Outside

Each morning, one of the very first things I do is go check my pots on the deck.  If I leave it till later, my wee eastern facing deck become just too hot to walk on.  The lady who lived here before me wove some bamboo blinds through the rails and my neighbour once asked if I was going to take the ugly things down.  They are ugly and I was going to do it, but not yet.  That little bit of shade on the floor makes all the difference in the world to the total amount of heat reflected by the deck floor. 

I sure wish I could bottle that excess for winter.

Anyway, I have flowers to attend to, but I also picked up a tomato just for fun this year and to see it would go.  I would take a picture of it but the plant itself is in a pretty sorry state.  In order to keep it on the hot days, it lives in the shade of one of the tables. 

My first big harvest.

The itty bitty teeny weeny ones are the best!

Next year I am going to try cucumbers and bigger tomatoes.  I am also going to do something about the heat.  I intend to plant some hops along the rails, and have them grow up to give shade.  I am also hoping that they see fit to grow higher to give a little bit of privacy to the corner I usually sit in.

There are a few outside chores to tend too before the hops can be planted, but step by step, this is becoming home.