Dog days in the garden too!

We had house guests this week, Tara and Ralph.  Ralph is the perfect sized dog for this house, he's very sturdy and a low rider.  He's got a lab head on corgi body with a chow tail and tongue.  Curb feelers might be in order...... 

Ralph finds the chickens....... 

Ralph finds the bacon........ 

Ralph finds the cat....... 

cat wins...... 

Meanwhile the garden is on!  It is July.  

On two small rows of peas I have picked 4 gallons.  I am having a hard time wrapping my brain 

around going to the store and paying $3.98 for a giant bag of frozen peas or taking 4 hours to shell 2 gallons of peas, blanching and freezing.  The row is still producing and I will probably harvest one more two gallon bucket which equals 6 bags in the freezer for soup next winter.  Food is so easy to get here in the old USA...... my lesson in peas really has me scratching my head. 

Blueberries and currants have been producing nicely this year too.  

Grilled zucchini  ....... YUM! 

This is the first Monarch butterfly I have seen all year. 

They are few and far between this year. 

How pretty are the blossoms on purple beans? 

Peppers are loaded this year too.

This year I dug out the old borders of the perennial beds and replaced 

the old borders with lettuce.  Winner!  

Tomatoes are coming along but not yet ready for salad....... 

Yikes do we have cukes!!  This is a bumper crop due to all the rain.

I am picking 6-10 a day with no end in sight! 

The onions and shallots are drying in the studio and the aroma is something to behold!

They will get braided in a couple days and hung up to dry in the basement.

I've read that shallots keep longer than onions ......

hope so because boy do I have a pile! 

and yes, the ground hog is back!  Bought a new trap as my old one bit the dust when 

the tree fell on it.  Well did I win the lottery or what?  I got a bonus trap!  BOGO! 

On my way to the studio in the morning I head out on Japanese Beetle patrol.... 

The chickens are slacking off.

The dew has been heavy in the morning.  The strawberries have 

dewy necklace each morning.  

Love this time of the year...... 

Dog days .........

My Monday mornings are just a bit brighter.  

Tag is still the perfect studio pup and his 

Mum is doing great on the wheel.  This is Tag at the end of two hours....

the potters do not look this perky..... 

Look at that face!!! 

As I worked around this new studio I started to realize how inefficient my throwing space was.  Remember the pugmill?  I kept the crate! 

It took longer to break down the good wood, pull nails and toss it on the scrap wood pile than build benches.  

On my way to the chicken coop and tripping over the pile for the last time, a dim little light bulb went off at 6 a.m.  Do something with that wood!  

By 9 am I blew the dust off the power tools and made three nice work benches.  Even salvaged the screws from the crate!  

Maybe I should send these pictures to Bailey and say thanks!  

Notice the ABF freight mark :)  

The top is from old booth shelves and already varnished, love that! 

Painted and ready to use

These will work double duty once campfire season starts.

Wipe them down and toss a sheepskin on the seat.

Much better throwing space!  

Now I can get crank'n! 

Well I heard the GOP convention is headed to Cleveland ....... 

time to make elephant mugs!  Teapots next...... 

I love living in a city that is hosting the gay games this year, the GOP convention next.

Cleveland is riding a wave....... nice change for us here in steel town :)