hello, again.

Can you see the goldfinch in this picture?



Welcome to fancy living. What does that mean, you ask? It means I winter in Facebook and summer in blogger.com

Facebook isn't a really good format for musing about my garden. I need something a little more freestyle, if you will. Hence the blog re-activation.

Is there a word for the garden this year? How about "Stupendous"? People, I'm talking about the first successful crop of pumpkins, after three years of crying trying. I'm talking about tomatoes. Of course, something completely horrible could happen before harvest time, so let's not get too excited...

Summer 2009

There's a chill in the air, and I'm thinking about pumpkins, fresh bread, stews, and apple orchards. But before I go down that path... one last look at summer....

My garden caused me to fall behind on my blogging, and at times my knitting. However, there were many delicious meals prepared this summer using fresh zucchini, basil, eggplants, swiss chard, and other items from my community garden plot. I love hanging out there, amongst the bees and flocks of geese and tiny birds.










Here's my little plot of land:


All summer I labored over a sweater project, which has temporarily stalled, due to some charting issues...



Let's not forget the rainy weekend I spent in NH at my summercamp reunion:






Of course, I've been working on some gift knitting I can't blog about right now, but stay tuned...

Of things Green, and Spring

Happy Valentine's Day, to one and all. This morning I awoke at dawn to discover my winter blooming jasimine has finally done just that!

What a wonderful smell. The flower buds take a long time to develop and open. They become so long and white they look as though they might fall off, and then one day, they open! DH took a sniff, and said it smells like Florida.



My banana and blood orange trees continue to prosper....


As does "project green" a birthday gift for a fashion-forward friend:

Progress

Sorry for my long absence! My blog has definitely been increasingly neglected. However, my plants and sweater have not!

Check out my dwarf banana tree. Yes! It actually produces edible bananas, like the ones you get in the grocery store, only half the size.



My dwarf fern tree lends a tropical feel to the abode:



I've made significant progress with the sweater. After ripping out the shoulder and side seams, and frogging out the neck, things are beginning to look up. I taught myself how to do the the three needle bind off, and the matress stitch seam technique. The difference in the quality of the seams is significant. I have seen the light. I was worried the sweater would be too small, but it seems to fit better now. Although, you can see from this photo that it is desgned to hit very high on the waist.

Who IS this guy?

One day recently, I once again had that funny "I'm being watched" feeling


... So I look out the window, and I see THIS guy...




He seems to lord it over the window sill now, although I do occasionally see the other one. The only city that has more cats than this one, is perhaps Rome

Crops 'n such

Oh, you didn't know I'm a part-time condo farmer? Aswim in Knits can buy her local produce from me.

I planted these Arugala seeds on Sunday afternoon. Here it is wednesday night. Now that's what I call germinating (!):



Here's a sampling of some of my other crops...

Yes, we have no bananas today yet!

Basil! Essential for fresh tomato sauces.

Blood Orange!

Fresh Kitten, ready for market.

Not pictured: Tomatoes and parsley.

Coming soon: lavender seeds (I know, they'll take a few years to grow), Echinacea, Sage

On order: 1 baby goat and silk worms (kid silk haze)

2008 New England Flower Show

I thought you might be needing a dose of flowers and spring. Here are some photos from the Flower Show I went to on Saturday. Enjoy!

How'd you like to have this in your backyard?

Another view

Frilly daffodils

Foxglove

Moss

Bonsai

Tropical houseplants

Dog of Ivy

Birds of Ivy

Orchids under water, arrangement

Spring has sprung....

The tomatoes are riz....


Umm... I better call Mom and tell her we're canning tomatoes this summer!


I finally put new batteries in the digital camera. It's been BUSY lately. Winding things down at work, getting ready to gear up for the new job, DH's 40th b-day... Whew!

I did find time to order some seeds. I signed up for a space in the local community garden, but I'm on the waiting list. My neighbors ok'd the idea of putting some plants in our yard though, so these will have a home one way or another. I also broke down and bought a few plants by mail order. Would you like to see...?


Dwarf Banana Tree. Grows to about 3 ft tall, and produces regular sized edible bananas, like you'd find in the grocery store!



Blood Orange Tree. Tastes like a regular orange (the really good ones are more tart)but the flesh is dark purple-red.



Northern Patches. Needs full sun, often grows wild. Difficult to cultivate.