Closing Down.

8-27-24 VERMONT: Our season ends Thursday when we go back to NJ. We are losing a bit of summer here, but we both have much to do in Sept. We have been have been doing packing and close-up all week. Scott was here for a day to help with the storm doors and the benches and chairs that get put away. We also stowed away hoses, hammock, flags, rockers and more. The tomatoes and herbs will go to NJ.   

We went to the Goose Pond Equestrian Center to see Tina and her horses compete in barrel racing. Raven won a ribbon! 

We have been eating out to avoid generating a lot of trash before the trip and have been to C & S pizza for takeout, Murphy’s, Red Can last week and tomorrow, Tuckerbox tonight with Shari and David.

The weather has been mild with cool nights and plenty of rain. I can’t say how much because the rain gauge is put away.  

New blooms: pink turtlehead. 

I spent some time outside with the birds and took some pix. This female ruby-throated hummer is taking a break. Can you see her tiny feet. She could easily fit into the glass slipper.

A song sparrow on pride rock. The ID is a little iffy.

A snake in the grass. Judy saw it early in the morning, and it was so cold it couldn't slither away.

Tina on Peachez doing the poles.

Pink turtlehead in front of white hosta.

Fall anemones blooming in summer. The wood pile in the back fore-shadows the next season.

The pond roses keep blooming.

Feels Like Fall.

8-20-24 VERMONT: A cold, gusty wind has blown us into fall today, it’s in the fifties. Suburban Energy was here today to service the furnaces. Tomorrow, the 21st, will see the sun halfway back to the Equator at about 12° North latitude, and a month from now it will be at the Equator and Fall begins. For now, it’s supposed to warm up by the weekend.

Today I saw one monarch caterpillar on the swamp milkweed by the pond, Asclepias incarnata. It was pretty big, but not big enough to go to chrysalis phase yet. It is the first one I have seen this year. I had almost given up hope of seeing them here. Maybe it’s the first of many.

The game cam caught a blue heron leaving the lower pond. The heron flies with his neck folded back in an “S” shape. This is one of the differences between herons, egrets and storks. The storks fly with their necks extended.

New blooms: Siberian catmint, mint.

A game cam pic of the blue heron with neck bent back and legs extended.

The blue heron taking off. The legs are still down and the neck not bent back yet.

A stork in flight with the neck extended. This shot is from our trip to Morocco.

A monarch caterpillar on milkweed.

Lobelia volunteer in the bed below the deck.

A volunteer Siberian catmint growing in the brook between the ponds. I saw it a few weeks ago, but I just ID'd it today.

Closing Up Begins.

8-16-24 VERMONT: It’s been dry with only a brief shower, 0.05 inches, for the last few days. We had warm days and cool nights. There was solar flare activity, but we had overcast skies. We are wrapping things up for the summer and do not expect to be back until Xmas. Judy brought the rockers in this morning, while I put away a couple hoses and emptied summer baskets and put out the dryer vent cover. Scott will help with the benches and storm doors.

I am getting a new knee in Sept and anticipate rehab and walkers, etc again. I hope this next go-round will be over sooner than the current one. 

New blooms: white star clematis, tree hydrangea, lobelia.  

Roses are back in action.

Roses and more of the pond bank.

Ecanacea and phlox.

More of the pond bank.

TS Debby Visits Vermont.

8-11-24 VERMONT: Tropical Storm Debby blew through the area a few days ago. Trees were down in places and a lot of rain fell. We got 2.75 inches of rain and a few branches came down. We did not lose power. It could have been much worse.

Val and Steve were here. We went to the Baited Hook for lobsters and clams during the storm. The day before we ate at Elixir. They left on warm, dry and sunny Saturday. 

Yesterday Roger, Ann and Laura-Beth stopped by in the afternoon to see us and Shari and Dave. In the evening we went to Cloudland Farm with Shari and Dave and Cousin John for one of their extraordinary meals. After dinner, we stopped by at the Pavilion Dance Hall to catch neighbor Steve and his band playing for the contradance. It all made for a busy day and night.

New Blooms: ghost plant [used to be called Indian pipe], ligularia dentata, goose-neck loosestrife, monkshood, first aster.

Ligularia dentata opens a month after rocket ligularia.

Blanca goes for a swim while Blue walks the bank hunting frogs.

Game Cam pic of the fox on nightly rounds.

Steve playing his violin in the background and an unknown dancer.

August Begins.

8-6-24 VERMONT: Dan and Alison left yesterday. They were great guests because Judy and I were both sick, again, with a gastroenteritis. We were in bed or sleeping on the sofas while the guests helped take care of us—shades of the future. Now we are recovered, but still a bit tired. 

Valerie and Steve are due to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully we will remain well. 

In the gardens things have pretty much taken care of themselves, but that only works for a short while. There has been rain everyday, sometimes a brief shower and other times hard rain for most of the day. We have had 1.3 inches in the past week. 

We have had Blue Heron and Kingfisher visits this week, and the owl has been back at the upper pond for crayfish, but the game cam pix weren’t good.

New blooms: black-eyed susan, goldenrod, sedum.

From the bed below the deck, upper right yellow flowers of cup plant, in the center orange oxeye, magenta bee balm, purple meadow rue.

Game Cam caught this fox.

Another Game Cam image of wild life.