Inappropriate for the Weather

This week I finished up an afghan which I began knitting probably 7 or 8 years ago.  I think I purchased the yarn, a wool/acrylic blend, using some birthday money.  I promptly knit half the afghan, and then - perhaps I started another project, or perhaps I just lost interest.  Whatever the cause, this poor blanket has sat half-finished in its basket for many years.

So I finished it.  Just in time for the arrival of summer, with the hottest, muggiest weather we've had so far.  I have such good timing.

In another display of impeccable timing, I also finished up knitting the (wool) hot water bottle cover, which I began a good 11 years ago, before we moved to Michigan.  (Are you noticing a trend yet?)  

I can't believe I put this off for so long - to knit the second half of it was the work of an evening, and the crochet border which holds it together took maybe 15 minutes.  The colour is no longer one I would choose for myself, but even so I think it's cute!

A friend from church gave me another tomato plant and a bunch of leek seedlings this week, so this afternoon I went out and dug a trench for the leeks in the middle of my tomato patch.  I realise this looks more like the beginnings of some bizarre building project than a vegetable garden, but I promise it's not so!  The gaping hole in the middle (which caused my dad to inquire whether I thought I was in Panama) is the trench for the leeks; as they grow I'll slowly pull the piles of dirt into the trenches to produce the long white stem of the leeks.  At least in theory!  I've never grown them before, so we'll see how it goes. And the boards are my pathways; this garden is a very awkward size and shape, and I hate the way I'm always compacting and pressing down the earth when I move around in it.  I'm hoping the boardwalks will help counteract that!

I had a dog-sitting "gig" last weekend and did some babysitting this week, so I didn't get as much done on some of my other projects as I'd hoped.  This coming week I've got some painting and refinishing jobs I plan to do, and maybe I'll have some progress to show on the scrap quilt I've started!

In parting, I just had to share a photo of some of my mother's climbing roses (we gave her the plant for Mother's Day a few years ago).  Aren't they lovely?