It rained a lot!  Today it was like a cool misty rainforest.  I was able to finish chopping up the strip along the trees, and strung up a rope light along it.  I also raked the back of the veg garden more, and then strung up a light string along its back fence.  They look beautiful in the dark.

All these gourds came from the monster gourd plants that ate the strawberry area.  I confess the large pumpkins came from Aldi.

I spent much of the evening with K/S, picking up the Aldi order, shopping for additional items at Schnuck’s, and taking her to Walgreen’s for hygiene /beauty products, where I was no help at all!

I was able to go shopping for groceries and supplies yesterday.  I was also able to refrain from resorting to my credit card this month (so far), so my credit score outdid itself.  That may change with an upcoming routine dental.

At Avdi’s, I mostly watered back and front.  Guess what it finally did last night and this morning–rain!  It hasn’t rained in months!  It was still very warm out–it felt like 90º–but today it’s cooled off.  The garden is happy.

Speaking of, I think I may have jumped the gun a little out of impatience: I have poppies and other seedlings coming up all over the place!  Ironic, because I couldn’t get them to grow much this past year, mostly due to those !@#$ aggressors choking them out.  Now that I’ve made an effort to create conducive conditions, they just couldn’t wait and stratify all winter, they went ahead and germinated.  Oh well, maybe it will all work out.

Autumn is a time of subtle nuance for photography.  You have to focus a little more to see the beauty in masses of modest, unpretentious asters and goldenrods of all kinds, solomon’s seal turning golden, all the unidentified-by-me white flowers, and little flashes of marigolds making a last attempt.  Even some veg greens in sparkling reds and greens.

This is why you be patient and don’t ravage the garden in the name of “fall cleanup”.  All the beneficial critters are about to use all those stems and leaves for their winter hibernation.  Life doesn’t just stop, it goes underground and keeps on transforming.  Ope, I feel a metaphor coming on…

Whatever “repair” I did to my phone, I seem to be back for now, and I can take decent photos!!  It’s like a miracle!

At Avdi’s, Billie the Dog and Loucious were having their standoff or truce.  L was like save me from the scary little intruder, and B was like ok whatever.  It’s humorous to watch.

In between taking pictures, I did a couple of things–repotted N’s strawberry plant, which he amazingly grew from the skin of a store-bought strawberry.  He is also growing cacti from seed like a pro.  I watered a few areas.

Then in the evening a carload of us went to check out Johnnie Brock’s, the Halloween and costume motherlode hub.  It was the first time for a few of us.  Not having money, I was free to just browse and be amazed–and of course take pictures!

I have another day mostly to myself, and some of my funds arrived, so I may get up the nerve to go shopping for necessities.

Apparently I did something to bring my phone back under repair mode.  It seems to be back, with all the backlogged messages and texts.  My battery needs replacing, the device is too hot and I’m sure there are other issues.  I did some system and app updates successfully.  Now to check the camera.  Well, would you look at that!

This is a 21st C. phenomenon.  We rely on a handheld mini-computer for our day-to-day communications and operations.  When it malfunctions and finally blacks out, it’s like you’re out of comms range, even though you’re not.  A weird feeling.

Since my phone was already failing, I took a chance and put it in repair mode.  What’s there to lose?  It’s been in repair mode since last night, and shows no signs of being done any time soon.

I have no way to know what’s happening down the street at Avdi’s, which is fine.  He and Allie scheduled alone time today and tomorrow, so I got to sleep in and do my own thing till much later.  The silence is deafening–and welcome.

Thank the spirits I have this laptop!  I’d go stark raving mad without it.  I can continue to talk to myself like a normal person!  No one checks social media messages anymore anyway, so no need to bother.  Just me and my plants spacing out in space.

I don’t acknowledge colonial terrorist day (columbus) so here’s to Indigenous Peoples Day!  May all original surviving nations rise up in power and stand against white illegal aliens.

Here’s a photo from a year ago tomorrow of a space blob.  Time is different out here.

One by one, things that I thought were necessities or took for granted are being peeled away, and I’m still OK!  Examples:

The photo moratorium.  Since I can’t take any, I’m forced to just really see and admire my surroundings, not just record them.  Looking back a year reminds me I already took those same subjects ad infinitum, and can survive without hundreds more.  Also, it saves space on my computer!

Food and necessities constrained by income timing and bills.  My credit score just increased beyond my former record, simply because I refrained from spending what little money I don’t have!  I’m actually finishing off the last of my food until I can afford a few groceries, and doing without things I thought I couldn’t.  Man may not be able to live on bread alone, but I literally can!

All the miscellaneous clothing, gifts, discretionary impulse spending I can’t afford anymore.  So what if all my socks and clothes are threadbare and torn!  Nobody cares what I look like anymore anyway, which saves me money and time.  And everyone knows I can’t buy them gifts anymore, so they don’t expect as much.  I suspect some of my former impulse buying was driven more by emotional neediness than actual need.

