I said not so long ago, that all the heat, humidity and rain this summer has been good for most of the garden, if not for the gardener (Seriously, I am done with sweating!!!!). And no where is that more apparent than with the cucurbits (squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, etc)

Just a couple weeks ago, I trimmed up all the wayward vines on the squash tunnel. And as soon as I got home from Mom’s I saw I needed to do it again. Hopefully the weather is decent enough for me to do that this weekend. Most of it is the gourds – the are on the right side (front) with the pumpkins (back). And they have just taken over. It was supposed to be a mix of gourd types that looked something like this…

It was a package of 15 seeds, and I think I planted about five (all I had space for). But every single gourd I’m getting looks like this…

And I’ve probably got about two dozen of them! It’s not going to make much of a fall display, but I guess at least they are growing well.

Next to them, the Pumpkins are probably in second place. I already showed you my black pumpkin. Like the gourds, they were supposed to be a mix of black, white and orange. I got the black one, and so far, the rest are just white.

And just three of them. No more black seem to be coming, and there’s absolutely no sign of orange. Like the gourds, I didn’t plant all the seeds, so maybe the orange are still in the packet.

This year, I planted four plants at the base of the squash tunnel – zucchini, cucamelons, pumpkins and gourds. I’ve only got three zucchini so far, and I don’t eat them (Dave does) so next year, I think I will only plant pumpkin and gourds (one kind to each side) on the tunnel. But that decision will all depend on the performance of these little guys.

These are the cucamelons. The are a type of cucumber, but they look like teeny watermelons, hence the name. The plant itself is very small. If you scroll up to the tunnel picture, you’ll see it’s little leaves on the left front. It’s taken all summer to grow, and so far, we’ve only got three little fruits. I picked about five of them the other day, and Dave gave them the thumbs up. I will probably grow them next year, but in a large pot with a trellis, since they don’t take up much space.

Over in Edible Alley, the cucumbers are starting to slow down to a point where we aren’t drowning in them. Dave can eat what I’ve brought in before I bring in the next bunch.

And the squash on the ladder are looking pretty darn good.

I’ve got five squash so far, and two of them are to size- they just need to get more colour and harden their skins before harvesting now.

I had one more, but sadly, I had to take it off the plant.

It was looking so good, but I noticed a little wormy had dug it’s way in there. I’m keeping a good eye on the others and hope I don’t lose any more to these little crawlers.

In happier news….

It’s carrot harvesting time! This type aren’t quite a long as the ones I planted last year.

But they are a pelleted seed. They have a coating on them that makes them a little larger, and easier to handle. So you can plant them far enough apart that you don’t need to thin them. I think that’s a good trade off for slightly shorter carrots.

I’ve been harvesting a row a week, and that gives us enough at time for a meal, and a little raw snacking each week.

I’m not the only one excited about our Aug-tober sewing plans! Burton loves the spooky season!!!

In addition to quilting my red quilt, I also took the three Christmas quilt tops I completed last month. First finished was the one made from the panels.

This was such a fun quilt to make, and it turned out so well.

Panels can sometimes be tricky to work with.

But the idea for this one came pretty easy.

For the back, I tried something new…

It’s called Fireside. It’s a fluffy polyester – somewhat similar to Minky, but it’s not as slippery. It is sooo warm and snuggly though – just the perfect thing to put on the back of a kitty Christmas quilt!

This one will be in the shop by the end of the week.

It’s not just quilts I finished at Mom’s on the weekend. I also finished up the first of the Hallowe’enie Man Socks I have on the needles.

This sock went SUPER fast… especially for man socks. I guess there’s something to the name – Speed Racer.

I just hope the second one goes just as fast.

The main purpose of the trip to Mom’s (other than to visit, of course) was to FINALLY quilt my red and cream quilt for my bed. It’s been ages since I’ve made a quilt for myself – I think the most recent one was my gnome quilt, which was finished a little more than two years ago.

It’s not like I have a shortage of quilts, but the majority of them are lap quilts. The two quilts I have been sleeping (I like them layered) are closer in size to something you’d put on a single bed. Dave and I don’t share blankets at night, so I don’t need a big quilt. But – when I make the bed, it does look a little silly to have quilts that don’t quite cover it properly. For a while now, I’ve really wanted one that hung over the sides far enough to reach the top of the bed skirt, and not show any mattress.

