i then went to the porter square star market to get some more cherries on sale. i didn't bring a bag, so i took off my jacket and used it as a cushion so the cherries don't get bashed as i brought them home on my bicycle.
i was a little annoyed that lauryn wasn't going to work today. which was why i got a little angry when i found her cooking in the kitchen. not just any cooking - but frying. i closed the door to my bedroom, opened the window to install the window fan, turned on another fan to blow the smoke out, and opened the back door. i told her because i don't have a ventilation hood, anytime she fries, she has to ventilate manually otherwise the floors (and everything else) get greasy from oil precipitate. later i asked her what she did with the used frying oil. she said she poured it down the drain. i told her that'd clog the pipes, and in the future, to keep the used oil, preferably freeze it, then throw it out on trash day.
thankfully lauryn did leave for work around noontime. even though i'd already used the bathroom this morning, i used it again, performing better with an empty house. afterwards i microwaved a pair of meat buns for lunch.
i decided to test out the universal drain plug i bought from amazon before returning it. it worked flawlessly on my bathroom sink, stopping the water as it should, before i let it drain. so the thing works, just not on all sinks (like my parents').
it actually drizzled a tiny bit this morning, but the weather seemed to be letting up, so i decided to run more errands. i rode to the community garden at 1:30pm to water my plants and take the two wooden planter boxes. some school kids had left a butterfly tent by the entrance. there were empty cocoons on the lid and at the bottom were a few feeding fritillary butterflies.
the white nigella flower from yesterday? now there were 3 flowers, two pinks and one blue. i remember correctly, nigella flowers start out white, but change colors as they mature. i noticed one of my hyacinth vines has started producing what looks like flower buds.
i wasn't planning on staying in the community garden for long, but then ann showed up, and i was helping her buy some things on amazon, and i ended up staying for nearly an hour. i finally left by 2:30pm, strapping the grow boxes onto the back of my motorcycle with some bungie netting, as i left for belmont.
arriving at my parents' place, i bumped into their german next door neighbor. he congratulated us on our newly seeded lawn, though nothing compared to his lush and thick lawn. he said they were getting their kitchen and two bathrooms remodeled next week, and apologized for any potential construction sounds. his family are also going to germany for 2 weeks during that time, and i told him my parents just came back from germany.
there was a temu order on the doorstep: a waterproof outdoor electrical box ($22) and a pair of brass bulkhead fittings ($8.50). not the most exciting purchases, but these items will be useful when the time comes.
i headed out to the waltham OSJL by 3pm. the weather started to look like there might be some serious rain, but i checked the doppler radar which showed no nearby precipitation. i bought a plastic 4-way hose splitter ($8), a shallow terracotta pot ($5) for my rosemary, and a few bags of candy. it looks like the waltham OSJL doesn't provide any bags, not even the ones you pay for, so it's totally BYOB or push out your purchases in a shopping cart.
i made it back to belmont a bit after 3:30pm. i noticed the automated sprinklers had already watered the front lawn. something i didn't mention earlier is a lot of the grass seeds have germinated, much faster than the previous reseeded lawn. was it because the temperature was warmer? or maybe because i mixed the grass seeds with the soil before sprinkling on the lawn? whatever it was, it took just a week for new grass to sprout. heck, i was just mowing over the reseeded soil on tuesday and i didn't see anything. seems like overnight all the seeds decided to germinate. now i need this cool weather to last for 2 more weeks for the grass to properly grow.
i went into the backyard and swapped out the double double splitter assembly on the newly recaulked rain barrel with the 4-way splitter i bought. the double double was so difficult to remove that i accidentally turned the spigot again, though i didn't see any leakage. the 4-way splitter is just easy to work with, and has a swivel connector that attaches to the spigot, which makes it easier to install and remove.
i noticed my father didn't use any rain barrel water but instead used the water i pumped out into the grey commercial trash can. i poured the water from the two wine barrels into the trash can and tested out the newly-epoxied watering wand handle, which was already outside. the fact that my father had installed it already was probably a good sign. the fixed handle didn't leak at all, or the leak was confined to just the quick release. just to make sure, i connected the watering hand directly to the hose (bypassing the quick release), and there was zero leakage, the repair was completely waterproof.
i left belmont by 4pm. i hit a bit of traffic but it wasn't too bad. when i got back home, i went to the nearby star market to cash in on some cherries one last time. when i came back i added some potting soil to the new pot and planted the rosemary i got from market basket.
lauryn didn't get home until 6:30pm. i felt bad for sort of yelling at her this morning, so i shared some cherries with her. for dinner she boiled some dumplings. as for me, i didn't eat dinner until 9pm, cut up the grilled chicken from last night to make another bowl of chicken caesar salad. i was going to watch the latest episode of silo which i downloaded, but ended up watching breaking news coverage about trump's classified document probe indictment.
only later - around 10:40pm - did i finally start watching silo (episode 7). i put on my noise cancelling headphones and settled in with a bowl of cherries.