Yarn.  Just yarn – glowing there.  We’ve been scurrying around for all of August finishing up three great new collections for C.R. Gibson which are going to come out next January.  In the meantime, these spheres continue to luminesce by the batteries of their own potential.

We haven’t posted a Something Lovely in a while, but it’s not because we haven’t been surrounded by loveliness!  Part of it is due to a particularly tight deadline and many hours in front of the lovely computer, but part of it is due to just not having the camera handy at just the loveliest moment.  But day before yesterday, after zipping to the last UPS drop-off with a package full of art, we decided we needed to go for a walk, and this is the backdrop that surrounded us.  Now that’s pretty lovely in a grand sort of way.
We hope you are enjoying some wonderful summer evenings, too.

You might have heard of The Chic Gardener, the Savvy Gardener, the Confident Gardener and even the Skinny Gardener … but if I were to write a gardening book, I think I might have to name mine, The Bewildered Gardener.  My philosophy to gardening is to buy a plant with a tag that tells me that I am to place it in the sun or the shade and plant it thus.  Then I forget about it and a few weeks later I am either surprised with delight or struck with the resignation that my experiment didn’t work.  I either think, “Wow, Cathy, you have one green thumb.” or I think, “Gee, Cathy, it’s probably better that you use your thumb (along with other fingers) to draw.”

About 6 weeks ago, I bought two little squash plants.  (I was inspired by the great squash success of my friend and designer, Leslie Lewis Siegler, who now lives in sunny California.  You can find a great squash recipes from Leslie’s blog here.  Of course, she is planting in lush verdant California, while I am planting on top of a limestone hill, but still.)  So, I applied my gardening method to the two little squash babies by planting them in the sun, as instructed, and, then promptly forgetting them. Today, when I went outside to pat the dog, I looked down and, SURPRISE,  there under the huge fat prickly leaves were two yellow squash blossoms.  Then I looked closer and realized that there were eight!  I am a squash growing ninja!  Now, I will go back into my state of horticulture speculation and wonder whether the flowers will actually turn into squashes  that can be eaten by humans before the bugs or birds.  I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, happy summer from The Bewildered Gardener.

P.S. Below, I am dreaming of my possible new squashettes.  I’m not sure if I planted yellow squash or zucchini, so I am dreaming of both.

Most of you were correct.  Even though I thought Neville was planning to mend his ways, he was indeed planning another heist, and this time we didn’t even know about the theft until we were well underway with our puzzle.  Julianna and I just didn’t feel complete after the first summer puzzle was vandalized by our pup, so we decided to start on another.  And, as you can see (exhibit b above), Neville was at it again.  And, this time, he was sneakier, swallowing the evidence before we could catch him.

Here’s Neville after he walked on the bad side.  Once again, I just know he is repentant … but those around me have told me I am just seeing him through loving mother’s eyes and that he is really a scamp.

Know any good rehab places for puzzle-thievin’ pups?

Photo credit: Julianna Heck, who, after watching many episodes of CSI can recognize a guilt-ridden suspect in an instant.