I know it’s not halloween yet but

It’s been a strange few days. It has been gloriously sunny and warm – that’s just for starters – and I have been outside catching up on the gardening weeding and nurturing baby seedlings both inside and outside of the grow house. I think I’m going to have to call it the “Tomato House” this year as besides all the tomatoes that I’ve grown from seed this year, i.e. Brandywine, Ox Heart, Roma, Black Krim and Black Russian and a stripy green one which I can’t remember the name of, quite a few volunteers from last year have popped up! That includes Tigerella, Wild Currant, Gardeners Delight and Moneymaker. I am determined to be strong and strict this year and trim all side shoots and pull out wimpy seedlings but already I am slightly overwhelmed. I mean, I have the most flourishing kale plant, but it’s inside the grow house. I didn’t plant it there, I have never had kale inside the grow house, that would be just stupid. I haven’t even had the kale seed around the grow house. So the scary question is “Where did it come from?” Has the wind picked up the seed from the kale outside and miraculously blown it in through the door and then dropped it in the planter 10 metres away from the door? Perhaps one of the birds that has flown in from time to time has secreted (or excreted it) it in the planter?  Or does Mr Kale have a master plan to TAKE OVER THE WORLD one grow house at a time, eek! Meanwhile I’ll keep using it in salads and soups etc. I have left the one outside in flower deliberately as it is over 18 months old and I plan to collect the seeds but the one inside was growing long before the one outside was flowering.

And then there’s the rock melons….  I planted three seeds in a little pot. Only one grew but that was okay and I kept watering it and giving it encouragement daily.  Then I noticed something that looked like rock melon sprouting up in the bed of the grow house – two of them. I hurriedly planted the little one from the pot but alas, I don’t think it is ever going to catch up with its brothers, sigh. Of course, the rock melons are going to have to magically weave their ways around all the tomato plants too.

I have a theory about capsicum. I think that it’s vindictive! I don’t eat capsicum because it repeats on me – over and over and over again. But M likes it so for three years now I have been trying to grow capsicum. I don’t care what colour, red, green or yellow, it’s fine. I have a mini chocolate capsicum, bought as a seedling from a shop two years ago, but it’s sooooo mini once the seeds are discarded there’s barely anything left! So once, again I’ve planted  green and  banana yellow capsicum seeds and so far a big fat nothing! Just ‘cos I said I didn’t eat capsicum it’s sulking, hrumph…

But back to the strange few days. M is up north putting up a grow house in Burnie. He left on Sunday with the trailer loaded up and will be home sometime tonight, Tuesday. My question is, why is it that when he is away I stop eating sensibly? I always cook from scratch but what is my problem with doing it for just me? So instead of two regular evening meals with veggies what did I do? I ate a chicken leg on Sunday night and last night I went crazy and cooked a mushroom omelette. I have salad in the fridge, did I eat that? No. I have an assortment of veggies in the fridge and the garden, did I bother? No.  Consequently I have made a vegetable soup for tonight and crammed as many veggies in as I could to have with my freshly baked sourdough bread. Soup is good when you have no idea what time he will be home. But I do this every time that he’s away. My theory is that because I can get so much more done when he’s not around to interrupt divert me that I end up doing too much for too long and then just can’t be bothered doing anything else in the kitchen. What else could it be?

But, to put the whole darn thing into complete strangeness – I woke up this morning with a cold. In one nostril only. Streaming  all day, dew drops a major hazard and rib crunching sneezes. This afternoon I even had to have a little lie down. I have not been near anyone with germs, I only went up to the corner shop to collect the weekend papers  once. If you leave it until the Sunday you can get both and have a real news fest! M has been away and I have not been outside of this house/garden for a week (that sounds a bit sad but I like it like that). So am I back to the wind dropping germs into my left nostril, I know it wasn’t a bird, I would have noticed. I think.

I haven’t even started on the story about the dog………          

                                                                               

Jan

I’ve just worked it out!

