#WeekendCoffeeShare – September 2022 Garden Update and Anger Management

Published on by Yinglan

Good morning! Come on in from the heat and cool down with a drink.

Can you believe it? It’s September yet we’re once again heading into triple-digit temperatures. Shouldn’t the weather be cooler by now? Not warmer. Did Mother Nature get her signals crossed?

If we were having coffee, I would give you a tour of the garden. Comparing July and early August garden to this early September garden, it sure looks like the garden has gone a bit wilder in the last month.

Did I mention the tomatoes and pole beans have already grown passed its supports? We are talking about 6-feet poles here. I have a feeling I’ll need a ladder to harvest my beans pretty soon. And look at that cucumber! I specially grew these cucumbers for pickling. I made 2 jars of pickles last weekend. It looks like it’s time to make more.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you I’ve done something bad this week. I impulsively shopped and bought $50 worth of seeds, reusable popup garbage cans, and a seed organizer. In hind sight though, I think those things can come in pretty handy.

Everything arrived yesterday. Last night, I spent about an hour organizing the seeds in the organizer while relishing in the quiet. It’s not everyday Mom is in bed asleep before 8PM. I really enjoyed the peace and quiet and wished there was more of it, given the demanding life I lead.

Before writing this post, I googled, “how to relieve anger”. Anger’s just about the only emotion I feel these days, all my other emotions have been somewhat muted. Maybe I’m confused with stress, frustration, irritation. Either way, if there’s an emoji to describe my current emotional state, it’d be the red angry face😡+sad face emoji 😔.

“Doesn’t anyone care how I’m feeling?” I shouted at mom at the beginning of the week. If there’s a way I can crawl into a hole and never come out, I would. It’s so overwhelming to be saddled with other people’s responsibilities while living with a person who blames you for everything that’s wrong with her life.

Last weekend, after having to reprint everyone’s passport photos for the second time, my aunt messaged me Monday evening. All the photos must be reprinted again!

My ink was running low and so was my patience, especially after printing my uncle’s passport application confirmation, which he stupidly saved as a screenshot. I told him it’d be best to save it as a PDF, that way, I’m printing a document rather than a photo, which uses much more ink.

“What is a PDF?” He asked.

I’m not the type of person to swear but in that moment, I wanted to say, “Are you f***ing kidding me? How do you not know what a f***ing PDF is?” My uncle’s not old. He was born after the moon landing of 1969.

Anyway, I told my aunt she must pay for my ink toner. I can’t just do anything for free. The world doesn’t work like that. On Tuesday, my cousin banged on my door, shoved a $10 bill into my hand, and wanted to pick up the passport photos. “I don’t have it done yet.” I said.

Why were they suddenly in such a hurry? I’m not some photo printing service which I can drop what I’m doing and fulfill their orders. Shortly after my cousin left, I got a message from him, telling me he’d print the photos at this office.

I was supposed to attend a department activity this week. Although I think a soccer game is the most boring thing to watch, I thought it’d be a good getaway and a chance to mingle and chat with my co-workers. I could’ve driven my car, which is currently sitting in my garage, waiting on repair parts.

After Mr. CFO tried to convince me to go, I tried to convince Mom to let me go. Immediately, she snapped, “Who will take you? I’m not going to drive you.” I told her if we could go home a little earlier than planned, I could take my car. She continued, “I would advise you not to go. You just had an accident. It’s better to stay home than go out.”

Her voice was getting louder, loud enough for other people on the floor to hear, lecturing me on the safety of not driving. Why do I even bother asking? Apparently, my freedom has been stripped because of this stupid unfortunate accident.

I walked away, back up 2 floors to my desk. As I walked away, I heard her say loudly, “Go ahead, walk away. Ignore me. I only lecture you for your own good.” Gritting my teeth, I thought, I’m a f***ing 31-year-old, I don’t need to seek anyone’s permission.

In the end, because of mom’s stalling tactics, by the time I got home, it was too late to head to the game.

