Simply So....

Well, isn't that a surprise- here I am again!

Hello!

It's so nice to be back- shall I welcome you or will you welcome me?

Perhaps we'd better have a cup of tea!

I am truly fine (just in case you were wondering) & I am so glad of that.

I am realising as I write this that it is now six years since I began writing An angel in the garden & I have just managed to take a six month accidental sabbatical. 

It is this dear blog that saved me really- opening the door for me to find my voice, tell my story, come to believe that I mattered & of course, feel connected for the first time in my life, through the friends that I met here.

Nowadays, I do also find it easier to connect, share & interact with people on Facebook so if you'd like to come & find me there please do.

You know, I thought I'd have this written on Christmas day...

but the days keep flowing by & that could be quite scary if I hadn't been learning to be present- right here in today. Possibly one of the most important arts in life- learning just to show up & be here,

willing to "see"....

all the amazing things in this world around us- the design that runs through the universe on every level & layer & cell. All is a miracle.

Real living, is made up of the observance & appreciation & the experiencing of all the tiny things

the scent of salt air, the feel of sand through your toes,

the startlement of colour that is pohutukawa flower, serenading summer & enticing tui...

heat of the day swept away in the breath-holding tranquility of a pond, just down the road.

water-liles floating...

enchanting little kingfisher way up high, that surprises us with his annoyingly unmelodic twerp, chirp, chirp song, but then when I hear the familiar repetition the following morning, while buying veges at the Farmer's Market, I am impressed by his elevated nonchalance, despite the commotion below.

Nothing is too much trouble in nature's design- a weed given status through title- Bishop's flower, Ladies Lace is still a wild carrot none-the-less, yet somehow, we of grand & precious design, endlessly doubt our own value; fail to grasp our infinite worth. 

If in the midst of a thousand teeny florets of white, on one single weed head, is carefully placed a red button heart, how much more precious are we?

Trimming the weigela a few weeks ago I discovered blind, gaping mouths in a tiny nest so remarkably pre-prepared  & perfect- attendant fussing white eye mummy hovering just feet (sorry, centimetres doesn't sound right) away.

Life here is creative, productive & juicy.
This is a cute little set we came across a while back.
 Lots of repair work still to be done on it, but the chairs are so comfy & we love the colour.

I have been given the most unexpected & exquisite gifts of late.
These flowers- so beautiful, also smelled divine.

We gasped at the sight of the wild foxgloves when we stopped to visit a friend in Tutira.

And frolicked amidst a whole fairy circle full of these magical spires when staying at Morere in November.

I'm not sure that you could say that I am co-creating with nature particularly, more like contributing to an explosion of plants & seeds & flowers- they're everywhere & heading off in all directions in cars, planes, vans, post bags & boxes. These several wheel barrows full of wonder were sent out to the prison just before Christmas. I hope they figure out what to do with the Jerusalem artichokes! A large cup of hollyhock seeds & a handful of sky scraper sunflowers also tagged along. I am amazed to be given the opportunity to send hope & goodness & loads of colour in to dark places. We will have firewood delivered in return.

How astonishing to notice one day, seeds on this lily of the valley plant!

I felt like Heidi gazing out over craggy flower filled mountains way up here.

In fact, we've been here, there & everywhere visiting our favourite places just as we can- loving the beauty & the countryside & spending time together.

I've hung this cute little op shop bird cage in the flowering cherry tree outside Lucy.
I am reminded of Maya Angelou's poem "I know why the caged bird sings".

"A free bird leaps 

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends 

and dips his wing 

in the orange sun rays 
and dares to claim the sky."

Maya Angelou

As I dare to claim the sky I look down & proclaim-
I am living juicy to make the angels laugh!

Lovely to see you. Please do drop in again soon.
Much love, Catherine x0x0x

Sunshine Vintage

Hello dear friends & readers!

It's been a truly enchanted October in our neck of the woods. 

A lot of sunshine & some jolly good rain which is a marvellous combination for spring.

I grow much of my lily of the valley in pots so that I can keep a close eye on it through the year & then when it's in bloom I can move it to the front porch to be admired & inhaled daily.

