Sand beach, south west NZ, south island

Sand beach, south west NZ, south island
Originally uploaded by Henna Oasis

171 ankle henna

171 ankle henna
Originally uploaded by Henna Oasis

after a short break from doing henna on myself, I finally had time, motivation, and a reason all at the same time. A rare occurance!

Henna!

It's so elegant, henna. An adornment for the body that is timeless yet temporary. This picture is with the paste still on the skin. The paste stays on for a few hours then is removed. The paste stains the skin orange at first, and this deepens to a chocolate or burgandy colour in a few days as long as it is kept away from water.
This photo is my own work.
I'll be posting more of my henna work.
groom's family
Originally uploaded by Henna Oasis

how exciting!

Wee! I've just seen my first germinated seeds poking their little first leaves above the mulch... Broccoli here we come!
I am going to find it hard to resist pulling the mulch aside every day to see if the carrots and peas have sprouted yet.. must resist... can't disturb.. no... must.. not.. touch..

my biggest concern really is keeping the kids away from it. I'm thinking I will have to set up some sort of barrier otherwise they'll be picking the plants before they have their second set of leaves! It will have to be impressive though! I can't keep DD1 out of anything at the moment. She climbs everywhere and what she can't get over, into, on top of
The cos lettuce is looking happy, and the onions are still holding on, so i'm happy.

The worm farm that I managed to kill off is in resurrection mode. I'm not sure how successful it will be though, as DH managed to tip it over and spill the contents some time ago. I can't remember what he told me he did with it, but when I went to get it to move, there was not much left in the bottom. Oh woe.
Well, i've re-moistened it and put it in a warm spot for the cooler weather and a little bit of food, just wait and see now I guess. I think it needed some lime, I now suspect that is why they disappeared. I think I let it get too acidic. I guess the kiwi fruit that the kids put in there didn't help any either! So I guess I might be going off to the hardware store for more worms ~

So my mission is to keep the children away from both the fledgling veggie garden and the worm farm.
Wish me luck!

organic veggie garden incarnation #1

ok, so i'm going to try my hand at this organic gardening thing. I've read some good books, including the organic gardening and moon planting by Lyn Bagnall (I think that's her name!). It was brilliant, but it was a while ago so i can't remember the details. I've got it on hold at the library.
I went to go and get it today, which was a bit of a debacle. First trip to library.. forgot library card on kitchen bench. DH picked up another book i had on hold for me and left the card in the book.
So I mutter under my breath, turn the car and kids around and go home.
Get home, run in and grab card off bench.
get back in car and go back to library.
Get to library, get card. I happened to look at the card before I got out of the car. SHOOT
Its my husband's card. He gave me the wrong one back.
So I go into the library anyway, maybe they'll let me use other ID?
But NO.
The very same ID that I used to join the library in the first place is not sufficient to borrow without my card. :P
some secure system. All you need is the card. Anyone can use your card. As long as they have the plastic, they can borrow books in your name. But show ID instead and its a no go, sorry ma'am.
Grrr.
But back to the garden.
Yesterday I planted cos lettuce, carrots (can't remember the variety right now), broccoli, brown onions and DD3 planted the peas.
The oregano went into the front garden with the lavender and roses and dianthus that went in last year at garden conception time. Smells wonderful :)
Now I need to sow the parsley, but am thinking I will keep it inside as it needs to be kept moist for so long. If only I had my moon planting book, I would know when to sow them so it wouldnt' take so long!!

thinking about a design book

So I've been thinking for a long while about authoring a henna design book. Just simple stuff, like the kind of 2 minute designs that I use at big parties and functions. I was thinking a good title would be "OMG I Can't See the End of the Line.. designs for large events"
whatcha think?
I personally find it much easier to not have a design book at events like that, because it just slows everything down having people choosing designs and having to refer to the design constantly. What I find useful is a collection of ideas, like my 'inspiration sheets' that I bring with me sometimes, but can rarely find when I want them! I have a page just full of different flower petals at the moment, and leafy viney kind of things.

I've got a few pages, ready to ink some, but i'm having trouble finding the pen that I need to use. I'll have to experiment a bit and see which ones are suitable. I was also thinking that I might slowly slowly start on doing heavily detailed bridal with loads of detail as I know some people love that but the market is pretty saturated in that kind of design so it's not a priority for me. Most likely I will do it for my own satisfaction and for my brides to choose from.

oh.. i have a website www.hennaoasis.com.au for my henna business with lots of photos in the gallery slideshows.

Tweens are terrorist sleepers!

I have a daughter. Up until recently I thought I knew where I had got her from. But lately, I am beginning to wonder if maybe it was all a drug induced hallucination in order to plant an agent in my house.
It seems the sleeper is waking up... shudder.
Personality changes, physical changes, it is enough to give you nightmares!

At 11, I was still afraid of the headmistress of my school. I think I did what I was told most of the time, I did not have a mobile phone, and I did not think that I was 'all that'

My 11 year old, however, is not afraid of anyone with authority, only of her friend's opinions. She has to have some sort of consequence hanging over her head, or a reward, to do something she is told to do. She has a mobile phone that fits into her pocket... hey I had to wait until I was 27 to get one of those.. But that is my fault, I admit. I gave it to her for safety and I check the call register which she blessedly is unaware of :D

I am getting increasingly more anxious about her teen years. I am sure that the terrorist will be in full swing, with flagrant disregard for niceties of the western world and little regard for the sanity of her 'family'

God grant me patience!