True Confessions

Well, don't get too excited. The confessions are just about my unfinished projects.

It's been hard to figure out what to write about. This is supposed to be a gardening blog, but there's nothing to do right now that's garden related. I haven't received my new garden catalogs yet, it's way too early to start seeds, nothing is growing. I have no idea what my patio containers will contain in the spring. So what to write about?

Maybe I'll use this blog as a way to keep track of my other projects. I'll post a list of things and then check them off as I finish. Yeah, that's exciting, but look at it this way -- I'm being accountable, if only to the blog gods. So, here we go!

This photo is what I'm hoping to get finished by Christmas. Clockwise from upper left: A sweater for my almost 9-year old granddaughter in a colorway of Macaroon that never went forward (Macaroon itself has since been discontinued); I have the back started, but it's on size 11 needles, so it should work up quickly, and since it's a sweatshirt style, there will be minimal finishing. Center top: A dog sweater for Doodlebug in Washable Wool; he's not normally a sweater wearer, but he's lost much of his hair because of Cushing's disease, and he chills easily now. Next: a finished sock from Sockotta for my 4-year old granddaughter; these are on size 1 needles, and I need to let my fingertips heal from the sharp points before starting the second sock. Upper right corner: An afghan in Washable Wool for my son and DIL as a housewarming gift; they recently bought a new house in Gettysburg, and a new sofa! Center bottom: An almost-finished sock in Opal for my oldest granddaughter (the one getting the sweater); she chose this yarn when she was here for Thanksgiving. And last in this pile: A crocheted sweater for my youngest grauddaughter (the one with the finished sock). I think I have a good shot of getting this all done by Christmas, which I'll be spending with them this year.

And my one finished object: This is a dog sweater for my "grand" dog Roxie the Wonder Chihuahua. She's all of about 3 pounds, and this was like making a sock, only quicker. It's in two shades of Washable Wool, which is a really yummy yarn. It should be warm! Here's the pattern I used: http://www.redlipstick.net/knit/chihswe.html. I'm also using this pattern for Doodlebug's sweater, only I added stitches and length to make it bigger. He and Chelsea are both little dogs, but they looked like giants next to Roxie!

Random Saturday Musings

This is what I saw when I took the dogs outside this morning. How gorgeous is this tree! There are four of them in a group behind my apartment. I normally walk the dogs across the street in front of my apartment (where there are no red trees but lots of pretty yellow ones) but we went out back for a change today, mostly because I just wanted to stand under the red trees. When the morning sun shines through them, the light becomes a magical filtered pinky-red that almost sparkles. It's like having a peach bulb in your lamps -- everything looks more beautiful in this light. This is one of the reasons fall is my favorite time of year. The photo is clickable, and I left it a large file so that it will expand to fill your screen. Go ahead and click on it -- I'll wait.

We're getting closer to Thanksgiving! One of my sons and his family (including their Chihuahua, Roxie) and my brother and his wife are coming to visit for the weekend, which means I'll get to cook a huge dinner. I've been planning the menu for weeks, and I think I finally have it finalized, after input from everyone who will be eating. We're having all the traditional stuff, as it turns out. Some things are just too good to change, and Thanksgiving dinner is one of them. We'll have interesting food for dinner on Friday and Saturday, but for Thursday, we're sticking to the classics.

I've been avoiding cleaning. Well, not avoiding actually. I'm in the middle of about a hundred different things -- cleaning out the spare bedroom, putting an end-table and some shelves together, petting the dogs, making some surprises for the girls, cleaning bathrooms, knitting socks (just because I like to), washing windows and dusting blinds -- you know, all the usual stuff you do before company comes. Even though they won't be here until Wednesday evening, I have to have most of it done by Monday because the carpet cleaner guys are coming in the morning. I should just focus on one thing until it's finished, but at least this way, everything will be finished at the same time -- until then, it just looks like a hurricane landed in my apartment.

Yes, it's been a very loooonnnggg time!

But, you see, I forgot my sign-in and password. Only through entering it about a bazillionty times did I finally guess the right one. Or maybe the blogger police just took pity on me and let me in with the wrong password, because I sure can't figure out why I made part of it what I did.

So what to write about now that gardening season is officially over? Actually, it was officially over not long after my last post. As you may recall (especially if you read over my last entry to refresh your memories), the last time we saw the tomatoes was when we were in the middle of a huge heat wave and drought. The mighty 10-foot tower had toppled over, and the tomato plants were languishing, draped not so gracefully over the hedges. To my chagrin, they still are. Only now they're brown and crispy. As is every single last plant in my containers. We went on water restrictions quite a while ago, and I misunderstood what I could water and what I could not. I found out today that I could have watered the plants because I was not sprinkling, I would be holding the hose to water. Who knew? Obviously not me.

