No Systems Go.

7-28-22 VERMONT: The trip back was uneventful, until we arrived home. The septic system had been pumped, and the electrician found the septic pump to be OK. The pipe connecting the septic tank and the pumping tank was old cast iron that was occluded and was responsible for the back-up. It was dug out with a backhoe replaced with PVC, and it was all re-buried. A lot of the turf is in place, but some large patches are dirt. I raked out the tracks and seeded and watered.

Bigger news follows—we had a very close lightning strike and lost the following to a power surge—two TV’s, one router, one satellite box, the GFI outlet in the garage and the dog invisible fence. The Canine Company was here and fixed the fence, but now it’s alarming again. Neighbor Randy replaced the GFI. Joe and I went to Best Buy and got a new router and installed it and added two extenders. The next day we went back and got two TV’s. The one in the kitchen went in quickly, but we had a lot of trouble with the one in the new house. It turned out that the satellite box was also zapped. Dish sent a new one and I got it all set up tonight. The good news about the lightning was that it came with 3.5 inches of rain.

Outside I saw some gorgeous lamb’s ears at Gardener’s Supply and bought five. I made a new bed where golden rod grows on the pond bank. I cut down about five feet of the weeds, dug out the roots and back filled with sand and potting soil, mixed it up and planted the new babies. I also added one poppy to the new bed, and one poppy to the poppy bed. The poppies were from Browns.

The poppies are Papaver orientale, ‘Royal Wedding’ and ‘Tangerine Gem’, the lamb’s ears are Stachys byzantina, ‘Helen von Stein’.

New blooms: golden rod, red lobelia, Indian pipe, Queen Anne’s lace, yellow rocket ligularia, hyssop, white turtlehead, more phlox. 

Hummingbird and bee balm.

Still at it.

Butterflies and bumble bees on echinacea.

Fall anemone with striped pollinator.

Tiger swallowtail looking kind of raggedy.

A couple of perennial beds.

Cardinal flower, lobelia.

Orange wasp and swamp milkweed.

Québec III.

Today we all slept in while it rained and thundered. After a late brunch, we went to the Aquarium du Québec as an indoor activity for a rainy afternoon. The Aquarium is about 10 miles south of the city, an easy drive, we had some time between showers to see the sea lions, walruses, and later a polar bear eating a watermelon, all outside. Inside there were lots and lots of fish, divided into fresh, brackish and salt water exhibits. For all of us the large octopus was the big attraction, he was playing with legos. 

Back in the city we went to Pub St-Patrick for poutine and beer. Later, after naps, we had dinner at the Frontenac. We were going to stay up for the Thursday fireworks on the river, but a deluge chased us back to the hotel, where we could see the show from our window. Joe was out at a concert.

The Aquarium had some very nice water gardens.

An arctic fox in winter coat at the Aquarium.

The octopus is quite a showman.

One of several lionfish.

A seal [or sealion] out of the water for a moment.

The polar bear drew the biggest crowd.

Québec II.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Clarendon Hotel and ambled through the old town on our was to the waterfront for our scheduled cruise on the St. Lawrence. The heat and sun drove us inside on the boat. The cruise showed us the big island, Île de Orléans and the Montmorency water fall. After the cruise, Judy and I had lunch and Joe went off to buy a BD gift for Siobhan. After naps we walked around the upper city and climbed the gate in the city wall at Rue St. Jean and followed the walls up to Rue Saint-Louis where our next restaurant, Le Continental, is located. Excellent meal. Then back to the promenade for another show and then off to bed.

The Clarendon Hotel.

View from the waterfront while we were waiting for the cruise to start.

The view from the river. That's a Canadian Coast Guard ship on the left.

The Montmorency waterfall is a few miles down river from Québec is a source of hydropower.

The church in the square of the old town and an interior shot.

The rest of the square in the old town.

The city wall and gate on Rue St. Jean.

Looking down on Rue St. Jean from the top of the gate.

The Kent Porte uphill from Porte St. Jean.

Chanticleer seen from Porte Kent.

Porte St-Louis, on our way to Le Continental for dinner.

Flambé filet at Le Continental.

Québec.

7-21-22 QUÉBEC CITY, CANADA: We got here on Tuesday afternoon, fleeing Vermont, where our septic system is out. We can’t flush or shower, wash clothes or dishes, too primitive for us. It’s supposed to get examined tomorrow, and, hopefully repaired.  I had started to uncover the septic pumping tank, and Addie finished. 

We love Québec, and have been here several times, but not for a few years because of Covid. Anyway we got here about 4 pm, and checked in at Hotel du Vieux-Québec, and started walking around the old city. We looked at the Chateau

Frontenac, watched a busker perform, went back to the hotel for dinner and then went back out for more exploration in the lower city and another performance. For us it was an early night, but Joe was out a bit longer. 

