Now it’s freezing out!  With snow flurries!  Loucious says ain’t no way I’m going out there and freeze my balls off!  I myself don’t have any balls, so I did a little project I’ve been meaning to do.

First, I mixed up a (researched) potion of: lemon, lime, orange, vinegar, cayenne,  cinnamon, peppermint oil, and eucalyptus oil.  See where I’m going with this?  Then I raked up the whole area behind the pool, which L has been using as a poop place, back up to the woodsy fence.  Then I sprinkled my potion all over the area in question.  Also some other frequented locations.  I think it works, because the one time he ventured out into the cold to pee in his usual spot near the patio, he avoided it and went elsewhere.

When it warms up, I’m going to thin out the overgrown mint (natural dog-repellant) and transplant it to behind the pool to spread as a groundcover.  I know, exotic invasive, but it’s invading the herbs anyway, so might as well re-home it more appropriately.

But wait, there’s more.  I’ve ordered some dog pheromone attractant spray to apply in areas along the back fence where I do want him to go.  This will tell him this is a friendly place to poop!  The above, in conjunction with some training by me, should do the trick.

I never imagined myself to be a dog-whisperer, but one does what one needs to do!

Aren’t you glad you read this scintillating poop-post?  This one should be very poop-ular!  More where that came from, my fertilizer imagination.

I’m writing this during a bona fide tornado warning, the first of the season, complete with obnoxious siren.  This tells you how Missouriensis (?) I’ve become.  Oh, did I mention, right behind the balmy 70s temps and springlike t-storm is a freezing cold front in the 20s, with possible snow!  I dare anyone to outdo that volatility!  I think I’m turning midwest blasé.  What else can you do, besides kiss your ass goodbye, have a strawberry ice cream cone, and fix yourself a gin and tonic.  Panicking is so yesterday.  A.ha.ha.

After not sleeping half the night at Avdi’s, then being startled awake every few seconds by Y shrieking and screeching conversationally on the phone for hours, I was pretty tired.  But it’s fine, teens, amiright?  So I got up and went out back with coffee and Loucious to see all the pretty flowers that popped up overnight in the surreally warm weather.  Hopefully they survive all the havoc to follow.

I didn’t do any more gardening because I felt like a zombie with an upset stomach.  So I just did loads of laundry, and lounged on the sofa with L, while the kids slept off their all-nighters.  Then, as storms threatened, I drove home and got there just in time for the siren.  Then I enjoyed watching the colorful blobs on the radar map while drinking.  I guess I’m an official citizen of the MW.  So far, so good.

My bed is calling unto me.

Y’s guys (SWIDT) managed to camp out on the trampoline all night!  I was impressed.

The next shift was K’s gang of gamers, who have been enthusiastically at board games for hours.  K made some exceptionally good cookies and coffee cake from scratch.  They all went outside on the trampoline for a while, and played frisbee with L.  I really enjoy listening to them interact and discuss.  As with Y’s friends, most of these kids are somewhere on the trans/nonbinary/gay spectrum, so they all feel at home together here.  I’m happy that K has such a good group of friends.

E is somewhere in Italy or Greece right now, and I’m sure he’s being amazed.

I got so much done in the garden today, in between frisbee throws–where to begin?!

I finished seeding the one side of the veg garden, with onions, leeks, beets, celery, and potatoes.  The other side will all be hot-weather crops.

I  trenched around the new raised bed, then laid down wood strips around it.  It looks much better.

I cleaned up the whole perennial veg/fruit area against the house–the future (April) strawberry patch, the weedy prickly pear bed, and the asparagus and horseradish section.  Guess what?  Asparagus spears are coming up for the first time!  So exciting.  I’d like to add globe artichokes to that area.

I strung up some fairy lights around the front entrance arch, so it looks really pretty and inviting at night.

Meteorologists are talking about the earlier onset of unseasonably warm weather this year due to climate change, and the issues that can cause for plants and beneficial critters and pollinators down the line.  It’s all interrelated and affected.  I’ve been surprised to see some things budding and blooming sooner and more profusely than usual.  Look at all these flowers in bloom!

Now I’m spending the night as usual, and typing this on A’s bed.

Today was so nice out, after prepping the challah and meal, I went outside with Loucious (and frisbee) and transplanted some stray bluebell plants into the large shade natives area.  It looks to be a big year for ephemerals.

