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

Rain following the wind... January Snow...How does your Garden Grow?

Sunflowers over 6ft before wind

Rain Following the Wind...

Long time not a lot of  blogging going on, but news has been scarce around here. Its not that we havent done things, its been a lack of camera, and theres only so many stories you can write about without pics...

News to hand is... its raining.

Not just a little bit, but hard rain. Weve had a lot of rain in a short time. Yesterday was mucky and drizzly with some pelting thunder/lightening storms. Today its not mucking around, its serious rain, hard and heavy. The gardens needed rain, but the people who are in Red Zone houses with holes did not.

Nature at its best out there though, providing for its own (plants)

Echinacea

Last week was horrendously windy.

The garden suffered, and everything got trussed up, Ive had to cut back my echinaceas to my sorrow, both plants ended up losing hunks to the wind. Ive tried to salvage the bits that fell off, they both had roots. We shall see! Fingers xed! The blooms have been gorgeous, scented and my favourite - PINK!

So its the middle of the night. Its cold outside, and nice and cosy in here.

Mid Summer... believe it or not :)

I cant sleep, and after pulling muscles in my arms doing some major weeding jobs, (yes... that shows how tough the ground is here!!) sleep has been precious in the past two weeks.
We have a new piece of garden, and some new plants. In fact, they just keep coming.

We have a new Clementine tangelo/mandarin who is potted, two new blueberries - Tif Blue and Centurion.

They went into the new plot, and I was surprised when I picked them up to see that they had fruit on them. Good Lookin!! Cant wait to see how many last the distance.

Clementine

Our Satsuma *Miho* is looking good.

It had small tiny buttons for fruit on it when it arrived pre-Xmas. The tiny buttons are now $1 coin size.

The horsey poo water is fertilizing things nicely, Ive added supa-gro to some of the pots to help things grow on. Im hoping to mulch some hay or straw in in the next few weeks, should finances allow.

Our own compost pile is looking good, it will sit over winter, and I ll put black plastic over it... just like a real farmer and silage :)

January Snow? - Who'd have thought we would get snow in January. Not here, but nearby in Porters Pass area. Its crazy! It leaves us believing that the seasons are changing into a myriad of different things. Perhaps we are amidst this Climate Change thing we hear so much about, and afraid of. I think the whole *Intuitive* gardening helps get through this. Mulching to keep our plants happy, and turning over the soil regularly making sure it doesnt clog with water... Here we are near enough to the water table that it could mean raised beds are neccessary to alleviate any flooding. I think our problem will be if we dont get enough sunny days, nothing will ripen fast enough and you get fruit rotting before it ripens.
Ive thought about these issues, and by far I dont have answers, just want to trial different things to see if they work. One thing is using thermal mass around the garden. Walls of brick to keep things warm for instance. I have built up, bricked-in trenches or edges that Ive got tomatoes in, around the edge of my pathways which are cement. The sun reflects off the cement and the heat of the bricks keeps the soil warmer than the bigger beds. These tomatoes are always the first to fruit, first to ripen... ONLY ones to ripen so far this year. We are at least a month behind where we were last year, and two months behind the North Island from what I read on popular gardening forums. Id hate us to get even less growing season, but if that happens, I have to invest in some glass for a glass house or similar. I simply cant NOT grow things :-)

Because I rent, I cant bear the thought of putting things into the ground and not being able to take them with me. So I pot.

I have some rather large pots now, and I am really waiting for Superman to call in when I need to shift. Cos Im thinkin he will be the only one who can lift the pots!!
Ahh well, maybe Earth Changes will happen and I ll swap my trailer for a Chinese Junk and we can sail to Gardening Heaven?

Home grown Potatoes!

Thats possibly enough of my Mid-Night Ravings, and I should possibly go back to bed and sleep.

Ahh, if only.

Seeding Sunflower

Akane Apple - just the one this year!

Tif Blue Blueberry!

Potatoes with a purple flower, pretty!

Stunning Carrot flower (Nutri-Red)

Bloody Butcher Tomato Babies, Yum!