I’ve also found that if I wait a little longer, somehow the thing I need comes to me in one way or another.  So I’ve learned to wait more patiently.  Or I embrace the minimalism.  Less baggage to schlep around with me!  Downsizing without all the effort!

So without my photos as a crutch, I’m forced to fall back on actual thoughts, ideas, concepts!!  Maybe even content other people can relate to, not just me!

And without a functional phone, I can’t just waste time scrolling rubbish.  I have to actually do stuff!

Here’s something from a year ago today.  Hmm, an improvement over this year’s current production.  My work is cut out.

At Avdi’s overnight, I tried not taking traz to see how I’d do.  When I finally fell into a restless doze in the middle of the night, that’s when Y decided to get up and make a loud racket talking to someone and banging around in the kitchen.  Guess he was off his traz, too!  After that, sleep was touch and go.  I felt really off this morning.

I did get some gardening done.  I hacked away at some more of the natives area.  I cleaned up the strip behind the veg garden and sowed butterfly weed to hopefully stratify.  I watered all the transplants from yesterday.  I threw frisbees at L.  Then I just wasn’t feeling up to it, and went home to bed and slept for hours.  Without traz.

Allie and Billie are coming to visit tonight for a few days.

Here’s a photo from a year ago today.

I did a whole 12-stepper (well, more like 6er) but no photos to prove it, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

First I dug two holes where I transplanted the green dragon along the raised side rock garden.  Then I dug up some green dragon from each of the patio beds, and planted them in the holes.  Then I dug up the two mini-roses from the front and transplanted them to the holes in the patio beds.  Then I dug two holes in the “woods”.  Then I dug up two sedges from the “apothecary” bed and transplanted them to the holes.  I watered in each step as I went.  You see how you have to plan ahead.  None of this will mean anything to anyone else, but I know what I was doing.  I know I was exhausted, which doesn’t take much anymore.

For erev, Stacey made two beautiful challot, and a pumpkin spice tres leches cake.  I made an Asian chicken stir-fry with jasmine rice.  We had quite a crowd, with Jenny and Charlotte joining us.  We all hung out and talked.  Then as usual, everyone dispersed every which way, leaving just me and S.  This time I’m sleeping over tonight, not tomorrow.

As per my brand new tradition, here is a photo from one year ago today.

It’s so weird not being able to take photos of what I’ve done.  I have to remember it all!  You’ll just have to imagine it.

The weather is fall fever!  I have to keep stopping and just take it all in, the dry breeze, the sun that’s just right, the tall trees mostly still green overhead, all the critters busily pollinating and preparing.  It’s so euphoric.

So today I hacked up a little more of the clay concrete that is the new, expanded natives strip.  You’d think by now there’d be more of a loamy layer, but no; it’s pure clay, and very impenetrable.  I guess it’s Missouri.

Then I liberated the next section of the perennial veg/fruit beds out from under the monster gourd vines.  (I even found yet another gourd in there!)  There were still a few prickly pear cactus and strawberry plants under there.  I weeded and hoed as much as I could to bring the section out to where the first one is, and laid down rocks.  Then I watered it in.

Now I wait until I can move the monster vines away from the third and final section, and see if anything survived.  Then I’ll have room to add more kinds of perennial edibles.

I started adding leaves to beds, in this case the one near the back porch where I throw dead flowers and cuttings.  It’s a great mulch, and raises the level of the beds.

I won’t say I’m running out of fall jobs; some have to be timed for later in fall.  I will admit I run out of energy and have to sit and soak in all the euphoria.  Or throw frisbees at the dog.

I’m wearing my temporary “free” reading glasses; they’re very strange!  But they do magnify everything, and I can see everything clearly if I hold still.  I wonder why cheap (free with OTC)  readers come with standard blue screen filters and progressive lenses, while the cheapest covered prescription glasses cost hundreds more for each enhancement.

I think while I’m camera-less, I’ll use previous photos for focal interest.  Here’s one from exactly a year ago to the day.

Last night Avdi and I went on our monthly date.  It was like a perfect summer night, but without the humidity.

First we had drinks at Off Elm.  Then we explored all the places to eat along Gravois in Bevo, South County.  What an intriguing atmospheric neighborhood.  Lots of Bosnians and Middle Easterners and very divey bars.

Finally, we decided to check out Civil Life brewpub.  We sat outside at their lovely, flowery patio drinking cask ales and eating excellent smash burgers.  We actually got to talk about Matters of Consequence, like AI and the work Avdi does.  I know he has to dumb things down for me, but I could follow what he was saying.  We practically closed the place down!

These photos are courtesy of Avdi, since my phone is dysfunctional.