The last few weeks have been characterised by nearly no lifestlye block work. Hmmm, thinking I said something very similar last month and the one before... Happily that has meant that we've done lots of enjoying family, relaxing and too much drinking. And though the vege garden has been shockingly neglected, it's mostly the aesthetics that have been affected. Production isn't bad at all, though the neglect has also meant that a fair number of crops have passed their prime and gone to seed. It is pretty gutting to have lavished care and attention (and time) on growing them in the first place, only to end up with pig food. Not that the pigs are complaining too much, though they have yet to develop a taste for marrows. Talk about picky.
The flower gardens have had some sporadic attention, the original peastraw having done a great job of keeping the weeds down. We've had no rain since before Christmas, so watering has to be done. The new Ash, the Forest Pansy and the most exposed Horopito tree are showing some signs of heat stress, so I've upped the watering frequency. Everything else is flowering away big time. The new dahlias are particularly spectacular, extending my relatively new appreciation of all plants flowery. The Scabious (one pink and one limey yellow) are also favourites, and I'm waiting patiently for the Abutilon to bloom up from the buds it's finally created. It had just been sitting there for the last couple of years, and I can't even remember its colour. 
Vegetables for eating include new potatoes (stunning Cliff Kidneys that I'll defintely grow again), greens, beetroot, garlic, beans, courgettes and carrots. Madame Cholet is tending the best crop of aubergines I've ever grown - OK, the only crop of aubergines I've ever grown. But also rock melons that look like real rock melons! The chillis are looking promising, as are the peppers. The ginger and turmeric in the half barrels might well be impressively edible too. 
Fruit is coming on tap. Delicious mulberries are nearly done now, and though the birds have enjoyed the lion's share of them, I've had enough to keep me happy. A gazillion black, red and white currants were picked one happy evening when Sam and Molly were around, making much lighter work of the task than just little ole me. Plums are pinking up, and a few are ready to eat. That includes the purple-blushing greengages, that are not in total abundance like last year, but plenty nonetheless. Apples, pears, peaches and peachcots are also likely to be medium volume this season. Grapes are filling out but the plants are more than a bit diseased. It doesn't bother me, but wine-maker Molly is quite shocked at the state of them!
Hay cutting and baling finally happened a few days ago. That meant that Lucas, Laura and Sally all managed to avoid the unpopular stacking task. Unluckily for Sam and Molly, they were here, and we'd have struggled to do the job without them. Having the new ute meant a lot less trips to the hay barn with the 100 bales, but neither me nor Molly could lift the bales high, and Peter has bursitis in his shoulder so he couldn't either. Not sure what we owe Sam for his herculean efforts, but guessing it might be best acknowledged in the form of whisky.
The pigs haven't yet staged a coup and have managed to stay in their run. Everyone is most fond of George, the saddle-backed one who is charmingly smaller than the others. Babe, the only female, manages to keep up with Percy and Peppa on the food front. Their appetites are increasing proportionally with their size. Karyn has been bringing buckets of nibbled fruit from the Stadium school holiday programme, but that's just come to an end, at least until the Easter holidays. Luckily that orchard fruit is providing treaty supplements, mostly plums and under-ripe apples.
My lovely auntie Sally headed back to Hong Kong in time for Chinese New Year. We holidayed for a few days in Golden Bay, staying at a great little motel in Motueka. Highlights included a very pleasant day out in Takaka and a very beautiful boat cruise from Kaiteriteri along the Abel Tasman National Park coastline. We also had a day trip to Karaka Point in the Marlborough Sounds, so I could show her where some of Dad's ashes were scattered many moons ago.
Lucas and Laura headed off to Bali and look to be having an amazing time. They've found some great accommodation and plan to head off to Phuket next month. Lucas is working for a UK company as a 'digital nomad', and is hoping to save money by living cheaply. Laura plans to study online. Before they left they managed to get to Lochmara Lodge - we gave them tickets for a day trip as a birthday present. We also headed out to Lake Rotoiti and had a memorable (for all the wrong reasons) meal in a St Arnaud restaurant.I've been thinking (mostly at 3am) about the busy-ness of the last few weeks, and associated lack of life-style block tasks. Though my working hours will reduce by March, I'm planning to do a course in 2020, so need to find ways of making the vege garden more manageable. So far I've come up with the idea of keeping some of the beds fallow next year. Green manure could be planted, chopped down when it flowers and then covered with thick straw for a year or more. That should improve the soil fertility in the long run, and cut down some of my workload from autumn. Salt could be spread on the paths between the beds as a weed-killer. The ideas are a start, but I'll have to have a lightbulb moment or two to seriously make an impact.
I could finish this blog entry with a few wise words or maybe a profound quote, but I managed to get a sneaky shot of Karyn's fine arse that will work much more satisfactorily as an end-piece. No doubt there'll be revenge of some kind...
