#salmon run is just a lot more fun to me than turf these days its kinda crazy

[kingtankgirl]

turf war match so bad u leave and immediately go to grizzco

[hortascountrysidenotes]

No Happy Medium

Of course it’s now raining cats and dogs and doesn’t know when to stop - we no longer seem to have a happy medium and it’s very warm too, so walking the dogs in full waterproof gear is a very hot job!

A wonderful week away in Slovenia - what a great little country - only fully independent since 1991, but the 2m population are running a class act.  Spotlessly clean Ljubljana is a joy - small enough to walk around in a day and see the delightful architecture, the 10th in the world on water cleanliness, practically no plastic bottles following a Mayor’s decisions to just say no, incredible rubbish control and recycling bins, little electric buggies and no cars in the centre of not just Ljubljana but several other smaller towns too.

The scenery is heavenly - rolling hills and towering mountains, turquoise coloured rivers, great bird song and woodland. Good wine from the Vipava valley and such friendly and helpful people - just as well really as I think mastering Slovenian could be a lifelong occupation!

Three days trout fishing on firstly the Sava river which flows into the Danube,  the Soca pronounced Socha, and its tributary the Lepena which flows into the Adriatic near Trieste.  The former was our first day and we mastered a new technique on nymphing but with a bite indicator on the line - I managed to catch a really nice fish - wild rainbow trout - about 3 1/2 pounds which gave me a good little fight on some lightweight tackle.  Also in the river are to be found wild brown trout and a fish called Hucho which is known as the Danube Salmon.  They are pretty large but usually only fished for in the winter months - they take other fish.  As the water is so completely gin clear we could see them lurking near the bottom!  The second day up in the Julian Alps was a joy - the Soca and Lepena are absolutely stunning - the water even more turquoise and even clearer and we caught some wonderful fish on both nymph and dry fly.  These two rivers are also home to Marble Trout which sadly we could not lure to our fly this time! The wildflowers although over, could easily be identified and it was great to see proper hellebores, cyclamen, Calamintha nepeta - never seen that in the wild before - Aruncus, Golden Rod and Asters just all sorts of things, plus carpets of Colchicums in the meadow areas.  Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam were both there unfortunately - one wonders which Balkan Plant Hunter brought those back or did they spread from here??? Birds possibly

The Soca Valley is also very interesting historically having witnessed one of the bloodiest campaigns in WW1 - half a million Italians died trying to beat the Austro Hungarian Alliance over some land, in the most dreadful conditions high up on the sheer limestone faces of the Julian/Carniolan Alps.  A pointless campaign and seeing the terrain at first hand it was hard to imagine how either side made any progress - standing up would have been hard enough.  Worth reading about and I am now reading Farewell to Arms as Hemingway drove an Italian ambulance during the campaign. Our last day took us to the dear little town of Radolvjica where we found The Bee Museum - a quite fascinating place - the Slovenians are really into bee keeping - the have Carniolan bees which are a soft grey colour and everywhere sells Med - honey!  Mr Horta in his element studying their completely different techniques and beautiful hives.

Returning to UK we found the garden thoroughly happy from the rain with dahlias having a good go again and the grass had actually grown!  The country seems to have been very divided through the summer as parts of UK have had masses of rain, some about the right amount and just this tiny corner has suffered from a severe shortage - not now though!  And just when we are doing the second village pond restoration and actually wanted to work in a dry pond.  I imagine that the ground is so hard that as yet, the water is finding it hard to soak in, and if we have no more significant rain over the next fortnight, I think they will dry out again.

It is bulb planting season and yesterday at a jolly dog training gathering we were discussing doing bulb lasagnes - I have never done this myself though I do think it’s fun to add in something like one of the special Grape Hyacinth varieties to give a splash of blue - there are several available that are not the invasive common type that take over.  I have also used the little Tete a Tete narcissi - Little Minnow or Jack Snipe for early colour - the secret is the bigger and later the bulb, the lower down the lasagne they must go.  Avon Bulbs usually get my orders as their selection is unusual and I find of very good quality.

