Toofee or not toofee

 It happened while I was eating a ham sandwich at a friend's house. Something was very, very wrong. Here was the stuff of nightmares. My mouth had changed irrevocably; my tongue was poking out from between my front teeth. A front tooth had sheared off.  I managed to retrieve the remnant before I swallowed it but the horror was so strong. It meant a permanent change and major financial issues. That tooth had a history of dental cockups.

When I was 18 years old I developed a carie and it was filled but the dentist did something which encouraged a rampant infection which then resulted in root canal and a dead tooth. I was laid up in bed for a week with severe bruising, unable to see over my cheeks or eat other than through a straw.

Over the years, the inside of the tooth progressively blackened. When living in Wellington, years later, I had a crown put on but the dentist worried about my bite and made the tooth stick out like a rabbit. Hideous. I tried to avoid smiling from there on in, I felt so embarassed. In 2001 I had the tooth recrowned and this time it was aligned with the rest of my front teeth in time for my second marriage. Still, the peg inside was darker and slightly visible.

When I hooked up with JC in France in 2011 he considered

the NZ dental work I had had done to be substandard. Utterly unacceptable in France. Heavily filled back teeth from the 'dental nurse' era means teeth are disintegrating and we all know there are major problems for we elder folks in terms of the unaffordability of dental healthcare in this country. I was about to get a personal lesson in that.

It being Waitangi weekend it was really difficult to find an emergency dentist. After many dead ends I found one in Hornby, Goodbye to $1050. Simple Xrays were taken, an impression made and I was required to make a major decision on the spot. To have a permanent plate and all the awkwardness and inconvenience that entailed or to have a temporary one that could only look OK as a smile-saver. I instantly had to consider the long-term options.

The options: Live the rest of my life with a hideous gap in the front of my mouth. Not an option as it makes me look like the wicked witch of the west and I am trying to become an entertainer (again). I also have trouble eating.

Have a permanent partial plate which might not be all that great when eating and would need a fair bit of looking after and which might necessitate deliberately damaging the teeth on each side to get it to fit and function.

Or I could get a dental implant which would ultimately behave like a normal tooth. It would look normal and I could eat normally and it would never have a gap. Downside is horrendous cost. Just how horrendous could it be? I sought quotes but those don't exactly exist. At best you get an estimate because the process is shared between a maxillofacial surgeon and a dentist. One said $6000 for an implant, another one said $8000. I had already done a bit of research, looking for a satisfactory permanent solution. 

I sent the Xrays off to JC and asked his opinion on the best solution. We both felt that an implant was the only reasonable solution but the cost was way beyond my resources. JC offered to pay the cheapest estimate, bless him, though I told him he is no longer responsible for me. His generosity relieved a bit of the stress but the consultation with the surgeon since then has added more stress as he informed me I'd need to pay at least $1000 more than the dentist had told me. I am not sure how I will find that.

The implant process itself takes months but the wait to be seen by a surgeon for an initial consultation takes months too. I had to wait four months. I am now booked in for the procedure to remove the broken peg and root  and to insert a screw into my upper jawbone. That is then left to heal and fuse together, an abutment put on, and then a prosthetic tooth is created to fit over the abutment. I understand this is relatively simple but the cost for one tooth is massive. Once it is done it should last me the rest of my life, which is probably more than can be said for my other front teeth. Good teeth are essential to our health. Removing teeth can result in loss of bone in the jaw, digestive and heart problems.

I hate the plate. It took me a week to stop gagging with it in my mouth although the gagging relex returns at times. It takes up a lot of space in my mouth, pushes my tongue where it shouldn't be and makes trying to sing troublesome so I am not currently singing. Any time I want to eat something I have to take it out as it is not functional, other than for aesthetics. Eating apples or anything hard is impossible with it and almost impossible without it. Yuck, where to discretely stick it? I also have to warn anyone around me of what I am doing and to expect Witchypoo to appear over mealtimes. My other teeth don't like the pressure on them and I am scared of losing such an expensive appliance.

