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Pumpkin patch all ready

Category: Garden | Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 6:55 pm

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We've been busy today, converting the youngest girl's sandbox into a pumpkin patch. We managed to get the sand out, removed the bottom cover and started with dead stuff from the garden:




The bottom layer ready ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


Then we hauled the bags of horse dung up and sat them ready for use:





Horse dung, one bag ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )






Most of the dung added ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



Then we added a soil that holds water well but if dry is very hard. It won't dry since it's above the manure but below the top soil:




The water-retaining soil added ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


The top soil is a mix of sand and rich stable compost, and the worms love it. That's my finger:





Big worm! That's my finger ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


We are ready to sow, but where's the gardener-to-be? I found her in front of the TV, with a pile of Barbie dolls and games. *sigh* But out she came, we sowed and put the mini-greenhouse up.





All done. Now grow! ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


I hope her pumpkins will grow for her. We've never sown this early before. I've got extra pumpkin seeds sitting in the bathroom just in case these won't sprout.

While we were at it, we fixed the middle girl's patch too. Ready for carrots:





Ready for the carrot seeds ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



Well watered and looking good. The green sprouts are calendula and my mishap-marthagon-bulb-scales-babies:




Carrots sown and watered ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



We had 22C at the warmest today, so we were hot!

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A Gal's Gotta Do... And Break Stuff While Doing

Category: Pets and other animals | Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:53 pm

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I have been working up my courage to fix Gabriella's driving harness. One of the hind fasteners broke due to my foolishness in thinking the doors didn't both need to be fully open. Well, they do, and I have proof as to why too. Had. Until this evening.

Leather is tough, and our shoe maker is hyper allergic to horses. The closest harness maker is moving shop and has all his stuff packed away. And I'm such a sissy when it comes to mending stuff I've never mended before. But needs must etc. So this evening I broke out the sail maker's needle set my husband had stashed away, some scissors and my handbag. I needed a piece of the strap to mend the harness you see.

The sail maker's needle was obviously carbon iron or something. It broke the minute it touched the leather. But I had a long, sharp, slim needle. Can't imagine why, since I don't sew. So I set to, and I did it! Some photos to document my success:

What I used to fix the thing:



Oh, the poor needles! One broken, one bent:



This is what the harness looked like before it broke:



And this is the side I mended:



I'm feeling pretty good about myself at the moment, I must admit. I promise this one success won't change me. *lol*

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Spring Fun

Category: Garden | Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:05 pm

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I haven't been much of a blogger on the garden front lately, have I? Well, nothing much has happened, so I've had little to blog about, really. But now that the spring cleaning is almost done, I feel a lot perkier and ready to write about stuff again.

The first thing that happened was my mother's phone call. She had dug up a huge hosta, and would I please come get it. Well, thank you mom! I've no room for a huge hosta at the moment, so it's sitting outside in a big bag, wainting for me to dig a hole for it somewhere.

Then I went bananas on the cone pine. Well, it kept poking my back and face when I weeded around it, so I thought it could do with a little cut. My problem is I just don't know when to stop:




Ouch! Still ugly. ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



The crocus are all done now, and their grass looks very untidy. I don't like to cut it, since I believe the bulbs will need the energy from the dying leaves. My grandmother also believed that, and she used a simple trick, the knot:




Granny-knots ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


Foliage out of the way, leaving room for whatever's coming up around it, and when it's dead I just pick up the brown knot and chuck it in the compost. Easy-peasy.

It's blooming outside, and some critters take advantage of that. This particular critter is now dead:





Cheeky snail! ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


I've spent the last few days crushing beetles. Horrible things. They can ruin lilies in no time at all. The grown-ups eat the leaves and lay their eggs, and the greedy, little larvae finish the lily off. So I've got lots of dead, red things out there:





The dreaded lily beetle ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



Now, for the blooms. We've got a few of those, fortunately. The primroses are well on their way:




Red primulas ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )






Primula lilacina ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )






Primula marginata ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )






Double, sweet pink Primula ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )






Double white Primula ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )






Double dark red Primula ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


Then there's my beloved Canadian:





Sanguinaria canadensis ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


And our sweet, timid Japanese:





Hacquetia epipactis "Variegata" ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


This is an American:



Trillium pusillum ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )


I don't know where this originated from, but it's cousin grows wild in our woods.



