Why do all the good guys keep dying and the evil undead keep on being undead?

It’s been a sad year of loss, and now it’s Sir Patrick Stewart.  Some people should not die!

Generations have loved Next Gen and its godlike hero, Captain Picard, because he was so human and superhuman at the same time.  He wrestled with universal perplexities and conflicts that we all deal with here on earth, and we engaged along with him and his crew.

We just lost Walter Koenig, Chekhov of ST1, leaving only Shatner and Takei of the original crew.  When Leonard Nimoy, Spock, left this world for good, it seemed impossible and wrong.  That’s how it feels with Patrick Stewart.  Stars going supernova, leaving us even more in the dark.

I’m living for the day when the evil undead in power get theirs.  As they must.  At least the world won’t seem so off-balance.

Today’s exciting but nonexistent photo would have been Tricyrtis–toad lily.  I nursed this plant back from oblivion, and it’s finally blooming exotically.  I was so happy to see it, and so sad to not be able to photograph it.

I had some other great non-photos, like leaves floating in the pool reflecting the sky, so it looked like leaves floating in sky.  And so many others you’ll never see.  Like the phallic fungus!

Here is Tricyrtis from one year ago this month.  As they say, nothing new under the sun.  Although, I sometimes wonder about under the sea…

Only a ‘shroom freak could find this thing I witnessed fascinating.

Apparently I caught a couple of Ravenel’s Red Stinkhorn in the brief first 15 minutes of phallic erection before it collapsed!  It lives in the strawberry patch, where I’ve managed to create the perfect mycelium medium.  The fungus/mushroom has a long thin, bright pinkish-red stalk, and a shiny black bullet-shaped cap, which stinks and attracts flies, who eat the slime instantly.  Then the thing goes flaccid and limp.  You can actually watch it in real-time!  I didn’t know whether to feel excited or horrified!  I tried and tried to catch a photo, but my phone would not comply; maybe it was too shocked.  Who says gardening is boring?

So naturally the only photos I could con my phone into taking were a eucalyptus leaf that had changed color (the plant has turned into a tree!), and the half of the veg garden I had hand-cultivated and sowed with a cover-crop of winter daikon radishes.  First I moved a pile of debris from the back of the veg to behind the trampoline, and cleared that path off.  Then I hoed the remaining loamy compost-y soil into the back half of the veg, a beautiful blank slate for the seeds, and raked and watered it in.  These large tough radishes will bore down into the clay layer and then freeze, leaving the soil aerated and loosened.  Brilliant, if it works!

The weather is still perfect and conducive for getting the last of my fall jobs done.  It’s warm, dry, sunny, and breezy, with leaves gently drifting down to form a natural mulch and winter critter shelter.  Eventually I’ll rake them into adjacent beds for winter mulch and compost.  Nothing gets wasted or thrown away, just as it is done in nature, for good reasons.

I sneakily fooled my sick camera into taking one photo today.  At least it was a good one.

Not much to report domestically.  I did the Aldi run, a small one this time.

Nationally/statewide, of course, we have crucial midterms, which could turn the vile toxic tide, if everyone votes wisely, unimpeded by trump goons.  It won’t fix all the additional damage done, but it could mean the difference between life and death, literally.  At least for those not dead of hate and violence already.

That’s my cheery post for today!  At least flower-wise.

I managed to squeeze two photos out of my dying phone before it quit again.  That’s a sick Avdi 😢 curled up in the hammock, and the woodsy path raked by me.

This morning, after having systematically compared every single detail of all the narrowed down health insurance plans that would work for me, I finally picked one.  I hope it turns out to be as beneficial as it claims.  Insurance is a crap shoot in the USA.

After working on the grocery list for tomorrow, I watered front and back.  It’s late October, and many trees and plants are still green and growing.  It continues to be perfectly warm and sunny out.  I mean, it’s about 75º out!  Leaves are falling, mostly brown.