I have opted for local anaesthesia as this is cheapest so I guess I will know all about the extraction and hole-drilling. I'm told I can drive straight after the operation and that pain can be managed for the first few days. Hmmm, I hope so.

This process takes many months so I am hoping I might have a proper tooth by Christmas.

The consultation with the surgeon takes the form of lots of waiting, high-tech xrays which are effectively 3-D modelling, information on current medications, checking bone quantity and density, preferences for anaesthesia and confirmation that I am happy to proceed, signing a consent form.I was told my oral hygiene is satisfactory and so are my gums. I reflected that I have not had a professional clean since 2008. This should be done before the operation to help protect my heart from subsequent infections.

I see a lot of dental decay in my age group, with a lot of teeth missing so I am grateful I can get this solution started.

Term one complete but...

 The first term drew to a close with exam week. It proved to be highly stressful despite all the work I had put in.

For starters, I failed my bass exam. Having been self-taught with only 5 lessons at Ara and playing for only a few months I was still expected to do the following: play all two-octave major scales, all major and minor triads, all minor two-octave pentatonic scales, know every note possible and locate it on my fretboard, compose a groove with fill to a given chord progression on the spot. Big ask, and I knew I was not ready to do all that with confidence. It doesn't help when the tutor makes a video using a 5-string bass whereas I only know a 4-string one, and the instructions were too fast. I find at Ara there is a fair bit of telling and very little teaching.  I know I am capable of doing what tutors want but I must learn at their pace and not mine. I can understand they have various standards but I need time and regularity. The old grey matter isn't as sticky as it used to be, therefore, the only way to survive is to work my butt off.

I sent out a cry for help to the only other bassist on my course. He's a professional with 30 years experience and kindly took the time to explain and repeat and draw patterns I could actually understand. In fact - teaching. Then it was up to me to go away and practise even harder over the next day for my resit. Failing my bass exam had been taumatising as you can get thrown out of the course. I asked if I could switch to singing? No.

Thursday morning was our theory exam. I ended up with an A+ which might offset reduced marks when I eventually passed my bass resit, which followed the theory exam. These two exams were followed by the group performance exam. I had no reason to be confident since Ara had never given me a functioning band to work with. With only the lead guitarist and two vocalists left we had to have loan players on the day. Never an opportunity to practise with them, unused to how they sounded, it was nerve-wracking. Under the changing light patterns in the concert room I mistook which fret I was starting on. I started Dreams on E instead of D so the band had to stop and start again. I felt crushed but made a reasonable fist of the five songs. They must be performed standing up and with no music ie memorised.

The next day we had to do oral and visual presentations on ourselves as musicians. We had been told to use certain sites or software to complete the assignment but as with any kind of digital platform we were told to do it but there is little teaching involved. We are expected to teach ourselves in our own time. Not a naturally gifted computer guru, I get very stressed by this. The less able students are certainly struggling because self-discipline and work is required and they are falling by the wayside, despite a lot of hand-holding in certain cases. Even when some areas are less difficult for me I always push myself to the limit to squeeze every possible mark out because I want to find out just what I am capable of and I might need a few extra marks further down the track.

On the whole, with two 'unknowns' in the mix, I am doing all right. Some superhuman cramming finally got me a pass in bass so to reward myself I have bought a better instrument. I started teaching myself bass with a cheap little precision bass made in China. It has reasonable tone but the action is difficult to play and noone will take me seriously as a dedicated musician if I continue to appear with my cheapie. My cheapie broke down recently. It was easily fixed by the sound tutor but I realised I needed a second instrument.

Having auditioned numerous basses over the course of two weeks and not finding anything decent on internet second-hand sites, I decided to invest in a new professional instrument. It's lovely but weighs a tonne. Its only downside is the weight but that's the sort of instrument professionals use and the weight is probably pretty standard. My shoulders are not happy about this but I'm hoping with time the pain will diminish and I'll develop more stamina. Don't they say what doesn't kill you makes your stronger?

