but the first thing i did when i got there was to launch my drone from the backyard so i could check out the memorial day parade happening at the belmont cemetery. besides a marching band and ceremonial gunfire, belmont also has a giant american flag they bring out for such an occasion, mounted from the top of a fully extended fire truck ladder. i saw when it when rode past it earlier, but from the sky, it didn't look all that impressive. there was also some fog which only happened if i got close to my 400ft maximum height limit.
AMC was running a memorial day band of brothers marathon: that show is like catnip, i can't not watch it whenever it's on. i watched episode 1, every time i watch i pick up something new. if they had a channel that just played band of brothers 24/7, i would totally watch it.
the day was overcast with occasional breaks of sun. the forecast was for rain later in the evening. with esmei not home, we could work the backyard in peace, particularly the raised beds. esmei can't resist digging in all that exposed soil, thankfully all our raised beds are fenced off. while starting our work, we spotted a baby rat climbing behind our rain barrel. i managed to chase it away but seeing a rat in the daytime - especially a baby rat - is cause for concern. hopefully they haven't made a nest in our backyard.
today was a big planting day. we started with RB3, digging up some extra rudbeckia plants to clear out some room. we'd transplant them elsewhere, but rabbits eat rudbeckia, so they're currently living in some pots. into RB3 we planted 3 luffa gourds and 2 bitter melons. luffa look very similar to bitter melons, i wonder if it's because they're closely related, both in the gourd family (despite calling it a bitter "melon").
next was RB0. here my father planted 3 blue bean plants in the back as well a hyacinth bean in the corner. in the middle he planted one kabocha squash and one buttercup squash. in the front row he planted 3 chinese eggplants.
i worked on RB1 and RB2. RB1 already has a back row of sugar snap peas mixed with mature cilantro plants my father wants to harvest for seeds. continuing to plant in the back, i added about half a dozen long bean seedlings. in the middle row i planted 6 kabocha squash, in the front 5 longhorn hot peppers. on the ends i planted 2 blue bean seedlings each. later i planted more long bean seeds in the row, in case the seedlings don't make it. i started them too early and they grew way too leggy, with multiple kinked stems. likewise, on the ends i planted additional blue bean seeds.
because of our ever expanding maple tree, RB2 doesn't get full sun and in the late afternoon half the bed is shaded. so this is a slightly inferior bed. in the back already is a row of sugar snap peas, to which i had about half a dozen long bean seedlings. on the sunny end i planted 2 blue bean seedlings. in the middle row are 6 buttercup squash, and 3 longhorn peppers in the front. like in RB1, i added additional long bean and blue bean seeds.
RB4 has an existing back row of blue bean seedlings. they were planted i think 2 weeks ago, already seem to be doing well, climbing the trellis. i added more blue bean seeds as insurance. on the end facing the basement entrance my father planted 2 luffa gourds: we're thinking about building a trellis and training the luffa so they'll grow over the rain barrels. in the middle row 3 tomatoes: cherry, cloudy day, independence day. in the front row 4 chinese eggplants.
we also originally planned on preparing the western bed which we usually grow our bitter melons and extra tomatoes, but we'd already a few hours already and my father went inside to rest. besides, esmei was home by then, so we had to cease any digging otherwise it'll entice her to dig as well.
besides the baby rat, my father alerted me to a chipmunk that seemed to be dying. while he grabbed ahold of esmei, i picked up the chipmunk with a shovel and placed it inside the compost bin. when i checked hours later, the chipmunk was dead. i buried it in the backyard between the small kwanzan cherry and hawthorn tree. finally something dead was caught in the basement stairwell drain. whatever it was had long rotted so it was no longer distinguishable, but it was covered with fat maggots. my father picked it up with a plastic container lid and we buried it in the front yard, so esmei wouldn't dig it up.
my work wasn't done as i moved most of the plants from our basement grow room into the sunroom, so they could be moved out in the backyard by next week. that included the gardenia, which doesn't seem to be making any flower buds, but instead produced new leaves that are 4x as large as the normal leaves. i think it's probably a fertilizer error on my part. next season no fertilizer. the only plants still in the basement are a few holiday cactuses and the water reed plant. i'll move those out by next weekend, in the meantime i kept two grow lights on for them. i also sprayed the orchids with alcohol before watering them.
my father bought some clear green cone-shaped plant protectors from temu. he totally forgot about them but when i found them in the sunroom, i put a few outside to test. because i didn't anchor them done at first, they all blew away in the raised beds. one of them even managed to break the stem of a buttercup squash; i tried to heal it by piling up a hill of dirt, but also planted 3 squash seeds in case it doesn't make it.
for dinner we finally had our memorial day barbecue. we grilled some corn, some italian sausages, and some marinated drumsticks. fat drippings from the sausages almost caused a grease fire. we ended up mixing the sausages with the chicken, taking advantage of the flare-ups so the chicken can get some flame-broiled flavor. the sausages were done first, and after taking them out, we pulled the leaves off the corn and moved them onto the grill for saucing. i applied korean barbecue sauce to the corn while the drumsticks had a thai chili sauce. did i mention it was super windy and drizzling at times? so windy in fact at one point it blew out the flames in the barbecue.
after we brought everything inside, i ate with one eye on the food and another eye on the clock, making sure i could get home before the rain started. there was a brief downpour during dinner, but that was just a stray; the main event wouldn't happen until closer to 8pm.
i left by 7pm, wiping the rain off my bike seat with my arm. it was dry, but the ominous cloud looked like it might rain at any moment. i got a good parking spot between two cars close to my house. i went out and put the rain cover on.
game 4 between the celtics and pacers was tonight. no porzingis, even though there was an early rumor that he might play. haliburton was still injured, the broadcast kept mentioning it like he might play, but i heard he was done for this series, if not the season. celtics did well in the first half, but were only ever up by single digits, while the pacers caused multiple lead changes in the 2nd quarter. the second half was all pacers, even though they only ever lead by single digits as well. indiana had the lead until the final minutes of the game, when the celtics - like deja vu - got the lead. i didn't even realize the game was over until people started pouring onto the basketball court. celtics win 105-102, swept the pacers.
these 3 close games against the pacers that the celtics managed to steal in the end give me tremendous confidence going into the finals that boston can beat any team - either dallas or minnesota. it looks more likely to be dallas, with minnesota down 0-3, with no NBA ever winning from a deficit like that. now the celtics don't play until june 6th, so they have a rare 10 days of rest.