What Happened to the Garden?

A while ago a friend asked me how my garden was going. Well like the lack of posts on this blog of late, my garden was also suffering from neglect.

Sure it had started out with a hiss and a roar and I had posted a bit of progress but then it all seemed to stop.

I had been harvesting the odd zucchini when I remembered and we have had a few meals with the lettuce but the rest of the garden just got ignored.

I have reasons for the lack of time but I also just never got around to it either and so the weeds took over.

Yes this is the same garden!!

In fact if you look carefully in the left photo you can see the zucchini plant just above the weeds in the top left corner.
There is also a glimpse of a pumpkin plant in the bottom right corner.

It sure looks lush even if it is just mainly weeds!

Determined to get back into everything I decided to see what I could salvage from my left over summer plantings once I removed the weeds.

Not only that but I had left a frame over some seeds to stop the birds from scratching them out and now not only had the weeds grown through but the carrots and parsnips were well and truly established growing out of the frame.

I carefully rolled the frame back pulling the tops of the carrots and parsnips down trying not to up root them in the process. Most of it was successful and the ones that did come out I replanted hoping they would continue to grow.

There had been plenty of rain the week before so the weeds were quite easy to pull out and it didn’t take too long to discover what had grown, what had survived and a few little surprises along the way.

A tomato plant had grown and had ripened 'fruit'.

The zucchini plant was still producing.

Although a few pumpkin plants had grown from my plantings only one was fruiting, but then I found a whole plant that had self sown right in the middle of the garden. There was no fruit on it as yet but plenty of flowers so I left it there. 

There were even some capsicums still producing green peppers.

I discovered that last years parsnips that I had left to go to seed were already dispersing their seed through the garden and there are parsnips popping up all over the place.


Normally I wait and collect seeds myself to sow but it was doing it all on its own - everywhere!

So once the garden was looking like a garden I planted out some seedlings of cabbage, cauliflower,  broccolli and lettuce and also some peas making a tee-'pea' frame for them to grow up.

Harry Turns 60

In January Harry turned 60 and so we celebrated.

It was lovely to have all the family together especially as we couldn't all be together at Christmas.
Katrina and Callum came up from Christchurch; Theresa and Steven from Wellington; Daniel had the weekend off from the farm in Rerewhakaaitu and Jennifer and Sarah with their families meet us from Hamilton.

With every one here over the weekend we met and went to dinner at Five Stags a restaurant and bar in Leamington, Cambridge. It was great to all be together with no-one having to cook, do the dishes or clean up and there was plenty of choice for everyone including the five grandchildren. Some of us weren't too happy with the meals as the meat seemed to be over cooked but that didn't stop us having family fun

Theresa and Steven with niece Natalie

Jennifer and Jason (parents of Jacob and Natalie)

Sarah and Carl (parents of Ryan. Evelyn and Sean)

Daniel

Katrina and Callum

Ryan

Evelyn

Sean

Jacob. (He wanted to take a selfie)

Some special moments...

 Sarah feeling the baby kick







Yes it did!!!









And this card was from.........












"He ain't heavy...he's my brother...."

I want to sit next to Nana.... No I want too!


You can sit both sides of me and then you will be both sitting by Nana.


Oh Nana that is so funny

Harry and me

So for desert we decided to buy our own ice creams and met down at the Lake Te Ko Utu reserve at Cambridge.

Look at me!

No hands!

Mummy wait for me..

Its OK you can walk with Opa










Watching and feeding the ducks does not mean you can get in the water too.












Ice cream Natalie?

Nope Its too cold and I'm too tired.

All the girls (except Evelyn, she's gone bush with the boys)

The following day we had a bar-b-que with the family and lots of friends and so we took this opportunity to get a group family photo.

What a good idea!

who's baby is this?

Sorry Evelyn that is Opa's seat

I just need to sort the hair!

Is every one ready??

Testing... testing ...testing...

Would someone stop Ryan crying.

Yes well.....

Sean's had enough

Back row: Steven. Jennifer holding Natalie, Jason holding Jacob. Carl holding Ryan, Sarah, Katrina and Callum.
Front row: Theresa (and bump), Daniel, Me holding Sean, Harry holding Evelyn.

But isn't that what family is all about?
Love you all.

Eat, Pray, Love

Ever since this book was first talked about I had wanted to read it. I enjoy going to book sales and at one of these fun scavenger hunts I found my own copy for a mere $2. I stashed it away in my ever growing pile thinking one day I would finally get to read it.

And then at one of our monthly book club meetings it was chosen as the book to read that month. So now not only was it a book that "had" to be read, it was one I had and have wanted to read.
So when I had finally finished the long book I was currently reading I dived in to Eat Pray Love.

Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, it is a true story of her 'finding herself' after a traumatic divorce and a stormy new relationship. She decides to spend a year in three countries "each starting with the letter 'I'" after what I would call a spiritual experience from God. At first I am quiet enthusiastic as it seems she comes to make a commitment to God but as I read through the book I realize it is not going to be as I thought.

In Italy she discovers food and "Eats" her way through numerous delicious sounding dishes as she learns to speak the Italian language that she loves.
Moving on to India she goes to an Ashram where she spends her time along with others from around the world learning to "Pray" and meditate. This section in particular really bugs me as I know that talking and listening to God (in prayer) does not involve the strict disciplines and rules to hear from Him. I feel that she and the others there were being slaves to some other god. In fact it made me so cross that they couldn't see what they were doing was such a bind that I almost through the book across the room!
Finally she goes to Indonesia, and more precisely Bali, to spend time learning from a medicine man. Once again I was sort of angry she felt the need to find out the ways of this healing man when it was not from God.
During this time she meets and falls in "Love" with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship, who also helps her to discover the joyfulness in a relationship between a man and a woman.

I am pleased I have read the book and am actually keen to watch the movie of the same name which stars Julia Roberts as Elizabeth. I actually really like Julia's acting so that in itself should be good. Having read the book as well will mean that I will know the bits in between that are missed out in movies because of the confinement of time.

It will be interesting for me to see if I get as frustrated with, what I feel, is a lack of understanding of God and His love for us as I did in the book. God loved us through sending His Son Jesus Christ, who died for us so that we could be free to have a relationship with God, with out the rules and rituals other religions put on a person, before they can be close to God.