drops were already falling by the time i took off. i had to stop at the cafe anyway, to drop off a container of vinegar and to put away the tea eggs. by that point the rain had stopped. i took off my windbreaker. just at that point i saw a trio of young asians getting out of an uber ride. each one was clutching a phone, as they wrong-walked into the parking lot. "what are you looking for?" i asked one of them. "yes," he said, which wasn't what i asked. i repeated myself. they said they were searching for the bakery. i pointed to the entrance around the corner. it's crazy that the bakery would draw this kind of devotional following on a sunday morning no less.
i pedaled as fast as i could to get to belmont, in the hopes of beating the rain, which had stopped momentarily. once more, i kept imagining how much faster and easier the trip would be if i only had an e-bike. not only would i get to my destination sooner, but i wouldn't be soaked in sweat when i got there. i finally arrived at my parents' place around 9:40am.
it was too early for lunch, my mother said she'd make food a bit later. i found my father in the backyard tending to the luffas. i search for pea flowers. in RB0 i saw some long bean flowers. they're purple-pink and always come in pairs. they flowers remind me of the disney character pluto, big eyes and a long big snout. there were even more long bean flowers in RB4. it took me a while before i found blue bean flowers, in RB2. these look like fuchsia-colored pea flowers, borne in singles. it's a promising sign that i saw more long bean flowers than blue beans, since long beans is what we really want, as they've been difficult to grow in seasons past, while blue beans are hardier and always produce in abundance.
the snapdragons have also blossomed, each plant a different color, ranging from white to yellow to various shades of pink. the prettiest one had peach-yellow-pinks. behind those were nigellas i various shades of white and pinks. nigellas are strange in that they start out as white flower buds, blossom to colors, then fade back to white as the day goes on. having flowers in elevated planters allow us to appreciate them without worrying about getting eaten by rabbits.
there were also a lot of big yellow squash flowers, but no female flowers. the one squash fruit i saw last weekend was still there, but not as big as i expected. of the 14 kabocha squash plants i planted, we might only get a handful of squash at best, if at all. good news is all the vine borer treated stems from wednesday have survived, no further signs of frass. hopefully now the squash can have a fighting chance of surviving and producing some fruits.
the luffas were also putting on a flower show: what they lacked in size (compared to the squash) they make up for in numbers. remember a few weeks ago when we had only female luffa flowers with no male flowers to fertilize them? well, we don't have that problem anymore. for every female luffa flower we find, there's at least 10 male flowers. my father doesn't even bother to manually pollinate them anymore. ants are attracted to luffas in the same way they're attracted to peonies and cherries, because luffas have sweet nectaries all over the flowers. and if that wasn't enough, bumble bees can't see to get enough of luffa flowers. even when it started to rain again and the ant disappeared to take shelter, the bumble bees were still actively visiting each flower. earlier my father was busy guiding the baby luffas so they hang down. we might not get many squashes, but we're looking at a bonanza of luffa gourds.
the bitter melons are doing well, with very little care. we already have two large melons, but we're waiting for them to get even bigger. the tomatoes in RB4 are finally making some fruits. if we can get a few tomatoes before blight sets in that'll be a victory.
it started to rain again around 10:40am. nothing sizable, a very light drizzle at best. maybe enough to wet the top layer of soil, but not a soaking. i did hear the downspout trickling rain into the barrels, but our barrels are already at maximum capacity, so we can collect anymore rain. an hour later my mother went outside to harvest some scallions and cilantro for the wonton soup she was making for lunch. it'd had stopped raining, only to start again. the rain finally stopped for good around 1pm, but it was overcast the rest of the day.
i ate while watching the euro cup womens final between england and spain. england won last year, but i think spain was probably favored to win, especially since they scored a goal early in the game. but england equalized, and the game went into double overtime with no additional goals, so was decided by penalty kicks. i hate penalty kicks because so much depends on luck, on the goalie guessing where the kick will go. it seems like the kicker has all the advantage. so it was a surprise that spain only managed to score once in the penalty phase, while england scored 3 times. biggest surprise was aitana bonmati getting her kick stopped by the english goalie. i think when that happened, the spanish fans lost their hope and realized they weren't going to win the euro cup.
my father disappeared into the backyard in the late afternoon. earlier we selected which of the treated planks will become tabletop, and which planks which become seats. the better wood we used for the table. now we were trying to figure out how to cut the leg brace sections. i had to show my father a this old house video where they built a picnic table similar to the one we're refurbishing (not exactly the word i'd use since we're basically replacing 85%+ of the table, only reusing the legs). they measured the leg braces using a speed square and a miter saw to cut the proper angle. we don't have a miter saw so we're going to do it manually by eyeball using a circular saw.
this project is taking months since we only have the weekend to work on it, and can only do it when it's not raining. the leg braces will have to wait until we can assemble the tabletop first (which will be tomorrow). we did end up trimming the table boards so they'd all be the same length. we first adjusted the circular saw so the blade was just peeking above the wood's depth. my father seemed to be cutting straighter with this new adjustment, but he said he didn't notice any difference. the cut was so smooth i was tempted to cut the other ends as well. my father ended up sanding the ends even though it wasn't necessary. it started getting close to dinner time so we packed up and went inside.
my mother made dinner for a change: egg & tomato stirfry as well as a chicken stirfry with thai basil. we tried the trader joe's mango secco (magocini). it took us a while to figure out how to open the bottle before my father realized it was just a screw top. it was actually pretty good, very fruity flavor, sweet, reminded me of carbonated kabocha fruit drinks. the sweetness hides the fact that it's 8% alcohol, and including the carbonation means it's really easy to get drunk on the stuff.
pedalling back home, i once more yearned for an e-bike. especially any parts where i had to go uphill. flats, downhills, i can pedal without complaint. i felt like getting an e-bike is my reward for all those years and all those miles of manually pedalling. if anyone deserved an e-bike, it'd be me! i don't even know how many miles i bike in a year.
i was too lazy to cut up the watermelon, and too lazy to make the hot sauce. instead, i took a shower and spent the evening watching star trek: strange new worlds, drinking my spiked limeade, and eating some longans. watermelon, hot sauce, paocai, will all have to wait until tomorrow.