It’s a long weekend here in Canada. And a much needed one. But as you read this, I’m probably spending my holiday Monday sitting in my chair, in front of a fan trying not to sweat too much. Saturday, our heat pump conked out on us (yes… the one we had installed less than two years ago… no… I’m not happy). The company that installed it can’t get someone here until Wednesday.

It rain most of the weekend (much needed), so thankfully it wasn’t killer hot. We were able to open the windows and get the breeze moving through.

Saturday, Burton and I headed up to the studio and got one of the Christmas quilts charted out…

With that done, we got to cutting.

With that done, Dave decided we should try changing the HVAC filter to see if that got the heat pump working again…. so we headed out to buy one and grab dinner. Sadly, the filter did not solve the problem.

Sunday, after a long snuggle in the morning, listening to the rain fall outside the window… Burton and I decided we might as well get the top sewn.

Lemmy joined us for laying the squares out. And slowly, row by row….

The top came together by dinner time. It finished up at about 61″ x 72″

I still have to dig through the bins for a back (It was far too muggy to be muscling the bins out of the corner then back in again), but we are going with a scrappy binding.

Now I just have to get the top done for his sister’s quilt, then I can book a quilting weekend with Mom!

First things first… Melon update

As you can see, things are going well.

We’ve even got a third melon coming.

I’m pretty sure this is a yellow-fleshed watermelon – which came from the neighbour. I’m not sure how big it will get, but I hope it’s on the smaller side – I don’t think the ladder can handle a full-sized watermelon!

I’ve only got three steps and they are already claimed!

I am happy to announce….

We have our first cucumber! The cucumbers last year made a very poor showing. The ones this year are a little behind, but I hope once the plants catch up, it’s going to be a banger of a season!

While I don’t have any fruit on my birdhouse gourds yet….

…they do have the prettiest flowers.

The peppers, I think, aren’t going to make quite as good a showing. After losing the first three to a weird brown mush, only two more have come along. Maybe I’ll get more, but somehow I doubt it.

But the blackberries are FINALLY ripening! They don’t ripen all at once, so the few I get each day are getting put into a bag in a freezer. They are destined for a batch of jam and I want to make sure I have enough!

And last… technically, I should have left these a little longer, but some of my carrots felt girthy enough to pull!

They weren’t super long, but otherwise they are a good size. These are my rainbow carrots – there were four colours in the seed pack.. the only one I’m missing here is the white. Aren’t they just the prettiest carrots you’ve ever seen? And there’s lots more to come!

If there’s one thing that stays routine for August…

… it’s Sunflower Season! And thanks to many volunteers, a few I started, and a few I relocated – there are sunflowers all over the garden – with more just getting started.

There are also Cosmos

Zinnias

Globe Thistle

Butterfly bushes and Butterfly weed.

The Spotted Bee Balm I planted this spring has bloomed… it’s much more subtle than I expected, but it is so lovely!

And last…the Strawberry Blonde Marigolds I started from seed….

The are small, but they are so pretty! I’m going to be saving some of these seeds for next year!

Fun Fact about Burton you may not know…

If I’ve got a long dress on (which is often) and decide to sit down (which is also often) Burton loves nothing more than to play hide and seek. He will immediately run under the hem and make himself comfortable between my feet!

When I say progress…

I mean it loosely. I have made some progress as in, I’ve started the second sock. But I got the ribbing done. I then started on the seed stitch pattern, and I just kept messing it up. For some reason, my brain just can’t handle it! I put it in a time out, but I’m hoping to pick it up and try again tonight after work.

In the upside…

It looks great in my new yarn bowl!

I mentioned on a previous post that I don’t mind weeding my gardens. In fact, I actually enjoy it (I just wish I had more time to do it!). I love the chance to get down on the ground and up close and personal with all the little denizens who call my gardens home.

There have been TONNES of praying mantises in the garden this year. They are still pretty small. The one on the left is only about an inch and half long… and the one on the right is even smaller.

It’s also grasshopper season! They come in varying shades of green and brown. Each one is totally unique!

And just look at this little carpenter bee snuggled down in a portulaca bloom!

Or these two little solitary bees! These guys tuck into the sunflowers as soon as as the temps dip when the sun goes down.

Or what about this fuzzy little bumble bee doing a spiderman impression on the underside of the willow leaf!

Yesterday, I was thinking how I hadn’t seen any red-spotted purple butterflies in the garden yet this year – they are regular visitor. And as soon as I went out on lunch… there was one in the raspberries! The universe must have been listening.

And last…

I will leave you with these two sweet mourning dove babies, nesting on the ledge of Uncle Billy’s cottage porch!

