Why dogs don't eat salad greens, and rabbits do.

My lettuce is growing so fast that I will either have to eat lettuce every day all day, or have to teach my dog to eat it.
Our rabbit Honey loves it, obviously, but he gets wind...

Classic beginners mistake, isn't it, planting far too many salad greens!
Man and I went to the local nursery and went mad when we saw what they had to offer. Rucola, Oak Leaf, Endive, Iceberg, we've planted them all in our greenhouse and boy, doesn't it look lovely!

Gorgeous Daughter took her mangy rabbit Honey to take a look,and yes, our rubbish heap rabbit loved the look of our lettuces too. In fact, he took a leap from her lap, landed amongst our luscious lettuce and had a mouthful before you can say "Leave My Lettuce Alone!".
Undaunted by Daughther's screams, he then tried the next one in the row, and then the next. Before she could gather him up (kicking and trying to protest around his mouthful of oak leaf), he had destroyed at least a quarter of our carefully planted row.

Honey, needless to say, has now been banned from the greenhouse. Much to the delight of Gina, our Turkish Istanbul garbage truck dog. Gina thinks Honey is a bit of an idiot, frankly. Why eat your own droppings, I ask you! A well-mannered dog only eats shit when she's desperate (which Gina was, when we adopted her). Anyway, Gina gets proper dogfood now, and has a healthy disdain for foraging. Who wants greens, when ready to eat Canine DeLuxe is on offer?

Vulcano Blues

Have you looked at the sky, as I have, when you heard about that vulcano on Iceland?
First they take "our" savings, and now they've sent "us" tons of ash...my car is grey with it. But at least I hadn't planned a trip by plane, that must be so frustating!

Still, I heard it on the TV news, rushed outside, and yes, I saw great streaks of reddish-brown in the sky, making the setting sun spectacular. So I rushed inside again, brought out my camera and tried to preserve what I saw for posterity.
It didn't quite work...my camera isn't good enough... but I do have the photos to prove I saw that ash.
The next morning it had disappeared, but so far the planes still can't fly.

Right...back to the garden; sowed my Nasturtiums today. I adore them, they make me happy, they are so cheerful. And edible!
Apart from that I only sat in the greenhouse, watching the birds, hoping to see the swallows return. I've heard them in the sky, but so far haven't seen them yet.

How Do I Get My Pansies On The Web?

Hi there,

Nice day, wasn't it? As I cycled back from work, I watched the hares doing their dance in the meadow next to the cyclepath, and I thought: wouldn't it be lovely to share all this beauty with all of you (whoever you are and whereever you are), and wouldn't it be great if people were able to find this darn blog?

So far I haven't been able to launch it properly. Have tried everything, from changing the URL several times, from linking it to Facebook and Hyves, and so far...zilch - nada - nothing.

So....I'm sending out my question into the Great World Wibe Web and Beyond: IS ANYONE OUT THERE?

Oh my, what a day!

Have had to search for my centre of strength spot (according to my Tai Chi teacher this is located slightly below my navel)today...for that true authentic Zen feeling.
I'm afraid I couldn't find it.

After a really tough day at work, and a meeting afterwards, I thought I'd walk my dog, to get back my good mood (mislaid it today), only to be bawled out by my almost-next-door neighbour whose cat was chased by my dog.
Didn't I know that dogs should be on a leash in this park? No...frankly I did not. And I've lived here for the last 17 years. Mind you, I have noticed that both the signs saying dogs are allowed to walk free here, have disappeared.
So I talked to my neighbour and calmed him down somewhat, mentioning that both his cats walk (and shit) freely in my garden. And I allow this. I like his cats, you see. My dog doesn't, but that's another story.

Anyway. Nothing Zen about my day. So now I'll go and put mangy rabbit into his hutch.
(And uploading that photo hasn't worked either! Damn!)

Here Comes The Sun!

Finally! The sun is out today. So gorgeous Son has taken himself to our Victorian greenhouse (brand new) and is engaged in Writing Serious Stuff.
I've rushed through the ordinary housework things and have put my one and only green finger to good use by digging up the rampant Alchemilla mollis from the border, and replanting it at the front of the house, where it can't do any harm.
Furthermore, I've cut back the Erica which has bloomed all through the long, cold and snowy winter. (Breaking off the wall flower in the process...Gosh I'm such a clumsy clod!)
The other Erica is in bloom right now. I've even taken a photograph especially for you, so you can see it in all its glory. The only problem is that I've never uploaded a photo to this blog, so that will be fun...(not!).
I may have one green finger, you see, but when it comes to my computer skills I'm all thumbs...
Anyway; this must be a shorty, as I will have to see my offspring off to their tennis lessons in a minute, and they haven't had their dinner yet.
One more try to upload that photo, okay?

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Everything!
Love sneaked up on me from behind, wriggled her ugly bottom, stretched her sharp claws, bit her blood-red lower lip and pounced.
And here we are. Twenty years on. One house in a not-so-nice suburb, one neglected park-cum-rubbish heap with a large fish pond out back, one rather small (we're in The Netherlands, dear)garden.
"We" is: middle-aged Male, middle-aged Woman (me), 17 yrd. old son, 13 yr. old daughter (both absolutely stunning, what can I say?), rescued Istanbul rubbish dump dog Gina and dumped mangy rabbit Honey.
A family of misfits, when you think about it.
We used to have approximately twenty doves as well, but I've finally put my foot down, and we've caught them and deported them to the local bird wrangler, as they shat all over my windows. (And all over our neighbour's windows, which was much worse!)

But then there's our garden. And a very lovely garden it is. To my one green finger, my husband has eight. But he's a very practical gardener, where I am the creative mind and bring the enthousiasm into the equasion.
My idea of a perfect gardening day is this: start early, breakfast time, wonder into the garden with a cup of tea, admire the plants. Watch the birdlife. Drink tea. Do some weeding (usually about ten minutes does it). Then take out the easy chair, pick up the newspaper, make another cup of tea. Around lunch time, eat your lunch. Around dinner time, bring out the bottle of wine. Sit until dark. Bliss.

Funnily enough Man has a totally different idea. Today for instance, he waved me into the garden, gave me the seccateurs and told me to prune the climbing hydrangea.
So I wobbled on a ladder, fearing for my life, cut back all old growth, did a bloody good job even if I say so, only to see him cut it back even more later on...

So what's love got to do with it? You tell me!