Official Spring finally caught up to me!  Violets are out!

I’ve been out there cleaning up the raised beds outside the back door, in case anyone wants to plant flowers there.  The bulb and rhizome flowers are going crazy–it’s a big year for them.  I also, trumpet blast, planted three kinds of tomatoes down in the lab yesterday: a beefsteak, a slicing, and cherry romas.  Later on when I get the saved tomato seeds from a friend (for which I exchanged some leftover misc. seeds of my own), I’ll plant an assortment.  We will not go tomato-less this year, if I can help it!  Or cuc-less.

I did some jobs for Avdi, like playing pharmacist and sorting/consolidating S’s meds, which comprise a pharmacy in itself.  Later, K, with some”help” from me, took apart and cleaned out the clogged dryer vent/hose/outlet.  He is proving to be of real service figuring out how to accomplish maintenance tasks so Avdi can work.

All the kids are very anxious to reach employment age and provide more for themselves, seeing how hard it is for A to juggle all the responsibilities alone.  Meanwhile, they’re learning to be more helpful and self-reliant at home and socially.  They don’t always appreciate it now, but they’ll realize later how their Dad incentivized them to be self-sustaining and competent adults, while meeting their health and security needs.

I found a recipe for dinner that was both healthy and kid-friendly, involving filling zucchini, yellow squash, and red bell pepper “boats” with an elevated mac ‘n’ cheese filling incorporating the squash into it, and roasting it.  As it happened, just A, K, and I were around to eat at the time, but it seemed to be enjoyed.

I’ve never seen such a variety of weather red alerts as I have living here.  Yesterday it was a high wind advisory (50+), and today’s is high winds, low humidity, and danger of uncontrolled wildfires.  The sky is this surreal, thick dull gray, which means the wind kicks up dust into the atmosphere.  Like s dustbowl.  In keeping with the dire political forecast.  Who needs sci-fi apocalyptic movies when you can live in the real thing?  So naturally one just goes about one’s business, trying not to set fire to anything.

Yesterday I planted a couple more early greens outside, did housework, and prepared to plant tomatoes inside.  Avdi mostly worked from elsewhere, in a state of mental overwhelm, in which he can’t engage or deal with one more thing.  I tried to help as I could.

I was going to make dinner, but E took over the kitchen, determined to make the Irish corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes, with homemade soda bread, that Avdi hadn’t had time to start earlier.  E did a fabulous job, and the kids and I sat around the table eating and talking, while A had to go get his stitches out (turned out it’s too soon).  It was just as well he wasn’t wielding the knife!

I had a dream I won’t go into that made me feel like I was lost in my own mental dust fog of dark fantasy that’s hard to come out of, but I’ll push on over to A’s under the eldritch gray sky to try to make myself useful!

I’m slowly working my way around the garden, only prepping areas that it’s time to plant seeds or seedlings in, leaving the rest alone until it’s time.  Yesterday I took the assorted poppy flower seeds out of their short strat period and cleaned up two areas in S’s garden and Y’s rock garden to plant them.  Then I prepped the strawberry bed and added the plants I’ve been growing from E’s seeds.  I’m hoping they’ll take over and produce actual strawberries.

I guess my motivation is a vision I’ve always had of helping a yard toward its potential of becoming a “secret garden”, a surrounding of beauty, tranquility, and health.  It will always be a work in progress, but the possibilities are endless, and the growing benefits to nature and humans are my motivation to keep working each day and year.  If I drop dead doing it, I still will have left the garden hopefully even more a refuge of life and spirit than I found it.  It’s one thing I feel like I can do fairly competently for others while they’re here.

Speaking of tranquility, the dynamic at the house is so different with S away.  Y isn’t as stressed about coming home from school, K can work on his HW undisturbed at the dining table, E can sit quietly in the living room without the tv blasting youtube idiocy, and I can hang out with them without constant interruptions and meltdowns.  I know Avdi can get more work done.  Things are still glaringly wrong with the world outside right now and for years to come, but it’s one less stressor to deal with in a crowded house.

Y actually talked me into walking all the way to the grocery store and back (to spend all their cash on sweets, but who’s judging!).  We had a good time talking about all sorts of things, and they even took my hand a few times, which never happens.  We got to walk on the pedestrian bridge over the highway, my first time, on the way back.  Even though it was exhausting for me to keep up and walk that far, it was worth it knowing they trust me enough now to spend time together and confide personal feelings.