I think I may have discovered the secret of growing this heavenly plant, at last. If it grows like weed for you then you'd never bother putting it in pots, but here it isn't at all weedy, so deep pots it is & then best to "do not disturb". It's a plant that seems to like being a part of a close family. A handful of sheep pellets in winter, as the flowers are building reserves to appear, is useful & perhaps a sprinkling of epsom salts & then plenty of water & you should be just fine. 

I was so pleased to find Ann (a lovely crafty acquaintance) on my doorstep the other day to pick up some Trade Me items & even more delighted when she said that she reads this blog & thought that I might like some lilac from her garden.

I was completely overcome by the sweet beauty of her gift. More than the delicious flowers I also learned how to prepare lilac for keeping in a vase. Ann had scraped the bottom of the stems with a knife (or you could use open scissors) & what do you know the blooms lasted for over a week in this gorgeous vase I found in The Hospice shop- very cheaply as it had a small chip & a crack.

With all our wonderful spring sunshine I decided to make our back garden a living room too. I hauled out the old trestle table door & with some careful tricky manoeuvres I got it up all by myself. I then decided that my shabby painted candlesticks wouldn't really mind being outside for a while & so I set the table as an invitation to outdoor living. As if I needed an enticement!

It doesn't take much to make a simple space feel like a special place to be. The table/door was snaffled for $20...unwanted & unloved beside a house down the road & the trestle legs came from St Mary's School Gala several years ago. The candle sticks had lost there silver surface & were being discarded by a friend...pretty test pot paints re-defined them nicely.

I couldn't help but open the kitchen window wide early one morning to take in all the floral beauty.

So lovely having a happy rhododendron outside the window.

In fact there are two. Friends.

Just like the serendipity of the rose Souvenir 'dun Ami & the flowering cherry Sakura gloriously entwined & flowering simultaneously.

It happens every year. Each in step with the other.

I was so enchanted with Ann's lilacs I went & bought a classic version for our garden. I am just digging up some knotty roots & then I shall plant it at the front gate so the scent will follow us all up the driveway every spring. Did you know that lilac flowers are edible? And they taste a lot better than I imagined they might.

Out our bedroom window Lucy is swathed in blossom. This one called Pink Perfection.

Mutablis is sweetly fluttering under the window too. No wonder she's also known as The Butterfly Rose, although it was originally named Tipo Ideale (unusual, not surprising it didn't stick). I am always amazed when I realise that so many of the roses I love so well are so old. The Butterfly Rose was introduced prior to 1894!

This quote by Elise de Wolfe fits me quite, quite perfectly so I think I shall use it as my mantle.

It is so nice to have so many different flowers to pick again.

These silly little things know that it's spring too.

Which is all just perfect for nice visitors to come to tea in Lucy.

Phew...they bought their own cakes. I just made it all pretty & made the tea!

It has been the loveliest thing having visitors to Lucy & people are so grateful.

I have decided to make Lucy open to anyone to come for tea from now on. So I bought a domain name & made a simple little website: sunshinevintage.nz

That way everything gets all tied together...in a pretty bow!

This dear lady is a woman of the Au (the meadow) & after my own heart.

Such a lovely little video about her passion to make the world around her more beautiful by planting flowers.

gardening withlove from withlove project on Vimeo.
Click the link below to see the video in a larger format & there are some more photos of Edith here.

If you have time do please pop in to sunshine vintage & let me know what you think. I will add some more information about the plants & seeds as I go along. And remember, you're most welcome to come to tea in Lucy...anytime.

Thank you so much for visiting!
Have a happy Sunshine Vintage week.
Much love Catherine x0x0x

Growing An Angel In Your Garden

Hello there!

Well we've reached the chilly bit of our winter now. You know, when there's frosts & snow (well a day of it) & all the leaves have finally fallen off the trees and even I wear a hat & a scarf & a jacket to garden. I think that the Chinese have a good point about keeping your "wind points" covered. Scarves are a very good idea to protect your neck from rogue winds.

