waking up so early did allow me to catch the end of a world cup match, the final minutes between australia-denmark. australia won 2-0. the england-nigeria had ended earlier, no points, match decided through penalty kicks, with england winning.
while i was waiting for a package, my parents were off on a morning supply run to the waltham costco and market basket. as the hours ticked away, i finally called it quits close to 12pm. i wasn't even if the package would come today. yesterday fedex sent me an e-mail when it was out for delivery. it didn't do that today. and when i checked the website, there was no delivery status update since yesterday.
i went to my parents' place to do some yard work. i was out on the front lawn digging up as much crabgrass as i could, and then later mow the lawn before it rained. crabgrass is actually pretty easy to dig up, they have shallow roots, and they grow in these big flat clumps that's easy to pull out. i ended up with an entire garden refuse bin full of crabgrass. my parents came home after dropping off supplies at the cafe. my father pulled the gas mower out of the and mowed the front lawn while i continued weeding.
later my father mowed the back lawn, while i helped home move some plants out of the way, and toss the compost bin every time he dumped a bag of fresh grass clippings. we felt a few rain drops but it was never more than that.
it was well after 1pm when we went inside to have lunch. my mother made some instant noodles with shrimp wonton that they bought from costco. the soup got really tasty after adding a spoonful of hot chili oil sauce. while eating, i checked my e-mail and noticed a message from fedex. apparently they'd delivered the package after all around 12:15pm, without my signature apparently.
i didn't want the package to be left outside so i biked back to cambridge to get it. there was a light drizzle and i had to wipe down my wet seat before taking off. i opened the package after bringing it inside. for something so small, it sure came in a big box. i contacte frances to let her know i finally received her items. because i didn't sign for it, she joked maybe the package could get lost, and they'd have to send a replacement. next i went to harvard vanguard to pick up my mother's prescription. the friendly indian woman was working at the pharmacy today, she must've saw me when i came in, and had the prescription ready by the time i went to the counter.
i returned to belmont via cambridge street, cutting through harvard square. it's not a route i'd take if i were on a bicycle, but on a motorcycle it was the quickest way.
back at the house, my father and i continued with our garden maintenance. he pruned some more jasmine as well as the spanish lavender, which isn't looking too good, but maybe a light pruning will rejuvenate the plant. we noticed disease spots on some of the osmanthus leaves. i did a quick search and it may be anthracnose. i have an old bottle of discontinued serenade biofungicide (active agent is a patented strain of Bacillus subtilis) that i ended up using, 2 tbsp mixed with 2L of water. i'm not sure if it's expired, but if the spots get worse next weekend, i'll spray with some immunox (which contains myclobutanil). serenade has a foul smell, almost like a kind of fertilizer.
my father showed me one of the squash vines has died. not a main vine, an offshoot, but there's a baseball-sized squash on that vine which won't survive. we traced the dying vine (easy, just follow the limping leaves) and found a vine borer hole at the base. vine borer also attacked the only vine growing in RB4, but for some reason it's still hanging in there, even though many leaves have already wilted.
my father made scrambled eggs with garlic chives and grilled some jumbo shrimps in the cast iron pot. shrimps were okay, but for best flavor they should be cooked outside on the outdoor wok.
i returned home around 7pm. i put the cover on the motorcycle because we're having torrential rain tomorrow morning. my order of 32 degrees cool classic polos arrived. even though i tried a same brand different style polo at costco and found that both small and medium fit me, i went with the small, which turned out to be the right decision. the fabric is a little clingy though, but a good fit for summertime wear.
my temu bathroom clock stopped working again. i was hopeful it'd been fixed after i put in a brand new duracell battery, but after a week of smooth running, it died last night. when i take the battery out and put it back in, the clock will begin running again, but when i got back today i noticed it'd stopped again, 2 hours before i got home judging by the time. if i want to get a replacement or refund i have to act soon, i don't know about temu's policy, but the 30-day mark will be in a few days.