Updates

Today its expected to hit 100 degrees F. Tomorrow it won't get up to a hundred, but the forecast is saying it will feel hotter due to the humidity.
These are the dog days.
Maybe the heat will make my tomatoes ripen. They just keep getting bigger, but not turning red.
I've got okra, squash and eggplants coming in. Tomatillos forming after a heavy dose of fish emulsion. It took about 2 doses of the stuff to kick in and the blooms to stop dropping. same for the squash. I've got a garden of heavy feeders. One thing I didn't count on was the need for local soil. The top soil with all the nutrients. Plants like loose soil like you get in bags from the store, but that stuff lacks the minerals. The tomatoes are definitely much bigger than last year's in ground version, as is the squash, but it is taking quite a bit of amending to get them to be happy. A process I feel wouldn't have been necessary had I used top soil as well as potting soil, manure, and peat.
I added wood ash from the fireplace to the raised bed and the blooming banana yesterday. The banana keeps dropping its blooms, too. I'm figuring it out as I go, sometimes my figuring is better than others.
I've started work on several post-modern fabric patterns, the first being a floral jaquard-like pattern of record player adaptors. I'm interested in turning the sort of cultural symbols into beautiful, uber-traditional patterns. Something like Hipster meets Hamptons, or tattooed rockstar entertains in the cabana. Erotically charged toile. . . little surprises for reupholstered antiques. Its still in brainstorming mode. . .