Let me present to you my new best friend: a Fender American Pro II Jazz bass. Glorious neck finish for smoothe slides, perfect action, tapered neck for those of us with smaller hands, warm tone with more tone controls. Not as 'punchy' as my P-bass but should suit any situation. It's beautifully made from California. My mission is now to justify such a purchase by progressing as fast and far as I can before the end of this year.

Becoming a term one music student

 It's one thing to succeed at the audition and have certain expectations but, of course, reality may be somewhat different. Each student brings their own motivations and values and it is also necessary to fit into the campus 'culture'. I'm still trying to work out what that is.

The music department (former Jazz School) building is set well apart from others though the corner of Madras and St Asaph shares Hairdressing as well as Beauty Therapy 'schools'. It is therefore rather isolated  and music students are less likely to mix with others or take advantage of services provided by Ara. Never mind, I stick to my music building and don't wander off. I generally arrive at 7.40am in order to get a paying park that is less expensive than a parking building, and I use the opportunity to plug my phone into an ensemble room PA system to practice with YouTube videos and do my bass homework. I'm a morning person.

There are 5 parts to my studies: Music theory and aural skills, music history, bass lessons, performing in a band, songwriting and music technology. Most of these courses are challenging for me. Anything involving past career skills is comfy.

One of the main reasons I decided to study at Ara was to play in a band. So far that has been a stressful and disappointing experience as far too many 'younger students' seem to lack commitment, self-discipline, ambition or teamwork, especially the latter. 

Students are put into bands to teach themselves 'cover' versions. You are assessed for competence, stage presence and band interaction etc. Students are not taught how to attack a new piece so most of us scramble for  YouTube versions, download backing tracks and guitar/bass tablature, in fact anything to give us an idea of how it goes. I do a bit of everything, including listening for basslines, which are not always easy to hear, and are performed by professionals often outside my level of competency. I'm probably the least experienced musician in the building as I have only been playing a few months, not years, and have never been part of a band. 

As part of my bass competence development I have to learn all the places on my fretboard (still a work in progress); memorise how to play major scales, minor pentatonics, triads; then work out how to put all that together. My bass lessons end up being only 20 minutes a week if you take out unpacking and packing up. I have discovered my brain just doesn't memorise as well as it once did. Things won't stick and I put in a huge amount of practice for little gain. I average 19-20 hours of private practice per week on top of lectures, ensemble work, assignments and significant commuting. My lifestyle is music, music, music. There is no time for anything else.

I don't mind this too much as I want to maximise  this opportunity which will only last a few months. Time later for gardening and conscientious house-cleaning. I like being part of something with others, doing study that is stimulating and maybe could be fun down the track, if I am ever put in a band where the other band members actually turn up instead of leaving me standing forlornly on a stage with two vocalists wondering how to perform with only a bassist to accompany them. Not cool! Meeting others is good for me socially though I don't get to mix outside of class times, alas.

The most challenging learning tasks are those involving technology assignments for songwriting. What would I know about songwriting? Zip! On top of that I have no knowledge of drumkits and drumming. 

Everything must be composed on a dreadfully complicated software called Logic Pro X. It is only suitable for Mac computers so unlike many of the young folks, I have no access to that at home so that I can familiarise myself with it. Bugger! I passed my first assignment on songwriting but it will only get more difficult as we progress. Well, I was open to an adventure. They don't often come gift-wrapped.

This week is exam week so prep is my priority. I have no idea what will happen when it comes time for my non-existent band to perform with me. That's out of my control but I certainly feel disadvantaged compared to other groups, because if we get ring-ins I will have no experience of working with them and their versions will be different. It's all rather fraught but watch this space. Will report on what does or doesn't go down for that performance, next post.

The audition

How do you get into a tertiary music course? What's required and how do you prepare? I looked everywhere online but couldn't find information detailed enough to really help me. So, if you find yourself wanting to get into Ara Institute Music Arts courses maybe this could help you.

