So, I’m thinking of starting a new title theme for my work, along the lines of Russian primitive icon labels. They are typically one long sentence that tells the story of the work: St. Paul rides a Lamb out of the gates of The Holy City at Sunset as beggars strew Palm Fronds. . .you get the idea. This painting would be called “Hansa Roses and Dianthus in a Bell jelly jar with black cherries on a Dutch plate on Jane Wineberger’s table linen around mid-day in July”. I know what everything is in my drawings – it would be hard not to what with staring at those items for hours and hours. Seems like I ought to own up to the knowledge, especially when I want to emphasize the object in the context of the painting, as is the case with the Dutch plate which belonged to my neighbor Rose, who died on Midsommer.
I guess the proof will be going forward, if I can keep to a schema. You should let me know what you think.
This is a really ugly photo of a wonderful cake. Seriously, it’s so good it has been massacred by its fans. I have no idea why this cake is called “Monkey Bread” – oh wait, I could look it up. Wikipedia says the origin of the name is not certain, but it may have been the cake’s resemblance to the 
Today was forecast to be “mostly cloudy”, which on the island means fog and drizzle until afternoon when the wind changes over the ocean and blows the clouds off. Meanwhile, I got a fire permit for brush cleanup in the lower garden. A fire permit. In July. That should never happen – I actually took this picture just so I’d have proof ten years from now, surrounded by the dry, crisp brown foliage and powdery duff of a more typical July in 2020.
My primary tasks for today were to check for a laying queen (through the presence of eggs and larvae) and give them some additional living space (if necessary).I use medium supers because I’m not strong enough to move a full hive body weighing over 130 pounds.
These two hives are named “To Bee” and “Not to Bee”. “Not” is a nuc start hive and is still a little more populous than “To”. The bees in “Not” were completely unfazed by my invastion this morning – didn’t even come up to check me out. “To” was fairly agressive, coming up to the face veil and following me about 20′ from the hive after I was finished. Here’s a close-up of the free comb with bees still attending. It was actually fairly difficult to determine absolutely that the queen was not milling around there somewhere.
Everything in the hoop house is just fine. Juliet, Purple Melissa and currant tomatoes are happy and blossoming while their outdoor cousins are turning yellow around the edges. Sacred basil, anise hyssop and the second crop of lettuces are still in pots, waiting for the day when I can dodge showers long enough to plant them out.
The Campenula are in bloom, and we had a sunny day! This variety has a lustrous blossom, the petals are almost reflective, and a beautiful color in the sunlight.
This photo shows the starry, silvered dwarf campenula, as well as the dwarf variety with huge, pendulous white blooms. Not for the first time, I swear Ill be better about recording what variety I plant somewhere permanent and easily referenced.