Yes, we have no more tomatoes?

I harvested tomatoes on the orange side yesterday, in anticipation of rain today. I'm glad I did. It is seriously raining. So far, .6 inches, but the forecast is predicting it for the next couple of days. That's been the story of this summer. Cool and rainy days followed by 2-5 days of perfect Maine summer weather. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

I AM grateful that we have escaped the hot horrible weather that much of the world has experienced this summer. Truly I am. But I have to say that it will be a disappointment if This Is It. As good as it gets. Well, ok. It's pretty good. Some homegrown tomatoes can't be bad. Even if they're cut off in their youth. And! It's really too soon to tell. Even the drier forecast later in the week isn't going to get above the 70's, though, and tomatoes do like their heat. . .

I had just decided that the eggplant plants were worth having, even if they didn't produce. They are handsome things. And wouldn't you know. . .as soon as I had given them reprieve for their sterility, they are forming fruit. I don't know how I missed the flowers, though it could have been in all of the rain. And many of our fruiting plants (tomatoes, peppers, raspberries, especially beans) like to hide their babies. Probably a sound evolutionary strategy.

Such pretty things, aren't they? With their personal ornamentation of black spines. . .

Meanwhile, my "all hat" zucchini plants are succumbing to powdery mildew. Mine have always had that issue at the end of the season, but these poor guys barely had a chance to show off. I'm thinking I have to get more serious about eating the blossoms, which are ever large and gorgeous. I need to look up why they didn't set. It could have been that there weren't many female flowers? That doesn't really make sense, though. More like the pollinators were less than ambitious because of the cool wet weather.

The apples are coming along, and the Japanese beetles have been seriously discouraged by the weather. Ripening will likely be a couple of weeks late, I think, but that blush of red stripes is reassuring. 

Then, of course, there is the studio production. G.S.'s final pieces are glazed, fired, and winging their way to Texas. I hope he likes them! I also sent a couple of surprises for the other two Grand Children (G.C.'s), since they didn't get to visit this year. I forged copper hooks for the ornaments, reminding me that even though I'm an amateur at clay, I'm a decent metalsmith. 

And of course, my last piece that I made with G.S. was also a box. I think I'm going to start a series of boxes, inspired by the experience.

I still have a couple of tumblers outstanding, and then there is the birdhouse series. I have questioned myself about the functionality of ceramic birdhouses, since my carefully made chickadee house doesn't yet have any occupants, though the squirrels have shown some casual curiosity. I may continue that line with some fairy houses, which always seem to get occupants, invisible as they may be.