Early July

Hello Gentle Readers. Summer days have arrived. Green tomatoes are setting on the vines and a few cherry tomatoes turn from orange to red. They are smaller than I like, especially for the first ones, but they taste like home grown tomatoes. On the 4th, I harvested the first three cucumbers. I replanted cucumber seeds several times and now the vines are going wild. If we can keep everything watered as the temperatures soar to 100 degrees, we should have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers. 

Today I link with Kat and the Unravelers to post about making and reading. Our son, Aaron, is visiting this week. He has remote work obligations but having him here from Texas is delightful. He loves cooking so it is fun to be in the kitchen together. He brought his small flour mill as well as wheat and rye berries. Saturday he ground fresh flour and made bread dough. He left me in charge of the rising. We thought one pan would be enough but it was not. When the dough overflowed the bread pan, I divided it and set it to rise a third time. Leaving your mother in charge of an unknown recipe is a risk but disaster was averted and the bread was delicious. That evening we used tomatoes from his garden and fresh bread in BLT sandwiches. I cut up watermelon from a local produce stand and we had snickerdoodles for dessert. It was a perfect meal for the 4th of July. 

At some point I wrote about this small piece of patchwork. A month ago, I finished the piecing and quilted three circles and diagonal lines with two strands of embroidery floss. Then I made it into a pillow. 

As for other making, I'm knitting away on the shawl. I'm close to the border and the rows are long. This odd piece of knitting is a second try with the Avenue Vest. Interesting construction and size seven needles make the knitting go quickly. The fabric I'm getting with this yarn and needle size is soft and made me wonder if the deep V-neck would flop open and not lay flat. I decided to knit the round neck. Let's hope the vest fits. It's all an experiment but it's only yarn. 

This week I read Hot Chocolate on a Thursday by Michiko Aoyama. This gentle book is almost a collection of short stories. Having a minor character from each previous story become the main character for the next provides the structure. Setting, either Japan or Sydney, Australia and sometime both also provides continuity. At first, the stories felt a little too sweet but as I read I appreciated the theme of how easily misunderstanding leads to misconception and hurt feelings. Conversely the author used small moments to convey the power of kindness offered to others. What seemed like a simple story left me wondering what could happen if more of us, myself included, were willing to let go of slights and hurts and see the viewpoint of each other. This fiction isn't great literature but a sweet story of possibility in everyday lives. I also enjoyed the references to cherry blossoms of Japan and jacaranda flowers in Australia.  

Just as an aside, thinking about the differences in structure and management of characters in Aoyama's book as compared to that of Good People by Patmeena Sabit (the Read With Us Selection in June) was an interesting exercise. The authors handled those two devices differently and of course the storylines are quite different but it gave me food for thought. 

I can't show you cherry blossoms but my neighbor has a beautiful stand of cone flowers in an area adjacent to the street. I hope you are finding beauty in this summer season. (Or in the Southern Hemisphere - the winter season.)

Ravelry Link

Avenue Vest