Normally when one applies for a tertiary course you can expect a straightforward application form to fill in and in most cases you are 'in'. However, if you want to join a Music Arts course at Ara Institute (Christchurch's former polytechnic) there's a LOT more to it than that.

The documentation I ended up sending amounted to 14 documents which included copies that had to be signed by a Justice of the Peace, proving my identity, nationality, qualifications, domicile address and experience in the field of study. If you make a statement, you have to be able to back it up with proof.

I also had to write a personal statement (two thirds of a page in my case) explaining why I deserved a place, my music background and music studies, what I hoped to achieve.

In addition, I had to find two referees to fill out a set form and send back to me. They could not be friends, rather employers. For me this was not so easy as I have not had any fulltime permanent employment in NZ since 2010 and that employer became defunct that same year.

As if that wasn't enough, I was required to prepare for an audition on my chosen instrument, mine being electric bass. Passing the audition is not a 'given'. People fail these and have to try again the following year, and there are limited places available.

Here's what I needed to prepare for the panel of two:

Music theory - As soon as I arrived I was seated at a table and told to answer a two-page music theory test. Some bits were ridiculously easy, others were definitely not. I had spent hours slaving over learning key signatures and scales for this test but apparently it is not a test, just gives them an idea of where you are at, but that doesn't matter at all as I later discovered they start you from zero knowledge, on the course. 

Performance - Two pieces - one with a 12-bar blues aspect and the other contemporary. I chose Hound Dog by Elvis Presley, and Always on my Mind by Willie Nelson. Both quite different feels. Each had to be performed to a backing track on my phone, connected to their equipment. Note: nowhere on the website did it mention backing tracks had to be on smartphone. I played the best I could, trying to put in a few dynamics and changes in playing style. I was told my playing was impressive. Well, that was encouraging since I had had no formal lessons and had only been teaching myself for 6 months, with some tips from a bassist friend.

Aural tests - Again, I had spent many, many hours teaching myself intervals at home, feeling very stressed out by it all. At the audition an interviewer sat at the piano and played notes and I was told to sing them. There were no questions on rhythm, which I thought strange since the bass is a rhythm instrument what works with the drums. I was told to sing intervals, identify intervals played. To my horror I was expected to identify augmenteds, diminisheds, major and minor triads, sevenths etc. I haven't done music theory since I was 15 and I found the questions more geared to guitarists rather than my instrument. I had reached my theory limit back in 1970 and hadn't progressed beyond Grade IV exam (which limited what higher practical exams I could do in the future past, such as Grade V violin and Grade IV piano).

Last, but certainly not least, there was then the interview - I was told not to be offended but how was my hearing? What? Do they ask everyone that question? I informed them I have hearing aids but could obviously hear the backing track, my bass and the tests. "But it gets very noisy in a band," they said. "Oh well, I would just take my hearing aids out," I said to them. Yes, noisy environments are a challenge for me these days but quite a few youngsters would have the same problems. I just have to try harder than if I was 20.

There were questions designed to test my attitude and behaviours but there was one bit that raised my eyebrows. "We wouldn't want you to mother the others," I was told. I'll bet no other student was asked that. Good grief. I have no intention of mothering anyone. I'm there for the music and to see what I can achieve. Yes, I am by far the oldest student on my course, but so what? I was the oldest student back in 2003-2006 when I did my Bachelor of Applied Communications at MIT (Manukau). I was also ranked number two for the whole institution, across all faculties, at graduation. They also asked me how I would cope if I was given work I could not do. Well, I'm currently finding that out.

I found all aspects of the audition gruelling but towards the end of the interview they offered me a place on the course, on the spot, for which I was exceedingly grateful and delighted. I now had a focus, a major project which would be very important to me in the short and mid-term future.

This challenging audition required many hours slogging away at home trying to guess what was needed, having no idea of the standards required. Certainly, many of the young students would have had the advantage of studying music recently and being prepped by music teachers for the audition. Older ones have had decades of playing. Never mind. I had got there and went to work organising myself to be ready to go when the course started.

