'Verona' tulips

Tulips and Iceland poppies. 

Christchurch Botanic Gardens

I made a quick visit to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens today, quick because it wasn't very warm. Typical spring weather, fits and starts of sun and cloud. It's been cold and damp for the last week, so I thought I'd go and see the daffs this afternoon. "Going to see the daffs" is something of a tradition here in Christchurch, it means that spring is really here (no matter how cold and wet it can be).

This is one of my interpretation boards that I put together when I worked at the gardens. Glad to see it still on site, so much is changed in the city.

This is a New Zealand native plant called Kaka Beak, because the shape of the flower is like the beak of one of our native parrots, the kaka.  It's probably the most spectacular of our native flowers, which are usually small and white.

The daffodil lawns under deciduous trees

And my interp. board for the daffodil woodland is also still there. Good to see that my hard work remains in place.

Feast of non-fiction

In the last few weeks, I've been reading some great non-fiction. I've pretty much given up on fiction now, except for historical fiction; the stories are often trite and/or depressing. Real life is weirder and wilder. The first book I'm going to recommend is one I don't have a cover photo of, since I've returned it - it has a lot of people waiting for it. "The Oregon trail" by Rinker Buck is a great mix of true-life challenge, when the author decides to re-travel and re-discover the trail taken by the pioneers from Kansas to Oregon, and history. He makes detours into all sorts of areas, from the breeding of the mule to the modern myth-making of the trail,especially by the Mormon historians. His brother Nick, a rip-shit or bust kind of guy, and a very experienced teamster, comes along as Trail Hand, and part of the enjoyment of this book is the contrast between the characters of the risk-taking Nick and the more careful urbanite Rinker.

"The devil in the White City" is about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and the extraordinary difficulties of building this "White City" on the shores of Lake Michigan. Along with the main story is another story, of the mass-murderer H. H. Holmes and his sinister plans for practically everyone he came in contact with.

I haven't read the rest of these books yet, but they all seem promising.

What was Muhammad the man really like? What inspired him to become the first Muslim and the founder of one of the world's greatest religions and cultures?

When Tara Austen Weaver buys a run-down property, she begins a story of rehabilitation and renewal that will enrich the lives of her whole family. 

After having watched the movie "Queen Margot" this attracted me - the story of the relationship between mother-and-daughter queens.

"Courtiers - the secret history of Kensington Palace" - hopefully lots of arcane eighteenth century historical bits here

Written by the head gardener at Versailles - historical and gardening themes - should be interesting.

And no doubt this will start off another trip to Italy!

More spring

'Verona' tulip

Omphalodes

Nectarine blossom

Thomas - magnificent!

Salad days are on their way

Retro kitchen equipment - Tala egg slicer "slices two ways!"

It was a very warm day today, so I made egg salad for lunch. and used the egg slicer. I love these sorts of devices, back in the days when very few kitchen things were electrical except for the oven and the fridge. Brings back memories of the 'sixties and makes a very neat job of the eggs. Next time I'll slice the eggs the long way! Very exciting! The packet has a truly terrible recipe on it - one lettuce leaf for each person with a lemon slice laid on top, then a couple of tomato slices and egg slices, then smother it all in mayonnaise from a bottle. Not so much a recipe as an assemblage. Also reminds me of that stuff we called Belgian sausage, a pressed meat thing that was the shape and colour of dog roll. All the kids loved it; we'd get it in sandwiches as well as salads in the summertime. I wonder if its still made in these sophisticated days?

Consequences

Well, now I face the consequences of all that gardening I did last week. I've had time off work because of an arthritic flare-up, mainly in my right sacroiliac joint and my knees. Quite painful, and not possible to spend the required 6 or 7 hours on my feet that my job demands. Resting at work is considered to be skiving off by management and its lackeys, so I've taken official sick leave and they'll have to cope with that. Pain makes me incredibly bad-tempered anyway and I'm bound to shout at someone, so it's best if I'm not there. It's been a little boring at home, but I have done a lot of reading and watching videos. My hopes of getting spring cleaning done this week are pretty much dashed, though. I guess the dirt will have to stay put for a while longer. I can still enjoy the spring flowers and hope to do a little seed-planting tomorrow - beans and cucurbits and perhaps sweetcorn, but it may be a tad early for these. The tomatoes, peppers and eggplants I planted 2 weeks ago have not germinated! Bit concerned about it being too cold for them, even though they are in a warm place.

