Peppers, Onions, and Cukes, Oh My!

August first is half way between the summer solstice and the fall equinox. Since I retired, the day feels more like the midpoint instead of the end of the season. Teachers in Lincoln go back to work in just a few days. I remember those days well - anticipation of a new school year mixed with sadness at the end of summer days and long evenings. My good wishes go with them. Teachers go to work, often before they are required to be on duty, with goodwill and energy to prepare for their students.

Today I am grateful for the remaining summer days. Seasonal produce is delicious and abundant. Last week I stuffed zucchini with summer veggies and bread crumbs. I also baked a squash/tomato tart with zucchini from a friend and the first few tomatoes from my garden. The Colorado peaches have arrived in local grocery stores and the Farmer's Market is bursting with color and flavor. This morning I sliced up a sink full of cucumbers, green peppers, onions, and garlic. In a couple of hours, I will rinse and drain the pickling salt and water before processing the veggies in a water bath canner. Bread and butter pickles for the winter. The cucumbers grew in my garden from one hill of eight seeds. Am I ever glad I planted only one hill. This is the second batch of pickles in a week.

This little rainbow bear (with blue and a hood as per request) is on its way to Connecticut. It was fun and easy to knit. Micah will be five this month on August 8 because as he says, "Eight is great!" We won't be with him in person but are sending our abundant love. We will sing to him via Face Time and look forward to an autumn visit. Where does the time go?

I finished the infamous baby kimono. The loose stitches/ladders in the sleeves didn't even out with blocking. This is not the fault of the pattern. I have knitted it previously in a heavier yarn. I don't usually have trouble with ladders while knitting in the round. Perhaps alternating knit and purl rows with this yarn is the reason for unevenness. That is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. The soft little sweater used a generous skein of fingering weight stash yarn. It will keep some little one warm, uneven stitches and all.

Since I'm linking with Kat and the Unravelers, I will mention an audiobook, To Die but Once, a Maisie Dobbs mystery by Jacqueline Winspear. If you haven't met Maisie and enjoy mysteries, you may want to give this series a try. Maisie is an intrepid independent young woman who served as a nurse in World War One. Most of the series is set just after the war but in this story, #14, England is once again at war. The novels are more substantial than cozy mysteries and the history is interesting.

Happy August. May your produce, knitting, love, and/or reading be abundant and delicious.