April showers

The colours look unreal, but this is just what it looked like yesterday with another rain flurry darkening the sky, hiding the far shore of the lake.

I took this photo standing at the door of my lounge. That's blossom from the quince tree scattered across the drive, and yellow blosson from the kowhai on the lawn of the house in front of mine. 

Some of my favorite kitchen things

So, this thing is, my big round chopping board is a piece of rose mahogany from Tolga Woodworks in Far North Queensland. It was sold as a raw piece of wood, for someone to make a bowl from I guess. The smell of the wood still comes through when I scrub it in hot hot water and I just love it. The origins of my big wooden stirrer are now forgotten, but it does a great job as a walnut smasher when not being used for stirring, and it is a fabulous thing that I use almost every day. Bowls I have a few - only a very few. This one I bought in Bangkok a few years ago and it brings back memories of picking it out in a crowded shop smelling of sandalwood and spices. 

On spices, my spice rack is like a bit of artwork on the wall. Nothing unusual really, but I got this one at the National Gallery in Victoria when I went to see the Golden Summers exhibition of the Australian Impressionists. Just using the spices reminds me of being young beside the upper reaches of the Yarra in high summer. The teacup comes from the Dunedin Potters' Co-op gallery on Lower Sturt Steet. Reminds me of walking up from the markets on a cold Saturday morning with a bag of vegetables on my way to have coffee in the Octagon. It was very special when the gallery was full of flowers for the Rhododendron Festival. The dried chillis are from Rachel's garden, just up the road here in Rotorua. I forget to use them though.

 

This old clock is set at ten past eight. It used to work, I used to have a lego key which fitted it perfectly (!) and I'd wind it up once a week, but I lost the key (any more, Matt?) This clock was on the wall of the farm kitchen when I was a kid. Time to run for the school bus! Maybe a wedding present of Lou and Joan's? But I also love it for it's own sake. Very cool. 

These two things are from Singapore. The C. K. Tang money box is about my most favorite object. This was their old store on Orchard Road, long gone, sadly. What a lovely shop that was, with it's sloping wooden floors and old shelves piled deep with all manner of things, a treasure trove. I dream about that shop. And the Villeroy and Boch sugar bowl, which has a matching milk jug, came from the new C. K. Tangs and was a wedding present from Justin. One day I might get a teapot to match.

Finally - just a few of the boxes, tins and containers from old sorts of places. The world has got too small, that you can now buy french sardines at Capers in Rotorua, eh.

Finished object

The new vege garden is finished - except for the actual vegetables. I'm going to plant beans and basil here. I used old pallets but in the end Tom came and helped with the cutting and nailing. It looks much better for the extra work.

Next I will create an extra vegetable bed...

So this is being cogitated. Yesterday I finally got around to cutting into some of the timber pallets that I have been scavanging, and I have laid this out to think about. What do you reckon?
 
I'm thinking of planting beans, and this would be the raised bed. It will be on the front lawn. But that is the area where the chooks play (as you can see, they were a bit shy of this new monster that appeared in their territory), so the bed will need to be protected from them, hence the high sides. I admit it looks ugly like this, but I was thinking a post in the front corner and some netting wrapped around. Then I could fill dirt into that bit at the bottom of the pallet and plant something chook-proof around the base on the outside which would make it look more attractive.

I have to say, I made a lunch of salad leaves and spring onions all freshly snipped from the garden with 2 fresh-laid boiled eggs and some mayonnaise and I think is the first time in my life I have been able to get a food from my own garden and I can't believe how good it is. So I cranked up Jenny's music machine that I quaintly call "the stereo" (senior moment?) with Fat Freddy Live at the Matterhorn and got out the heavy-duty power saw and ripped into it - felt really good. This creation has a way to go yet but I'm excited.

And I finished the socks!

Next up is a Super Mario beanie.

Worth a second look

You don't notice the pattern that the stamens make until you see this daisy in isolation.

New garden, new season

The unfolding of a new garden is one of the great joys in life - though hope can turn to ho hum when you find that things are not what they seemed to be, for example the bulbs I thought were snowdrops that turned out to be smelly old onion weed. This garden has a few spring surprises - I hadn't recognised the creeper over the fence as clematis, and didn't realise the spiky things in the corner are bromeliads. Everthing looks lovely after the first lawn-mowing. The quince tree is blossoming, a couple of azaleas have gone all florid, and the flaxes are sprouting their flowers. My peas are setting beautifully and there is enough silverbeet to not have to buy greens at the supermarket. Bees are going for my potted flowers. The lemon tree is spouting lots of wee new leaves. And the chooks lay two more eggs every day. Abundance!

Not-so-favorite things

 This is the mystery object of the day - guess correctly what this is a picture of and I'll send you one of my ever-so-environmentally correct hand-knitted dishcloths.

And below is the current project at work - a vest/ jacket thingy made in a mix of yarns. I'll say no more other than I'll be glad when it is finished, especially as next I get to make a Baby Surprise Jacket in lovely merino.

Daily Coffee Fix - Zippy's