In following posts I'll let you know about what it is like to play in a student performance band, tearing my hair out over composition software, filling in the gaps in music theory, having bass lessons (at last) and studying music history (some of which I have lived through). There's also the social aspect which hasn't really kicked in yet. I hope it does, and other aspects of life on campus. This was a good decision though it will certainly be challenging. The adventure begins.

Nature has a dark side

I love encouraging certain insects and invertebrates into my garden. I have a list of favourites and also a mental list of those I will destroy on sight where possible. Is this fair? No. It is based purely on what's in it for me. If a critter is designed to damage or destroy a plant I value and I can eradicate it, I will. I do my best not to think about the morality and the unfairness. Life for humans too is unfair.

Slugs, snails, aphids and green caterpillars that love eating my food plants are exploded between my fingers or under foot. The hose is usually handy to wash the mess of it off my hands. Luckily I am not a buddhist. I use the digital approach - using my digits to quickly stop the slaughter of my food plants.

There is ONE exception, and I am not alone in this. Many of us enjoy raising Monarch caterpillars to the butterfly stage. They are truly beautiful creatures and only eat the specific plant we offer them. 

Since swan plant is their only food I have learnt to keep these perennial plants growing all year, though they don't like frosts. I usually have two 'crops' of butterflies each summer. This year the second crop has recently raised some very concerning thoughts for me and also neighbours. Could there be a toxin in the air, settling on our plants in parts of Rolleston? My observations and those of neighbours:

At least 60-70% of the caterpillars have had deadly problems.

Some chrysalids are smaller than normal

They often don't emerge from their chrysalis; mummifying or just dying

Severely deformed bodies and wings

Add to this anecdotal reports from neighbours of 'spray-type' smells in the air in the past month or so, unexplained headaches that go away when the sufferer leaves Rolleston for several hours. There is a heck of a lot of dust about since Hughes Developments created an environmental desert behind my property to start a massive (truly massive) subdivision. Was anything toxic sprayed? What could have been disturbed in the dirt? 

It is very distressing to see beautiful caterpillars and then butterflies in this horrifying state.

I tried to help one. I'd noticed it trying to leave its chrysalis but left it to get on with it. The next day it had made no progress. I noticed the casing was super thick, almost like plastic, unlike any I had seen before (see ajacent photo). I tried to prise it apart with my fingernails to help the butterfly which then tumbled out, all rumpled. It was unable to spread its wings and after observing it closely on my arm, I saw it only had two legs. I popped it on a flower but knew it was doomed. There was nothing normal about the insect. 

The same day three other butterflies emerged that were equally doomed. One side of their bodies was correct but the other side had wings that were deformed into the shape of a surfer's wave. Impossible for them to balance or fly. You can see it clearly in the photos.

A neighbour informed me he had the same thing happening to his butterflies. What is going on? I know nature makes mistakes from time to time, especially with such a complex process such as metamorphosis but I have never seen such suffering on such a scale.

Overture

 If something is not working it is time to change tacks. My tendancy to persist against the odds is not always a good thing. Last year was a frustrating year where my attempts to move myself forward into new musical interests just never really gelled. Opportunities were rare and usually not a good fit for me or were puffs of smoke blown on the wind, though it has been fun to be the bassist for the Rolleston Ukelele Group.

I have met some interesting people. I have learnt a little bit about the underbelly of the music scene amongst the older set here in Canterbury. During this voyage of discovery I have identified two things: the depth of my passion for a new musical direction, and the impossibility of 'fitting in' when coming from the outside at my age because that road does not exist. It reminds me rather a lot of my 'road' to France. I was not able to get there by conventional means either so found a 'crack' or circuitous route. My passion for that country increased, the more I tried to succeed and the further down that route I went. Neither France, nor music, have been an overnight idea. I have incubated both over some time, influenced by obstacles that popped up. I've been working on becoming a vocalist and bass player. Neither is straightforward but I really love singing and playing.

