this morning brought an unexpected visitor to my garden. i don't think i've ever had a pigeon here before . . .
he(?) stayed quite a while, hanging out by the bird feeders but never partaking, and then went on his way.

the sky was mostly blue this morning and the sun shone brightly for a while.

this is the first year that i've had any success with artichokes. they require a long growing season and so this year i started them in the cold frame and hope to erect it back around them this fall while they finish up. i actually really like the look of dried artichoke flowers so i'm not sure yet if i'm going to eat them or just dry the flowers and keep them around to look at . . . maybe i'll get enough of a harvest that i can do both.

i am beginning to wonder if they are going to grow too large to get back inside the frame . . . the plants are huge~! it might be a good thing that i only planted two of them.

the Japanese eggplants are beginning to show some fruits and are full of promising buds. these are one of my favorite summer time treats: grilled with a little olive oil and salt & pepper.

there's something about a pear shape that is just gorgeous ~ even when it's actually a tomato~! these will turn golden as they ripen. it's the first year that i've tried them so i'm quite interested in how well they do and how tasty they might be.

shortly after getting these morning shots it got quite dark and the thunder and lightening commenced and we had a downpour of a shower. very nice. since i was rained out of the garden i went into my studio.

i'm working on a postcard for my daughter. her birthday is in august and i thought i would "bake" up a celebratory cupcake for the front of the card.

still working on it but it's coming along nicely.

i've managed to get these broken dishes blocks all sewn into rows. tomorrow i will sew all of the rows together and the body of my next charity quilt will be done. then it's on to deciding on a fabric for a four inch border to go all the way around.
the blocks were made from scraps that i've both accumulated myself and traded with others over a 20 year period of time . . . some of them seem quite dated and as i look at them i realize that i really have to do more to get rid of all the scraps as they make me feel old. i have made a dent but only a small one. sometimes i wonder what it would be like if i just gave them all away and started over . . . would i suddenly feel like a spring chicken again~!?!~

after the thunderstorms were past i went back out into the garden and shot some more photo's. the light was much better and everything was all moist from the rain.

this very tiny tan grasshopper was enjoying the newly freshened and cooled garden too.

i think it thought that it was well hidden under that small leaf . . .