Category Archives: Flowers

Cats, Flowers, summer

Late July, 2026

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At the beginning of the month, we had a horrible heatwave, and I whined about how we don’t have summers in Maine the way we once did. Well, either the weather gods heard my lament and took pity on me, or they decided to pull one of their little tricks. The heatwave lasted for a few days, and since then, we have been having an old-fashioned Maine summer — warm, dry days with temps in the low 80s and cool nights that dip down into the 50s or 60s. In other words, sheer delight. I wish readers suffering through extreme heat could be in Maine right now to enjoy this perfect weather.

My front gardens are in a bit of funk right now and not just because of the work on the house. Somehow, with the demise of my lilies because of the lily beetles, I just haven’t found anything to take their place in terms of color and pizzaz for late July and August. Darn things! The beetles are relatively new to Maine, and I wish they had never crossed the border. But in everyday life, we know how far we get ahead with wishes. The lily beetles are here to stay, and I have decided not to grow lilies in the garden.

However,  the plants on my porch are thriving. Between the perfect weather and just the right amount of watering and feeding, they are in their glory.

Begonias,

coleuses,

and those oh-so-pretty petunias really jazz up the front porch.

In other news…Clif began tearing siding off the house,

but he ran into some problems. Or rather, they ran into him.

Now, for the most part, we are very careful not to destroy the homes and habitat of the creatures who live around us. In our yard, Moles and ants burrow and dig with abandon. Porcupines are allowed to use the underneath of our shed for a home. But Clif was unable to work on the house with a nest guarded by dive-bombing biters. (I am not sure if it is a hornet or wasp nest, but the results are the same. Readers, if you know what kind of nest this is, do let me know.)

So last night, when it was dark, Clif found a long piece of wood and knocked the nest down. This morning, I used the wood to hook the nest, which still had insects buzzing around it, and deposited it into the woods on the side of our yard. At least we didn’t have to use poison to get rid of the problem, and this afternoon, Clif will be able to resume work on the house.

Never a dull moment at our house on the edge of the woods, but Kai, one of our cats, took it all in stride as he relaxed in the living room.

Ah, the life of a cat!

 

 

Flowers, Movies, Spring

Almost Summer

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In Maine, Spring isn’t quite over, but we are edging ever closer to summer.

The view from my living room window shows how the trees are almost in full leaf.

Green, green, green is the predominant color in my yard.

Minerva, our guard cat, watches over the garden.

I always complain that I have one of the worst yards in Winthrop in which to garden. These sweet speckled violets prove my point. Once they were in the bed featured in the picture above. Did they like it there? They did not. Even though the conditions seemed just right in the bed, the violets abandoned ship to take up residency on the lawn.

By the side of our house, we also have traditional violets that look especially fetching alongside the beloved ferns.

I’m still busy with gardening and will be for the next couple of weeks. It looks as though I won’t be able to accomplish all that I set out to do with composting and fertilizing.  I am seriously considering letting the leaves stay in the hosta beds for natural composting and fertilizing. After all, to quote my friend Jim, those hostas are as tough as a bag of hammers.

Anyway, we shall see.

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Watching

Movies

Pressure, with Brendan Fraser and Andrew Scott

In the United States, Memorial Day was on Monday, May 25. Memorial Day is not only a time to remember loved ones who have passed, but also to honor the service and sacrifice of those who are and were in the armed forces.

Therefore, when we saw that the movie Pressure was playing at our local Regal Cinema on Monday, May 25, we figured this was the perfect day to see it.

Pressure is a movie about the weather. Specifically, what the weather would be like when the Allies planned to invade Normandy on June 5, 1944, also known as D-Day. (I expect most readers are at least familiar with the broad outlines of what happened on D-Day, and that no spoiler warnings are necessary.)

General Dwight D. Eisenhower (Brendan Fraser), an American, commanded the Allied forces, and his concern about the weather was warranted. Bad weather would make landing impossible, thus putting the whole invasion in jeopardy. But postponing the event also had its perils, not the least of which was that crucial information might be leaked to the Germans.

Enter the meteorologists—James Stagg (Andrew Scott), a prickly Scotsman, and Irving Krick (Chris Messina), an overconfident American. (Is there any other kind?) The movie opens seventy-two hours before the planned invasion on June 5. Krick, going by the weather in the past, predicts that the day will be sunny and calm. Stagg, receiving reports of storms approaching Great Britain and France, thinks otherwise.

The decision to attack on June 5 or to postpone the invasion is the central tension of the movie, and Pressure does a terrific job of ratcheting up this conflict. We all know the outcome, yet I was still on the edge of my seat as Stagg and Krick fought about the weather, and Eisenhower had to decide what to do.

