Green Tomatoes

 I spent a couple hours this afternoon out in the backyard clearing up the ferns, peonies, and bleeding hearts, emptying the flower pots, and pulling plants out of the garden.  I picked the last three green tomatoes and brought them in.  Hopefully they'll ripen.  The big surprise was that there was a flower on the tomato plant, a little yellow bloom shining out as if there's enough time left before the first frost for it to make another fruit.  When I pulled down the cucumber vines a huge cuke that had been hiding in the mint came along.  I didn't keep it, it was as tough as old boots.  I piled all of the plants and leaves onto a tarp that I dragged to the curb so that the city yard waste collectors can come and take it all away.  I don't have enough room in the back of my vehicle to haul it to yard waste so I'm relying on the city guys to make it all go away.

Once I was done playing outside I came in and did some writing practice.  I'm thinking I might do NaNoWriMo next month but I need to kick-start my writing brain so that I don't just sit here and cuss for 1667 words a day.  I had a novel writing kit that has inspirational cards and some other helpful things in it that I spent a couple days searching for.  I went through my bookcase and kept going downstairs thinking it was there.  Do you think I could find it?  Nope.  So I ordered one from Amazon.  It came yesterday.  I found my original one today, downstairs on a shelf hidden by a yarn tote, right where my subconscious kept taking me the other day.  Arrgh.  Now I have a spare.

In knitting news, I cast on a preemie hat last night and worked on it today.  I wasn't highly motivated so I didn't get it finished even though it's small.  At least it's red!

11 October--Barbara Malcolm, Better Than Mom's. 

It was Naomi’s last day at the diner.  School was starting tomorrow so she couldn’t be in the kitchen at four-thirty in the morning and then in the classroom at eight o’clock.  Tears rolled slowly down her cheeks as she chopped celery and carrots for the day’s soups.

            “Hey, don’t cry,” Brady said, wiping her cheeks with the corner of his apron.  “You’re only going across town to school, not into the navy to sail away to foreign ports.”

            “I know,” she said, “but I love it here.  I love everyone, even Raymond, so why am I leaving?”

            Fay pushed through the swinging doors from the front end where she was getting coffee made and everything set up for the morning rush.  “You’re leaving to follow your dream.  You’ll still live down the hall from me.  You’ll still come here to sit in the back and study.  You’re not getting away from us, just changing things up a bit.”

            “Yeah,” Brady said, “changing things up a bit, that’s all.  Marcus and I have it all worked out.  He’ll come here straight from football practice, Coach will drop him off.  He can do his homework at a back table, then when I see his work is done, he can bus tables for a couple hours before you get home from school.  We’ll keep him on the straight and narrow.”

            Marcus piped up from the pass-through window.  “And I’ll be saving money for college since I’m not a returning woman student who will get a boatload of grants to go back to school.”  He waved to the three in the kitchen.  “I’m outta here.  Practice starts and I’ve got to get going.  See you all later.”  And he was gone out the front door.

            As soon as Marcus was out the door, Raymond was in and on his regular stool.  “I need coffee,” he said, “is anybody working today?”

            Fay looked at the other two and smiled.  “Ah, it’s the call of the Raymond-bird squawking for his coffee.”

            Naomi reached into the oven.  “Tell him the biscuits are done.”

Today's toss was more yarn.  (More yarn!  Aren't you out of yarn yet?  Nope, not even close.)  Next I think I'll start looking at fabric.  That should be interesting.  At least I don't have as much fabric as I do yarn.

I looked up landscapers on HomeAdvisor on my phone on Friday and today I got a call from a guy who sounds like he might be willing to do the work I need done.  I have some shrubs that need trimming and the top of the retaining wall needs weeding.  I'm not tall enough to reach the back and that's where the big weeds are.  Anyway, he'll call back tomorrow and we can set up a time for him to stop over.  I hope this works out; I need a landscaper.

Welcome back, Aunt B!

--Barbara