It’s been awhile. I’ve been busy, it’s been stupidly hot, and I just havent gotten around to writing. Some stuff has happened:

We finally got some more of our stored stuff here. The wardrobe forms the wall of our room and for the first time since we moved in, we have a measure of privacy. We still have two more large pieces to move into the house, and several into the shed before we can have the truck removed. That will be good.

The garden beds have gone rather mad in the heat. We’ve already harvested several cucumbers, and I have about 20 gigantic zucchinis waiting for me out there. I need to pick up a couple gallons of apple cider and can some zapple sauce.

These SunOvens retail for nearly $800. Which is craziness. This particular one was found at the thrift store for under $100. I haven’t entirely figured out how to use it, yet, but in theory, it will make baking possible in the summertime and serve as a supplemental cooking source even in the winter. The company says it can do anything from steaks to bread, slowcook to pizzas. So far, my experiments havent been terribly successful, but I shall prevail.

In the heat-warning-level stupid weather, when it is too hot to do anything strenuous, it’s a good time to play with art. I’m still experimentinf with pastels, both wet and dry. The above picture isn’t finished yet.

Otherwise, when I get a few minutes, I get a few more mulchmats down or a bit more mowing done. At this rate, the mowing will definitely be finished – once anyway – before snow season comes around.

I still havent gotten the miscanthus grass in the ground. It may be dead now, but I’ll still try. I also have 2 replacement kiwis and an extra black currant to plant, 2 honeylocust trees (strangely found in my mom’s front garden) and 2 schisandra vines to up-pot, 4 pinot noir grapevines to find a space for….and my latest seed order arrived in the mail yesterday. This time, I have:
Russian white mulberry tree
Paperbark maple tree
Thornless honeylocust (again, as most I planted before died)
indigo bush
Kousa dogwood tree
Catalpa tree
Coffee arabica
English (zone 4) lavender
Astragalus
Skullcap (again, as my last packet never germinated)