Day Trip to Burlington.

8-21-08 VERMONT: Two nights ago, it was so cold we needed a fire, last night we had dinner at Donna and Bruce's with Phyllis, Arnie and Peggy. Thanks, Donna, it was great.

Today was beautiful, sunny and warm, I think it was the third nice day this summer. We drove to Burlington for a visit, an easy 1.5 hours on I-89N. The UVM campus is right in town. Most of Church St. is a pedestrian mall with lots of outdoor restaurants and lots of clothes stores, all about four blocks up the hill from the Lake Champlain waterfront. The center of town is filled with renovated 19Th century brick buildings. We had a water-side lunch with a clear view of the Adirondacks, watching the boats come and go.

Walking back to the car after lunch, we happened on an antique store and got a long park bench at a bargain price—an anniversary present to each other. It just fit in the back of the Subaru.

New blooms: flea bane, bane berry, heliopsis.


burlington, VT-Church St. Mall. Lots of outdoor eating and clothes stores.

Burlington, VT-water front lunch.

Empty Handed at the Auction.

8-19-08 VERMONT: We shared Peking Duck with Dave and Gail at an Asian restaurant in Lebanon last night. On the way home we had a distant lightening show off to the north. By the time we got here, it was raining and some canines were whining, panting and shaking. I won’t embarrass the faint of heart by mentioning any names, Chloe.

This morning there was 0.65 inches of rain in the gauge, the rain was down to light showers and it was cold and windy. We went to an auction at an old farm in Lancaster, NH. It’s a cute town, east of St. J, VT on the edge of the White Mountains. We made a couple bids, but bought nothing. We’re supposed to get some summer later in the week.

The kitchen is full of tomatoes, and we eat corn every night. The plan for tomorrow is to make and freeze pasta sauce.

New blooms: white star clematis.


Water, lily pads, sun.

Winding Down.

8-16-08 VERMONT: We continue to have a shower almost every day. Today we had a bit of rain and a lot of electricity but no wind. Chloe was frantic. She’s not a thunder lover. Rain total in the last few days is only 0.20 inches.

Dan and Lily have come and gone. August is waning as we creep up to September. The days are already shorter. This summer has been cool and wet, I may have mentioned that, and getting cooler, earlier each evening.

New blooms: globe thistle, lobelia, aster.



Thunder Storms Make for Interesting Skies.

Mildew Attacks.

8-11-08 VERMONT: Bette and Lonnie visited on their way down from Maine. They arrived on a beautiful Saturday, our first non-rainy, warm, sunny, dry day in over a week, and left Sunday morning. After they left, the rain started again and continued today all day.

Judy and I, mostly Judy, gave a dinner Saturday night while the Hanauers were here. Judy’s presentation was awesome. The guests included Ken and Jane, Lee and Judy W., Phyllis and Arnie, Andy and Katie—mostly docs, all from our road. Lots of internship stories.

Sunday night we had dinner at the Hannons with the Hanlons. We had a hibachi night in the gazebo—it was great. Their setting is beautiful. Thanks, Boom-Boom.

Dan comes up tonight to pick-up Lily when camp ends on Wednesday.

New blooms: more mushrooms.


More Mushrooms, yellow series.

Mushrooms Take Over.

8-8-08 VERMONT: More rain. Everything is soggy, damp, squishy and dripping. We have had another 2.25 inches since 8-5-08 with more forecast for today and Sunday. The flower stalks are falling over from the repeated pelting.

Mushrooms are popping up all over. They are all different in form, size, color, shape, texture, but I can’t say anything about taste. I counted at least fifteen varieties.


We went to the Shelburne Museum on Wednesday. It’s near Burlington, about a 90 minute drive for us. They have a Mary Cassatt show this summer and a small impressionist collection. We like the Americana and the folk art and the colonial houses, barns and stores that have been preserved.

New blooms: black-eyed susan, liatris, more phlox.

Stormy Weather.

8-5-08 VERMONT: The monsoon continues. We have another 0.7 inches in the rain gauge. The pond is full, both ponds are full, and there are big puddles in the pasture. The forecast is for rain the next five days. I haven’t watered in weeks. I did pruning and weeding, transplanted a few volunteers and cleaned the culvert yesterday. Tomorrow I’ll order lumber for the ark.

New blooms: catmint.


Seems happy with the weather.

Do these guys get bigger every time it rains?

Sun Flower.

8-3-08 VERMONT: When we got back up here after our week in NJ and NYC, Lynn, there was 0.75 inches of rain in the gauge and another storm last night to start August in soggy fashion. We had a total of 5.6 inches of rain here in July, a bit more than normal. The pond is clearer after the barley straw pellets dissolved, but the clearing may just have been due to flushing out the algae by all the rain.

We saw the Happy Camper yesterday evening. She was preparing dinner for eight over a wood fire. Today she is off for a five day hike on the AT between Crawford Notch and Franconia Notch.

The veggies are ripening. We have a bowl of tomatoes in the kitchen, and lots of corn that will be ready in a week or so. The moulin rouge sunflowers are six feet tall, and the first two have opened. I picked a quart of blueberries yesterday. It’s very quiet with all the grandkids gone, but definitely more relaxing.

New blooms: sunflower, goose-neck loosestrife, shasta daisy, soapwort, golden rod.


Sunflower, better color than the usual yellow.