And Now I Am Wishing for Rain.

My Co-pilot in the Buggy

We have enjoyed a few days of nice weather in the last couple of weeks, along with some very hot weather.  Pretty typical for July in Ohio.  And of course the rain has let up.  I am now wishing every day for a nice soaking rain for my garden.  Again, fairly typical for July in Ohio.

My garden is not doing so well this year.  Everything was planted late, due to weather and travel, so much is behind where I think it usually is.  Something is decimating my corn.  I have lost about half of it now to something that is knocking the stalks down at night and chewing up the nowhere near ripe corn.  And my newly sprouted  lettuce and swiss chard seems to be under attack from bunnies.  The tomatoes are doing quite well however and I have a lot of green tomatoes on the vines.

The last two mornings when I have gone out to inspect the corn I have been amazed at the number of honeybees collecting pollen from the corn tassels.  Dozens of them.  It creates quite a loud buzzing just above one's head.


While I was out with the camera to photograph the bees, I was also able to get a quick shot  of a great blue heron flying over.  There are quite a few around, but you have to be in just the right place at the right time to get a photo.  They don't wait around.

In other nature news, this week Sam and I have seen some Monarch butterflies on our walks.  They used to be so plentiful, but now are rare it seems.  While picking blackberries at the pond 2 days ago, I spotted some milkweed on the back side of the dam and I was able to find 3 monarch caterpillars on two different plants, ranging in size from less than half an inch to well over an inch. 

 I did not have my camera, but went back yesterday to try to find them again.  Unfortunately, I was only able to find one and I think it was the smallest one because it was on the same leaf I had seen it on the day before.  It was no longer quite so small. however.  I hope the others were just being elusive and had not become dinner for a bird.


Last weekend Grover and I attended a 3 day agility trial.  We had a successful weekend, earning 2 Double Q's and 1 Jumper's Q for a total of 47 points.  We now need only 72 points for our MACH title.  We will be attending another 2 days of agility at the Dayton Dog Training Club this coming Saturday and Sunday.  Fingers crossed we earn some more points!

It has been too hot many days for me to spend much time in my studio, which has no air-conditioning, so I have not done as much as I would like.  I did finish weaving the two selvedge rugs and take them off the loom.  I just need to do the hems on them to call them finished.  I also warped my smaller loom for a couple of scarves in black and white tencel, which is a shiny rayon-type fiber that is nice to work with. 

 I also spun 2 bobbins of some prepared fiber I purchased last year at the Great Lakes Fiber Show,  It is a Merino wool Tencel blend and I am now plying the singles on the two bobbins together for a 2-ply yarn.  I really like how the singles look, but I am not sure if I will like the finished yarn as much since the colors will not be separate like they are in the singles.  I will likely weave with this yarn.

 I found this cute little sheep at an antique store in Oregon last month.  Isn't he cute?  He was only $10 and I am pretty sure he is handmade.  He's about 8"  long is is living on the antique cupboard in my studio.  I just love it.

 
I also ordered new countertops for my kitchen this past week, for which they are coming to measure in 2 days.  That means I need to clear off the countertops, so I have been purging and re-organizing some clutter and unused items in my kitchen.  It seems like a good time to do that.  I look forward to a new look in the kitchen as it has been 16 years since we put in the current cabinets and counters.  I am keeping my custom hickory cabinets, but exchanging laminate countertops for quartz in a totally different color scheme.  It is time for a new look.

Beautiful morning sky over the studio