Mr Shoestring Cuts A Rug

The annual Cruise In for vintage cars came to town this weekend, so our little township was alive with hundreds of out of towners with their beautiful old cars.  This is the time when we like to stroll around with a proprietorial air quietly discussing which one would be ours if we had the means to purchase such a delightful accessory for our art deco weekends.  We had a chance to meet up with Mr and Mrs Mustang and also some new chums, who were friends of theirs.  We all sallied forth to our favourite café, Banco, where we had a delicious meal (and one or two libations it has to be admitted).

That night Mr Shoestring was keen to go to see Mr Tony Hamilton, the singer/impersonator who was “being” Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly.  What a great time we had dancing, though I have to admit even wearing my most comfortable dancing shoes I could feel the effects afterwards.  One is not quite so young as one once was, and though the spirit is willing the body occasionally protests.   It was worth having a few sore toes though, and Mr Shoestring hardly sat down all night which was very gratifying as he has been known to experience stage fright when public dancing is called for, and to seize up and refuse to take to the floor.  For some reason this time he was on top form and there was no holding him back, how unpredictable men are!

The battle with the young cock blackbird continued unabated and the car was once again covered with guano on both sides.  Poor Mr Shoestring has more or less given up the fight now, but he was gratified to notice that Mr B Bird has turned his attention even further afield, and that the neighbour’s car was also lavishly decorated with bird droppings, so at least poor Mr Shoestring has not been the recipient of the attacks by Mr B Bird.  

On Sunday I was in a tearing hurry to finish yet another summer dress but I am afraid I met my nemesis, having become too complacent about my abilities.  It seems that I cut out one piece of fabric incorrectly and did not discover my mistake until the dress was nearly completed, hence had to unpick the seam and overlocking on said piece.  Somehow I unpicked the wrong piece, then when I was attempting to unpick the right one got so impatient that I attempted to tear the seam apart.  You guessed it, I have ripped the fabric and now will have to make not only another bodice but also another skirt piece.  Aaaaargh!  In the end it had to be left for another time, I knew that I had run out of time and that if I continued on there would be more disasters.  Thank heavens I have a bit of extra fabric, I only hope it will be enough to recreate the ruined pieces.  This is what happens from thinking that just because you have made a pattern up several times you can do it with your brain switched off, I suppose.

The ill fated dress fabric which now has a nasty tear in one place

The "stamp" fabric which was such a success last weekend

In the garden everything was looking lovely and it was one of those rare days when most things met with my approval and I felt very satisfied.  Such is the season that there were roses and camellias blooming at the same time.

Red rose in the foreground, camellia in the background - hardly able to tell them apart

 This old fashioned pansy took my eye as the prettiest one I have grown in a long time. 

  The cobra head lily was blooming and looking strangely evil but fascinating nevertheless.

I think this cobra head lily is Arisaema Ringens which comes from Japan, but I am not entirely sure.  Apart from the flower the trilobed leaves are very attractive and do not seem to attract slugs in the same way the hostas do.

Holey hosta leaves - can never defeat the slugs entirely!

 Most of the hostas have their leaves out now and they are bulking up and spreading this year.  

Now that I have come to accept the aquilegias I notice what a wide range of shades of pinks they have.  Sadly I don't seem to have any of the blues, and I know that if you plant them you need to pick them before they set seed to prevent them from all crossing together and making unwanted shades.  One of our visitors in the weekend was very taken with them, remembering them from her grandmother's garden, and I offered her some seeds once they have set and dried.  (I refrained from telling her that according to ancient herbal lore a powder made from the dried seeds is supposed to be a very effective cure for lice - I thought she might take it the wrong way, somehow.)  

A Victory for the Wildlings

When I started gardening at Shoestring Cottage I must have been determined to put my own stamp on the tiny garden.  There would be no forget-me-nots, no wild cinerarias and no lunaria (AKA honesty), no siree!  For the first season I was vigilant and managed to remove most of the offenders, but this year I fear standards have slipped and last weekend there were forget-me-nots, honesty and cinerarias blossoming everywhere and I was pleased to see them.  Next year I will really try to remove the forget-me-nots (as seen above) because their horrible "biddy-bid" seeds cling to your clothes and hair and seem impossible to remove, but as for the aquilegia or columbine, they have such beautiful soft shades and their petals are translucent and very attractive.

The cinerarias I always despised because of their prolific habits, but what a beautiful selection of shades "blue" can encompass.

Some of the plants are eye wateringly intense in colour - the only problem is that you don't want to pick them and take them indoors because they do have a horrible pong.

The strangest thing happened this weekend at Shoestring HQ.  Mr Shoestring came racing inside (I was toiling away over a hot sewing machine, completing my latest summer dress) and said, "Come and look at this, some bird has s*&^ all over the sides of the car!"  Indeed it was true, on closer inspection both front doors were liberally festooned with what was obviously guano.  Mr Shoestring loves his automobile and immediately washed the offending matter from the sides of his vehicle.  Within a short space of time it had reappeared, so the washing was repeated.  Soon it became obvious (after some furtive spying) that the culprit was the handsome juvenile blackbird who had so proudly created a nest in the ivy on the walls.  He was looking at himself in the side mirrors of the car and convinced that he was his own worst enemy, an invader trying to take over his territory!  Poor Mr Shoestring folded in his side mirrors and still the attacks continued.  The wretched bird did not cease and desist until the sun went down but early the next morning (as soon as the sun was rising in fact) I could hear the slow and deliberate tap-tap-tapping of its beak on the mirrors of the car.  The car was moved (blackbirds being very territorial, perhaps we could take the car out of the territory) but the assaults continued.  Mr Shoestring is thinking of taking or making two large black socks to cover the side mirrors of his beloved car.  I hope it proves successful because obviously what this young blackbird lacks in grey matter, he more than makes up for in stamina and persistence!

