Showing posts with label weather bomb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather bomb. Show all posts

Sunday, September 16, 2012

School Closures... Changing Days... Composting Goodness


Miss B's Beautiful Spring Tulips

Have had a chance to process the information given on the scheduled School closures here in Christchurch - specifically Chisnallwood Intermediate, as at the moment, that is the one that directly affects us in our family.
Not to worry, the brilliant staff are not going to give in and take it lying down, Richard Patton put this in the last line of the letter home -
   ...To our Chissy students - I simply say you have been through enough.
Be reassured that your parents and your school are here for you. That we are proud of you, and that all this will work its way out...
And from the signs around the school area, the parents are networking already to do what they can. If it is enough, good - no, great stuff, but I wonder. It is a huge change that is scheduled - unfair and uncalled for, but then there are plenty of unfair and uncalled for changes happening of late.
We are learning to negotiate through them.

What a changing day it has been - just after three oclock this afternoon, the beautiful breezy day that was hit the decks and followed up with a massive gale and icy showers. It has subsided and its time for the heat pump to go on, the cat to cuddle up and the puddles to rise. Our street has a hump in the middle of it (dont know what that is called, but the water runs off to the sides...) and it doesnt usually flood, but because of the angry thick rain, it has started to puddle everywhere. The birds dont mind, their bread has got wet, makes it easier to eat I guess, they are *sitting in* out there, pecking away...

We did some composting this afternoon before the weather bomb landed.
Cardboard layers in, some horse manure on top...grass etc The pile here needs a good stomp on, will get that done next week when the crew arrive to put the new lean-to together. The Aloes cant wait :) They love the light, but dont like the heat so much, nor the frost of course so have been inside over winter.

Then onto the liquid mix - some more horse manure added to a large blue bin and mixed in with water, comfrey leaves and some other goodies like seaweed, some very well crushed egg shell and some dried and crushed dock leaves. Full of goodness for the plants when it gets there.
Ive left it a few days before stirring, and decant it into lemonade bottles (plastic ones) so I can take it across to school for the rhubarb too. Have been giving it away with the lettuce seedlings too... Better than putting raw poo on, or composting it in, and finding the seeds from the grass and weeds that spring up out of nowhere. Comfrey is such a gem!

Speaking of seeds - I have my first lot of red pickling cabbage (*Red Rock*) seeds heading up nicely this week - its really nice to see the flower heads appear, but its so satisfying when you winnow out the seeds and see them all lying in the bowl.

Well thats it for today,
Splashing along :)

EBUTTERFLY
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Sunday, March 4, 2012

The First of March -
Canterbury's weather, this week, took a turn for the wet and windy, cold and dewy. I cant believe it - it was like clockwork. This week has been very different from the last. I knew darker mornings were to be expected but we havent even reached Daylight Saving and the mornings are already darker, the evenings a little shorter. The dew is heavy and the foggy drippy windows let me know its colder out there...
The North had their first Winter Weather Bomb, a  violent storm that left its mark on gardens and property throughout NZ. We were lucky, we got just the glancing blow. Not so fortunate were our Northern neighbours!

Big Son (18) has had a couple of days off and has been working on my car, and spent his hard earned cash on some neccessities. Bless him. He loves getting in and doing it, reading up on what to do and away he goes...



Hes changed my oil and my oil filter, done a few other things and replaced the rocker gasket, which didnt sound like much fun, but it looks  & sounds so much better and runs nicely! Hes cleaned the whole thing and Im so thrilled and so,so grateful!
Still have to replace a Speedometer cable. Its in such a fiddly place... sigh.
Cars! Cant afford em, cant live without em!?
Thank You Son! Mummy Loves You!

Clutter, Clutter!Im feeling shut in and cluttered already.
It doesnt take much, I dont like being inside when there are things I feel I need to do outside. I can hear my intuition telling me to make a List of things (Im a list kinda gal!) to do when *those* days close in... And I mustnt ignore it this year, as I do tend to get the Winter Blues easily if I cant get out and about in the garden.

Ive started de-cluttering inside... AGAIN.  Its funny how every year, we bunk-in. We change the house around so we can live in the warmer parts of the building during Winter and close off the other parts. This year, with chimney removal and such, cracks in walls, missing putty in windows, holes in stained glass, drips here and there... its going to be interesting to say the least. Theres a ... massive... gap in the front door between the door jam, and where the door closes - in fact, the door barely locks and a good shoulder to the door handle would open it easily. It was a vital part of the emergency repairs that got *overlooked* ... EQC and Landlord *forgot* about that part I guess?
However, its the CLUTTER that does my head in. Why, oh why... do we have so much crrra...rubbish.
Im dealing to it. I simply cant do it fast enough. I hate tripping over stuff, or looking for something you cant find... and it happens here regularly. Old clothes - out. Old plastics - Recycled. Cardboard Boxes - Recycled...
Oh and then theres the school fundraiser - a box of CHOCOLATE to sell... groan. They know my weak spot...Perfect for those cold Winter days and nights...

Good News... and yes, there IS some, Im not just here to whine endlessly throughout this post *grin*, though it might seem that way...
We are getting BROADBAND tomorrow. An extremely inexpensive, good deal + Troublesome and Useless dialup = BROADBAND... As my 18yo said in a text when he heard... Welcome to the 21st Century Ma!... Cheeky brat.

So Im makin' a Youtube list of Things to Watch - Any suggestions?
I need to catch up on a couple of my favourite programmes Ive missed along the way, but Im really keen to view some of the stuff Ive missed for years as people have sent me links to videos, and Ive had to delete cos of my s-l-o-w connection... NOT ANY MORE :-) Can you see me grinning from here?
I resisted signing up for broadband for so long... but anything! for no more dialup hassles. I like learning from Gardening sites, like OOOBY and similar...

So things I can do this Winter if I cant be out and about include... Knitting some winter woollies - Id like to knit some socks, have never tried... Revamping the lounge - making a cushion or something to brighten things... Selling off some of the kids toys/books/baby clothes online... Jam! Preserving,... Making seed envelopes... Some more Prepping... Making some copies of my online Recipes... Im sure I will find more to do, besides Housework :-)

So thats me...
Still here, tidying and passing time til tomorrow at 9.30am or thereabouts...
Love to You and Yours,
E Butterfly
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