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I have had to look at the calendar these past couple months to remind myself that it is summer. In spite of the cold, rainy weather, my tomato plants managed to produce some ripe tomatoes.

You are looking at just over 12 pounds of tomatoes.

I buy my seed from Territorial Seed Company because they raise their seeds in Oregon. I figure seeds born in the North West should do well here on Bainbridge Island. I stick with the “early” varieties because it takes a while for the garden to warm up in the summer.

In the photo, the larger and medium sized tomatoes are “Celebrity” and “Oregon Spring”. The small ones are “Glacier”. The Glaciers are suppose to be larger than they are turning out. My favorite are the Oregon Spring tomatoes. They taste great plus they are reliable and good producers.

These tomatoes are bound for a big batch of tomato sauce. Two years ago, I bought a copy of Lidia’s Family Table and made the “Summer Tomato Sauce” recipe. OMG! With tomatoes fresh from the garden and garlic that I grew myself, this is the best tomato sauce ever! I put out 30 plus tomato plants so I can make as much of this sauce as possible. I cook huge batches and freeze it two cups at a time in vacuum sealed bags. Seriously, this sause makes the best spaghetti I have tasted. My family weeps in the spring when we eat the last bag of it.

BTW: if you have a copy of “Lidia’s Family Table” or plan on purchasing a copy, find the recipie for broccoli di rabe with chick peas and use regular brocolli instead of the broccoli di rabe. Very tasty…

I was fascinated by those one-wheeled cycles that were ridden in the Olympics closing ceremony. There is not a lot of information to be found about them right now but I did manage to find this:

“One Wheel Bodybuilding Entertainment Bicycle”

If you have even a little nerd in you, I recommend you check out the Nerdfighters.

Front Door "Finished", originally uploaded by just…eD.

I ran some steel wool over the inside trim this morning and removed the last of the masking tape. The front door project is complete and just in time. Mary and Jared return home from Kansas tonight.

New Front Door, originally uploaded by just…eD.

We had a new front door installed. Click on the picture to see more photos.

Mary’s Flowers, originally uploaded by just…eD.

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Mary worked hard planting lilies in her flower gardens and unfortunately, they have decided to put on their best show while she is in Kansas.

Google has a site that is a human powered image labeler. The site pairs you up with another person. Each person starts entering keywords. If you and your partner enter the same word, then you get points. It sounds cheesy but is actually kind of fun.

Googles Image Labeler

Sidewalk and Patio Improvements, originally uploaded by just…eD.

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I have not been making good progress on my list of home improvement projects so I relented and did not protest when Mary suggested hiring a landscaper. A couple weeks ago, the landscaper dudes spent one day pulling weeds and spreading compost. Yesterday they started in on the back patio and today they extended the sidewalk out to the street. I think the patio and sidewalk extension look great because they really fit in with our log house. Even though it is a hit to the bank account, it is a great relief to have these projects finished.