Blog Back On! - summer recap

Okey doke, here we go again! My blog output dropped so anemically this summer that I simply must have saved up some creative energy, eh? I'll try to keep the next posts short and rapid-fire rather than too-big bites. Otherwise I can't even keep a Part 2 post alive these days. But don't worry, if you're really curious about the intracacies of dog-grooming in foreign lands I'll try to finish that last post too.

In the meantime, check out our fancy rooftop garden this summer. Pictured here: San Marzano tomatoes, a rampant basil weed, thyme (obscured by said weed) and yellow tomatoes, also accompanied (not pictured) by a robust potted rosemary bush and not-as-robust Italian flat leaf parsley. All soaking up the sun on a lovely blue-skied summer day, of which we can boast quite a quantity from June through September this year, a longer summer and overall less rain than last year. We suffered one hot spell for about two weeks, only about 30-32ºC (86-90ºF) and less humidity than in the Midwest U.S., but those conditions can wear on you slightly without a shred of air conditioning at home, while sleeping or in the office (also sleeping?). And although overall I'm not a big weather-complainer, this year provided even the curmudgeons scant fodder.

So we overplanted our first-ever rooftop garden a bit, underestimating how much sun the plants would devour six stories up, and watched the tomatoes strangle each other mid-summer to yield ultimately a high count but low average weight tomato--more like large cherry tomatoes. Regardless they were fantastically delicious off the vine, especially the sweet yellow tomatoes. One summer evening we prepared the classic Italian, rely-entirely-on-quality-raw-materials caprese salad with freshly-picked tomatoes and basil with olive oil and a cheese reminiscent of fresh Mozzarella (that I mistook for a special Italian-commune-labeled Mozzarella but was actually more of an under ripe version that oozed after cutting; the cheese options in the average Swiss grocery might confuse you too!). The result... not bad at all! There may have been wine too...

I'll sign off here with one more summer pic. You'll remember that the Most Spoiled Dog on Earth enjoyed the services of a full-time caretaker and entertainer during the summer of 2008, since his primary servant then lacked a job in the human world. Hobbes's new typical schedule of Mon-Wed as the only boy in the house (with his servant in Lausanne) plus Thu-Fri with a work-from-home companion didn't settle well at first. After voicing his discontent several times regarding too much time home alone--including knocking out our internet for a full week (Swiss service doesn't exactly jump to fix things) and climbing up all 88 lean mean pounds on the brand new dining room table (really a first, I would've loved to see it) to impart a few choice, deep claw scratches in the wood veneer--and with lots of help from our awesome Mexican dog-sitter Mitzy, he was more or less on board with the new routine in Summer 2009, pictured here plotting to terrorize a family of ducks on Lake Zürich. Could you tell by the smile?