Black Zebra. Can see the stripes, no black yet.

Jaune du coeur de pigeon - Yellow pigeon egg sized tomatoes

So thats us.

How about this for a Happy Earthquake Song? Love it! SEE YOUTUBE HERE

Take care out there.
I hope youre all well, and happy.

The shaking (aftershocks) - dare I mention? They are easing. For now.

There are other parts of the country that have had shaking too, so life in NZ where ever you move is going to be tenuous.

School goes back soon, and Im not looking forward to being without my Littles.

So Im not thinking about that, and trying to make the best of the time we have left together.

Love to All

Happy Gardening :)

E BUTTERFLYXXXXXXXXX

PS - AFTERSHOCK. See, it never ever pays to mention Mother Nature :)
That gave me a good fright, it was centred around the road, about 3k away and sent the ball of fluff on my knee flying.

Washington, Old Girl

All Day Rain... Working Indoors

Rose Front Lawn. Not its name, its location ;-)

A brilliant wet Wednesday.
The Chance of All Day Rain is what Miss 5 told me she had heard on the news. Funnily enough, she was still snoozing when the weather forecast was on, but she is right so far... All Day Rain.
Which is a good thing, and a bad thing. The good thing is the garden gets a decent wash of rain. The bad of course, is that Im stuck inside having to attend to Housework and Other Inside Work.

Doesnt matter that Im procrastinating. This is the second coffee, Ive sat here and dawdled through the listings of plants & pots on Trademe. Ive checked in to Ooooby to see whose around. Ive read about when & how to harvest Garlic. Sigh. The dishes are half done.

Garlic On the Rise

Ive fed the cats, and the worms...

Odd isnt it, the cats do bugger all, nothing... and get fed twice a day and they whine about their food quality, quantity... the wind chill factor, anything at all.

The Worms... are far and away more productive, dont ask for a thing, and eat anything theyre given... and never say Boo... Which do I prefer? :-)
This is what I laid my eyes on first thing this morning. Im captivated.
Thank Nature! A truly beautiful thing!


Now to see if I can get a poppy head with viable seeds... I hope so. Theyre gorgeous :)

I snuck down this morning to check out the pumpkins.

Murphys Law, and I find myself putting compost around the base of the pumpkins, chocka block full of wormies. Nek minnit... Next minute, I see a big fat Lady Thrush pecking out the worms... Epic FAIL on the composting...

And WHERE on Gods Green Earth are my Furry Purries? Not doing their job, saving my worms from birds... Theyre all blobbing around the Catmint or lazing under my window  waiting for it to open so they can be fed... Theyre being fed too well!
Well enough of my chatter.

Today is the middle of the last week of school for my Mister 11 and Im so looking forward to having them all home... and picking our own tomatoes to eat, lettuce, onions, and all the rest...

Love,

E BUTTERFLY



No Duck Talk! ... Drifting Riverside, The Whiff of Memories - Remembering

Thinking of You!
To All those lost 9/11

Black Swans, Avon River 2011

Canada Geese, Avon River 2011

We walked for a while without talking, when we were accosted by a couple of ducks.
We are always followed when we walk along the Avon river, the bird life is still constant, and this time of year sees them out and about, looking for morsels of food, small nests in the willow trees or in the rushes at the side of the river.
No matter about cracks or liquefaction, these birds are constant.
Every year weve watched them. Weve oohed and ahhed over their babies, fed them and shared our bread... It was a bit hairy seeing them this time last year, but we still made sure we took some bread down to feed them. They were just as hungry as we were!
Two ducks came up to us this morning, and  as usual, being the wonderful bird whisperer that I am, I clucked my tongue and called to them, as you do (dont you?) and they called back, that slow chuck chuck kind of ducky noise.
Muuuum. (Rolls eyes) The little girl sighs.
They cant hear you, Miss 5 says, hands on hips.
Oh. Why not Arlais? I ask.
Thinking quickly, how do I explain simply that ducks DO have ears, you just cant see them etc. 
Well, they cant hear you Mum,
because you
DONT SPEAK DUCK...

