Thank you! They are all coming in big and stunning this year! I am so proud! Lots of complements from neighbors and friends! I have the most stunning hostas they've ever seen. Most have never seen any of them except maybe an albomarginata!

Great pics! I have one butia in shade that is painfully slow growing (actually shrunk a little in the past 3 years. I Planted another butia by a south facing brick wall this past spring and it has grown 4 fronds and 3 inches of trunk in its first summer! Sun seems to make a huge difference for my butias! Your weather looks a lot like the weather here the past week! Thanks for sharing! -Alex

Lots of thoughts today. Speaking of rain, we were planning to go to Bar Harbor, ME, this weekend, but since our main purpose was to explore Acadia and it's closed, we just cancelled our hotel and instead are going to NYC. Now I checked the weather forecast for NY and it looks pretty lousy...well, 30% chance of rain, better than 100%. DH wonders if someone is telling us something and we should just stay home? But I know he'd be mopey all weekend if we did. He was more excited about Acadia than the rest of us were, because he is obsessed with his camera. Meanwhile, DS surprised me last night by saying a local university has moved into the "favorites" on his college list (he is a senior, working on early action apps this month). So he now has 3 favorites, one 5 hours away and 2 very close to home. I suspect he is setting himself up to stay close to home, because he is that kind of kid, but he won't ever admit it out loud! DH and I would be thrilled if he stayed close, but we're playing it very cool and actually have been almost pushing the far-away school. For anyone wondering: Syracuse, Northeastern, and Boston University. Unfortunately only NU has early action, so he'll have to wait quite a while to find out about the others. (He's applying EA to 3 others, too.) Finally, I have been working very part time as a decorator for several years. I don't advertise and all work has been via word of mouth, or from people who read my monthly column in our local newspaper. Business has been very erratic but that's fine with me. I enjoy being busy but also enjoy down time. Over the summer I thought gee, maybe I should pack it in and get a "regular" job with stable hours. OTOH, I like making my own schedule, taking most of the summer off, and being my own boss. So I was in a quandary. Well, as of the end of August, I have been CRAZY busy. Like never before. I have been laughing, thinking as the third new client called me within a week, am I being punked or what? I guess word has just gotten around. Who knows, but even though it's been a bit overwhelming, I'm loving it. It sounds silly, but I've noticed I have a bit of a spring in my step and in general just feeling more productive feels good. My kids need me less than ever (and one moved out over the summer) so the timing is good, too. At the moment, I think I have 6 or 7 projects at various stages. Finally. The whole wheat bread I made in my bread machine last night tastes like cardboard.

Is it a warm rainy day or a cool rainy day? If the former, like soft summer rain with fireflies and distant thunder, then I'm thinking summer salad, plenty of fresh tomatoes, and a bit of pasta with pesto. With chilled white wine. Served on a cafe table in the greenhouse, amid the scent of damp earth, or on the porch with candles and fireflies. If the latter, like chilly gusty gimme-shelter weather, then a simple beef stew with roast potatoes would take 20 min of actual work and fill the house with cozy scents. Use your very simplest recipe, accompany with a red wine, not a fine bottle but a sturdy table wine of ouvriers and paysans, poured into thick glass tumblers on a bare wooden table near the hearth.