New Year, new roof!

We woke this morning to good weather, which meant only one thing as we saw the guys begin to arrive at 7am, a new roof!  Buying the house we knew it was inevitable so we went ahead and bit the bullet, thanks in major part to Gramma and Grampa, Hilda and Howard Good, for their most amazing generosity.  After asking around town, facebook and whatnot, we decided to go with everyone's top recommendation, Straightline Roofing.  These guys were fantastic.  Like a fine-tuned machine they wasted no time and ended up doing an exceptional job, while being super-nice and professional.  A huge thanks to Steve and company.  We're psyched!

happy barbeque

I think we figured out that the last time we had a party was five years ago, in a one-bedroom place in Queens we called "the shanty".  We finally felt settled in the new house enough to open the doors and invite over some of our favorite local folks.  Wrapping up our week, complete with Summer Vacation 2012, we got home from work on Sunday evening and quickly got to prepping.  What ensued would be a great gathering of friends from all aspects of our lives, together and having a good time in the back yard as we snacked and grilled and drank to our hearts delight.  It was a wonderful evening and we thank everyone for coming over and helping us properly christen our new home.  Special thanks to Jose who couldn't make it but still hooked us up with this killer cake which has been satisfying the sugar fix steady since then.  A Happy Barbeque it was, and the first of many good times to come in our comfy home. 

the Asclepias and the chrysalis

 

Monarch chrysalis
East Hampton
August 2012

 A few weeks ago I added some Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed) to the garden.  A great sun-loving perennial, deer resistant and loved by butterflies, they grow to a couple feet and produce clusters of these bright orange flowers.  To the left of the flower you can see the interesting seed pods that follow the flower.  

 

Then one evening I was out back watering and to my surprise I found a number of caterpillars going to town on the foliage and seed pods of the butterfly weed.  Right away I knew they were Monarch Butterfly caterpillars.  As a child one of the all-time best teachers in early grade school was a woman named Sister Pat. I remember one year she raised monarch butterflies in her classroom, starting with the caterpillars eating some kind of milkweed (also Asclepias).  To be a little kid and see how this caterpillar metamorphosized into this beautiful monarch butterfly we would then draw and write about obviously stuck with me for years.  I am sure I had a boyish response of glee upon seeing these three characters chomping away at my perennials.

Of course it really is the chrysalis that the caterpillar envelopes itself in that is the stunning thing.  A vibrant green the chrysalis can often go unseen in the landscape, but then just for fun there is that delicate band of gold that let's you know something amazing is about to unfold.  In my case I thought it was hysterical that of all places the caterpillar decided the deer-repellent mesh over my tomato plants was prime real estate.

The second caterpillar was also already in chrysalis form, in this case on one of the bamboo tomato stakes.

I guess the third caterpillar had a bit more of an appetite than his two buddies.  Needless to say I will be thrilled to keep an eye on the metamorphosis these three go through and hopefully it means there will be some killer monarch butterfly shots coming by late summer.  If I remember correctly, you know, from first grade, the butterflies should emerge from their cocoons in a couple weeks time.

Asclepias tuberosa, a great addition to your garden that will grow more than just flowers.

We are closed! (or, rather, open?!)

 We did it, we closed on a house!  It took months of back and forth, mountains of paperwork, and endless emails and phone calls.  But waking this morning and looking at this great little house and yard, thinking about how it will become a perfect first home, the bliss trumps all.  Of course it didn't hurt that the Wisteria growing on the front porch was in full bloom and smelling amazing.  Talk about welcome home!