Mystery solved

I have an identity for my sweet red berry plant! It's a Chilean Guava, also known (presumably only in NZ) as a New Zealand Cranberry. Thanks to Tom from Sydney on Flickr for providing the first diagnosis of the Chilean Guava, after which I googled and found that my plant matched the images and descriptions. Then my workmate brought in a sprig from her cranberry bush, and I was puzzled to see that it matched that too. She'd also brought in the plant information card from when she bought the plant, and eventually I realised that the botanical name was the same for both - myrtus ugni (I'm sure it means pretty)

So there we have it - it's a cranberry and a guava. Soon it will be dessert - if I can stop snacking on it when I get the mail, that is!

Mystery plant

Is this a cranberry? It grows at the foot of my drive near the letterbox. I kept noticing a sweet, sugary smell in the air when getting the mail and traced it back to this plant. I had just thought it was ornamental, after all, wouldn't a cranberry be planted somewhere near the blueberries or blackberries? After a minute's hesitation I ate one of the berries. It was very sweet and quite yummy. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with cranberries and actually thought they were rather tart, so I'm still none the wiser (not reeling with a stomach ache or anything though!)

So... does anyone know what it is?

I actually bought a small cranberry seedling at the flower show, it looks kind of similar but has redder stems. And no berries.

Also, on a gardening high after hearing a talk about compost, I assembled a compost bin this afternoon and nearly filled it. Worm farm is next. We still want to get chookies, but buying a chicken run turns out not to be cheap. I had hoped to buy one in kitset form so I could play builder and put it together but that option is $600 - plus chickens, food etc. Making them rather expensive eggs...

Time spent...

...cooking
...baking
...making relish and lemon honey

...digging oxalis out of the garden
...planting out seedlings
...planning tree and shrub removal
...researching chicken coops
...researching composting and worm farms
...attending Ellerslie (more to come in another post)
...planning my garden beds

...photographing a wedding
...downloading photoshop actions and brushes
...editing 600+ photos

...taking Lui to the vet as his emo (self harming) ways resurface
...buying a dining table and chairs
...arranging vignettes on windowsills and dressers
...lighting the fire and blissing out
...reading



...(not crochet)
...(not organising my craft room)
...(not fixing the letterbox)
...(not fixing the leaky washing machine)
Oh well... perhaps next weekend...

Update in brief

THINGS THAT MAKE MOVING EASIER
-A note of welcome from the previous owner.
-Discovering that we have moved into a good, old fashioned, friendly, everyone-knows-your-name neighbourhood.

NEW HOUSE
-Moved in, half unpacked, half settled (feeling a little bit more 'homey' every day, and less like I am staying in someone else's house!)

NEW GARDEN
-Left beautifully weeded and dug over, with some silver beet and strawberries already established.
-My transient pot plant garden is being slowly moved to new homes... some of the winter veg went in on the weekend, the rest are waiting for me to have a spare 2 hours of daylight...
-Established fruit trees - cherry, blueberry, lemon and olive, plus blackberry canes and a giant rhubarb patch.
-Glasshouse - oh the possibilities...

LUI
-Took a good week to adjust to the house before we could even consider letting him outside.
-Spent a lot of time hiding under the bed.
-Ventured bravely out on Saturday, has made several brief visits since then, but still prefers to be an inside cat.

CROCHET
-Incomplete. Sadly. I haven't touched it since moving day :( I am now officially Out Of Time to finish by my deadline...

STUDIO
-Neglected. Full of the boxes I don't want to unpack yet and not much else.

INJURIES SUSTAINED WHILE BIKING TO WORK
-1 skinned knee
-1 scuffed shoe
-1 punctured tyre
(I am not a useless cyclist, I hasten to point out! I slipped off the pedals because the gears were out of whack from being stuffed in the boot, and I count the puncture as a blessing in disguise, because it poured with rain the next day and I was given a ride!)

UPCOMING PROJECTS
-Be the official photographer at my brother's wedding this weekend.
-Frantically re-read all the "How to be a wedding photographer" websites I have bookmarked.
-Get my computer unclogged enough that it can handle mass amounts of photographs.
-Clear some space in the studio so I can fit an air mattress on the floor.
-Sleep.

Winner!