K and I have also been bonding a lot over tech stuff that he’s creating from scratch out of electronic parts he buys.  He’s making me a “doohickie” to test moisture levels of plant soil in my lab.  He’s really skillful in this field, and it gives him practical incentives and experience building something that someone can use.  Half the time I have no idea what he’s saying, but I’m interested, and he takes pride in it.

Well, back to the garden with me.

As expected, the storm flooded Avdi’s yard, but fortunately didn’t reach the veg garden.  Lots of debris everywhere, but nothing like the tornado destruction elsewhere in the area.  He set up the pump to drain the water into the runoff canal, and then set off with S to meet Stacey halfway and hand him off for a week.

I walked over to be around for the other kids, and spend the night.  Needless to say, it was much quieter there!  It was way too wet out to work in the garden, but I found plenty to do indoors.  I even managed to get some sleep.

Yesterday it was cold again, but warm enough to clean up the herb garden a little.  Lots of daffodils are blooming, even after the hail-battering they took.  The beautiful hellebores are finally opening.  The redbuds are starting to bloom.  Down in the lab, lots of cucumbers are germinating.

Sadly, our good friend Joyce and family have to move farther away, so Avdi helped them move large furniture yesterday.

This was a huge wide storm moving very fast across the state and St. Louis area tonight, then crossing the river into IL, with many actual tornadoes on the ground, large hail, continuous t-storms, heavy rain, and very high wind speeds.

I hunkered down near my apt door watching the weather reporting on my phone.  At some points the hail crashing against the windows, the thunder and wind, and the tornado sirens constantly wailing were so loud I couldn’t hear, but I could see the rainbow of severe conditions and tornadic touchdowns speeding across the screen.

As the storm moved east away from us, then the fire and emergency vehicle sirens started up.  And, some more tornado sirens, just for good measure!

Meanwhile, Avdi was down the basement with the kids, reading stories.  Above ground it will be a lake, with big hail balls.

This is how they welcome spring in MO, I guess.  I’ll never get used to this.  But, we seem to have survived once again.  Tomorrow it will be a “normal day”, except with a lot of debris and flooding.

We’re about to get slammed with one of those annoying major midwestern storms, featuring extreme wind (70+), a tornado watch, and kiss your ass goodbye.  I decided to watch apocalypse tv from my apartment for some reason, rather than Avdi’s, even though it’s erev Shabbat.  I made challah, did the usual routine, helped batten down, and then walked, or rather blew, home.  I do hope we all meet again, maybe in Canada, eh!

This post gets more exciting later, but first things first.

It was like 80º yesterday!  I planted collards in the veg garden, and some gladiolus in one of the raised beds against the fence.  Then down to my lab, where I prepped some seeds for stratification in the frig.  I cleaned up the house a little, leaving the kitchen clear for E’s hamantaschen takeover after school.

Avdi and I made up for our postponed monthly date by doing the town.  First we tried The Blue Duck in Maplewood, up on the roof overlooking the town at sunset under a full moon.  It was very windy but beautiful.  The food was excellent “elevated comfort food”, and the craft drinks were inspired.

Next we went to a dance club at The Grove and hung out.  DJs played very loud EDM with cool visual effects, but it was early in the evening so chill.  Then we cruised the strip and landed at Platypus, a friendly neighborhood bar with equally excellent craft drinks and DJ old school music.  Good vibes there.  By then I was truly schnockered.

Eventually we had to return to “real life”, but with a good buzz.

Daffodils were starting to bloom yesterday in the warm air!  I planted four rows of various lettuces, one of mixed kale, and one of pak choi.  Then in my underground lab I started assorted cucumbers.  It seems we have a couple of kids that will gladly devour a whole cucumber for a snack, skin and all!  This year I’m eliminating labor intensive space-hoggers that are cheaper from the store (at least they were), and prioritizing crops that everyone will actually eat.  After that, it’s all flowers!  E has already started some of his own, and Y has lots of requests.

Avdi’s been having particularly difficult days trying to work and deal with kids while still recovering.  The upside is, he gives me more assignments, which I like.  Yesterday’s were: clean up and reorganize the large first aid/medical area downstairs, and make dinner.  S was once again fussing about doing his chores, but this time I refused to help him with one he can do by himself.  I have enough of my own!

Purim is almost here, so today E will probably make hamantaschen when he gets home.  There are two young bakers in the family, so I’m able to pass along the job of making traditional recipes to them.  In the case of Y, it’s one sneaky way of helping them to appreciate their Jewish culture and DNA.

Today was another warm day.  I walked over by way of the tropical store for a water snail for E’s aquarium.   I planted peas in the garden!  Later, Y and I held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the spring ’25 garden season.  Then they adjourned to their tree to ruminate.