Anemone nemorosa monstrosa ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



And now for a dire warning. When picking wild Lily-of-the-valley seven years ago, I accidentally pulled out a couple of roots. I took them home and planted them. Now they've invaded my husband's Crocosmia Lucifer and is spreading like wildfire:




Invasive Lily-of-the-valley ( photo / image / picture from Droopy's Garden )



I've got lots and lots of digging to do here, and I have to move them to somwhere where they can do as they please.

Well, that was my season well and truly started. Hooray!

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Can drive, can't speak English

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:09 pm

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I found myself bundled up on the floor this morning, laughing my head off. The reason for this was our rally ace Petter Solberg's spoken English.(Wikipedia link) He has driven for Ford and Subaru and has done very well for himself so far. Now he's without a contract and I have a feeling he ought to concentrate on his English, just to be on the safe side.

Here are a couple of his language "pearls":

"I'm driving around the corner and crash in the christmas tree."

"I had bad pigs in my dekk." (Tr.: My tire studs were bad.)

"There was a moose in the engine." (Tr. There was a mouse in the engine.)

"It was so much dog on the window." (Tr. The windows were fogged up.)

"It's not the fart that kills you, it's the smell." (Tr. It's not the speed that kills you but the impact.)

And finally, my favourite:

"But-but, it's not only-only you know!"

I give the chap credit for speaking English anyway, despite him mixing in Norwegian words, and for his big, hearty laugh and his enthusiasm for his sport. At least he doesn't lack courage!

However, I'm still laughing.

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Need some help, come with me to the stables

Category: Pets and other animals | Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:00 pm

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I've got both ponies to tend to today, wanna help out?

This is Truls's box. He's very tidy. The pee is in the middle, and the muck is in the back:



Here's Gabriella's box. It looks tidy, but there's lots hidden underneath there:



Don't forget to sort out the pee:



Well done, it looks nice now:



We need to make the hay ready, best find the bags for it:



Here's the weight, the bags and the hay, let's start putting the hay into the bags and weigh them, shall we? We need three bags per horse. One for breakfast, one for dinner and one for supper:



I use Ikea-bags, they're durable, easy to clean and just the right size:



Here we are, all done:



And the bags need to be put in place too:



The horses need their pellets and oats. Two boxes per horse, one for breakfast and one for supper:



The oats are in a special container:



Let's put a little something in their cribs for when they get back in, shall we?



Since the sun's shining we need to carry some water to the paddocks:



Here they are, enjoying the sunshine:



Truls is pleased with the water, but wanted some lunch too. Sorry Truls, a bit too early:



Gabriella's water trough was full, so all we need to do here is pet her:



Maybe, just maybe we can find a straw or two to share?



Let's have a coffee break now:



A quick look at the parrots, and we're off:



Thanks for helping me, well done! :D

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The last day of January

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 8:03 am

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January ended on a rather mild note. The ground is frozen but the sun was out, and it gave some nice heat too. We took the horses out for a drive and ride, as we have done for the last Saturdays. Here we are:



Little Gabriella is a very pretty pony, isn't she:



Here's Truls. I usually let this girl ride him on our Saturday trips, since I can't both ride and drive at the same time:



We've got no colour outside, bar that purple hellebore and the single snowdrop, but we've got a bit of colour inside. This is my youngest girl's amaryllis:



We bought six lovely primroses last week-end. Four of them collapsed promtly, but these two are still going strong:





The mornings have been very nice lately. I like the golden clouds:



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Bye-bye Christmas

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:30 pm

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Tomorrow is the 20th day of Christmas, and if everything hadn't already been cleared away, then that was the day to do it. We were busy tidying away and getting back to normal on Friday, so no stress for me.

We've still got a blooming Amaryllis, can't tidy away that:



During the last snowfall our robin came to visit. He's very good at making lots of noise to let us know that he's running low on food:





I think the robin is one of the most christmassy birds, but I'm not tidying him away either.

