I’m Melting, MELTING!

OK, enough already. We are nearly at record high temps for our area and I’m not liking it one bit. If I don’t get some serious stuff done around here by 9am it’s already too hot to even think about it. Can we send some of this sunshine back east for a couple of days and then they can send us some rain in trade? Pretty please? Just a little cooling off period? Preferably without the thunder and lightning? Don’t want much, do I?

With T-Man’s help with the watering yesterday (he had time off work), I did manage to get some cleaning up done in the veggie patch but that was only because it doesn’t get the sun until late morning. The chestnut and walnut trees and the garage are in the way and provide the shade:

Later in the day it’s been just baking out there. Some things are doing well though. See?

Teeny little edamame (green soy pods) for the first time ever in my garden. They are taking their time but I’m looking forward to tasting them. I’ve already got a huge bag of 5 different kinds of beans: burgundy, wax, green, Dragon Tongue (yellow with purple blotches) and runner in the fridge. I’m thinking I might have to blanch and freeze them because they don’t keep very long and I have Way Too Many. We’re also experimenting with the dehydrator that we’ve had for years and haven’t used for ages. T-Man made a batch of local sweet cherry raisins (yum!) and now we’re trying zucchini chips sprinkled with sesame seeds and seasoned salt. If the latter works well it could be a great way to reduce the overload of zucchinis. The drawback is the heat generated in the kitchen by the dehydrator running constantly for days on end.

Oh yeah – I wanted to show you some of my “bagged” grapes:

The experiment in protecting them with mesh bags seems to be working so far. Unfortunately the naughty raccoon went for the water hyacinths in my water garden and chomped them up some instead! Bad bandit.

In crafty news, it’s mostly been too hot to knit much. My fingers stick to the needles. Ick. I’m much farther behind on projects than I thought I would be. I had plans to get some sewing and weaving done this summer too but the loom and sewing machine are upstairs in what feels like a dry sauna. Not happening until it cools down. Oh well. Nevermind.

In other news, I watched an online video on cabling from Berroco and Cirilia Rose is one of the few people I’ve seen who knits almost exactly the way I do. (Except for anchoring the cable needle and putting the cable stitches back on the left needle neither of which I bother with.) She holds her needles similarly and uses her left forefinger to lower the yarn for the purl stitch the same as I do. It was interesting to me because nearly everyone does it differently. I find it endlessly fascinating to watch others knit and crochet. Different means to the same end!

Gotta go. Bluet, my little netbook computer, is getting too hot on my lap! Even with the big fan full on me here in the coolest room on the main floor (the bedroom) it’s becoming uncomfortable. I’ll just sit here quietly and try to finish Milord Son-In-Law’s birthday socks for him. I want to get something done today! (Besides the vacuuming and the garden harvesting and watering which are already checked off today’s to-do list.) Here’s what they look like so far:

No feet yet! Only legs. I’m working on it.