Art, Garden, Coin

Art:

 

Here's another photo of my work-in-progress. It's slow going, but I'm making noticeable progress each day.  I'm happy with it.

 

A couple of months ago I discovered that I wasn't as low on my homemade walnut ink as I had thought, for I found some forgotten jars of it stashed beneath my dresser.  Last weekend I took them outside and re-strained them (they had become moldy) and added denatured alcohol as a preservative.  There was enough of it that I felt comfortable giving a couple of little jars to interested friends.

 

Garden:

 

Last night I picked four ears of yellow sweet corn from our garden.  I fear that will be all we're going to get.  Only one ear was well-developed, the other three being small and missing many kernels.  There are other ears growing, but they look puny and unhealthy.  I think that inconsistent watering has played a role, but that most of the blame falls on insects.  Japanese beetles and earwigs just love the corn, and eat the silk, which results in poor fertilization and therefore poor "ear-fill."

 

Fortunately, I hope, I also have another clump of corn growing quickly.  This is a different type, and it's planted in a better location.  Maybe the rainier weather will help this, too.

 

Anyway, the little corn we had last night tasted really good, even if it wasn't pretty.

 

The basil is growing very well, and I must make some pesto with it this weekend.  I picked a grocery bag full of it last week and have had it in the refrigerator since then.  I hope it's still usable, but it grows so fast that it probably doesn't matter if it's not.

 

The tomatoes are growing pretty well, but I've only had one large ripe one so far.  There are many green ones that are starting to turn.  There have also been a lot of red cherry tomatoes that have split in half from inconsistent watering (I try to hold off from watering as long as possible, so things get dry, then we get a huge rainfall, and the next day the tomatoes have ruptured.)

 

Coins:

 

I actually spent an hour or two a few nights ago working on my collection.  I have quite a few very low-end world coins I need to label and sort, and I really want to log them all into a spreadsheet.  That will make it easier to keep track of what countries from which I don't have examples.

 

I'm still undecided about what to do with the gift certificate Mom and Dad gave me.  Now I'm leaning back toward trying to acquire a Greek coin bearing a gorgoneion (gorgon's head).