YES!!! The "I'm So Happy!" thread - 2011

[Maggi Young]

....... but wooden spoons are great  for stirring the porridge....

Don't you use a spurtle?
cheers
fermi

well of course..... but not every cook is as well-equipped as I ... and so may use the handle of a wooden spoon instead 

[Maggi Young]

Definitely chuffed.
Discussed with better half what to do about a set of Conifers in a raised bed. Despite their 'dwarf' claims they were well over the height and girth which the bed could sustain. 24 hours later the bed is clear and the soil removed and replaced with good fresh rich top soil. Empty 6 sq. metres of semi shaded bed to plant up. But that is not the reason for elation.
Discussed with better half what to do about an area of garden nest to the pond. It was overrun with a type of Carex. 24 hours later the Carex is out (hope it is only the rhizome type roots which are persistent. The thin fibrous roots went a long way down.),. Only 20 barrow loads of stuff to go to the recycling yard and only 2 large buckets of pottery and scrap iron in the bin. Dug over and filled up with good clean top soil. But that is not the reason for elation.
Discussed with better half what to do with the Heather bed. They are well past their replace by date and have suffered badly this winter. "That would be a good place for the new crevice garden you wanted, " she says. Now that is the reason for elation.

Edited to add that elation is tempered by the discovery of rabbit holes under the heathers..."born and bred....born and bred eh?

 Oh Eric, I was merely going to congratulate you on your estimable demonstration of spousal harmony, acheived through reasoned discussion, when I came back to find your addendum about the rabbits...... a veritable furry fly in your happy ointment. 
Never mind, better to know exactly where the little pests are and be able to fight them on their own ground! 
With all your planned improvements and getting rid of the rabbits,how much better is your garden going to look? 

[ranunculus]

A nice picture of the stinky toe tree on the UBC site today.

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2011/03/hymenaea_courbaril_1.php

johnw

Fascinating!

If this article had been posted tomorrow, then I wouldn't have even checked it out on Google ... I would have assumed the worst!   

[johnw]

Fascinating!

So Maggi will you make the switch from chocolate to stinky toe?

johnw

[Maggi Young]

I don't think so, John. But that's only because of the dearth of stinky toe trees in the neighbourhood, you understand. 

[Lesley Cox]

....... but wooden spoons are great  for stirring the porridge....

Don't you use a spurtle?
cheers
fermi

Thinks: "did I bring mine to NZ?"

You can get 'em here Anthony.

[Lesley Cox]

I may be tempting fate by even talking about them so early on, but I am VERY happy because yesterday I noticed 4 seed pods on Asteranthera ovata. I've looked before after flowers have fallen and found only thinning, shrivelling stems but 4 have retained thick - very thick - stems and have curved downwards as if to spill into the compost. One is already a cm long and they are generally shaped like pods of Ramonda. If they continue to develop and then ripen, I'll mention them later for distribution.

[fermi de Sousa]

4 sleeps till we fly out!
See you soon!
cheers
fermi

[angie]

Fermi remember your waterproofs, wellies, jumpers, hat, scarf and gloves. Only kidding the sun will be shining when you reach sunny UK.

Angie

[SusanS]

Yesterday morning, (01st April)  our local radio station read a news bulletin advising people that a polar bear had been seen washed up at Sandy Gap on Walney Island  (About half way down the UK).  Probably carried there on a piece of broken ice from the North Pole. If anyone spotted it they were warned to keep their distance as it would be hungry following it's long journey.   

Quite a few people phoned in to say they had spotted it further inland near the retail park - just coming out if "Iceland" 

My niece asked if I could drive the long way round as she wanted to see if we could find the polar bear as she has never seen a real one, just the ones on TV.  And if we found it, could we get it some fish for it.   Bless her.

Took me ages to convince her it was an April Fools joke, but we drove the long way round, just in case .....   

[Hoy]

Susan, you should have taken her to Svalbard! Even if you don't see polar bears you would see the small and very tame reindeer there

[Lesley Cox]

I would love to go to Svarlbard. At my local alpine group meeting once we saw a video made by the daughter of a member. She had been part of the crew of a cruise ship in the area. She had incredible footage of a polar bear, on an ice flow very close to the ship, gazing up at her through one of the holes in the side of the ship where ropes go through. Also magnificent shots of Sax oppositifolia, willows and many other small arctic plants.

[Hoy]

Lesley, I would also love to go there - in summer! Has been there in spring (May), had to leave when the snow melted (which happened very quickly) and we couldn't use the snowmobile.

While waiting for an opportunity you can watch this site:

http://svalbardflora.net/index.php?id=1

[SusanS]

Susan, you should have taken her to Svalbard! Even if you don't see polar bears you would see the small and very tame reindeer there

She would love it, especially if we could also go whale watching on route. 

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks for that link Trond. I think it must be a place of pure magic, and so CLEAN in every way, from the sea, the ground and the air. Wonderful.