I am enlightened.
I swear that girl thinks on her feet for one so young, and will one day turn peoples heads with her thinking.
So I need to learn DUCK.

It is THE most gorgeous day out there.
Bless. I love the sunshine, and this morning it hurt my eyes when I opened the curtains, in fact Mister 11 remarked on it. It was if the sun was shining with his best shirt on, expansive and full. I love today.

We walked down the river, the way we used to for years until our Avon Loop bridge was *munted*.
We stumbled over holes, loose metal on the road, liquefaction, debris from diggers. Theres so many empty houses, some things are broken, some is overgrown, messy and yet... It still has a beauty about it.
The River still glistens, it still moves gracefully if you choose NOT to notice the debris and the mud, the missing trees and the fresh gashes or the sandbags.
I chose today not to see them.
Let me walk in ignorance of the negative things.
The Willows and the Oak trees are pushing upward, the new leaves are about a breath away from expanding outward from bud. The sky is a perfect blue, and the meagre clouds small and puffy.
Today I noticed something that made me smile and remember other times.
The River has a smell to it. Like the smell of algae and water mud, of willows and brackish waters. It reminds me of a time when I was young (ooh Im so old!) and we lived beside the Waitaki River.  After flooding, the river always had landlocked pools of green algae that hid under big  willow trees, their leaves falling into the pools making them brackish and strong smelling. Today that smell leapt at me, from the river... Memories.

Well, memories I guess, make us who we are to some extent. For good or bad, happy and sad. And as you get older, you recall things so much easier, perhaps until you get so old you cant remember anything *grins*
Life is funny. Not ha-ha funny.

Wow, a very deep post today... Just hoping I can fling off all this and start to be the crazy cat lady with the big garden and too many kids who knows weird stuff soon. It is all part of the Life Process I guess.
Now. Where was I?
Thats right... We are off to paint River stones with bright coloured paint for the garden, and talk about our walk around our River.

Love and Blessings,
Remembering 9/11 and the way the world changed...
From My Heart to Yours,

E BUTTERFLY
XXXXXXXXX




Holy Tree Batman!



The Longest Night.... 5.3 and Lots of others besides...

Have just driven Mr Intermediate to school.
After last nights episodes, it was a long night. Well, thats what theyre claiming. I dunno. I slept through the majority of the aftermath ... Whoops. Some survivalist I turned out to be *grin* My babies just rolled over and went back to sleep when I checked on them during the night... YAY!

LINK HERE 

- Its nice and settled out there at the moment. A bit grey and quite dusty. The silt on the roads has settled, but in others there are still clumps to watch out for. Impatient drivers everywhere, but thats *school hour* traffic for you I guess.

Have just started another listing marathon in my bid to de-clutter. I do so want to be a Minimalist eventually.



Beautiful Avon River

It may happen... one day :-)

The rain has stopped, and the shakes for now have subsided, but Im still two cats down. I cant find the black and white one, or the tortiseshell one... and they shouldve been fed by now. Im wondering if perhaps theyre holding out for better food *grin*
Roll On Wednesday. Oh and I mean that in a non-shaking, mediocre, let-me-gather-my-wits kinda way!

All the best,
Keep Smiling!
EBUTTERFLY
XXXXXXXX

Winter? Not here!

Another Full Moon, Another Prediction about TEOTWAWKI

Of course, now that I write about our glorious Indian Summer days here in Christchurch, it will likely turn to custard and pour like a bugger for the next few weeks. Such is Murphys Law!
We have been *done Proud* with the beautiful Summery days and high skies we have had this week and last. It makes getting out of bed such a pleasure in the morning. Ok, well kind of a pleasure... Im a bit of a slouch, I like my bed.
Porridge is for Winter breakfast here, hot coffee and a check up on the news in the morning, and away we go, wrapped up warm. Such a treat to still be able to go for walks and get washing in and out, and its almost June. Yes, it IS almost June. How time flies...