But it's also the time when we all start to go on about how we can't wait for the spring bulbs..but hold on, half the bulbs are flowering very nicely already.

My friend Ruth grows wonderful narcissus...many of them of the jonquil variety. Here are just a few, in all their lovely glory.

I thought I must show you our snow (since it's quite an event), up on Te Mata Peak just last week.

Wind chill factor kicked in making the temperature -6 degrees C about this point; brother's know these things!

One recent morning I happened to be in the kitchen looking out the window when I heard a great commotion & immediately thought that Whistle had finally captured Elijah, our visiting racing pigeon friend. Here he is, just yesterday...

He's still wandering around the neighbourhood visiting where-ever he pleases. We often spot him meandering along the footpath. But, no it wasn't Elijah at all. It was a Kereru, a native wood pigeon. I shouted quietly for Rob to come quickly, as this wonderful bird had landed in our olive tree right outside the kitchen window. The Kereru then dropped down on to a buxus bush below & promptly squashed it!

We've never seen a one in town or in our garden in all the 26 years we've been here, until now.

A little nibble of an old wrinkled fig,

a quick drink from the bird bath. Lucky he didn't tip it right over!

And then a wee rest up in the frangipani tree before departing.

 I am so grateful that I live in a place where I can be a Garden Fairy the whole year through. I love sharing my plants & seeds & cuttings & sometimes a little knowledge with others through Trade Me. Sweet violets are one of the most sort after of my listings. I love the little stories & memories that people tell me about violets; usually from their childhood & their favourite aunty or grandmother. The fragrance evokes the memory of connection in a heartbeat.

I received an email enquiry form a customer (oooh, I have customers!) a while back asking me for a little assistance as she had searched the internet for tips on growing the seeds that she had bought from me, but hadn't been able to find a thing. She'd been searching for a plant called "An angel in the garden". So funny & utterly delightful! On my seed packets I write the name of the seed & then where it says origin I write "An angel in the garden".
It's quite amazing when you keep your eyes open, what you find in the garden that does actually flower through the winter.

We both love cyclamen.

Every week I bring home bunches of rainbow chard from Gay & Robert, the organic growers at the Farmers' Market.

It doesn't grow like this in the summer! Such stunning colours full of goodness.

Finding a good movie to watch is such a treat. We loved "What We Did On Our Holiday" so very much. "We're all ridiculous, really", says Billie Connelly, as the grandfather. I agree!

In late autumn I harvested ginkgo leaves just as they were turning to yellow. Only trouble was...I popped in to a funny little park down the road where I knew there was a good big tree & as I jumped up & pulled down a branch to gather the leaves there was a loud crack & a large branch broke right off & nearly conked me on the head. Oh dear, what to do. I couldn't very well just leave it there, so I grabbed it back to my car & stuffed it in the back seat & drove it home to deal with it there. It took me weeks to get rid of all the leaves that fell off in the process & dispersed all through my car. However..I now have an almost mature ginkgo tincture that I plan on taking to see if it might improve my menopausal brain function. Now wouldn't that be something to look forward to!

I friend posted this wonderful turmeric milk recipe on Facebook a day or two ago. It is so delicious & really nourishing & warming. I popped the recipe in the kitchen blog just here.

As an angel in the garden I have even taken up the role of cupid...what fun. I had a random enquiry for assistance from one romeo looking for purple peonies for his sweetheart. It turned out that I could help with purple flowers (as they had to be live) & manage a delivery too. All just down the road from one of my gardens. There were some theatrics & a little drama but all ended in pure delight. It's worth remembering that a gathering of live plants can be much more economical than a picked bouquet. This little lot only cost $20 all up. The hyacinth was just about to come out & had 8 beautiful stems/buds. Good old Rob spotted it at Bunnings when he went to buy building bits.

"So...let's make this garden this year more lovely than it's ever been." Yes please!
As to the experimental present free with every order. Perhaps it'll be a packet of An angel in the garden seeds? Wouldn't that be lovely!

I am so glad that you popped in for a visit. Thank you!! Wishing you all a week with happy bits of learning something new...it's so much fun!
Much love Catherine x0x0x0x