#weekendcoffeeshare is hosted by Natalie of Natalie the Explorer. I appreciate you stopping by and hope to chat again same time next week.

35 thoughts on “#WeekendCoffeeShare – September 2022 Garden Update and Anger Management”

  4. I’m very impressed by your garden… envy, too. 😉

    I’ve gotten a couple of mega-huge mutant zucchini and a few Serrano and one Habanero pepper so far. But that’s it. I’m just starting to get the first tomatoes and Bell peppers, and a second round of various other peppers. But I lost a lot of plants this year to a late frost and to what I think was a soil fertilizer issue. About the only things that seem to be growing well are the weeds and the wild rose and aspen roots invading the raised planters and the lawn. Hmmm… At least I think I’ll have a good, late season potato harvest.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. The insects here has been decimating my plants this year. I lost a whole row of napa cabbage and daikon radishes earlier and just now starting a new round. That late frost is killer too. I’m glad you’re getting harvest in your garden. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I understand about the insects. No leafies or corn this year as the bugs just leave them inedible. And I’m probably going to give up on the daikon as they’re in a drop-side planter that I’m about to dig out since it’s been invaded by tree and rose roots. At least no deer or bears… yet. Probably a good thing I don’t have to make a living as a farmer. 😛

        I think I’m about 2,000 ft. higher than you… makes for a short season.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I’m at about 4300 feet. So you would be about about 6300 feet? I’ve been having to spray either Neem oil or BT on my plants every few days in order to get it survive pass the seedling stage. It seems to be working but it’s more work for me. I’m with you. Thankfully, there are no bears or deer.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Hi YingLan,
    I think you are a very talented gardener, but need to get away from your family.
    Too many of these relationships are broken and sound toxic.
    Please find someone; a mature emotionally healthy adult, outside of your family to talk to face to face.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Thank you for the tour! I LOVE your backyard. It’s so nice to see the garden we’ve heard about so much through your posts. I wouldn’t call your purchase a bad thing. It’s practical AND brings you joy. Something you deserve so much of. I too, was wondering if there was an outside party you could talk to. I’ll continue to pray that you find a peaceful resolution.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you.
      I tried talking to the people at my church before but the moment my mom made a visit to the church, everyone seemed to had immediately sided with her. They all think she’s the nicest person in the world but really, that’s one of her many demeanors. She is incredibly nice to strangers but once she gets to know you, oh my, she’ll trash talk behind your back like crazy.

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      Reply

    1. Thank you. Yes, they are relying on me too much and I doubt they’ll reciprocate when I need help, at least so far they hasn’t.

      As far as I know, Costco no longer does passport photos. There are 5 near me and I asked every single one of them.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Didn’t know they stopped doing the photos. It’s been a few years since I got mine taken. I googled passport photos and found CVS, Postal Annex, and UPS does them here. Hope you get some support in coping with your family.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I didn’t know the service discontinued until I need to renew my passport last year and went to every single Costco and all of them told me the same thing, that the Photo center is now moved to online-only service.
        Unfortunately, my family needed to renew their Chinese passports and there are nowhere in the US that will do photos for Chinese passports as the criteria for their photos are different than U.S passport.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Last night I had Internet problems and could not see your beautiful pictures or comment. I’m so glad I returned today. Your garden looks fantastic. Yay for sunshine and water! Hang in there. When your car gets fixed (so hard with the parts shortages), you mother will have less control over you. Meanwhile, what happened to the counselor that you thought was going to work out well?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh no! I hate it when the internet goes out because that’s when the complaints happens.
      I highly doubt fixing my car will result in my mother’s diminishing power over me because now, each time I want to go anywhere, she’ll say, “don’t forget, you got into an accident.”
      I had my final counseling session the week of the accident. Now, I’ll have to wait a year to use that benefit again.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’m sorry to hear that the benefit has run out. How crazy that an insurance company can judge your need for counseling. Some situations, especially after 30 years, can not be solved in a limited number of sessions.🧐

        Liked by 1 person

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