Why I love our deck

Why I love our deck, originally uploaded by laureljadewilliams.

It still really surprises me sometimes when I walk outside and I see this. I'm really terrible at taking photos, so you can't really appreciate the scale of the hills in the background because there's nothing in the foreground to compare it too (you'd think because I can write things like that that I'd actually be able to put it into practice, but no. It's a common theme.) but they're really pretty high. They get a bit snow-capped in the Winter. More like snow dusted, on some days, for a few hours.

Nevertheless, the light and the colors! It really does look like that sometimes. Everything looks so warm and crisp, like you can see what those people in those houses way over there are eating for dinner and it's lookin' delicious.

Ash is working on some really cool new ring designs that I can't wait to show you. So freakin' cute. And the best thing is, is that when he comes up with new designs someone has to try them out to make sure that they don't break really easily or, you know, have a tendency to slice your finger up or get in the way when you're doin' high fives. That person is me by the way. And Siggy. And Ash has finally learned that it makes me cry a little bit when it's only Siggy that's the tester. And YES I get that it would be helpful if the tester actually wears the jewellery for more than five seconds between tasks that don't seem appropriate for jewellery wearing. It just seems wrong to get your rings wet. I don't know why.

Zuchinni from the garden

Zuchinni from the garden, originally uploaded by laureljadewilliams.

This is the tastiest zuchinni we've grown yet. We got the seeds from Koanga Gardens, a place that grows and cultivates and saves their own seeds. They're doing a great job to maintain a diverse plant stock, which is really important if you want, well diversity. Not to mention the taste. Delicious.

Zuchinni are the best thing to grow if you're new to gardening. They grow SO fast and seem to grow in even the crappiest of soil. I never really was here or there on zuchinni before we started growing them. I think I probably bought them a few times before and would eat them if they were there in my casserole, but I would never had made a soup of just zuchinni.

Well, last night, I did. It was really good, but it had cream in it, so that kinda goes without saying. But not much cream, just 1/4C in the whole pot. We ate it with bread salad (is it really a salad if it's got bread in the name?) and I think I'll have the rest for lunch today.

At the races!

At the races!, originally uploaded by laureljadewilliams.

I bet nine dollars. I won six dollars. I spent twenty dollars on Coronas (who has Coronas in New Zealand?) and fried food. I still consider myself a winner because I know what "I'd like a dollar each way on number seven," means.

How do you like dem apples? I mean tomatoes.

Tomatoes, originally uploaded by laureljadewilliams.

I don't want to go to work, I just want to stay home and make fried green tomatoes. And sit by and watch them turn red. Or will they be stripey green? Or will they be yellow and kinda purpley? Who knows? All I know is I like dem apples. Even though they're tomatoes.

Keeping Up

Office Stool, originally uploaded by laureljadewilliams.

Uh...I'm really sorry it's been so long. At some point Ash and I are going to realize that the Holidays aren't really holiday time for us. It's the biggest, busiest, craziest, shoppingiest of jewelleryiest time of the year. Which is great! Because now we can buy a new van to replace the one that was the tragic stooge in this big, busy, crazy, shopping time. Not to mention the fact that it's also Summer and we have to make time to swim. And Bar-b-que. And go to the races!

In between it all, I've been here on this stool making up organizational systems to keep track of all that jewellery. I love this office with the big desk I insisted be made out of the old closet door. I love that Ash added another half a door to it to make it the right size. I love that we put aside our shared disdain for chemical smells to paint a whole wall in blackboard paint. I love the view out the window of our corn and the hill I used to have to climb to go to a job I hated. I love that soon my beautiful niece and nephew will be sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room after a long day at Natureland.

In other news, we made our first batch of salsa verde from the tomatillos we grew. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. It made me feel sad for all those times I left a half full dish of it on the table at Trudy's just because I liked the red salsa better. Damn it, now I've created a Queso Espescial hole in my soul that I have no way of filling.

