"We're Havin' a Heat Wave..."

....a miserable heat wave ....

     I feel really really bad for all the people in this region without air conditioning. I know there are a lot of un-airconditioned rowhouses in Baltimore City, and I can't imagine how people cope with 100 degree weather and no A/C. It's nearly impossible to make the temperature bearable in a home that doesn't have windows on all four sides, especially when the humidity is so high. There's little relief to be had, unless someone opens a fire hydrant. Do people still do that? When I was a little, I remember seeing pictures of happy kids in grimy New York neighborhoods playing in open hydrants.

     I remember going to the World War II memorial in D.C. when it opened up in 2004, and seeing scores of local children playing in the big pool. It wasn't what the designers had in mind, I'm sure, but I liked to think the ghosts of all those veterans would have smiled to see all the children splashing and swimming there, enjoying a hot day. I wonder if they still allow that, or if that was just something they allowed on the opening weekend? It sure wasn't a sober, reflective atmosphere, but it was a joyous one. (Stock footage below)

    I am fortunate enough to have air conditioning, even though it's set on a miserly 81. I don't think I could pick up a skein of wool if it were any hotter.

    I finished the Thursday socks:

I actually wore them one morning, but they're put up now until it cools off again. This pattern was super easy; eight repeating rows, four of which were knit all the way across. I still have four pairs of socks to knit from the kit.

And I immediately cast on another pair (not from the Knit Picks kit, though!) Butterfly garden socks, from Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders (I cannot love this book enough!) They're just above the (c)ankle, and have a lovely butterfly pattern front and back. I pulled it back several rows, twice, because I messed up while watching Bones and trying to follow a pattern.

Okay, I wasn't watching Bones. I don't like her character, I think she's snotty and mean. I was watching the handsome FBI guy ;-)

I have been spinning this lovely orange Corriedale on spindles, but gave up and put it on the wheel. Corriedale just zooms along!I hope to have this knitted into something special by the time cold weather comes back around.



On another note: Who is participating in the Tour de Fleece? I'm seriously considering it this year. I've never done so before. How do I get on a team?







And now, the garden, which is thriving in the heat:

I've got an heirloom tomato coming along nicely...

I know it's silly to post pictures like this, but I always get SO EXCITED to see my plants producing, especially if I raised them from seedlings. That first bloom, then the fruit ... it's like magic every time.

Juliet tomatoes, which are my favorite of all...I grow these every year. I love them. They're salad tomatoes, about the size of a small roma, but brighter red.

The first 8-Ball squash -- see it there? Not even as big as a golf ball. They're just like zucchini, only round. I've got another squash but I knocked off the label from the seedling container and I don't remember what it is. Probably a pattypan. Fun to grow, but a head-scratcher when time to cook.

And, ripening raspberries. I'll bet one is ready to eat today. I better get out there and look.

 I have to show this off -- my elephant ears are finally coming up!

I have a fondness for this plant. When I was growing up, my grandmother lived in southwestern Louisiana  and she had huge elephant ears growing around the culvert in the front yard. Those things were bigger than I was. I grow them every year now, even though they don't come back after winter. I have such fond memories of grandma's house!

Time to go do some spinning!


Happy Fiber Arts Friday!