GANG OF BUTTERNUTS

let me start by saying that the sparrows are being unreasonably shy this fall...

ok, now that i've got that out of my system...

my squash harvest so far... the pumpkins are all volunteers...

butternut gang...

i left this one in the fence.... any suggestions?  i don't mean suggestive suggestions... should i cut the fence, or the butternut?

here's the messy potager... still yielding tomatoes, kale, parsley, chard, broccoli and the occasional carrot.

NORWAY MAPLE FREE AT LAST

my wonderful neighbor has finally tired of the shade from the last norway maple standing between our two properties. if i'm reading his tattoo correctly, leonard, a detroit tigers fan, is ridding the se corner of my garden of a huge pest...

for some perspective... much of the tree was already gone when i realized what all the sawing was about...

leonard checking out the next victim...

leonard must be in amazing the shape to work so hard at such a height...

job's all done... you can see the pumpkins on my compost heap in the foreground... in full sun now!

yippee!

10TH YEAR 9/11 REMEMBRANCE

our town held a 10th year remembrance of 9/11...

view of nyc from our town, where many watched that day...

EPHEMERAL ROCK SCULPTURES

someone has been making masterful rock sculptures in the local woods for a while now...

i took this with my phone, went back with the camera an hour later, and it was knocked down...

this one looks like a pregnant woman on the left...

and another person on the right touching her baby...

this one made me think of rock lace, with its cantilever and delicate arch...

the simple, elegant balance of this sculpture was arresting.

many people make simple rock trail markers, and i don't know how many people make these... but at least one is very talented...

VOLUNTEERS ON LABOR DAY

this year the compost heap has at least 3 different volunteer squash vines... 

a tiny pumpkin...

why am i yellow?

the compost heap in the back...

 a butternut squash is growing in the left foreground...

and then there's this mystery squash... at least i think it's a squash...

the 'pink beauty' brugmansia has finally bloomed...

the potager is still producing tomatoes (and a dozen butternut squash)

the crape myrtle continues to glow up against the house, remarkable tree...

"i'm volunteering, too!" (downy woodpecker)

"hey, what choo looking at?"

"i'm cleaning up these nasty sunflower seeds, nom, nom..."