My projects are beginning to roll together for the beginning of my book. This is one of those things I would not have made except as an example right now (more of a winter thing), but it is pretty and coming along well. I have finished the teatowel set and also a small turtle pincushion that Esme has claimed as a toy and immediately introduced to her plastic turtle as a new baby. So, I might need to make another pincushion ;) We will see.
There was one rutabaga in my garden - and in the past few days something began to chew on the leaves. So, I pulled it up. It was about three to four inches of gnarled white root about twice as large as a carrot. When peeled and cut up into tiny bits the characteristic yellow flesh showed that it was indeed a rutabaga - and the scent. I know I'm weird.. but I love the smell of a rutabaga before it is cooked. We didn't have them often growing up, either - but it has just always been a 'good' thing. That is good for me :) Someone has to like them! I put the pitiful small amount of diced rutabaga (they are so much easier to cut when they are small like this, btw) into a pan with a small amount of water, salt, pepper and butter. I added some frozen zucchini and some green beans, summer squash and fresh shelly beans from the garden. Boiled and stewed for about an hour it was a very nice chowdery soup of greens, yellows and purples.
I am disappointed at the garden this year - even though it is providing food every day or so - everything is bugged and full of weeds and lackluster. The corn has fallen down, but is tasselling and silking all it can anyway... the squash bugs are on the squash, and they are fruiting as much as they can to survive. The beans are doing well but there are very few of most of the varieties. I know I will need to save seed off the Bosnian bean (absolutely a great variety I am so impressed) but feel shortchanged because it is also one of the few that is producing and leaving the pods to go to seed risks something damaging them and also not having that produce at the same time. But - I must try to get some seed off of it. Most of the things from last year that I have used seed from have done as expected. There is that one 'a squash' that is NOT what it should be. The seed was saved out of a pumpkin and is developing something that looks like a globular yellow summer squash with green stripes. All of the other pumpkins are fruiting green with green stripes like last year.
This may prove to be a hard week at work - shorthanded, early hours, no day off until Wednesday. Esme starts back to her school Tuesday and Thursday of this week, in the afternoon. I really should sit down tomorrow when I get home from work and make her at least one more pair of pants... she has shredded so much of her clothing in the past few weeks and there hasn't been anywhere 'presentable' she needed to be so I have just been patching it and sending it through the washing machine to be used again.
She is REALLY cute with the soccer games.. and the smurfs, and the red shirts and blue shirts and referees and everything else that comes up from her imagination during this.
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