6-1-23 VERMONT: In the few days since the last post, the apples are done, but the azaleas are here. The brook is filled with primrose in bloom. A pair of Eastern Phoebes are nesting on top of a lantern by the mudroom backdoor. They seem to be dealing with the intrusion of the humans on their domestic situation. One of the eggs has hatched because they are rushing back and forth with bugs. 

Another pair is visiting, Morgan and Eoin, from Colorado and California. Eoin is our grandson. They are a delight to have here for the week. Eoin has been here before, but it’s a first time in the east for Morgan. We have shown them some of the sites, Lakes Fairlee and Morey, Old City Falls, Huntington Farms, the Straffords, Woodstock, Cloudland Farms, Smith’s Auction Gallery, Janet’s alpacas, the general stores and today, they are off on their own to see Burlington.  

 

Blue has mastered the invisible fence and now goes outside without supervision. 

New blooms: double file viburnum, Siebold viburnum, Jacob’s ladder, geranium, Lily-of-the-valley, pagoda dogwood. 

Eastern Phoebe pair have borrowed our lantern for a while.

Unbridled Joy. Photo by Morgan Leary.

The brook between the ponds. We have worked to get primrose growing there, planted flowers from the nursey, transplanted volunteers from the yard and scattered seeds. It's starting to look the way we envisioned it.

The azaleas. There are four colors--orange, pink, magenta and salmon.

Creeping Veronica makes a bluish statement.

Morgan and Eoin at Old City Falls.

The alpacas freshly sheared. Dr. Seuss would have loved these creatures.

Memorial Day in VT.

5-27-23 VERMONT: We’re here, finally, the trip was a traffic nightmare, especially I-84.

The gardens are all busy with perennial rebirth. I am looking for all my plantings to appear and worry whether something is just late or dead. We seem to be pretty good, depending on some late sleepers waking up. 

I think we have trained Blue to the canine fence, but Judy is still nervous about letting her loose without supervision.

The upper pond has thousands of tadpoles. They have a tougher time in the lower pond with fish and turtles preying on them. 

One of the elms is dead and will need to be taken down. The apple trees are gorgeous--a Memorial Day regular event.

New blooms: ajuga, primrose, Virginia blue bell, columbine, lamium, honey suckle bush, water avens, star flower, golden alexander, trillium, azalea, apple tree, lilac, violet, bleeding heart, forget-me-not, tiarella, pulmonaria, spurge, epimedium, alkanet, marsh marigold, wild strawberry, Mohican viburnum, cowslip, blueberry, celandine, jack-in-the-pulpit, creeping veronica, buttercup, vinca, sweet woodruff, gill-over-the-ground, baneberry, false solomon’s seal.  

The apple tree by the deck. When the wind blows it's like snow.

Other apple trees.

The big picture, with an apple tree in the pond.

Bleeding hearts under the apple trees.

A few tadpoles, they're developing their hind legs.

A female rose-breasted grosbeak, not nearly the dramatic male I showed a few weeks ago.

Gray catbird, rarely seen at the feeder.

Mid-May II.

5-24-23 SHORT HILLS: We are off to VT tomorrow after weeks in NJ. I have done more pruning here, and we had Frank’s Tree back for  removal of a big dead branch on our locust tree. The remaining ash trees do not look healthy, I think they will need to go next year.

We have the first batch of new bird babies flitting around. House sparrows and house finches. They have been draining the feeders daily. I saw a house sparrow mom and baby both perched on a feeder while the mom fed seeds to the baby. The proud dad was hopping around on the bird bath. 

New blooms: purple rhododendron, peony, kousa dogwood. 

Peony, I like the single flowers more than the more common doubles.

Tree peony.

Purple rhododendron.

Kousa dogwood.

House sparrow mom on the right and baby on the left. The mom was feeding seeds to the baby while...

Papa was watching.

Brookline Re-visited.

5-20-23 SHORT HILLS: Thursday we drove to Boston for Maggie’s graduation from Boston U. with her MSW. The graduation was in the afternoon at the Hockey Arena in the heart of BU-ville on the Boston side of the Charles River. BU extends for blocks and blocks from Back Bay to Allston, mostly between Commonwealth Ave and the river. 

