junk on Trade Me?

Garden pics

Not too bad a day today, mainly cloudy with some sunny spots which Thomas revelled in. A fog has closed in now though, making the air very cold. I did a little bit of garden work, mainly tidying up, spreading fertiliser and compost, and getting my strawberry bed ready. Tea was a plate of lemon and sugar pancakes, in memory of my mum, who always used to make them for me on Shrove Tuesday. Today is the third anniversary of her death, and the fourth anniversary of the first big quake we had here; I'm feeling a bit glum.

More crap going on at work, which doesn't help my depression at all. We were all told at a meeting on Tuesday to come up with cost-saving ideas, the implicit threat being that if we don't, we'll all be "down the road", or at least will have our hours of work reduced. Cutting out the one-off long-service bonus was also mentioned, which made me hopping mad; I had mine several years ago, but I thought it bloody well earned and it makes me furious to know that this is being considered for others, particularly when you know how much upper management are making in salaries (and perks). And any cuts are always to part-time hours, to those who can least afford to lose income. No doubt I shouldn't be writing this; the 'thought-police' will be reading it and I'll be castigated for my 'dis-engagement' and sent for re-education.  Grrr! Incoherent rage followed by deep depression is the sum of my work day now. If they fire me I won't bother getting another job. I'll live off my savings until they dry up and then starve quietly to death.