In which. I finally get around to a small job, survive the heat and find a rose

Yesterday being exactly as hot and humid as forecast, I did a couple of things outside then it was an indoor day.

I spread the pillowcases over the seedling crates, as you see, note the sage flowering now.

This idea worked fine. When I came to uncover them after sunset, the seedlings were perfectly happy. My, uncovered,  curry leaf plant however, died. It's a tropical, Indian in origin, but it simply burned up. So I've stripped off the leaves and put them in the freezer, and will use the pot for something else. 

I've now replaced the coverings before our second hot day. Simple but it worked. And somebody liked yesterday's hot weather, new bud

Then, one of the consolations of hot weather, sun tea, was called for.

Seen out brewing next to the lavender. It's now in the fridge. 

On the subject of knitting challenges and patience, or pigheadedness, let me show you this.

It's an artist trading card, 2.5"×1.5"  I made long ago, and the motif you see took possibly thirty or more iterations to accomplish. It's an old design, and very complex. 

I was doing this in the living room, while Handsome Partner, completely disabled at that point, watched with interest. He was astounded at my perseverance and said he'd never realized what art making entailed. 

He pointed out that he was used to seeing works come out of the studio ready to exhibit, and assumed since they looked spontaneous, they were pretty easy to create.

Now he could see the work in action.  I'd given up doing studio work two floors up, since his disability had progressed to where he couldn't be left alone, moving on  to textile art downstairs, so as to continue making art,  and he was entertained, also  learning.

Here's one of an exhibit I did way back, in studio days,  of watercolors of orchids

One of the viewers said, oh, it's lovely, was it just random, it's so flowing! Yeah, right.

Anyway the knitted motif above, to return to another art form, is an eighteen line repeat in which no two lines have the same stitch count. And the instructions, ancient ones, don't mention how many stitches on each row.

Modern patterns usually assume the same stitch count on every row unless you're decreasing for shaping. But without the safety net of counting stitches, much more difficult to keep track. So, much more satisfaction when you manage it. And a lot of either patience, or dumb doggedness, is used in the process. Also the inability to stop till you're done.

I don't use patterns a lot. Here's a freeform knitted mask, which was bought within minutes of the textile solo opening. No, no advance notes or drawings, just worked and designed as I went.  Ancient blurry image from pre cellphone days.

Then, maybe the other side,  there's procrastination. I finally did one of those simple jobs that you put off for weeks and weeks, that take about ten minutes when you get around to them. I refer to The Oiling of the Furniture.

I need to do this every few months after my cleaning family has cleaned so vigorously that the wood is looking dry and thirsty. I use olive oil on a cloth. All it takes is a couple of minutes rubbing with the grain, then across it, then with it, done.

The sum total of pieces being, to wit, one teak dining table, one oak coffee table, one walnut small table, one walnut chest of drawers, one maple butcher block top. Just the tops  That's it. Now done and looking so much better that I wonder what took me so long.

If anyone knows why we do this putting off, please explain.

And here's a lovely take on the Ukrainian flag theme of golden wheat stretching to a blue sky

Happy golden day, everyone! Fight a bit, rest a bit, enjoy both.