Peppers are now planted, leaving just room enough left for the eggplants I brought out to harden off.  Accordingly, I was able to expand and organize the pantry staples downstairs.  Now I just have one last small section of misc. flower/herb seedlings and prop experiments left.  My plant mothering/fussing will mostly shift to outdoors by mother’s day.  Nobody needs to buy me flowers!  Iris heaven is on earth.

We’re to that point in the planting season where most of the seedlings are planted or hardening off, freeing up the prop lab space for food staples to invade once again.  We’re also planning the first B&B of the season!

Yesterday I brought out the pepper seedlings to harden off.  I hoed and raked the final outer side of the veg garden, and direct-sowed okra in one half, and planted the cherry tomato seedlings in the front half.  Next I direct-sowed two kinds of zucchini in the middle of the veg garden.  That leaves just enough room for peppers and eggplant, and the veg garden will be “done”.

That left some prop lab space available for the food staples to encroach, which they did.  I was able to start reorganizing it.  Which is a good thing, because I finally sorted through all my own staples at home, and have several boxes-worth to share or give away!

Back at home, I lit a yahrzeit memorial candle for my mother, and ate the entire pizza I bought from E for his fundraiser.

Look at these magnificent irises!  I can’t get enough of them.

I’m tired in a good way.  Friday I made challah, baked a lemon poppy seed cake with raspberry filling and icing, topped with raspberries, for E’s birthday, and made a great chicken vegetable stir-fry, including the first greens from the garden, with rice.  Stacey joined us.  Everyone seemed happy.

Saturday we all spent the day preparing for E’s big party.  I did the initial mowing around the edges of the yard and saplings.  Then of course it poured and flooded the yard.  E’s party of peers only was quite a bash.  Stacey and I hung out in the basement, where K’s friend C , and briefly Y, joined us (the introverts’ party).  Stacey and I did some edibles and got really euphoric.  We all talked all evening, until she had to go to sleep; then C and I adjourned to the office and continued talking.  I got quite high.

Today, I walked over earlier than usual and helped clean up.  Then we all said goodbye to Stacey.  The yard was still a swamp, but I was able to go ahead and mow the whole front and most of the back (K was out with A).  It was turning into a hay field.  Then I got a lot done in the garden.  I weeded, hoed, and I planted a lot of tomato seedlings.  Then I stayed for the charcuterie meeting.

More garden progress.  Even with freeing up outlying beds for the larger crops, I still lacked a suitable space for zucchini, so I figured out a veg bed layout that would allow for them as well as the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.  Okra will go on the remaining exterior side.  I think that will finish out the veg garden.

The pole beans (older seed) didn’t come up, so I replanted a new standard variety in their place.

I finished cleaning up the two raised beds and planted gourds and pumpkins in the larger one, and cantaloupes and watermelons in the smaller.  Hopefully something will come of it this year.

S’s little square garden had become overridden with aggressive natives again, so I carefully liberated it, to discover the whole thing was filled with little volunteer tomato seedlings!  So he’ll have a mixed poppies and tomatoes garden!

K gave me permission (whenever we first mow) to do the first swipe around the outer edges of the property and around the new tree seedlings, in order to make it easier for him to see what’s what this year, since I’ve made many changes.

I straightened up around the house, and stayed with the kids while Avdi took E out to eat for E’s birthday, which was yesterday.  We’ll do the main festivities this weekend, when their mother will be visiting.

Avdi continues to feel exhausted and overwhelmed by all the pressures and overload he has to deal with singlehandedly, so not doing so well.  It’s way too much for one person to handle.  He can’t “take care of himself” when there is literally no time in each day to even catch up on all the work, kid demands, kid-related business, and house management, let alone his [necessary for mental health] workout time, or just “time-out”.  Even if he steals a moment to sleep or go out, it’s all there waiting for him the minute he’s back.

I feel inadequate and at a loss to help in ways that would actually relieve some of the responsibilities, so I just do everything I know how to do.  I’m learning how to delegate jobs to myself without being yet another interruption.  The kids don’t understand why Dad is so unapproachable or inaccessible, and not at their every beck and call, servicing their every impulse.  One day they may or may not get how much he met their actual needs.

I got lots done outside: gave more mint away and cleaned up behind it; moved rocks out front to re-delineate edges; weeded around the lilac saplings; planted more veg seedlings and replaced them with the rest of the tomato seedlings to harden off from prop; removed some random tree saplings from where they didn’t belong; and weeded.