HATS! Ive been knitting here and there, for the small people, and for the bigger ones too - hats mostly. I cant get motivated though, and Im settling in on a small baby blanket to keep me interested. Its not keeping me interested yet, but I will keep at it.

We have had a few small shakes this week, but barely noticeable to us.

What HAS been noticeable though, is the house shaking as the DIGGERS and rollers fix our street.

Finally, we will have smooth roads!! It has been interesting to watch, obviously every little person is fixated on the big diggers and the men in orange vests, and the *Dance of the Road Cones* that seems to be viral across town... and now we have them in our own front yard... almost.



Dance of the Road Cone...

 I think it is fair to say that we have loose piles - our front lounge seems to shudder when the diggers go down, it was worse when they were actually outside digging, I could feel the shaking in the kitchen at the back of the house... The things you get used to, now I barely turn a hair. Turn up the music, you dont hear the diggers, and the vibration becomes part of the dance lol.

Have had a lousy few weeks. Sometimes Life kicks you like a cow. Well, my cow kicked me, gave birth, chewed its cud and then kicked me again..... Just Life Stuff, but meh. Who needs it? The stress levels are pretty toxic, and Ive taken to yelling a bit... not at the kids mind, just at one cat in particular. Poor Moggy

Still Beautiful, even if its Winter, I love my Greens!! BrightLights You Rock!

Miaow

I never was a cat person, and I do believe we have another cat in the wings who seems to have just *turned up* ... I am not having much luck with not feeding him, and I will endeavour to find his People. I simply cannot afford five cats, especially when one of them (Zander The Black Vaccuum) will eat anything that is not nailed down... as long as it is handed to him on a plate... or has fallen off a plate... or it is in the green recycling bin, or smells funny... He likes to rub himself over anything funny smelling, such a delight ;) Full of personality. This wee chap (above) lives in the next street, but I find him often sitting with my lot. They look as if they totally accept him, noone fights him. He wanders around and he talks constantly (which gets my goat, I HATE talking cats!! - its always a demand for more food, better sleeping conditions etc --- DEMANDING!!!)

South Brighton Pumice

We went for a wander down the beach at South Brighton, near the Spit. It was a beautiful day, the birds were all out, of course guess who forgot her camera? Doh!
We did happen upon a wonderful selection of pumice. The children and I collected it, and I have some in my garden, it looks great. Love the texture and the soft lines... Will be creating something with some of it, and passing some along...
Soon all the extended family will appear with soft callus-free heels :)










We celebrated The Lads 11th Birthday this month, he had a very low-key birthday. It was family family family. Just as he had asked, and he got Books... games, books... He was happy.  I felt very uncreative when it came to making his birthday cake, but it didnt really matter.

Anything tastes good when it looks like Pav, tastes good like Pav and is smothered in sweet cream and has Sparklers for candles...

Happy Birthday Blaise! :)
See how much Miss 4 loves your balloons!!
We love you!!


Enough of this, Im off to finish the School baking...
Hope youre keeping things Upbeat.
Love to you

E Butterfly
XXXXXX 

Catching Up...Baking Up A Storm... Sunday, Sunday!

Its been a while... This new computer is awesome, but its taken me a while to figure out how to get everything on again... Happy is, having a big hard drive for lots of photos...

Sumner Main Street

So... lets see some... We took family for a break out to Sumner, I have to say, it is beautiful out there, even in its delicate state. It was a central part of the earthquake, and I was astounded to see the damage, and yet delighted to see the heart of Sumners shops still buzzing, slowly maybe, but steadily all the same.

Road to Sumner, paved by Road Cones!

Shipping Containers edge the road below the cliffs

Underfoot, the scars remain

The Beach Footie Must Go on!

The shops that remain open are well patronized, and Sumner still has such unique places to go and find all manner of things you dont find any where else...

Cute Kiwiana!



Idyllic Buildings especially this one!

 Im eternally grateful I dont live on a hill overlooking the sea.

