After what felt like a long and arduous August, September, and autumn, is at last in our presence, at least I hope so. I feel like I’m running on a deadline and yet, everything seem to depend on something else to be done first. For example, I can’t plant seeds in the garden until I transplanted all the seedlings or I can’t pack for my trip until I did a load of laundry but I can’t do laundry when the hamper is not even half full.

Anyway, in August, I finally sold my gas mower and to be honest, I did wish my mom didn’t butt into my sale. Instead of getting the mower sold for $40, my mom talked the customer into only giving us $20. If she’s a business owner, we would be out of business in a day by the way she conducts business.

She and probably all her friends think I’m just this helpless useless little child that still depends on her mother for her everyday needs. I defended and would defend myself everytime that it’s the opposite, that it’s my mom who’s dependent on me.

When I listed the mower for sale, it was the first time I discovered Facebook marketplace. It looks like a place to sell anything we no longer use or need. Perhaps, I should trying selling a 35-mm manual camera lens I no longer use? Or maybe when next spring comes, I can sell some of my seedlings?

I spent the whole of August transplanting seedlings for the fall garden while planting radish seeds at least once a week (or tried to). I also cleaned up the garden – pruned/deadheaded flowers and dead plants and moved some plants around. I ended August by re-seeding my tiny lawn with grass, clover, and a mustard cover crop, hoping when the weather cools, the seeds will sprout and grow until winter hits.

I grow the mustard cover crop in late spring but little germinated due to the weather being so hot and dry. It’s a special blend of mustard grown to rid the lawn of bad insects, weeds, and aerate the soil with the mustard’s tap root. The packet read I can grow it again 4-6 weeks before my first frost. My first frost is around the end of October, so I should have plenty of time.

After reseeding the lawn, I had to take an allergy medication to relieve myself of the stuffy nose and itchy skin. It turned out, I am allergic to grass. Can you believe it? A gardener allergic to grass? That would explain why I felt like I had trouble breathing whenever my PE teacher had the class run laps on the grass.

Now that I sold the mower, I can move some things into the shed. It’s amazing how, with a little organization and a little butting in that I can fit so much into such a small space.

As I write this post, I have but 3 more days before I leave for China. I don’t feel like I want to leave the comfort of my garden and home for such a place as China. Some people may think China is a wonderful place but having spent the first ten years there, I feel the opposite. Maybe it’s all the trauma speaking or maybe tourists will never experience what I’ve experienced as a former-native. I’m sure it’ll be fine but don’t say I wasn’t warned. I know exactly what I’m walking into.