Vines For Shade

  • Post published:10/22/2011
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Over the Columbus Day weekend we sat out on our friends’ patio in the golden sunset before going indoors for a wonderful supper. As we admired the fields and the pond our friends told us they had decided to build a pergola over the patio, much as we had, to provide cooling shade on hot summer afternoons. The question was, what should they plant to provide that shade? We have a wisteria growing on our pergola (which some call…

Bloom Day – October 2011

In spite of the warm fall, with only one real frost, the garden is beginning to die. Its demise seems to have been hurried by the three days of rain we just had. All these photos were taken in the rain. This is the very last daylily of summer. Ann Varner is a real trooper. Behind her you can see there are a few Buttercream nasturtiums crawling around, and it has been so warm that even the canna…

Weeded the Piazza

  • Post published:10/13/2011
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All of a sudden I noticed the moss growing between the pavers on the Piazza in front of our house.  

Fall Planting Season

  • Post published:10/08/2011
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The gardening year really has two planting seasons, spring and fall. Spring planting season is all a-rush with excitement because you can finally get your hands in the dirt, carefully chosen plants are arriving and a casual browse through the local nurseries has sent you home with a truckload of new plants and plans. And then there is the bliss of working beneath an ever warmer and brighter sun. Fall planting season tends to be less exuberant, with…

A Heathan Muse

  • Post published:10/02/2011
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On a Tree Fallen Across the Road by Robert Frost (To hear us talk)  The tree the tempest with a crash of wood Throws down in front of us is not bar Our passage to our journey's end for good, But just to ask us who we think we are Insisting always on our own way so. She likes to halt us in our runner tracks, And make us get down in a foot of snow Debating what…

Meditation on the Morning Glory

  • Post published:09/27/2011
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This is the view out the window next to the breakfast table. From August into October and really killing frosts these Grandpa Ott morning glories prepare me for my day. And what a way to start the day - with Glory! Surely the day will be filled with moments of beauty, of inspiration, of opportunity to spread a little glory. Of course the sun does not illuminate and gild the glories every morning. Sometimes the light is dim,…

Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?

  • Post published:09/26/2011
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In yesterday's NY Times Mark Bittman asked the question, Is Junk Food Really Cheaper? Can you really feed a family for less at McDonalds than at your own table filled with home cooked food.  In spite of the protestations that a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli and other such, the answer is NO!  A meal for a family of four at McDonald's will come to between $23 and $28.  How many groceries can…

September Morn

  • Post published:09/18/2011
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The sun is shining and it is almost warm this morning.

Yes, You Can!

  • Post published:09/11/2011
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Our area is still picking itself up after Irene left her gifts of washed out roads and bridges, flooded basements and houses. We have been fortunate here at the End of the Road because we never lost power and the water that ran into our dirt floored basement, ran out politely without making a fuss. We thought our only problem was hoping the popcorn supply would last through Sunday afternoon while we read our books. In fact we…