Washington the cat... Walk on the Beach, Aloe, Aloe?

We have our own star, our own LOLCat. I dont know if youve ever seen the website, but my two Littles love flicking through it. So we took our own photo of our quaky cat - Washington.
Shes finding winter brisk this year, in her advancing years (you know what its like :-) )
So here she is, showing me the foundations of our house. She does the silent miaow at me, and talks constantly sometimes, which makes me think she might be my mother-in-law reincarnated...Yes, they need replacing Washington... she is not impressed.
I think shes part Persian, or maybe the wind changed?...

Have been for a jaunt to the beach, it was wet and sandy ... a bit chilly (hats etc), but the sun was fantastic! We saw birds, hills, sun... and noone got their feet wet for a change *grin*

Footprints

The Culprit...

Have been  checking the Aloe veras, planting the small pups into their own pots. Am using a different mix this year, to see if  I can get them to root deeper into the soil. Its a blend of indoor plant mix and orchid mix. So far, so good theyre starting to plump out into bigger plants. Have almost 40 plants now, have started to give some of the larger ones to new homes. Im running out of room!

Cant believe the holidays are nearly over yet again. In a city where people find work, Im very proud to say my Mr almost-16 has just found a part time job. Hes really pleased and cant wait til his first day! Well done You!

Well, Im off to a warmer place,
Hope you sleep well!
Keep Warm
Love,
EButterfly
XXXXXXX

Happy Days Are Here Again...Aloe, Aloe... Vera?

Yeah!It is a good day. For a Tuesday!
The birds are singing - or were singing - seeing its Dark Just Now.
And it was a good day in the Garden.
With my
 Darling
Mr EB.
Side By Side.
Him with the Man Saw, Me with the piddly wee bendable thing (ugh!)
We cut and slashed, hacked and ripped out some scraggly plum type trees that have never done much
except make a mess. We talked as we hacked, planned, dreamed, schemed.
Now I have a corner for my new compost bin. A big 'un!
Now to move the contents of the old piles into the new bin...
Guess who gets to help with that job... Boys? :-)
Why have two gorgeous teens unless they can do menial tasks for you and then tell you they love you?
Ha! They havent heard my demands yet, but I guess I ll need bribery too :-)

So after the compost bin is in place, filled with glorious rotting stuff, I can start shopping for Worms.
Yes! A Worm farm. Im looking forward to long, fat, skinny, slimy, grubby wormies! I love it!
And then, the next on the list, is the extension of the herb garden, down the length of the property.
And grubbing the new ground for the vege garden
Selecting some seeds to start sprouting for Spring - Petunias, Snapdragon and Phlox,
Repotting the Aloe babies into their own pots
... I feel like a new mother - they have sprouted babies everywhere again!
I think I ll have upward of 30 Aloe Vera plants after this next lot are repotted.
Where to put them, is the question? Running out of places... Might have to Trademe some.

So onward to Wednesday...
Love to All
EBUTTERFLY
XXXXXXXX

Mid Winter Composting Ambitions...

Welcome to Monday... Its so quiet here, not a sign of a shake lately. I do worry when its like this ... She says Tongue in Cheek! Whats next then? I hear you ask...(was that you?) Well, being Me, I Have A LIST.

Its Frrreeezzzing out there, frosty as ever. Last night we went for a Pudding Run to the local Stupidmarket, and it was very misty out there. I think we hit Winter finally!
Im still doing the de-clutter. I have several big bags of stuff to re-home or re-cycle. Its exciting to see bare space!
So whilst Im throwing things out, and decluttering... it strikes me that my compost could do with a new home.
This weekend I have a project on. Time to make a new compost bin or two... Again, its exciting to think it might mean I can adopt some Tiger Worms for a worm farm... We did that a few years ago at our previous address, and that ROCKED. The kids loved checking the progress of the worms, and feeding them was awesome for their education.
So it better be frosty mornings, high blue skies and sun throughout the weekend. Oh. Its also nearly School Holidays too! That snuck up on us, but the school boy is secretly pleased...

Have hauled out all the broken down tomato stakes and old plants. It is nice to see the brown earth underneath, and  now the plans abound to see what is going to go where this coming growing season...
Im off to price Pea Straw and Chickky Pooh as a base.

Im dreaming of ... oh  lots of warm sun and lazy nasturtiums, romantic petunias and sweet smelling basil. I have onions in growing nicely, some silverbeet or coloured chard that is beautiful and shiny, and small clumps of parsley, dill and coriander.
Inside, Im still pottering with my capsicums who have not forsaken me, they hang from four plants in two pots on my windowsill. Each plant has a couple of good sized fruit, one has several new fruit coming along, and theyre awesome for conversation... It goes something like... Is THAT a green pepper growing there? ... Also, we have a variety of Aloe vera growing in my bedroom window. They all have new shoots, ready to be re potted... Awesome!!

Well, thats a garden catch-up... Next time it will be a composting work in progress!!
And weve been accepted by BLOTANICAL - THANKYOU for having Me!

Thanks for Reading,
Leave me a message & tell me about YOUR Winter garden!
EBUTTERFLYXXXXXXXXX

Everything on The Lazy A is A-Oa-K ....

With the gorgeous weather we have had so far this week here in Christchurch, New Zealand,
Ive been outside tidying up the yard. This is what I found below the elderberry tree. It was as if it were sheltering them from me...

