Finally!  One solitary E black swallowtail caterpillar on the dill and parsley.  Normally there’d be at least half a dozen by now.  I did see one pipevine swallowtail butterfly on the Dutchman’s pipe vines.  And one E tiger swallowtail in the veg garden.  I’m not seeing any more monarchs around the milkweed.  And there are very few bees and pollinators on the usual flowers.  It’s scary sad.  I did see a hummer or two, though.

Aside from that, it’s like one big bouquet out there.  There are lots of green tomatoes.  All the giant squash, melon, and cucumber plants have lots of yellow flowers, but not much else happening.  The 3 sisters is filled with tall corn, beans, and squash plants, but no veg action yet.  Fellow gardeners across the country are reporting the same phenomenon.

If this is happening for native and heirloom growers, you know it’s a barren desert for pollinators and wildlife in conventional gardens and farms.  It may not be a onetime aberration, either, but rather a trend toward the breakdown of the natural network system we all depend upon for food and life.

All the more reason to keep at what we’re doing for the survival of our environment, so if human systems fail, maybe some plants and animals will perpetuate our planet until if and when humans can evolve to get their act together.

It’s still f—in’ hot out there, but I got a few things done here.

It’s still hot as hell and unhealthy to stay outside for long, but these flowers and plants are thriving.

After sleeping ’till noon like a teenager yesterday, I enjoyed the afternoon to myself.  Then I joined Avdi over at Stacey’s, where everyone was taking a break from organizing the house, with the  requisite housewarming drinks and other needed items.  Including the dog and cat, we were eight people.

Today Stacey has to return to MI to continue wrapping up things there.  Avdi didn’t need me to spend the night (yay).  So wouldn’t you know it, I couldn’t sleep most of the night, in my apartment!  Maybe it’s all the eventfulness, who knows.

As exhausted as I was from just a week “being the adult” in the house, then helping with the move-in, it makes me all the more aware of what Avdi has to deal with and much, much more, on a 24/7 basis, with few breaks or time to himself.  I get to come back to my apartment to unwind, and don’t have to constantly be under pressure, vigilant, on alert, making major decisions for multiple people, and lucky to catch a nap or remember to eat.  And he has to navigate an evil, corrupt gov that intentionally makes it almost impossible to live.  Mostly on his own.

Not many people could handle that kind of pressure and hold it together.  I know I couldn’t.  That’s why I look up to him so much.

I slept in my own bed, a weeks-worth, until noon!  I have an even greater appreciation for my own private space.  I’m very fortunate.

I didn’t take any photos of Stacey’s house move-in, or erev dinner with our newcomers, but trust me, it happened.  So many people were coming and going yesterday evening, that I did the meal buffet-style to keep it simple.  There were drinks for everyone, and J&C reacquainted themselves with Avdi’s house (and all the items they had left there).  Stacey was already providing multiple rides all evening.  Eventually everyone just drifted off home, including me.  I didn’t even wait for Avdi to finally get home.

I’ll just say…every family has its peculiarities and histories, and reuniting more members can add on more, let’s say, challenges.  But it can also solve some problems and bring benefits.  The trick is to just keep moving forward, hopefully shedding (downsizing) some heavier baggage along the way.  (As one theoretically does in a physical move!?)

Some of us have more mental tools than others, not naming names, and hopefully can be a role model and balance out the differences.  All of us have our weaknesses and limits, but bringing extended family into the picture may also create some solutions for everyone involved.  For starters, the kids will have both parents nearby, which is a big improvement.  I like to think positive!

Photo for illustration.

It’s been a long but pretty good week.

Stacey and J&C arrived yesterday, and ten of us helped unload the truck.  It was exhausting in the horrible humid heat, but everyone had a good attitude, and it was a fun reunion for all of us.  T (still can’t spell it) the big dog was there, and I got to meet Púca the little black cat.  K and E each had a friend helping, and they worked hard.

Later we had pizza and sodas.  K&E and J&C caught up.  S moved into his room.  I took Y home.  Everyone was worn out, but we got it done.  So naturally I couldn’t sleep much, but it was my last overnight housesitting.

Avdi and Jess will get back late, but the rest of us will have erev dinner (and drinks) together.  It will still be a full house.  Dinner will be a chicken stir-fry featuring lots of veggies from the garden, over jasmine rice.

Look at that monster cucumber which K found–I totally overlooked it!

Tonight I get to sleep in my own bed!  Tomorrow E is having a garage sale.  So much is happening, but so far so good.

The air quality from the Canadian wildfires is bad.  It’s of course worse up in MI.  It’s hot and breezeless, too much to stay out in for long.  S and L are demonstrating how we all feel this morning.  I had another mostly sleepless night.  There may be t-storms later.  Good prep for helping Stacey move in today!

