Today was so cool out, it could have been early fall.

Out in the garden, E discovered lots of new potatoes in the veg garden and dug them up, which was amazing.  He also sighted some unidentified baby squash on the monster plants in the strawberry bed.

I did some weeding and puttering.  E worked on his area, and mowed the lawn.

The three sisters area has quite an assortment of corn, beans, and squash coming up.

The wide round leaf with the funny little red knobby thing is golden seal.

Correction: Those were NOT chickens.  You did not see any poultry.  It was a hoax.

Happy Summer Solstice/Father’s Day!  All the kids get to be with their Dad this time.

A beautiful large doe just strolled through the yards!  She just glanced at me as I greeted her, as if to say hey back, and continued her stately stroll.  Sorry I didn’t get a photo.  I did get some other summery pics, like these pipevine swallowtail caterpillars, swarming all over the Dutchman’s pipe!

I “slept over”, minus the sleeping, but other than that, all is well.

Stacey got the house!  J&C (with cat) will move in (“temporarily”) sooner, while she takes school exams and finishes out her work.  She (and one of the girls) already have jobs lined up here.

Y came home from camp yesterday.  He seems to be happy from the experience.  He even interacted briefly before retreating back into his cave.  The kids were off from summer school for Juneteenth, so it was a full house again.

I did the usual erev preps.  One of the dishes featured carrots and beets straight out of the garden, with peas.  Everyone but E, who had a rehearsal, was at the table, at least briefly.

It was so hot out, Loucious and I spent most of the day inside, L lying on the AC vent.  I did manage to take some photos, though, including this elephant ears that managed to winter over and come back up, as did some other bulbs that I left in the ground!  I guess that tells you something about climate change.

I barely spent time at the Avdi’s today, what with doctors interspersed with giving rides.  I had a lab in the morning, and a cardiologist in the afternoon.  The last was at Mercy Hospital South campus, which is vast, and my first time driving myself there.  I was so exhausted just from all the driving.

I still have more tests to go, but it doesn’t seem to be too serious.  Now if I could just afford the eye surgery so I could see where I’m driving, that would be an improvement!

Look, the black hollyhocks finally started to bloom!

Today I sowed more veg seeds in the remaining gaps in the veg garden.  For now, it’s about as full as it can get.  I actually brought some greens home with me for a change.

Mostly I just hung around with S, picked up K, and even made a quick trip to the grocery store for myself.  I had to wait a month until I got paid again to get some food.  Not a lot, just something to subsist on at home.

Besides for towering over everyone, S has learned a great deal about self-regulation and using words to express his feelings.  He’s realizing he’s not the center of the universe, and can’t just order everyone to do his bidding!  He’ll state his preference in a situation, but then concede that not everything can be scheduled around his priorities.  He gets let down easily by a friend not being at his beck and call, but is better at letting it go and not escalating or browbeating.  He doesn’t try to order me around like he used to.  He tries and likes new foods that he would have turned down before.  He seems fairly good about leaving Avdi alone to work or rest.

The weather was finally dry and cool enough to work in the garden, so I weeded the entire veg garden without breaking a sweat.  I finally came in for our family charcuterie meeting, with even S contributing ideas.  Then S and I went downstairs and he showed me the project he’s working on, with excellent writing skills and visuals.  He’s much better at communicating.

With the B&B canceled, everyone had a chance to get much-needed rest and recovery time.

Despite her traumatizing injury, Stacey was able to view possible new homes and may have nailed the one she wanted.

Some friends came over and had two different games going at the table, including Jess, Stacey, and S.

Mostly we just all hung out or slept.  The kids got to spend needed time with one or the other parent.  E was still traumatized from the ER night and needed to debrief with Avdi.  S got to show off his latest creative projects.  K was able to work out what had been driving her resentment toward her Mom over the dog incident, and apologize.

Stacey realized she’d be spending time cooperating as part of the “team”, including Jess, so it would be fitting to start becoming allies on the same page.  I was particularly impressed by her proactive gesture.

I’m finding that however complicated and messy community is by nature, the ultimate goal is to recognize and appreciate human insecurities, face them together, and find solutions.  If an extended/chosen family core can learn these difficult skills, that’s the beginning of extending inclusion and compassion toward others.

It works from the inside out.  It requires work thinking and acting outside of your individual comfort zone and autonomy, to cooperate with people who are still working out their own issues.  At the same time, you can’t sacrifice your personal boundaries and core values.  People must learn to respect those boundaries while mutually benefiting each other.

Anyway, just some thoughts from a work-in-progress.  Meanwhile, the garden is benefiting from all the rain and heat, without any help from me.  In fact, minimal human interference and mutual cooperation are key to a habitat evolving an effective network.  [see title]

Well, it happened again.  Loucious bit Stacey in the mouth, and she had to go to the ER and get stitches and shots.  She’s on antibiotics and painkillers.  It was pretty severe this time.  She looks like an assault victim, and was traumatized.  She can barely eat or drink due to the injuries.

Three strikes is no coincidence.  Stacey, E, and I compared notes.  It happens the same exact way each time.  It’s evening, Loucious is on the sofa, someone makes the mistake of kissing him on the head good night, and he goes for the face or throat.  We had neglected to mention this to Stacey (I assumed wrongly that she had been in on the previous incidents).

So now we have to be extra vigilant when anyone, including other dogs like T, is visiting.  Of course it’s not the dog’s or anyone’s fault, it’s just an instinctive reaction.  But it is a concern.

Stacey still managed to keep her house hunting appointments (with a mask on), despite the inauspicious start, with promising results.  She’s on a very tight timetable between finishing out school and work in MI and moving here this summer with a dog, cat, and probably J&C.  S of course is now here for the summer.

On a more humorous side note, E cunningly managed to hide from all of us the fact that he’s been hatching and keeping baby chickens in his room!!  We were all jaws to the floor (figuratively for Stacey!).  They’re adorable.  So that’s what he’s been up to!  Now he just has to finish his project out back.

Needless to say, with all the shuttling and errands I was doing, I didn’t have time to make challah, but I faked it with some leftover challah, and managed to make a feast, including lots of assorted greens from the garden.  We had a full table, even with Y away at camp.  Jess joined us.

We were going to have a B&B today, but what with Avdi (et al) feeling exhausted and sick, and the weather threatening, we canceled.  We’ll just hang out with all our indispositions.  That’s what a village does, right?  And we’re turning into quite the village!  There’s even livestock!

Some time in between t-storms and 100º sauna the other day, E mowed the lawn.  I don’t know how he does it ($$ incentives help).  You couldn’t pay me (not that they do) to work out in that boiler.  Fortunately the garden is basically on autopilot now, except for weeding and watering in between deluges.  It looks good for the B&B on Saturday.

I’ve been dropping off and picking up K at summer school.  Yesterday she and I went grocery shopping for the rest of her grocery requests.  It was fun, especially since I wasn’t paying!

In fact, I’ve had no money for food for almost a month, and I’m getting down to being very creative to eat at home.  Once I pay rent, utilities, and dental loans each month, I have very little left, and nothing for the eye surgery I need.  It’s getting harder to drive, but I manage for now.

Today Stacey will be bringing S for the summer.  Soon she’ll be house hunting, and then S will live with her nearby.

More later…