For the moment, the duo idea seems to be on hold. Entertainment venues here don't appear to know what they should hire in terms of entertainers, in order to sell food and beverage and keep profitable. Two enlarged and improved venues opened up late last year: the Hornby Club and the Richmond Club (we don't really call them workingmen's clubs now for gender reasons). The clubs are trying out different types of offerings to see what works. This is tough on the current entertainers who are all jostling for an ever-decreasing bite of the pie. Covid didn't help live entertainment, of course.

And then along I come, hoping to find a way in. I started out by working on my voice, strengthening it, tuning up my vocal chords, searching for backing tracks and learning heaps of songs so that my duo partner and I would be ready to go. That's a work in progress as the playlist evolves to include different styles. We've sat in on many an entertainer to see how they are received by audiences and met quite a few of them. Some of them are encouraging of me. My party last year was an opportunity to try a few things out. Feedback was good but we want to be as professional as possible with the right songs, quality backing tracks and nice harmonies. Our duo which is not yet ready to launch may be on hold due to lack of opportunity but it is not forgotten and I'll be keen when the 'call' comes. I've also been gaining performance experience singing at club meetings around Christchurch.

I like entertaining. I've done a fair bit of it in the past, with radio programmes during the Loxene Gold Disc Awards 1972, theatre, acting and modelling and then, much later, several years as a professional bellydancer (mostly a soloist) performing at weddings, private parties, community happenings and corporate events. I was the resident dancer at the Kashmir Restaurant in Auckland.

There was plenty of public speaking experience thrown in too. In addition, I produced a number of dance presentations with primary children when I was a teacher and I am hoping all that experience might be put to good use, somehow. 

The frustration for me at present is my lack of opportunity to sing with musicians who actually know my songs. I turn up for open mic with my chord sheets hoping like hell the musicians know the keys, the intros, the instrumental breaks as there is no possibility of rehearsing. I hope the sound system is working correctly. Invariably there are difficulties. These sort of situations teach one to cope with adversity in front of an audience, to cope with the unexpected so that can be useful, but they don't lead to anything better. I'd like better control over my environment and material so that I can give of my best. 

While there is some market for rock and roll songs, my natural inclination is to sing rock/pop/ modern country and I'm also extending into jazz - just to see what suits my voice and style. Ideally I would like to be able to perfect my songs with a regular band during rehearsals.

The other string to my bow is also in development. I want to be a professional musician. I want to be a regular member of a band. Again, I am coming out of left-field, starting from scratch so it is not going to work if I plug away on my own. I am putting a big effort into teaching myself bass guitar. It was on my bucket list. I am learning to read bass clef again, getting to know my fretboard, learning how a bassist fits into a group. I listen to basslines on tracks now, not the vocalist. Runs, walks, pentatonic whatnots, slap, jazz, funk... I want to master it all. I can already use guitar chord charts to provide basslines, read bass tabs and conventional notation which is more than many musicans can do, to give myself the best possible flexibility should opportunities arise. If I have a question or want a wee jam session I can ask my duo partner John who is an experienced bassist. None of the above will get me into a band at my age. No one will take a punt on me and let me try. 

So, I have decided to put my energies into entering the conventional route and doing it in a structured and dedicated way. I want to immerse myself in bass playing for this year at Ara Institute.

They have a year-long course in music arts which I have applied for BUT...

I must pass an audition, among other things. I will be competing with teenagers who have been immersed in their high school music departments for the past years, being prepped for the audition, no doubt, by their music teachers. I'm old enough to be their grandmother but I believe I can fit right in and handle any difficulties in dealing with adolescents. After all, I have years of experience doing that from teaching youths and uni students in France. I just might be able to show them a thing or two. Again, I was a very mature student when I started my bachelor degree in 2003. I aced it. I want the opportunity to see what I can do this time.

