necessity is the mother of invention.

Its very hot today, with an estimated 38degrees C top temp!  And the hot wind is blowing from the west/ north west - not so good for newly planted plants.  What to do?  Well, I have put an old fitted sheet over the stakes, should be both a wind break and some shade - hope it works.  Also watered around the roots and where the seeds are sown.

"Necessitie, the inuentour of all goodnesse."

...Toxophilus, C1545

 

 

Postcript.  18/10/2013



 

The sheet was a failure as the winds were really bad.  This is what it looked like yesterday at my sisters house, bear in mind she lives in a suburb, NOT near the bushland.  It was the same at my house.

 

 

Many homes have been lost in the fires, that only lasted about 24 hours, but were very destructive.  It is not even summer yet, and we have had catastrophic fires!  I cant think what it will be like in February.  As for the plants, well the lettuce look a bit worse for wear, I have hand watered them, and the seeds so hopefully they will survive well.  We are all coughing from the smoke left in the air. 

~

The fun begins with the planting

After a day that got to 40degrees C, (that is really HOT), it rained overnight so my beds are perfect for planting today.  The soil is warm and wet.  This is the great thing about living where I do, we face south and are on the top of a hill, so my house was built to passive solar standards to take advantage of this.  When we get a hot day in Sydney, it is usually followed by a southerly buster - rain and wind from the south.  I just open the doors and in comes the cool air.  I doubt I will ever move!

So the plan today is :
Bed A

1. two tripods for snap and snow peas,
2. a row of radish, rocket and pac choy seeds which is repeated every 3 weeks so we have a continuous supply.
3. flowers in one corner - courtesy of a wedding my son went to where he received seeds to plant as a thank you gift - lovely, and some marigolds if I can find them,
4. parsley in the other corner to keep away pests and encourage good bugs

Bed B

1. Yellow cherry tomatoes
2. Grosse Lissie grafted tomatoe
3. More tomatoes
4. Basil
5. Lettuce that can be continuously picked.

After a trip to the shop for seedlings, this is what I actually planted

So, all the things in bed A are seeds, and only the basil and flowers are seeds in bed B.  As the soil already has manure and compost in it, I only added lime to the lettuce and tomatoes, and worm castings to the bottom of the tomato holes, and coffee grounds on top of the soil around the tomatoes.

4 peas have been planted at the bottom of each tripod, 2 per stake, and I will put in another 4 under the other stakes in about 3 weeks, that should keep a good supply going.  The beds currently look like this:

Here are some tips I used at the plating stage

• Add a bit of lime to the soil for tomatoes and lettuce
• Take off the bottom leaves of the tomatoes so that they don't develop fungus or virus diseases.
• Put some worm castings into the tomato holes.
• Sprinkle ground coffee (not instant) around the tomatoes.
• Water Epsom salts over the peas to help the seeds sprout, and over the lettuce because they like it.  (I did this the next day)
• On the second day I watered everything with a mild solution of seaweed extract and worm juice.

By the bye,  I set up a very successful worm farm for next to nothing, here is the link on how to do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN3cACBUWjI  - and thanks to Gardening Australia.  I have used this method and it works.  I bought my worms from a place in Oatley though, as they are much fresher than if you buy them from the hardware store.  Check out  Able Worms -   Myall St, Oatley NSW 2223

Here is a picture of my worm farm, I got the boxes for free at the Sydney Markets.

When I judge art,

I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower.

 If it clashes, it is not art.
...Paul Cezanne

Test, and when you think its right, test again.

OMG I have been so sick with some virus/flue that I caught out on Sydney Harbour.  Well, probably my fault as I did go out in the rain and wind on the Manly Ferry just to take photos of the tall ships coming into the harbour - see below, that is the crew on the masts!   It was all part of the Naval Review in Sydney.   Trouble was, it was a sunny day when we left home and the weather deteriorated badly, by the time we got to Manly it was terrible.

 



Anyway, I am on the mend now after a trip to the doctor and several drugs later, so we headed off to Bunnings to buy some seeds etc.  While I was sick, the best husband and son in the world shovelled all the soil into the beds for me, and it has had a couple of weeks to settle in.  Don't fill a bed like this to the top, as you need some room for water and mulch.



I decided a soaker hose is the easiest way to water the garden, and bought 2 that are 6 metres long, I put the first one in....



And turned on the hose to test,  way too much hose  and  water for the area!  (This is why you test), so one hose will do two boxes nicely.  I will tie down the hose with some metal ties that I use for tying up the tomatoes to stakes.  These are pink plastic coated ties, similar to what is used to tie the end of plastic bags etc, but much longer.

Even with the hose on very low, this will only need about 20 minutes per day to water the plants well.  The way to tell is to test, put the hose on for 5 minutes, see how far down it has penetrated.  Then try another 5 etc.  once the water has penetrated 8-10 cm down, you know how much to water each day.

