Reaching Home

Driving home from the airport I couldn't help wishing that all the lights had turned off at midnight the way they do in Blanot. What a simple way to help town and state budgets while saving resources...

Even our small roads are relatively straight...I miss the curves that made driving so much fun.

The house was still standing...things seemed to be in their normal places...even the mail...

When I finally recovered from whatever it was that I had eaten on the airplane, Margery dropped by before taking off on a fishing trip to Quebec. She needed to show me where things had been planted. That wasn't easy to do with the crop of weeds which had taken over the vegetable gardens.

The raised beds were actually in better shape than the new garden below where the weeds were crowding out the squash and potatoes.

I knew the job was more than I was up to handling, so I called Vera and Maryann, the best weed removal team available.

The next day I managed to get 5 bales of straw into my Honda Fit. Most of that straw made it to the field garden, but the bales shed plenty so straw now decorates the interior of my car.

I still need to get compost between the 4 rows of potato plants.

It was great to feel up to wandering around the gardens and see what was in bloom. The deep blue delphinium are not as thick as in the past, but the honeysuckle on the arbor is blooming more than usual.

Standing near the veggie gardens and looking back at the house (below) shows we are definitely into day lily season.

 
The solar panels are in their summer position, looking up at the sky.

As winter approaches, with the sun lower in the sky and snow in the forecast, the panels get moved into a more upright position.


The red climbing rose (below) against the upper level white shed has never bloomed this much in past summers. It's a nice welcome home.

Meanwhile the bee balm, or monarda, is providing its usual cheery splash of color.

There's no lavender...I'll have to add that in one of the gardens as a reminder of the magical time I spent in France.

Mornings I still have my coffee in a small Blanot bowl, but I haven't been able to find an organic Muesli that would be comparable to what I enjoyed as my Blanot breakfast.

 
I also miss having a stash of milk. It was really convenient to not have to refrigerate milk until the bottle was opened. If I bought a gallon here, it would be sour long before I used it all. That can even happen with a quart, but at other times I seem to fly through the quart and have to wait until I get to the store before I have more.

My "veranda" is a screened-in porch with a non-fruiting kiwi vine providing shade from the summer sun.

The dining room floor (first picture) is quarry tile, similar to many of the floors in Blanot. It's the easiest floor to take care of! The blue indoor-outdoor carpeting on the porch shows every speck of dirt and things like leaves cling to it. I'm learning to accept the well-used look.

Gardens and stone walls...same words for Blanot and here, but oh so different.