An angel in the garden

Saturday, 9 July 2011

The Garden Fairy

I am just so glad about our vintage value system & the inexhaustible urban food basket that surrounds us. It is quite literally mid-winter here & yet we are still able to, daily gather all that we need for the sustainance of body, mind & soul. At our wonderful organic shop Cornucopia I found purple sprouting broccoli, yacon (root vege tastes like water chestnuts), early broad beans, celeriac & local feta. I found cheap grapefruit at an op shop & free grapefruit in a box on the side of the road.

My lovely vintage basket was only $2

We are a little behind here, but that doesn't worry me a bit. I do love this magazine.

I did have to giggle when I saw this picture. I was initially drawn to the bunting, but then noticed the poor unsuspecting granny scoffing her cake.

At the Salies I found this New Zealand magazine for 20c. I rather smugly feel that pretty much offsets my retail outlay for the Country Living mag quite nicely?

Inside I found this rather intriguing article..

I think that Pomona at Little Cottage Comforts might rather concur (in her own way) with this philosophy after her post this week "Knitting in the Memories Stitch by Stitch"

Well said..wouldn't you agree.

This little Portugese plate that I found at Connections is such a pretty green.

A little more subdued than my shelled broad beans..which I made in to the most delicious green dip along with baby peas & avocado.

I came across the recipe for this in a Dish magazine in a cafe & held the general gist of it my head until I got home to have a go at making both the green one & a spicy roast carrot & chickpea job. Pop in here if you'd like to see how I made them...

or not, as the case maybe!

I also came across this skinny wee "Better Cooking" recipe book for 50c.

And what should I find within it's covers, dear Pom Pom, but a Victoria sponge! Even looks nice & light & fluffy but I dear say the proof is in the eating ; )

While out walking on Thursday we came across an early Kowhai (native tree) already flowering.

And just around the corner in Cornwall road, we discovered large wool phages sitting on the grass verge. I presumed that they were full of oak leaves from the park..we had a wee peek & looking up discovered a man watching us..oops. So I went to explain & he said, "Yes. I know you're the Garden Fairy. Once seen never forgotten!" We both nearly burst out laughing. Apparently the leaves should have been picked up by the council but were still sitting there day after day. I could not let such an opportunity slip through my fingers so I whipped home for my car. Loaded up my boot with all that I could manage to stuff in to it & eventually returned to ask about the last two bags, only to find a very disgruntled Ngaire (we know her) wondering why her leaves alone had not been collected!! She's much happier now. And how glorious it is to have 5 enormous bags of leaves to mulch my garden with. You see, another kind of urban harvest..for free!

It's so good for the winter soul to have this glorious sunshine yellow in the centre of our winter garden..precisely why I planted it there.

I sprinkled some Hearts-ease (Johnny-Jump-Ups) seeds in a warm dry spot at the letterbox a month or so ago & have been rewarded with these dear little faces at front reception.

Another pretty camelia.

I love the stark limbs of the resting trees against the moonlit sky in this season.

The pink tinged sky coloured our front door leadlight with warm soft colours one evening as the sun went down.

I have been buying the last of the tree ripened apples on way home from "Garden Fairying"

They looked so life-filled & nourishing in the late afternoon sun.

I literally took three steps away from the apple bin to snap this photo of Mount Kahuranaki

and Te Mata Peak.

I also called in to the second hand shop in Havelock North.."The Mart" I think it is called. I hadn't been there in months & months. How perfect to find this vintage 40lb apple box. I wonder if "Fancy" was a variety of apple back in the day or just what they called the ones good enough to export? Well they can't have mine!

It's so nice to figure out just exactly who you are in life sometimes ... I am a Garden Fairy & A Fruit Person..An angel in the garden and that's exactly where I feel right at home.

I hope you've been able to do some lovely gathering of your own this week.
Come on let's run through the dandelions..ready?

MUCH

♥♥♥♥♥

X0X0X0

Sunday, 3 July 2011

The Littlest One

Well, now I have gone & cried and cried because of all your comforting kindness!! I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have such wonderful friends. I have gathered all your words around me like a warm vintage blanket & worn them as a cloak these past few days. I am so GLAD to be part of such a lovely community of clever, inspiring women. It suddenly occurred to me that when woman work bravely & creatively together & allow the sunshine of goodness & love to be in their midst... they make a rainbow, a rainbow of the most glorious colours...shining for all the world to see.

Source: tumblr.com via Catherine on Pinterest

Thank you for letting me tell my story & receiving it with gentleness & care. One of the worst parts of abandonment is feeling invisible. Like Mary said at the end of the Secret Garden "but I wasn't wanted" ..that particular hurt runs very deep.

I find that I am so glad for my love of beauty & eyes to see it, all around me...the everyday loveliness that is just right there; through all seasons. I love this bearded iris that valiantly flowers close beside the house from May till September & is so pretty when caught in the Winter sunlight. Why ever can't someone figure out how to imbue the other spring irises with such floriferousness I do often wonder?

In our on going tidy up Rob got my bike out of the back shed, after a long bike holiday & did tire pumping & oily sort of things to it for me. So I hopped on it for a test run & rode across the park to snap this magnolia.."Vulcan" I think, flowering in a lovely garden down York Street.

You could almost swear that these buds were made of silk.

Sometimes people complain that they don't like where they live very much, that it's boring. Truth is there are remarkable things where ever you are, just so much of it we take for granted or drive straight past..too busy. Right opposite "the vulcan tree" is a large section right in the middle of town with paddocks & sheep & great big old walnut trees. I just love this urban ruralness it makes me smile.

A little further down I found this beauty. I love the pale, pale pink against the darkest green leaves.

Today is a sunshiny day so this morning we went for a walk. I am learning to take my camera with me most places. See, today I would otherwise have missed this sunbathing ted!

Here in Hastings we are on the flat..looking back towards Havelock North & Te Mata Peak...looks closer than it is but it's just right there.

Funny old Charlie (borrowed cat) was sitting right on Rob's lap swiping at the computer screen trying to catch the cursor. Of course he hopped off the second he saw the camera.

It was Rob who noticed the titles of my books sitting along the front of the bookcase...aren't books wonderful! I wanted to show you my Margaret Tarrant book, a first edition published in 1923, I bought it off Trade Me & still got it quite reasonably, although I was bidding against a secondhand book dealer. I cannot believe that I did not know about Margaret and her delightful illustrations until really quite recently.

Although it is actually a song book with the music included the colour plates are just so sweet.

New pattern from the Restore shop for 50c. For some strange reason Rob wasn't keen on a helmet for this winter.

I felt certain that it would be very useful especially when he bikes to work..ah hem..I received a txt on Friday to say that his car had not started so he took my bike! (fortunately work is not far away)