A summer re-cap

Late August:8-ft. tall tomato plants in the foreground
and pole beans on the trellis.

Despite a cold start to the gardening season, then a rainy July, then a cool August start, it is finally the kind of weather in which the tomatoes and other vegetables thrive. Unlike the tomato and the jalapeño pepper, I personally like the cool.

We now have bounty of good-looking tomatoes although they have been sweeter tasting in past years. My current stock will go into making oven-roasted tomato pasta sauce. I just purchased a food mill and am anxious to try it. It is supposed to separate the seeds and skins from the rest of the tomato, I hope it works. My garlic harvest was bountiful so that will definitely been in the sauce as well as my herbs. I'll try to remember to comment on how it all worked.

Oven-roasted Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce
http://areluctantfoodie.blogspot.com/2012/07/oven-roasting-fresh-tomatoes-for-pasta.html

Despite the ups and downs of the weather, my container flowers and perennial beds are having a good year. Keeping a journal helped me with this year's selections and garden plans. I have also been recording for next year. I have noted what plants need moving and dividing as well as what additions I want to get and where to buy my favorites. I had a slow start on planting my seeds indoors, however the zinnias, the small teddy bear sunflowers, kale seedlings were worth the effort. Next year, less procrastinating, more planning and more seeds. Currently working on another round of bush beans and have been harvesting the pole beans on my garden gate trellis.

Back inside the house, I am contemplating a few updates to the kitchen, bath and fireplace. Tim and I recently painted the downstairs bedroom a pleasant shade called Manchester Tan from Benjamin Moore. I have always liked their color palette so I am starting to peruse many paint swatches as well as wall and floor tile samples which of course make Tim very nervous. I want to lighten up the inside of this house.

The view from the street from a recent shopping visit to Wickford, RI,
while I was in RI visiting my aunt, brother and sister-in-law..

My favorite time of year

Early view of the kitchen garden and pottery studio.

Before it suddenly feels like summer, I just wanted to post some early images of the garden. Our spring weather has been so erratic, I think the plants are confused. I know I am. In the meantime, have been busy pinning garden ideas on Pinterest, shopping, planting and transplanting. And Tim has been lugging bags of potting soil, mulching and digging holes.

As in the past, I go on a shopping frenzy at the greenhouses, farmers' markets and the TBG plant sale. I review my plant journal for last year's successes, failures and favorite places to shop. The only seeds I purchased this year were from The Cook's Garden. Bush beans (Filet Triomphe de Farcy), cutting zinnias and short teddy bear sunflowers. The bean seeds have just been planted in my kitchen garden and the flowers are still growing slowly in flats.

A container filled with succulents.

I enjoy container gardening because it provides that pop of color all summer long. My favorite annuals that go in pots are Persian Shields, Pentas and blue Salvias. Despite the powdery mildew scare, I still bought a flat of white impatiens for the barrels that flanked my studio door. Since I had no problems last year, I am hoping to be free of the nasty mildew spores.

Patio pots and clematis on the trellis.

In my next post, I will provide an update to my community garden plot at the 577 Foundation.

Mozzie loves spring too.

In the foreground, leeks from last year.

Another before & after: My kitchen pantry

AFTER

Christopher Jones did it again! I had a vision and he made it happen. He took an ugly, poorly utilized closet and made it a pantry I always wanted. I do like my shelves in every room! The pantry has allowed me to move things that were stored in the basement up into the kitchen.

Mass reorganization is taking place in the kitchen and basement. Between that and trips to Goodwill, I am now fixing up my pottery studio annex that's in the basement. The annex houses the slab roller, sink and glazing area that doesn't fit in the pottery studio.

Yes, I re-formattted this blog again. It was "yackety-yack" but now I'm calling it "my other blog" to differentiate it from "Bits of Clay," my ceramics blog. I hope you find it cleaner in appearance and easier to read. You would not believe the time I spend fiddling with the Blogger Template Designer that Google provides and it is still not quite the way I want it. I know, never content.

BEFORE

Beadboard & shelves

Mozzie is tired of wearing clothes and
ready for spring. He's modeling his
custom-made Polarfleece,
made in Canada, purchased on Etsy.

Room for more!

Playing catch-up

I have recently spent (wasted?) entirely too much time trying to improve my scores playing iPad games—Scramble with Friends, Words with Friends and other Zynga games. My competitive side has now returned with these games since the card-playing couple, Tim and I used to play with, split up and we stopped playing cards. These games have become my new outlet.

Best Buddies: The Story of Ben & Jerry

I wanted to share a few projects I made for Tim this last Christmas. One was a small, hardcover book that is a collection of photos of our late dogs, Ben and Jerry. It was a way I could consolidate some of their best photos and our memories of them in a concise piece. I had purchased a Groupon for an online photo company called Picaboo (which is similar to Shutterfly) with the intention to make this book.

The other online project I made was a 2013 calendar featuring Mozzie. The Walgreen's Photo Lab did a fabulous job with the printing, premium paper stock and spiral binding. This was done in their main lab and not in a store. Some were Tim's photos and some were mine taken with my iPhone. They reproduced surprisingly well.

I'm glad that February is more than half over. I hope the worst of winter is behind us. We will be attending our first garden meeting for the upcoming season at the 577 Foundation this Sunday. It's time to think spring, gardening and seeds!

A cold Mozzie who can't wait for spring