Why is it I can go months with nothing blogworthy going on and then all the fun happens at once, leaving me no time to tell you about it? Lucky (?) for you, a low-grade fever, aches and soaring BGs knocked me out yesterday and made me rearrange things just in case the crud held on so I have a rainy evening with no obligations other than moving the laundry along. So, I'm going to do a little catching up.

There's the Desdemona Shawl, complete.

Apparently I need a stylist - what was I thinking setting up this shot in front of the hose? Can I blame it on my distaste for being a model?

There's a necklace I made, inspired by Andrea Scher's gorgeous Superhero Jewelry. I gave one of them to a friend several years ago and have been wanting one of my own, but haven't felt like I could/should spend the money on me right now, for that. Then, I looked in my bead box and realized I have a big stash of beads and the ability to twist some wire, amateur-ly perhaps, but not bad so I made what I'm calling my Sidekick necklace:

I learned a few things on this one and may try another for fun. This will never be my primary craft, but I enjoy dabbling.

I started the Midsummer Night's Dream Shawl, but no photos yet. Casting on 439 stitches took a loooooong time.

I've been enjoying the perennials and insects around my house.

I have a thing for dragonflies so when a gang of them showed up I was excited, but it was too dark to get good photos. A sunny day gave me a chance to spend some time with this guy who eventually got shy and hid behind that leaf, just peaking over the top. Fun photo, but too small to see on this format.

Three caterpillars showed up about the time I planted some herbs and vegetables. This one crawled up the siding and made a chrysalis, but it has disappeared. I suspect fowl play. Or squirrel.

The other two stayed low and curled...

...and all three made chrysalises to match their background. I wonder if the paint color was harder to match and that's why this one is gone. The other two are against concrete and look a little pinker to me, and a little better color-matched.

I planted a "garden." I leaned on lots of advice/encouragement from Gayla Trail. This photo is from the weekend I planted, Memorial Day, I think.

left to right:
'fernleaf' dill, greek oregano and french thyme, protected by marigolds
greek basil and tumbler cherry tomato
sweet basil and black plum tomato

Everything is much bigger now. The black plum tomato needs a stake - today's rain was just enough extra weight to make it tip a bit. I wish I'd switched the two basil plants as the sweet one is staying small, but the greek and the tumbler tomato are getting a little crowded, not that they seem to mind. Too late to switch them now, I think. Maybe I need to make some greek pesto.... I'll post an update photo when it stops raining.

Ok. That's what I've been doing (outside of work, of course). Next post will be what I've been watching and who I've been meeting, both with a dose of bigD.