More hedgecutting yesterday - all the yew in the veg garden is now done, and all the box hedging between terrace and lawn.  I have made a radical decision while away to take out all the box between the two topiary pigs, and opposite between the snail and the ball as I am constantly fighting blight on these two “runs” - for some reason it never really affects other stretches, and I wonder if it is something to do with herbaceous plants often slightly smothering the top of it in summer and a lack of air circulation.  Instead I am planning to edge each bed with a run of 30 x 60cm slabs so the plants fall onto that rather than the lawn, and have them set flush to the turf so no edging either - all part of the easing up programme to ensure we can continue to look after the garden when the limbs are aching a bit more!

Great news on Mavis, apart from the fact that her dinky little retrousse nose has a horrible blemish on it which I can only put down to a spider or insect bite.  Not there first thing yesterday, but very much there by mid morning, rather like a horrid flat burn blister, peeling skin at one end, and a sort of crater like edge to it.  She doesnt seem unduly fussed but it looks a bit weird.  Luckily she is off to the vet on Friday for her booster and to have the swabs done for her DNA/genetic testing re puppies - quite good value for once - the Kennel Club offer the service for a relatively decent price - 4 tests in one. But the great news yesterday was the retrieve and delivery of cold game - absolutely lovely and gentle.  Some of the handling with the wind in her face was somewhat wayward but we can keep working on that.  The most important thing is she is delivering beautifully and I can go off picking up with a happy heart!

Masses to do outside - time to do all the ramblers - rose arch included, finish the box and yew of which probably another day in total to do.  Sow some winter salads, lambs lettuce etc before soil temperatures drop.  Plant garlic - coming this week.  Frost possible tomorrow night so if the asparagus turns yellow I shall cut it down to ground as its flopping all over the place.  Wallflowers perfect for putting in the containers.  They are now emptied ready and the bulbs come next week.  Some herbaceous to cut back.  Constant warfare on squirrels (an explosion of the beastly things this year) and rooks from raiding the walnuts - windfalls of apples and pears to process. Planning what comes out of the big border and how and what to put in - have a good selection of treasures I have bought this summer - Agastache, Thalictrum and Nepeta nuda from Beth Chatto - lots of white and William Guinness Aquilegias to dot about that I sowed from seed in spring.  Some whacky pokers that a client rejected which I rather like!, all these should fill the spaces left by the taking out of a huge yellow Verbascum - too dominant - and the Crocosmia Lucifer which to be honest I am tired of and it smothers a number of things.  The new dahlias are a hit but smaller than advertised so they will come forwards next year.  Need to cut long shoots off Pyracanthas now to keep them neat.  Got the check the diverters on the water butts too as they must be full and I need to make sure the water is not just being wasted but is actually now going to the stream! Also need to get in the pond and having done the bindweed, now get down low and cut back the iris and other vegetation to make sure the stream flows and we have no blockages.

First day for the gang tomorrow - more for training than anything as not there officially which is rather nice so I can do some consolidation with Mavis.

HORTA

[briarofthebush]

Holding hands in Unity against Hate, post election 2016., Greenlake.

Lucy the Best.

A brilliant free 20 minutes of Billy Bragg and Joe Henry at KEXP

Sammy! My dog away from home dog. He gives full body hugs.

Artists at Halloween, Mme Morisot, Snr Riviera,

I’m next to the Charles Bul fountain in Brussels.

The famous Mannekin pis.

Bicyclette dans Leuven

Leuven streetscape

M Leuven Museum, full of many religious artifacts.

Giant head from street fairs, Museum M in Leuven, Belgium

June and I, late 2009.

Snow play at the foot of the mountains, Desert Road, NZ

Mel & I, catching up for the 1st time in 2016.

  12/30/2016

Today is like Spring. It is almost warm. I had that feeling in my bones before I even looked outside.

