A devil's paintbrush come very late to the party.
I've been awfully busy with carpentry since returning
from Halifax, replacing windows, doors and rotten sills.
My back has been in bad shape but hasn't prevented me from
working—if I'm careful. Still no frost in Vermont. By this
time last year we'd had three or four killing frosts.
after
rainfall—her toes among bobbing crab-
apples
75 September 2oth
The rains have been warm. The crab apples
took to floating in the puddles after a good and
drenching shower.
leaping
from the paper, a cricket's exclamation
point!
76 September 23rd
The best September days have only just now shown up.
The breezes are cool and the sun is warm, but not hot. The
humidity has gone out of the air. The hillsides are still green
but the sap is going out of the leaves. They rattle and fall
with each gust.
doors
and windows closed before nightfall—
autumn
77 September 27th ~ Bottlecap
A freshly baked loaf of bread for the evening's meal.
- About Haiku
- A Very Brief Art of Haiku
- Roughly Mondays & Thursdays
PoemShape 
Intriguing pics from my view 900 miles south. Thanks! All respectable, but your first haiku is my favorite. Coincidentally, we’ve been at the same kinds of work lately. And yesterday sewage began to back up in my only rental (septic tank). Everything breaking, leaking, rotting. Two cars, and neither reliable for more than a 20-mile trip at the moment. Manageable pain and risks so far, however. And at my age I have to be very, very careful. Btw, when does it usually get too cold to paint or caulk in Vermont?
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Many, if not most, latex paints can be applied in the mid 30s, as long as it doesn’t go below freezing. Oil paints can be applied any time of the year (despite their warnings). I knew a neighbor who painted his house with oils in January when it was 0 degrees F. The paint job was fine. Latex/water-based caulking is much more sensitive to temperatures. When it goes much below fifty I just switch to Lexel as my primary caulking. Lexel and a spray bottle of De-Solv-It (contractor’s solvent) makes Lexel as easy to clean up as water-based caulking. Lexel can be applied at most any temperature. But, to answer your question, exterior painting season generally ends by early October and doesn’t pick up again until early May, except for old-timers who say to hell with the weather and paint their house with oils any time they god-damn please.
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Is it just my conspiratorial thinking, or are you finding construction materials more inflated than any time in memory, and I mean all the way down to screws and nails.
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No. It’s been this way for months. Pandemic and supply-chain related.
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