While Avdi was taking E to the airport, Y had his friends E and A over for a later sleepover.  Now they have set up the trampoline with hanging comforters and blankets, and are intending to sleep out there!  That’s how mild it is out.

For dinner, along with approved-by-Loucious-and-everyone challah, I made roasted chicken and sweet potatoes.  The kids actually liked it.  It was Avdi, Jess, Kashti, Y and two friends, and me.

I’m hanging around so Avdi can chill and maybe go out for a while.

Yesterday went from cold to mild, so L and I were able to work and play outside.

I did another turn of raking and shallow hand-cultivating around the veg garden.  Then I direct-sowed some cool weather crops: carrots, kale, cabbage, pak choi, broccoli, etc.  So the veg bed is officially under way.  My blueprint is evolving as I go, so no telling where things may end up!

I was happy to see some lettuces and spinach coming up in the raised bed.  I suddenly noticed the redbud (dubder backwards) is budding out!  Spring on my calendar is when all the bulb flowers and ephemerals start to show, regardless of the weather.

E leaves for his Euro-trip today, and spring break has begun.  I expect a revolving door of roving hordes of kids taking over for a week, with me escaping to the garden.

Predictably, the weather reverted back to freezing and rainy, almost as if on cue from my last conversation with Y about frost-free dates for transplanting.  The most I could do outside was take a few photos of plants opening up.  Loucious was like, get me back inside now!

On the topic of kids learning the hard way by doing, it seems Y has decided to rehome the rats.  Much as we all became fond of them, he realized the work of maintaining them was a little too much for him, with all the other responsibilities.  So that turned out to be an educational experience.  He took it all on himself and gave it his best shot.  Those were some happy rats.

Avdi and I did go out for our rescheduled date, but kept it short and inexpensive.  We “discovered” Stacked Burger Bar, a very casual, no frills friendly dive in the very surreal town of Carondelet.  We had huge burgers and fries with local beers.  My Four Hands draft stout was very satisfying on a cold evening.  I couldn’t even finish my food, it was so much.

I just want to say, I hope history will accurately and completely reflect the full hideous horror of the brutal arbitrary destruction that demented trump and supporters wreaked upon not only the US but the world.  I hope all of them will be held fully accountable and justice be done.  It seems a lot to expect, with all the crimes against the constitution and people they get away with, and it may require an actual world war to wake people up, but whatever it takes.  I’m staying alive to witness retributive justice.

A simple thing like multiple shopping lists, apps, stores, and pickup/delivery methods really threw me off at first.  I blame my dog injury!  (It really is still distracting me.)  I had to switch my brain over to another, more convoluted system, but I think I finally approximated the correct results, with some remaining tweaks.

It was really uncannily warm and windy out, but I didn’t have time to work on anything, nor the energy (again, dog bite!), so L and I just strolled around looking and sniffing, while on a break.  So many daffodils!  And the bluebells are about to go crazy!

K decided once again to aim high and take on one of the more ambitious, time-consuming recipes, bouillabaisse!  It’s called hands-on learning the hard way!  I hung out to “consult”, though I’ve never attempted the recipe myself.  Once she figured out that all the mussels and clams were now dead (?!) and unusable (some very happy raccoons probably didn’t discriminate!), she simplified down to the shrimp and fish, and it came out really well.  She served it with a baguette.  I have to hand it to her.  Bourdain would be proud.

Meanwhile I sorted out the fridge a little, to reduce things going bad by neglect.  It’s another concept the kids haven’t mastered yet, having nice things and keeping them that way!

Avdi took E shopping for his HS Euro-trip (Greece and Rome, so much envy!).  Avdi is in such a perpetual state of fatigue and related symptoms, it’s hard for him to function, but he can’t let up.  That’s why I’m trying my best to take on more challenging jobs to help out.  I’m getting educated!

Y keeps asking, is it time to plant his flowers yet?!  Patience is not one of his virtues.  But I feel the frustration, it being like summer out.  It’s just as well I’m tied up with other inside business to keep me from untimely critter genocide!

I’m so otherwise occupied, I keep missing holidays–they just go right on past me.  I’m not sure if Pesach will even happen, at this rate.

And now, back into the fray.

