Signs of the Season

                                                                                   

 

It Must Be Late Summer

When the Joe Pye Weed flaunts its mauve blooms . . .

And the Milkweed pods ripen. . .

And the wild Virgin's Bower clematis twinkles like a flowery galaxy . . .

And a Maple drops reminders of what's to come. . . 

 

Smiling on the Far Side of Summer

The blistering heat and suffocating humidity of the past weeks has been replaced with drier, cooler air. Even the quality of light has changed -- clearer and more golden. 

The tomatoes, hard hit by blight, are still providing enough to make delicious herb-rich tomato sauce to freeze. And the peppers are coming into their own -- so far the deer don't seem interested in them. (Unlike the corn and beans, alas!)

There are still a few big Brandywines and Cherokee Purples and we are taking advantage of them by having BLTs almost every day. Or even a turkey club sandwich -- bacon, lettuce, tomato, and turkey. Wretched excess but oh, how good!

My cossetted little fig tree provided us with ten ripe figs all at once!

Such a treat! I'd laid in some prosciutto in anticipation . . .

And we enjoyed an elegant little salad of mixed greens, figs, prosciutto, shaved Parmesan, and vinaigrette.

The pleasant weather sent me outside . . .

And the exuberant zinnias in my neglected box bed garden made me think a little tidying was in order.

It took the better part of two days but I pulled weeds till I could once again see the hidden herbs.

Gardening is a continual, mostly losing, fight against Nature,

But how good it feels to bring order, however fleeting, out of chaos.

Beds weeded or cleared; fall lettuce and peas sowed...

Tomorrow I'll visit the nursery to buy some spinach and beet seeds -- and perhaps a few broccoli and collards plants if they have them.

It's amazing the difference a little cooler weather makes. But the weatherman says it will be warming back up soon.

No matter. I know where we're headed.  

Hints and Allegations

Hurricane season signals the coming of Fall in my part of the world.  We are about 300 miles from the coast and have felt no effects (not even rain, drat it) from Irene as she makes her way north. 

I hope my blog friends at the coast are all safe -- Jean and Pepper come to mind. Bouncin' Barb has put up a post saying that she is fine.  

We have a  sailor friend visiting and he's been on the phone with folks at the NC coast, hearing stories of flooding, downed trees, and boats in places boats don't belong.  At the moment he thinks his boat (which is also his home) is okay.

Here on the mountain, after Friday's sullen heat and oppressive humidity, our air is drier and slightly cooler and the evenings are delicious -- another sign of the season.  The wood piles that John and Justin have been working on all summer are looking serious and the maples are beginning to send colorful reminders floating down.  


There'll be plenty more hot days but how pleasant to feel that the worst is over!