Andrew Scott and Chris Messina were perfectly cast as the feuding meteorologists. The stakes couldn’t have been higher, and I was sympathetic with both men. Unfortunately, Brendan Fraser’s volatile performance as Eisenhower was not quite as good. I have read that Eisenhower took pride in being calm and measured, in not having meltdowns under pressure, which must have been considerable in the lead-up to D-Day.

Still, the movie is very much worth seeing, a timely reminder of the courage and wisdom our leaders displayed when the outcome of the war lay in balance.

Once upon a time, we had great leaders who did the right thing. Perhaps, someday, we will have them again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Books, Environment, Flowers

This. Is. Not. Normal.

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Last week on Tuesday, this is what the thermometer outside our dining room window read.

To add insult to injury, the Winthrop Weather Station gave us this additional information.

This is Maine. In June. Back in the day, June was so cool and rainy that sometimes my father had to replant the green beans because they rotted in the soil. Not every year, but enough so that I remember him complaining about it.

Fortunately, during the extreme heat, we had our new heat pumps, and they worked like champs. They were installed at exactly the right time, and we are so very grateful to have them. They kept us cool and comfortable for the two days the extreme heat came to Maine.

Aside from the alarmingly high heat, the sad thing is the denial that I saw on Facebook. When the local meteorologists posted the heat warnings and noted that these were record-breaking temps, all too many people protested. There was “I remember it getting this hot when I was young.” Oh, really, I thought, did you live in Maine? Or, “It’s summer, deal with it.” As though the extreme heat were a trifling matter, and only wimps complained about it when in fact , according to NOAA, extreme heat kills more people than any other weather event.

Who are the people writing such things? Bots? Shills for the fossil fuel companies? Folks who just don’t want to face the truth?

How bad does it have to get before there is a general consensus about climate change and the will to do something about it?

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On a happier note…it is peak garden time at our home by the woods.

Here is a view of our backyard from above, taken from the dining room.

A closer look.

And even closer.

Now to the front, for a froth of astilbes.

With such visual delights, the extreme heat can be forgiven. But not forgotten.

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Reading

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
–James Baldwin, 1962

During the heatwave I ordered Mike Berners-Lee’s A Climate of Truth, a much-needed look at how denying the truth about climate change has not only held us back but has endangered us as well.

Even though I haven’t finished the book, I can highly recommend it. It is clear, well written, and moves right along. The book has also made me think about what I can do in my own life to reduce my carbon footprint. There is plenty of room for improvement even for this family of green beans.

Flowers, Food, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Begonias, Cards, Plant-Based Chocolate

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This post is part of a series called Thankful Thursday, where I list some things to feel thankful for. To some extent, focusing on what is wrong appears to come naturally to most people, who often complain, complain, complain when they get together with family and friends. (I’m no exception, that’s for sure.) So focusing on things to feel thankful for seems like good spiritual practice, a way to counterbalance the tendency toward negative thinking.

Begonias

Confession time: When I first started gardening, begonias were not my favorite annuals. Instead, I was drawn to flashier flowers such as cornflowers, cosmos, and dianthus. Ignoring my shady yard, I planted these bright beauties, and I got a very poor showing. After a few years of throwing my money away, I finally turned to begonias, an unassuming yet lovely flower. And I haven’t looked back.

In my back garden, I plant a begonia border the end of May, and those sturdy little flowers bloom nonstop until the first frost gets them. Time was, that would be late September in. Now it is mid-October, and we have yet to have a killing frost. Times certainly have changed.

Begonias don’t get leggy, and they hardly need any dead heading. Who could ask for anything more?

Begonias, I salute you, and I’m sorry I ever snubbed you.

Cards from Blogging Friends

Every once in a while, I get a card from a blogging friend, and this always makes me smile.

Last week I got one from Carol Ann from Fashioned for Joy. How I smiled when I saw that sweet panda. Thanks so much, Carol Ann!

The card on the right is one I received from from my blogging friend Alys from Gardening Nirvana. Alys is a crafter extraordinaire, and knowing that chickadees are Maine’s state bird, she made that card for me. Many thanks, Alys.

Both cards will go on the metal bulletin board I have by my desk, where I can look at them whenever I want. And smile as I reflect on how grateful I am to have blogging friends.

