As I sit here typing this post, it is the sweetest summer morning in Maine that anyone could ask for. The air is warm and dry. Next door, a hen clucks as she lays an egg. The grasshoppers buzz an August song. By my desk, the window is open, and a soft breeze, which rustles the leaves on the trees, comes in.
Quite a change from last week, which once again flipped to high humidity and high temps. There was another heat advisory, and we had to stay inside, cooled by our trusty air conditioner, Eva. On Friday, our friend Joel came over for drinks and appetizers, and it was too humid and hot to sit on the patio. Instead we had to gather in the living room, made comfortable by Eva.
But today, all is forgiven. If I were in charge, I would order 26 more days just like this one, with enough rain thrown in at night to water the plants. Like Goldilocks, I always want things to be just right.
Outside, the plants have thrived in the heat and humidity. Even though my gardens are at their best in June and July, there are still some things to admire.
This striking double daylily,
a modest but lovely hosta blossom,
and a delicate single daylily. I can’t decide whether its color is peach or salmon. I’m tending toward peach.
Because this is not thankful Thursday, I’m going to gripe just a little about the damage done to my hostas by slugs and snails
With all the rain and humidity, it’s been a good year for those slimy little nibblers. Time was when I did my best to keep the slugs and snails at bay, and I would patrol the yard with a jar of soapy water to drop them in. But in my old age, I have given up what seemed like a futile battle. No matter how many slugs and snails I caught, more would come. Fortunately, all that chewing doesn’t cause permanent damage. Still, I wish the slugs and snails would stay in the woods and find their meals elsewhere.
On the other hand, there are some visitors we don’t mind. One night, before going to bed, when I shut off Eva and opened the windows, I spied this little creature clinging to the screen. Attracted by the light, I suppose. Or rather, after some insect that was attracted by the light. By morning, our little visitor was gone.
When you live by the edge of the woods, you know you are going to share your yard with other creatures. Some you enjoy. Others not so much. But this morning as I watched some crow fledglings pester their parent for food, I thought about how we are all part of the continuum, the rich web of life in northern New England.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Lovely post my friend! How wonderful the air here today as well.
Thanks so much! Glad you are having a lovely summer day.
A little sun, a little rain, and the humidity is dropping.
Hooray!
I want one of those “just right” days as I am in here in the FL panhandle watching the rain and wind while being grateful the storm didn’t knock out our power and that we were “lucky” once again.
In the news, we have read about the that storm. So very glad you didn’t lose your power. May your luck stay with you.
That’s quite a bloom. Don’t know if I ever seen a double. It sounds like a harmonious morning in the Hinterlands. Can’t believe it’s August already!
Right? The summer is flying by. I am ready for fall.
Your typical Maine summer days sound lovely. I had not seen a double daylily. Fascinating!
A typical Maine summer day is such a treat. Alas, they are not as common as they once were.
Yes, the change is not a welcome change.
That kind of temperature would suit me perfectly! We’re having heat advisories again here, but a cold front is on the way (yeah!!), and they’re promising us some relief. I love your double daylily — what an interesting color! Sorry about the snails — we’ve been hit by nasty Japanese beetles, who are worse than Biblical locusts at chomping through vegetation. Sigh.
Oh, I hope you get some relief! Terrible to have it so hot. And those Japanese beetles…
There’s no doubt about it, a summer day without humidity is hard to beat!
Bliss!
Beautifully poetic prose and excellent photographs I am pleased you are able to enjoy. I’d opt for peach
Thanks, Derrick! Peach does seem to describe it better.
Lovely post, Laurie. It sums up summer in New England, the good, the bad and the ugly! 🙂
Yes, yes! I suppose every place has its pluses and minuses. Even Hawaii. 😉
True!
We have the same wonderful interactions with wildlife, Laurie, and though that includes slugs and bossy jays, I can’t help but loving being part of this rich abundance of life. Your flowers are beautiful. Enjoy the breeze on your beautiful August day in Maine. 🙂
A-w-w-w, thanks! Wonderful that you, too, are in the midst of so much life.
That double daylily is so lovely. I saw Asiatic lilies in a plant nursery with fantastic fragrance.
Many thanks! Some lilies smell so very sweet.
Just Right days, the perfect name! But I wonder, if you got 26 of them in a row,how quickly would they become just days? That day lily is a stunner!
Good question and not one I am likely to have to grapple with. 😉
What a finest of days Laurie and the double daylily looks amazing! 🧡
Thanks so much! It’s the only double day lily I have.
Such gratitude! The lilies are beautiful. (I go with peach as well.) We don’t have hosta here, and they are so ubiquitous where I grew up (northern Ohio) that seeing yours takes me right back up there. Some people would ask for a lifetime of days like that but you modestly ask for 26. May you be so blessed, along with the little necessary rain.
Tee-hee! Yes, just for the rest of August.
What a lovely day….
A finest kind as we would say in Maine.
I’m delighted that your temperature has been so pleasant. Sending warm thoughts that you have many more days like this. I ❤ your screen visitor!
