I’m late writing this blog as yesterday was so busy, I never had time to get to it.  We had three friends over last night.  We started with our homemade gravlax and cheeses.  Then a spoon roast, scalloped potatoes and our cucumbers with our mint and our garlic in the dressing of yogurt [that we didn’t make]. All summer I’ve been baking clafoutis, as it’s more pleasant in the heat than making a pie. I like the dessert so much, I keep making it with different fruit: red currants, mulberries, and good strawberries I froze in late June.

We overslept this morning from being up late and very tired.  The cats were good and didn’t wake us.  I won’t watch the Pats game tonight against the Bucs.  I don’t wish to see Brady with his super team run over the slowly rebuilding Pats.

We are STILL getting zucchini in October. What a weird year, but then with climate change, every year is weirder than the one before.  The beans are belching out.  The second planting is cucumbers is the most successful ever.

The vines are vigorous. I was weeding in the next raised bed and when I attempted to leave, I found that a vine had completely twined around my ankle and resisted valiantly my attempt to dislodge it.  After I discovered that bees like them, I planted poppies this week in my pollinator garden.  I used to grow them, but stopped at least fifteen years. I like them, but as time goes on, I can only plant some of the perennial flowers I used to grow. We’ve been getting a decent amount of rain lately, but this weekend, we did have to water the vegetables.  Good germination and subsequent growth on the lettuce, endive and escarole I planted. We can start having salads this week.

My poetry group met in person Wednesday night, all eight of us.  It felt so good to see each other in the flesh, hug, not have to raise our hands to speak and only do so carefully in order not to run over each other on ZOOM. We thought we were losing the exceptionally talented Jeannette who was going to move to Nova Scotia, but she changed her mind and is back in the group. We would have missed her very much.

I am about to start looking for an independent press for my new novel THE HOUSE AT HOPE’S END. .  I finished revisions that I hope will be the final ones last week, so I’m ready to start searching through possibilities.  I did a ZOOM interview on Saturday for a podcast.  It was largely a waste of time, as the woman running it seemed not to have prepared at all and couldn’t think of much of anything to ask me.  I read three poems, that was about it for content.

My assistant Dale as on vacation all week in the Berkshires with his partner Stephen. We’ll have a long hardworking day tomorrow, Monday, as stuff has piled up. Big dental appointment this week which of course I don’t look forward to.  My undernourished childhood is with me in my teeth. But I love fall.  Warm afternoons lately and cool nights – good for working outside and good for sleeping. Less humidity to weigh us down.