I keep reminding myself that I need to get out there and clean everything out, but other things keep getting in the way. End of season garden clean-up has never been one of my favorite things. This year, though, it shouldn't be too bad if I ever get around to it. The roots of the plants are so huge, I just need to dump out the dirt and carry everything to the dumpster. When I replant in the spring, I'll order new dirt to fill the containers and start over from scratch. I can't wait!

I haven't received any garden catalogs yet for the spring season, but I know they aren't far away. This year, I'll get a new Bio Dome from Park Seed and start my own tomato plants -- that way I'll be able to have exactly the kind I want instead of buying the only plants I could find. They did amazingly well, but I would rather have an heirloom variety instead of what grew. I also won't plant beans again -- that was a waste of a container for what I harvested. The local farmers' markets have great beans, so I'll just buy them there. I am going to plant loads of zinnias so that I have lots for my vases, and I'll be buying another Crazy Daisy to replace the one that died in the drought.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I'm so excited that I have family driving down to join me for the long weekend. I'm looking forward to cooking a huge dinner and spending lots of time with people I love!

The Tower Topples ...

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post -- and now it's almost mid-August. Where's the summer gone?

My little patio garden has been thriving, but really all that's left are the three tomato plants in one pot, a container of blueberry plants (which don't look very good right now -- most of the leaves are turning brown; I never did add anything to acidify the soil), a container with two marigold plants and a container of zinnias (which also contained my daisies, but they died back after I cut the flowers). The last container is growing lettuce seeds that finally saw the light of day after the bean plants were pulled out. There's one lonely beet plant in that container, too.

It's been ungodly hot here. I think the temps broke records on several days last week -- over 100 degrees with a heat index in the 110s. Incredible, blast-furnace heat. I can't take the dogs for walks, because they're heat-absorbing black and they're low to the ground, so all the heat reflected off the sidewalks hits them in the bellies. We get about 10 feet from the door and they're both panting and ready to come back in. Doodlebug's vet has told me to keep him out of the heat as much as possible -- he's really lost quite a bit of fur due to the Cushings disease, and he has no protection from the sun. I had to take Chelsea to the vet for a very scary faux-death experience on Monday, and the vet we saw then said the same thing about her, but because she's old, not because she's losing fur.

I came home on Wednesday to find this: [NOTE--I just realized I don't have a photo to put here, and it's very dark outside now. I'll add the photo of the toppled tower tomorrow.)

I'm amazed at how much these tomato plants grew in this container, and I'm surprised the supports held up as long as they did. Right now the plants are still sprawling all over the short hedges in front of my patio, and short of pulling up the plants, I really can't do anything about it. They're all over 10-feet tall, and they're too heavy to lift by myself. The supports on these containers really are too flimsy for indeterminate tomato plants, and I should have known that -- I've grown tomatoes for years, for pete's sake. Next summer I'll try something else to keep the plants upright. For now, I'm just going to let them go. One of the main vines broke about halfway through the stalk, but the top of the vine doesn't show any signs of wilting. I have dozens of green tomatoes on the plants, so I'll just let everything ripen and see what happens. Because it's been so hot at night, they aren't setting new fruit. If the plants survive the topple, they should start producing again when nighttime temps are below 70. If this fall is anything like last fall, these plants should produce almost until November.

A huge downside to all this is that I've lost the wonderful privacy screen that was formed by this container of plants. I have tall hedges on one side of my patio that block the view from the street, and this plant blocked most of the view of the "active" side of my patio -- where my glider sits and where the table and chairs are. I enjoyed sitting outside much more when I didn't feel on display to the main street. I guess it isn't too early to start planning for next year ...

Gentle Tomato Spirit

Remember the tree people in Lord of the Rings? Well, this gentle tomato folken reminded me of them. I wish he'd hurry things along and ripen all his kindred spirits -- I counted at least two dozen that are a great size, and I can hardly wait for them to turn red. None of them show any sign of blossom end rot, and I'm thankful for that. The credit goes to these wonderful pots! They don't dry out, so there's no lack of nutrient uptake.



We're having a much needed rain-shower right now. I took out the dogs at 5:30, and it was just starting to rain. The air smelled all ozoney, and the raindrops were huge. They did a fast potty, but they still have more to do, and I can't take them out now because of the deluge. And the thunder -- Chelsea is quaking at my feet as I type this. Silly Chelsea. We aren't having lightening, so I'm not too worried about turning off the computer just yet.

