Uncle Leona's Day Camp

Tomorrow is July, right?

You'd never know by our stupid weather. Our high tomorrow, July 1, is projected to be below 70 degrees. Of course, being Wednesday, rain is in the forecast. The heat is definitely NOT on around here. Especially if you're anywhere near the Indians--they truly stink.

But Browns training camp is only a couple of weeks away! And the Cavs now have Shaq! Hope springs eternal in this town.

I finished up the Phil Onde pullover:

I love this sweater! The T shape works perfect with the sleeves--not too short--and my adjustments to the neckline (I moved it up a bit--to about 1 inch below the back neckline) worked better than anticipated. To top it off, I now have used up yarn that I may have purchased during the Clinton administration, which feels good. Almost as if I have gone green or something.

Continuing on my trek through long-languishing projects, I decided to start up on the mate to this sock:

I think this guy has been in my sock yarn basket for 6 or 7 years. It was knit on size 0 needles and took forever, so that was that. I grabbed the remaining yarn this week and basically said, "Screw it, let's just finish this pair already!" I grabbed the end of the yarn and just started casting on the 72 stitches. Unlike me, I didn't even try to match the damn thing--who was going to care anyhow?? It's a purple sock. With stripes. So what?

After the ribbing was underway, I took a look at the two socks.

Time to play the lottery.

For those of you out there wondering about the garden, it's still in fine shape. For what it's worth, I may have an acorn squash.

I'm talking to it nicely every day. Figure it can't hurt. I also have a ton of cukes on the vines:

All of the cukes are looking pollinated so far without me pimping them. Today, I found out why:

That would be the ass of a bumblebee. A couple of days ago, I was placing my tomatillos in bondage.

Three stakes per plant. That should do.

Anyhow, after the bondage was finished, I saw a little bumblebee floating into my airspace from over the fence. All of a sudden, I turn into Kate Winslet at the end of Titanic when the lifeboats are starting to leave her.

"Come back...come back..."

Well, she did. And she brought a couple of her friends today. I was out there and was never happier to hear buzzing around my ears. They were buzzing around all the cukes, and I'm sure they'll find the squash blossoms as well (I think the acorn squash is their doing, actually--I don't recall pimping that one). Life is now better in the Leonajungle.

Speaking of pimping, I'm hoping this little guy makes it:

This is the first sign of fruit on the spaghetti squash vines. It bloomed when there were no male flowers on the vines to be had. However, there was a male flower on the acorn squash vines.

Meet Frankensquash. If he works, I'm going to have to save the seeds and see what I created next season. A spaghetti squash with a sweet acorn flavor? Could be interesting.

Or just plain gross.

And just in case anyone was curious,

Rabbits like sunflowers. If he keeps this up, I'm getting a 12 gauge.

It's amazing what a little monsoon will do

I now am caring for a small jungle:

We had about an inch and a half of rain last week (if you are watching the US Open, you have some idea of it...we're about an inch short of building the ark). My plants took that rain and went nuts.

I now have tomatoes:

So far, there are seven little ones (at least that I can find--I'd need Lewis and Clark to really explore those plants right now). By next week, I'm guessing there will be triple the amount, seeing as it's supposed to be hot all week, and tomatoes love that heat.

Peppers love the heat, too:

From top to bottom, those are Quadrata bells, mini belles, and Hungarian hot peppers. Next week, I am hoping to see tiny jalepenos and habaneros--the blossoms are starting to do their thing.

My squash are still enigmatic:

As you may see, there seems to be another ill squash in the foreground. My Dad is trying to convince me to leave things alone, but I'm still a little annoyed that the little things aren't growing the way they should. There are lots more little squashes coming along, so I guess I'll just be patient.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to try to attract a few little pollinators to the area:

I took out one more lettuce plant, pulled out the stub of one sunflower that the local bunny decided to chow on, and transplanted the chives and purple sage from another area of my backyard. Hopefully, they will both get those buzzing bugs to the garden. If not, they'll just give my gherkins more to climb all over.

Those little things are growing like weeds, by the way. The fruit are still teeny tiny, but none look to be dying from lack of pollination. Hopefully, the ants will continue to do that job.

Then there are the tomatillos:

Good god. Anyone out there want some salsa verde? I think I may have extra.

And I'll finish with a up close and personal look at my baby cukes:

These are the cutest little things! I'm looking forward to seeing them get going this week as well. All three cucumber plants have babies right now--it's a race to see who will be edible first.

My money is still on the tomatillos.

And then there's the Mexican sour gherkin....

There are a bunch of these little things starting to grow on the vines. Hand pollinating is getting more ridiculous by the minute.

Fun in the sun

With the notable exception of 6 of the last 7 Wednesdays around here, it has been lovely of late. We're in the middle of the third really gorgeous weekend right now--this weekend's task was to get the mulch down on my bed of petunias (done), vacuum the pool (in progress), wash the car (next in line), and mow the lawn (gotta save the best for last). But before even eating breakfast today, I had to pimp the squash.

That's right. I'm a plant pimp. It all started last night when I was perusing the garden and decided to check on the progress of the two acorn squash that bloomed this past week. This is what I saw:

That green raisin is what was once a plump little baby squash that Mother Nature didn't pollinate. Not too surprising considering I have seen about three bees in my yard all spring. So out I went this morning to assist in some squash sex. I plucked one of the male blossoms (one without a baby squash on its base), then peeled back the petals and rubbed the pollen thing on the middle of this beautiful blossom (notice that nice little baby squash at its base):

All that was missing was some Barry White.

Afterwards, the male blossom was spent.

So, we'll see how things go. Hopefully, this will solve my problem. It had better, seeing as I have two other squash plants and four cucumbers that will also be needing my services as the summer rolls along.

I think I'll go buy a Cadillac and get me a big hat with a feather. Might as well look the part.

As for the rest of the garden, here's a two week update:

I have a pepper!

The cukes are starting to climb their respective trellises (trelli?):

And the winners for overall hugeness are the tomatoes and tomatillos:

This one is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter:

It's getting close to pith helmet time when I'm tying those tomatoes. The number of blossoms on all of those plants is unbelievable--there will be a lot of salsa come August. Not to mention a good amount of tomato sauce. Now if only I can perfect the vining veggies fertility treatments, I'll be in great shape!

As always, one must relax after a full day outside in the sun. So, the February Lady sweater is almost done!

I should have this one done tonight. My hands will thank me--mercerized cotton is not the funnest stuff to work with. No stretch like a good wool means stiff fingers after a few hours of knitting. The Phil Onde top is also coming along:

You can't tell, but there are sleeve nubbins on that front. The pullover is essentially two pieces with edging added after they are sewn together. Very simple, and hopefully very pretty. I do like how the yarn does its thing--looks like a melted Creamcicle.

Last week, I was up on Kelleys Island, which was the perfect spot to plant myself out in the sun to do a chore that has needed to be done for some time now:

That's right...now that the balling is done, another Starmore is in the queue. That's after I finish up the cotton stuff, which will be in a month or so. I also need to finish up the Red Rocks Pullover, which is in sleeve purgatory at the moment. That needs to be completed in time for the snow to hit in November.

Ugh. I said the "s" word. I think I'll go wash the car.