The last three weeks have been all about water -
the water situation here at home in NH and two vacations on water - one at
Flathead Lake in Montana and the other in the Caribbean. That picture
above is my step daughter's (Krista) backyard at their vacation home. A
family reunion was held there over a period of 12 days and we were only able to
be there four full days. She and her husband and five children live in
Dallas TX, but leave the heat behind for the summer and live at their lake
house. Every single family member at the reunion with a camera took that
same picture and posted it on IG or FB. It's a pretty sweet view and
location. I took very few pictures however because I was sick the whole
time - some kind of GI bug that started the morning we were preparing to fly
out and continued and worsened each day, so I didn't spend much time in the
water - I mostly played with, fed and held their sweet, new baby girl or
cleaned up messes made from the many little people running around. Dan,
who is recovering from knee replacements as you know, didn't get in to the
water either. He rested, exercised, read or joined me in my activities.
It was great to see his kids and their spouses and delightful children;
we did miss one of his daughters and her family since they arrived after we had
already departed. It couldn't be helped. We'll see them in November
though, which is good. Here are the pictures I did take.
Krista has had her builder create many
sleeping areas all over the house as you will see in a couple pics and her
decorating is really inviting.
The loaded cherries trees growing right on
forest plots in this little banana belt pocket of perfect growing conditions
just blew me away. In spite of my tummy troubles, I ate dozens and dozens
of these.
The kid's bathroom sink area - and I love
that floor tile.
Wine grapes growing down to the lake in a
neighbor's yard
Cherry orchard on a forested road around the lake
The driveway in to Krista and Dallas's lake
house.
Huge picture window in the living room. Now,
sadly, due to my feeling under the weather, those were all the Montana pics I
took!!
Below are some things that have been happening on
the home front. We are experiencing a severe drought here in New England
- no real measurable rain since April and not much snow last winter so in my town we have
been placed under a lawn watering ban and our grass is crispy and dry and
crunchy to walk on. I hand water my flower borders, small trees and
shrubs daily - I feel that is all I do most days!
I took this pic of our dying front lawn as I
set out for an evening walk - so pathetic to look at!
Sad face here.
I've got dahlias all over the place now -
loads and loads!
We're going to have our house painted yellow
this fall! The test paint on this building is called Benjamin Moore
"Dijon". It's a compromise color - Dan liked our current golden
tan but I was hoping for more yellow so we found one we both like. Yellow
houses are so cheery and cheer!
Two kinds of nicotiana I started from seed -
Peace Pipe is the white and the pink ones are called "pink
marshmallows".
The Long Border at Dusk
Dan caught me spying on the baby bird in
the porch hanging plant nest with my binoculars. I was worried the mother
had abandoned the one nestling left because I never saw her around after we had
a couple carpenters come over and install a new door right where the nest is
hanging and they made a ton of noise. The parents seemed to have left for good.
I was so stressed about that baby that I started stalking it with
binoculars and fretting about how I might save it. Finally the mother
started coming around after a couple days (by then I thought the baby was dead)
and now I see her several times a day and hear her baby cry when she arrives
with food. I can't tell you how relieved I am (well Dan can tell you - he
had to listen to my fretting). By the way, of the three porch hanging
plants, two are totally dead because nests were built in them and couldn't be
watered and as soon as that baby learns to fly and leaves, I'll replace both (I
hope he/she learns quickly).
Above is a gladioli border I started in May -
I planted 100 bulbs and then added in some tall verbena and zinnia starts.
Here it is as it looks now in the pics below. They are just coming
on and will keep blooming in waves as the four different groups of 25 are meant
to bloom at different times.
My Pie Social is happening this weekend - here is a
group of pie dough chubbies in the freezer. I have to make 42 pies,
platters of brownies and cookies etc this week, so when I do my Pie Social
post, I will answer someone's recent question and describe how I schedule the
work so I am not doing it all in one crazy 20 hour long day like I used to.
And I need to report on our absolutely fabulous trip we just returned
from in the British Virgin Islands! A lot to tell in the next couple of
posts. My sister Dede (aka PigNose), arrives this week from Washington
state to assist me in pie making and experience this wonderful event. A
few BVI teaser pics below - much more to come!
Looking in clear water at a huge school of small fish from my paddle board.
Taking off for home - what a view!
