Painting and planting

The Postie has an exhibition coming up at Roar Gallery in Abel Smith Street soon, and to get all his work ready he's turned our house into an art studio. Most days he sports a wee smear of paint somewhere on his person (yesterday it was his cheek, the day before that the cheek of his trackpants) and can often be seen looking like he's staring into space, but he's actually staring at one of his paintings propped up against the couch or something. It's exciting seeing his paintings evolve, and wondering what tinkering he will do to them next. It's a group exhibition with our friends Ange Lee and Chris Bramwell, and is called Three: Good Things Come In. It opens at Roar on November 18. Come and take a peek if you're around and want to see good Art.

The Postie is not the only industrious one in the cul-de-sac. I am proving not to be a black thumb in the garden after all. I nursed some lettuces to reasonable size in the late winter and have managed to get some seeds to sprout without too much effort. It's not an ideal garden - we are renting and will only be here another 10 months or so if we're lucky, so I'm not investing a lot of time and effort into producing perfect soil and raised beds etc. I'm also afraid that if I get carried away half of the stuff I plant will die. Anyway, I'm aiming for some beetroot, baby carrots, rocket, cherry tomatoes, more lettuce, and basil, and have chives, parsley, mint, oregano and thyme already well on their way. Wish me luck ...