"I'll kill you, you will be sorry you ever flew into my territory, you wretched creature!  Take that."

Taking a brief moment to draw breath in between attacks.

Now, getting back to all things Shoestring (i.e., frugal) and away from things avian (which seem to be an ever-increasing preoccupation), here are a few ways to use up the little nubbins of cheese we find left in our Kelvinators.  We love our cheeses in EnZed, but they are quite expensive and if we are trying to conserve our funds we really need to make the most of them.  At SC HQ we find we have various bits and bobs left from week to week and here are some ideas to use them up:  

Cheese, Ham and Mushroom Turnovers

Onion and Cheese Nubbin Tart

I will post the recipes at the side so you can "have a go" and see what you think of these ways to use up the odds and ends from your cheese buying sorties.   

On the other hand, the spring time does make one feel as though one's sap is rising and one wishes to push out the boat slightly.  And on that note, I think I first sampled the delights of Pea and Haloumi
Fritters at Monarch Cafe in Wellington with The Dancing Queen.  I have checked their menu and this dish doesn't feature, so I may be mistaken, but here is my version and if you are partial to a salty firm cheese such as feta I think you will find Haloumi delish.  It is good because it grills well and keeps its "body" so if you are a cheese lover you should give it a try.  

A Fine Spring Weekend

What a beautiful weekend we were treated to as far as the weather went!  On Saturday morning when I stepped outside the grass was carpeted with a snow of fallen blossom and the air was humming with the sound of the bees working in the blossom.

 

I think some of the bees must have become a bit intoxicated because I noticed one which was very drowsy, crawling around on the bricks edging one of the garden beds.  There were some weeds to be pulled and some gladioli bulbs to be planted, plus one lonely late lily bulb.  I used to despise gladioli but after having some success with a very unusual mauve and green one last year (which one visitor saw in a vase and insisted must be an artificial flower because of its unlikely colours), I have overcome my prejudice and decided to try a few other colours including a lime green and a couple of different pinks.  It doesn’t do to be too choosy in the garden, as I am rapidly discovering.  Any plant is a good plant really, unless you have something better to replace it with.  The kittens made the most of the chance to get outside too and spent some time climbing to the tops of trees and then finding out the hard way that sometimes it is more difficult to come down than to go up. 

 This is Madame La Poste's favourite tulip shade and I am hoping some of the buds will unfurl to reveal more of the same because it is my favourite too.

 Many of the tulips are this rather more lurid shade though

 The violas are still going strong

 I wish I had bought more of this very unusual lachenalia bulb - but there is always next season

 The clivias I planted last year are having their first blooms

We had a visit from Madam La Poste who had to endure a tour of the garden while I pointed out to her each and every emerging lily and I suspect she may have put a heroic effort into not yawning while I was blathering on about my plans for the garden.  Lord and Lady Raglan graced us with a call on Sunday.  Lord Raglan told Mr Shoestring that he was having to beat down the grass in his front lawn because it was nearly growing through the windows (the competition over lawns continues unabated), to which Mr Shoestring replied that he had just been outside chasing golfers off the front lawn, as they were practising their putting there on the emerald green sward.  After being so rude to Lady Raglan a few weekends ago when we fought over the same vintage hat I felt remorseful and tried to give Lady Raglan the hat which had caused all the trouble, but she assured me she had had a lucky escape from that hat, realising afterwards that she already had a lovely blue chapeau and did not need another.  What a true aristocrat, how her noble nature shines through! 

 

Last weekend I cut out a summer dress and commenced stitching.  I was so pleased with the finished product that I cut out another and finished that too.  The first one has world maps and the second has passport stamps.  There is one more waiting to be made, and I think that will be my favourite – it has all over postage stamps and I have saved that for last. 

 

The fabrics for these dresses came from a large emporium which I visit from time to time, and every time I come out of the place I vow and declare I will never return.  The service is slow, the staff seem to have no knowledge whatsoever of the products they are selling and sometimes even if you are armed with one of their pamphlets and point out what you are attempting to purchase they will confidently assert that they do not and never have stocked any such product.  If you go in looking for a particular item you are more than likely to be disappointed and the stock is in such disorder that you sometimes suspect that the desired article is in there somewhere, if only you could locate it.  But my desire for a bargain always gets the better of me and I give in and go for “just one more” trip there.  Sometimes there are great bargains to be had and it is best to treat the whole outing as a mystery tour which may or may not turn up the thing you set out to purchase but on the other hand you are likely to come home with a completely unrelated item and be very pleased with yourself for unearthing such a bargain.  

 

This is my second to last landscape "find" - Habitat for Humanity - and it reminds me of many of the tumbledown cottages and farm buildings we see on our way to Shoestring.  I like the way you look through the dark shade to the light sky - I think this is called chiaroscuro.

 This was the latest acquisition - from our road trip - $3.  It looks a bit choccy box here but the colours are very subtle in "real life". 

 

On the road trip I found a cache of sad hankies, all beautifully embroidered or embellished with the most beautiful lace.  They were rather stained and rusty and I was doubtful as to whether the marks would come out but at 20 cents each it wasn't a major expenditure.  They washed up beautifully and I think I will stitch them onto a voile background fabric and make a pretty sheer curtain for the bathroom. 

I hope your weekend was as peaceful and fulfilling as mine was, roll on Friday!