New Flag.

11-7-24 SHORT HILLS: Our high hopes for Kamala have crashed, the second Democratic woman to be beaten by Trump. He lost to the only man he ran against, Biden. I expect a disastrous four years. 

Our flagpole has not flown a flag since the early spring because the pulley that allowed the flag to be raised and lowered broke and fell to the ground along with the rope and flag. We had contacted a prominent flag pole company to do the repair, but they never followed through after the initial contact. 

This fall we contacted another company, who showed up in less than a week. The pole is in our back yard isolated from the street and surrounded by trees and shrubs, and so cannot be reached by a bucket truck. Mel, who works for A & A Industrial LTD, climbed the pole and replaced the top ball and pulley housing with a new, shiny ball and pulley, and a new rope and flag. We are very pleased to have the new flag waving in the breeze. 

I have been doing more walking the street. The new knee is progressing slowly.  

Mel climbing the pole with a harness device. Judy took a picture.

Mel is removing the old ball and pulley.

Coming down after the new rope and flag were installed.

Waving in the breeze under the shiny new ball topper.

Party Time.

10-27-24 SHORT HILLS: Emmett had his first birthday yesterday. It did not go unnoticed. About seventy people attended the party, including a ton of kids. It was at their home, there was a musical performance, lots of food and cakes, balloons, plenty of beverages. Lots of family including aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and us, the only great grandparents. I counted 17 kids at one point, but I’m sure I missed some. There was no crying that I heard, not even from parents.

Emmett digs the music as many family look on.

The family unit and the music man.

A music sample.

Personal BDay cake. The occasion is recorded.

Yum.

After all that excitement yesterday, Judy did a dog walk with Bebe and Ronnie and Sonny today. She saw a lot of birds on one of the lakes in town, so we went back to get a couple of pix. The birds are taking a break from their commute, resting and feeding. We saw Canada geese, wood ducks, and black ducks. 

Wood ducks, two males and two females.

Canada geese.

Black duck females in back and a wood duck male in the foreground.

A pair of wood ducks in front of a bunch of Canada geese.

New Knee News.

10-17-24 SHORT HILLS: I had an appointment with Dr. Lee this week, and it’s all good. New X-rays fine. No more bandages on the incision, wean from walker to cane, next visit in six weeks. It’s still painful, walking with the walker at three plus weeks. 

Visitors to the knee include, Lily and Danna, Alan, Bette and Lonnie, and Valerie and Maggie. Gardner , Anna and Emmett were in London for the Jaguars football game [they lost] and came home Wednesday. 

We have pretty good color here. 

Anna and Emmett at Fortnum and Mason Tea room.

Nice color in the driveway.

The Pumpkin Patch.

10-11-24 SHORT HILLS: The latest excitement started on Sunday. Gardner, Anna and Emmett were here. Emmett met the dogs for the first time and was very enthusiastic climbing all over them, especially Blue. Blue and Blanca were both very tolerant.

We all went to The Farm to see the birds, plants and especially the pumpkin patch. One of the staff saw me with the walker and gave me a motorized scooter/gadget so I could keep up with the kids while we explored. They have so many pumpkins, all sizes and shapes and colors, gourds of all shapes and sizes and wartiness, as well as skeletons, etc. Gardner and Anna bought a cartload of stuff to decorate their stoop.

Later we all went to Creekside Nurseries, quite nearby, to take Emmett to the petting zoo and for baked goods. They have the best ‘sand tarts’, very thin sugar cookies in seasonal shapes and colors—delicious. Judy went back for more the next day. Emmett fed the goats some leafy greens. 

It was a great afternoon except that the brace I was wearing and the bandage on the wound both slipped down my leg and the brace was rubbing on the area of the incision. The abrasion raised a blister like one gets from new shoes. After sending out pix of the knee, Ashley and Geralyn, from the VNA, suggested ditching the brace and using Betadine on the incision and blister with every dressing change, which is what we’re doing. 

