Mice and holes...

First the mice, because they're cute...

...catnip mice, made using Wendy's pattern. Very quick knit, excellent way to use up leftovers, and perfect for giving your favorite feline a little fun! I knit these two simultaneously, which always makes things go faster. (I really should learn how to do two socks at a time with magic loop!) My secret for stuffing these is putting the catnip inside a piece of old knee-high and tying it off with a little extra space (cutting off the extra length, because really, the mice only need two or three tablespoons of catnip to fill them) and stuffing the mouse with it. Despite knitting these at a very tight gauge, I can't imagine it holding in loose catnip without the extra barrier of the knee-high. These mice are for a friend's kitties, who I'll be meeting tomorrow. :)

Also on the knitting front, I finished my May charity hat today. I haven't added any more border to the afghan, though, because my hands were starting to protest all of that garter stitch, especially as the afghan is getting heavier to hold the bigger it gets...figured it would be good to give the hands a little rest. We knitters must learn to be kind to our hands, and taking a break from big projects by working on other things that use different weight yarn and different sized needles is one way to do that. (End public service announcement.)

And now for the holes...not mouse holes, but holes in my veggie plants!

Here is one of my otherwise healthy tomatillo plants (look at the blooms!), but do you see all those little white spots on the leaves? They're actually holes. These holes are also present in my tomatoes, radishes, beets, lettuces, cukes and several of my flowers. They don't seem to be killing the plants, but they look nasty. My online research into the issue leads me to believe it is a case of flea beetles, so now I'm trying to figure out the best way to deal with them. Sevin would probably be quickest, but I'm looking into some natural options too.

Otherwise, the salad garden looks pretty healthy!

Everything is growing at this point...the spinach and the herbs have been the slowest to get going, but the spinach is now finally starting to sprout its secondary leaves, which look much more spinach-like than the first ones, which just looked like grass. The radishes are going crazy. The onions are popping up by the inch as I watch, it seems. My cherry tomato plants are starting to develop little flowers (yeay!). The herbs? Well, they're being contrary. (I wonder if Mary, Mary was contrary because she was trying to grow stubborn herbs? Or maybe she had flea beetles eating her plants?*) Only small bits of the parsley and dill are up, and I'm not sure if the basil is actually up or not, or if those are just weeds I'm seeing. Thyme Time will tell. ;)

On the other side of the house, the flowers are doing their thing, too...

...two great big pink peony blossoms...

...and the dianthus is looking quite happy. We like happy plants.

*Ok, so I can't help but Google weird things today (like why a haymaker punch is called a haymaker, but that's a different story)...just when you think a nursery rhyme is just innocently contemplating flowers in a garden, you find this interpretation of it...well, ew! The Wikipedia entry for it offers some other interpretations, including additional Mary, Queen of Scots/Bloody Mary lore. Apparently Mary had more issues than flea beetles.