End of the Season.

8-27-19 VERMONT: It’s the end of our extended stay in VT for summer. We go back to NJ tomorrow. We will be back for short visits over the next few months, especially to see the barn repair and new pond work. I did a pond treatment today, some watering, inspected the special herbs, which are not ready for harvesting as yet.

I transplanted a bunch of phlox that we got from friend and neighbor Jane, who had to thin out her beds. They are very vivid purple and red plants with almost none of the mildew that phlox often get. I planted about ten at three sites on the pond bank.

Other work was part of closing up, I put hoses away, painted the bench by the garage that was falling apart from the weather. I did repairs on it first. It will need another coat of paint. I spread mulch in some spots. I raked and shoveled out the big chip pile left over form the maple that came down two weeks ago. The grass seed they scattered after the work came up very quickly.

The four monarch chrysalises are not open yet. The hummingbird moth has been back, on the phlox this visit. The leaves are starting to turn on a few tree tops. We still need rain. Maybe tomorrow, when we’re on the road.

Pending blooms: toad lily, ligularia dentata, snakeroot, hibiscus, more asters.


Last view of Mt. Lafayette for a while.

Insects and Birds.

8-25-19 VERMONT: We have had some rain, total of about two inches, but are getting dry again. The pond was almost full, but is dropping once more. Early yesterday morning the temp was in the forties, and it never got out of the sixties all day, today it did get back to the seventies.

I have been watering for the past few days, and done a bunch of other chores, with an eye to closing up, for the time being, when we go back to NJ next week. I may get back here in late September.

The barn work is progressing, and the barn cupola was inspected and will need some repairs.

We had dinner with Ken and Jane at Elixir a couple evenings ago, and we had lunch with Brooke and Jim at Simon Pearce a few days before that.

There was a visit from a hummingbird moth, who likes my beebalm. It’s a big bug that hovers, like its namesake, while taking nectar from the flowers. The wing beats are so fast that all the pix of the wings are blurred. It’s big, half the size of the bird, and can be confused with the bird. It hung around for an hour. I haven’t seen one for a few years.

The monarch caterpillars have gotten huge and four have formed chrysalises. There are still some small caterpillars too.

I saw an immature yellow-bellied sapsucker on an apple tree and took pix with my iPhone, but they are not very clear or sharp.

New blooms: soapwort, aster, Joe Pye weed.


Hummingbird taking a break, the only time you can see the wings without blur.

Monarch caterpillar, top center, and monarch chrysalis, lower center. The chrysalis has been there about a week, it's the same color as the plant leaves, which probably figures. There are still many caterpillars on this plant and three other chrysalises.

Surprise visitor to the bee balm, a hummingbird moth. It's about half the size of the bird and has wing beats so fast you can barely catch a blurred image. Here you can see legs, antenna, abdomen and wings.

Here's the tongue and head with an eye, wings a total blur.

Furry back of the thorax and furry antennae, wings visible.

Bumble bee for size comparison.

Joe Pye weed, tall and purple, some are 5-6 feet high.

Asters are suddenly popping open.

That's a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, immature, without the red head markings. Photo is from an iPhone, which explains the poor quality.

Vermont Vineyard.

8-21-19 VERMONT: Two months after the summer solstice, and the sun is halfway back to the Equator, where it will be on the Autumnal Equinox in less than a month. Apples and rosehips are turning red.

We are getting more rain today, and it’s in the sixties. I have a sweater on, and we may need a fire tonight.

Last Sunday was beautiful, and we took a ride north to Corinth, VT, [the native Vermonters pronounce it ‘Crinth’ BTW.] and visited Montview Vineyard. It’s on a one lane dirt road. The vines are up on a hillside overlooking the Connecticut Valley with Mt. Moosilauke in the distance. There are several acres of vines, different varieties, hardy to 35° below. They have just started making their own wines after years of selling their grapes to others.

We tasted four wines and Judy especially like the Sangria, which we bought. They offer dinner at the winery and wine tastings on the weekends. They also sell wine at the Norwich Farmers Market. The website is https://montviewvineyard.com.

New blooms: lobelia.

Apples are ripening, summer is ending.

Grapes on the vines.

Vineyard in the mountains.

Moosilauke on the horizon.

Grape taster.

Rainbows and Butterflies.

8-19-19 VERMONT: We’re finally getting rain, almost every day for the past few days, and we’ve gotten more than an inch of the several inches we need. On the way to the movies the other night we saw a great rainbow between T-storms.

