Emmett in Wonderland.

8-20-26 VERMONT: It’s still beautiful, but the days are getting shorter, the nights are cooler, and the garden is getting unruly. We had a half inch of rain, delivered in two aliquots, we need more, of course, but fall will deliver it. 

The Oil Boys were here to install the new furnace in the old house basement. The painters arrive next Monday to start painting the exteriors the houses. I have taken almost all the screens out for the painting. 

Emmett continues to discover Vermont. He’s been to another farm camp, bird lesson from VINS, pasture walks, apple feedings for the horses, tractor tryouts, seeing a garter snake and a green frog yesterday, a robin’s nest, and the discovery of huge caterpillars on one of the tomato plants. It turns out that it’s a Tobacco Hornworm rather than a Tomato Hornworm based on its having a red horn.

New blooms: more asters.

Blue Lobelia, also comes in red and white.

Hummingbird at the feeder.

Tobacco Hornworm with red tail horn.

I want my own tractor.

Small garter snake.

Emmett and Howie after a walk in the pasture.

Robin Egg in Nest.

Eastern Phoebe, immature, in the big pine.

Ice cream after Thai dinner in town.

The Further Adventures of Emmett.

8-14-26 VERMONT: It’s cooler in the seventies, and tonight might get down to the 40’s. We were in a series of cookie-cutter days, all beautiful. We have had the plumber here to fix a leak in the washing machine faucet and to estimate the cost of changing the water line to the barn. Screen doors replacement estimator was also here.  

I planted a clematis [C. Rebecca Evipo016] under the deck by the lattice. The clematis that had been happy there for many years didn’t survive the installation of the heat pumps. Also I planted a cardinal flower [Lobelia cardinalis] on the edge of the pond by the hollyhock and echinacea. 

New blooms: ligularia dentata, sedum.

Ligularia dentata.

Sedum looking vivid.

Walking in the pasture, Emmett and the greatgrans.

Emmett and an orange tractor.

Emmett and the alpacas.

Emmett painting the bear.

Weathervane with bird.

Emmett Is Here.

8-11-26 VERMONT: The flatlanders are here. Anna, Gardner, Yaya and Emmett are here for a few weeks. Lily and Danna were here for a long weekend. There were adventures here at the house and at the Latham Library, at Cedar Circle Farm. Dinners were at Red Can and Elixir. The boat got some use, frogs were briefly caught, horses were fed, tractors were admired thanks to Andy and Steve. Aged greatgrands are struggling to keep up the pace.

Judy got a wooden saffron jar at auction. The windows were washed. We had 0.2 inches of rain. The storm last night came with lightning.

New blooms: monkshood, sedum, big-leaf aster, black-eyed susan, blue lobelia, white star clematis. 

 

Emmett helping me water the transplants.

Captain Lily with crew of Danna and Yaya hunting the wily amphibians.

Emmett checking out the saffron box.

Emmett and Blanca.

August Arrives.

8-4-26 VERMONT: We had a deluge yesterday and got almost an inch in an hour. It was the hardest rain I’ve seen in a long time, but no wind and no electricity. All the gardens look refreshed today.

We had dinner at RedCan Saturday and go to Tapis tomorrow. The window washers were supposed to be here tomorrow, I took all the screens out, but are coming later this week. Instead Pinnacle Tree is coming tomorrow for multiple pruning jobs. 

New blooms: lily, white turtle head, rocket ligularia, goose neck loosestrife, Joe Pye weed, helenium, golden rod, fall anemone, aster.   

Helenium, also called sneeze weed because it's out at the same time as ragweed.

Lily. As the daylilies finish, the true lilies begin. They also have a nice aroma.

White turtlehead. We also have Pink turtlehead which blooms much later in the season. I think the name is a stretch.

Fall Anemone is very early this year, as are many other things. Perhaps it's due to the heat wave in May.

Hummers can't get enough of Bee Balm.

The whole beak in the flower.