I'm back

It's been about four months since I posted on here. I have a dozen reasons but I needn't go into them. We're coming out of a cold polar blast of snow (snow! I can't believe it), sleet, hail, wind, blizzards. Spots of sunshine in small pockets too. How bizarre! Wellington hasn't had snow like this in 40 years, and no snow at all since 1995.

I lost my camera a while ago (one of the reasons for the break in posting) so have had to make do with cell phone pictures.

On crafting news, I have completed so many projects but haven't been able to photograph them. Except this ballet cardigan for Georgia. She's been enjoying the warmth and softness of pure alpaca all term in the cold ballet hall. Ah bliss.

I find the crafting and cooking quite comforting while I nurse myself back to 100% and keep my mind from wandering into fits of worry and anxiety. Domesticity grounds me. I feel the warmth of generations of women homemakers who have also practised these simple (and some not so simple) skills for their families and themselves. I cherish quiet times when I can pick up my knitting and sink into a safe cocoon of my small world at home, a complete world, timeless and perfect as the children grow a little each day and we adults replenish our energy for the day ahead.  I am trying hard not to get overly excited or overwhelmed by anything. It's difficult having to slow down, but there are benefits for the whole family.
And so much wonder in the nature that surrounds us, we needn't go far to find it.

Containers of vegetable seeds grow beside our fireplace, reminding us of the season just around the corner. Spring is coming soon and I hope we have a full vegetable garden this year.

brick support

These are shallots grown in our garden over spring and summer. We harvested them, dried them for two weeks outside, then plaited the leaves into this handy storage string.

This photo makes me feel uneasy today, because yesterday Christchurch suffered a massive earthquake sending many old brick structures to the ground (and some newer ones of other materials). The impact has been massive and many lives lost.

Our house has a brick facade (meaning it's structural core is wooden) and there are cracks in quite a few places. The most worrying part is our brick chimney which we think could fall into the living room during a large quake if it happened here. So we made some plans last night as to what we'd do and need in a major earthquake. My main job after the shaking has stopped is to turn off the gas mains outside and check the neighbouring properties' gas mains (and take care of the kids and check on neighbours!)

Perhaps this is a timely reminder for all of us to make preparations for such disasters. We never know when they will strike. Here is a useful source of information from Civil Defense.

My thoughts are with the poor people of Christchurch. Luckily my family there escaped unharmed (apart from one with minor injuries). We all want to know what we can do to help support Christchurch. 

harvest day

We have been digging in the garden.
How cool has it been to find fat vegetables almost overgrown and begging to be picked. The few days of rain we've had have meant beans and zucchinis have gone nuts. But the gherkins... I thought I had been keeping an eye on them.?
Tonight's tea is scalloped potatoes - here's why.

I have a lot of pickling and preserving to do.

Fat gherkin cucumbers.

Yellow zucchinis (courgettes) - which name to you prefer?

One is ripening into a huge marrow, I think we'll just see what happens to it so the kids can enjoy watching it grow.

Beans galore (Stringless scarlett).
Another round of strawberries.
Tiger lilies and dahlias.

I will share some recipes soon. Does anyone have something good for zucchini? Last year I did something with brown sugar and vinegar, a relish I think. But I can't find the recipe anymore.

What's coming out of your garden at the moment?

a little gardener

 Georgia made these practical garden labels. We have the vege patches weeded at last, ready for planting. But no plants! Packets of seeds (I spent $100 last year on seeds!) and a sudden urgency to have them growing.

She found sticks in the garden, some of them were hardened flax cut into strips. With cellotape she connected the labels to the sticks and stuck them into the pots.
She enjoyed making these and it was great to have her to something useful and for her to see her contribution to our business of growing our own food. We'll see if anything's ready by xmas.

yellow

We've had a lot of yellow here these last few days. Not only the sunny daffodils (on not so sunny days) to remind us of spring, but also my boy's new favourite word, 'lello', and sometimes more like 'lelilelillo'. He loves to wrap his long tongue around that word. He tells me whenever he sees some  yellow. He chooses to wear his yellow shoes in place of his usual blue ones, 'not bue, lellilo'. 

 

He chooses his yellow shirt whenever it's not in the wash. Lucky he suits the colour, well his hair is kinda yellow too, maybe more white actually... 

  The yellow has spilled into our kitchen too. We made a batch of orange cakes today. And iced our carrot cake with lello icing, with sprinkles of lemon rind.  

  Hugo has his yellow boots at the door next to Georgia's. It's still raining so they're still in use. 
 The hallway's getting rather cluttered with the dual seasonal gear of sun hats and wool hats, raincoats and umbrellas, sunblock and storm covers for the pushchair - all at the ready for getting out the door in this strange season. Although I do feel a wonderful freedom from winter. It's over, even if 'a massive storm is heading towards New Zealand' as I write. I'm keeping up with the spring cleaning and I'm looking forward to the gale force winds to clean out the cobwebs, real and in my foggy mind (I'm still blaming the nappy brain).

And at the end of our days, Yellow is there at bathtime too. 

Spring fling

The sun is returning and our garden is coming back to life. Loving it!

Georgia took a bunch of daffodils to Kindy yesterday (1st of Spring), her teacher commenting, 'these smell like happiness!'. I couldn't agree more.

 We also have daphne in abundance, a beautiful aroma, and asparagus springing up.

  Can you see them, hiding in the weeds?

Last spring I had just discovered I was pregnant. With neighbours' cats making regular 'droppings' on our vege patches, I stayed clear for fear of toxoplasmosis infection (and sheer exhaustion). Later, in summer, I was popping out the front so gardening remained undone. Weeds grew and are still there, in fact. We gave them a go recently, but my children dug up some worms and that took over their interest. I need their help, or somebody big and strong actually, to get the garden into shape before it's too late. 

But I do love it when their interests govern mine and we end up bug searching instead of gardening, or collecting shells at a beach instead of walking its length, or stopping to throw stones into puddles while trying to walk around the park... I wish I had taken a photo of him doing that today, he was showing all the grown-ups how to take things easy and really enjoy the small details around him. The smallest people have the biggest imaginations and desire for exploring and adventure. They set me straight from my boring old grown-up ways sometimes to stop, look, and listen (and I don't mean crossing roads!)