I continue to make small amounts of progress on the woodland fairy.

But that small amount of progress, has made quite the difference. She got her arm, and her face… as well as a leafy crown and just the start of her hair. I feel like she’s really come alive now. I know 14-year-old me (how old I was when I bought the pattern) would be so thrilled with how it’s coming along!

As mentioned earlier, on Saturday, Dave and I were up early, headed to Long Point.

For those don’t know, Long Point, is a little spit of land that just out into Lake Erie.

The majority of it is a nature preserve, but a small portion of it is covered in small cottages. One of those cottages belongs to Dave’s uncle. And, after many years, he has finally decided to start renting it on Airbnb. Dave’s uncle is now in his late 70s, so Dave’s been handling the computer side of things for him – and I’ve been contracted periodically to help out with marketing and other digital assets (photos, write ups etc.)

He finally has his first booking arriving this Friday, so I put together a small cottage “manual” for him

This trip was to drop off a hard copy (ie, binder) to leave in the cottage for guests. It was a short visit, but he was thrilled with what I put together. And now we’re waiting to hear how the first guests enjoyed their visit!

It’s a two-hour drive there, and two-hours back… but with Dave, those trips are always longer! We stopped at not one, but two garage sales on the way home.

Where I got several new pots for my plant collection.

And this very charming cross stitch! I think it’s going to look great in the studio. We also got some farm-fresh eggs!

Complete with straw and a little bit of chicken muck! That’s how you know they are authentic! 😉

Then… went we were a little more than half-way home, Dave saw a small road-side sign that said “Vendor Market Today!”. We started following it. It took us down some dark and twisty backroads… and I was starting to wonder if we were about to end up on a Netflix documentary, when we finally got to a long driveway filled with cars

We parked, walked down the drive rounded a corner, and came upon a large yard filled with vendors.

Dave had a wonderful time as we wandered around. He chatted with each and every vendor, and while we didn’t buy something from every single vendor, it felt like we did!.

Most things were small… a notepad, fancy taco seasoning, homemade cat treats, a small planter for me to paint (more rage craft), and a hilarious lens cleaner.

But a few were a little bigger

There was a young lady who did painting on scrap wood. Dave could not resist this one of Pingu!

He’s already put it up in his garage.

We also got this pretty little towel to use as a hand towel in his bathroom. (You may recall that Dave has a thing for crabs), and some fancy hot sauce.

I also got a beautiful pair of wire-wrapped earrings, and a garnet tree of life pendant.

But the coolest piece?

A 3-D printed black cat yarn bowl!

While the flower beds are thriving, I do feel like the veg beds are somewhat behind.

I cleared out the last of the lettuce, so the cucumbers should start picking up now that they’ll get more light.

The pumpkin/squash bed is another story. You’ll recall I started out with some decent white pumpkin and buttercup squash seedlings…. well not one of them made it.

So I bought a “jackolantern” seedling (on the far left) and a couple of bird house gourd seedlings (two middle). As you can see, the two goourds are doing great, but that pumpkin is barely hanging on. The other week, I got some acorn squash seedlings on clearance – there were three in the pack…. and that one on the right was the weakest of them. And it’s the only one that survived.

Raspberries have been surprisingly sparse this year. This was the biggest harvest – normally I’m lucky if I get a couple a day. The fall crop is always bigger, so there’s more coming.. but the summer round has been a little dissapointing.

This is all I have to show for swiss chard! Pretty darn pitiful – last year this pot was overflowing!

But it’s not all bad news. (Thankfully)

The laundry basket potato experiment may be coming to an end soon – those plants are starting to look fairly yellow. I’ll give it at least another week though. I’m not optimistic that there’s going to be TONNES of potatoes in there though… I made the mistake of not using straw around the sides, so it’s been hard to keep it well watered with out the soil just running out those holes…. a note for next year.

Both carrot beds are looking nice and robust – even the ones that I planted from starts!

The peas have become too much for the poor boxes to handle! I’m enjoying a bowl full of fresh peas daily!

But the most exciting thing in the garden right now is my melons!

This is the same melon… the first picture taken on Monday, the second on Friday! They do grow fast once they get growing!

And we have a second one on the step above! Mr. Toad is probably going to have to move over soon!

And I’m counting the days until these beauties ripen! I’ve got a pile of jam jars with their name on it!

July is coming to a close. And as predicted, I will be up early this morning, headed off to Long Point. So I’ll leave you with the very best of the garden this month.

Despite the unrelenting sun, lack of rain, and bout of intense smoke… it’s been a pretty fabulous month out there.