Tomorrow the planting starts.

 

Gardening requires lots of water -

most of it in the form of perspiration. 

~Lou Erickson

 

~

I do wish it did rain roses

Some time ago, the electricity dept had to do some work in my area, and it involved running underground cabling around the corner block we live on.  They soon discovered we have only 3cm of 'soil' which is actually sand, and then you hit large sandstone blocks.   Out came the special jackhammers and off they went.  But it brings me to the point of this blog, I have always wanted a vegie garden, but with no soil its a bit difficult.

So I began researching above ground gardens, and found them hideously expensive.  Just recently however, Aldi had garden bed edging for a reasonable price, but it was only 30cm high.  No. 1 son hit on the idea of putting one on top of each other, and making them 60 cm high.  Great for me, as I get some decent soil depth for veggies, and I don't have to bend so much.  So, we have bought 4, put them together on the grass.  We have to work out how to make sure they stay together, so off to the hardware store it is.

Grass is an enemy in this circumstance, so I have used the cardboard boxes they came in to line the bottom, along with some chook manure and wet newspapers.  This should kill the grass and stop it from coming through.    I have used this method before and know it works.

 

We found a great landscape supplies company that makes soil specifically for vegies, a mixture of loam, compost and manure - perfect!  They are BC Sands at Caringbah, when we went there to order and pay, they were really helpful, suggesting we order a bit less and delivered the same day, which we were surprised at.  No sooner had we driven home than the text had arrived to say the truck was on the way, so we quickly got the tarp down for the delivery.



 

 

It will never rain roses:

when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees.
.....  George Eliot

 

~

Monet : I perhaps owe my painting to flowers

We have just come back from the trip of a lifetime, going to Singapore, England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Thailand.

Most definitely the highlight for me was going to Versailles and Giverny.  You could not get two more contrasting destinations, and in between we had a wonderful lunch at a little mill nearby.
Versaillles is all about excess, from the enormous gardens clipped within an inch of their lives, to the extravagant bedrooms and gold front gates.  Giverny is  a garden so painstakingly put together it looks as if Monet painted it onto the landscape. 

That's real gold on the gates and on the building inside! 

Its difficult to see, but there are several flowers here, first the dark, almost purple/black leaves make the backdrop, then the bright orange with yellow centre on the left, and the light orange/yellow on the right, in between you can just see the fine lines of the pink/red flower spiralling up to pull it all together.  Monet was a genius.

Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand,

 as if it were necessary to understand,

when it is simply necessary to love.
.............. Claude Monet


~

P.S. - You can follow my blog now on email - see right! .........>>>

My top tips for travelling

The bags are packed, the boarding passes are printed, we are off to Singapore tomorrow!  Then heading to London, and the Scotland and Ireland, a brief sojourn to Paris, back to London and 5 days in Phuket, Thailand.  Along the way I will try to put some blogs up to document where and what we go to.

In the meantime, here are my tips when travelling:

1. Sards Wonder Soap is great for rinsing out those undies etc. and easy to pop into a bag.
2. I always take a couple of blow up coathangers, you can wash a t shirt and dry it overnight with one of those!
3. As we will be travelling around, I pack all the undies, sox, scarves, cold weather gear and swimmers into large zip lock bags, easy to get out of bags and into draws.
4. On overseas travel I take carry on luggage with almost nothing in it, so that I can take some weight out of bags for internal flights.
5. This time we are taking a couple of bike locks, to use on the Eurostar and while our bags are in the car - should make trying to steal them much harder.
6. I take a fairly large handbag, again so that I can fit some things in it to lighten other bags if necessary.
7. Carry on luggage needs a lock on it - you neve know when it will need to go into the hold of a plane.
8. I always take some spare panties and a days worth of medication in my handbag - you never know when bags can be lost.

Come at once!

This is my favourite piece of Waterhouse's writing. Its from Miracles Happen - I hope it makes readers laugh as much as I did.

To set the scene; this is an exchange of telegrams between Bertie and his Aunt Agatha:

Aunt : Come at once. Travers.

Wooster: Perplexed. Explain. Bertie.


Aunt : What on Earth is there to be perplexed about, ass? Come at once. Travers.

Wooster : How do you mean come at once? Regards. Bertie.


Aunt : I mean come at once, you maddening half wit. What did you think I meant? Come at once or expect an aunt's curse first post tomorrow. Love. Travers.


Wooster : When you say 'Come' do you mean 'Come to Brinkley Court'? And when you say 'At once' do you mean 'at once'? Fogged. At a loss. All the best. Bertie.
 
 Aunt : Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. It doesn't matter whether you understand or not. You just come at once, as I tell you, and for heaven's sake stop this back-chat. Stop being a fathead and come immediately. Love. Travers.

Wooster calls his butler Jeeves.
Wooster : Jeeves, What do you make of these telegrams.
Jeeves : I think your aunt wants you to go at once, sir.
Wooster : Do you get that feeling too?
 