Plant-Based Chocolate in Target

Clif, Dee, and I are all vegetarians, and the majority of our diet is plant based. We try to live as lightly as possible and to do as little harm as possible. As I mentioned in a previous post, we are far from perfect. We occasionally eat dairy—not too often as Clif and I are lactose intolerant—and sometimes eat eggs. I know I should be shopping at thrift stores rather than ordering online, but with creaky knees, I all too often give in to the temptation of online shopping.

Another confession: I absolutely love chocolate, but I am not a fan of dark chocolate. The texture always seems chalky to me, and I am not one who enjoys bitter food. (Brassicas, I’m looking at you.) For someone who wants to adhere to a plant-based diet, milk chocolate is problematic.

But glory be, things change and sometimes for the better. Hershey now makes plant-based chocolate that is available at Target. I have had other plant-based chocolate, but never Hershey and never from Target.

So yesterday, Clif and I made our way to Target to pick up some of that chocolate—almond mini-bars and peanut butter cups—along with a few other things. While the store had plenty of the almond mini-bars, they were out of the peanut butter cups. Although I was disappointed, I was also happy that the plant-based peanut butter cups were sold out. People are buying them! In Augusta, Maine, no less. There are some hip places in Maine, but Augusta is not one of them.

And how are the almond mini-bars? Readers, I am happy to report they are delicious. They are, however, a little pricey, but that might not be such a bad thing as it will encourage me to use some, ahem, restraint.

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Thankful Posts and Simple Pleasures from Other Blogging Friends

Cimple from A Curious Introvert’s Musings & about Life

Debbie from Musings by an ND Domer’s Mom

Jane from Robby Robin’s Journey

Barbara from Thistles and Kiwis

From Suzanne’s Mom’s Blog

Jill from Wiggins Words and Images

 

 

 

 

 

Electric Car, Flowers

The Season of Susans and Tesla Update

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In Maine, the end of August is one of the sweetest times of the year. For the most part, gone are the high heat and humidity. Instead, we have warm days and cool nights, which means an adjustment with the windows. Now they are open during the day and closed at night so that the house doesn’t get too cold.

We have lost over an hour  of light since the Summer Solstice, and it is dark by 8:00 p.m. Even though this means winter is coming, we don’t mind. At the end of August, we can still sit in the screen house and listen to the song of the crickets. And, as Dee pointed out, soon it will be cool enough for fires in our fire pit. So cozy to sit in the dark with our mugs of tea and watch the fire.

The end of August is also the season of Susans, black-eyed Susans, that is.  How they brighten the gardens at our home by the edge of the woods.

In front

as well as in the backyard.

When the Susans are finally gone for the season—how long they last!—the gardens will definitely be past their best.

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Electric Car Update

Some of you were wondering just how much it would cost in electricity to run Dee’s electric car. We have had the car for a month, and although we aren’t gadabouts, we do go here and there. At least some of the time. However, we all work from home, which means much of the week, the cars sit in the driveway. Do we love our short commute? We certainly do.

Here are the statistics for Dee’s Tesla.

Total miles driven: 300

Electricity cost: $13 (78 Kwh)

Estimated gasoline cost (based on a national average) for the same mileage: $37

Obviously, the cost of electricity varies from place to place, but this was the cost of electricity in Maine. Also, all of our electricity comes from a local solar farm, so none of it was produced by coal or gas.

Step by step, we aim to reduce our carbon output. We are not perfect—we still use propane to heat our hot water—but we are trying.

Flowers, Food, Music, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Flowers, Food, and Music

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This post is part of a series called Thankful Thursday, where I list some things to feel thankful for. To some extent, focusing on what is wrong appears to come naturally to most people, who tend to complain, complain, complain when they get together with family and friends. (I’m no exception, that’s for sure.) So focusing on things to feel thankful for seems like good spiritual practice, a way to counterbalance the tendency toward negative thinking.

The last two Thankful Thursdays featured really big pleasures, a new driveway and a new electric car. It was the most excitement that has come to our home by the woods in a long time.

However, most of our pleasures are much more simple, and that’s the way it should be. Big pleasures only come around every so often, and if they were the only pleasures that made us happy, then our lives would be very glum indeed. But, I am happy to report that we are a family that thrives on simple pleasures, and in that way we are rich. Our lives are filled with so many simple pleasures that it is hard to chose which ones to feature.

This week I have narrowed it down to three.

The first is this wonderful hydrangea, a gift from my blogging friend Judy of NewEnglandGardenAndThread.

In June of 2023 Judy and I actually had a chance to meet in person. Not only did we have a wonderful time getting to know each other, but she also gave some hydrangea plants from her garden.

