later, i went to the belmont public library, trying to find something new i could read. i tried very hard in the new fiction section, and despite the fact that i was very open-minded, all of it seemed like crap. i almost picked out the nick hornby edited speaking with the angel, but after skimming a few pages, found it too english for my taste. i ended up going with the mammoth book of best new horror 2000. i like books that give me cheap thrills quickly, and nothing does that like a collection of short horror stories. while i was checking out my book, the librarian told me that i had an overdue fine. after fishing for money in my bare wallet and explaining how i didn't even change, she told me i didn't have to pay for it today. i also picked up a free museum pass from the library as well, which was my original real intention of going to the library in the first place.
i hung out in the garden, the morning sun slowly warming up the backyard. although i haven't really confirmed this, i think mornings might be a good time to get insect photos because i saw a lot of bugs out getting some sun after spending a night in the cold darkness.
![]() buggy threeway |
![]() bulb fly |
![]() robberfly |
i saw a new beetle that i haven't seem before, a kind of leaf beetle, similar looking to the more common three-lined potato beetle that live in my backyard eating nightshade leaves, but completely red. when i first saw it i thought it might've been a mutated potato beetle, but there were enough differences to classify it as a completely different insect.
![]() unknown red leaf beetle |
![]() (2) |
![]() (3) |
![]() venus flytrap |
![]() dianthus (perennial) |
![]() split poppy |
![]() iris & money plant |
![]() wild strawberries |
![]() mountain laurel |
![]() fennel stalks |
![]() mushroom underside |
for those who were wondering where my venus flytrap plant was, i have good news and bad news. good news is that it's growing at home in an enclosed jar, getting plenty of sun and humidity. the bad news is all but one of the flytraps are dead now, nothing left but wilted black leaves where the traps use to be. venus flytraps are hard to take care of! not sure what the future holds in store for my plant. this might be one battle i won't be able to win.
i could only watching helplessly as the bamboos continue to grow rampant in the backyard. the new plan is to wait a little bit longer, for all the shoots to emerge from the ground, before we go in with digging tools and uproot all the new expansion growth.
![]() |
![]() |
close to noon i drove 30 minutes down to michael's house in weymouth where he was having a garden party. this is only my second time being down in weymouth, the first time was for rob's son's christening back in august. a lot of married couples showed up, friends of michael and sarah, and a lot of them had kids as well. there were probably an equal amount of children and adults. there were lots of lounging around, eating, drinking, enjoying the weather, watching the kids play.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
i left around 5pm, just in time to get caught in some medium traffic on I-93. as soon as i could i got on the mass turnpike, where the flow of traffic was much faster. i fished two quarters out from the tray in the middle of the car and made an accurate throw into the exact change tollbooth basket to get myself onto storrow drive. when i got home i read a single horror story (the stunted house by terry lamsley, high creepiness factor) before falling asleep in the sun, in bed.