A gray catbird greeted us when we got to the Ebenezer Avery House at the bottom of the hill at Fort Griswold. The last time we visited was in January a year and a half ago. Of course there was nothing growing in the small garden at that time. But this time the air was filled with a pleasant fragrance that must have been some herb or flower I didn’t recognize.
We had a nice walk all around the fort and then it was a delightful surprise to find this little front yard garden surrounded by a picket fence. We lingered here for quite a while, enjoying the colors, smells and visiting butterflies. The flowers were in all stages of life, new ones blossoming right alongside the fading beauties. Please enjoy!
After we had our fill we made our way back up the hill and past the fort to our car. It was a good workout. 🙂
I started to imagine what the people who were in this house during the Battle of Groton Heights might have witnessed from their vantage point that tragic day in 1781.
I love all those flowers and butterflies, Barbara! Thank you for sharing your walk with us. It never fails to amaze me just how OLD your section of the country is, compared to mine. I mean, 1781?? Illinois didn’t become a state until 1818!!
Thank you, Debbie! It is kind of cool living in what was one of the thirteen original American colonies and learning about the role it played in the American Revolution. Our town, Groton, was settled in 1646 and incorporated in 1705. It’s easy to take all that history for granted!
I’m trying to get my sense of directions on this walk today. Did you go from a parking lot up on top of that hill (the fort) and then carefully walk down the hill to find the precious hospital house with the picket fence flower garden? And then climbed back up the hill to the parking lot? Or the other way around? Either way, that is a work out for sure, Barbara!
Love the quaint little flower garden yard. I’m curious 🧐 what was inside the hospital (now)?
I’m also allergic to ragweed. I believe a mask would help and a pair of sunglasses. Tim’s eye google idea is very humorous, yet I agree with him that might work better than sunglasses.
The Wednesday a week ago from yesterday, I took my first home covid test. The previous weekend I woke up with a mild soar throat and a cough. With all the news media on Biden having a soar throat testing covid positive got my anxiety rolling. So by Wednesday I did the home test. It reminded me of my younger years worrying about taking a pregnancy test. Silly huh. Anyway, $10 and easy enough. The result tested negative and eased my anxiety level. I think that the soar throat and cough a bit of chest congestion was really a result of sinuses; allergy related. I’m behind on reading my favorite blogs!
We parked on the street at the top of the hill by the entrance to the fort/state park. We walked through the fort and then down the hill through a trench (not visible in this picture). I don’t think you were reading my blog back when I posted a lengthy account of our last walk through the grounds. We followed the same route on this walk. You can get a better sense of the layout here:
https://www.ingebrita.net/2021/01/where-a-battle-has-been-fought/
Be sure to watch the video at the end!
I haven’t been inside the hospital/house yet. It has very limited hours in the summer and I’m still not willing to go inside because of the pandemic. I might put on a mask, though, after we get new covid shots in September, and try going in. The video shows a little of the inside.
I can understand your anxiety about symptoms and covid tests. So glad to hear you tested negative! And I hope you get some relief from your allergy! It seems like every couple of days I hear of another friend or relative testing positive. Sigh. Wondering if we’ll be next, in spite of our precautions…
Thank you for the link to the previous visit. You are correct. I had not become acquainted with your blog yet. I was definitely able to see the lay of the land better. I watched the video too. I found it interesting that they moved the house to the location that it is now. I’m glad that you both had a good time together.
Once I tested covid negative, I used my sinuses rinse cleanser and used Guaifenesin children’s strength for chest congestion. Most likely the allergy that I’m currently coping with is the Saharan dust that comes from South Africa every year. I’m improving. We have one more wave coming now. The good is it keeps the tropical hurricanes from being able to develop, but some of us feel the respiratory allergy from the dust. This is why my intuition is warning me that September will bring strong tropical storms and hurricanes this season which end last of November.
Yes, the covid is climbing here too. Not surprised with all the cities tourism and attractions to have people come to visit. And children start school on Tuesday. More people continuing to be confined inside together can only increase the spread from family to other families. It’s where we are here.
That’s true, they did move the house from Latham St. to Fort St., about a block away. I imagine the house still had a front row seat to the battle, but was a little farther down the hill originally!
Wow! Imagine dust travelling all the way from the Sahara! It illustrates how interconnected everything in nature truly is. I hope the hurricane season won’t be too bad but your intuition will probably be on target. Sigh. Tim volunteers with the Red Cross, working the phones, and they just had a week of meetings preparing for the season in Connecticut.