Longtime readers will know that I have one of the finickiest yards in Maine in which to garden. Lots of shade, much of it dry, and at the best only part sun/part shade in the backyard. I have lost more plants than I care to remember. But Judy assured me that hydrangeas like some shade, and with a hope and a prayer, I planted them last summer.

Glory be! Not only did they come up in the spring, but they actually bloomed this summer. I am thrilled to have these beauties in my garden. Judy, many, many thanks.

My second pleasure is another one that comes only in the summer, tomato sandwiches made with local ripe tomatoes.

These tomatoes come from Farmer Kev, and they are just as sweet as sweet can be.

I know there is some controversy over the proper way to make tomato sandwiches. Some like white bread, untoasted. Some prefer to have cheese along with theirs. Others want an open-faced sandwich. My take? Have them whichever way you like. Simple pleasures are personal. One size does not fit all.

Here is how I like mine: I use two pieces of Dave’s Killer Bread, 21 Whole Grains and Seeds. Then I toast the bread, spread a little mayonnaise on one slice, put tomatoes on the other, and finish it with a dash of salt. Oh, the joy.

My third pleasure comes from another blog I follow, Cimple, and one of the items on her Thankful Thursday list:  “On the Nature of Daylight,” a song by Max Richter. I was so moved by it that I had to feature the song on my blog.

I just happened to find “On the Nature of Daylight” along with some other songs when Richter was featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. “On the Nature of Daylight” is the first song that he plays.

This music makes me want to weep and be thankful at the same time. The language of music is powerful and mysterious. It is one of the best parts of us, and I am ever so thankful for the composers and musicians that bring such beauty to the world.

Flowers, summer

All Part of the Continuum

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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.

 

 

 

Animals - especially dogs, Flowers, summer

Barbenheimer: Barbie vs. Oppenheimer

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This was a big weekend for us as we went to two movies—Barbie   and Oppenheimer. Would there be a victor in this match-up? Would one movie triumph over the other? Yes and yes, but before I write about the two films, I have to comment about the weather.

Before climate change really got ripping, weather was considered a boring subject discussed by folks who didn’t have much to say. (Those whose livelihood depended on the weather certainly must have disagreed.) But now, with torrential rain and raging fires, record floods and droughts, talking about the weather can no longer be considered boring.

For the past two months, the Northeast has had nonstop rain, with destructive results, which I described in my previous post. Central Maine, where we live, was spared much of the destruction, but as we watched the water pour from our rooves and gutters, we wondered if summer was ever going to come our way.

This weekend, at long last, Summer decided to show her pretty face. The sun shone, the temperature was pleasantly hot, and best of all, the humidity was low. We had lunches and dinners on the patio. A friend came over for wine, cheese, and crackers. The lilies and bee balm were in glorious bloom, and water murmured in the little blue fountain. The cat from across the street came over for a visit.

Welcome, Summer! We certainly hope to see more of you in August, which traditionally has been one of Maine’s finest months.

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Watching

Movies: Barbie vs. Oppenheimer

Two more different movies could not go head to head. Barbie, as the title suggests, is about the doll that so many folks have mixed feelings about. Oppenheimer centers on the man who led the project to develop the atom bomb during World War II. People have mixed feelings about him as well. Maybe Barbie and Oppenheimer have more in common than it seems at first glance.

Some moviegoers decided to make Barbie and Oppenheimer a double feature, but with Oppenheimer clocking in at three hours, we thought it would be best to see them on different days: Barbie on Saturday and Oppenheimer on Sunday.

Here’s a brief description of each movie, with the winner announced at the end.

Barbie

As I child, I played with Barbie, and although I understand the objections—her ridiculous body, the focus on consumption—I have no personal animus toward her. As soon as I left childhood, I left Barbie behind, and as an adult, I have no particular interest in the doll. This is a long way of saying that a movie about Barbie is not necessarily in my wheelhouse.

However, my interest was piqued when I learned that Greta Gerwig was the director. I am a huge fan of Greta Gerwig, and Lady Bird, her directorial debut, is one of my favorite movies. If you haven’t seen this wonderful coming-of-age story, I strongly recommend that you do.

So how was this movie about Barbie? As to be expected, it was silly and fun, camp and completely over the top. There is not a subtle moment in this film where Barbie deals with disruptions in her perfect life when the real world intrudes on Barbie Land.

But, as to be expected of the director Greta Gerwig, the film was also a sharp commentary about women’s role in society, and the relationship between men and women. I found the ending extremely poignant, to the point where there were tears in my eyes. That’s quite a lot to get out of a Barbie movie.

The casting—especially Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken—was perfect, and there wasn’t a false note in Barbie.

