Failure to Impress...

LOL...I know I haven't done anything AMAZING for a while lol so I thought I better at least post SOMETHING I have achieved in the last few months...

So here it is...this I grew from SEED. And it took quite a few months to turn into THIS!!!

Hello...Cornflower! Probably not so well suited to the Aussie environment but all the same, blue flowers are my favourite...and it is the ONLY in my entire garden which is WAY OVERFILLED BY *pink* arghhhhh! so yes this little pretty is unashamedly and prejudicially my very very favourite non edible plant in my entire yard! :)

What is a Squeam?

Okay according to some dodgy online dictionary, a squeam is a "qualm".

But according to ME a squeam is my made up word and it is the X between a squeal and a scream!

So anyway I'm gonna come clean...with my manly ego... I had to shame myself in public, lol...

Today I SQUEAMED!...when I bumped into a spider's web above my head while gardening and the rather pretty spider with a round body was on my head and then went on my hand when I swiped it off...to God knows where...but I took off my jacket shook it around and hung it up just in case...

So yeah...Today I squeamed. And I did think a bit indignantly...blergh spiders- they're for MEN to deal with!! :P

*lol

Eating one's way through boredom...

LOL, seriously. Thank God finally a good burst of sun today to save my sanity...

So like the title says I've been doing a lot of that lately- well cos most of my waking hours revolves around food...procuring it, growing it or researching how to, harvesting it, preparing it, cooking it or cleaning up after it!

One night this week I DID NOT SLEEP THE ENTIRE NIGHT just cos I was so craving to try a swiss dessert called a beesting. I guess it was not a good idea to just before bed talk about all the different food excursions we needed to do for all the various things we wanted to eat with my birthday twin....the drool turned into ALL NIGHT obsessing- lol very easy for a scorpio gal that loves eating!

So anyway today was a weird dinner possibly reflective of the chaotic state of my restless itchy feet no travel blues mind...within the one meal I had a seemingly dissonant cacophany of ingredients: beetroot, parsnip, turmeric, rice dulse, fried egg, cayenne, salt, bak choy, lettuce, spring onion, garlic, spinach and flaxseed oil. Strangely, it tasted okay...don't even try and puzzle how I worked it all together! I think these days my meals are WEIRDNESS to say the least, okay maybe as I get older I get more eccentric, but apart from that there are several major factors a) organic food doesn't store so well so I need to use what is in the fridge b)I fresh harvest from my garden c) I want maximum supernutrition...so yeah end up with weird-ass meals!!! But somewhat smugly I NEVER get sick or want to throw food away from homecooked food whereas almost every single thing I eat outside makes me sick cos of all the additives, oil, salt and crap toxic ingredients they use and possibly a lack of freshness and hygiene. I met a batty old lady on the bus talking at the top of her lungs about how she ONLY eats organic as well ...lol I could forsee me in old age right there...it was a lil scary...lol

So the interesting thing which I checked up with my bday twin to see if we concur as usual (lol never get sick of this parallel experience feeling-it's too fun!) We both feel BOOOORED as and TIRED. Interestingly enough devoid of inspiration from daily life and the people around us devoid of culture etc grounded in THIS COUNTRY indefinitely...it was interesting that we reacted in the same way unbeknownst to the other...we turned to MUSIC! Specifically the need to create it! The last day or two I had been thinking I SERIOUSLY NEED a piano and to splurge on lessons...anyway she actually ended up buying a GUITAR today to cope with the boredom-had no forewarning it was pretty random!! LOL so interesting...music is obviously a huge muse for us....

Apart from that had soooo much flower proliferation in my garden I started cutting them and sticking them in containers around the house which is pretty weird and housewifely for me...also been watching lots of DVDs with an overrepresentation of foreign and German as per usual...

and indulging pretty expensive raw organic chocolate at $8/100g...yep that's how I deal with boredom and cooped up with rain! :P

Bug Off!

So anyway Spring has sprung down under (although incredibly temperamental) alternating between wintery chills and drenching showers and a rare treat today...balmy pleasant sun...My body is not appreciating it though, neither are my plants!! For one thing I'm starting to get rampant slug issues!! Possibly cos since my neighbour came back from holidays my resident kookaburra friends are getting too gourmet a meal next door with hand fed ground beef...to desire a palate of slugs! :P

So anyway my organic food production levels have been damaged and hurt significantly enough to warrant attempting to engage flower power warfare...going to try...Nasturtiums!! I'd been doing pretty well so far but I guess as Spring takes off and bugs proliferate (and try and get up my nose), and bite and itch I actually need to get more proactive (and less lazy) in plant management...if I hope to get fresh picked veggies to eat! So yep, some study & research to do...