The 'audition' is complicated and challenging for me. I have not studied music theory since 1970. I have had no bass teacher (I'm self-taught in my living room with an amp from the Warehouse). The exact requirements are rather sketchy: two performance pieces on bass to a backing track, one piece must have a 12-bar blues progression, the other a contemporary/other piece; a written theory test; aural tests; scales and arpeggios; an interview to discuss motivations and goals. Is it a bit intimidating? Absolutely yes! Am I nervous? Oh yes but I'm excited too. The opportunity to mix with musicians, young people, improve a talent, make new friends, reinvent myself again and have another adventure - that's a buzz for me. I need a serious focus and being immersed in the music scene will be an interesting learning curve that I want to put to good use at the end of the course. I just need to pass the audition to be offered a place. My audition is this month. Wish me luck!

Photos show me playing various instruments in the past, including providing accompaniment for a corporate farewell function during a pharmaceutical conference, entertaining a certain (pre-infamous) politician and other staff from Manukau City Council at their Christmas function, founding the St Marks School Orchestra.

Two years on - evaluation

This week I thought back two years to the day I moved into my new home/newbuild. It was exciting and scary to build a home while unemployed but I enjoyed making the thousand-and-one decisions on my home and garden. Each has been completely personalised. 

The garden is coming along, despite climatic damage and challenges. The wind here is horrid; it's so strong and frequent. I often find just one day of wind here sears the lawn, drying everything out and breaking stuff and the soil isn't great either, as you will know from a previous post on drainage problems this year. However, I find persistence over the long-term usually gets you there.

My place and I have survived possum attacks, drainage problems created by the developer, several minor repairs. I've done all the painting of fences and garden planting and design myself so it is a source of satisfaction but nature being nature, it is interesting to see how it evolves over time. 

 

 

 

Gardening here on my own has meant rather a sacrifice in the health area. At my age, wielding a crowbar repeatedly over 2 days had permanently bad consequences down the track. I hadn't realised the impacts would have such an 'impact'. ACC didn't want to know. My hands and shoulders are bad as a result which is limiting what I'd like to do and affecting quality of life, but the worst of the heavy stuff is done. There was no option but to dig holes and plant things myself. I can now sit back and enjoy the beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Some of the most rewarding plants this year have been my peonies and hostas. They've settled in well, sheltered a bit by the house. Lavender does well here too, all varieties. My little citrus trees benefitted from frost cloth over winter but my fruit trees did not like a late cold snap here and failed to develop fruit or, if they had some, it all dropped off. At least the trees, unencumbered by fruit, are putting out a lot of wood. Maybe next year I'll see a bumper crop of apricots, plums, nectarines and apples. This year, nothing.

Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, boysenberries are all giving me plenty of yummy mouthfulls but not enough yet to convert to jam. The blueberries have some fruit but are are not looking as happy as they might. My French potager is keeping me well fed so I don't need to buy much from the supermarket produce department. New potatoes and peas will be welcome this Christmas.

 

Inside the house most of the decorating is complete. There's still a bit to do but I have run out of money for now. The French influence has grown over the two years, with small contributions from Jean-Claude before Covid hit. He has passed on things he doesn't want or which he has seen in second-hand stores. Mostly they are small decorative items such as plates or bonbonnieres, or very old French books to decorate my library (and read too, from time to time). I have his mother's tapestry on my bedroom wall. Sometimes it feels as if I am sleeping in a French chateau. Perfect. I love to fill the vases with perfumed roses I have grown and at this time, of course, Christmas lillies.

It's good to step back and look at progress to see that the sacrifices and effort do indeed bear 'fruit'. I can now look out of each window and see a pretty vista specifically designed to add value to my interior decor. Climbing roses and grape vines add such a 3-D effect. Delphiniums and other herbaceous perennials add a romantic air and on a warm summer evening I can choose to sit outside on my patios, garden lighting switched on, and dream of the progress I might see in another two years. The hard stuff may be finished but the gardening effort never will be. Over winter I can hunker down and enjoy my home, working on other projects I am planning. I'll keep you posted.