In the pasture the mint is as high as my eye and is in bloom. It’s covered with pollinators, a variety of bees, other insects, and butterflies. Here are a few pix that I caught recently. Goldenrod is also in bloom, but doesn’t seem to be as popular as the mint.

There are lots of Monarch butterflies and every patch of milkweed has caterpillars. I counted twenty on one large milkweed, but only one chrysalis so far.

New blooms: white-star clematis.


Rainbow between T-storms, in Lebanon, NH, on the way to see Blinded by the Light. We loved the rainbow and the movie.

Monarch on milkweed. There are lots of butterflies this year.

Three Monarch caterpillars of about twenty on this large clump of swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata.

A Monarch Chrysalis on the same plant, the first one I've seen this year.

When the caterpillars decide to metamorphose, they fasten onto the underside of a leaf and form a hook shape like this one to become a Chrysalis.

Painted Lady on mint.

White Admiral also on mint.

Also on the mint, another Monarch?? No, it's a Viceroy. The chief difference is that line on the hindwing that intersects all the other lines. It's an example of mimicry as a survival advantage. the Monarchs are toxic to birds, who avoid them, so the Viceroys get that protective benefit by looking like the Monarchs without having to develop the protective toxicity mechanism.

The Red Maple Is Gone.

8-15-19 VERMONT: We had a nice dinner in Canaan with Gretchen and John, Laura-Beth and Denny and hosts Julie and Dudley. Their place on the lake is beautiful, dinner was wonderful and the conversation interesting. That was Tuesday, tonight we were back at Candela Tapas with Shari and Dave. Tomorrow we go to Cloudland Farm for our 58th Anniversary.

Chippers, our tree people, were here yesterday to take down the dying red maple behind the pond. It used to have spectacular fall color, but the color faded as the tree was dying. This summer it dropped a huge branch that could have done damage to the other nearby trees. Joey and I cut that branch up for firewood. Chippers took the maple down, as well as a couple of crab apples, without damaging the nearby specimen trees. They ground down the stumps, graded and seeded the spots where the trees had been. I have some firewood to split and a load of chips in the pasture to rake out. I always feel a loss when an important tree dies. They will have to come back for one or two other trees that are dying.

Today I watered the newly seeded spots and used the string trimmer around the small barn and around the roses.

The big barn floor repair has started, but won’t finish until sometime in September.

New blooms: helenium, Casablanca lily, red sedum, mint.


Cedar Waxwing looking elegant even if his true identity is secret.

Mint in flower with a monarch who has a sweet tooth, or tongue.

The big red maple is gone. It should be in the center of this pic, but has been turned into chips and firewood. It wasn't completely dead, but had dropped major branches and was something of a hazard. At one time its red fall color was so vivid that people driving by stopped to take its picture, but it had stopped showing that dramatic pigment as it dwindled.

These Casablanca lilies have a perfume that fills the air. They appear just as the daylilies are finished.

Helenium.

Sedum. the first of several that will last into November.

Cold Day.

8-10-19 VERMONT: Today is chilly, in the sixties and partly cloudy. We have had some rain, brief showers with a total accumulation of 0.25 inches—we need more rain.

The garden is threatening to go wild with weeds and over growth, an annual August hazard. I did open up the path between the driveway and new house, the hydrangea and azaleas had closed it. Weeds are everywhere, and I have pulled them from some of the beds. I’m glad the plants and shrubs are healthy and prospering, but they need to be disciplined.

We had dinner with cousin John at Candela Tapas Lounge.

We had a short visit from newly retired friend Bill, and the three of us went to an almost surprise party for old friend Gail given by husband Dave. It was a warm event and was nice to see a bunch of people that we hadn’t seen for a long time.

New blooms: potentilla, monkshood, white turtlehead, Indian pipe.


Ruby-throated hummingbird, male, the females are all green.

Eastern towhee, immature, the mature males are pretty dramatic looking.

Aphrodite fritillary on milkweed.

Eastern phoebe looks a lot like the other flycatchers.

White turtlehead, the pink ones won't open for a few weeks.

One of several crawfish eating algae from the edge of the pond.

Monarch caterpillar on milkweed. There are several caterpillars of varying sizes on the native plants and the garden varieties of milkweed.

Portsmouth and Kittery.

