It's the end of August 2023, and what an unusual summer so far. It's all about the rain -- constant, unremitting, monsoony. Record-setting. Last week we had three dry days in a row -- first time this entire summer. I've not once seen the stars. One of the great pleasures here is the shiny distinct Milky Way on a clear night -- but there has not been a single cloudless night in months. The pond, therefore, has been gloriously filled and the waterfall, characteristically only a trickle at this season, is still a veritable picturesque and noisy Niagara. We had a great blueberry crop this year, but not a single edible plum, perhaps because of the late frost. The vegetables have done well, especially the tomatoes and cucumbers. I don't know why I haven't seen a single cabbage butterfly this summer -- but I'm glad they've shunned us. Ditto the tomato hornworm. Is it the rain? We've had more tomatoes than we can eat even after giving away bagsful. LERM and I have had a great time, weather permitting, with the various flower gardens. Delphiniums and phlox have had especially good years -- and we've planted some new shrubs --hydrangeas and weigelas -- and extended the day lily borders. Mowing has been a challenge, because the grass grows so rapidly and there are so few days when it's dry enough to cut. As a result, when I do find an opportunity, the grass comes out of the machine in wet clumps and plugs. Unsightly, to say the least. NGP has not been impeded by the weather or by the surgery. He's out there every day tending to the forest and expanding his course. Not many guests (my friends are becoming too old to travel). BHP and his family were here for almost three weeks -a great pleasure -- but the daughter never appeared,.
And to think that last summer was so droughty that the well went dry.
I've done some reading but no writing -- not even on this blague.
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