Happy, Happy

To all the wonderful people I've met through this little blog, may you have a happy Christmas and a fabulous new year! My daughters school made a series of postcards from the grade 1 drawings and I'm using these as my Gift tags. Does'nt the smile just make your knees buckle?

The Endless Feast

I continue to benefit from the bounty of my garden. However my garden and I are at a bit of a cross roads, and have yet to reach some middle ground on my expectations and it's ability to deliver.

So I've decided to do a plan, in fact two, a before and after. Just hang onto your horses, it might take a while. Then again isn't a garden about patience...in this case I am not a virtious woman.

Yesterday was the day before.

Yesterday was a lovely day. A day of anticipation. The day before I go on leave! The day I get to meet the real SkinnyLaMinx & Jezzeblog for a cuppa & lunch. The day I bought my home computer lots more brains (so I can work and blog during my hols) and then to top it all I found an old vase (the ones with the glass flower holders inside).



The only thing better than yesterday is today because I got to fill the vase, had a great lunch with two great women, got a clever computer and I go on holiday!

The cast iron background is actually a footscraper but I use it as a general stand for hot pots etc. on my table.

P.S. I hope you will all be a patient with me as I won't be blogging quite as often, I think. But then again I have enjoyed blogging & the people I've met through it so much that I probably won't be able to stay away to long. See ya soon.

The good doctor & other interesting things

I live my country & country garden life vicariously through the Country Life magazine, they have some great plant features. Bush Medicine by Heather Dugmore and Julia Lloyd on Herbs being two of them. In the November issue Julia wrote a great article on the virtues of Yarrow as an anti-bug plant for the organic garden. (By now you all know that this is like gadgets to a man for me.)

Yarrow

"It has a strange pungent (love that word) smell

that many pests can't bear (love that even more),

but ladybugs and wasps love and that means an

end to aphids" and the crowd goes wild..

There was also an article on the marsh rose 'Rose from the dead.' A species of protea that has twice been declared extinct, and is only found in two small areas in the mountains above Betty's Bay and Hermanus. Just look at it! Oh my, the Cape Floral Kingdom is quite something.

'Marsh Rose'

I'm off to buy some Yarrow and the next issue.

P.S. The beautiful pics are also courtesy South African Country Life.

Murder most foul & other happy endings

There, I have finally given in, and opened a beergarden (beertraps in nasty laymens terms) for the snails. With, I have to shay, rather astounding results. These shlimy charactersh have held me to ranshom for faar to long, ash, I am infact, rathersh fond of them individually. But I'sh drawsh the line heresh, I mean here.

Sam's Ghost

My husband kindly donated all the leftover brands from numerous bring and braais and I'm not sure how long that frame of mind is going to last.