FIRE TRUCKS!!!

our local volunteer fire department celebrated its 100th anniversary, and all of westchester county came to celebrate:
fire trucks galore!
my favorite photo from the parade...
our neighbor, t...
our town's new hook and ladder truck, which has blue led lights all the way up the ladder...
people who don't look very indian....
fire bikes?
volunteer fireman in the making...
above the knee sock tats were the rage...
irvington's literary-themed fire truck...
old fire chief's truck from tarrytown...
tarrytown lost two fire fighters last month in a gas accident... this was the only sad part of the parade...
i think this was nyack's truck with a painting of an 1834 truck...
and here's an actual truck from the 1800's...
even the drums were old... the drummer told me this one is over 50 years old...
scarsdale's 1946 truck...
the drummer who's drum is pictured above...
wow, now this is a classy old truck...
looked good coming and going...
the parade made its way down to the hudson river... crossing the bridge over the metro north tracks affords a nice view...
two ladder trucks hold up our flag at the end of the parade.

OSPREY VISIT

the osprey visited us again this year, though much later and more briefly. i was watching him and got lucky; he spread his wings for me...the potager is mellowing. recent produce is limited to tomatoes, chard, kale and....
butternut squash! what an easy and rewarding thing to grow. one only needs protect the ripe squash from the squirrels, as butternuts do no get vine borers. i had 4 plants yeild about 7 squash. (one plant developed blossom end rot.)

VISITORS FROM AFAR

thanks to my brother for identifying this visitor, and ailanthus webworm, visiting from the tropics. apparently these tropical moths sometimes travel as far as eastern canada, though they do not survive northern winters. have my nothern ny or canadian friends ever seen one?
at 11pm on my birthday last week, the night-blooming cereus put on a 3 bloom show. only my daughter, her friend and i were there to see and smell this once-a-year bloomer.

AUGUST'S END

ok, i know i haven't been around... my 5 .5 year old computer bit the dust and now i'm finally back with a new one. tonight i took some photos... of rose 'heritage' glowing...shy gloriosa daisy...
peas growing on the compost heap...
hubs took a photo of the osprey, which was back for just one morning (with a fish...)
the japanese anemones survived our mini-drought...
and the potager, in it's late august decadence... i have had to prematurely pick some butter nut squash because the squirrels are noshing. plus, the squirrels are now beheading the sunflowers! what nerve. i'm still producing kale, rainbow chard, tomatoes and green beans. i just replanted lettuce and carrots, which are coming up happily. i made a squash soup with two of the butternuts, which was pretty good considering they were not fully ripe.

GLORIOUS AUGUST

i'm almost looking forward to fall. we've had a break in the heat, but still need significant rain to overcome the drought. i've only been watering the potager and new plantings. here's a gloriosa daisy about to be glorious...the helenia 'mardi gras' has a new flush of blooms, redder than the first...
one teddy bear sunflower survived to flower, and it's worth the trouble...
last fall we hacked back this crepe myrtle, and it appreciated the effort, growing larger than ever. few people in our town grow these, as global warming has recently made them work here. this is the south side of our house.
here's the crape myrtle from the deck right above. you can see the grass dying on the left, where i don't bother watering. the square garden is on the right.
visitor
brugmansia 'pink beauty'
the potager. i have more tomatoes, green beans, rainbow chard and kale than a family can eat. the cukes have taken a break, thank goodness. looks like i'll have some corn and a large number of butternut squashes. i need to get out and plant more lettuce.

KATYDID LAMP

translucent katydid was not an enthusiastic model this evening."must climb into lamp for safety..."
"ehn"
"ooh my toes are hot"
after this shot, he flew off...

BIG BAMBÚ

this week, my vacation, we visited big bambú, an installation by doug + mike starns, identical twins, atop the metropolitan museum of art in new york city. one can take a special tour through the bamboo structure, but cameras (or any hand-held items) are not allowed on the tour. however, one can walk underneath the structure and snap away. in this shot of the structure looking north you can see people within the structure taking a tour:early morning cityscape looking south:
and looking west:
here's a photo from underneath a walkway. i was really frustrated i couldn't bring my camera up through the structure; it was photo-worthy!
a platform and walkway. the structure flexed a bit in places when i walked on it. it's almost entirely made of bamboo and nylon climber's rope. i saw only a few steel cables tethering the structure to the roof, and one or two cable ties.
another walkway. one walkway has a bench and they all have handrails. the walkways are uneven. one must wear sneakers (no sandals or flip flops allowed and no skirts, for obvious reasons!)
the lashings are beautiful...
here's a bamboo storage area. we visited during the work week, so the artists were there continuing to build the structure. the plan is to add a second level by the end of august. in fall, the structure will be dismantled, perhaps to be rebuilt elsewhere.
more lashings. what a lot of work to make this and more to take it down!
me, reflected by a mirrored roof on the north side of the structure. the installation is supposed to evoke a wave. for me, it is the "swiss family robinson" house oddly placed in an urban setting. others on the tour were moved by the seeming chaos within the rigid city. the starn's installation is a wonderful new york experience intensified by temporariness.

TOMATO SUMMER!

this summer is terrific for tomatoes, if not for people. i only planted one variety, brandywine, after being burned by late blight last year. ok, that was a mistake. however, all my friends are trying to give tomatoes away, so other varieties are not hard to come by. here's how the potager looks today:the sunflowers had a tough start and are just beginning to bloom...
i've got a severe vine borer issue this summer and have tossed all the plants save this one, which has a nice sugar pumpkin. i've had to remove the borers from it's stem... i hope the plant can hang on for the rest of the summer.
passiflora today, with lantana in the background...
this year's bounty includes cucumbers, rainbow chard and string beans, in addition to tomatoes.
and so far the corn experiment looks promising!