So… as you know, I bought some fabric from Moda’s French General line (This one called Bonheur du Jour), and set to making blocks for the Jubilee quilt.

The fat quarter bundle I had worked out perfectly for 16 blocks.

I got some yardage of one the red prints, and alternated between that and the background cream fabric (which I buy by the bolt) for a couple borders.

I’ve said it many times before – I love the combo of red and white (or cream in the case). And this line has such wonderful deep, rich reds. There are a few beiges thrown in. And flowers in a wonderful French Provincial style (one of my favourite decor styles)

The backing fabric isn’t from the French General line. It’s actually from Connecting Threads (called Faux Damask), but as you can see it was just perfect for the quilt.

The quilt finished up at 88″ square, so one of the biggest quilts I’ve made. (I believe the biggest was 90″) Mom doesn’t have a full-sized table for the long arm, so making bigger quilts is a little harder… we manage it, but it’s one of the reasons you don’t see a lot of quilts bigger than lap quilts in our shop.

But enough about the details, I know you all want to see how it looks on the bed?

It’s absolultely perfect!!! (And will look even better when reno the room and get rid of that wallpaper!!!)

It reaches right to the top of the bed skirt (which is now trashed thanks to a certain ginger kitty…)

And of course, it’s 100% kitty approved!!!

As mentioned, I spent the weekend visiting Mom and Dad. It was a lovely weekend. I went to the range with Dad to fire my new-to-me rifle, and spent a lot of time quilting with Mom. (There will be several FO posts coming).

I’m on vacation for the rest of the week and I plan to spend today doing as little as possible. In the mean time, here is a picture of Mom’s favourite neighbour…

Her name is Ruby. Ruby would love to come over every day and play with Chevy and Jem. So Ruby tries. She likes to dig holes big enough to get her head under the fence.

But she also knows she’s not supposed to dig holes, so when you get close, she goes back to her side and tries to look repentant.

While I have a nice little crop of common milkweed in the yard, I’ve also got a small clump of Swamp Milkweed in the catio yard. But it hasn’t been looking that great this year.

The flowers are pretty, but the plants are looking pretty sparse. I didn’t think the monarchs were going bother laying any eggs, but the other day…

I found a couple good-sized caterpillars munching away. In fact, these guys were likely in the last stage before heading off to make a chrysalis.

Before I left for Mom’s on Friday, I went out and did a check, and couldn’t find any of them. I’m hoping when I get back, there will be a chrysalis or two for me to find. Apparently they can travel up to 20 feet away to start the next stage of their life… so it’s a crap shoot on whether I will find them or not.

Back in the common milkweed, we have several caterpillars in various stages.

So maybe the odds are in my favour of finding at least ONE chrysalis this year.

At long last, I finally made it to Mom’s! (Wilma is still a diva, but she’s drivable now).

Before I left, I went into the garden so I could bring her a fresh harvest.

I had two good size zucchinis so she can make some zucchini bread.

I brought several large cucumbers – enough for her to eat some fresh, and cut up and put in a jar of vinegar in the fridge for Dad.

Bean production has slowed down, but there was enough for a meal.

The cherry tomatoes are just starting to ripen, so there are not as many – but it’s enough for a snack.

And my garlic was done drying, so I trimmed it all up, and brought her four heads – that should keep her going for a while.

It’s nice to be able share the fruits of the garden.

Just some cool kitties enjoying their catio yard.

With Yule-y wrapped up (and so successful), Mom and I decided we are going to do Aug-tober!!! This month, our quilting projects will be dedicated to making stuff for the Spooky Season!!!

I have a bin just OVERFLOWING with Hallowe’en fabrics, so I’m super excited about this one. Unfortunately, as I’m headed to Mom’s this weekend – I won’t be able to start on anything until after my return… but imagine my surprise when I let Burton pick out my next knitting project and he demanded this…

It’s a skein of Felici and the colourway is called Speed Racer

But knit up, it’s looking pretty Hallowe’en-y. Like most of my stripers, just plain vanilla. They are man socks, so hopefully I can finish them up before the month is out. 30 days to go!