To create garden beds is hard work.
Teamwork is needed.
Scoop &push
Up
Out
Over
Straight
Up
Over
Out
Gardening is hard work!
Category Gardening
Signs – The daily Post – Weekly photo challenge
Signs
This week, publish an image of a sign — from the signs you encounter on the street to more personal, less obvious signs that hold meaning for you.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/signs/
A sign on the pavement/walkway
from mid town Wellington
to the Botanical Gardens.
Botanical garden visited!
On Thursday we( my student and I) had to take the train in to Wellington.
We made arrangements earlier in the week to visit the Botanical garden in Wellington!
Arriving at the station –
No train!
The lady in the ticket office told us a bus would take us.
The bus picked us up and we had to stop at every station to pick people up.
Were there people!?
Many, many wanted to go to Wellington in the 10 o’clock train(bus).
School holidays!
It took us a bit longer than using the train.
Arriving in Wellington we went to the cable car.
It took us to the top of the hill.
We walked down the hill and saw the following!
Cymbidium
Succulent
Tulips
Purple tulip
Iron trees!
Two ducks
More tulips
White tulip
Orchid
Cyclamen
Pavement showing the way to gardens
Very windy and cloudy also cold at first.
We enjoyed the day.
Maori Potatoes
Since having an International student living with me I also get the opportunity to see, do and cook new things. I came across Maori Potatoes on Monday and decided to try it. I first had to look up what it was and how to cook it.
It really surprised me.
I forgot to take a photo before cooking it.
Here is the cooked end product.
Tastes very good!
It has a dark purple skin.
You may or may not peel it.
Boiled like potatoes.
It is a firm potato which can also be used to fry or bake.
Delicious!
History
Māori have grown taewa in New Zealand for over 200 years. Taewa are a tāonga, or treasure, and have significant cultural and historical value in New Zealand. Taewa originated in South America over 2,000 years ago and were first brought to New Zealand by European explorers in the late 18th century. Māori gave the traditional cultivars Māori names and have continued to grow them ever since.
http://www.5aday.co.nz/facts-and-tips/fruit-vegetable-info/taewa-maori-potatoes.aspx
More information can be found at:
http://nzgardener.co.nz/growing-kumara-maori-potatoes/
Somersal B&B (wedding 3)
Somersal B&B/Wedding venue
We had a wonderful time at Somersal B&B
John and Jenny treated us as princesses.
It was wonderful to be there for 3 nights.
They were also willing to accommodate Bertus, my son, on Friday night.
Somersal B&B / Wedding Venue
Somersal is an idyllic Bed and Breakfast Accommodation / Wedding Venue near the famous Waitomo Caves. Perched on the banks of the Waipa River in Pirongia, Waikato. It’s just 30 minutes north from the Waitomo Caves, 20 minutes from Hamilton and only 10 minutes drive from Te Awamutu. Stay in farm style comfort under a sky rich with stars, then wake to an especially prepared breakfast and the song of native birds in the garden.
I took some lovely photos.
Entrance gate.
My room entrance. Right hand the kitchen and dining area.
More garden photos!
Lovely parcel
One of our bread ranges gave people the opportunity to collect points
by sending in a code which you had to collect from each bread.
Each code gave you 10 points and you had to collect 80 points.
80 points gave a choice of lovely jams, peanut-butter and sauces.
The first one I collected was chutney
second one was honey
the third one was plum products.
I received my third parcel this morning.
It was so beautifully packed I have to share it with all of you.
Autumn
Ode To Autumn
1.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
2.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
3.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Butterfly! Who knows the name?
Butterfly
I found this butterfly near my front door.
Ready to fly away
tattered wings!
Contrast: A word a week Photograph Challenge
http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/a-word-a-week-photograph-challenge-contrast/
A Word A Week Photograph Challenge – Contrast
CONTRAST
Honesty seeds : Tuesday A-Z challenge: H
Tuesday’s A to Z challenge: “H”
http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/tagged-h-2/
Honesty seeds
Lunaria annua “Honesty”.
Silver Dollars, Silver Pennies
Over a long season it produces masses of silvery pods. When dried, the green outer covering peels off to reveal the silvery translucent “silver pennies” or “dollars”.
Read more : http://www.seedaholic.com/lunaria-annua.html
scrapydo 