Oppenheimer

First the good: The acting was excellent as was the make-up and the score. The bomb scene was so powerful it made me jump. Cillian Murphy, with his chiseled cheek bones and intense eyes, was terrific as Oppenheimer, and Robert Downy Jr.—far, far from his role as Iron Man—nearly stole the show.

I particularly liked the dreamy yet bright visualizations as Oppenheimer theorized about black holes. And even though I’m not exactly a physics enthusiast, I got a kick out of seeing a movie that featured Eisenstein, Neils Bohr, and Werner Heisenberg. No uncertainty about this at all.

But—and it’s a big but—too much material was covered, from Oppenheimer’s younger days at university to becoming a professor to his work on the bomb to the smear campaign against him afterwards. Ironically, the movie felt too long yet not long enough to really delve into Oppenheimer’s eventful life. I think the material would have been better served by being a series where Oppenheimer’s life could have been explored at greater length in shorter chunks.

Despite its flaws, this ambitious movie is worth seeing, and I expect Oppenheimer will collect many Academy Award nominations.

And the winner is…

Barbie, which was not a minute too long and did everything it set out to do. It was a perfect combination of fun and pointed observations about femininity and masculinity.

 

 

 

 

Flowers, Movies, summer

For the Rain it Raineth Every Day

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As I noted last week, you can get too much of a good thing, and this certainly applies to the nonstop rain we’ve been having.

WBUR, Boston’s NPR News Station, recently featured a newsletter with the headline “Weather whiplash hits home.”  Nik DeCosta-Klipa wrote that the “historic rain caused severe flooding in Vermont and washed out roads and farms in western  Massachusetts.”

In her post this week, Judy, of New England Garden and Thread, writes about the west side of New Hampshire, “which has seen a dam break and roads just disintegrate leaving communities land locked until it is safe to start repairs.”

In western Maine, heavy rain caused washouts and extensive road damage. However, in central Maine, where I live, there was not much damage. This reminded me that sometimes luck—or Fortune as the Elizabethans would call it—plays a big roll in life. If we lived fifty or sixty miles inland, we might be landlocked, too. But while the rain was heavy in our area, it wasn’t heavy enough to cause extensive damage.

While my gardens definitely look beaten down, the flowers are blooming, bringing spots of color to my shady yard.

A toad peeks through an opening of the green leaves of  a platycodon.

Various daylilies are in bloom.

I know I posted a similar picture last week, but I just can’t resist the red against the blue.

Finally, more peeking, this time it’s astilbe through ferns.

We’re supposed to have a few sunny days in a row this week, and I  am looking forward to them. We don’t have central air conditioning, and every thing is damp and sticky.

I’ve heard that summers are only going to be getting hotter as we go forward. We have to adapt, but we also must do what we can to stop the situation—climate change—from getting worse.

Perhaps this is foolish of me, but I remain hopeful.

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Book Reading

This Saturday, July 22, at 2:00 p.m., I will be giving a presentation at the Vassalboro Public Library.

This is the library I went to as a child, and it is one of the libraries featured in my Great Library Series.

I know many readers are far-flung, but if there are readers in the area, please do stop by if you have the chance.

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Watching

Movies: Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Last week, we had such a wonderful time seeing the new Indiana Jones movie that we made a bold move: We bought movie passes at our local cinema. For $20 a pass, we can see as many movies as we want. Normally, because of the cost of tickets, we are very judicious about which movies we watch at the cinema. Now, we can take a chance on movies we normally wouldn’t go to the cinema to see.

Mission Impossible is such a movie. I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of Tom Cruise—sorry Tom Cruise fans. But this seemed like a fun summer movie to see with some great supporting actors—Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg, to name a few—and off I went with Clif and Dee.

How was it? Well, there was a lot of action, including one extremely suspenseful train-wreck scene. (That seems to be a thing in movies.) Not surprisingly, Mission Impossible was short on character development, and in both books and movies, I love character development.

The plot revolves around a sentient AI gone rogue and the race to find two keys that will stop it. There will be a Part Two, and I couldn’t help but think that if some of the action scenes had been trimmed, one movie would have been just fine.

Mission Impossible wasn’t exactly a bad movie, but it wasn’t riveting either. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Tom Cruise is no Harrison Ford.

Next on the movie docket: Barbie and Oppenheimer. Or Barbenheimer as the two movies have come to be called because they are opening on the same weekend.

Stay tuned!

Addendum: I forget to mention how long the $20 movie passes were good for. They are good for a month. Going to two movies pays for the pass. After that, it’s gravy. Vegetarian, of course. 😉