Paradise Regained.

7-30-24 VERMONT: Judy and I are back in VT as of Sunday, the day Anna, Gardner, Emmett and Yangchen left for NYC. They left the house in good shape and had a great time here, judging from all the pix and stories. We are very pleased that they had a good time, and just wish we had been here to be part of it.

Both Judy and I have some residual fatigue and cough, but we are 98% recovered from Covid. I resumed PT yesterday. Judy is preparing for this week’s guests, Alison and Dan. 

The gardens have been busy on their own in my absence. [As if they would behave differently in my presence.] There are lots of new blooms, all ahead of schedule. The last daylily, I think, came out today as July ends. We had 2.3 inches of rain, but the ponds have gotten lower still. 

I brought a couple Rose-of-Sharon volunteers from Short Hills. They are growing all over that yard with many volunteers available. I tried to transplant one here in the 90’s that died during the winter. Neighbor Valerie has some growing in her garden, so I decided to give it another try. 

New blooms: mullein, lily, fall anemone, white turtlehead, cup plant, meadow rue [second kind], Joe Pye weed, helenium, more phlox.

These are true lilies. They last for several days. Daylilies are much easier to grow.

Another kind of lily.

White turtlehead. These are smaller and much earlier than the larger pink ones.

Helenium, also called sneeze weed because it comes out at the same time as ragweed, but is an innocent bystander.

Fall anemone usually blooms in September, but here it is now.

Meadow rue, a similar tall plant with the same name blooms in June. That one has flothy, cotton candy like flowers. This one is a favorite of hummingbirds. The hummers also like the bee balm and hostas that are out now, but are very territorial and chase each other away. They also drained the feeder, which I refilled.

In Exile.

7-23-24 SHORT HILLS: The date line is correct. We are here in NJ because I caught Covid and passed it on to Judy two days later. The reason we left VT was to give the place to Anna, Gardner, Emmett and Yangchen. They were scheduled to have this week, with us, to do lots of Vermont things. 

We were looking forward to this week as the highlight of the summer, but it’s not to be. I got sick Thursday and started Paxlovid Friday after a positive Covid test. I finished the drug yesterday and am nearly well today. Judy got it a couple days after me and can’t take Paxlovid, but is already recovering without it. This evening she was outside trimming and weeding. 

In a few days we’ll retest, and if negative, go back up, maybe catching the guests their last day. 

New blooms: Rose-of-Sharon.

Emmett seems to like the kithen bench.

Confronting a cow at Billings Farm.

Daddy and Emmett.

First goat.

Bouquet on the deck. They have been feasting on tomatoes and blueberries from the yard.

Beryl Causes Havoc.

7-12-24 VERMONT: Hurricane Beryl is now history, but the damage she left in VT—flooding, outages, wind damage, road and bridge damage—will take a long time to repair. It all happened on the one year anniversary of similar flooding. Here we had almost nothing, 0.80 inches of rain, no wind damage, no road damage. We were south of the storm track. 

We have had some very hot days, in the nineties, but the heat pumps have kept us cool. Since the storm passed the weather has been fine, even the bugs are less annoying. 

I did some more pruning yesterday, and still have lots more to do.

I saw three painted turtles in the lower pond, and I have not seen the snapper for a few weeks. I set the game cam to take pix of the owl house, and it took almost sixty pix over a couple days, but no sign of anyone using the house. 

We are almost half-way through the summer and flowers are all ahead of schedule.

New blooms: summer azalea, echinacea, evening primrose, rocket ligularia, astilbe, pickerel weed, more hostas. 

The delphinium, first the blue and then the purple, bloomed recently, but the storm broke several stalks so I cut them off and brought them inside. Judy put them in a vase.

The delphiniums turned the water purple.

Pickerel weed is an aquatic plant that makes a small tuft of purple flowers.

Great spangled fritillaries on milkweed.

Echinacea.

Our tenants, nesting under the eaves of the old mudroom. Yesterday I opened the door and they all flew away. I'm sure the parents are still feeding them somewhjeres in the yard.

Hybrid daylily.

Filipendula, there's one in the first picture also.

Culprit Nailed.

7-7-24 VERMONT: We nailed the crayfish culprit, caught him/her in the act—thanks to the game cam. It’s an owl, Barred Owl we think. Perhaps he/she lives in the owl house. 

Lily and Danna were here for the holiday, arriving on the night of the 3rd and leaving this morning. They are great guests, and we loved having them—they’re welcome anytime. Among the things we did together were, art show at Morrill homestead, parade at Strafford, Lake Mascoma and the Baited Hook, a visit to the alpacas, a visit to the bread/pizza oven and sugar shack across the street. They went to the fireworks at Lake Moray, played miniature golf and went swimming. It was a great Holiday weekend. Even if we had a bit of rain, 0.55 inches.

New blooms: bee balm, purple delphinium, first phlox, hybrid daylily, milkweed, mallow.

Owl caught by the game cam. I'm guessing Barred Owl.

Owl diving into the pond.

Owl leaving, presumably, with catch.

Cocktail hour on the deck, selfie by Danna.

Stafford parade 1.

Stafford parade 2.

Stafford parade 3.

Dinner at the Baited Hook.

Hybrid daylily. [This is a Garden Blog.]

And Good Night to all. [photo by Danna.]

Trojan Cow.

 7-2-24 VERMONT: We were at Lake Mascoma a few days ago to try the food at the Baited Hook restaurant. Judy had heard that the fried clams were good, and indeed they were. I had an excellent lobster roll. We ate inside on a cool and breezy day, but there is lots of outdoor seating for warmer weather. While we were there a couple arrived on a party boat with a golden retriever on board to pick up a takeout order. We’ll be back.

The days have been cool and dry, and the nights cooler. Now I’m starting to look for more rain, even though we got 0.65 inches a while back. I’ve done more pruning and other chores, and there’s plenty more to do. There is a farm in NH that we pass some times, it’s named ‘Never Done Farm’, I understand perfectly. 

The bear has not been back, and we are fine with that. I took down the game cam that was watching the area where the feeders were. I moved it to the upper pond where somebody has been eating crayfish. There are several little piles of shells along the bank. I assume that it’s an aquatic mammal, an otter or mink or fisher—we’ll see. 

On todays excursions, we stopped at Mac’s Maple for ice cream after Wm Smith’s where we picked up a swan Judy got at auction. 

New blooms: delphinium, oxeye.    

At Mac's Maple a metal cow on wheels, big enough for people to hide in. Obviously a Trojan Cow.

The new swan has joined the flock in the dining room.

Daylilies reflacted in the pond.

One of the last Itoh peonies.

The lower pond amidst the greenery.

Delphinium in blue, purple will be out next week.

Takeout lunch.