Magnolia time

Thomas' camouflage working on the woolly rug

Jiro killed his first bird yesterday. He left it on the kitchen doormat and Thomas ate it! First time I've ever known a cat to eat another's kill. Thom still doesn't like Jiro much, I wish they got on better.

Bits and pieces

I put these flowers into a jug and put them on the windowsill to have a good soak while I went to do more gardening, inadvertently creating a nice little vignette.

Having gardened myself to a stand-still ( or rather, a sit-still) over the last three days. I've had a rest-day today, and read a lot of this book, The lost carving by David Esterley. Esterley is a virtuoso wood-carver, who was called in to help repair the fire-damaged Grinling Gibbons carvings at Hampton Court after the fire there in 1986. He documents his journey of getting to know Gibbons' work and working methods as a fellow-carver, and his own career up until that time. "Carvers are starvers" he was told when he decided to take up the art, meaning that this is not a career that one undertakes to make money. His carving is very fine indeed, well matching the work of his teacher and nemesis, Grinling Gibbons. What amazes me is the depth of knowledge that a carver of this standard has to have. How to correctly sharpen tools is a work in itself, to say nothing of knowledge of woods and their properties, a skill in design and drawing, and the physical co-ordination to execute these fabulous art-works. Thankfully there are still people like Esterley who keep these skills and knowledge alive.

OGD

'Waterlily' camellia

More insanely dedicated gardening during the last two days. I have OGD - Obsessive Gardening Disorder - at the moment. Weeded the whole vegetable garden yesterday, planted all kinds of seeds, planted some new dahlias and some Lavandula stoechas plants that have been hanging around for a while. The garden does look very nice at the moment. This afternoon was brought to a sudden end by a fierce hailstorm with thunder and lightning, so I was glad that I had done so much over the last two days. I can relax now, knowing I have done my duty!

It's all so tidy!

Flag farce

Well, on we go with the farce of changing our flag. These are the final four designs that will go up against our existing flag in a nationwide referendum. The whole project is a vanity project for our Prime Minister, who is embarrassed at being seated under an Australian flag at diplomatic shindigs, because no one in the larger international world knows the difference between our flag and the Australian flag.  He is spending $26 million taxpayer dollars on this vanity project.  There is so much wrong with this that I don't know where to start. 
     He likes the silver fern, so no coincidence that three of the final designs feature silver ferns. The black and white flag bottom left is also a fern, but a fern frond; it has already been dubbed the "hypnoflag" and makes me feel nauseous when I look at it. It's the visual equivalent of a migraine headache. The other designs are ho-hum. Versions of these designs have been around for years on commercial packaging, especially notable as a range of disposable plastic picnic-ware. (Really - I am not making this up). 
     Our Prime Minister worships at the altar of the national rugby team and the silver fern is their emblem. So in effect we may be saluting the All Blacks every time the flag is raised, if it gets changed. I hate, hate, hate this idea. There is so much more to this country than bloody rugby! And the silver fern is often seen by foreigners as a white feather, not a happy symbol at all.
      I think the thing that really makes me puke about this, is our Prime Minister's belief that national pride can be manufactured, changed and altered as his whim goes. He keeps talking about "brand New Zealand", as if this is just a branding exercise. There's something uncomfortably totalitarian about this; he and his marketers are going to force it down our throats until we accept it. Of course, those who want to keep the old flag are being stigmatised as " a few very active persons with negative views" who are going to spoil the brave new world for everyone else. 
      Mr Key, this is a nation, not a corporation. People fought for that flag and died for it. Leave it alone.

Spring fever

I've not been well the last few days. I picked up a stomach virus from somewhere, and spent quite a bit of time in bed. I'm rather annoyed about it. I was going to do a full days work in the garden on Friday, then this thing came over me after lunch and I spent the next few days recuperating. Tried doing a bit today, but still feel off colour, so flagged away mowing the lawn and did a few light duties instead, which included photographing things.

Apricot blossoms - hopefully more gorgeous fruit this year. I've been eating my way through the preserves from last year, very delicious.

I got the jandals out and gave my feet an airing

Chives are pushing up early this year in the herb garden. I love chives, just that delicate onion taste that adds savouriness without indigestion.

And I put the 'Ilam Hardy' potatoes to chit in an egg box in the sunroom. They look purple here, but it's just a trick of the light. I grew purple ones a few years ago, but found them to be quite small although tasty.

Hopefully I can get a bit of seed sowing done tomorrow - tomatoes, peppers and eggplant to start off in the conservatory and beans outside in a sheltered place.