since it wasn't raining this morning and i could get to belmont on my own, my parents opted to go to the waltham market basket instead, since i didn't need a ride. i packed up my things - including my lotus seedlings which i transported in a nalgene bottle - and rode to my parents' place around noontime. my parents got back around the same time, my mother made wonton soup again for lunch. my mother was waiting for me to load the finale episode of mare of easttown. she couldn't wait, ate her wontons in front of the computer in her bedroom.

we were due for some sunshine today, but it never arrived. the entire day was almost a repeat of yesterday - cold, grey - minus the rain. it was a little bit warmer but temperature was still in the 50's. the sky looked like it'd rain at any moment but it never did.

since it wasn't raining, i could at least do some yardwork.

i moved out all the remaining seedlings in preparation for a final planting. i sifted through the iris rhizomes i dug up on thursday, cleaning a few rhizomes, and picking out the tiny allium and crocus bulbs.

i moved out two large plastic barrels from the garage and two basins filled with dried clay. i added water to the clay to turn it back into mud, so i could plant the lotus seedlings.

i moved out the gardenia so i could spray it down with neem oil, as aphids and a few mealybugs have been attacking the tender tips. one flower bud looks like it might bloom, possibly a few others. even though it's aborted over 15 flower buds, there's still about 10 left, if they somehow stay intact and finally bloom, it won't all be a loss.

i mixed about a gallon (0.8 gal to 2 tbsp of concentrate) of immunox and sprayed the grapes again. i have two more treatments left that will take me through june, and then i stop (instruction said no more than 5 applications in a season). last season i diligently applied serenade biofungicide on the grapes. that didn't seem to do anything because we still got black rot on the fruits. last year it was the first week of june that i discovered black rot spots on the reliance grapes. so if we can make it through june without seeing any leaf spots, i know we're safe.

seems like every year we find stray bamboo stalks, and i saw some today. one stalk was strong enough it was actually pushing up a flagstone. i dug them out immediately.

i planted my flower seedings: 5 rudbeckia 'cherokee sunset', and 2 snowy spires. some on the western perennial bed, some in the outside-fence bed, and some underneath the grape trellis. as for the other seedlings, i left them in RB3 and put on the row cover to keep them warm.

around 4:30pm my father started barbecuing the ribs we got from costco yesterday. will everyone went inside to eat, i was still outside doing yard work, and also grilling the corn. i finally went inside by 6pm. my sister came by as well, with her dog hovering nearby looking for barbecue scraps. i also moved in the gardenia, after misting it with water to rinse off any dead aphids and their stick residue. afterwards we all had some brown sugar boba popsicles.

i left around 7:50pm, got back to cambridge a bit after 8pm. my used asus tablet would've arrived today, but because of memorial day, there was no mail delivery. it'll come tomorrow.