Friday I baked challah–success!–and made dinner.  I also worked on B&B setup.  Saturday I spent the day doing more of same.  I also used the wood chipper to grind up the pile of sukkah branches and dump it in the wood chip section by the compost.

This turned out to be one of the best B&Bs ever, in my opinion!  The only setback was my broken phone camera, extremely annoying.  So Stacey was kind enough to be talked into taking photos for me, so you can get at least a taste of a great time.  I apologize for the no pics of the actual bonfire, the badminton before and after dark, or of the last minute drop-in of Akasha and friend Lincoln.

Everything else went splendidly.  The kids had lots of friends over enjoying themselves, and the older friends that turned out had a nice reunion.  I worked hard planning and setting up ahead, so Avdi wouldn’t have to do as much.  He made mulled cider, and had an Octoberfest beer tasting.  N as usual baked some great cookies and pretzels.  We cooked hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire.  Loucious got to see lots of people, including the kids who used to own him.  After we wound down, I think the Gkids and friends partied on.

I spent the night, but couldn’t sleep much.  This morning I cleaned up some more and then went home to bed.  Later I went back and enjoyed a drink outside with Loucious and briefly, Avdi.  Avdi took down the last of the sukkah.  We didn’t have our usual meeting, so I returned home.

I’ve got half a mind.  That’s how I feel sometimes!  Possibly it’s the allergy meds I took to see if they deal with a contact allergic reaction I seem to be having.  I’m even more lethargic than usual.

But I did manage to take down the rest of the branches from the sukkah, which is now a mere skeleton of its former glory.  I threw the leaves and debris onto the 3 sisters, and left the branches to be chipped, hopefully.

Also, I refined the three sections for leaves, chips, and debris, by removing as much of the rich black soil as possible to the woods trail.  After hosing it down, it looks more ready to receive its respective offerings.

I did the usual homey chores, but mostly I played with fire.  This is my FIUH time of year.  After water, fire is my element.  I attempt to rehab all the old candles, mostly just to stare at fire!  So productive.

I made up for yesterday and got lots done today.

I cleaned up the strawberry area more and planted N’s strawberry plant, and a row of native Passiflora (passion flower) seeds to stratify.

I cleaned off the patio and weeded the patio beds.

I removed most of the branches from the sukkah (except the roof) and laid them on the 3 sisters raised bed.

I hand-cultivated around the greens in the veg garden and the rest of the empty space in the back.

I watered the back and the front.

I played frisbee and ball with Loucious.

I put up some more light strings, this time in front on the railings, little conifer, and hedge.  It’s supposed to be purple.  Inside the front door, I put up orange, purple, and green lights.  Apparently my camera is colorblind.

In between jobs, I got some research done on the upcoming election, and on insurance plan comparisons.  Plus the usual housework.

Sorry about the overuse of “I”.  At least it’s not AI.

Today I had what may be my last dental appointment for the foreseeable future, at least with the dentists I’ve come to trust and like.  That’s what our insurance system does, ensure that you won’t be able to consistently see and afford a good dentist for long.  But that’s a story for another time.

Then I ran some errands for the family, picking up meds and groceries.  It was too gorgeous out to stay inside for long, so L and I played frisbee and ball, and I took down all the sukkah decorations.

Then I finally rolled back the gourd monster from the strawberry bed, and cleaned up that section to match the other two.  Now it’s a nice big bed for perennial fruits and veggies.

Later, while Avdi and S worked on HW etc. at the table. Stacey and I had a good conversation on the patio.

All the small gourds you see were grown here.

I spent the morning comparing health insurance plans.  How utterly tiresome, but necessary.

Then I picked up my new reading glasses!  That was fun.

Then I made an Aldi shopping list for tomorrow.  Using my new glasses.

I barely made it to the garden, on a perfect warm spring I mean fall day.

Loucious is now Soccer Dog.  He’s a dog of many talents.

Y is now M.  Got all that?