when i arrived in belmont though, the clouds parted ways and for a few hours it was sunny. the sun quickly warmed things up, and before too long temperature was in the 70's and i'd already stripped down to just a t-shirt. i turned off the grow lights in the basement then starting moving the plants. since most of the snow in the backyard had melted, i only had to move them right outside the basement entrance. i mixed up a batch of neem oil extract spray - 1 tbsp of concentrated neem oil extract to 1/2 gallon of water.
i worked the neem oil into the leaves with my other hand as i sprayed. i took my time with each plant, inspecting under the leaves and on the branches, spraying and rubbing off any mealybugs i encountered. 1/2 gallon of neem oil extract spray is enough to thorough saturate all the jasmines and gardenia.
i was surprised to see my father who came home briefly to grab the air fryer which they forgot to take to the cafe. he said tomorrow i would go with him to pick up my sister's godmother from south station. afterwards we'd set up her new bed and deliver the lafuma zero gravity chair.
afterwards i did some drone flying. it was warm for a change, i didn't have to worry about the battery dying in the cold weather. unfortunately it was very gusty, which made the drone engines work even harder to keep its stability in the sky. i've got about 15 minutes of flight before the app started warning me of low battery level and told me to return home and land. i basically flew to the fresh pond golf course, took a quick peek at belmont farm, then returned home.
as it was so warm out, it made start thinking about backyard gardening, and i did a quick inspection of some our wintering perennials. the crocuses were out in the western perennial bed. that fact that there are crocuses means no rabbits have gotten into the backyard (yet), because they love eating them. there was still a small amount of snow, i think they'll be all melted by the end of the week.
i left belmont by 3pm. when i got home i opened a few windows to air out the house as it was warmer outside than inside. i was a little hungry and wanted to snack, but then realized i had the perfect snack sitting on my kitchen counter: sichuan paocai! fermented vegetables are the perfect high flavor low calorie snack, so of like pickles but more sour and spicier. unfortunately i was still hungry afterwards, and had an instant cup of maruchan noodles. i went out briefly to star market to buy some red seedless grapes on sale (they weren't that good, a little sour).
for dinner i heated up the large on-cor lasagna in the oven.