Today Avdi helped me set up the grocery list and order process on my laptop so it went more smoothly.  Then I picked up the order at Aldi.  I wasn’t stressed out like the first time.

It was like 90º out.  In April.  But I’ve hardened myself off along with the seedlings, so I’m fine with it.  It’s actually hotter in the house, since we’re cutting back on utilities a little.  But I do that at home, so I’m somewhat used to it.  I spritzed the plants, the dog, and myself.  He loves getting hosed!  I’m starting to bring some tropicals outside now.

Sunday evening charcuterie meeting was out of the ordinary.  After the usual business, Avdi presented a slide show summarizing concerns about the current financial state of the household and business, and laid out more ways we need to cut back, budget, and get on top of it.  There will be more on that later on.

Monday I ran errands for Avdi, and did garden work.  I planted the new raised bed with the “three sisters”: corn, beans, and pumpkins/winter squash.  Now we wait and see what comes of it!

I also planted more globe artichokes in the miscellaneous perennial flowering medicinal herb/veg bed, poppies in the prickly pear bed, and moved Y’s flower flats to their outer veg destination.  I was able to provide Avdi with a salad lunch featuring garden lettuce that wintered over.

Since we’ve had to put off our monthly “date” for weeks, Avdi suggested on the spur of the moment that we go grab a casual drink nearby.  Jess brought over pierogis for the kids.  We checked out Chilanguita Mexican Kitchen on Chippewa, and drank gorgeous margaritas on the windy patio.  Mine was made with fresh rose petals and had an actual rose on top!  Despite Avdi being exhausted and preoccupied, it was a nice way to unwind for a little while.

Back at the house, Avdi and Jess sat out on the patio, while I readjusted blinking light strings.  It was like a summer evening.

Yesterday Jess and Eric took me to see “Project Hail Mary”, amaze amaze amaze happy happy!! Fist my bump!!  I haven’t been to an actual movie in a theatre in decades, and I’m glad it was this one.  I dare you to come out of that movie not encouraged to keep living.

Then I spent the night at Avdi’s and of course couldn’t sleep most of the night, though it was very quiet.  This morning I got up, caffeinated, and went outside.  It got up to about 80º, gorgeous and windy, then misted up a little later, as I was finishing up  garden work.

I direct-sowed a lot of flowers, in a lot of beds.  Shade wildflowers, marigolds, nasturtium, cosmos, amaranthus, and sunflowers.  Then straw-mulched and watered. I also re-hoed around the veg garden for Y to plant his flowers.

I drove over to Value Plants to see if they had purple coral bells, which they did, so I brought it home and planted it in the hosta garden.  If you’re going to have hostas, which were here before us, you must have dark purple coral bells!

So many new flowers keep blooming!  I’ve worked hard to facilitate a mini-botanical garden, and it’s really starting to come together.  It’s now almost to the point where I can somewhat sit back and just let everything grow in and take over.  That is, after I plant all the veggies and more flowers!

In between erev preps, I cleaned up the herb garden, planted some basil plants, and sowed more herbs.  Now it’s looking more like an herb garden, less like a tangle.  A light misty rain started, and perfected the scene.

This was S’s final evening here, so I hung out with him a little after dinner.

After not sleeping most of the night, I got up early yesterday to line up for the opening of pop-up Value Plants just down the street.  As I expected, they had the first of the season’s affordable annuals and perennials, more to come later.  So I just got a few little annuals and splurged on a clematis which I’ve been wanting to get for the front arch.  It was hard restraining myself from jumping in and assisting the employees, it’s so ingrained!

Then I spent the morning installing little bursts of color here and there in the garden.  Hmm, instant gratification?  Even grownups are guilty.  I did use self-control.  I figure, it’s flower power therapy for the family!

I’m going to see the movie “Project Hail Mary” on Saturday, with Jess and Eric!!  I’m so excited!!

The rest of the day was just doing the usual chores in a tired fog.  Kind of how Avdi always feels.  S was very remorseful about his outburst the other day, and we got along fine.  Needless to say, Loucious is in doggy paradise with all the people to play frisbee or pile on the sofa with him.

I have some worries lately, what with more dental expenses and debt piling on, just when I thought I could catch up.  I keep trying to apply to Sunbit (like Care Credit), but they’re not making it easy.  Oh for a miracle windfall of money!  I hate having any debt.

Ironically, I’ve gotten my credit score back up to excellent, but somehow that doesn’t seem to help.  My medical and drug costs keep going up despite insurance and other assistance, so at this rate I’ll have to put off procedures and meds I need.  But not dental.  I intend to die with teeth and low debt!

Pesach ended while I was distracted, so it’s back to challah-baking with me.

Yesterday’s garden milestone was sighting a monarch on an emerging milkweed.  Sadly, the photo was out of focus, but I included it anyway for its significance.

Yesterday’s household low was getting rudely cussed out by S, after I made a nice spaghetti and meat sauce and salad dinner, because I momentarily repeated back his instructions incorrectly on how to serve it to him properly.  I guess it was the last straw, after various kids this week complained about not having their exact instant gratification demands regarding food complied with to the letter.