Judy and Joe in front of the Frontenac.

From the promenade, the St Lawrence and the old, lower city.

The promenade.

A busker as the clouds turned red.

The Hotel Du Vieux-Québec.

Mid-Summer.

7-17-22 VERMONT: It has stayed dry, and I’ve been watering every day. The forecast is for lots of rain next week when we’re traveling to Québec with grandson Joe, who arrives tomorrow for a short visit.

We filled out the forms for ArrivCanada for us today, they want to know and see proof of vaccination. 

Addie has been weeding the flower beds, mostly pulling out ferns. Now, I like ferns, but in the beds, they are very aggressive, crowding out everything else. Pulling them out has left holes in the beds that I, with help from Addie, have been filling. 

In the shade bed by the lower steps, we put two hellebore, H. X hybridus “Flower Girl’ and ‘Rio Carnival’, and two goat’s beard, Aruncus diocus. Four anemones went into the rock garden, A. Tomentosa ‘Robustissima’. Another turtlehead went in that bed, Chelone obliqua. Two epimedium went into the dryer vent bed by the viburnum, E. Rosea and E. Rubra. Two perennial foxglove went onto the pond bank, Digitalis ambigua, not a fern replacement site.

I have done a lot of tree pruning the last few days and Judy had helped pushing the cart load of cutting to the dump site.

New blooms: summer azalea, pickerel weed, pink filipendula, potentilla, phlox, campanula.

Delphinium make a colorful statement, especially at six feet tall.

Summer azalea, peach is a nice color for mid-summer.

The first of many phlox.

Ecinacea seem happy on the pond bank.

Dry July.

7-12-22 VERMONT: Val and Steve arrived for dinner tonight, we grilled chicken with roasted veggies, salad and strawberries with whipped cream. There was a lot of catching up during and after dinner. They arrived as the rain was stopping.

The rain was a shower for an hour, hard rain at times with some L & T in the background. We got 0.2 inches of much needed precip. I have been watering almost everyday. The upper pond is down a foot now, and it will need enough rain to saturate the hillside above it so that the runoff fills the pond. It will probably take a hurricane.

I have been busy with chores every day and Addie is set to come this week for more garden care. All the hydrangea transplants except one look good.

We had a dinner party last Friday for Steve and Diana, John, Katie and Andy and Susan without Bryan. The big hit was Judy’s peach Pavlova for dessert. The next day was re-cycling for all the empty wine bottles. Judy and I also had dinner at Midva in Windsor a couple nights ago—very nice. We also has a visit from Adina, Colin and Micah last Saturday. 

The septic system was pumped out during the week. Last pumping was 2013. 

New blooms: rosebay rhododendron, delphinium, swamp milkweed, hosta, more hybrid daylilies, meadow sage. 

Hybrid daylily, nice if you like red.

Another HDL, this one so pale as to be ghostly.

Great Spangled fritillary. This one sat still long enough for a pic.

Goldfinch, American, some are almost white, but this one has deep color.

Robin, American, they are so common on the lawn and around the yard that we tend to dismiss them, but we must recognise that they are an extremely successful species, which is why they're so common.

The Fourth.

7-5-22 VERMONT: We’re getting rain today, no wind, in the sixties. Yesterday, The Fourth, I went with Judy on her rounds partly because I was sore from the previous day. On the third, I weeded the primrose bed, spending about 90 minutes on my knees crawling around and in the bed, pulling out invasive anemones and forget-me-not, grass, dandelions and more. We have a lot of primrose and many, many baby plants that appeared with the weeds gone. In the afternoon, I set up soaker hoses to water the hydrangea transplants, most of which look tired and thirsty. By the end of the day, everything hurt, from my muddy knees to my dirty fingernails and I was tired and thirsty.

We had Anna and Gardner here for a few days over the weekend, and Gardner senior for dinner Saturday night with the kids. Last week we met Laura-Beth for Chinese.

I saw a Yellow Warbler here for the first time. It landed on the hummingbird feeder, looking a bit confused. I grabbed for the camera, but it was gone before I got the camera turned on.  

New blooms: fox glove, daisy, echinacea, bee balm, evening primrose, mallow, ox eye.

Hybrid daylily. Each one is a surprise for the eyes.

Great spangled fritillary. This is an iPhone pic and so is the one above, pretty good shots.

Goldfinch near the feeders.

Water lilies.

Here's our new horse guests, testing the grass. Peaches and Raven.

The robins have a second brood in the Mohican viburnum growing between the two houses. We tend to ignore robins because they're so common, but their enormous success as a species is why they are so common.

The catalpa tree is covered with blossoms and has littered the ground with the white flowers.

The other night after dinner with Laura-Beth, we saw fire in the sky. The setting sun shone through a hole in the cloud cover to light up the clouds to the east.