However, today the cruel gods of the garden are laughing.
Most of my grape tomatoes were pecked to bits and strewn about, but not eaten. Many of the main crop tomatoes have deep puncture wounds. Dang birds. On tomatoes, skin blemishes often heal, but deep punctures usually rot or become host to nasty things. To cap it all, it's hot enough this week to inhibit fruit set, so there may not be any new fruit for a while.
A
garden calamity on this scale has a way of commanding attention and time (read: many imprecations to the heavens and post factum assembly of chicken wire fencing), but here's a teaser photo of a bowl of strangely orange snacks and an excellent pattern I test-knit, Piscean Socks by Jessica. I want to do the pattern full justice with a proper post over the weekend, but will briefly note here that it's a fun, beguiling, satisfying knit and I plan to make more.The
other night I vowed in public that if my Plurk karma exceeded 50 by sign off, I would knit a pair of Nanner Socks by Wendy Johnson. A promise is a promise. I have some beauteous sportweight handspun from Melissa that reminds me of the NOLA dessert Bananas Foster. There's enough for anklets, I think. Here's progress so far (pictured with dressmaker's ruler to show leg length and a late night snack of Nilla wafers).
The Nanners stitch pattern is somewhat obscured by the yarn, yet it makes itself known. What would be horizontal stripes in stockinette – as on the sole – are tilted and textured in pattern, a pleasing effect (at least I like it).
In the Tour de France KAL, I'm a contender in the intermediate sprint competition! I'm grateful the co-hostesses saw fit to select my modest entry and wish the other contenders bonne chance – but at the same time shamelessly hope a plurality of participants votes for meeee.
9 comments:
Way to go in the TDF KAL!
Oh birds, evil, evil birds. That storm a couple of months ago dislodged a major starling residence near my pot garden. Knock on wood I haven't had a problem with them since.
Stinkin' birds. That sucks! Glad you enjoyed the pattern so much (which reminds me that I really need to get it finalized if I want to post it!). :)
And for someone who wasn't too sure about Plurk, you sure are doing well with it! ;)
Hope you had fun at SnB last night. Too much dyeing to do for me this week.
Let me tell you, I feel your pain about the tomatoes. Last night I was standing at the sink, washing lettuce for our dinner salad, thinking that at least a couplf of the grape tomatoes on the deck should be ripe and that I would put two on the top of the salad...when I looked out the window and saw a squirrel sitting on the railing EATING ONE OF MY TOMATOES. Of course, I ran outside, shouting all the while, and he ran away. ALL of the tomatoes on that plant had been eaten...even the green ones! It's not right, I tell you, just not right!!
Yeah for the TDF! God damn birds! And they didn't even eat the tomoatoes. It's just plain vegetable vandalism. Those lovely socks do indeed look like Bananas Foster colors. I detect a food theme with the tomatoes, gold fish, BF socks and nilla wafers.
Mmmmm. Still waiting for our first tomatoes here....
I generally like birds and other woodland critters, except when they're eating my veggies and other plants. >:-( Love the nanner socks and the gorgeous shawl!
I have similar colored yarn that I was going to call Banana Bread. Maybe I will wait for 50 to start mine. We had carnage in the tomatoes last week, with broken branches and critter teeth marks, arrgh! We have a multitude of orange Sungold cherries.
After reading all the comments about wildlife attacks on tomatoes, I am really glad that mine are pretty safe as they are 11 stories up. ;D
Sorry that your's got taken out by the birds. :(
While reading your post I was reminded of the "pea" wars we used to have here. Birds love peas. I swear the little buggers were eating them as I was planting them. It was a race to get nets up over the peas before they could eat them all. I guess the birds won, since I don't plant peas anymore! Too many emotional issues LOL! Hope you get more lovely tomatos than you can use. I LOVE the orange ones best.
Daniele aka mscreate.typepad.com
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