I am ready to embrace some New Year’s Resolutions for myself. I didn’t do so well on some of them last year. I set writing goals I didn’t stick with. I am getting better at NOT beating myself up about everything, and this might make me slack but, I believe the self-acceptance thing is even more important to me.

I had far more adventures than I could find time to write about this year. That doesn’t mean I didn’t think and reflect about them. I still am writing, but I am still adventuring too. I am happy and proud of myself for doing different things. For saying ‘yes’ to Chile and walking up so many hills there. For seeking out Neruda’s Valparaiso house. For flying back at a moment’s notice to help bury my Stepmother June, an awesome and very much missed pillar in my Dad’s family. For having the wisdom and strength to not go back to Australia, just because I was ‘in the neighbourhood’. For going to Belgium at short notice too, and for being brave enough to use my 3 French words. (Wish I’d used more.) I said ‘yes, we’ll be there’ to an invitation to share Thanksgiving at a beautiful holiday house on a Puget Sound Island, meaning constant social interaction and chilling back with new friends. Some of my adventuring was actually quite difficult, not all of it comfortable, and certainly ALL of it was very expensive. I wish I had done even more though.

I gained in confidence and flow in my teaching reading skills in the adult literacy school. I made beautiful new friendships there, solidified others, was challenged and uplifted by my students’ lives and achievements. My paltry 4 hours teaching a week has added up to over 162 hours of face to face teaching and preparation, and I know I am a valued part of the school. This means the world to me. I have been told I ‘add value’ to the whole process of teaching these very special individuals, who are on all points of a journey to bettering their own lives. I cannot think of a more rewarding thing to be doing. I will probably add another teaching session to my week in 2017.

The work I do at the store, (if you can call it ‘work’) is social, and fun and I am still finding the stock has a certain allure- I want to buy a new scarf nearly every week. (I try not to). I get to hang out with really lovely people of all ages, from different walks of life, and find out about them.We all have slightly different reasons for being there, but are united by our concern for the artisans we support.

For both Johnny and I our cohort of friends grew considerably in a short space of time, but remains stable, and we hang out with a group of fun, mature and slightly younger, beer appreciating teachers and ex-teachers. We really love to be able to kick back and relax with these people, who have accommodated us willingly, and drag us along to concerts and baseball games, brewery openings and parties. They give us rides, and ask us to their ‘things’, keep us entertained and stop us from taking ourselves too seriously. We sing karaoke with them, see bands, look at art, eat amazing food, and generally educate each other about our respective cultural quirks. Introducing words like ‘dink’, ‘arvo’ and ‘wobbly’ and such is a bit of a hobby for us, and collecting these Aussie-isms is a hobby of theirs. ‘Humour’ is common language we all seem to share, so laughing is what we do most of the time.

Happy Hours at the Ram have become a weekly ritual, and now that we are bona fide members of the famous ‘Mug Club’ we are enjoying the novelty of drinking cut price beers out of massive pint glasses and trying to pair this beer with sustaining and not hugely fattening food. I’m not sure we can win this struggle, so we try to eat as many vegetables and healthy homemade stuff as we can through the week. We are not always successful. I am finding the traditionally (bad) revered ways of eating here much much more attractive to me as time goes by. We have an exercise bike and try to move about as much as we can, but I have to say, my gold fish bowl existence, looking out at the wintry streets from my very cosy couch is far more preferable at the moment.

I have begun to enjoy binge-watching on the Netflix again, this year a change from dramas and crime; I am finally embracing the meta-narrative that is Gilmore Girls, and I am really loving it. I think it is a very sweet piece of writing, both in its script and in its character development. I am only half-way through the 8 series and I am unsure how I will go on with my life after it finishes.

I am able to divorce the reality of Gilmore Girls from my own reality, don’t worry, not too much anyway.