I was born in the wrong century

 

Meet Nellie Page, an exotic dancer from the 19th century. 

I wonder what would happen if she tried to join a dance company today?????

 

Jan

An email I received this morning -

If you never learn the language of gratitude, you will never be on speaking terms with happiness.

A father and mother kissing their dying little girl goodbye. If you are wondering why all the medic people are bowing: in less than an hour, two small children in the next room are able to live thanks to the little girl's kidney and liver.

Jan

I love this picture

 

 

That’s all.

Jan

Losing Confidence

So here I am – again.

It’s been a strange year, not altogether pleasant either. The times that I have been the happiest have been when I’ve been away from home. That’s not right, surely. In my working life, I mean when I got paid for working for others, my home was my refuge, my haven, and I loved it. I used to work in an area that had me assisting the homeless, dysfunctional, sick and unemployed so at times it was somewhat testing if not scary even. So to come home at night was an absolute dream.

I’ve been outside of the paid workforce now for three years and I feel like I’ve lost touch with the world. I was confident in the work that I used to do and quite happily voiced my opinions when required. I usually had a funny story relating to the workplace that I could tell (never breaking confidentiality) and friends would ask for advise or just be happy to use me as a sounding board. But I also believed that I had such a lot to learn about living sustainably with gardening, cooking from scratch, baking bread and everything else that once retired I would be fulfilled. Hmmm.

Now all I can tell people is how high the broad beans are growing or that my sourdough bread is coming along nicely or that spinning wool is not for me. Not exactly exciting for most. Somehow I have become a recluse, silent and nervous with people I don’t know. Staring at the computer screen, wondering why I bother. Nobody reads boring blogs and I don’t seem to have anything interesting to say. But here I am. I keep trying and I plan to go back and read some of my early posts to see how far I have come in my plan to live more sustainably. I know I have improved in some areas but lost out in others such as my personal belief in WHO I AM. I don’t know anymore and some days I just don’t want to be here – anywhere – it’s all too hard. But let’s stop there before I begin to wallow!

One really, really good thing is that I haven’t had a cigarette now for six weeks and I have no plans to have any more. I knew it would be hard so I took advantage of the prescription available from the doctor which blocks the receptors in the brain with regards to nicotine. The drug itself has a bit of a dodgy reputation so I have continued to visit the psychologist and warned friends and family to tell me of any drastic personality changes. So far, so good. But then as I am a bit of a recluse that could be cheating. If only they could make a drug that blocks the receptors in the brain that encourage eating too much!

                  

Yes, the Tulip Festival in Wynyard, Tasmania was last weekend, 13th October and my friend Sue and I drove up for a couple of days as neither of us had been before.  The flowers were stunning and we were both impressed with the town and its use of tulips in the verges and town centre. There seems to be a great pride in the town and after the Saturday morning foreshore market had been dismantled and removed there was not one item of litter to be seen! Very impressive I must say, as it had been very busy when we stopped for a mooch around. It was a lovely market, with a huge selection of items for sale at “real” market prices. It wasn’t full of cheap and nasty either. I even saw kitchen tools that my mother used in her kitchen that I remember, they looked as old as my mothers too but were still going strong. (My mother would have turned 100 years old this year). I was able to pick up a couple of cake baking pans and a small radio for M’s workshop, none of which was over $2. My friend Sue surprised me with an early Christmas present. She had spotted the perfect baking bowl for my sourdough bread. Once again it was similar to the bowl that my mother used so many years ago and is the perfect size and not too heavy.

After the market and a visit to the tulip fields we went to the nearby Table Cape Lighthouse and climbed the 70 steps to the top for these magnificent views:-

                       

The weather wasn’t the kindest on the Saturday, being a bit cool and the occasional shower of rain but it didn’t manage to diminish our enjoyment. The day ended with a spectacular fireworks show and we had the best view from the pub (the meals there are pretty good too).

