Domesticated folks, fall plans

 Speaking of domesticated animals

September, and fall is nearly here. I usually have some project for the upcoming season, but this summer's been so here and there with one damn thing or another that I don't have fall plans yet. 

Maybe it's a time to stop things, as a change from always embarking on them. Life keeps on presenting new embarking without looking for more. To be continued.

Chicken saga also continued. Gary and I saw a whole gaggle of chickens out pecking, which he loved. But he's dogsitting two granddogs, as well as Billie, and he's worried about the chicks wandering among them, not sure what would happen.

He tracked down the owners, turns out they've erected a chicken shed on their patio and they've had the chickens several weeks, but hadn't let them out. He cautioned them about our foxes and redtails.  Now he's looking around for greens, unsprayed, to give them. They're the granddaughter's pets  Never a dull moment. 

We worked on houseplants between catching escaping dogs, and eating a plate of chicken biryani, rice,  some very hot veg dish and that crisp spicy snack stuff Indians love. A neighbor brought it over to share.  

We reminisced about H and worried about her husband J and son J.  Gary started moving out stones ready to level for my new patio, and I pointed out the couple of self planted offshoots from the Russian sage that  he can have.

He and I are going to visit Hs widower next week. And there's my audiologist visit, and the knitting group and handsome son's visit, and the doors to be returned.  I don't think I have time for a project.

I did pick the last of the sweet peppers and roast them with olive oil and garlic powder, to crisp chips, to go with the last of the shrimp for lunch. Then I dropped the seeds into the container that used to hold the non potatoes. Maybe they'll sprout next year.

I pulled more dead foliage, so the garden is looking winter ready, or something. New sprouts of the crushed giant Russian sage have come up from the debris of the wall repair, right where my future patio will go. Gary has wanted one of these for  years, no longer obtainable. So he's going to dig up and transplant them, very happily.

In the course of pulling foliage I unearthed my long lost bird bath. 

Frogs have been known to occupy it when I've left an inch of water for butterflies.

The Chinese owner of the chickens sent over these leaves, doesn't know the English name for them. She makes a tea with them. 

Can anyone identify them? Hibiscus?  We both need to be careful to identify it in case it reduces blood pressure because of being on blood pressure medication.

I had a dramatic experience some time ago, ending in the hospital, after drinking delicious holy basil tea. It's used to reduce blood pressure, which I didn't know and I ended up with a serious overdose and plunging pressure.

Happy day everyone, do you have projects for the seasons? Aside from those grand ones like reading The Iliad, and the lesser known Anatolian poets, or maybe the care and feeding of neighborhood poultry.