Summer's Over; Time for a List

Last night was our final concert of our summer of concerts---Steely Dan at the State Fair. We just can't seem to stay dry at anything with an outdoor venue this year. The chilly, steady, misty drizzle that we had last night didn't compare with the deluge at the U2 concert, but it counts.

They sounded great and played a good mix of old and older. And how 70's can you get than to get a whiff of pot in the air while listening to Reelin' In the Years? This wasn't the greatest venue for the band, but we missed them the last time they were in town and we weren't going to make that mistake again.

So now with Labor Day only a few days away, Summer 2011 fast becomes the summer that was and it's time to think about getting back to business. Since our son started school a couple of weeks earlier than usual, I feel like I've already gotten a head start. I have a list. That's something.

Harvest

Cool mornings and earlier sunsets are here to remind us that our summer days are numbered. It's always a bittersweet time of year; sad to see summer come to a close, but we look forward to what's ahead.

It's harvest time.

This has been a strange year in the garden. After a very cool spring, our summer has been HOT and WET. Since I usually struggle with cool and dry, all the plants that tend to be my old reliables suffered while the ones I plant on a whim have flourished.

Except for the tiny tomatoes, which have been prolific as usual, nearly every one of my tomato plants succumbed to some kind of a blight or disease. The Romas gave me enough for a few good pasta meals, but the rest of them barely eeked out a handful of baseball-sized fruits. The bean plants that positively withered in the extreme heat are finally recovering, so instead of getting our fill in July, we've been enjoying our glut of green beans in August.

On the positive side, there's been dozens of peppers. I've stuffed them, pickled them, wrapped them in bacon, and they keep coming. And I've got eggplant! MN weather is not terribly conducive to growing these little beauties, but a miniature variety in this heat has given me a good crop. Caponata by next week, I'm thinking.

Tons of cucumbers. And basil! Holy pesto, have I harvested the basil. So far, I've been using it all fresh, but I need to spend some time making some pesto sauce to freeze for the winter.

The cooler weather has me thinking about sweater days, too. After setting aside the Fyingdales cardigan for a few weeks, I got back to it and now it's ready for fall.

I think this could become a good workhorse sweater in my closet providing it stops with the shedding. It seems to have slowed down after giving it a soak for blocking. A white t-shirt underneath is still not the best idea--unless I would have no intention of taking my sweater off at any point through the day.

The pattern was well written--one minor spot of confusion that I noted on my Ravelry post. There are knitters who have complained about sizing with the patterns in this book, but I thought this was right on. I am a fan of drop shouldered sweaters which tend to be a little on the bulky side. If you're looking for a fitted garment, this is just not your book.

I no more than got the buttons sewn on this one than I cast on another pattern out of A Fine Fleece--Two Hearts. This one I'm doing up in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in the color Sable. I even like the name of that color. The cable pattern is easy with great looking results.

Enough. Time to get out and enjoy our late summer day.

My Miette

I've strayed. I saw a cute little summer cardigan and dropped my wool Fylingdale like a hot potato.

It didn't last long. A week later I'm back to wool, but I have to admit, I enjoyed the break.

I first saw Miette on the Ravelry Top 10. It got high marks from the people who had already knit it up, but the pictures didn't sell it to me completely. So I decided to try it on the cheap.

Having finished, here's what I've learned:
1. Yes. I will probably knit this again.
2. I like wool. Every time I try a project with a cotton-like yarn (this one happens to be acrylic--and not a bad one at that) I'm a little disappointed. I like summer weight sweaters--just not in a gauge I am willing to take on by hand knitting. Wool is good.
3. I'm glad I added an extra repeat of length on the body of the sweater. I'm 5'2" tall. I never add an extra repeat of length to a sweater.
4. I don't really need darts. Sad.

The Best Night of the Summer

Even after having endured a long delay from the time we bought our tickets and then a driving rainstorm throughout most of the event, last night's U2 concert at TCF Stadium will surely go down as the best night of the summer. As the local headline read, "Unforgettable."

There are bands, and then there are BANDS. Right? U2 is one of those BANDS that is capable of filling large arenas anywhere in the world. The crowd on Saturday evening certainly reflected the appeal--from the very young to, I'll just say, more mature, and yet here we were, all cheering and singing together.

The downpours, occasional lightning bolts, and Aquatennial fireworks off in the distance only made the evening more memorable. I'm sure that years from now, we'll still be talking about the best concert we ever saw on a wet summer night in July of 2011.