So, that was last weekend.  Let’s see if I can think of things to write closer to home……  Next time.

Jan

War on home gardens - Canada town outlaws food self-sufficiency

 

Monday, August 06, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036709_home_gardens_attacks_self-sufficiency.html#ixzz22l17QcIy

 

(NaturalNews) A Canadian couple that has been growing a beautiful, meticulously-maintained front yard vegetable and herb garden has been ordered by city officials to uproot most of it by September 1 or else face lofty fines. CBC News and others are reporting that the town of Drummondville in Quebec is actually planning to ban all front yard gardens in the municipality beginning this fall; a move the spells the end of food self-sufficiency for many Canadians living in the area.
Michel Beauchamp and Josee Landry love to grow their own food. But the back yard of their well kept, Saint-Charles area home does not get enough natural sunlight throughout the day to grow the many varieties of fresh fare they have long enjoyed. So they asked their town's Environmental Services Inspector if it was permissible to grow food in their front yard, and they were given a verbal affirmative that this was not a problem.
"They used to have flowers growing, but Beauchamp has high blood pressure and wanted to eat healthier. So they planted cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchinis, beets, onions, and Brussels sprouts, among other vegetables," said CBC News about the garden. According to the same report, Beauchamp has lost an astounding 75 pounds since first planting the garden, and much of this is due to his having been able to grow and eat his own healthy food at home.

Drummondville changes its mind, betrays Beauchamp and his wife

But after the couple invested roughly $2,500 to install the garden, which is among the most tasteful and orderly front yard gardens that you will likely ever see, by the way (http://grist.org/list/city-officials-are-waging-a-war-on-gardens/), Drummondville officials turned on the couple and told them that they would have to remove most of their garden or else face a daily fine of up to $300 -- and the couple was given just seven days to comply with this demand.
According to city officials, every front yard garden in Drummondville has to contain at least 30 percent grass, a requirement that Beauchamp and his wife did not comply with when they installed the garden. It does not appear that the couple was ever even told about the requirement; as they had previously received approval to plant the garden as it currently is.
When Beauchamp and his wife challenged the city on the order, officials did not relent, but instead gave the couple a compliance extension, telling them that they had until September 1 to rip up part of their garden. The two are still fighting the city over the issue, though, and continue to try to convince officials to do away with the silly ordinance.
"It must be a right to be able to grow our own vegetables on our land," said Beauchamp to CBC News. "It is nonsense to ban it."
Meanwhile, Drummondville officials are moving forward with a new ordinance that will completely restrict front yard gardens altogether, no matter their size, which puts Beauchamp and his wife and many others out of the food self-sufficiency business. Since many back yards in the area are too small or do not receive the proper amounts of natural sunlight, many areas' residents will essentially be restricted from ever growing their own food unless they move.

Food oppression also escalating in the U.S.

Similar jack-booted oppression by local officials is taking place in the U.S. as well, including in Tulsa, Okla., where a woman recently had her entire front yard garden illegally bulldozed by city officials (http://www.naturalnews.com). Similar cases of home-grown food destruction have taken place in Georgia, Michigan, and New Jersey.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.cbc.ca
http://www.sherbrookerecord.com
http://www.cbc.ca
http://grist.org/list/city-officials-are-waging-a-war-on-gardens/
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036709_home_gardens_attacks_self-sufficiency.html#ixzz22l1M5OOe

I have shamelessly lifted this from a friend’s facebook page. This is too important to ignore and I hope that Australia does not follow in these footsteps!

Jan

Sick, Sick, Sick

Since M and I have returned from our holiday in Bali we have both been sick. Chest infections, coughs, snotty noses. aching muscles and no, I repeat, no energy or inclination to do much! I have known M for twelve years now and I have never seen him take to his bed before, ever.

We have had a few days here and there where we worked at maybe 80% of a functioning level but still the coughs continue.

