Monday, July 05, 2010

No woodworking for me this weekend

Did you ever get a burst of energy and just go crazy for a day? I've been nursing a sore back, but it's finally starting to feel better. So when the Fourth of July rolled around, I went a little insane.

First, I unloaded two of my kilns that I had fired a few days ago. Every potter knows it's like Christmas when you unload a kiln.







Then I started working in the garden, trimming the artichokes back




and harvesting the spaghetti squash.


I stupidly planted too many onions. Way too many, like 160 total. Who knew they'd sprout up like demons and overtake the whole garden?


Let me tell you - the only way I could get through cleaning onions for two hours was to promise myself a reward at the end.

On top of everything else, the "kids" wanted to play, despite it being
really hot outside. They usually like to stay inside, where it's cool, but if I'm outside, that's where they want to be.

Stella is my "special needs" child.


I can't tell you how disgusting she gets when she plays with her favorite toy - a racquetball. I have to rinse her beard and mouth and paws with the hose before she can come back inside.


The first honeydew of the season!


I've never had luck with cukes, this one could use a little TLC. If anyone has some tips about growing these, I'd appreciate your help.



Everything is starting to sprout all over the yard.



On top of everything else, I made fresh dough in the morning, let it raise all day, and baked a couple of sheet pizzas for dinner.


You can bet I slept like a baby that night!

Hope your Fourth of July weekend was as fun (and productive!) as mine was. I'll get back into the woodshop soon - I'm replacing the bearings on my drill press, so I hope to blog about that soon. And I have a nice commission in the works, so stay tuned.


4 comments:

Sister Creek Potter said...

What a gal! I'm waiting for the post that tells what you can't do! Your garden is incredible! Can I come for dinner? Gay

Anonymous said...

yr fans want to know when the garden & cooking blog is starting ? ;-) great chokes by the way!!

Wood It Is! said...

What a great idea, I'll have to think about that one...

Janet said...

Jamie -

Gorgeous garden. Jealous. I'll be over for artichokes and beer in...10 hours if I drive straight through.

Regarding cucumbers, we used to recommend growing Armenian cucumbers, especially if trying to grow them through summer. Are you having plant die-back or just yellowing of the cukes? Lift their little bodies up off the rocks? If it's die-back, could be another reason. Plant marigolds around for natural barriers.