we had a surprise thunderstorm this afternoon which really helped to cool things off.
this is a Japanese eggplant. i grew these a couple of years ago and was delighted with them. last year i was unable to find any plants but had better luck this year. they are just starting to produce and this little eggplant is about an inch and a half long. it will be ready to pick and eat when it is between four and six inches long. these are a much thinner skinned variety and they taste sweeter than the larger black beauty type. my favorite way to cook them is to halve them and grill on the barbecue with a drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt.

my work on the postcard today was all about creating and dressing the faiery. i still have some words to add and whatever finishing touches i happen to dream up before i pronounce it "done". the paper napkins are quite fussy to work with but i just worked slowly and carefully and once glued i didn't mess with moving it about any more as that doesn't seem to work out very well . . .

you'll notice that rather than just cutting the very top layer of napkin as i did with the spoon on the last postcard, i cut both layers out and then i slightly skewed the under(lining) layer so that the skirt had a bit of a layered look to it. i was actually very happy with the effect of that.