It has been a hard winter down here in the far south of Tasmania and the nights have been very cold. A lot of the days have been too, and wet. I think a lot of our small country town has been hit with this dreaded flu as has the surrounding district. We have also had three deaths in a matter of weeks. We have another funeral to attend tomorrow. One of the deaths was possibly flu related but the others were bowel cancer in one and old age in the other. Friends have taken to their beds and I have become almost a hermit. I don’t want to infect anyone although I don’t think I am contagious any longer, but I also don’t want to mix with anyone who could be sick. I’m just so over feeling like crap I don’t want any more germs!

Now, having had my major whine I can report that I did have a wonderful three days with my friend Sue who turned 60 recently. She also wanted to avoid the ra-ra-ra that comes with a significant birthday here in our town, so we beat a hasty retreat to Cradle Mountain.

We stayed at the Lodge and what a fabulous place to stay. Within an hour of booking in there was a knock on our cabin door and one of the staff members stood with a bucket of ice containing a bottle of Tasmanian Sparkling Wine “for the birthday girl”. What a fabulous surprise. They knew it was Sue’s 60th birthday as I had ordered a surprise birthday cake for after our dinner that night.

We ate in the bistro and I made Sue wear the tiara that she had brought to Bali for me to wear on my 60th birthday. Payback is a wonderful thing! We had a wonderful meal and I had managed to have a quiet word with our waitress about when to bring out the cake. Well, not only did these two beautiful young, women bring out the cake, with candles lit, but they also sang Happy Birthday to Sue too.   

We finished in the bistro and asked that the remainder of the cake be put in the fridge as it was incredibly rich and neither of us could even finish the slice on our plates. Then into the guests’ lounge with big leather chairs and a roaring log fire.

We chatted on with a young couple and met another couple who had also received a bottle of sparkling on arrival – and an upgrade. Why the upgrade we asked. “Because we just got married” was the reply. Once again I was impressed with the service and thought that the Cradle Mountain Lodge had towards their guests.

We went back to the cabin before it got too late and off to bed. We were hoping for snow but knew that it was highly unlikely as the sun had been shining all day and was supposed to be repeated tomorrow. And it was. But first the car looked like this

                       and this                          

Boy it was cold first thing. We took great care walking to the lodge as we had been warned about possible black ice. The breakfast, which was included in the price, was A M A Z I N G! Just think of any food that you might possibly like to have for breakfast (or even eat anytime) and I think that it was in the buffet. We thought that we would try and be restrained so we started with some fresh fruit – and then greed and the thought that we wouldn’t be here for lunch took over. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms and a baby croissant and four cups of coffee (small cups). But there was everything from sushi – porridge – baked beans – salamis and cheeses - pancakes and even bread and butter pudding! I noticed quite a few men taking full advantage of what was on offer, two or three times!

After breakfast we caught the bus to Dove Lake and walked as far as we could, first one way and then the other. We actually got too warm in the sun. It was a beautiful day.           

    When we returned to the Lodge we had a glass of mulled wine each and decided to explore the surrounds. There were a few “easy” walks and one of those was called “The Enchanted Walk” which took us past the Pencil Pine falls. The mosses, lichens and rocks certainly had the feel of a fairy forest. There was proof that wombats were in the area but we had to wait until much later in the day for our sighting of the wombat. We saw lots of pademelons, wallabies and a very tame and demanding possum.

                               

 

Another splendid meal and more mulled wine that evening followed by chatting by the log fire. We had to leave the next day as this was just a flying visit but I will definitely be going back. The drive home was as uneventful as the drive to the Mountain had been, although the weather was definitely changing. We tried to estimate the time from A to B and we think it was around six hours, allowing for a lunch break and stops along the way.  I dropped Sue home, along with the cake we had remembered to collect from the kitchen fridge, and made my weary way home. To be greeted by M – in bed – “Didn’t you get my message – I told you I had the flu and maybe you should think about staying away”.

That’ll teach me not to turn my phone on……….

Jan