i didn't leave cambridge until late though, almost noontime. i was delayed in trying to find some warmer clothes, having put all my winter garbs into storage bins back at the start of summer. i dug out a pair of wool thermal underwear and a cashmere sweater. temperature hovered around the 40's, but the warmer clothes made for a less traumatic motorcycle ride to belmont.
my parents walked to the nearby donuts place this morning to get some breakfast sandwich. an egg and bacon bagel sandwich was waiting for me when i arrived. there was a colts-patriots game on, broadcasting from frankfurt germany. this must be a nightmare for the NFL, the two worst teams in the league given the honor of representing american football overseas. this was how terrible the game was: colts scored a touchdown in the first quarter which in hindsight was enough to beat new england, who only scored 6 points this entire game. neither team scored in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, and the colts wouldn't score another touchdown. the final score was 10-6. maybe the germans didn't mind, since they're used to low scoring soccer matches. but it was a real embarrassment for the league, and i don't think the colts or the patriots will be invited back to anymore overseas games.
my father suggested we fertilize the lawn for the winter, before i told him i already did it on tuesday when i came back to wash the motorcycle. even though temperatures was in the 40's, we ended up moving all the potted jasmines outside so i could sprinkle systemic pesticide into the soil before relocating them to the basement grow room. my father also trimmed the plants so they'd have a rounder shape. it was 1/2 cup of systemic powder per large pots (3 gallons), while the smaller 6" pots just required 2 tbsp. i also added some slow release fertilizer to the smaller potted jasmines, those my father will take to the cafe. final step was top dressing with some leftover cambridge compost from last year.
i moved the potted jasmines to the basement before watering them. i also watered all the other plants, including prayer plants, spiderworts, orchids, pileas, and pennyworts. two of my pennyworts looked dead from the sphagnum moss medium completely drying out; i should keep those partially submerged in pots without drainage. i watered them, hopefully they can be revived. if not i still have one plant left, and i have pennyworts growing in my aquarium.
i sprayed the small potted jasmines with neem oil before bringing them inside. all the plants would do nicely with a spray, but i didn't have time. i may come back thursday when the weather is supposed to be 58 degrees to spray the other plants.
the only plants left in the sunroom now are all the christmas/thanksgiving cactuses, a wintering lantana, rose moss, and a lemon verbena. those can stay in the sunroom for the time being, but will need to be moved to the basement at some point. probably when i get rid of all our extra pileas.
my mother made fried rice for dinner. she finished her food in just a few minutes before returning to the bedroom to finish watching a haunting in venice. my helped my father figure out how to get to medford center early tomorrow morning for their eye exam appointment. normally they'd go to somerville, but they were all booked up until next year (i made the appointment a few months ago), with only the medford office with some available appointments. i'm going to meet them in medford, so we can do a supply run. i'm taking the 96 bus from harvard square to medford center. haven't taken that bus since i was in college, so nearly 3 decades. my father also has to wake up even earlier tomorrow to take my sister's godmother to logan airport.
i left around 6:30pm. my layers kept me warm as i saw my breath smoking for the first time this season. i stopped by the cafe to move the tea eggs into the fridge, i was supposed to do that this morning but forgot.