Time to Release and Return

 Hello dear friends & readers.
I really do have to say that I was delighted to be reacquainted with my jerseys this week and I had a good old rummage around for my scarves. The mornings are chilly and the vegetables at the Farmers' Market so inspiringly beautiful.

 This watermelon radish is startling & very tasty.
It looks so good with radicchio, don't you think.

 I love the sculptural shapes

  colours & textures of these winter veges.

 And these little ulloco (or earth gems) are just the craziest of them all.
Last year I gave a few to my lovely friend Gaye at the Market & this year I have bought some back!
I am inventing new ways of serving them. They taste a little like a cross between a new potato & a beetroot when cooked.

I've always been of a mind that colourful vegetables are really, really good for you.

The beetroot dressing was amazing!

When we were in Taupo I found a little pink rabbit cup....a friend for pink elephant...I do love a little vintage silliness!

 Sometimes it would be nice to swap some stuff....like these very upright high backed chairs that sit around our dining table. They really are about the only thing that does sit around that table these days apart from dust. I left it there so you could see my prowess as a housekeeper!
However, our house likes the chairs & that's just fine. Next best thing to a swap was to use some of the Cath Kidston oil cloth that I have been selling & at least pretty up the seats a bit.

 The brown mock leather was pretty bad. Clever Rob has done a fabulous job & recovered all the seats with this Bloomsbury pattern cloth.

 I wasn't quite sure if I would keep this lovely picture I found in the Salys a couple of weeks ago but it was certainly way too sweet to leave there, at $10. Rob decided that it should hang out in the larder & so off he went & put it up. It says on the back "The Ballet" after an original painting by Dame Laura Knight.

 Cute.

 It's quite a performance hauling out bags of jerseys from high cupboards, exchanging summer sandals for sturdier wear & swapping light summer duvets for feather inners so that we don't freeze. I hated handling the awful old plastic bags this time around so I set to & made some simple heavy drawstring bags that feel much better...

  hold more & are so much prettier!

 I love the journey of the low winter sun & how it warms the back porch in the mornings. I decided a few weeks ago to set up a table, out of the potting shed, high on the porch where winter lettuces & greens can catch the warmth & light any morning the sun shines down on us.

 I got brave & repurposed the some of my worn vintage enamelware. Seems a bit dishonouring, but some of them have really had their day. I haven't made deliberate holes in the bottoms but then again I don't plan on drowning the containers.

So I think we should be fine. The bulls blood beetroot seeds certainly think so!

 Corn salad (lamb's lettuce) is one of the most useful winter salad greens (back left pot). Like coriander & chervil it enjoys the cooler weather best.  It's so tasty, keeps brilliantly once picked & is full of protein, so Gaye tells me.

 I love raking leaves & use them all back on to the garden. One day my soil will be deep & loamy, surely!

 Souvenir du Ami flowers along happily with this cherry in the spring & again as it loses it's leaves in the autumn. And really flowers most of the winter up there too. How amazing is that!

 This is such a "breath out" time of year. There is so much excess & return. The garden doesn't hesitate to let go & release that which is now complete. I am taking note & learning to do the same.
 I have done so much work in the garden over the weekend but I couldn't help but wander in awe at the glow & shimmer in the early morning light on Wednesday.

 The cycle never leaves us entirely bare, however...spring festival already holds & heralds the promise of the season to come. Meantime I will enjoy my jerseys & my chicken stock, the warmth of a wood burning fire & use the evenings to catch up on other "material" things.

 Funny old birds...do get around.

 Amazing what there is to pick when you look a little & forage just a little too.

 I love living in an old, friendly, timeworn house. It never demands perfection & it breathes.
Soft winter morning light comes like a whisper bringing peace.
That's good 'cos I often sneak in here when I wake in the night. Adrenal overwhelm & menopause aren't sleeps best friend. It's pretty in here. One day I plan on sleeping well. One day.

I hope that this week is a nourishing, friendly one for you all.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Much love,

 Catherine

The Persimmon Holiday

Hello lovely ones!
It's getting a bit chilly here now.
The leaves are nearly all down, the first frosts have abruptly decimated the Busy Lizzies and the persimmons have all been picked and mostly sold. 

Sold so well, in fact, that we managed to make enough from them to pay for two nights away in Taupo.

 We returned to the Cottage Mews.
 It's so nice there; homely & sweet, with lake views & plenty of room to cook & relax.

We read about an interesting cafe with a "mosaic living room" that's around in Acacia Bay called L'Arte Cafe & found that we just had time to get there for a cup of tea before they closed.

Quirky mosaic installations everywhere

 & really large sofas...

 that get a teeny bit cold & slippery in the cooler months.

 It was an engaging & energising place to visit & they served fabulous Earl Grey tea.

 We spent the afternoon in hot water.
 Back here at the divine Wairakei Terraces & Thermal Spa

We stayed until the sun went down.

The following day we walked in Taupo's Botanical Gardens.

Planted in 1963 & maintained entirely by volunteers.

Eek!! I wonder who bit that?

 Almost in camo today!

The Lake was still 

& the mornings tranquil.

The second day we drove most of the way to Rotorua to boiling waters!

 This area is fascinating with all of it's thermal prowess & passion.

 Fortunately it's a little cooler in the infinity pool.

The Salvation Army in Taupo have recently relocated & their new premises is enormous!

Directly over the road is Storehouse, a fabulous urban space where they sell retro stuff,

  flowers

  & great coffee.

 A serious rummage in The Salys turned up this brilliant wood basket.

And these dear little friendly creatures (amongst other things!)

I'm a little behind just at the moment but hope to catch up some more in the days to come.

I do hope your week is a friendly one.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Much love to you all.