Ay, ay ay, July!

Of course it's hot, it's always hot in July in Kansas. It's just that there's been no break from it for so very long now. Sigh. Practicing patience and praying none of the window AC units break down.

Farmer's Market in Topeka July 9. I never seem to be able to capture the effect of the long row of stalls and the aisle full of people. I guess I need a ladder to get up on.

Ah, yes, vegetables! This is why I like to get to the market when I can, and what makes Summer worth the trouble.

Mmmm.

More mmmm.

I bought corn, yellow squash, zucchini, green beans, new potatoes, and red tomatoes for slicing for BLTs. All good, very good.

In the home "garden" the little Sungold tomatoes continue to arrive; I don't have a picture of any of them though. The plant doesn't look very well but there are still green and orange tomatoes, so I keep watering it. And watering it. And watering it. That is the real work of growing plants in pots, the watering.

Ms. Monarda has dropped her fancy clothes. All the purple petals either fell off or dried up. Now I'm waiting for the seeds to form and the heads to dry; I might try to save some of those. There are also little bitty Monarda plants where she's expanding her space, and I'm happy to let her do that, for now. I know that since she's a Mint, I may have to rein her in eventually.

Monarda heads, sans petals.

Not as glamorous, but still interesting to me. And...

There is still purple there, you just have to work harder to find it.

Just like I have to work harder to find enjoyment in this stretch of 100+ days that seems like it will never end. Whew.