works in progress

It's wild and blustery day today. This is our first "significant winter storm" and the end of a lovely, long summer. Interestingly, today, as this storm blows in, New Zealand commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of its worst maritime disaster, the sinking of the inter-island ferry, the Wahine.

I have some things in progress to show you. I'm knitting another puerperium baby cardigan like these ones (here and here). But this time it's guilt-free knitting as I finally purchased the full pattern - Beyond puerperium - that goes from newborn size up to 2 year-old and includes 4-ply, 8-ply and 10-ply yarn options. The puerperium must be one of the most popular free patterns on Ravelry and I've wanted to acknowledge Kelly's generosity - by actually buying the pattern - for ages.

Plants are always works in progress, if you think about it, and I recently re-potted my ficus. This is my indoor plant success story; it's still alive - and flourishing - after being in my care for a whole year. I'm also very proud of the spider plant that I grew from a cutting. I love propagating plants - so easy really but so rewarding too. I have a few other cuttings ready to be potted up: another spider plant and some succulents and cacti.

The elephant is really just a spur of the moment try-out of a pattern I found. More on that next time.

Drinking: red bush (rooibos) tea

Listening: Border trilogy (podcast) on Radiolab - the background story to USA's protection of its southern border with Mexico

small change

Three little re-makes because it's the little things that count.

A new succulent - a stapeliad, I think - bought from the Tauranga farmers' market in its newly painted sleepy head pot. I don't know why but I'm thrilled with this. Possibly because I think about projects for such a long time - about how to do it and what could go wrong - so that when I do make the thing and it works out ok it's a huge relief to me.

I wasn't happy with the pyramid lavender bag that I made last week so it's now a regular old rectangle. But it was doing such a wonderful job that I added a ribbon to another bag so that I could hang two bags in the wardrobe to intensify that fantastic lavender smell. I made the embroidered bag ages ago from a salvaged moth eaten tablecloth that belonged to my mother. It's lovely to have some little part of her in my home.

And, finally, this is the tea cosy that used to be covered in tiny flowers but I tired of them a few years ago and chopped them all off - even though they took me ages to make and to sew on. So for a while the yellow teapot wore a sad looking beanie/cosy thing until yesterday when I realised that what it needed was a bright orange pompom.

Reading: We have always lived in the castle (1962) by Shirley Jackson - described as "gothic horror" this is certainly a bit of a creepy thriller

Watching: The handmaid's tale - haunting, engrossing and shocking tv series based on Margaret Atwood's novel of the same name and starring Elizabeth Moss

all the good

Some recently re-potted cactuses - some are new plants and some are newly painted pots.

And some purchases from the Grey Lynn Park Festival on Saturday

• slippers for me for next winter. They are fair trade, handmade in Mongolia from local wool. They are my favourite slippers - warm and hard-wearing. I try to get a pair each year from the festival. This time I didn't have enough cash so the seller gave me her bank account number and said I could do the transfer when I got home. How amazing that she trusted me. I felt so overwhelmed by her kindness and generosity.
• a new cookbook for my collection, Everyday easy eats, produced by Balmoral School in Auckland. Also available here should you want a copy.
• a little blue dog made by blind artist Juliet Jackson - a friend for the elephant I bought from her last year. 

Saturday night we went to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by our American neighbours. During the evening guests were asked to share something that they had felt grateful for during the year. The responses were heartfelt and I felt blessed to have these friends and to be living in such a peaceful country.

I'm not usually so mushy but it was quite a weekend and it reminded me of this quote by John Wesley

Do all the good you can,

by all the means you can,

in all the ways you can,

in all the places you can,

at all the times you can,

to all the people you can,

as long as ever you can.

hanging pots

I like succulents. They are so unfussy to grow and fun to propagate. I'm always on the lookout for cuttings and have pots of baby succulents hidden all over the garden. This project was a perfect way for me to get them potted up and looking great - and brighten up a boring side garden at the same time. Succulents are well suited to hanging pots as you don't need to water them very often and, even when they're not flowering, the foliage is interesting. For hanging pots I think the trailing ones look best - like the burro tail (photo top left). You could also try jellybean or baby's necklace. Or a small-leafed ivy if you're not a fan of the succulent.

To make some hanging pots you will need:
plastic pots with drainage holes in the bottom
a one-hole punch
"S" hooks - available from hardware stores and/or gardening centres
plants
potting mix
drainage material

Punch a hole in the centre of one side of your pot.
Add some drainage material to the bottom of the pot.
Add potting mix and pot up your plant.
Poke the hook through the hole and attach to your trellis or fence.

If you're in need of plants or inspiration the Auckland branch of the Cactus and Succulent Society of NZ are holding their biennial show and sale from 4-6 November. There is usually an amazing display of weird plants and bargains to be had. See you there.

plant life

I've borrowed Indoor green by Bree Claffey from the library again, I love it so much. When I first saw it I was a little disappointed as I thought it was about plant care and had information on which plants to buy etc. It does a bit of that but it's so much more - how to live with plants, how to arrange them, how they can purify the air in your house and influence your well being. It's full of lovely interviews with people who share their love of plants. It's such a pleasurable read. If you're interested in houseplants then this is the book for you.

Since yesterday I have two new plants - a maidenhair fern and a string-of-pearls. I love how delicate the maidenhair is with its thin leaves that seem to tremble with any air movement. I especially love the little dots (actually spore/seeds) on the edges of the leaves. The string-of-pearls is a succulent with really odd adaptation. It's a desert plant and its leaves are round to conserve water. Compared to a regular flat leaf the round shape has less of its surface area exposed and so has reduced surface evaporation. However, the downside is that it also reduces the area available for light absorption and so it's developed a little window (the line that you can see running down each "pearl") to let the light in. How cool is that?

Reading: Indoor green: living with plants by Bree Claffey from Mr Kitly