Later, Avdi and I finally got to make up for lost “rain” dates (of course it was literally raining this time), and went out to try some new places in Tower Grove.  First we went to “The Headless Bat”, an eclectic cozy pizzeria and bar, where we had excellent hand-crafted drinks and pizza slices.  Totally recommend.

Then we found “The Gin Room”, a veritable museum of every kind of gin there is from floor to ceiling, and wonderful hand-crafted cocktails.  We just gazed and sipped in wonder.  Next to us was a lovely lady embroidering, whom we enjoyed talking to.  Also totally recommend this place.  I believe we made up for lost time(s)!  I hope it helped cheer Avdi up a little from his doldrums.

Yesterday I went to my new dentist under my new insurance plan, and I liked them a lot.  I especially liked all the zeros on my cost estimates so far.  I liked less all the dental issues I still have and procedures I need, but that’s no surprise.  I am, after all, the dental genetic loser of a dental family.

I found a break in the constant rain to walk over and admire the soggy garden, which I’m about to do again today between t-storms.  Y hung out with me for a little while, asking about enviro issues like greenhouse gases, and wishing they could have a greenhouse.  I showed them where the peas were, and where I had planted more flowers in their gardens.  I got to dig up and share lots of the invasive mint in the herb garden with a member of the plant swap group, so that freed up room for now.

Included in the photos is the very colorful slipcovered new sofa.  Wear shades to view!

A loud t-storm woke me up so here I am, writing about yesterday’s mundane gardening, while hundreds of miles away, hundreds of people showed up at a huge funeral and reception for my cousin.  It’s like a different world; hard to imagine.  Of course, she lived her life (wore it out) doing good deeds and caring for people, without fanfare or taking credit, impacting countless lives.  She earned that show of respect.  She left behind many close family members and friends devastated by her loss.

Not that there’s any comparison, but I don’t even know, let alone impact, hundreds of people, and if I died, it would just be another day!  A minor ripple.  Not that I’d be around to care.  Anyway, about that mundane gardening…

I planted more flowers in various places: in each of the small square beds, in Y’s rock garden, and completed the row of sunflowers behind the veg garden.  I added a couple of blue water bowls to the shade natives area.  I still have a lot of veg seedlings to bring out and plant when they’re ready, and veg seeds to direct-sow, but then most of the work will shift to outdoor maintenance and enjoying the results.  More to the point, others will hopefully get to enjoy it.

Maybe the baby birds’ death was an omen.

My cousin died overnight, while I was sleepless at Avdi’s.  That’s when I happened upon the obit.  She was conscious and aware of the family around her, then later slipped into unconsciousness.  I guess that’s the way to go.  It’s given me an opportunity to reconnect with the other cousins a little, as death tends to do.

I’m too tired to talk, so here are lots of flowers in the rain, the new sofa, and kids.

Yesterday on the way to Avdi’s, a small mother bird flew from the nest, so that was good news.  Two of the babies were still alive, but one looked near death.  At least the mother was around.  But when I returned in the evening, I found the nest tumbled onto the ground, and no sign of baby birds.  Life can be harsh.

In better news, I baked the first challot after Pesach, and haven’t lost my touch.  I also made Asian-style bbq chicken, an Asian-style marinated salad, and a sesame matzah kugel.  Everyone (who was there) seemed to enjoy it.

The flowers!!  Look at these irises that bloomed together.  We’re entering spring primetime.  Conveniently, it keeps suddenly t-storming, so I don’t have to water.

Al Pacino is my hero.  He’s much older than me, but we come from the same background, Italian Americans and Jews in NY and CA, like cousins, struggling to make it.  He speaks our language, and represents our cultures.  He put his soul into his acting roles, and we love him for it.

To my knowledge, I’ve never had a dream about him, until early this morning.  He was doing a big public appearance, probably one of his last.  I finally had the honor of meeting him, shaking his hand, exchanging a few respectful words.  He looked so tired, like someone on his way out of the limelight, but still willing to make the effort to please his fans.  The older fans, like me, kind of worshipped him, but the younger ones didn’t get him.  I told them, it’s because you think he’s “old”.  As he left, I felt deeply sad, because we’d probably never see him again, but I was so honored to have met him.

I woke up, looked him up online just to see how old he really is, and lo and behold, it was his birthday!  What are the chances?  How could that be a coincidence?  Some unexplainable thing shot me up with his presence.  I’m nobody, but I wish I could have met him in this lifetime.

Anyway, Al Pacino, though you’ll never read this, Happy Birthday, and many more.