earth day..

Today is EARTH DAY!!! I don't know what it means - it's EARTH DAY whatever thingie! Ungaaz! I just know that it is. So last night Nick and I had the priviledge of being invited to the "Wilderness Leadership School" Gala Dinner. To say that I was moved BEYOND measure by the presence and speech of one of the world's finest speakers on wildlife and conservation, namely Dr Ian Player, is an understatement. I sat in the audience and made a promise to myself that I would do my part for this cause, for which so many remarkable people have sacrificed of themselves to make a difference - like save the Rhino and the St Lucia Wetland. I asked myself how so few managed to accomplish so much? - and felt encouraged by their testimony that nothing was insurmountable.

As guests of Lewis Gordon Pugh, who was the keynote speaker for the evening, and a remarkable, intelligent, humble and driven man, Nick and I felt so blessed to have been able to enjoy the company of these "warriors of the earth" as I like to call them. Now whilst black tie and diamante have NO PLACE in this blog (no JUDGING me TIEDYE people!!), I just had to post this photo of 2 men, whom I feel are SO NOTEWORTHY of mention. Here are two South African's who have a. (Lewis) swam in a number of challenging waters, but most known for his 1km swim in -1.8 degree water (HELL THAT'S COLD) in the North Pole (to put the temperature in perspective - the Titanic went down in +5 degrees, with only 2 survivors - if you're not thinking OMG!!!! you obviously haven't done the math correctly!) - all for the cause of creating awareness for the plight of our precious polar bears, and b. Braam having run the great wall of China - 98 DAYS PEOPLE!!!!!! makes the Comrades Marathon look like a walk in Central Park! So I guess my occupational hazard is that working with people like this, you can't help but ask "What the HELL am I doing with my life?????"...stressing about getting 1 x vegetable garden going - OH PLEASE!!! (how embarrassing!!! - God forbid they ask me what I've done today!!)...plant seedlings?? (sheepish)

So in celebration of our commitment to EARTH DAY, the kids and I spent a wonderful afternoon in the garden, PLANTING more seedlings into our "kitchen garden". Having some herbs and the basics close to the kitchen, seems easier than planting them all into the veggie garden, which is ideal for the more staple VEG. We all chose a tray of seedlings - Dom = tomatoes, Sabrina = spring onion, and Bee = variety of lettuce. We planted them together with our lovely dark chocolate compost, which I'm DELIGHTED to say included EARTHWORMS....MUCH EXCITEMENT!! (I do believe our Scottish neighbours think we have gone POSITIVELY MAD!!)

TIP OF THE DAY: Buy this book which is not only a WONDERFUL read (like a story) but has become like my Bible of organic gardening - Jane's Delicious Garden.