You can see the gashes where the rocks have fallen

Looking up at them always did make me nervous, the pigeon filled cliffs have fascinated me, the birds fly out now and again en masse, and now, looking at the piles of rubble along the base of the cliffs, and the shipping containers placed there to make the roads safe... the mind boggles.

Cave Rock - the Cave is now filled with boulders

The iconic landmark as you go through Sumner on the beach, is Shag Rock. Of course, the one photo that *didnt turn out* was the one of the new and changed Shag Rock. It doesnt even look like the same place... The funny thing was, we were travelling through and when I saw it, I took a photo, but there was a sign nearby that I caught right in front of the Rock, so here ya go

 ... needless to say, Shag Rock is now small. Very odd... but still has the Shags...

Life Goes On, so glad to see theyre open and Ok

Little Lady Goes Shopping With Daddy

Doesnt matter the age, the hands both went out automatically to run along the top of the rock walls :)

Spa Pool Anyone?

What a gorgeous day for having a stretch of the legs, and a small road trip from the suburbs. Well, Sumner is still a part of the city, but so different from our part of things...

Eww Ahh, a Tractor... We saw two actually!

Theres still a dearth of Diggers and Council vehicles... If youre missing a digger or two... I know where they are! Oh and Road Cones. Christchurch has a million... or two.

The Substation next to the RSA in Sumner

We made a big batch of cupcakes this week.

Our first ever try. Miss A was suitably impressed, and we packed them up and took them around to our neighbours. Blue and Pink icing too... yum. Just what you need :)

Actually Daddy was very impressed with them... We have promised to make them again. Four dozen small cupcakes, it was fun! Weve made a couple of our Fruit Loaves too. Theyre yummy! I think Im channelling my inner Domestic Goddess at the moment, its so much fun to bake esp when its cold outside... and Miss 4 has been learning about mixing and stirring... she loves sitting up there chatting as we bake.

Pumpkin

Another week of school and theyre off again for Easter break. Two weeks of changing weather - lets just say, its usually crappy weather this break, hopefully this year will give us a couple of good solid weather days so we can get out and about... before Autumn cracks and lets Winter in.

Bergamot

The Easter bunny better pop in too, Ive heard Creme eggs are on The Easter List this year, as well as Golden Bunnies from Lindt. Expensive tastes, my children!!

Look Mummy, Im a bwide!

Autumn Colours

Beautiful Lillies

And after all that, May will slide in quietly...

Signs of Winter approaching - Our Empty Swimming Pool...

Our weekly scoop from the garden... Seed Pods and Veggies

My bull-headed Taurean turns 11 on the 8th of May. He is my Mothers Day present, bless him.
This year I want to make him something special, hes had a whacky kind of year - two earthquakes, lots of responsibility and not as much schooling as usual. He is holding it together, but the cracks are showing... I think we all could do with a holiday, but where to go? Hes asked for books... so easy to buy for :)

The new Echinacea I bought has flowered, three tall (majus var) flower heads which I watched over as they died and dried... I bought them inside and shook them tentatively... Yes!! We have seeds. Im so pleased. I hope they are viable and easy enough for this amateur to grow from... Excited? Well yes! I am! :)

My pumpkin is still growing ... Im cautious, as I know the first frost will kill it, but even to get one small pumpkin would be so cool. Its so shiny and green, its very pretty...

Our bergamot has flowered beautifully (photo above), the flowers dont seem to have seeds which concerns me. I dont know what Im looking for however, so maybe I have just missed them this year... I must remember to *google* them...

Mr Winks

Not a lot more to report. Ive just put some boxes and old towels/sheets out for the cats. It is getting colder at night and now that we have two extras, they seem to fight over the old dry haunts... so theres a new box in the garage, and another under the table out the back in the porch... I have to growl at them for fighting, and they adore me seriously... no, honest, its true. They hang on my every bowl of food.

Heres hoping your week is a happy one,
Wishing you Sunshine and Light,
From My Hearth to Yours,

Winter Colour amongst Liquefaction

Earth Butterfly
xxxxxxxxxxxx