Aren't those petunias amazing? That's them back in mid-July, they've become a tad tired and leggy since then, but they were one of the summer miracles in the garden this year.
As was this:
Check out the size of that cucumber, glorious, no? I'd never grown cucumbers until this year, and was surprised at how big they grew. This is the second one I harvested, the first I'm sad to say amazed me a little too much. I laid it out in all it's glory in the kitchen, feeling very smug, but admired it for too many days and it started to rot. This is the second of three, we cut this one up and put it in a salad, but it was very bitter (of course, I served this salad when we had a guest over to dine - sorry, Bruce!). The third of the three is just as gloriously large. I decided to leave it in the garden, so far, none of the little garden creatures have sampled it - I suspect it's also bitter.
And what other summer miracles awaited me in the garden this year?
After adding numerous fairy garden pins to my Garden Board over on Pinterest, I finally snapped and went out and bought some miniature plants.
Here's a shot of Gus for scale:
He likes to eat the mulch. Bad dog!
The door - very Hobbit-y.
Of course, it just sits there, unattached to any structure, but Elly has pointed out that it leads to Fairyland, which can't be seen by non-believers. The door is flanked by a Japanese Holly Sky Pencil and a Golden Irish Yew, both of which eventually grow to 8 ft (not in this climate, however).
Tiny stepping stones leading up to the door...
and a teeny, tiny Hinoki Falsecypress peeping over the fence. Given time this would eventually grow to 1.5 feet.
The ringmaster and a clown welcome you to the mouse circus in honour of the great thaw of '14!
The platespinner is particularly talented!
another clown!
and the very daring bee trainer!
Well, that's it for the mouse circus. I confess I went quite bonkers over the winter, it just would not end! Though, to be fair, it's beginning to feel much more like a normal mid-February now. Shall we tell mother nature it's almost April? Perhaps not, she doesn't appear to be in a very good mood this year. Despite the unbearably colder-than-normal weather we've been having, I suspect it will be sweltering hot in July. Let's wait and see.
The mice, by the way, were knit from a pattern by Alan Dart. There are a total of 12 mice in the set, but I grew weary after making 5 - weary was my theme this winter?
Other amusements this winter, were two patterns by Barbara Prime, first I made the Pug with Anorak. Isn't he adorable?! I gifted him to Elly and he lives in her living-room.
Check out his curly pug tail! Adorable!
I also made Barbara Prime's Siamese Kitty. Also adorable!
Both the pug and siamese kitty were made with Cascade 220 and Nashua Creative Focus Superwash, both excellent yarns. There's a nice stitch definition with both of these with next to no halo-ing (when a yarn halos it means it's got a lot of Fuzz to it - which is fine for some projects).
Siamese kitty also has a cute tail. I used a small flower button to close her dress at the back. Sweet!
And, since it's been such a long, long time since I last updated, let's all go to the circus!