 Mr 13 owned up to having planted a rather large handful of acorns in the Autumn, and today I separated out some of the new little oak seedlings. Theyre rather precious,  thinking about their future potential size and not looking too bad at all. Varying sizes and shapes, some will not possibly be suitable as big trees, but Im learning as I go...

Firstly, transplanting oak seedlings isnt as easy as I first thought. Oak trees have rather large straight tap roots. These would be about four or five months old, and are between 20-30 cm long, half of that is tap root which extends from out of the base of the acorn which is, in most cases, still attached to the seedling, possibly as a food supply? for the new growth. Planting them in long containers (in my case cut down coke bottles or milk containers) was fine as long as the hole was deep and the tap root was as undisturbed as possible.
They are all looking peachy at the moment, so maybe I was lucky! A little trip down the road to have a look at the parent tree meant I could identify the trees as Quercus Alba.L which is White Oak. Beautiful!! I just might end up with my grove of oaks... OK, maybe not me, my grandchildren might :)

Did you know you can eat acorns? Have a look here if you're interested - COOKING WITH ACORNS
The Sioux Indians use acorn in their cooking because they were plentiful and easy to store (away from squirrels!)
I didn't know much about this, but these kinds of things fascinate me, being interested in self-sufficiency and survival skills...
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT OAK TREES - Oak trees live for up to 200 years. I guess that means careful consideration before planting is essential!

And in case you want to try planting your own acorns... heres a page that explains it all ... Gosh I love the internet!! :) HERE - COLLECT AND PLANT YOUR ACORNS

And on top of all that replanting, transplanting, repotting etc... The Aloes got some division to do - I got time yesterday to split up three of my bigger plants, and netted another 12 from them, they are splitting nicely, and growing strongly. Light, not heat is what they prefer. They go rather reddish brown around the edges if they are too hot. To use the aloes medicinally, they need to be rather larger than what I have yet. Im looking forward to making some burn cream when the plants mature considerably...

We have some seeds in pots, waiting for them to rear their tiny heads... Some motherwort, tansy, cabbage, lettuce, sunflower, pumpkin... Ive never had much luck with seeds, but hopefully that is about to change :)
Well thats all my garden news for now.

Thanks for listening :)
Take care

E Butterfly
Christchurch by The River

Browsing Night

Hello again!

Having the children at home from school has meant I havent had as much time as Id like to get out in the garden, but we go walking which we all enjoy. Its a lovely time of year to get out and about, and seeing we live right beside a river, we gravitate to it for our walks.

<---A mated pair of Paradise Ducks, the female has the white head. They mate for life, aww! <3

The birdlife enjoy our visits, we take the obligatory loaf of *old* bread to feed the enthusiastic ducks and beady eyed swans, the haughty canada geese look on as we feed the shy little black squab and rare teal ducks... There is also a pair of Paradise ducks who are regulars, living on the river banks and having babies each year. Theyre a long way from the High-country that used to be their home!

On the Plant Note -

Ive been watching my Aloe plants, they seem very happy on the window sill, and their offshoots or *pups* as Ive read theyre called, are growing nicely too. At this rate, Im going to have a very busy Aloe garden! I seem to be leaving my brown thumb behind (or am I commenting on that too soon! :-) Long live the Aloes!

Ive got several griselinia, fuschia and pittosporum cuttings planted too. Fingers Xed :-)

Im wondering if roses grow well from seed - so Im off to read about it - yes, they do grow, it sounds rather tricky though!
There is such a vast world of seed around us, free too, some of it, but Ive never bothered with it before... Ive always purchased the *easy* seeds, or bought plants.
I think seeds are going to become very important to those who can utilize them as the economy fails, food prices will rocket... If you can plant seed successfully, it gives you a very valuable skill - perhaps skills will become our currency...
This is why I try to keep learning about new skills I guess. I keep telling my teenagers (2 boys) to keep reading to learn new things - How can you say you are living fully if you arent learning new things to pique your interest?
Unfortunately, though they are healthy, intelligent teenagers, the playstation calls... or the computer... oh dear!

DID YOU KNOW -

Aloe is about 96% water!

Aloe Vera can aid in keeping the skin supple, and has been used in the
control of acne and eczema by rubbing the gel on the skin, and drinking the juice.
Aloe taken internally is said to relieve arthritis and joint pain.

Aloes and All...

Hey There ;-) Ive taken a photo of the Aloe vera plants I acquired last week (its probably huge, I better check that!... no, its not now :). They are such attractive plants - their energy is gentle and soothing to me, and I keep going back into the kitchen to take another look at them. Its so surprising to me how quickly they change - there are tiny offshoots coming up all throughout the pots of the new ones.

The elderly gentleman I got the plants from told me they will be happy if I keep them in light not sun - which I had thought they would like, being succulents and me being ignorant :-) The other two plants I had were doing great at the windowsill, so I have put them alongside for now. I can see I may seriously need a plant shed/glass house *hint hint to Papa Bear*

One of my sons who is eight, helped me with making some pots out of newspaper by folding the paper around a plastic drink bottle - not bad! We have them some filled with potting mix and ready to go now - but what to plant?

Im thinking some Herbs - echinacea perhaps, (we have white and purple flowered seeds), and some cuttings - the easier plants maybe - we have some geranium that has some roots from sitting in water for a couple of weeks. Ive also got some winter veggie seeds, so away we go!