JULY FLEW BY

I’ve been out traveling and walking through the woods of Massachusetts and Maine. This was a pathway around the Housatonic River in Dalton, MA. A soft little pathway that winds next to the river. This fungi was one of many we saw. I couldn’t seem to identify it on my phone. The Housatonic River starts in western Massachusetts and goes through western Connecticut all the way to the Long Island Sound. My husband informed me when he grew up in the surrounding area the river was very polluted by General Electric. In the 1930’s through the 1970’s the river had so many toxic chemicals like PCB’s and mercury that it never froze in the winter. Kids were warned to stay out of the river. General Electric did finally undertake a cleanup of the river but in Connecticut, the cleanup has not even started. In the town of Pittsfield, multiple families had cancer, including my husband’s family. It is a tragedy with these chemical companies that has to stop.

I caught this butterfly on the Queen Anne’s Lace, but I couldn’t entice it to open up. I have been searching for what it is . It was a deep yellow or orange color with black and orange (or deep yellow) checks. It did not have any white on it. If anyone know what type of butterfly this is, please comment back to me.

I also got to see a few lightening bugs which seem rare now. I love them. They are just pure joy lighting up the forests.

We drove a little further east to visit a friend and went up to see the glacier potholes in Shelburne Falls. It was fascinating but different than I expected.

After that, we left for Wells, Maine, which was a beautiful beach community. We stayed in an old house with lots of sun porches. I have to say that I felt like a kid. There were 16 of us at one point and then down to 6. Shoes off, and exploring the beaches was the the rule of the day. I didn’t want to leave.

We are now back home in California, and the high humidity and heat wave killed my flowers. Even a lot of the veggies look sick. Right before we left I discovered the wine grapes were ready to pick. I covered them with netting trying to stave off the mockingbirds and blue jays that can strip the whole row clean in a day. The grapes are really sweet and this is really early to pick, but that is what I will be doing this weekend in celebration of First Harvest, also know as Lammas. I have yet to bottle last year’s wine, so that we be on the table too.

We finally have a lot of ripe figs. Several were overripe as well. I took off to pick raspberries at the local farm in the early morning Tuesday. I love going as soon as they open to avoid crowds. Also, you get to spend time with the bunnies that dart in and out of the berry bushes. They had blackberries too, so I picked a few pounds of those as well. I came right home and put the raspberries in my jam pan along with a pound of white figs. They make a delicious combination of flavors. So I guess I will also be celebrating the harvest of figs. I tried putting up as many figs as I can in jams, in brandy syrup, and drying them as well, all while I eat several as I cut them up.

I didn’t quite finish my blog yesterday, so today I can add that we racked our 2025 wine a whole month later than usual. It may have been a bonus with extra time on the American Toasted Oak chips. This is a wine sample of that vintage. It is deep purple with a pronounced taste of cherries. The wine is mostly Sangiovese 75% and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. I will bottle in a few more weeks, but now I need to harvest the 2026 grapes. I’ll be back soon with a report.