Garden report: The morning glory, strawflower, black-eyed Susan and phlox have bloomed. The beans need picking every day. A cucumber should be ready by the end of the week. The sugar snap pea vines have been removed. I will try for a fall crop.

The volunteer plant growing out of the compost bin is pumpkin. The leaves are huge and there are two small pumpkins already. It will be a challenge moving the vines to mow the lawn.

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Matthew Berube, head of Information Services at the Jones Library, sent me this information to pass on to you.

“Librarians are ready to assist you with reference questions, technology support, and requests for books and other items for contactless outdoor pickup at the Jones Library. We are answering live phone calls at 413-259-3096, Monday through Friday, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. You may leave a voicemail at all other times. Or visit our website for additional ways to contact us.”

The library is now doing curbside pickup of materials. You can see the tent by the driveway.

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I like the various covers that have been put on the concrete barriers for downtown restaurants. The big yellow lemons can’t be missed.

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Big Y now allows customers to bring their own bags. There was such a push — preCOVID — to bring your own bags, that it was a letdown when the policy had to be changed. I use cloth bags that I wash and hang out to dry in the sunshine. However, I now have all these extra supermarket bags.

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I spent a few days at the Cape. I saw a few “No vacancy” signs. Since tourism is the economic driver there, that was somewhat good news. Outdoor dining is heavily advertised and many restaurants looked busy with tables set apart a reasonable distance. In one town, everyone was wearing a mask except those eating ice cream. Some stores list the number of customers that can enter. I saw employees masked.

I wore my mask and gloves. I hope I helped with my modest purchases.

The best part is it’s 10-15 degrees cooler there.

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