In more other news, we found our newest, favoritest swimming hole today for our daily after work dip. It has no official name, although we're considering 'sheep poo hole,' due to it's location next to a pasture. Oscar is getting braver by the minute and put his face under today all on his own. "Watching? WATCHING? Splash, splash, 1,2,3, splash-splash."

Oh, and we put on this year's batch of plum wine yesterday. Just two short years and it'll be ready. Luckily, we put our first batch on two years ago, so we have motivation alcohol. Unluckily, last year we did flagged it, so next year we're officially SOL. Good thing we finally found a source of tonic flavored syrup for our Soda Stream fizzing machine so we've overcome the over-priced tonic debacle. Good news, good news.

Happy Birthday

After a long, tearful chat to my Sister, Ash and his Mum and I went to the Sunday flea market. Nelson is known for its Saturday market, probably the best in the country. On Saturdays, thousands of people come, you can buy delicious food, all sorts of cool (usually new) stuff, have coffee and see every single person you've ever met in your entire life. It's a bit overwhelming when you just want to get your week's veggies.

The Sunday market (or car boot sale) is the place for bargains. It's on a casual basis, so anyone can show up, pay a small fee and sell whatever the hell they want. You can buy everything from potted plants to antique furniture to who the hell knows? Some things are really expensive, but mostly it's people that just want to get rid of all their crap for fifty cents. Some weeks it's just a few blankets with piles of clothes and old shoes.

The general rule is to limit yourself to $20. Some weeks I spend nothing. That's not true, I always buy something. This week, I blew the budget. Ash and I ended up spending $70 between us. That includes coffee and scones (shut up) for the three of us. The market was big, we were ready. It was overcast and not hot, so we could carry a lot. Evan and Siggy left their house half an hour before we did, so I was worried that the bastards would get all the goods before we got there. The one week they went and we didn't, they scored an old card catalogue drawer, something that I've wanted FOR YEARS.

The best score so far is a brand-new meat mincer that Ash had his eye on for my Christmas present (sexy!). He, being the diligent internetarian that he is, had found out the best kind to buy from a sausage blogger. They retail for about $150, but the one at the market he scored for $8. Finally, I'll be able to make sausages sans lips and assholes. It's like living in a Fairy Tale.

I'll post photos later tonight after I seance the digital camera and perform a colonic on the firewire port. There will be pictures of depression glass! Eiderdown quilts! An old stapler! It'll be like going to Vegas with Brit-Brit and K-Fed before he got all fatherly and boring.

Phew!

It's non-stop around here. My Mom tells me that I've always been a hard worker, and I believe her. However, I think I've usually just done it for show. You know, I always help you move, carry the stacks of folding chairs to the reception site, move piles of bricks from the front of the house to the back. Un-sustained, momentary outbursts of elbow-grease to prove my friendship. And? Masculinity? Who knows, but I definitely filled the in-between times with all-day marathons of Road Rules/Real World "The Gantlet."

Well, Ash, he's indefatigable. Honestly, he wakes up when the alarm goes off at seven and GETS OUT OF BED even though there's no way he's going to get fired for being late and waters the garden. I lay there, in the softest bed part of the day, hoping that he'll discover new and uncharted areas of the yard to water, areas that are at least 17-23 minutes away. But he doesn't. And everyday he asks me, "are you going for a walk today, Laurel?" And I fake awakeness and "you caught me mere seconds from hoping out of bed unpromptedness" and put my "sloppy joes" on as he calls them for our morning walk.

We come home, have breakfast and then work-he in the workshop and me in the office. I join him down in the workshop to do some grunt work until lunch. Eat. He gardens. I walk around trying to figure out how to start gardening. We work and listen to "This American Life" or Jim Moira on the National Program. We talk about dinner. We make dinner. I do more office work. He goes down to the workshop. I have a bath around 9 or 10 and get into bed. He works. And works. If the cricket's on he works some more.

Finally he comes to bed, and then we do it all over again. This pattern will continue while the days are long and the galleries are busy. I don't understand how he does it, but I sure am glad he does. It's fun to be a part of it, I hope it lasts.