Thursday, 11th of Fall

Alma stepped outside into the fresh autumn air and gasped - she had so many crops ready to harvest! All the fall seeds from the Junimo were ready, along with several other crops too! There was no way she was going to be able to carry it all to Pierre! She laughed a bit at the success of the crops, but she also suddenly felt overwhelmed. Today would be a busy day for sure! She rolled up her sleeves, took a deep breath, and started the work.

In addition to all the fall crops like blackberries, mushrooms, sweet peas, and hazelnuts that had grown, there were also yams, eggplants, grapes, and wheat that were all ready to harvest, along with oak resin in the tap. Alma remembered that an eggplant and yam were needed for the fall crops bundle, so she made sure to keep those in her bag to take to the community center later. As she was watering her crops, she also looked up and noticed mail in her mailbox. It was a letter from Emily:

"Alma!

Flip this letter over for instructions on how to make a super-healthy meal! You'll feel energized. See you soon.

- Emily"

Alma turned the paper over and saw a recipe for salad, requiring leek, dandelion, and vinegar. It sounded good to her! She folded the letter up and put it in her pocket before moving on.

When Alma was milking Poppy, she noticed that more milk than usual was coming out. "Good girl, Poppy! You're getting to be so big!" The pail was completely full, and this was something else Alma knew would be good in the community center: large goat milk. She thought maybe this would complete that bundle, and she wondered what gift the Junimo might have for her this time.

As Alma was organizing her stuff, she dropped the lower-quality products in her shipping bin, saving the best for Pierre's shop. She filled her bag and made her way into town. Before she went inside the general store, Alma stopped to take a look at the calendar and saw that today was Jodi's birthday! She thought she remembered she still had some chocolate cake at home, which seemed an appropriate gift to give a mother for her birthday; that way, she wouldn't have to make her own cake! She stepped inside the store, the door dinging as she came in. "Good afternoon, Alma!"

"Hi, PIerre," she said, lifting her bag onto the counter. "I've got a lot for you today!"

"Oh good. A nice fall harvest, huh?" She nodded and started pulling out all the produce. "Wow, you weren't kidding!"

"And this wasn't even all of it! I dropped some in my shipping bin before coming on but saved the best stuff for you."

"Well, I appreciate that. But I know you probably also did it to get the best bang for your buck quickly, eh?" he chuckled. "That's all right, though. I know how the business works. It's good for both you and me. Good produce brings in good money!"

"You sound like a produce tycoon!" she laughed.

"My dream is to keep opening stores until I become extremely wealthy," he said with a mischievous snicker. "And with your help, my dream will come true sooner!"

"Glad I can help," she answered, rolling her eyes.

Pierre looked over all of her produce and counted up her total. "You want to buy some seeds too, I guess?"

"Yes please." She ordered seeds to replenish the one-time producing crops and happily accepted them and the gold, putting them in her bag. "Thank you, Pierre. See you next time!"

"Bye, Alma! Keep the good stuff comin'!"

She waved and made her way out the store, heading north to the community center. She put the large goat milk into the animal bundle and received a present, which had another cheese press inside. Now when Poppy gave milk, she could put milk in all three presses to make cheese! She went to the pantry and dropped off her eggplant and yam in the fall crops bundle too, seeing that all she lacked was a pumpkin. She remembered too that she needed five high quality pumpkins for the quality bundle; if she didn't get that, she'd have to wait until next summer to try for more high quality melons. She thought maybe it would be advantageous to buy more pumpkin seeds from Pierre too, just to ensure that she was growing enough pumpkins to get at least five good ones. Alma started for the door of the community center and then remembered, she had enough money that she could buy the largest bundle in the vault. It would practically run her dry, though. But with more harvests coming up, it should be pretty easy to make it back. … Right? She turned and went to the vault, and after a moment of looking at the 25,000 gold slot, she reached into her bag and put down the money. A Junimo appeared and dropped a present at her feet. She opened it up, and it was a crystalarium. "What the heck?" Was this to … make gemstones? Because if so, that itself would make a lot of money! She put it in her bag and headed out to leave the community center.

Before going back to the farm, Alma popped back into Pierre's shop just before he closed. "You're back!"

"Yes, I thought about it, and I'd like to buy some more pumpkin seeds please."

"Sure," he said, grabbing some for her, "planting them now will give you another harvest before the end of the season. Good thinking." She thanked him for them then left the shop.

Alma went back to the farm and placed the crystalarium on the ground by the furnace. She looked in her chest of gems and wondered which one might be the most valuable. She reached for the diamond. Then she took it to the crystalarium, tossed it inside, and watched the machine work. "Let's hope this does what I think it will do …." she mumbled, watching the mechanism undulate. "Now, I've got a cake to deliver before it gets too late." She ran inside the house and looked in her fridge. Sure enough, she had a chocolate cake still there. She pulled it out, put it in her bag, and headed back into town.

She went through the little park at the entrance of town and down the little path on the side of Jodi's house, then came and knocked on the door. Vincent answered the door. "Hi there, miss."

"Hi, Vincent! Is your momma home? I hear it's her birthday!"

"Yes ma'am, she's in the kitchen making dinner." He held the door open for her, and she walked through the house toward the kitchen. Vincent followed, standing by the doorway curiously listening.

"Hi Jodi!"

Jodi turned from the sink and smiled. "Oh, Alma, hi!" She pulled off her rubber gloves and set them by the sink. "I started wearing rubber gloves to keep my hands soft. The older you get, the more work you have to do to stay healthy."

"I can understand. But speaking of getting older, I hear you're twenty-nine again!"

Jodi laughed, "Yes, for the … tenth time now!"

"Well, I knew that as a mother, you were probably looking at making your own cake, and no one should have to do that, so I brought you a surprise."

"A birthday gift?"

Alma reached into her bag and lifted out the cake. Vincent gasped. "A chocolate cake! Can we eat it for dinner, Mom?"

"No, Vincent, we will eat it after dinner - which is almost ready, by the way, so go get your brother please." Vincent scurried out of the room, and Jodi looked to Alma. "That's very kind of you! I love it!"

"You're welcome. I hope you have a wonderful evening celebrating with the boys! I'll leave you all to enjoy your time together."

"Okay, let me see you out," she said, following Alma to the door. "Bye, Alma! Thank you again!"

"No problem. Goodnight and happy birthday!" Jodi smiled, then closed the door.

Alma went up through town to get back to the farm. As she predicted this morning, her work took up too much time, and she was not able to see Harvey before the clinic closed at three. She came to the clinic and saw a dim light in his apartment. It was now about seven o'clock, so she figured he was probably relaxing with a documentary while eating some dinner. She thought about knocking on the door or throwing something to the window to get his attention, but she decided to let him enjoy his alone time. He, like her, probably had a bit of extra work to catch up on from having a busy day away from it yesterday. She smiled then continued to her farm.

Even though it was dark, Alma wanted to go ahead and plant these seeds. She thought she had the energy for it, and she wanted to take advantage of the plots that were already hoed and fertilized. So she went through to plant and water the seeds she had bought, including nine new pumpkins. By the time she had watered the last of them, she was exhausted. She went inside and called it a night.