And out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain....

Hello lovely friends and readers!

Well the spring rains came and filled up all the rivers & made slips & puddles all over our land.

I squelched around in my rosy gumboots for about a week.
The tulips loved the drenching.

Isn't this Margaret Tarrant picture sweet.

Others took it all with good grace.

 Then there was a wee break in the heavens and along came the ladies from the gardening group.

In they swarmed, bustling all over the place, poking at things & nattering away.
Someone thought they'd found a four-leaf clover down the back here.

And then there was the "let's see what's over the back wall delegation"!

And then, quite promptly, they were gone.

The bluebells have been such a joy.

I find I have some Spanish & some English varieties. 

We've had lots of delicious smoothies in the mornings lately. This one is made with blueberries, blackcurrants, kefir, banana, chia seeds, ginger & a little honey. Set with a little gelatine the mixture also makes a delicious dessert.

I found the weirdest bread recipe & thought I'd have a go.
It is absolutely delicious, contains no flour & is very tasty & satisfying. It also makes the best ever toast.
I popped the recipe in here.

I am constantly thinking of new kinds of seeds to sell.
I collected these pink nerines seeds in autumn & they are just starting to sprout, all by themselves.
What elegance for seed dressing!

I know that violets like to spread themselves around rather liberally but I've never really studied a violet seed pod before...isn't it just marvellous!! Reminds me of caterpillar eggs.

My dear friend Ruth was delighted to discover that her husband had not, in fact, sprayed & killed her unusual apricot violet, so now we have another to add to the violet collection.

While wrestling with the cupboard moths & tidying out the pantry cupboards I came across this The Zetland jar with a smooth chip out of the rim & thought...excellent, I'll give it the Julie Lealand treatment (ooh that girl's a treasure!!) I used the pastel pink Voodoo Molly Vintage paint that I bought  a few months ago. After three coats on the outside it covered the glass really well. I then gave the lettering a very light sand. Love the effect.

I also painted a grubby old brown wooden tray with a test pot of green & lined the bottom with a piece of Rainbow Rose Cath Kidston wallpaper. I finished it with two coats of Modge Podge to make the surface wipeable.

These potted colour ranunculus & anemones have done so well through all the rain.

Such good value for $2 each as they flower for months & just get brighter & bolder as time goes by.

I so value these dwarf calla lilies for their elegant lines in the winter/spring garden. They last for weeks in a vase.

Sometimes people ask me to tell them about the seeds I have available that have high scent. I've learnt something interesting from this query-it's mostly the bulbs & spring flowering shrubs like this viburnum that are highly scented. Most annuals & cottage garden/wild flowers have very little perfume at all.

Delightful as it is, this little forget-me-not has no scent at all.

Freesias, daffodils & bluebells, however, are just divinely scented, especially altogether.

Yay, yay!! It's asparagus time. One of the main culinary joys of spring.

We went on a long walk in the foot-hills of Havelock North last week & suddenly came across three macadamia trees right by the roadside...

It's must unusual to see mature macadamia trees around here, but they were very happy & the nuts were beginning to fall...even some on to our side of the fence.

We also visited the valley where we know the wild banana passionfruit grow. They were just ripening too. Dear Audrey (my elderly friend across the road) told me about her mother bottling these fruits over 70 years ago in Wanganui, so one day I cooked them & they were absolutely delicious.

So strange to see Lucy & Rob going off without me!!

Good for her to have a little outing, get her warrant of fitness & give me time to sweep the space where she lives.

Then, out came the sunshine & dried up all the rain...

Duchess de Brabant thought she'd make a showing.

And Whistle found himself in the dog box.

I thought you might like to watch this marvellous video too. I love everything about it...the song, the setting, the joy & the instruments used by such happy, clever musicians.

Worth watching full screen: https://youtu.be/WcLuUt-dyks

Thank you so much for visiting.
Have a lovely & peaceful week.
Much love to you all.
Catherine x0x0x