I know they have neural mental issues, but I still get fed up being on the receiving end of their disdain, especially when I go out of my way to fulfill their special requests.  I don’t expect gratitude, just a little civility.  My parents would have screamed and beaten us if we dared to be so presumptuous.  But it’s different times.

So I got angry, which I hate, and walked out.  I know Avdi didn’t need one more source of anxiety this week.  Now of course I can’t sleep, just when I need it.

I voted in a local municipal election today.  It’s hard to find out anything useful about candidates for the small “village” and district I technically live in (Marlborough and Affton), but I did my best, rather than not vote.

Today I got so frustrated with myself, because basic tech routines that others do without thinking, somehow don’t connect for me.  And I need to accomplish jobs that Avdi doesn’t have time for.  Which I did, eventually, but with some anxiety.  In fact, I took care of two errands in a row.  I just don’t like feeling cranky and inadequate.  Then predictably, a teen complains that I didn’t get the exact right form of a grocery which they never specified.  I swear it’s my karma coming back at me.  But I survived.

On the positive side, S seems to be much more well-adjusted and calm now, especially when he doesn’t skip a med.  I haven’t witnessed any meltdowns, or if he starts to, he’s able to abort it.  In the afternoon he got tired and just fell asleep on the sofa.  This evening he was playing outside with a mob of little neighbor kids and Loucious, and he seemed more like an older brother than one of them.  Their dad and I found it amusing to watch the whole herd of little boys swarming the trampoline.

Later, S and Loucious and I were piled on the sofa, Loucious lying on top sleeping!  I finally extracted my tired self and came home.

Count on S to find a way to persuade Loucious to jump onto the swing (with a frisbee)!  It was hilarious.  We were cracking up.  Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

Yesterday I cleaned up the lettuces and spinach raised bed, reseeded them, and lightly straw-mulched.  I did the same for the parsley, and applied straw to other herbs and flowers.

Look at my asparagus tree!  Also poppies are finally coming up.  Milkweed is everywhere, as I expected from all the help I gave them distributing their seed parachutes.

Y’s flower trays are doing nicely in their sheltered location.  In about a week or so I can start direct-sowing all the other flowers and veggies.  Then I’ll mostly sit back and watch things grow.  And try to hold off on the first mowing while everyone else is out shaving and blowing their lawns and critters.  (That sounds somehow lewd.)

Look at all these ephemerals!  This is what I’m talking about!  Our own personal nature preserve, only less driving and hiking.  And yes, with some insidious invasives, what can ya do?  That’s the world we’ve inherited.

The big news is: one of the tiny lilac saplings bloomed!!!  A few of us were down on the ground staring at it in wonder and taking pics!  This is what gets garden people excited.  That made my year.  An auspicious sign!  Hope!

I could see Easter eggs weren’t happening for the kids this year, and some of them still look forward to the hunt, so I compromised and set up a mini-hunt for each of them, especially S.  Of course, each kid has their list of candy demands and hates, which I totally ignored.  Some of them were somewhat pleased, anyway, so that’s what counts.

The rest of the day was garden projects.  I brought out Y’s flowering plants to harden off up against the house.  I cleaned up and re-strawed the perennial veg/fruit beds, so they’re much happier.  The asparagus, left to its own devices, has turned into a fern tree!  Soon the strawberry plants will arrive.

I sowed a big assortment of zinnias in front of the veg garden (left side; the right side is calendula).  The rest of the outside will be Y’s flowers, and sunflowers in back, etc.  Lots of milkweeds are coming up in the veg garden, as I expected!

I also thinly straw-mulched some other beds, where all kinds of seedlings are coming up.  Just looking around, I can see some of my enhancements are paying off.  Sometimes I just sit in amazement at all this beauty and wildlife taking over.  I’m letting trees come back to restore a more woodland surrounding.

Because I composted many of the beds, it’s fun to see all kinds of squash, melons, cucumber, etc. seedlings volunteering everywhere.  I may not have to do as much work!  Pretty soon the garden will grow itself!

The rock is just a rock I really like.  S and I were discussing whether it was sedimentary or metamorphic.  He’s been learning a lot, and can express himself intelligently about many subjects, including some issues that beset our country and world, such as climate change.

Can you spot the dog patiently waiting for another round of frisbee?  He lives for it.

S (the youngest) arrived today for his spring break.  He’s of course taller, somewhat more self-regulated, and very preteen.  I won’t elaborate!  Instead of droning on and on about his personal fantasy world, he’s been wanting to have serious confidential conversations with me about real world concerns and hormonal changes.  Nothing fazes me; in fact I feel flattered that he trusts me to discuss those issues with.  On the other hand, sometimes he still just acts silly and kid-like, and I still regressively join in.   We have a pretty good rapport.

He showed me his latest Minecraft designs, and we talked outside.  Then he read to me out loud from one of his books, and wrote in his journal about today’s events.  He’s very good at both.  He follows me around like Loucious!  Later we ate pizza and watched one of his videos.  Meanwhile, Y had a couple of friends over.  K and E were out all evening with friends/activities.  S spent some time gaming with a friend.  Right now I’m staying here with the kids while Avdi gets a break to eat out with Jess; then he’ll spend the night at home to be with S.