I have a winner for the print of Sweet House and matching ATC! It's #51 - Danielle! Congratulations - I will be sending out the prize as soon as the madness of shifting house has subsided!

For now, it's all go. We got our key yesterday so I've steam cleaned the carpets, and we've shifted several carloads of boxes into the garage to be sorted into the house as soon as the carpets are dry. Today I'm shifting the garden (all the potted plants that is) which is sure to be back-breaking, especially since it rained hard yesterday and overnight and they'll all be full of water...

Before I go I want to say a big thank you to everyone who left a lovely comment on my giveaway post. Thanks for all the well-wishes for the new house! You are all welcome to come around for tea and lemon cake :) But now it's time for me to go and load some pots and boxes.

Mystery

Does it look like someone is going somewhere?

Or maybe someone is building a fort out of boxes!

Careful investigation is required.

Evidence = inconclusive.

Never mind - I have a clever hidey hole. They'll never find me here!...

...oh. Bugger.

Crochet update

Here's where I'm up to on the cardie right now. I've restarted since I last posted about it, though - it finally got big enough to try on, I tried it on, and... it was too small. I'd only done the bodice and armholes, so I gritted my teeth and restarted it in the next size up. It got big enough to try on again, I tried it on, and yay - it fits!

However. Yes, there is a however. My gauge is still not correct (in the excitement of it actually fitting I forgot to check this part) so, while it fits, my shells are a lot smaller than those in the pattern. That means I have to do more rows - many more - to get it to the right length, which I wanted longer than the original pattern in the first place. Which is where I'm at right now. I'm thinking two more repeats of the shell pattern might finally do it, and then I can start on the side/front patterning (more extra stitching will be required), and then the sleeves - I'm leaving them till last so it can be a sleeveless vest if I run out of time!

My deadline is March 1st. And I'm moving house this weekend. And I still have oodles of stuff to pack. And I've developed a cramp in my left hand which I'm worried will turn into RSI if I don't rest it, so I really need to take it easy on the crochet today.

*Breathe deep*

Still. It's going to be stunning when it's actually finished, isn't it?

Say yes!

One World One Heart giveaway - and some Very Exciting News

**********GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED**********

Sweet House

Mixed media
123 x 174 mm

Hello again! It's been some weeks since I posted but I do have a good reason and some Very Exciting News... we have bought a house! So I'm busy busy busy cleaning, dusting and packing everything I own into a million boxes. Then on the 14th of February we will move into our new, sweet little house. The above artwork is a portrait of our new home. The big sunny room at the front will be my studio! And that is indeed a giant lemon tree outside the front door.

To celebrate I'm having a giveaway! It's also a part of the One World, One Heart blog event hosted by Lisa Oceandreamer. This is a wonderful event where bloggers all over the world will hold giveaways at their own blogs. To see the list of over 800 participants and find some new lovely blogs to visit, go to the official site here!

My giveaway is for a 5 x 7 print of Sweet House, and a matching original ATC. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment at this post. (If your comment doesn't link back to a public blog, please leave your email so I can contact you if you win.) That's it! The winner will be drawn on the 12th of February, which is also our settlement date - let's hope it's a lucky day!

Sweet House ATC

Here's some crochet

It's going to be the Go For Baroque cardie from the Happy Hooker book. It's also going to be finished by March 1st so I can wear it to a wedding.

Thinking positive here...

A close up under strong light so you can see the glimmer. How exciting to find glimmery yarn!

It's not like I didn't have enough to do in the next 6 weeks. However, I am determined... I will have a nice new cardie!

Tomatoes

The hot hot weather has been good for some of the tomatoes. They are ripening fast and it's wonderful to go outside and pick one, fresh and warm from the sun, and put it in a sandwich with some homemade bread and fresh mesclun salad.

Unfortunately, not all of the tomatoes have been so well behaved. Some of them have formed these black patches at the base of the fruit. I can't think why... it's happening on different plants, and it's been so hot and dry lately it can't be mildew. I don't think it's too much water forming on the fruit, as they are sheltered from rain and I make sure not to wet the foliage when I water. Does anyone have any ideas what causes this?

I got some Thrive Soluble Flower & Fruit to feed my plants with and it's terrible! Above you can see the residue left in my watering can after using it. The rose was blocked and I had to remove it and give the whole thing a good rinse out. I think I'll go back to using Miracle Gro!