since there was a 2-item limit for the star market drumsticks, i planned on going to the porter square star market to get more chicken using a different account. but i didn't have anymore space in my saddlebags, so i first had to stop at the house to grab a messenger bag before heading out again.
after procuring my drumsticks from the porter square star market, i went to the cafe to drop them off. my mother was actually surprised to see me, she didn't seem to remember telling me yesterday the drumstick urgency. but fortunately i had other reasons to be out, the most important which was to go to belmont and move in all the houseplants. the forecast for tonight is a temperature drop to 45°F; maybe all the plants will survive the night, but i didn't want to take that risk.
i arrived in belmont around 1pm. the brass garden hose splitters ($13) and the melnor turbo oscillating sprinkler with flow control (home depot $25) had been delivered. i swapped out the hose splitter (returning the one i bought from home depot for $10) and turned on the water to check for leaks. my father's convinced the rudimentary packing i did a few days ago would hold, but i can see it's still dripping a little bit from the faucet handle; i'll need to repack it again.
i replaced the old sprinkler with the new melnor. it felt a little cheap - all plastic materials - they do sell one with a metal base but at twice the price. design-wise though, it's very user friendly. you can adjust for 3 settings: front and back, side to side, and volume of water. i set it up so it watered most of the front lawn, along with a small side sprinkler to water the small lawn on the opposite side of the driveway. the timer should fire off tomorrow morning at 7am for 20 minutes.
i then spent the rest of my time - up until 5pm - moving the houseplants into the house. before i could do that though, i needed to clean both the sunroom and the basement grow room. i moved most of the baby pileas into the grow room, along with the orchids, putting them on the shelves. i mostly adjusted the lights. the sunroom took longer to clean, a combination of decluttering and vacuuming. i've been meaning to clean up the sunroom all year long, finally getting around to it. the actual moving of plants probably only took 10 minutes at most. by the end you couldn't tell how clean the sunroom was because i cluttered it back up with plants. it was like being in a jungle. this is only a temporary measure. this cold snap will only last for 2 nights, and then all these plants will go back to living outside again.
i got home by 5:30pm. i ran into our moroccan mailman. i hadn't seen him in weeks, figured he went on vacation. actually he was on paternity leave, but only for 3 weeks, the birth of his son. when i asked him if it was his first child, he said he already has 2, a boy and a girl. he seems kind of young to have so many kids, if i had to guess i'd say he's 27 years old.
i walked down to the community garden. i didn't have to water given how much rain had fallen over the past few days. the last time i was there was almost 2 weeks ago. the hyacinth beans had basically taken over half my plot, tendrils climbing the nearby tomato cages. my yellow goldenrods have also partially started to bloom. there was a faint fragrance, from the hyacinth bean flowers, garlic chives, and goldenrods. what was most amazing were the number of purple hyacinth bean pods. i collected them all, harvested about 3 lbs. worth of beans. i also harvested 2 small-medium bitter melons, a handle of long beans, a few small tomatoes, and an assortment of hot peppers (thai chili, serrano, habanero). what's crazy is the garden is poised to produce even more, with a flush of green tomatoes and peppers, as well as new hyacinth bean flowers.
for dinner i didn't make my usual korean ramen. instead i heated up a pizza in the oven, which not only cooked my food but warmed the house (room temperature dropped down to 68°F tonight).