My big job under the circumstances was to move a pile of leaves from the patio to Percy’s Memorial Path.  It’s hard to tell from the photo.  I was sweating like a hog from just standing out there.

Almost the whole immediate family will be reunited today.  Only Lily is missing, by her own choices.  I still believe that one day she’ll come around.  Hey, if I could do it…

So much for using my time here for gardening.  I couldn’t have done much if I tried.  Probably for the best.  I got more done inside, and spent time with S.  We had some interesting conversations.  Y, sadly, is self-isolating from us right now.  I hope that he, too, will rejoin us when the time is right.

I was going for a deprivation record, but towards morning I managed to doze off.

S, OTOH, was going for an all-nighter; all I know is he was zonked out on the sofa, alarms and all, when I got up.  Y, I have no idea; he’s become a recluse spider or vampire.  K made dinner and then returned to the game-cave.  E of course is helping in MI.  Sometimes it feels like I’m on my own here!  Not for long!

But most of my bills are paid for the month, leaving me back to virtually zero.  I could really use a windfall, O spirits of the universe!

It’s too hot to work outside, so I watered and came back in.  Tomorrow I believe I get to cat-sit at my apartment while Stacey et al are moving in.  I think I’ll enjoy the peace and quiet while I can.

Sleepless night #2; I don’t know what causes it.

Everything is quiet.  S and I actually watched the new Good Omens finale together.  He liked it.  Then I watched more stuff on my laptop until late.  I followed the latest amusing episode of Sibling Meatheads arguing about the topic of slabs of meat. Then I read.  I took some sleep supplements.  Nothing worked.

I “got up” (semi-vertical) early to see E off for his ride to the train to MI this morning (thankfully not by me!).  I’m running errands today (food and drug admin).  Maybe tonight sleep will catch up to me.  Anyway, so far so good camping out for the week.  I’m too busy to be bored.

Yesterday I harvested all two of the eggplants and made clever little pizzas out of them.  Even S liked them.  I made fresh pack pickles out of some red okra.  My garden may be a late bloomer, but it’s worth the wait to have fresh veggies upon which to do weird experiments.

Even more flowers keep appearing after all the rain and heat.  Every day the veg plants are doubled in size, taking over the yard.  I’m starting to see more butterflies and pollinators, finally.

I’m learning all kinds of new practical skills, like tech stuff on my laptop, driving around in my sleep(!!), more house management, and how to ignore surly teen attitudes.  If I survive what is just a minute fraction of what Avdi copes with every day, I think I may have earned another bourbon.

Look I grew a pair, and some other parts, proving my virile gardening skills. αΩλ42⇓

I spent the night mostly not sleeping as usual.  It was totally quiet, too.  I watched two whole movies, one about dying, and one about–dying!  I dozed off toward morning.  Then it was time for coffee and the garden walkabout.

My neighbor gave me a whole case of Modelo cerveza as pay for keeping their garden watered while they were away.  It’s like a raise!

We talked garden shop for a while.  She showed me all her plants that are doing better since we chopped down the walnuts.  Little does she know, I’m letting other trees take their place heheh!  I’m so evil.  Which reminds me, I need to cut back the walnuts that are regrowing again!

Then I did some weeding, sweating like a beer, and came in to drink some.

There are actual eggplants on the eggplants!  This garden is full of surprises.  The less I fuss over it, the better it does.

I confess I did order some more assorted wildflower seed mixes on sale.  You know, ’cause it’s never enough.  It is not an addiction.

I’ve included the dog who lurks under the table, and his pool.

Much of the erev meal came from the garden!  The first zucchini, a large assortment of greens, and several herbs were featured in a Mediterranean-themed dinner.  E was out at rehearsals, but Y had a friend over, and Jess joined us briefly, so it was a full table.  Everyone but Y+1 seemed pleased.  Later a big delivery of McD’s showed up!  Go figure.

All this sauna weather built up to a huge thunderstorm last night with a tsunami of rain that almost came up to my patio sliding doors!  At one point lightning was right outside, and the power flickered.  Scary!  But I don’t have to water!  It was like 1 1/2 ” in just a short time.

While all that was happening, I was watching the movie ISS, about the International Space Station.  Russia and the US declared war on each other down below, and were bombing each other and everyone in between to hell.  The earth was on fire.

Meanwhile, on the ISS, the Russian and American crews were each ordered to take over and eliminate the other crew, which they proceeded to do.  Only one crew member of each survived to return home in the Soyuz, but to where and what?

It felt very plausible in today’s world, with trump goons in power.  Even escaping to the ISS wasn’t far enough.  I suspect anywhere in the universe wouldn’t be safe from human insanity.

A&J are about to go out of town for Ruby Conf for a few days.  E is about to take a train to MI to help S and J&C move.  Then they will move into the house this week.  I’ll be camping out at Avdi’s for the duration.  Things are moving fast.