Today my oldest grandson turns “almost teenage”.  Happy Birthday, K!  I was there before, during, and after his birth, so there will always be a special bond there, even at a social distance.  Next time I see him, he probably will have crossed over into teen territory.

My son and kids are on their way back to their mother in PA.  We couldn’t visit them this whole summer because of the pandemic.  Who knows when it will once again be safe enough to see them whenever they’re in town.

Everything is uncertain right now.  The only way we have a chance at recovery in this country is to vote trump out.  All other idealogical considerations fall by the wayside, as far as I’m concerned.

Even the security of voting in any form is in jeopardy because of that criminal.  We personally will risk getting COVID to vote in person, rather than risk losing our vote by mail.  Whichever method you choose, do it as soon as it’s possible.

In lighter news, here is a weird purple alien, a.k.a. kohlrabi.  Also some produce, and an okra flower.

Speaking of flowers, which I do a lot, here are more!

Look at the size of this sycamore leaf, from this tree I grew from a tiny sapling from my son’s house.

Finally, here are some of my butterfly caterpillar friends, who have now moved on to another dill plant.

At last–a monarch butterfly has arrived in our yard!  The unusual absence of monarchs here was getting alarming, but having sighted one, more are sure to follow.  That made my day, especially when good news is so hard to come by.  Of course it was on the zinnias, right outside my window.  Zinnias are the bomb.  I’m going to double or triple the zinnia area next year.

Today I totally cleaned up the herb/medicinals garden.  Now you can actually distinguish the herbs.  My two black swallowtail caterpillars are still working their way from the dill to the parsley.

Another good item–a couple of my little sunflowers, hidden among the zinnias, actually escaped the notice of the varmints and bloomed!  My evil plan is working.  Here are some more flowers; note the bee on the phlox.

And now back to monarchs!

We have: Vernonia (Ironweed) blooming out in the “prairie”, some morning glories, and some butterflies.  I’m exhausted from working outside and from the hideous horror that is trump, so that’s all I have for now.

First things first–yesterday’s blue gin and tonic, the perfect summery drink.

Next, lots of life is happening out in the prairie–masses of goldenrod covered with pollinators, and spreading native wildflowers.  Birds and rabbits are making it their home.  I think more milkweed volunteers are coming up!  New tree saplings are appearing all the time; it’s going to be a forest out there!

Closer to home, lots of flowers continue to feed bees, bugs, birds, and butterflies, including my latest exciting find–this gorgeous black, orange, and blue butterfly, probably a pipevine swallowtail.

It was quite soggy, boggy, and foggy this morning, after almost 2 1/2 (!!) inches of rain in one 24 hour period.  Naturally that doesn’t stop me, it only encourages me to keep at it.  I finished planting my little veg/herb seedlings from the porch, so that’s pretty much it for summer plantings.  Next up will be preps for fall projects.

Here are some scenes from between torrential deluges, a soggy bee, some flowers, ‘shrooms, a moth, and my best black swallowtail caterpillar shot yet.

PS–As of today, the [official] number of COVID deceased in Knox Co. is 42.  Which probably means a lot more.  Not my favorite use of my #42, but I just had to make note of it.  🙁

It’s been raining torrents, my favorite element.  It keeps on getting darker.  Sometimes when it’s darkest out, it brings out the brightest flashes of color.  You can read a metaphor into that if you like.  Look at those ‘shrooms.  I even got a black swallowtail caterpillar in focus.

This pandemic has not only divided us up into the obvious political camps, but created unexpected common ground, despite very divergent situations.

Take for example the “sourdoughers” phenomenon, wherein young middle class parents with 1.5 kids who could work from home, and old retirees like us on a fixed income and time on our hands, both found ourselves stuck at home brewing up sourdough starter, due to COVID confinement and yeast shortages.  We’re not demographics you would normally associate together!  I didn’t even realize it was a thing when we first fired up the sourdough lab, and how it was already becoming a cliché.

In contrast, there are the many less fortunate people who either couldn’t afford to stay home during the pandemic, or could afford to work from home while overwhelmed at the same time with caregiving.  Not to mention people from all walks of life who face loss of jobs and income, homelessness, and death because of the pandemic and other disasters.

Not to beat a dead metaphor, but we’re all in the same Titanic together, whether a high class passenger or a worker in steerage; there are supposedly only a few lifeboats to go around, and only for the privileged few, and even fewer still actually make it.  The only difference is, there’s still time to turn this boat around and change the outcome, if our “leadership” would take its head out of its a$$ and lead by example.

In short, I’ve become very aware of how fortunate we are to be able to afford to stay home, stay safe, and produce some of our own food while sitting out this crisis.  This virus is no respecter of persons or situations.  It can randomly affect anyone, regardless of income, age, or circumstances.  As it happens, ironically our modest situation turned out to be an advantage, but most people are not in our position.

So when I go on about breads and produce, I don’t mean to be insensitive.  I know everyone is facing stressful concerns.  We each have different strategies for getting through this.  Ours is to try to maintain some kind of consistent, productive routine while we’re stuck isolated at home.  And I attempt to write about it, in the hopes that it might encourage someone else.  I know how lucky we are to have a home and be able to stay there indefinitely.

And with that, back to our usual slide show of veggies, flowers, and homebaked concoctions.

This is E’s delicious savory “breakfast” pie, before and after.

The garden continues to produce pretty stuff, including an eggplant flower!  An actual eggplant might be too much to ask.  But we keep at it.

This will only be exciting if you’re anxiously awaiting the delayed arrival of butterfly caterpillars, as I am.  Finally, overnight, little black swallowtail cats showed up on my dill and parsley, which are typical host plants for that butterfly.

I still haven’t found any monarchs, which tend to be hosted by milkweeds, but I don’t give up.  I’m just glad any bfly cats have made it down here at last.  Climate change can interfere with essential interactions between native species, eventually affecting us adversely.

Today was mowing day in the blazing heat.  Not fun!  We survived.  Whereas, these California poppies are loving the heat in their desert rock garden, along with some hardy ice plant (a succulent).  Speaking of hot and cold, here is a banana bread by E, and an icy, minty mojito (also by E).

Here are some happy bees on a black-eyed susan, and some cool-colored morning glories in the shade.  Not shown are all the hummers sipping on tropical drinks.  All we need now is a water feature.

I’m well aware as I write these mundane daily notes that for now we are among the fortunate few in these terrifying times.  We aren’t facing loss of income, eviction, herding restless quarantined kids, dire health issues, or another disaster on top of COVID.  Of course, with a selfish lunatic for so-called president, nothing is for sure or guaranteed.  So I never take anything for granted.  I grasp at any glimmer of light or color I can find in our fragile world.

So if my boring garden anecdotes seem incongruous or self-absorbed while the world is melting down, It’s only my way of trying to maintain some sanity and order in solitary confinement, and perhaps convey a sense of life going on despite apprehension and uncertainty.  I know it’s not easy, losing the essential ingredients of a stable life, or having to bunker down indefinitely without hope of relief, or the usual support systems.

All I have to offer is these scenes of a natural world persisting through it all.  It helps me cope, and maybe it can cheer up someone else for a moment.

It’s bucketing down today (yay!) so today’s photos are a buffet of unposted flora, fauna, and food on a recent sunny day.  Here’s what it really looks like out my office window today, and Misu’s latest battening down place in my office closet.

Starting with food, here is E’s latest bread experiment (a delicious hybrid of challah and sourdough Italian bread–Jews and Italians are cousins, after all), and her latest version of tapioca pudding.

Here are more random plants and butterflies.  Pokeweed may be a weed, but it’s native and fun, as long as you don’t eat it.