I got some antibiotics for the dog bite.  This injury is really taking it out of me.  It’s hypersensitive and sapping my energy.  It doesn’t help that my immunity is already compromised by CLL.  I alternate sleeping too much, and not being able to because of the extreme discomfort (like right now).  One more challenge that I will overcome.

I finally made it to Avdi’s yesterday, where Loucious and I just took in all the spring action.  Magnolia trees are in bloom, though we don’t have one ourselves.  I didn’t have energy to do much, but our neighbor Angela and I got to catch up through the fence, and L got all excited to meet another person.

I’ve been trying to learn and implement Avdi’s household shopping system and lists.  It’s not easy, but I’ll get there.  It’s just one more task that he has little time for that must get done.  He’s been feeling sick, probably involving allergies, so I stayed up late to work on it at home.

It’s very different when you have many mouths to feed on a limited budget, each kid requiring specific foods to address eating disorders and other needs.  Many different store runs/pickups are needed weekly, primarily Costco for affordable bulk staples.  It’s very time-consuming.

I seem to be whining, but I don’t mean to be.  My small concerns are nothing compared to Avdi’s.  He’s been having to work later to try to keep up, and if we catch a fleeting glimpse of him, it’s dashing between endless tasks, and once in a while, collapsing in bed for a moment.  It’s hard for the kids to understand all the responsibilities he undertakes for their benefit, but to their credit, they’ve been taking on more chores themselves, on top of their heavy school work loads.

Speaking of beds, I need to get back in mine.

That was a first.  Loucious bit me!  I found out the hard way he has a trigger spot on his head, so when I kissed him goodnight, his instincts kicked in, and he took a big bite out of my neck.  Not a gentle love nip, either; more like a vampire puncturing deep, drawing blood.  I was startled and dazed; then in pain.  There was torn skin and a swollen bruise.  I did what first aid I could, and barely slept.

In the morning, I looked like “the other guy”, as in, “you should see the other guy!”  Of course Loucious probably had no idea, and greeted me profusely as usual.  It wasn’t his fault.  I just learned that dogs, like people, have unconscious triggers to be aware of.  Even your best friend.

It was gorgeous and warm out, after the deluge.  L and I went outside and looked/sniffed around.  Then L, who turns out to be a “diggy doggy”, helped me hand-cultivate and rake the veg garden some more.  The leaf cover is now lovely homegrown “leafgro”.  A bit more turning over and hoeing, and it should be good for seeding, plus adding to other beds.

Feeling a little injured and weak, I left once Avdi got home.  After a shower, I slept for hours.  Then I started writing, not even noticing that blood was pouring out of me!  At least it didn’t get on my laptop!  This will probably leave a scar, earned in the line of dog duty.  I thought about posting a photo, but it’s too gross and gory.

Crocuses have begun!  Daffodils are about to explode!  I needed to trim Y’s leggy flowers (to put energy back into the plants), so here are bachelor’s buttons.  The fireworks begin!  This is my time!  Even a were-dog can’t stop me.

It was around 80º yesterday, so Loucious and I took advantage of it in the garden, frisbee in tow.  The constant rain has really greened up the place.

First I lightly hand-cultivated and raked the veg garden, redistributing the leaf mulch more evenly.  I’ll continue to do that until it’s time to direct-sow.

Then I hoed an edge around the shed beds, farther into the lawn, and put up a low wire border to keep L from sitting on the plants.  He enjoyed helping me dig, or more accurately, seeing if he could dig his way under the border!  Good to know.

I don’t like to disrupt the dormant beneficial critters this early on, so I try to be as non-destructive as possible, just doing tasks that are more time-sensitive.

I did all this in between Shabbat preps.  As it turned out, Avdi had to work late and miss dinner, and E was at a rehearsal, so it was just K and Y and me.  But we still had a good time at the table for a while.

Avdi eventually arrived, in a sad state of exhaustion and overload, not talking.  I feel really bad for him.  I’m trying to pick up as many extra household tasks as I can to somewhat lighten the load, but it’s just a drop in the bucket.  It would really take a team of reliable people (in addition to what he already has) to handle this much serious business, so he could just focus on work to support it all.  Never mind time to rest and regroup.

Assuming of course trump doesn’t start WWIII and nuke us all to hell.  Hard to live when you’re dead!