We have been to many, many graduations beginning with our own and our children’s and our grandchildren’s and now our grandchildren’s graduate school graduations. It is thrilling to see your child or grandchild get their diploma and, now, their hood, but boring to watch everyone else’s relative do the same thing, and the speeches—zzs-town for the most part. 

Afterwards we drove down to Boston harbor where Val and Steve are staying, admired their hotel, and then the five of us went to dinner at Lucia to celebrate the graduation.  

Judy an I were staying in Brookline at a hotel on Beacon Street not far from where we lived in the early 60’s when we were both BU students, Judy an undergrad and me in med school. On our way out of town the next morning, we visited the street where we lived back then. It is totally gentrified, we hardly recognized the neighborhood, but took pix of ‘our’ building. 

While we were in Boston, Lily graduated from NYU Law School, and Lucy graduated from NYU French Institute with a Masters. Lucy goes to France soon to do research for her thesis in Paris. Lily will soon be working for a big law firm. Maggie will be returning to NYC after a decade in Boston. 

New blooms: English holly, Japanese snowball, tree peony.

Academic procession in the hockey arena.

Maggie with Hood and Diploma case.

Smiles all around now that it's over.

Dinner at Lucia.

Judy at 34 Garrison Rd. Our apt was the middle one.

The front door to our building. That is my BUSM alumni hat.

Mid-May.

5-15-23 SHORT HILLS: We’ve had some days in the eighties—feels like summer. I have continued to do pruning and trimming, there’s lots more to do. I laid the flagstones that the tree crew had taken up, afraid that they would have damaged them with their heavy machines. Those three feet by two feet slabs of slate are heavy. 

I saw a Rose-breasted grosbeak at the feeder yesterday. We see them a lot in VT, but never before in NJ. The House wren is here and is singing a lot and has moved into the nest house.

Bill and Lynn were here Friday for dinner and to meet Blue. Blue seems to be fitting in with the pack very well. 

Thursday we go to Boston for Maggie’s graduation from BU with an MSW. The same day Lily graduates from NYU law school, and the same day as Lucy graduates from NYU with a Masters in French. 

Judy was at Newark BI today for her first dog therapy visit there since the start of Covid—many hugs and kisses. 

New blooms: hawthorn, deutzia, chokecherry.

Rose-breasted grosbeak. See one once and you never forget it.

The wren house between lilacs behind it and bridal wreath spirea in front. There are Rose-of-Sharon in there also, to bloom in August.

The house wren perched nearby watching the house.

House wren again.

Deutzia is very happy in the shade.

Charleston II.

5-12-23 SHORT HILLS: I promised pix of Charleston after we were there, but I just remembered that I never posted anything. Here, at long last, are some pix from the old parts of Charleston, which are filled with gorgeous houses and parks. There are government buildings made of stone in Greek revival style.  The area around College of Charleston has lovely houses converted to dorms and lots of old live oaks dripping Spanish moss. One unusual style point has the main entrance to the house from the street, not in the center of the building, but on one end, and it opens onto the porch. The porches are often two stories with elaborate moldings and railings. The porch ceilings are painted blue. Why? So ghosts will think that the blue ceiling is open sky and will not hang around that house. If you want to know why that scares ghosts away, you'll have to ask one.

Beautiful old tree at CofC.

Horse drawn carriage tours are a frequent site, and they're frequently passed by cars.

A stately house [they're all stately] with the porch on front. The entrance door is still on the side of the front.

Door on the side of the front opening onto the porch.

Another one.

Here's a variation with a lot of porch--a good idea in a hot climate, especially before AC.

Street number. 

Blue Makes Herself at Home.

5-9-23 SHORT HILLS: Blue is rapidly learning the routine and has been accepted by the older dogs. Judy is walking her in town now to teach her lead walking. She is happy with our fenced yard, and we are happy to let her roam.

I did some pruning here this morning. There’s a lot to do, the result of last year’s drought. Rhododendrons did badly. Most of the deciduous trees and shrubs did well.

New blooms: burning bush, honeysuckle, double file viburnum, chestnut, bridal wreath spirea, Carolina allspice, Siebold viburnum.  

The first butterfly of the season, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Somebody took a bite out of the left hind wing.

The Dog Whisperer with three friends-Maizie, Blue and Blanca.

Maizie.

Bridal wreath spirea.

Double-file viburnum.

First rhododendron.

Leucothoe, more white bells.