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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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