Romancing the Milkweed

Up at 6, back to sleep till suddenly the alarm was going off at 7:30. Out of bed by 8. The usual breakfast. Treats for Spook.

Facebooked, read the news, then took the sander outside and ground out the scratches on the car. The damage was worse than I thought, had to open the rear passenger door to sand down the worst parts, and spray paint over some chipped paint. Needed touch up paint on a few other spots too. The car will need to have some body work before I turn it back in in 2.5 years.

But I'm happy, because in 10 minutes and $70 the damage is not visible from 5 feet away. Power sander was well worth it. I just wish I had other uses for it.

Lunch was a steamer bowl. Strawberries and whipped cream for dessert.

Around 2 or so on impulse I drove out to Yamagami's. Did not ask Lee if she wanted to come along, she was busy cleaning her car.

New ownership has made some major improvements - better signage and a map on a whiteboard as things move around. I found a pair of milkweed plants - they only had 2 out, so I got a cart because there were other things I had in mind but I could buy them elsewhere. Two lavender plants, a deep purple verbena, 4 tiny thyme pots, and what the label said is a Coreopsis grandiflora 'Early Sunrise' but I'm pretty sure it is a Tickseed - aka Plains Coreopsis.

As I was paying for the plants (two very attractive staffers) my blood sugar took a dive, and I needed a restroom so I drove nextdoor to Jack in the Box (yes, I was desperate) used the facilities, ordered a large chocolate shake and small fries. 10 minutes later they gave me a large fries and a large oreo cookies shake. Close enough. Took 10 minutes to stop sweating - a side effect of low Hgl but also I was out in the sun at Yama's.

Phone call from an Indian pimp with a contract at Google which I still have a month to go before I can apply. He didn't read the whole job description, but when I got his email it was a no-go. Testing the Uber app, including riding in the car while using it. No thanks.

Home, killed half an hour then went to Film Night at the community center. Romancing The Stone.  Cheap knock-off of Indiana Jones. If there was any actual acting I missed it. Stunt doubles looked nothing like the stars. Best performance of the movie was right at the start, a sort of dream sequence where the novelist is visualizing the final scene from the book she is writing. A former Playboy March 1981 playmate of the month named Kymberly Herrin. No other major film credits, but lots of modeling. Truly a loss to the entertainment industry.

I knew we were in for a FAIL when I saw Danny De Vito in the list of credits.

There were a couple of cute single women there, one definitely crazy, one seriously NYC annoying. My heart throb from the last event didn't show up till I was leaving.

Watched PTI and an episode of Gold Rush. Saw on FB that the Warriors won the series against the Rockets in Houston. Watched the highlights on NBA.com, and it was very close. The next series should be easier. But probably won't be.

Dinner was salad, cream corn and pizza. Mint chip ice cream and an egg cream for dessert.

Plans for tomorrow:
Major gardening:
- rake out the front garden, bee's friend plants & grasses
- plant the milkweed in the back with the resurrected ones
- plant an onion back there too - it is sprouting in the kitchen
- plant the Coreopsis by the mailbox
- lavender can go in the two empty planter spaces on the carport edge
- thyme will go behind the existing thyme
- verbena may fill in some space in the front garden.
If the rosw petals are dry, pack them up
Harvest more sage
Maybe take the electric clipper to the rosemary bush

Gardening, gardening and gardening

7:30 alarm was just too annoying so I went back to sleep for an hour.

Breakfast and online stuff, then outside, got out my spf50, put on my gardening hat and gloves, got the rake from the shed, wheeled the garden recycle bin out to the road and pulled out all the gone to seed and some of the barely flowering bee's friend plants. Raked a lot of dried weeds and grass too, and cleared out the jungle. Rosemary and a couple of flowers saw daylight for the first time in 2 months. Lily of the Nile too. And the only bird of paradise on the block which refuses to flower. Tried to pull out the tall grass, but it is in there solid. Looked it up and turns out it is Purple Needle Grass, a terrific drought tolerant, moisture hoarding plant great for landscaping. Roots can go down 16 feet, and it loves clay. So I'll leave it be. 

Cleared some dried underbrush from under the Cali lilac, but there are still masses of poppies around the rose garden and both ends of the front garden.

It was a lot of work, and wiped me out for a while.

Inside, lunch time, watched some Twitch streams, then back outside for round 2.

Planted the two milkweeds on the back retaining wall but in front of, not alongside the resurrected ones. There is some plastic structure in the way. Planted the sprouting onion off to the side.

One lavender plant each in the two cutouts along the carport. Four little thyme bunches in a row to the left of the year-old pair. Many saffron bulbs were uprooted in the process (turns out to be insanely difficult to harvest saffron).

Time for another break. BP was low. So was Hgl - self-medicated with a Klondike bar.

Watched some TV, I think. Watered some of the indoor plants.

Back outside, planted a bright yellow flowering thing by the mailbox, and the purple verbena by the ceramic elephant in the front garden. May have to relocate it or get the electric digger out because the clay is very hard, was not able to dig a deep enough hole.

Got the hedge trimmer out of the shed, slapped in the battery from the sander, and trimmed the rosemary way back. Put the trimmings in the recycle bin, I have way too much of the stuff in the freezer already.

Back inside, salad while watching Graham Norton. Special guest was Kylie Minogue - what made me think she was a black R&B singer? She looks way too hot for 50. Green eyes, maybe she is a closet redhead.

Paused to stream for an hour. Only 2 chatters, 5 lurkers. Raided vegas_penguin but by then only 2 people on.

Melted cheese with salami on rye for dinner. Lamyay and then strawberries and whipped cream.

Plans for tomorrow:
Great America job fair
Pear Slices matinée
Janice for coffee @ starbucks
take out the garbage. Lots of boxes to flatten and bundle