January 28, 2007

Who says I have deserted my post..??

We had a less than boisterous New Year's celebration...hard to believe that once-upon-a-time it was an occasion for all-out boister (I'm sure that is a word..lol..)

Summer finally arrived a week or so ago, and I hope it plans to stay for a month or two yet. The garden is looking lovely, and we are eating home-grown veges too...mostly greens but zucchini and scalloped thingies also. Scarlet runner beans coming on well...cucumbers will be next. I don't have a large vege plot, but it is pretty crowded...

No plans as yet for a summer holiday...

A few recent photos ... The first two are what passes for my vege garden, the next two are of the lavender farm we visited for afternoon tea yesterday, and the bottom two are (a) Clematis 'Romantica' and (b) roses Buff Beauty & Albertine , plus Dutch honeysuckle...forget which variety...Winchester ??!!

Cheers for now .... Eve

Surprise Surprise

I am always astonished by the amount of time which has elapsed since last posting. Same ol' same ol' here in our little corner of the world EXCEPT for last Saturday 30 Sept. We had a wedding in our garden..!! Our daughter, who lives in Darwin Australia phoned to say she was coming home to be married (to an Ozzie), and wanted the ceremony in the garden. You can imagine how I scampered about trying to make up for neglect over winter (not really neglected) ... I did after all have 8 whole days notice. The weather was absolutely brilliant, and we had a lovely afternoon and evening. It was a relatively informal wedding. No catering in...just BBQ cooked by her brothers (our sons of course)...the DIL's and two grandaughters helping with the nibbles, salads, desserts, etc. dd has since returned to her home, but not before surprising her new in-laws with the news, and having a confirmation ceremony with them (they live in Victoria Aust...thousands of miles from Darwin or New Zealand) ...bridal dress and the works again ...
I include a few photos from our day ...

I wonder how long we will have to wait for the next wedding in our family...the last one was ten years ago. Our two grandaughters are just turning twenty (they are the oldest of four g'children), but the way life has changed direction, maybe they won't even bother. Anybody's guess...!!

The first month of spring has raced by, and the days are not all that warm yet. Daffodils have just about finished, and the rhododendrons are taking their turn at brightening up the green of the trees. Roses are leafing up, but it is likely to be a month or more before I get any blooms. Winter has been relatively mild (heaviest frost was only -4C/28F) but I'm looking forward to warmer days... Of course, up north, fall is probably cooling things off. Funny old world we live in---for more than one reason, of course..!!

May your days be filled with rainbows .... Eve

Sorry, that post turned out a bit higgledy piggeldy...didn't look like that before it was 'published'...honest..!!

....Eve

Lazy, aren't I ....

So much for my trying..!! I think my main problem is that nothing very much happens in my little corner of the world...soooo, nothing to say. most of the time.
Really, May was a little out of the ordinary.... my husband, my sister and her husband, and myself had a lovely almost-four-week vacation. Each couple hired a motor home and set of on what turned out to be a 4,000 km tour of the South Island (NZ that is). Add to the kms 4 hour flights each way (my sister lives in Australia) plus 1.5 hour flights for dh and myself.
Anyone gets the chance, they should visit there. The scenery is absolutely beautiful and the weather was marvellous. (Not to say it is always great weather---shortly after our return the whole island was blanketed in snow for weeks. This may well be a frequent occurence other parts of the world, but it doesn't happen like that here very often...truly..!!

I hope you enjoy the photos Laurel. Atlas ready..??

#1 is the most southerly point in Sth Island@ Bluff
#2 is the black pebble beach at Kaikoura (never knew we had pebble beach)
#3 was taken at dusk @ Pakawau...almost at the most northerly point
#4 ...can't remember off hand
#5 Rainbow caused by blowhole Punakaiki
#6 Is the road leading into Queenstown..follows Lake Wakatipu
#7 is NZ highest mountain..some 12,000 ft (lots of others almost as high)

It is winter time here right now, and when it is nice outside I am busy rearranging parts of my rather large garden. Don't tell dh but I am decreasing the amount of flower beds, and increasing the amount of grassed areas. Guess who does the lawn maintenance...lol... Nah, not me ...

'Til next time....au revoir .... Eve

April 2006

I cannot believe that so much time has passed since my last post. Lucky nobody drops by to read..!!
My garden is starting to show signs that winter is on it's way--even though autumn/fall has only just arrived. We had a month of very little rain (never many 'droughts' the part of NZ I live in) and dehydration set in for lots of things. Still, that's nature's decision, not mine.
I must get the camera out and put up a few new pics.
I haven't just been sitting on my hands though...busy, busy, busy. I have been researching and composing a pamphlet of advice for diabetics having trouble getting their bGs down to a more normal range. The information being handed out by diabetes associations right around the world is grossly neglectful of the fact that diabetes is a glucose metabolism problem...they insist we turn ourselves into glucose-making machines. What they should be advising is that we eat as few carbs as is posssible. Seems we only need 12 g of carbs a day... and this glucose can be obtained just from the protein we eat. Protein doesn't necessarily convert totally to glucose, but it sure coverts enough. It is no surprise to me that we have an epidemic of diabetes.
Why can't people be told that their life--their eyes, kidneys, legs, heart--- depends on them restricting the amount of carbohydrates they eat. Why not..?? Why not..???

Sooooo, my 'secret' is out---I cannot talk about diabetes without dragging my Soapbox out from the cupboard under the stairs. Haha

I'll try to pop back more often...really, I will try...

.....cya....Eve

Springing along...me,as well as the garden....

We have had a week of absolutely spot-on weather---sun shining, birds singing, etc etc. Today is all overcast and gloomy. This however, gives me a good excuse to be playing on the PC this time of day..!!
There are lots of bright spots in the yard now as the flowering trees come into their own...if blossoms have anything to do with it, we should have a huge crop of plums this summer. We haven't had more than a dozen plums the last several years 'cause Jack Frost comes along and stops the fruit from setting....maybe this year..??
On a personal level, I am feeling great--my diabetes is behaving itself. I am so glad I discovered a low carb food plan that really helps. It has taken me two years, but finally reached some sort of truce with the beast.

Nice to have some visitors..thanks for dropping by

A few photos taken today....

cya

...no excuse...

Missing in action again....that's because I've had such lovely weather it's a pleasure to be working in my yard. More rhodos flowering and daffodils making a nice show--a few more than a handful now. No recent photos, but here is one of my almost 19-yr old cat Sweetie..!! I think her eyes betray her age, but otherwise she is a spring chicken...well, not exactly, but nearly. She can no longer make the leap up onto my outdoors table, but she finds other, less taxing, ways...smaller leaps, smaller gains, but she makes it up on top.

Cya

Spring is getting ready to do just that....

Bits and pieces flowering now...daffodils for one. Herewith a photo of my tiniest one, a bare 9cm/3.5". The tallest one I grow, a King Alfred, is 60cm/2 ft. Plum trees are breaking into blossom...not yet enough for a worthwhile photo. The sunset tonight was just beautiful .....
Spent all yesterday pruning roses...100-odd bushes sounds like quite a few...they sure are a lot when each one is individually pruned. However, the flowers in another month or two will make all the thorn-retrieving and scratched flesh seem worthwhile. With Adam's help a few more trees have lost limbs..shame not to wait until they flower (cherry, flowering peach) but if I wait 'til they flower, I will say "oh next year will do" (as I have said the last two years) and by next spring, there will be even more to cut away. Like me, Adam isn't getting any younger..we hate to ask the 'kids' for help until we really have to.
Pretty interesting here, isn't it..!! Maybe I will share my shopping list next week...lol..
Cya....