Many thanks! A fun little visitor.
Sun in the day and rain at night would indeed be perfect. I like that double day lily a lot.
Thanks, Tootlepedal! Somehow, in Maine, perfect weather is in short supply.
Here too.
The Day Lily is beautiful I love the vibrant orange. I feel for you with the slimy slugs. I confess I do use slug pellets from time to time then cover the area with net or crates so the birds and other critters don’t eat them. The ants get through and I see bluee pellets moving in procession as they take them back to their nests.
The weather seems like it has settled in Maine … at least for a while.
Many thanks! Fingers crossed thatcthe weather has settled. Hate that high heat and humidity.
A lovely post, Laurie! I am glad you have had better weather and your garden is still blooming. We too share our garden with lots of other animals most of whom enjoy eating it rather than just admiring it from afar!
Thanks, Clare! Our gardens are often considered to be buffets for certain creatures. 😉
The combination of the season, flowers, the weather, and past weather have aligned to produce a wonderful post of positive energy and appreciation of life. Well done, Laurie!
Thanks, Frank! So much to notice on my little acre.
Oh yes, many things to admire, for sure. Your Daylilies are beautiful! It sounds like you’re having a summer similar to ours, regarding the heat. We’ve had so much rain, too, which has made it feel very tropical. More comfy weather ahead. Ahhhh…
Beth@PlantPostings
Let’s hear it for comfy weather! I am so not a fan of hot humid weather.
We may not be sharing temperatures and weather conditions just now, but we do share some critters: I’ve seen opposums, a coyote, several egrets, herons, and ibis — right in my suburban apartment complex! Of course, the key to seeing many of them is early rising, but it’s wonderful knowing they’re around as a part of that rich web of life. Enjoy your summer perfection!
So nice to read about all the wildlife at your apartment complex. That web of life!
Your lillies and hostas are beautiful!! How nice that you finally can enjoy sitting outdoors. I always felt so imprisoned when I lived in places with three digit temps and was forced to be inside more than I cared for. Your garden looks happy.
We also had a bad year when it comes to snails. Some of the kids in the region gets paid by parents and grandparents to collect them and discharge of them. Some kids make $100-$200/day doing this, that is how many snails there are. I’ve had some bother with them eating my cabbage, but I know others had it much worse.
Wowsah! That is a lot of money to make collecting snails. Glad you don’t have it as bad as others.
Beautifully written – a lovely description of a ‘perfect’ day.
Thanks, Anne. So grateful not to have the high heat and humidity.
Your garden by the woods sounds magical Laurie!
Thanks so much! We love it here.
Regarding the hosta, your slugs and snails are mere amateurs when compared with the ravenous beasts that have reduced mine to a pathetic skeleton! I be really happy if it looked as good yours. I’m reluctant to use pesticides, but recently a family member suggested I try dowsing hostas in water heavily infused with garlic. She even gave me a “recipe”. I might give it a go next year.
Darn! Sorry to read about your hostas. If you try the garlic and water, let me know how it works.
I’ll report back next year.
There is nothing like an open window. We haven’t been there for a while, but hopeful. I have the same hosta damage except for where the deer have actually eaten them to the ground. 🙂
I hope you can soon open your windows. I, too, have a few hostas that have been eaten to the ground. Perhaps I will feature them next week. 😉
That portable AC unit does look like Eva from Wall-E! A part of the Continuum are we who live in rural areas or at the edge of a wood! A part of my mind still went back to Stark Trek and thought of the Q Continuum. 🙂
Love it that you thought of both Wall-E and Star Trek.
I absolutely loved your opening paragraph and that lovely double daylily!! Another week of horrible weather is over and it looks like we might finally have some great weather arriving tomorrow. Just finished watching the wonderful official introduction of the Harris/Walz campaign and I love all the hope and excitement.🙂
Thanks so much! Fingers crossed you have some great weather. I, too, watched the official introduction and was absolutely thrilled by both Harris and Walz.. Harris made an excellent choice. Walz will be a huge asset to her.
This is beautifully written, Laurie, and a testament to your love of nature. I enjoyed the image of the tiny frog, as well as that stunning double flower. I’m glad you have a way to stay cool indoors.
Thanks so much. We have lived here for 40 years, and for 30 of them we did not need an air conditioner. Then came climate change…
A sweet post altogether. I could just imagine that lovely summer day. Even in my little patch of earth, I bless the wild community that I share it with. love michele
Thanks so much! Nature is everywhere, even in the smallest patches.
Your flowers are lovely and I’m glad they are doing well. When I was in Germany in May, everybody was complaining about snails/slugs and trying to fight them with various (cruel) means.
Our wet spring in Colorado brought us myriad grasshoppers and many plants are missing big chunks of greenery. We also let them be in hopes that the damage won’t kill the plants. Everything has its cycles.
Thanks, Tanja. At our home on the edge of the woods, the slugs have won the battle. 😉 Yes, everything has its cycles, and for the most part the plants survive.