I know it's been over a week since I last posted, but there's really not much going on. The tomatoes are growing -- the plant is at the ceiling of my balcony now. I may trim off the top -- it's only going to bend and break anyway. I spent two days in New York, and had a blast (along with discovering all the color trends for Fall/Winter 2008-09). It was a very quick trip. I took off Monday and Tuesday last week, and with the holiday, I had a grand long weekend. I didn't do anything -- I parked the car after work on Friday and didn't leave again until I went to a photo shoot Thursday morning. And I was just as bad this past weekend -- I stopped at the store on Friday and didn't go out again until Monday morning. I love my apartment, and I love staying inside when it's too hot to breathe outside.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm leaving for New Hampshire for the Knit & Crochet Show. I'll be meeting with designers and hopefully will find another technical editor or two to help out with editing patterns. That's my goal, anyway.

TTFN -- Hopefully I'll have ripening tomatoes when I get back. I'll keep you posted!

Today's garden news ...

... is all about the fish! There's nothing happening with the garden anyway. It's very hot, and the tomatoes are just getting bigger. The beans are languishing, although the pots are very moist. Everything is doing what it's supposed to.

A friend of mine is visiting overnight -- we're leaving early tomorrow for New York, and it's easier for her to stay here than it is to drive to the airport from her house. So I've been cleaning like a madwoman. You know, vacuuming the window blinds, cleaning the windows, scrubbing the bathroom. She's only going to be here for a few hours, but I still want everything to be sparkling. BUT, at the same time I'm avoiding doing everything I need to finish, so in practicing said avoidance, I decided to strip down the aquarium and scrub it in an effort to get rid of the algae once and for all. I'm tired of trying to see the fish through green water, and I'm sure they're tired of having to live in it.

So I put the fish in their bucket filled with aquarium water and an airstone and drained the tank. I washed the gravel three times, until the water ran clear and not green. I scrubbed the plants, the filter intake tubes, the air tubing and the large rocks. Then I put everything back in place and refilled the tank. It's quite a shock to the fish to do things so drastically, so I've been trying to get rid of the algae without stripping the tank. No luck -- so drastic times call for drastic measures. At least now the tank is clean and sparkling. I keep to a pretty regular maintainance schedule, and maybe I'll be able to keep the algae away. In my research to see what's causing the problem, I read that when full spectrum lights get old, they don't work properly and that sometimes allows algae to get out of hand. If it comes back, I'll try replacing them. I can't remember when I set up this aquarium originally -- maybe autumn? I know it was before the holidays. I also put Algon in the filter, and maybe now that things are clean, that will help. It didn't do anything to clear up the problem over the last few months, though.

So now I have happy fish, or at least fish I can see, and I still have to finish cleaning. Better go!

PS -- That's Sushi on the left. She's camera-shy, and I usually can only get photos of the back of her. Her tail is gorgeous, so maybe that's what she wants everyone to see. The other fish is Anjin-san. I don't know why -- perhaps the fact that they're Japanese goldfish (Ryukins) and Shogun is one of my favorite movies? I've had them for over a year (their bodies were the size of a quarter when I bought them, and now Sushi weighs 15 ounces -- yes, I weighed them before I put them in the bucket). I assume she's a female since she's larger, but they haven't shown any breeding behavior. I don't think they're old enough yet. Once they outgrow this aquarium, I'm going to send them to live with a friend of mine who has a pond in his back yard. I don't have room for a larger tank. Hopefully that will be a while ...

Tomayto, Tomahto

However you may say it, I'm going to have some! In just four short weeks, give or take a few days, these little marble-size beauties will be red, ripe, sliced and slathered with mayo (fat-free, of course) on whole wheat bread. And possibly bacon. Too bad my lettuce didn't last longer ...

It's blasted hot out there today. I'm glad I got all the garden chores done early yesterday morning. Such that they were -- I'm so used to spending hours weeding, planting and watering that the hour I spent outside yesterday morning tending to my pots seems almost a cheat. Can I really call this gardening?

Why yes, I can!

This morning I congratulated myself on the fact that I went to Wally-World and only spent $80 -- a minor miracle. Then I stopped at the grocery store to pick up the things I couldn't get at WW and spent another $80. Sigh.

Other weekend news -- well, there's none. I spent an hour or so gardening yesterday, came in and took a nap, cooked the beans and some corn on the cob for a light, vegetarian dinner, cut out and mounted some rubber stamps and called it a night. Today I shopped in the morning, put groceries away, took a nap and just looked at the clock and realized it's almost 6:00! No wonder the pups are pestering me to go out!

Hasta la vista, baby! (remember Terminator?)