Apart from that my house is looking like a bit of chaos creative...not cos I haven't been cleaning et cetera but rather a reflective manifestation of the consequences of having virtually nil short term memory and doing too many things simultaneously...half started projects all over the house- then I get distracted and start something else...so the look might be a pile of papers of bills and written but never sent correpondence, cords of electrical appliances trailing, a mop here a vacuum there, ingredients I've forgotten to put back in place after my many cooking sessions/day, not to mention gardening paraphenalia like gloves, masks and protective glasses and sun hat in different corners of the house and bags from different grocery trips half unpacked....enough to cause neat freaks a bit of a heart palpitation!...but ANYWAY hopefully it'll come good tomorrow-what else are weekends good for than to catch up with chores???!

....it's been a bit of a plastered week for me...my productivity levels are highly subject to the weather-when it's cold and rainy I am a cold blooded sloth/hibernating bear on the couch holed up with dvds trying to conserve energy...not to mention as a super introvert kind of a bit exhausted from excess social interaction this week...and finally, I'm still not tapped into the new daylight savings hours still- my sleep patterns are all over the place and I'm definitely 1-2hours behind still eating dinner around 9 or 10pm! What happened to the good old days when I remember there being 4 distinct seasons so my body didn't have to try and sync to four seasons in a day and a week...

At least besides nasturtiums I did manage to put in more radishes and bak choy at dusk relatively unscathed &comfortable for once thanks to my new best friend: natural insect repellant!!!

So this is my garden inventory currently: garlic, onion, spring onion, orange and purple carrot(still no success all twisty and forked!), silverbeet, kale(hopefully no longer slugged up once the nasturtiums flourish), red, green and rocket lettuce, bak choy, tatsoi, italian parsley, dill, strawberry, tomatoes, passionfruit, lemon tree, beetroot, lemongrass, leek, cucumber, zucchini, snow pea, lavender...phew! Also hopes to add celery, capsicum, dandelion, gotu kola, basil, coriander...I sure am a Greedy Gardener :D

This is what you call..."Garden Fresh!" ;)

Okay so I could have titled the post..."Lessons for the Novice Gardener in Growing Edible Plants" however I prefer the positive spin, lol, especially when it's also true! ^^

So yeah it's not obvious from the pic but the big lesson I learnt in growing carrots which are rated as "easy"...well they HATE HATE fertile soil...too much Nitrogen...eg chicken manure makes the carrots go all twisty and forked and sprouts heaps of tops and not enough root...well I think that's what it was... Carrots like sandy crap well drained soil...and you need to water them deeply once a week for the roots to grow straight rather than have downpours of frequent rain for them to sog themselves in...

So anyway I had way too many seedlings and things growing out of control and not enough space so I had to choose some things to harvest even if they aren't mature...So today I picked/cut the baby carrots, baby radishes, spring onion, garlic tops, some english spinach and some dill...all of these grown organically by the way no sprays no NADA...just lots of sun and fresh air, good conversations and loooove :D

Apart from that I am amused that I am so desperate to bowl but so friendless here my next bowlo opportunities are set with people who have to fly in from remote continents! And before you suggest I try writing an AD for bowlo buddies....been there TRIED that! Zero replies, lol...if I get desperate enough I reckon I'll have to hurl it on a dating site...and borrow a hot studio pic of one of my friends to accompany it...might have better luck, lol...the things I'm willing to do for the things I love to do...lol

Time Poor, Time Rich

I'm just wondering, if in the entire history of the world, whether people ever found themselves idle with not a whole lot to do....we keep attributing it to modern society, but actually when you think that people used to have to collect their own food, start fires, gather water, cook etc etc, I doubt it!! Except for Royalty perhaps. I think when you are a kid with such a luxury of plenty of idle time, it is parental responsibility to give you advance warning to make the most of it cos such utopian situations do not last...once you're not a kid and no longer living with someone else to do stuff for you...there just IS no time left in the day...no wonder people make such crap friends...the individual barely can find enough time for themselves!

Next time if I feel bored I need to go just check out my massively long TO DO list which I can never get on top of! However when you're just completely ZONKED you just have to cede and throw away your TO DO list for another day...

Damn plant babies ;) I think I got so greedy and belly fuelled I didn't realise how many different edibles I am actually producing!

I am being "Led"! ;)

Some strange things have happened this week- some rather out of the ordinary...lol it's MY life what's new? hehehe

Without revealing too much as it's all too complex and blow-my-mindy some kinda interesting random things.