 

Madeline Bassett: [about Bertie] I think he's having a brainstorm! Aunt Agatha: What with?

When I was younger I used to roam the corridors of the local library fiction section, looking for inspiration.  I came across a few books written by the same author, PG Woodhouse, they were rather plain looking books, a bit like the one below, and fairly slim in comparison to other books.  But I took a chance on one.

It changed my life, I have never laughed so much when reading a book.  I don't know what it is about Woodhouse, wether it is the complicated plots, the amazingly rich characters or just his style with words, but I really loved those books.  I read them all!

Since then they pop up every now and again, with a series starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry ( Jeeves and Wooster), and now in mp3 form so that I can listen to them on the way to sleep.

Here are some excerpts for your enjoyment, and if you have not read the books - get one out of the library and enjoy yourself.

Brinkley Manor:

Bertie Wooster: So! It appears that you've gone and got engaged to the Gussie.

Angela Travers: Quite right. We're in love.

Bertie Wooster: Oh, come now, Angela. Gussie's... Gussie's a splendid chap in many ways. If you've got a sick newt on your hands, Gussie's just the fellow to tell you what to do until the doctor comes. But honestly, old thing, you could fling bricks by the half-hour in England's most densely populated districts without hitting one girl willing to become Mrs. Fink-Nottle without a general anesthetic.

Angela Travers: Well, I thought it would be fun!

Bertie Wooster: Well, I'm surprised at you, young Angela. No wonder they say, "Oh, woman, woman!"

Angela Travers: Who do?

Bertie Wooster: ...Well, chaps, supposedly. But you know you're potty about Tuppy!

Angela Travers: For goodness's sake, Bertie, go away and boil your head!

Bertie Wooster: Well, now, Angela, if you'll permit me to observe...!

Angela Travers: No!

Bertie Wooster: Very well, then. I shall say no more. [gets up to leave, then pauses in the doorway] Just... tinkerty-tonk!

The Delayed Arrival:    
  
 Stilton Cheesewright: [referring to Bertie's cocktail] Now what do you suppose those things       are   doing to your eye?

Bertie Wooster: For your information, Cheesewright, one does not administer alcohol by the eye, or even by the ear. The mouth is the correct orifice.

Stilton Cheesewright: Not if one's meant to be in trainng for the Drones darts tournament, it isn't.

Bertie Wooster: Ah, yes, of course, you've drawn me in the sweepstake, haven't you? Well, your money is safe, Cheesewright. The Wooster form is as devastating as ever.

Stilton Cheesewright: We want a win this year, Wooster, not another dratted tie. I happened to look in on the Drones Club this evening. Freddie Widgeon was at the darts board, stunning everyone with a performance that took one's breath away.

Bertie Wooster: Tcha!

Stilton Cheesewright: Eh?

Bertie Wooster: I said "tcha!" scornfully, with ref. to F. Widgeon. I know his form backwards.

Stilton Cheesewright: He's knocked off smoking, you know!

Bertie Wooster: No!

Stilton Cheesewright: He takes a cold bath every morning!

Bertie Wooster: [shrugs] He's forgotten where the hot tap is.

Return to New York

Bertie Wooster: This is a bit steep, Jeeves.

Jeeves: Approaching the perpendicular, sir!

~

 



The fastest little chicken soup in town

When I was laid up for 4 months and my husband had to do the cooking, I had to work out a recipe for very quick and easy chicken soup.  Its a soup day today, as the wind and weather outside is just terrible, so here are the recipe instructions I gave to my husband, he did well.

Take a large pot, put a glug of olive oil in it and turn the stove on.
Cut up some chicken you have in the freezer into very small pieces.
Slice up a leek, put this into the pot and stir so it does not stick, when it is looking a bit wilted, stir in the chicken until it turns slightly white.
Turn off stove.
Cut up into small (1cm) size chunks, 1 stick celery, 1 potatoe, 2 carrots, 1 turnip and 1 parsnip (or 1 soup pack from the supermarket).
Turn the stove back on, and add the vegetables to the pot.  Stir for about 5 minutes until it all starts to wilt and cook.  DO NOT BURN.
Add 1 large packet of chicken stock, and about the same amount of water (or 1 kettle worth).
Add 2 large glugs of tomatoe sauce and 1 large glug of soy sauce, a couple of turns of the black pepper and some salt.
Turn down to the minimum on stove and simmer for about 1 hour.
Slice up 1/4 of a cabbage very finely.  Turn off the stove.  Add the cabbage and put the lid back on for at least 10 minutes.
Check for enough salt and pepper, add more if needed.

Serve with the nicest bread you have.

This is what it looks like:

This saying sort of sums up my husbands cooking:

And I don't cook, either.

 Not as long as they still deliver pizza.
............Tiger Woods