The Pumpkin Wars Pt2.....

Oh it started off well enough ...But I should have realised from the start this was not the ‘all out to help the Dinzie” type of day .. .

“Come on – Lets go” she said. “ It’s going to rain tomorrow, lets get that Pumpkin down off the bank..”

Cool, thinks me. I finally get to weigh the biggest pumpkin grown this year in the garden. We grabbed a large green garden rubbish bag and with a sort of an idea in mind we edged ourselves along the barely a foots width of a ledge in the bank to where the hapless, trusting pumpkin had sat on our makeshift platform throughout the summer .......

I cut the lower vine with secateurs and pulled it up .. at the end was another pumpkin but only around a Kilo (2 pounds) in weight. Probably the ugliest pumpkin in the land too ..... .

I then cut the upper vine about a foot from the pumpkin. It immediately fell forward slightly and I had to cradle it in my arms while at the same time getting the large bag under it so I could roll the thing into it.......I then grabbed the bag and slowly let the pumpkin roll...

It was heavier than I had thought ...Rolling straight into the bag it then tried to proceed down the bank. But I had a good hold on it and stopped it, but at full arms length I was now stuck and with my dodgy back unable to pull it back up ... .

“It’s fine” says McDinzie. “It’ll slide just fine from there .”

“Are you sure?” Says me .;

“Yes really...Its fine”

So I let go !!!!!...............

The Pumpkin rolled at a vicious escalation!! The garden bag now wrapped around it completely. It landed on the next ledge in the bank below us, then fell the 3 or so feet onto the Fuchsia garden being re-directed somewhat by part landing onto one of the large stones we have on the border. It then, at full speed, hit the trunk of a fuchsia bush flattening it completely, rolling along the entire length of the 4 foot + high plant, then crossing the pathway hit the wall of the house with a sickening cracking noise ....

“Slide you said!” Says I as I turn to McDinzie who was already turning to backtrack along the ledge we were on..... (I'm sure I saw I grin as she turned)....

Miraculously, when we reached the pumpkin it was all intact with barely a scratch to it .... How, is nothing but one of those gardening mysteries .... But I should have known then that it was only a matter of time ........

Then it was the pictures session outside first and then after a cleanup we brought it inside, weighed it – A reasonable 34Kg – 74.8Lbs !!! and then took more pictures

But what happened next was to shock the dinzie household . I caught McDinzie with a butcher axe and in mid swing at the pumpkin !!!...

I Shouted "No !! Mcdinzie NO, NO !!!"

But she carried on anyway !! burying the axe deep into the pumpkins flesh ......

Surprisingly the pumpkin flesh was as crisp as could be! Not the woody, fibrous flesh we had been warned it would be with these larger pumpkins...This variety isn’t the Atlantic Giant, but a variety called First Prize.....

So we are now looking at pumpkin soup recipes and McD is trying to pass pumpkin quarters onto whoever will take them !!!

Meanwhile I’ve confiscated the butchers axe !! Which the M-in-L gave her by the way !!! In the Dinzie household you sleep with One eye Open ! Especially if you are a pumpkin .......

Fun With Pumpkins

 

Humphhhh..........:O(

 

 

McD won’t let me build a large pumpkin bed in the front yard.............:O|

 

I’m in a sulk :O( A Kid – Yes a 16 year old kid has grown a monster pumpkin in Christchurch....Close if not breaking the New Zealand Record ....

 

:O(

 

I just want a decent sized Pumpkin Patch .....  :O\

 

No where else to plonk the thing but the front yard as its the sunniest spot in our garden ....

 

  You can tell McD what a meanie she is here ...........Or of course you may agree with McD that the front yard is no place for giant pumpkin growing......

 

Sod it – We’ll have to move house .....

 

Meanwhile we harvested the smallest of the two pumpkins we grew .. The variety is not the world breaking variety called “Atlantic Giant” but a variety called “First Prize”...Supposed to be big enough though .... Bigger than our  “marbles” anyway .

 

But will it make pumpkin soup for us ?? Or will it be too fibrous .... Might just give it a go anyway ...It’s destined for the compost pile soon ..

 

After we’ve stopped playing with it of course :O)

 

  

The reason why McD isn't a fan of large pumpkins !!!

Gardening Horizontally !!

 

Being happily told by M-in-L that this sciatica may never go away – Oh great ........

 

No easing on the pain at all...Can sit for a time but can’t walk more that a dozen paces without extreme pain in the butt...The right butt to be precise .....

