Our midsummer goes...

2014 has been such a bittersweet year thus far. Far tougher than I ever imagined it to be. The last time I blogged we were a few weeks away from Christmas and our wedding. The sun was shining, the garden abundant and our family all so excited.

Now we are missing the sunshine from our wee family. My darling Mum became ill in February and the chemotherapy treatment was ceased. Over the next two months the four of us huddled together and made the most of an unimaginable situation. My darling Mum passed away on the 2nd of April 2014.

Our world will never be the same. We will continue to miss our clever, loved, funny and sunshiney Karen. We are plodding on without her, thankfully surrounded by wonderful memories and the lovely creations she has made for us. We are trying to make the best of of everyday and see beauty in everyday things just as she did even on the darkest days of her treatment.

I am so thankful she was my Mum and such a wonderful friend in my adult years. Not sure I can imagine life without her in it but we will do our best. Mr. Fox and I are expecting our first child, Mum knew and nicknamed it 'cublet'.  She has knitted, collected and sewn up a storm the last few years and there are 'Nanny Fox' boxes full of love and goodies for bubbies that my sister and I might have in the future. My heart grieves more than anything else for my babies that won't get to know their lovely Nanny Fox.

This is the last poem she had put on her blog and I will share it with you;

Dawnings of amber and amethyst eves;

Soft in the south wind the laughter of leaves;

Breath of the poppy and death of the rose,

Midsummer comes and midsummer goes!

Dapple on cheek of the apple and plum;

honey bees droning  a die-away hum'

Swales in a shimmer and dales in a doze, 

Midsummer comes and Midsummer goes!

Darting of dragon-fly, flutter of moth'

Barley in window and wheat in the swath;

Hush-song and thrush-song-the mother bird knows!

Midsummer comes and midsummer goes!

Moonlight and noonlight all glamour and gleam;

Hillside and rillside a thrall to the dream;

Capture the rapture before the days close!

Mid summer comes and midsummer goes!

                                                                                             (Clinton Scollard,1860-1932)

Honeymooners

After our stupendous wedding day (more on that later) we had some time away.  A quick stopover in Nelson to visit Mr. Fox's Aunt and Uncle. It was so lovely to put some more faces to names. We were spoiled with chocolate and the yummiest of afternoon teas.

Nelson is one of our favourite places. We have spent a few New Year holidays in the town and spent half a summer apple thinning. We went back to see the old orchard.....it has changed. The trees we thinned are gone. Only grass now. The little house we stayed in was still there. When we were there the only furnishings were a table and 3 chairs.  We all stayed on the wooden floor with a few blankets underneath us....would not be roughing it like that again.

Pear trees

Little hut

All the apple trees gone!

We had a delicious lunch in nearby Mapua. Much to my dismay the local Aquarium had been burnt to the ground. So glad I visited all those years ago. The area has changed....very trendy. A great spot for food and shopping. Especially the Mapua Country Trading shop a real treasure trove for those who working with nature and interested in gardening, cheese making etc. 

After lunch we did a quick trip to Kaiteriteri. The weather was closing in so we had a quick round of mini golf before road tripping back to Nelson. Mr. Fox won the game by a large margin...he always wins. Have never won a mini golf game against him EVER!

Didn't win again the next day at the Nelson mini golf either. Lol was fun though. The little Natureland Zoo was a pretty fun way to spend an hour too. Hehe they had a possum on display!! and a very vain peacock.

Not such a stunning creature from the rear!!
The rest of our time was spent looking around the local shops and Art Galleries. Nelson has so many artists so we were spoilt for choice. The McCashins Brewery Cafe had amazing decor the resident artist was incredible...the works were unfortunately way to big to bring home to Auckland. 

Til the end of 2013

I read on Foxs Lane blog that less frequently she blogs the harder it becomes to write a post. Gosh ain't that the truth. The whirlwind months of November and December have come and gone. 2013 is all done and 2014 is rollicking along already.

The two cubic metres of garden mix I shovelled into the garden beds has given us a good space for the growing season. The hard yakka of that day is easy to forget and already I am keen to order more to fill and replenish other areas of the garden.

The space was very neglected throughout late December and early January as we headed down to Southland to get married. (It was an amazing day but will regale the tale in another post). We had the lovely and incredible Brylee and Tony mow the lawns and tend the patch while we were away. Both deserve gold medals and certainly have a big piece of our hearts.

This is what the space looked like last week.

We have been enjoying squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, celery, carrots and beetroot since our return. The flat leaf parsley had gone crazy.....it had a severe haircut resulting in a bucket of parsley. Mr Fox was kind enough to help me remove the stalks. It was then processed into a few jars of pesto...so scrummy.

Planted recently: spring onions, silverbeet

Sown recently: sunflowers, rocket

The weekend coming will see some seed potatoes sown and some more carrots. Oh the possibilties. I just love this gardening lark.