Summer Flies

I guess the summer months are more about doing than they are about documenting what we're doing. Given the choice of getting outside or sitting down at the laptop---getting outside wins almost every time. Today with heat indexes into the 100 degree range, I figured it might be a good time to catch up.

I see it's been a month since I last wrote. That hardly seems possible, but we've managed to squeeze a lot into that time. Mostly family events around the 4th and golf trips, another round of window replacement at home, movies, concerts, and the daily good fun of working out in the yard and garden.

It's been an interesting summer in the garden. Some plants have flourished. I don't think I've ever harvested so much lettuce from such a small plot. What a treat to bring in a fresh basket of greens every night for dinner! Other plants have been a disappointment---not seeming to like the swings in temperature and all the rain. I'm still looking for my first taste of green beans (maybe later this week) and several tomato buds have fallen off without setting fruit. That certainly isn't from a lack of bees. They seem to be in abundance this year, as well as toads. Everywhere! I'm afraid I take out several every time I mow the grass.

There's so much basil I'm thinking we should have some pesto soon. I have enough Italian parsley for the neighborhood. But I continue to struggle to grow cilantro. What's the secret?

Of course, that's the fun of gardening. Never quite knowing how things are going to turn out every year. It's just when you think you have it all figured out, that Mother Nature throws you a curve, and you realize you're not as smart as you thought you were.

Thank goodness for the old reliables--like purple coneflower.

RIP

That's it. That's the last picture I took with my camera before I killed it.

As the guys were putting in on the back nine at Superior National in Lutsen, I decided to snap a few shots of the lupines blooming on a nearby hill. When they had finished up, I threw the camera in my pocket, hopped into the cart, and picked them up to head on to the next hole. Bad choice.

Now any golf course is what, 98% turf/2% cart path, right? Shouldn't the odds be in my favor that when that camera flies out of my pocket as I'm driving to the next shot that it would land on a soft carpet of green instead of unforgiving asphalt? I think so, but that was not the case. Ah, cruel fate. And now it's gone.

It had a good life. It's been all over the US and Europe. It's been to weddings, graduations, baptisms, holidays, and family gatherings. It served me well and died on a beautiful hill overlooking Lake Superior.

That was the only downside of a wonderful week on the North Shore. The weather was perfect, the cabin we rented was great, and there was lots of (too much) terrific food and drink.

At home our non-summer summer continues. Rain, clouds, cool weather. The garden is getting plenty of moisture, but could sure use some sun and heat to get things going. Lettuce is happy; tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cukes are still waiting for the temperature to move up. I'd take a picture, but...

...AND later that day. The destruction continues. In case you're wondering, you cannot put an iPod shuffle in the washing machine. Ear buds, yes; shuffle, no. I'm going to cry now.

Get Outside While You Can

Finally, gardening weather. Well, sort of. We are having a remarkably unremarkable spring this year. Okay, in all honesty, the weather blows. Cool and wet. A non-spring spring. In between the showers I have managed to get most of the garden in, but the poor seeds and sprouts aren't getting much enticement to grow. We just can't seem to string together two or three warm and sunny days in a row.

I'm hoping June will improve our lot--and my odds of eating some homegrown lettuce.

Despite the weather, the perennial beds are filling in nicely. Apparently, the heavy snow cover did a good job of protecting the plants underground. Never content, however, I have shuffled a few things around, and I can tell you, transplanting gives you a whole new appreciation for what's going on under the garden.

In an attempt to make some more room in the vegetable bed, I wanted to move an old rhubarb plant. Those roots were like tree branches! No wonder you can't kill that stuff. I thought that was a battle I might lose in the end. The phlox needed dividing and that was the same story. Those are the plants for me!

Another vigorous "weed" that I love is the Lily of the Valley. They're blooming like crazy right now and a handful of them in a vase perfume the whole house.

Trying to keep up with my regular chores along with the yard work doesn't leave much time for anything else, but I did manage to cast on a new sweater project. As tired as I've been, I couldn't resist that Webs box. I dug out the Berroco Blackstone Tweed and settled on Fylingdales from A Fine Fleece. It isn't a terribly complicated pattern, so I thought it would be a good one for an unpredictable summer.

The yarn is a soft blend of wool, mohair, and angora and is a beautiful dark blue. I'm not such a big fan of these 50 gram balls that roll around and pop out of my knitting basket though.

Before I got started, I read through the notes from other knitters over at Ravelry, and I have to agree, the directions for the set-up row of the cabled pattern are lacking clarity. The directions aren't wrong, but they sure could use some improvement. It helped to know that I had to be on my toes ahead of time.

See all that knitting? That's the result of a frustrated gardener who would rather be outside!