As I harvested the Christmas tree, I took a few photos of the ornaments. Here are the paper hearts that we make:



Different ornaments:









The holly one is my favourite. Only 11 months to go until we unpack them again.

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Christmas Show

Category: Pets and other animals | Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 6:44 pm

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This year the riding club decided to throw a Christmas show in the fancy new riding house. Most of the children connected to one of the stables in the area participated. We had show jumping, Hungarian post, voltige and gymkhana. Here's my youngest on a test run before the show started:



The course was neither long nor complicated, but the small ones struggled with the task at hand:



And back again, hurry!



The other team's pony:



The winning team:



Participants in the show jumping arriving:



A small Norwegian Fjord Horse in his fancy outfit:



Three very happy helpers:



We put up decorations like this inside and outside. Even though they're simple, they're still festive:



Waiting is hard work:







My middle girl was Santa-napped:





Santa's carriage was decorated too, even with sleigh bells:



A Norwegian Fjord Horse and a Norwegian Christmas girl well pleased with the day:



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When fed up with shopping I misbehave

Category: Ramblings | Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:12 pm

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Yesterday my mother had to go Christmas shopping. I hate shopping in all forms, especially in December. People seem to leave their manners at home, and sort of throw themselves into the shops, hair on end, teeth bared, fists flying, elbows sharpened, and they're all equipped with either steel-capped shoes or very hard heels!

Some shoppers are in rather poor health, but my! do they use their shopping carts to their advantage. My hips, back and legs are full of bruises because of those people who sneak up from behind and suddenly ram the cart into me, full speed.

I much prefer the ones who throw themselves in front of me to snatch the last marzipan pig just as I reach for it. At least I can dive to avoid them. And I am humble with admiration for those who have managed to perfect their slide moves to such an extent that they take off at the beginning of the shelves and just pick stuff down quickly as they race smoothly by.

As for the people with prams, some of them have elevated the exercise "pram slalom" to a fine art. They avoid merchandise displays and other prams with a hair's width, but alas, not my poor toes. And mother kept going, no end in sight.

So when I had had enough, I stood myself in front of a lovely display, and spent a lot of time admiring it from all angles, camera in hand. Then I started photographing it. That at least provoked a reaction, and she finally managed to pick out the last few items she needed so we could go home. Phew!

Here's the display I photographed, by the way. They're all Wanda orchids, and they cost close to NOK 500,- each. That's something like £50,- or $72,-. I didn't buy one, but at least I've got the photos:



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The first driving competition

Category: Pets and other animals | Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:29 pm

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Today was a big day at the stables. We had a club competition in dressage, jumping and driving. My pony Truls and our minder started dressage and jumping, and the girls' pony Gabriella, Ida and I started precision carriage driving. We had to get up early, since the do started at ten in the morning.

There weren't many dressage riders. The ones who participated did so to get their green cards. We need those in order to compete in open competitions elsewhere. It proves that we can handle the horse and is fit to venture outside our own borders. :lol:

Lots of equipages started in the different jumping classes. My Truls did fairly well. They had two clear rounds, so both my minder and I were well pleased. :D

Here are a few of the girls and ponies lined up to receive their prizes:



Then it was us; Gabriella, Ida and me. We started two classes, both easy and medium difficulty. There were eleven starting easy and nine in medium, so we didn't have very big hopes. After all, we've only just learned to drive and several of the other participants have been driving for years. Here we are, ready for the easy class:



Imagine our surprise when we came second! We didn't push any balls of the cones, but were a bit too slow around the course.

The medium class had 13 gates, and it was a difficult course too, so we just made our minds up to have fun and do as well as we could. Gabriella had finally found out that the quicker she raced through the sooner she would be back in her box, so she took off like a rocket. We bumped into one cone so the ball fell off, and then I missed gate eleven, had to do a circle and drive through it, so we lost some time there. Then I sent my husband, the girls and mother home because it had gotten very late. When the last equipage had driven through the course, I went to help gather together the balls and cones. Then I was told to fetch the pony and come back in because we were among the best three. Not only that, but we had won! Our first driving do ever, I still can't believe it. Now we have some nice decorations on our wall:



And now I'm off to bed shortly. It has been a very long day.

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