 

Funnily enough the most comfortable place for me is the front passenger seat of the car!! Which has been good as I’ve made poor McD take me out for drives around the place to alleviate the boredom ...But I want to do much more ....It’s driving me nuts.....Last night was bad ..I’d pushed it too far in trying to walk and do things ....The ache kept me awake for hours until I finally tried some old meditation techniques I used to practice in my youth ... for what ever reason I then fell asleep for a few hours anyway.........

 

This morning I hit the heavier drugs again.... Pain too much....

 

Really pleased I’m off next week ....But the thought of work looming is starting to worry me a lot ....But will go to the Chiro and the Physio next week and see what they can do...

 

I hobbled up the pathway this afternoon to the veggie garden. Its all so over grown. The grass etc is getting too much and we just have to get it sorted. McD harvested the last of the tomatoes, green and red (and yellow :O) And then we pulled out the vines emptying the border...The sun is about to disappear from this are soon as it dips behind the hill. It’s a shame but that’s  the land we have ...I may seed it with broad beans or peas as a manure crop in readiness for spring.

 

While McD worked on   the tomato border I sat and lay down on some loose weed matting and clipped the strawberry plants and dug up the runners saving the strongest to add another 8 squares of strawbs at the end of the raised border mcd was working on. Gardening on my side lying down being a whole new experience....but at least we did some.

 

The rewards are there as well though as we piked the last of the beetroot and pulled a few carrots that are quite large now considering they only have 8 inches to go down before they hit the hard clay ...(Where they either do a right turn producing an L shaped carrot or they start to twist and push themselves out of the soil.) With the tomatoes and already picked garlic and onion McD copped it all up and made a chicken casserole ...Delicious.   We had it with fresh baked bread rolls...

 

As part of our trying to eat more healthfully McD has been on a marathon run of cooking meals everynight.......Personally - I’m loving it ....   :O)

 

 

damned sciatica

I shamefully neglected to thank you all for the kind notes on my entry about our loss of Cola the Beagle..



McD and I are very grateful. The house isn't the same without her. Pepi is also missing her we think. She;s a very depressed dog these days ....

 

I’m still out of action with my back/sciatica problem.....

 

It’s been a hellish 2-3 months for me ...I’ve had more pain than ever I think....This sciatica is causing pain right down my leg to my ankle and big toe. I cannot stand/walk for more than a few minutes. By then I’ve aggravated the nerve and end up hobbling back to the settee having to wait and wait for the pain to settle again.....Brings tears to your eyes I can tell you.......

 

And the sheer boredom not being able to do anything....It’s only the past day I’ve been able to sit for any length of time

 

The lead up to last week was a nightmare. I was due to present to senior IT leaders in Wellington and Auckland on the formation of a Service Management Office (SMO) I masterminded and built over the past two years where i work......Two years of politics, little resources and game playing ....nearly drove me mad ......But we did it ...A heap of work to do still of course, but the concept and the structure is one of the first implementations in New Zealand...It’s generated a lot of interest .....

 

Anyway, the presentations were to be last week...And me unable to move past one position, on my side, on the bed or settee.....But Tuesday last week I hauled my sorry butt out of bed and went to work,finished off the presentation and caught a taxi to the yacht club in Wellington and the renowned Martin Bosley restaurant where the function was being held. Bosley is a well known award winning Chef in NZ. I’ve been to the restaurant before (must take McD sometime) and was at least looking forward to a good lunch.

 

The organisers were good to me having been pre-warned of my condition I was given a clip on mike and a chair to present from.....Of course they were more than grateful that I had made a show. I was the main presenter...The setup was that the organisers had a few minutes to talk about events and then a consultant from the organisers gave some spiel on the service management framework we use ...stats etc...and then it was my turn...Blinded by pain, I still gave a 40 minute talk on the SMO...The unsettling part of it was that as I presented the 30-ish audience were served up entree’s and mains!!...

 

After the presentation there was a small break (where I was fed - Bless them) and then I had to front up to questions and comments from the audience....Some were very off-topic and I was glad I had my boss and a couple of my team present to help....

 

And that was it ...It was obvious that I was no way able to get myself on a plane flight etc to Auckland but my boss volunteered to fill in for me.. Which was great.....

 

But that day really set me up for some major pain for days afterwards.....visits to doctors and physio were hellish trips ...The physio was very caring and careful with me....and I have exercises to do and I’ve been signed off work this week....but was scheduled for a break from Thursday and next week anyway so 2 much needed weeks off work  ........

 

The problem is that those in the know are talking weeks/months for this sciatica to subside rather than days .......    But today I made it up to the veggie garden.....So painful and I’ve paid for it tonight somewhat ....But it was good to get up there and sit and enjoy the view and the windy weather....but what an overgrown mess :O(