Monday, April 25, 2011

ANZAC Day

they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old,
age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
at the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
we will remember them, we will remember them.

Lest we Forget x

Sunday, April 24, 2011

about to tackle day 3.......

yesterdays trip to the allotment featured far to many red ants for my liking!. my plot seems to be a red ant nation, not colony, nation!. the bed i weeded had 4 separate ant nests in it. bloody things!. i read on the internet that citrus oil has a toxin that kills ants. i was talking to the neighbouring plot holders wife and telling her this and she said she had 2 old lemons in the fridge i could have and went and got them for me. (they live right next to the allotment site!). so each nest got squirted with lemon juice and the crushed peel was left ontop of the nest. i'm sure when i go to finish off the bed this morning they will have moved to another spot. i shall take some boiling water with me as well to pour over the next nest i find.

oh and happy Easter to anyone who reads this!.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

day one done....

planted 2 rows of spuds and cut more grass so the mower will mow better. that was it for the allotment. I got there far later in the morning than i wanted, due to doing some work and then a phone call from NZ. so i had to take it easy in the heat and sun....to much to do to get heat or sun stroke!.
Came home and baked ANZAC biscuits and made up a batch of Aunty Julies fudge, but this batch isnt right either....the first batch was to dry and the cocoa used was out of date and have no chocolatey taste. this batch it to wet as i didnt crush up enough biscuits!. one day i will get it right!.
Vacuumed the 1st floor and cleaned the bathroom, cooked toad in the hole for dinner and then set about mowning the lawn in the evening....'cept it was a little to late in the evening and we had to keep turning on the motion sensor light to see where to go. the grass was so long so we've had to do it in two stages. last night i cut it without a catcher......got covered in grass in the process, but it was the only way to stop blocking the blades constantly. today i'll rake up some of the grass then re mow it with the catcher on, to collect the rest and make it look tidier.

today on the plot will be more spud planting and grass cutting, plus i want to start weeding round some of the raspberries.
my tulips are all in flower and to far gone to cut and bring home sadly, but have taken some photos of them!.
best get a move on!!.

Friday, April 22, 2011

two 4day weekends back to back.....

today marks the beginning of a marathon 8 day allotment sort out and tidy up. each day i'm planning on spending 2 hours at the plot, getting beds ready, planting out, cutting grass and generally getting on top of the mess from last year!.
i'm off shortly to plant the potatoes, and will take the camera and take some before, during and after photos!. i'm hoping by monday the 2nd of May, the plot will be looking vastly better!.
watch this space!

other things i want to accomplish these 2 weekends are a clean and tidy bedroom, cleaned house, baking ANZAC biscuits and another try of Aunty Julies fudge, mowed back lawn, menu plan for May, finish the current book and learn to crochet a simple square!. plus some tv watching and general vege'ing about.

think i'll be knackered after all of that!!.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Japan has made me think.....

I was sitting in Christchurch watching the events unfold in Japan in disbelief.....thinking what is going on in the world?!.
Then as the days rolled on, or maybe that should be rattled on! and the situation with the nuclear power plant became headline news, it made me realise something important.
the issues with that power plant must serve as an important lesson for governments and peoples to look into alternative ways of generating power or reducing their reliance on powered items altogether.
i dont believe that my greed for power should put the lives of others at risk. i need to think about what i consume and reduce my reliance on powered goods. i also know now, more than ever that once i am able to, i want solar panels on my home to generate my own power.
I would ask everyone who read this to think about their power consumption. Do we want nuclear power plants in our communitites?. I sure as hell dont!.
maybe i'm over reacting, maybe not, but its time to think!.

Finally ready to write about it....

I got back 3 weeks ago, after 3wks in Christchurch following the earthquake.
My parents live in the north west of the city, that wasnt badly effected by the quake...there are small signs that something happened in the city here and there....large cracks in roads, a few houses without their chimneys. My parents house is secure and watertight, however is cracked inside and out, and each new big aftershock forms another crack.
the aftershocks....everyday the ground shock...sometimes so gently you had to stop and think was that a shake?, other times so much that you were on your feet heading for the nearest doorway. What alot of people here in the UK dont realise is that CHCH has been shaken every day for the last 6mths. they had a quake in Sept, in the early hours, deeper in the ground and out in the countryside, that did some damage and caused no loss of life. Every day since then, there has been aftershocks. Then Feb 22 hit, lunch time in the city on a summers day, people out and about, the quake centered closer to the city and not very deep, and we all saw what happened. It still brings tears to my eyes when i think about it.
I know that when i get back to CHCH again, it will be a different city to that in which i grew up in....buildings will be gone....alot have been pulled down already because they are unsafe.
i dont really have any pictures to share.....you couldnt get into the center of town, onlookers were asked to stay away from the cordened off area (the 4 aves, for CHCH people), so i didnt venture any further into town than Merivale Mall.
It will take a long time for the city to return to normal.

KIA KAKA CHRISTCHURCH XXX