It is getting hot here in central Oklahoma this week. We had a little more rain this week but next week looks sunny and hotter. We still have many mosquitoes around my apartment. I still haven’t been to the farm and it looks like I won’t go again until the beginning of August. My boyfriend went to check on the cat and said the garden is looking quite overgrown. Some vines I planted got a bit out of control. Similar to last year’s pumpkin takeover. The comfrey is massive and the grapevine is growing. The grapes haven’t grown much. The pawpaws are growing well. The peach trees and fig trees are doing good but haven’t had fruit this year. Something has been digging in the garden near our asparagus and it is knocking some of them over. It seems that something has eaten our blackberries. My boyfriend grabbed a ton of cherry tomatoes and gave half to his mom. He said that they tasted bland and they weren’t as flavorful as homegrown tomatoes usually are. My balcony garden is doing okay but some things don’t like the heat. The chamomile has died back and the mint is struggling in the heat. I transplanted the hardy fiber banana tree into a pot with better drainage and I think it will survive. The banana tree, zinnias, and peppers look droopy in the day but pick up at night when it cools down. The hydrangea and lavender is doing well. The moonflower seems to have some yellow spots on the leaves. The butternut squash is having difficulty flowering in the heat. I learned this week about male and female squash flowers and hand pollination. Maybe I will try it when it cools down. The bees have been really loving these zinnias. I had hoped the zinnias would be mixed colors but they are all pink. My sister’s zinnias are a deeper pink than mine. I had been cutting the zinnias and putting them in a vase. However, I brought carpet beetles in on the zinnias so I had to stop. I have seen some interesting new birds this week, a wren of some kind that I didn’t get a photo of and a brown thrasher that I did get a picture of. I have been noticing some birds molting in my area with messed up looking feathers. I saw a cute cardinal and a baby bird that seemed to be struggling in the heat. The squirrels have started splooting again so I know it must be hot. This week, I made breakfast for dinner with French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns. I also made a smoothie with frozen berries, mango, spinach, almond milk, and honey. I want to try it with regular milk next time. My boyfriend was sharing with me this time and he is sensitive to dairy. Next week, I will make the butternut squash apple soup I have been planning. I bought a carrot for the soup but it went bad before I was ready to cook the soup. Will have to get another one. I also had my favorite ramen this week, IndoMie. I have been working on my drawing lessons and continuing to read a drawing book from the library called “Learning to Paint and Draw” by Hazel Harrison. I am finding it to be a good and thorough book covering techniques of different mediums including drawing, watercolor, oil, acrylic, and pastels. In my class tomorrow, we will draw a master copy of Elizabeth Catlett’s Sharecropper. I always enjoy doing these master copies because it gives an opportunity to study the techniques of a master as well as learn about the life of the artist. It is also so cool to see how different people interpret the same drawing. I will be doing another drawing for my mom soon as her birthday is on Tuesday. She wants a rosary for her birthday and I have been asked to make one for her. I probably won’t finish it by her birthday, it will likely be a Christmas gift.
Lisa Ledbetter 