Entry the eleventh: In which I wig out for a moment and then recover my calm

I have decided to be magnanimous and give the sulky tomato plant a second chance. It was with this enlightened view that I went out yesterday evening to trim the deadest of the dead leaves and photograph the one tomato that has finally begun to ripen. And that was fine and all except that I saw this



about two thirds of the way through pruning. And I yelled. Loudly. As most people who know me will (gleefully) tell you, I am a bug wimp. (Go ahead Sarah, just start writing your comment before you even finish this entry.)

I can’t find this guy’s exact match on my favorite bug reference site, but I’m pretty sure it’s your basic grasshopper, only in brown instead of the traditional green. It’s friggin’ HUGE. In the image below, the beastie is on the branch to the right of the other beastie cat (used, once again, for scale purposes).*



The good news is that it was gone this morning and I didn't let it stop me from taking this lovely picture.



*I'm not sure how many more times Sylvie will let me do this.

Entry the tenth: In which the tomato gets insolent

My friend Sonia has a Square Foot Garden in New Hampshire. Isn't it cool? I'm hoping she'll send me updates as everything (except, presumably, the cat) gets bigger.

I, on the other hand, have Just About Had It with my tomato plant. I know, I know, it needs to be in a bigger pot... but does it have to get so wilty and sullen if it doesn't get watered every 15 minutes? It's has an awful lot of attitude for a vegetable, is all I'm saying. Until it behaves (or the tomatoes ripen), it does not get a photo. That will show it.



The cucmbers, which remain relatively sedate, get two pictures today. The first is a still life with lemon and Japanese cucumbers in front of another wonderful canning resource and the second is a picture of the same cucumbers in situ, plus a small brown cat* for scale purposes.


*Said cat was not entirely thrilled to be included in this documentation project.

Entry the ninth: In which I boast

This is a picture of the many, many jars of raspberry sauce with chambord liqueur that I mentioned in yesterday's entry. My estimate last night may have been a little large.

I love canning things and I love giving things away to friends. My raspberry sauce (adapted from a jam recipe in one of my favorite canning books) has proved a hit so now I make it every summer when the raspberries at the farmer's market are at their best.


Sylvie "helps" put the jars in the basket (top) and a close up of raspberries in the sunshine (bottom).

Entry the eighth: In which I am ready for bed

I made some super delicious barbecued chicken today because, hey, it's the 4th and barbecuing is appropriate, and then I canned roughly eleventy billion jars of raspberry sauce with chambord. And now it's late and I am too tired to write anything interesting, so I will just paste in this picture of me with a flamingo on my head. Happy Independence Day!

Entry the seventh: In which I prefer my real name

Borrowing (with slight revisions) a meme from PaisleyWomble, the following are some of my alter egos:

YOUR PORN STAR NAME (You probably already know this one from one of those e-mail questionnaires)
(your first pet, the name of the first street you lived on):
Gecko Chalcedony
We're off to a weird start.

YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME
(grandfather/grandmother on your father's side, your favorite kind of candy):
Ruth Swissfruit
You'll notice the heading does not read "successful" movie star name because what you end up with is a name your agent would make you change to something else.
Also, my favorite kind of candy changes every ten minutes, so if you tune in later this might say "Ruth Tootsiepop" or "Ruth Toblerone" instead. Unfortunately, the "Ruth" is constant.

YOUR FLY GIRL/GUY NAME
(first initial of first name followed by "izzle", first two or three letters of your last name followed by "dizzle"):
Eizzle Stodizzle
I don't think this one works if your first name starts with E. I think you'd pronounce "Eizzle" to rhyme with "Weasel" and while I realize I'm no expert, that doesn't sound very fly to me.

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME
(favorite color, favorite animal):
Pink Serval
Oh please. No one is going to call Pink Serval to find out if their spouse is cheating on them. (Thank goodness.)

YOUR STAR WARS NAME
(first 3 letters of your name- last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name repeated twice):
Eliwat Sylsyl
Scarily, I think this one is right on the money.

YOUR SUPERHERO NAME
("The", your favorite color, the type of car you drive):
The Pink Corolla
Hmph. I think the Pink Corolla sounds like the kind of superhero who would accidentally drop you after pulling you from a burning building and then not even visit you in the hospital. If you're smart, you'll hold out for the Vermillion Eclipse. Or the Puce Rabbit.
... At least I'm not the The Tangerine Probe.