Well, howdy.

[thrillingdetectivetales]

It's been a minute since the last time I used this ol' journal of mine for something beyond an exchange letter or to share a piece of fic I've written. During that span, lots of stuff has gone on and many things have happened, the long and short of which boils down to: I now live in sunny Arizona, continue to be employed at the same place, and am now down an aunt on my family roster, as one I was hoping to see more often passed away unexpectedly (from non-Covid related things) right as I moved back home.

Mom and two of my other aunts got Covid through their own foolishness, but all are fine and haven't had very bad symptoms or anything, which is a small blessing. Went and got tested myself when I found out, just in case, but am fine.

In lighter, brighter news, my dogs flew on a plane for the first time when we moved and managed not to absolutely destroy the trip for everyone involved. They're getting along (for a given value of the term) with my dad's dog. Considering that means I can stay with my parents rent-free for as long as I can stand, which may be a shorter timeframe than I'm hoping for want, I'm pretty pleased. Also, my brother and his partner are pregnant! Which is exciting, as it means I'll be an aunt for the second time and will live close enough to visit the little bean, unlike with my first nephew, who I love very dearly but is across the country from me.

I'm still writing and drawing. Trying my best to tie up everything I need to for the Rare Pair Exchange I'm running over on heavyartillery and the (many, many) projects I still owe for equalityauction. I dyed my hair pink right after I got here and have absolutely not regretted it once so far. I've received many, many compliments, including several from the employees at the recreational weed dispensary down the street from me, which I waited a whole week to shamefully take advantage of, like a real adult.

I'm also in the process of starting up a new garden! My parents have a whole side-yard languishing out in the back of their house (though, I feel obligated to note, the rest of the yard is very handsomely landscaped) and they've told me I can go ahead and put raised beds in it if I so choose. Surprising probably nobody, I do so choose.

Here's the shortlist for what I'm considering planting*, in no particular order:

VEGETABLES/HERBS
lemon balm
chives
summer squash (aka zucchini, the cucumber's superior cousin**)
watermelon
radishes
watermelon radishes
cherry tomatoes
regular ass tomatoes
beets
bell peppers

HOT PEPPERS
cherry hot
rusalka's revenge (presumably of 7-pot lineage)
yaki blue fawn
7-pot bubblegum
carolina reaper (both regular ass red and pretty, pretty peach)
cumra cherry
scotch bonnets (both red and yellow)
lemon drop
genghis khan brain
satan's kiss

It's a project that I'm very looking forward to and will post all the updates about when I can.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, or as close as you can get to it. I'm hoping to be a little more active on Dreamwidth in the coming months, though I maintain that I don't really have very many interesting things going on and most of my thoughts tend to be along the lines of: what if these two characters kissed, don't you think that'd be grand? Hopefully it'll at least be a nice breath of inconsequential, normal conversation on your reading page.

* per an extremely helpful veggie/fruit planting calendar designed with my specific county in mind

** I'm aware that cucumbers and zucchini aren't properly cousins, but they're both green oblong vegetables and, dammit, that's close enough for me and the members of many a rural community in the American south

Comments

[muccamukk]

We've talked about keeping lemon balm quarantined right? Chives too.

[thrillingdetectivetales]

I believe we’ve discussed at least one of them, yes. Not all those things will be in the beds, I should have specified. Some will be in pots, so I can take them with me when I go or for reasons like this.

[honigfrosch]

and most of my thoughts tend to be along the lines of: what if these two characters kissed, don't you think that'd be grand?

A+ as far as I'm concerned, and some of the best thoughts one can have

[thrillingdetectivetales]

<333 I appreciate your support, friend, lol~

[oracne]

Congratulations on the successful move!

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Thank you! Most of it went down during the Texas freeze so it was pretty harrowing there for a second, haha.

[oracne]

Yagh! What a mess. Doubly glad it went okay.

[peachpai]

Sorry to hear about your aunt, but I am glad the other family members are recovering from COVID alright.

For me it's certainly been a big adjustment getting use to living with family again this pandemic, so I hope it goes smoothly for you. Also looking forward to hearing about your gardening efforts! Mine are coming along nicely too.

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Yeah, it's definitely a learning curve, that's for sure. Further exacerbated by the fact that they're just.......very different people than I am, haha.

I would love to hear about your gardening efforts too! What are you growing?

[peachpai]

SO MUCH omg. In my seed start trays right now I've got four kinds of tomatoes, three kind of peppers (two hot, one bell), onions, asparagus, snail vines, calendula, and honeywort. I've been experimenting a lot with the best way to grow poppies in the last couple of years, so I direct seeded a few varieties the other day. I have probably 20 other things to start soon or direct seed as the weather changes too, I can't even remember what it all is at this point lol. I'm trying a few new Japanese veggies this year, like urizun winged beans, which I'm rather excited about!

[zippitgood]

Oooh, be on the watch for cucumber beetles and squash vine bores. I hate those things with a passion.

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Ugh, yes. Those are what ravaged my little garden at my apartment, iirc. Cucumber beetles, that is, though possibly also squash vine bores and some species of moth I can't identify.

I don't mind garden bugs in moderation but yeesh. Will have to do some research into non-garden-toxic pest control.

[zippitgood]

If I remember right, the moth lays the eggs that turn into squash vine bores. I didn't have much luck keeping the vine bores from occurring cause they might've had laid eggs in the dirt too. The thing that seemed to work the best for the vine bores was to dig the larva out of the plant stems and squish them as soon as I started seeing sign of them digging in, which was like weird yellowish-orange residue and holes appearing toward the bottom/stems of the sprouts. They're so disgusting. I hate them.

As for cucumber beetles, I think I'd sprayed Neem on things or some combination of like castille soap mixed in water on the cucumber plants daily and that helped somewhat. Definitely start pest control measures before you see any bugs though.