… 1/5/2017 …Today I am trying to end this pathetic couch-ridden existence I have taken up- nursing a horrible hacking cough (apparently an actual ‘flu’). I have been annoyingly unwell this last month, with a few days respite for the Christmas long weekend, but perhaps I shouldn’t have enjoyed it so much. My immune system is taking a battering.

I’m trying to make marmalade out of a glut of lemons I sliced and froze months ago. It looks awful and isn’t setting, so I am cooking it to death- and then will bottle and leave up in the cupboard, just like I used to at home when my preserves didn’t quite work out. (Which is fairly often.) I did use a recipe though. Sort of. It smells great. I will be sad if I have to turf it.

I have spoken about our fun lifestyle, and I guess it makes sense that my immune system is down, but then I do wear sensible, warm clothing, and I buy good food to eat at home. I take a good multi- B vitamin, I don’t eat much meat. I make soup, full of vegetable, legumes, and lots of goodness. I still struggle to sleep well, but I have gotten myself into good habits with my bedtime routine and am looking after my own needs; it’s not like I am not good at self-care. I am the Queen of self-care. I just have a lousy immune system. I also neglected to get a flu shot this autumn. And I catch public transport.

Anyway, while I have no voice to have actual conversations I am getting in some very nice quiet spells, just watching Netflix and amazon movies. And playing Words with Friends. I am neglecting my creative side yes; I seemed to bottle-neck for a while there, with too many writing projects on the go- so am reverting to this journalling /blog thing to alleviate some of the pressure, while I try to get things get back into some sort of order and focus.

I am now dreaming about the return to the Motherland Australia as I have only a few more months to go before I have to come home for a while. When I get home, I have a huge list of things I need to concern myself with, in order to make sure our life back here in the US can continue and run smoothly. We very definitely like living here, for so many reasons, and will continue for as long as we can.

Don’t get me wrong, I do miss Australia, the continent, the beauty of the beaches and the bush. I can’t wait to get some wet sand between my toes again. I miss a lot of what makes the communal aspects of living in Aus so special- the relaxed lifestyle, the flexibility of routine, the refusal of Australians to become regimented by the establishment. Americans seem to either not notice that they are, or actually like to be organised and told what to do and feel and when to do it, a lot more than Aussies do- and that is fine, there are so many of them, after all. So it’s kind of weird about the whole election thing- when no one was obligated to enroll or vote. Still scratching our heads over that one.

People are just as busy as we are at home, with work and extracurricular activities, but there is a degree of spontaneity I am really relishing here with my American friends that I couldn’t quite attain at home. It may also be a bit of a cop-out but because we aren’t American, we can be a bit more detached about the traditions and cultural aspects that our friends are a part of- we can’t be instantly acculturated with a fervor for pumpkin pie, or Superbowl, for instance. But we’ll turn up and see what it’s all about, sure (with the option of not liking or wanting to participate.)

Our free and easy way of doing our social life is also possibly a lot to do with the fact that we have jumped into a great void of untried experiences with strangers, and were so out of our ‘comfort zones’ it’s shocked us into being a lot more adaptable. I like this new life and the jolts of reality that force us to respond in fresh ways. There wasn’t a good deal of that potential for reinvention back home, and now there is. You can’t even pay for this wonderful way to grow in your personal life. (Although, we actually did pay.)

So my marmalade hasn’t been a total success, and there goes the 6 good jars I’ve been saving for this. My kitchen is even tinier than the one I had at home, and there isn’t a pantry either. However this hasn’t stopped me from trying to cook a lot of food in it, and I guess I am still addicted to saving and preserving. I think may I have a problem. I have a fresh batch of gravlax in my fridge. Too much for us of course, but there was no way I was going to waste that salmon we didn’t use because I felt too ill to cook it.

I think I’m going to need to get some pectin and redo this marmalade and re-sterilise my jars.

Maybe I could make a New Year’s resolution to not undertake preserving and cooking en masse without adhering to a recipe explicitly.

You were a long time coming, 2017 12/30/2016 Today is like Spring. It is almost warm. I had that feeling in my bones before I even looked outside.