Hello 2015

First lavender harvest of the year.
Bunching up.
Vintage linen, lavender, rose geranium.

This year I am easing back in to my handmade/crafting world very slowly. We are having a lovely hot summer here in our part of New Zealand so there have been plenty of outdoor distractions. Mainly its the garden, this kind of summer means extra growth for the vegetables and especially for my English lavender which I have started to pick already . I am harvesting something every day, lots of beans and basil yesterday which mean't a quick blanch and into the freezer and then large amounts of pesto frozen in small blocks to use as flavour bombs in my winter cooking. I always keep some back to eat fresh but I grow lots so I can freeze for later months and also give tit-bits to the chickens. We have had some lovely sweet strawberries but for some reason the harvest has been been poor even though I have fed and watered to requirements. Blackbirds love strawberries and I watch them bouncing on the netting covers trying to work a way in to this delicacy. If I am feeling mellow I even admire their persistence! A small white fluffy puppy came to live with us a couple of weeks before Christmas and although he can be a major pain sometimes, he is also a loving adorable boy most of the time  - see below for cute photo. He also likes to steal strawberries.

Charlie.

So, harvesting, weeding, mulching, watering and re-planting is most of my life right now. After drying all this lavender I will need to start making again and then listing items in my Felt shop. Give me a few more days and then maybe a couple after that. Cheers.

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