Big week ahead

Finally got the studio/garage attic insulated a couple of days ago. It hasn't made much difference as far as the coolness goes but mid week they'll be installing a dual heat/air conditioning unit and I'll finally be able to spend a lot more time in there.

It was cool enough to get about an hour and half in there this morning, before it started to feel like a sauna. I got all of the recently purchased raw materials, other than some soda ash in buckets and bins; and of course, as things would have it, one of those unscientific laws of the universe bit me: the one bag that would create the worst mess when emptying it, was the Redart and of course that was the one that spilled over as I tried to empty it into a bucket.  I must have spent about 20 minutes sweeping up, cleaning my shoes, and then wet sponging that part of the floor! I also got a bunch more pottery and other tools hung up, put more things away, and  setup a couple more flexible lights in my jewelry area.

This infected big toe is being handed over to the podiatrist Wednesday, since my self treatment as well as one prescription of antibiotics has not stopped the problem of the nail cutting into me and causing pain and bleeding. I'm not looking forward to the visit, because I think they may have to pull off that nail, which means a few more days lost in the studio and garden time not even considering whatever discomfort that is going to entail. Knowing that I might be out of commission for a few days after Wednesday, I've been trying to get some of these studio and garden things finished in the next two days.

Now that I got all the raised beds planted at our son and daughter in laws house, I'm focusing on getting the last of my own things planted. Today I got about a bunch of parsley plants and a mum planted and plan to get out tomorrow after some pre-breakfast studio time, to plant a six pack of kale, bunching onions and the rest of the herbs . At the rate this planting has been going,  I may just get it all planted before the first frost!

This past week has been for family, parties, and cooking, now that all these great veggies are coming in, as well as dealing with house and garden repairs and installations that are still not quite done . After 3 gardener visits this week alone, the lawn and planters watering system is still not working 100 %; but hopefully by the end of the week that job will be done, as well as the re-grouting all the tile throughout the house which is scheduled for mid-week.

If those jobs and the studio heating/air gets installed, that will finally be the end of all the construction and repair jobs we've been doing the past 3 months, and we can sit back and enjoy the rest of the summer and just enjoy having our house and time for our selves; and I will finally get some longer days in the studio.  

This year the new veggie in my now tiny garden is the Spanish pepper Pimiento de padrone. These little peppers are a very popular ingredient in a super simple tapas dish which I made for lunch yesterday and again as an appetizer for dinner. I had to buy some plants from Amazon.com in the spring and now they are producing like crazy. Basically, your fry these in a bit of olive oil till they brown and get soft, drain, sprinkle with coarse salt and eat with bread. I dipped  the sourdough bread in the cooking oil which took on the flavor of the peppers. The fascinating things about these peppers is that genetically, they will produce mild and slight hot pepper so biting into one is always a surprise! The cherry tomatoes were just topped with some mozzarella and basil, and drizzled with olive oil and salt and peppered. Next year I'm only going to plan one cherry tomato plant.

In addition to cooking the rest of my day was spent running around town for some food and garden shopping, and a bunch of other stops including Lowe's where they just couldn't match the paint for our stucco trim, so I'm giving up on the idea of being able to just spot touch up those areas and we'll have to get professional painters in here to do all the stucco trim in our atrium. I'm hoping we can get all these house and studio jobs done by labor day; but something new like the broken garage door panel, seems to come up every week!

Some time today I have to make ratatouille since my garden has given me eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and tomatoes. It will depend on when the garage door people come to replace that panel, and then I have to go pick up some more pottery supplies. That one pug of earthenware has finally arrived after a six week wait!

This week I've got to finish up some gardening. The fall veggie starts are in and I have a flat to plant at our son and daughter-in-laws house.   I was hoping this new automatic watering on my containers plants would save me a lot of time but with these 100+ degree days (it was 103 at 4pm yesterday) I've had to hand water as well, so I need to get the gardener to increase the water on those. First thing yesterday morning I got 3 more new pots planted with ferns for near our front door. A fountain for that area is on the way and that will complete that area for this year.

The handyman did not do the insulation in the studio attic space the other day, but did  finish up a few other things in the studio and the house. He's coming at 7am Wednesday to do the insulation. Let's hope he means it this time. :-(

I've decided to not wait to see if that insulation works with keeping the heat down in the studio, and I'm going to bite the bullet and get the dual heat/air conditioning installed. I've been waiting long enough to get in that studio to get to work.