day twenty three

A few days late, we actually got rain on 21st! but still talking about it!

9mm of rain - taken through the car windscreen with the pivot in the background. The pivot had a day off, we have a given amount of water permitted to be applied so a day off means we will be able to continue irrigating later in the week when it will be needed again.
The pivot doesn't look that big in the picture but it covers 100ha - about 250 acres and has been vital this year

day twenty two

The something beautiful is my trug full of all things from the garden not all the detritus in the background (nothing to do with me!)

I didn't make the wine! but the rhubarb, agapanthus, lemons, peacock feathers, runner beans, beetroot and potatoes (hidden) are all off the farm/garden

day twenty one

I have always loved hostas but never had a garden in which they thrived - until now

 

They are flowering at the moment and looking so nice that I am leaving the flowers even though they are not everyone's cup of tea

day twenty

The peacocks are moulting, we are gathering armfuls of feathers every day at the moment. DD3 and Connie the collie helped today

day nineteen

Phew, a busy day - A couple of hours in the garden before the heat set in - then a call from DD1 with a broken down car so an unscheduled trip into town.
In the afternoon I got to try out my new cheese making kit, DD2 acquired me some milk (you need unpasteurised milk) straight out of the vat

heat the milk, add a couple of cheese making ingredients, keep in a warm bath for 45 minutes

cut the curds and stir gently until they firm up a bit - strain into cheese cloth, press under weight for half an hour. Cut into desired size pieces

drop gently into boiling water until they rise and remove

sprinkle with salt and leave to cool

And it's ready!

It tastes just like the bought stuff - it's great

 

 

day eighteen

I was quite excited - entering day eighteen on the eighteenth. Then arghhh it went past midnight, I am still a day behind

 

My tomatoes are coming along nicely in the new tunnel that I got for my thirtieth wedding anniversary. It was going to be a weekend away somewhere nice - then we saw this tunnel reduced and well! I can enjoy this every day can't I?

Lots of tomatoes! when they start ripening we will certainly have plenty. Wonder if you can dye with them, hmmm have to try that!

day seventeen

My blackcurrants have been prolific this year, so much so that they were a job to keep up with for a few days! I made some jam, cordial and then had a go at dyeing some wool using the pulp left after making the cordial (right skein) I thought that if I used fresh whole blackcurrants the colour would be darker but this produced the skein on the left! don't think I used enough blackcurrants in this batch. both were mordanted with alum

day sixteen

 

 We had a night away at Diamond Harbour with the in laws - thoroughly spoilt the entire time
As we sat on the deck over looking Purau Bay there was a break in the cloud and the sun hit the hills opposite creating an intense double rainbow

The colours were amazing and you could see exactly where the rainbow hit the water

 

day fifteen

We went away for one night - 30 hours and the amaryllis went crazy, when we got back there were 10 buds/stalks

 

Not quite like the loud speaker pot plants we used to have in England! these are a little more subtle

The are pretty while they flower for a couple of weeks and the rest of the year they look like a sulky heap of leaves

day fourteen

Proper English lavender - none of that fancy French stuff!

 

The bees also have good taste

day thirteen

I just spotted this hydrangea hiding under the silver pear, I don't know if it's the soil or the shade but it is a lovely pure blue

day twelve

How can you not love pansies, their cheerful little faces brighten up any corner

day eleven

I have a love hate with my sycamore tree, it is a beautiful tree and offers a lovely area of shade which is very welcome, but...

and it's a big but, sycamore must have the best germination rate of any plant out there. I swear everyone of the millions of keys grows, resulting in mini forests of sycamore babies. I pull, spray and mow to get rid of these but inevitably every year one or two escape -grrr...

wow, just found this on pintrest (no, I wasn't actually looking for it) but I think it could be the answer to my sycamore key problem!

 http://www.filthwizardry.com/2012/10/autumn-woodland-treasure-sculpture.html

day ten

 

The mimulus is flowering in the water races, there are long swathes of it, it is quite beautiful. Here it is shown with flowering watercress (Very small white flowers)

day nine

Today's post is for my sister, fondly known as Auntie J by our family. You can't grow lemons in Woodbridge and she was surprised to know I could in Canterbury, New Zealand. I can't believe I haven't mentioned it before, I love my lemon tree, it provides lemons just about all year round.

It is in need of a bit of a prune, you can see the size of it, the black to the right of the lemon is my car

 

 

I love lemon trees, the fruits start to ripen in mid winter and is common to see flowers (small buds in middle of picture) new baby lemons (look like mini green lemons to the right) and mature fruit (well that's obvious isn't it!)

It's better than Farmville!

day eight

Today is the first day I noticed the canna lilies flowering, I have several clumps of them around the garden and I think they have a tropical look about them, they are so lush. One day I may try and add some with stripy foliage to the garden they are beautiful too

day seven

Something completely different today, I belong to a spinning and weaving group and last year we were challenged to up-cycle a piece of New Zealand wool blanket into something that could raise money for Red Cross. It introduced me to these beautiful blankets that reminded me of the days when I would stay with my Nanna, before the days of duvets. Whenever I see them in second hand shops I have to rescue them and will one day up-cycle them also (If I can bear to cut them! watch this space - you will be the first to know)
Here is my stash

my craft room is already fit to bust with various other stashes - oops - so these are hiding from my husband in a spare room

day six

Now we are storming - day six

another rose, no idea what this one is called but it is a really pretty double. It stays lovely and healthy so I am hoping to take some cuttings this year so I can spread it's loveliness around the garden

day five

I have 3 small feijoas which haven't fruited to date but this year they are all smothered in flowers so here's hoping. I hadn't come across feijoa before moving to New Zealand

so for those of you who are also new to them, this is what they should look like if they set and grow!

day four

For a change today, I have a post from the veggie garden

Scarlett runner beans, perennial in New Zealand and beautiful enough to grow even if they didn't produce masses of tender beans. This may not be the best picture I was dodging the irrigator gun!

day three

Having a catch up day, need to reach fifteen posts! Had a walk around the garden, I love my garden and it's not hard to find something beautiful.

I love hydrangea and tis one is a beauty, again the colour seems intense this year

 

 

Day two

I went into Christchurch today, the Agapanthus are loving the hot dry weather. I was driving so I couldn't take a photo but it reminded me to take one of my own agapanthus in the garden. They are a beautiful vibrant blue which I am guessing is due to the dry conditions?

The not so beautiful tree in the background came down in the gales September 2013 - We lost 350 trees and this one won't get cleared until we have a suitable crop in the adjacent paddock so we can get the digger in to pull it out. Even though the roots are almost fully in the air, the tree remains green - amazing that a tree this size can survive on such a small amount of root still in the ground! 

day one

Inspired by one of my beautiful daughters, my blog is a record of something beautiful for every day of the year. I am starting a bit late so will make an effort to catch up! I am starting with an easy one, my favourite rose. I am told it could be 'double delight' and as it smells like turkish delight it seems apt. As you will see it is wet! making this post doubly beautiful as we are currently in drought and the rain, though light, is very welcome