Mr 5 Tomato-Seed

It's officially summer (here in the northern hemisphere anyhow), and it is about time for an update on this blog.
So join me on the morning deck - and I'll pour another cup of coffee (it's never too hot for coffee, in my opinion) and let's catch up.



Mr 5 got on a gardening kick this spring and started lots of seeds inside - including 120 heirloom tomato plants - who could resist with names like "Bloody Butcher" and "Mortgage Lifter". We only saved 18 for our own garden and spread the rest about town - like some sort of Tomato version of Johnny Appleseed.

The clever Mr 5 also altered some large cans from my school's cafeteria to hang a few grape tomato plants.
(Thanks to the cafeteria staff for saving them and running them through the industrial dishwasher for us!)



We are eagerly awaiting the first pick of the season.



We have already been harvesting from our small crop of lettuce - or as we say at our house "le-tooce"



Our summer plans mainly involve hanging out around home, so we invested in a small improvement for the backyard.







Thanks to craigslist, we paid very little, but it was pretty cut-throat for swing set listings this spring. I emailed my interest about 30 minutes after this one was listed, and I thought I had already missed out.
The Bud picked out the material for the new canopy. I love it.

The morning deck is the perfect place from which to supervise. To shade it in the afternoon, the eternally creative Mr 5 snagged a used sail from a local sailing shop (for free!) and rigged it up as an awning.
It also shades the door into the house, which keeps our kitchen sooo much cooler! His thoughtful design is easy to adjust or quickly take down in the case of inclement weather. I'm in love!



This really is where we will be all summer if you happen to be looking for us.



During all of this blog silence, our little cupcake has been growing up. She is 11 months old today!
I can hardly believe that in one month it will have been a year since her eventful birth.



She has mastered moving herself around in her own special way which involves pulling with her arms and pushing with her toes. And just this past weekend she figured out how to get herself back into a sitting position.
She is an easy going sweetie who loves to watch her brother, the ultimate entertainer.


My big news on the knitting front, is that I finally tried my hand at stranded knitting.



It's like having a new toy. And so many more patterns have moved themselves from "that's lovely" to "that's possible" in my brain.
I love the traditional Norwegian "Selbu style" patterns, so I see more snowflakes in my future.

I am also still working on the Green Mountain Shawl from the first issue of St-Denis Magazine.
This thing will be mammoth once it is blocked.



Thanks to the Bud for adding some scale. This shawl starts from the outer edge and works increasingly shorter rows to the center neck, so what's left should seem to go far faster than what I have completed so far. It is a little warm on the lap for the current weather, but I hope to make some more progress on it soon.





Happy June Solstice, Everyone!