Summer Sprouts

The cat thermometer tells me that its a bit hot here today.

On the positive side, my poor little balcony-bound tomato plants are loving the warm weather, as long as I keep remembering to water them on those days we aren't blessed with an afternoon rainstorm.  I even have my first wee tomato.



There really is a tomato there!  See?



So far, it's the only one, but I have hopes for those little yellow blossoms.

Other areas of my little urban garden are producing crops, too.  The basil patch seems to have sprouted a giraffe.


This is the Giraffe (rav link) pattern from Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson.



He is a cutie.  I think my favourite part are the little horns, complete with pom-pom toppers.


The yarn is Peer Gynt, in giraffe-perfect colours.  Aside from the yarn substtitution, I made no pattern modifications.  This is the second creature I've made from this book.  The first was this little guy.



He was also a lot of fun to knit up, and has since moved to Calgary to be best friends with a new little girl named Kathleen.

Not quite one year later

[Insert standard “Sorry it’s been so long” explanation and apology here]

It’s summer again, and for the first time in about three years, we are getting a true summer, with all of the H’s well-represented.  Hot, hazy, humid galore.  We’re already four days into a heat alert, topped with a smog alert.  Air conditioners are chugging away earnestly, exchanging hot drips of water outside for cool, dry air inside.  This is one time when I truly appreciate the luxuries of artificiality.

As the anniversary of last year’s European cruise approaches, so do I approach only about the mid-point of editing all of the pictures I took on that trip.  I'm hoping to maybe be able to finish the editing before I hit the day we arrived in Venice.  Here are some of the pictures so far, anyway.  Not quite one year later.