Please stay safe, TD! I know you’re very careful. Who knows when this will ever end, if it ever does…
Wonderful captures of the offerings on the grounds! Then again, historic grounds usually offer good gardens. 🙂 Well done, Barbara. Stay cool.
Thank you, Frank! It was a treat finding the garden in summer mode because the other two times we visited were in January. It smelled so good. 🙂
A nice post. Enjoyed the history lesson. Like the color of that beautiful house. Thanks for sharing a splendid array of flowers.
Thank you, Peggy. So many colonial homes in New England were painted ‘barn red’ or ‘iron oxide red.’ They used linseed paint which protects the wood clapboards from moisture.
They use to paint all the barns down here in Arkansas that barn red with the linseed oil. We still have red barns, but the paint is different now.
I wonder why they stopped using linseed oil paint. Apparently it doesn’t crack or peel, or trap moisture that causes the clapboards to rot. Seems better than the paint we use these days.
It seems like the world changes every day and man changes so many things that seem to work well. I guess they call that progress. So out with linseed oil for barns and in with some new paint product..
I’m always skeptical of something claiming to be “new and improved.”
Barbara – you, Tim and I enjoy the same type of walks … a little nature, a little beauty and even a little history in this post. And … another catbird! But no killdeer. 🙂 All these buildings and monuments are so well maintained. How lucky you were to see a monarch butterfly. I’ve seen only two this Summer so far. The swallowtail is also beautiful, likewis enjoying the butterfly bush. I’ve never seen those color of lilies before. They are a nice change from the yellow and orange lilies I see around here. We are so lucky to enjoy such a vast array of blooms in this season aren’t we?
I don’t cover bygone times too often but it is fun once in a while to appreciate bits of local history. I haven’t seen any killdeer since the last one I posted but now lots of snowy egrets have taken over Beach Pond! It’s interesting how that pond seems to be the venue for an ever-changing array of birds passing through. I saw so many monarchs last summer I was surprised to find out they are now an endangered species. I hope they come back with protection like the bald eagle did. We are so very lucky to have so many different kinds of flowers to enjoy. Got some pictures of swamp rose mallows this year, coming up soon in another post. 🙂
It is interesting seeing such an array of different birds – you have lots of luck with seeing a variety of birds. I like egrets and only see them at the larger parks or marshes. I hope the monarchs come back too. I still haven’t looked at my photos where I thought I had photographed beach roses. This morning I just walked in my regular park early to beat the heat and came home and did things in the house. It is a very hot and humid weekend, so it was nicer to be in the house. I saw some pink hibiscus at the marsh last weekend. I know no one planted them in the middle of the marsh. There are wild hibiscus and it was a first for me. In fact, another walker asked me if I saw the wild pink hibiscus, so evidently it wasn’t just because I missed it in the past. It was a pleasant discovery!
You were wise to return to the house for the heat of the day. This morning it was 78°F outside when I got up at 5 am. (I’m an early bird.) It is so humid and there is an air quality alert and a heat advisory today so we might not go see the cows in the sunflower field this evening. 🙁 I think your wild pink hibiscus (hibiscus pedunculatus) and my swamp rose mallow (hibiscus grandiflorus) are in the same family. 🙂 Of course, I might be totally wrong!!! Sometimes regions have different names for the same plants. Either way, I’m so happy you discovered them! 🙂
That was our weather yesterday and you’re in for it another two days – our weatherman calls this very humid weather “air you can wear.” I get up at 5:00 a.m. too, but 5:30 in the Winter as it takes forever to get light out. I try to do things in the house before I leave, but it was so hot, I did a lot of decluttering, cleaning – soon I will be buying pantry items for Winter, so was making lists. I was home early both days. I am happy to see this flower -what struck me was it was in the middle of nowhere. I’ve not looked at my photos taken since 4th of July weekend. I’m waiting until Labor Day weekend – I have enough photos already sorted into posts to take me through the second week in September. I am looking forward to looking at my pictures.
I like that saying, “air you can wear.” It certainly feels like it! Sounds like you’re making the best of things. I should spend more time decluttering and cleaning but find myself doing yoga and jigsaw puzzles and listening to audio books instead. At least I’m keeping up with the laundry and dishes. Autumn can’t come soon enough…
If those walls could talk–oh boy!
Lovely flowers and I oohed and awwed at the Monarch and Tiger!
Glad you enjoyed the butterfly shots, Suz! I wonder what flowers were blooming during that battle and what they could have said about it…