Emmett and pumpkin.

Emmett and Blue and parts of other people.

 

The decorated stoop.

A New Knee.

10-3-24 SHORT HILLS: I have a new knee, inserted between and into the bottom of my right femur and the top of my recently broken right tibia, capped by my own patella. The surgery was 10 days ago at HSS, done by Dr. Gwo-Chin Lee. We stayed at the HSS hotel the night before to be on time for our 6:30 AM admission. We were in pre-op and met all the 

Docs, RN’s, and staff for prep, etc. I remember getting the twilight shot and being sat up for the spinal anesthesia—and then the recovery room.

I was an inpatient that night while Judy stayed at the hotel. We left the next morning to pick up meds at our local pharmacy. That night I had a slight fall that was followed by bleeding from the incision. We went to SBMC ER to have the wound bandaged and wrapped. The ER staff talked with HSS associates of Dr. Lee. 

We were back at HSS the next morning where we saw Dr Lee’s associate, Ashley, who took us to wound care where the wound was fitted with a blood draining/suction devise, a brace, and X-rayed. Nurse Ellen placed her hands on the incision and everything was OK afterward. While Ellen was working on the wound, Ashley took pix and texted them to Dr. Lee, who was on a flight to Bangkok to give a lecture. He texted back advice and instructions. We left HSS for home with no bleeding. 

We were back at HSS a week later [two days ago] for an exam by Dr. Lee and Ashley. They took down the blood draining suction device and redressed the wound. The knee incision is swollen, red in places and purple in others crusted, blistered, but was diagnosed as ‘fine’.  Next appointment—two weeks. 

At home I am hobbling around using walkers and using a cane to go up or down stairs. The brace is still on for walking, but not for sleeping or for the shower. Hopefully only uneventful healing and rehab from now.

The New Knee and the Old Knee.

Monday is New Knee Day.

9-17-24 SHORT HILLS: Truthfully, it’s been more of the same as the last post. More doctor visits, more chores, the wasps survived the attempted extermination. I have had my pre-op exam with blood work and X-rays—apparently all OK. Surgery for installation of the new knee next Monday at HSS. 

We had dinner with Bette and Lonnie at Lorenas and dinner here with Lynn and Bill—Judy dazzled us with king crab legs. We’re looking forward to a visit from Siobhan this weekend. Judy has done more dog visits. The pool cover pump is not pumping. I tried to get it started today but will have to try again.

I was very impressed with Kamala’s debate performance. We should have expected her to do well as an ex-prosecutor, but she was brilliant.

Burning Bush are turning early, which makes we worry that they're not well.

One of several flower clusters at the top of the crape myrtle.

White snake root is growing all over the yard. It spreads widely and grows in any conditions, but has no stickers or burrs or thorns, so I am not calling it a weed.

Abelia, a nice shrub that slowly gets bigger each year, but blooms in the fall with lots of white flowers. Definitely a keeper.

I saw something pink in the midst of snake root. It's a rosebud. I think the rosebuds are prettier than the roses.

Opening Up.

9-6-24 SHORT HILLS: We’ve been back for a week yesterday and have been busy seeing docs doing chores in the house and yard, had the plumbers over for a water heater flood [not fatal] in the basement, had dinner with Lynn and Bill, and had dinner with Bebe and Ronnie, got flu shots. Judy has done a dog visit. We both have more medical visits up coming. Monday I have pre-op evaluation at an HSS extension in Paramus before the new knee. Even the dogs have had vet visits. 

We had a wasp nest next to the house treated. My car was serviced. Next  week looks to be as busy as this one was. I filled the bird feeders, and the birds emptied them in two days.

In bloom: abelia, Rose-of-Sharon, clematis, white snake root, crape myrtle, caryopteris

Cardinals are back, as are all the usual suspects, including the grackles, who got most of the seeds.

We never see these critters in VT, too many predators, but there are always some here.

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.

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.