8-6-19 VERMONT: Yesterday we did a day trip to Portsmouth, NH. We drove south to Concord and followed the signs to Portsmouth, which put us on Rt. 4, a two-lane road with traffic lights and construction delays. On the way back, we used Rt. 101 and saved an hour! We were supposed to go to visit Ken and Carol in Southwest Harbor, ME, this week, but canceled because of concerns for Gus’ health.

Portsmouth was settled in the early 1600’s and is named for Portsmouth, England, which is in Hampshire County. The first settlement, Strawberry Banke, named for the wild strawberries growing there, is a block from the water. The Strawberry Banke Museum now consists of about thirty buildings, most original to the site and dating from 1600’s for the earliest. The structures are in various states of restoration. We spent a couple hours seeing most of what was open yesterday. A block to the east is Water Street and the harbor. A couple blocks to the northwest is Market Square with shops and eateries and North Church, built, approximately, two hundred years ago and two hundred years after the first settlement.

We crossed the Piscataqua River to Kittery Maine and Bob’s Clam Hut, a fav, for lunch before heading back to VT.

Back in the pasture, while exercising the dogs, I noticed several Monarch butterfly caterpillars on one patch of milkweed.


Weathervane at Portsmouth Harbor.

Strawberry  Banke, Chase House above and below.

Fancy bedroom, Chase House.

Jefferson Street. The flags indicate which buildings are open today.

Aldrich House arbor with chairs in the shade.

Street corner of Jefferson and Atkinson. The flag is the 'Grand Union Flag', first USA flag, from 1775-1777.

Portsmouth Harbor.

Market Square, North Church, from early 1800's.

Back in Thetford, Monarch caterpillars are grazing on milkweed, I counted 7 on juct one patch.

August Begins.

8-3-19 VERMONT: It has been very dry here, the grass is brown in spots, the pond is down a couple of inches, all the wet spots have dried up, and I have been watering the new plantings. We did have two brief T-storms that give us a total of 0.25 inches, not much, but better than nothing. The weather has been hot, regular, old summer days, but the nights are cool.

We had pizza for dinner earlier this week, made in the new bread oven, by the neighbors across the street, Diana and Steve. Andy and Katie were there also. Everybody had a chance to roll the dough and apply the toppings. The oven temperature was 500°. They cooked in about five minutes. Domino’s might be in trouble.

The next night we had dinner with Dave and Gail at Elixir in White River Junction during one of those T-storms.

Anna and Gardner are here this weekend. He has been interviewing students for an internship, and she arrived by air yesterday. We picked her up in Lebanon and had dinner at Tuckerbox in WRJ. Tonight we are grilling here.

The barn is sick. The floor is uplifted in a couple of spots from frost heaves that have not subsided with the warm weather. It also has rotted floorboards, and there is rot in the platform under the floor. We discovered the rot when we took up a couple of the uplifted boards. Apparently, too much water under the barn can cause the pilings to get pushed up when it freezes, but the pilings don’t drop back down in place because dirt and debris fill the hole under the piling as the ice melts. It will need to be fixed and drainage pathways will need to be created. The entire barn above the floor is fine.

We have picked 6 quarts of blueberries with more to be picked. I noticed in town that they were selling for $5 a pint. Do the math.

I planted a bunch of vinca vines, annuals, in spots that the dogs dug up while looking for cool places to lie down, a practice I try to discourage. The vines were left over from the wedding, ornaments that never got used and had been set aside and forgotten. I saw them growing out from under a bush and thought, ‘what are those?’ and then remembered them. They are planted next to the foundation, so have an opportunity to survive the winter.

New blooms: blue clematis, gooseneck loosestrife, cup plant, more phlox.


The fox caught again at night near the small pond.

Flycatcher. There are several species that all look pretty much the same. This one might be the Least Flycatcher or the Willow Flycatcher, according to the bird ID apps.

Savanah Sparrow is very similar to the Song Sparrow.

Cup plant. Where the leaves meet at the stalk they form a cup that holds rain water. I don't think it does anything for the plant, but the bugs like it.

Catbird, definite ID.

I thought this clematis was a no show this year, but this late appearance is a nice surprise.

Common wood nymph, anyone?

White admiral on pasture milkweed. This patch of milkweed was mowed earlier in the summer, but has recovered and bloomed a bit later than the un-mowed milkweed.

Monarch displayed on swamp milkweed, A. incarnata, in the garden.