Its days like today when I see Mr happily sunning himself
outside in a catnip induced coma that I am so thankful he came to live with us.
Sadly, Mr was a refugee of the Christchurch earthquake and so for awhile had a
very uncertain future but luckily for us he ended upcoming to stay. Both he and
Diesel nibble at the cat grass but it’s the nip that gets the top vote. Apparently
it is soothing for both cats and dogs so I’m going to try to get the plants as
big as I can before letting the boys loose on them. Once I have a good supply I
will dry out a sizable bunch and make some catnip toys. I had some coffee sacks
given to me from another recycler that I made a very cool onion bag from and
with the leftover sacking I can sew some toys up and stuff with dried nip for
the haven puss’s I visit every week. I would love to put a plant in the outdoor
area for them but I need to come up with an idea where they can enjoy it but can’t
destroy it...and we don’t want any “deposits” no matter how well intentioned
they are!
This morning after a few months of contemplation, I finally
conquered the compost bin. Instead of wrestling with the tray, I just tipped it
over and pulled everything out of it onto the concrete. It gave me a chance to
turn it all over properly and then clean out all the air/drainage holes in the
bin and then put the compost back in. Apart from some odd objects (why anyone
would think a plate would make good compost is anyone’s guess) it looked like
really nice compost...lots of worms, lots of big ones too so they must be very
happy in there, I hope they forgive my sudden intrusion. After all that I had
to get the hose and clean down the tools and concrete so I don’t cringe when
looking out my kitchen window at the mess left all over the place. Will give it
a couple of weeks and that will be the next job, spreading the compost onto the
garden. I now chop all my kitchen waste into small pieces so they will decompose
quicker than usual, some goes into the compost bin, some goes straight into the
garden as advised by my mother who regularly digs a hole and drops her kitchen waste
into it. I am trying both to see what is more productive. While undertaking the
compost mission, one poor little Queensland blue got flattened. I will hope it
recovers from being trampled by my big hoof, but the sacrifice made was worth
the compost, either way I can live with it.
While weeding the back garden so that the corn and
beans have
some more room, I noticed my nasturtiums, even though only planted a few weeks
back now have their first flowers on them. I am thinking of all the gorgeous
fresh salads I will be making with all these beautiful flowers mixed in...Will
leave some for the bees though. The potatoes are flowering so hopefully baby
potatoes for Christmas? I think there are finally a few parsnips come up
too...Mmmm, Christmas roasties! The borage, beets and tomatoes are doing well
and the mix I used the other day for my black boy peach seems to have worked as
the ants don’t seem to be attracted to it anymore. I ate my first red currant
today, I was so proud until the moment I popped it into my mouth....a little tart
for my liking but then maybe I just need to wait a tad longer.
