various updates

A couple who live in the Highlands saw my drawing of a co-worker's home (http://markgodofthunder.blogspot.com/2008/07/black-walnut-ink-drawing.html) and have asked me to do a drawing of their house, also in the Highlands. They also want me to work on two other houses as gifts for relatives.

 

Their house is another nice old home, but it's going to be a little tough figuring the layout. The view from which they'd like it drawn is about 60% obscured by foliage, which means I've had to sketch and photograph it from other angles, figure out the proportions, and then mentally rotate the view to get the angle I need. I spent a couple of hours sort of "gridding out" sizes for windows and doors to make it easier. The actual drawing should commence this weekend; I need to photograph my thumbnail sketches and email them to the couple so that they have a general idea of what the composition will be, just in case they have any objections.

 

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I've been out metal detecting during a couple of lunch breaks this week. First I went to Hounz Lane Park; I found a couple of coins and some junk. Then I went to the children's home and detected in a field near and old drive and shuffleboard court. Nothing there but cans, broken glass, and some twisted hunks of aluminum the origins of which I haven't a clue. There is a lot of stuff there to dig, but there are so many buried aluminum cans, pieces of chain link fence, and bottle caps, I get tired of it pretty quickly. There might be good stuff in that spot, but I'd have to wade through a lot of junk.

 

In all of my hunting at the children's home, I've only found one coin. The site has, however, yielded my favorite finds so far: the Joe E. Brown (I think) baseball pin, an old key with a lion on it, the 1998 girls high school track medal, and a few other little bits of junk that obviously were lost by kids 40-60 years ago.

 

I'm eager for the chance to spend a larger block of time (three hours or more) detecting, because then I could go to someplace farther away, someplace I think will hold some good stuff. All the advice I find on the Internet points to private property as the best place to hunt: around older homes, specifically. I also have some schools I'd like to check out on a weekend or holiday when classes will be out. It would be great to get another chance to go out with Brian. The last time we sent was in February, when the ground was frozen and we were still learning how to use our detectors.

 

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There are three vegetables in production in my back yard right now. The tomatoes are doing very well, and have in fact got ahead of me. The vines are pulling over the stakes to which they are tied, and there are lots of ripe cherry tomatoes that are going unpicked because I haven't had time to get them. My kitchen counter is crowded with the Mr. Stripey tomatoes, which are largish yellow tomatoes striped with red. They are actually quite delicious, with a mild sweet flavor, firm flesh, and few seeds. I'll have to look for that variety again next year.

 

There are also carrots, which are green and bushy but I don't think will produce much to eat. I think it's been to hot and dry, and the roots are going to be scrawny and tough. If I still have some seeds, I might try planting some more for the autumn.

 

The sweet potatoes appear to be doing quite well. The vines cover the ground all around the tomatoes, and are so bushy and dense that they discourage Erin and Jill from getting in close to pick the tomatoes. I think that in a few weeks we'll have some good sweet potatoes to dig and eat. Unfortunately, I've never been a big fan of sweet potatoes. I like them baked in a pan with brown sugar and marshmallows, the traditional Thanksgiving dish. But I never get excited about baking them like regular potatoes, or making sweet potato fries. I usually get tired of that after a few bites.

 

Something- a squirrel or a bird- has been eating some of the seeds from the sunflowers. I could probably get a bunch of them to roast and eat, and the girls might enjoy that.