Two weeks ago tomorrow, I left Kent Hollow and Connecticut, for Upton, Massachusetts where I am now. I said goodbye to Cousin Nancy, and drove up to Cousin Bronson's cabin to say goodbye to him. As we were standing in his yard, he said to me very quietly, "Turn around real slowly. There is a bobcat on the rock wall behind you." And sure enough, there he was, big as life itself, carefully crossing on the rock wall behind the cabin. He couldn't have been more than 200-300 feet away from us. He was watching us very carefully as he walked, but he did not run. Of course, I had to say hello to him, and tell him we weren't going to hurt him. He just calmly walked away, and up into the woods. What a wonderful experience! First time I have ever seen a bobcat in the wild. We had no chance to take a picture, as neither of us had our phones or cameras available. But I did see him or her!

I saw quite a few wild "things" while in Connecticut, driving the back roads. Several wild hen turkeys made their way across roads, as if they owned them. There were tons of chipmunks busy harvesting nuts, and taking chances with their frequent forays across the country roads. A black squirrel, first time I had ever seen one, came into Bronson's yard as I was on the computer. Lots of birds and hundreds of butterflies. A beautiful bluebird, male of course, flew across Matilda as we were exploring one day. Their color is just incredible.

I decided to take the blue highways up to Siobhan's, which I did for some time, and then got on the Mass Pike for the rest of the journey. Their house is surrounded with beautiful flowers. Two huge butterfly bushes occupy the yard, one in back and one in front. They are constantly visited by hummingbirds, hummingbird bees, butterflies and bumblebees.

A close up of Babbity Bumble on the white butterfly bush.


Siobhan threw a package of giant zinnia seeds in one of her flowers gardens in the backyard. The result reminded of June Monger's zinnias - a flood of color, and as their name says, giant...

Along with those zinnias, you can see one pot of tomatoes - there are three pots of tomatoes and they are producing fruit faster than we can eat them. Scott and Siobhan planted a garden, that is also producing tons of summer squash, cucumbers, and green peppers. Somewhere in the mix they planted cantaloupe and watermelon, but who knows where they are, as all the vines are intermingling. Perhaps some fantastic new fruit will be a result of cross-pollinating!...

There are two hibiscus plants in Siobhan's front yard with the biggest blossoms I have seen on hibiscus. I took many pictures of the hibiscus while in Molokai, but I don't believe the blossoms were this big...

Siobhan's neighbor, Katie, has a wonderful English garden in the front of her house, and there are always flowers blooming...

Last week I went up to Webster Lake, New Hampshire, and had lunch with a good friend and a member of my women's group. We had a great talk and then I drove back to Upton. I went for lunch with Berthe last week also. She is really something at 100 years old. Actually she is 100 and 9 months old! She only has problems with her legs, but hell, I have problems with my legs sometimes, and I am only 72 years old!

However, things went downhill for me this week. I have been under the weather and coughing. I seem to get this coughing several times a year, and I am thinking that it must be allergies. I can't think of anything else, but I am getting no sleep, and I have no energy. So, the plans I had made to visit friends this week, were canceled.

Last Sunday, Siobhan's union went on strike. So she has been on the picket line all week from 6AM to noon. The union in the Electrical Workers for Verizon, and they along with another union working for Verizon, are out on strike. 45,000 workers all along the East Coast. I wanted to get a picture of her, but so far she has evaded my efforts to get her to wear her sign, and I have no idea where they picket - sometimes at where they work, and sometimes at Verizon Wireless Stores, until they get asked to leave. Aha! I nabbed her when she walked into the house...

I have been reading up a storm, and highly recommend these books - THE HELP (now a movie, but read book first); AHAB'S WIFE; CALEB'S CROSSING; and currently THE HISTORIAN. This last one is about searching for Drakula, and has lots of history in it, as well as mystery and intrigue. I never ever thought I would be reading ANYTHING about vampires, but I got caught up the novel from the very first.

Tomorrow I leave for Wellfleet on Cape Cod. I will meet Kat there. Siobhan and Brie are coming down on Sunday or Monday. Frank and Heather are arriving about Wednesday, for a week. Phil comes in on Friday. Unfortunately Frank and Janice won't be able to come because Frank was reassigned to a HUGE territory to manage, which starts on August 15th.

Seen from the road....do you know what this is?...

More from the Cape...

I love you all.
A hui hou,
Sally