Today I was asked to be a penpal to a born again Christian prisoner...being so new myself I haven't decided yet...mainly I feel hopelessly underqualified- surely there is some seasoned oldie of faith that would be more up to the task? But then again it would be a great exercise in being accepting and non-judgemental, although to be perfectly honest I am more compassionate and tolerant towards the downtrodden of society than the self sufficient that have had very smooth paths...

I was approached by a psychologist who is into personality disorders, lol, it was interesting to read about the broader spectrum of these past depression and bipolar which is all I really have encountered in common society personally and professionally. I was kinda amused to identify with the "schizoid" type...note NOT schizophrenia...so then I was thinking "hey cool maybe I finally get a "label"? (not!) But then I read further and just realised that this "disorder" typically resonates with INTJ and INTP personality types....I'm sure I could find something else to fit into but then again so could everyone else...after my experience treating people with ill health I am not particularly into the "labels" cos I realised that EVERYBODY has different psychological issues at different times in their life and different circumstances and it's all across a severity spectrum...I also noticed that the modern world has a term for every single possible conceivable illness...my latest interesting discovery is the "lightning strike" one which is Wolff Parkinsons White syndrome...very very interesting...in an exciting inadvertent comedy of errors I had approximately 30-60 mini "electrocutions" during the severe electrical storm the other night...my nervous system was so overstimulated I could not sleep a wink! Yikes...never again, lol...

Anyway so many interesting weird things happened in a mere two days or so so far...such is my life...I can't even begin to document or hope to explain it all unless someone has a very open ear and at least a couple of HOURS, lol...

But because it's always so complex and cumulative I just have my one person that I earbash so I don't have to catch them up on the prior day's episode. My current "bestie" is a farmer, between watching the farmers on THE AMAZING RACE and talking to this one, I start to realise they are actually an INCREDIBLY SMART BUNCH especially when it comes to having to deal with REAL LIFE. I don't understand why the general perception in this society is that they are like the not so mentally quick animals they are often associated with...I have found nothing to be further than the truth...I guess that is ONE office worker city slicker MYTH debunked!!

Hm I feel chatty today- so a heads up on the state of my food production- I have heaps of lettuce beet and radish seedlings sprouting up to the extent I have no idea where I will be able to plant them all!!! I am actually very interested in PERMACULTURE and am wondering if it is feasible if I can take a course...I'm particularly envious of people who have egg laying chickens...then I saw some cute little quails who also produce eggs...actually I also saw a baby goat and it was SERIOUSLY CUTIE PIE...so the farmer quipped "SEE, you do want *KIDS* after all!" LOL

Have to admit that was a good one, lol.

p.s I am getting very fond of "the plumber" and "the handyman" too...heck all men in their forties and up are my natural best friends hehehe...but anyway I think it's funny that nobody ever has a name with this INTJ, everyone just has a profession or a character...I am still wondering what I can call JJ ;) I was thinking something beginning with D and ending with K but I don't think that's very nice!!! Maybe "the limerick guy" ;) Or how about "the old boy" lol

as for my other buddies "the animal rights vegan" "the happy organist" "the mexican poetic artist" "the swede-o-phile", lol...oh how can i forget "the beer gut" "the starry eyed surfer" "the shy mute"...yes I have a colourful range of buddies...the one thing none of my buddies can ever be are...BORING!!!! Hope I didn't miss anyone...but my head is starting to thump :P

My Gardening Style...

In One Word: GREEDY

In Two: GREEDY CHAOS

In Three Words: GREEDY HOPEFUL CHAOS!!

So in my part of the world, to my great relief, it seems like SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!

So I've been in a busy bee flutter trying to prepare for a Good Harvest ^^

Today I opened all my veggie seed packets and scattered them all haphazardly...In a few days I'm looking for the seedlings that have sprouted and thus onto stage three finding them a suitable long term resting place till harvest. I'm starting to realise...growing your own food=ALOT of WORK! Anyway must run...need to start my BAKING, lol...how weird has my life turned out I'm doing all those things I have always shied away from with dread...it's like those terms 'topsy turvy' and 'tohu wabohu' were MADE for me, LOL!

City Hectic

I was in the city three times in almost as many days...I ended up seeing pretty much ALL my friends, not even by plan...

I am still recuperating....tiiiiiired. (Okay okay, part of the reason was cos I overindulged in all the amazing food especially SWEET TREATS available in the city....)

I think maybe I am so used to the slow life now that is all I am good for? Good thing I'm in a retirement village, I guess! LOL

p.s i finally harvested my all of 3 organic radishes lol...very unimpressive small looking bulbs but WOW WHAT FLAVOUR. CRISPY CRUNCHY....I'm a total "Grow your own" convert!!!!