As They Say These Days- GENDER REVEAL!

Mr. Moon and I got smart this morning and went out and picked before it got killer hot. Then I shared a yogurt with Maurice who loves yogurt but only if it's got fruit in it and then I went out and weeded the zinnias and the edamame and THAT WAS ENOUGH OF THAT!
Phew. Already soaked through with sweat but I'm not close to the vomit-point so I feel good.

But I did not come here to talk about that. I came here to discuss the fact that Jessie got an ultrasound this week and so we now know the gender (supposedly- as I have discovered, you can't really be sure until the child grows up enough to tell you) of this little Boo Boo Weatherford.

But first, before I tell you, here's Jessie's most recent pregnant mama picture. With an added August bonus.

Isn't that a pretty belly on a pretty mama?

And...she's having another boy!

August will get a brother and Maggie shall, for the moment at least, remain the only woman child in the bunch. 

Which she is certainly sassy enough to handle with no difficulty whatsoever. 

And so we shall get another little boy and oh my goodness! Those Moon women and their boys! Precious boys. 

And now I can start thinking about another quilt and before we know it, there will be another birth, another sweet miracle of life for us to love on. Jessie says he's an active little guy, playing around in his watery world, practicing his breast stroke, his Australian crawl, his gymnastics so that when he is born he will be strong enough to play with his brother as soon as possible. 

My heart is so happy about all of this. And we're going up to see them in a few weeks. I talked to August yesterday and told him that I was going to come and kiss, kiss, kiss him. And play with him. And read books to him. And bite his toes and fingers whereupon he asked politely for his Boppy. 

Ah well. He will be getting us both. 

And I'm about to run into town to get ingredients to make these. 

Except I'm not going to use zucchini of which I have none, but cucumbers and little eggplants and green beans. 

Why not? 

Exotic pickles! 

Life is good. 

Love...Ms. Moon

At Least I Haven't Seen Any Snakes. Yet

Oh, y'all. I am so tired of sweating and itching and it's only June! I am being such a whiner and complainer this year but I swear it's worse than it's ever been. Here's a picture that Mr. Moon took last night.

That's how big the freaking mosquitoes are. And they are so hungry. And there are so many. After my husband took that picture last night, the seemingly dead and smashed insect came back to life and started crawling around. And I've never encountered mosquitoes that are so hard to slap. They move like jet planes. Everything about them is absolutely infuriating. Throw in these tiny ants with their pincers of pain and I'm about to lose my mind. 

I went outside and cleaned the hen house and put out fresh hay. I'd sprayed myself with bug repellant so that part wasn't so bad but the heat was overbearing. I told myself to just suck it up and went to pick the garden. I got the cucumbers picked (and there are enough for another canning kettle of pickles, I think) and plucked a few small tomatoes and an eggplant and started in on the green beans and got about halfway down the row and I realized that if I didn't stop and go inside, I was going to have heat stroke. 

For real. 

And I think about those pioneer women I've written about before and how I could not have lasted a month living in Florida under the conditions they lived in. I would have thrown myself into the nearest alligator infested river and prayed for quick end to my misery.

Well, here's what I did pick today.

Or part of it, at least. Can you believe that eggplant? It's a double wide. So glossy and perfect and purple that it doesn't even look real. 

And life goes on. We have to take the good with the bad and honestly, with air conditioning and running water and refrigerators, it's mostly good. And there are so many people in Florida who simply stay inside all summer long, paying someone else to do anything that must be done outside, buying their vegetables in Publix where shopping is a pleasure and the air conditioning makes the temperature perfect and the Muzak is not annoying. There was an article in the paper today about how it's the perfect time of year to camp at one of our beautiful state parks and all I could think was, "Yes, if you have a death wish."

I am grateful that I have the choice to brave the outdoors if I want to and the choice to come inside and be in the air conditioning if I don't. I could let the whole damn garden go to seed and shame and no one's life would be endangered. 

And of course, there's the river, right down the road where revival and redemption are but a dive into the spring-fed waters away. 

Can I get a hallelujah?

Amen, sisters and brothers. 

Amen.

What The Rain Brings

Roses, ginger lily, bananas, the resurrection fern on the oak branches. All of that and the figs are swelling too.

Also- mosquitoes that could bleed a cow in an hour, little tiny black ants that swarm my porch and sting me, steam after a quick rainstorm that soaked me as I walked and got my hanging sheets so wet I've had to bring them in for another rinse and spin and then time in the dryer.

Here. Trixie is helping Dottie.

Sister wives. The old and the young. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

More This And That

I got a text from Lily this morning after that deadly walk that she and the kids were down at the Wacissa with her friend Kelly. I decided that a jump in the river was just what I needed and so I did a few things around here that needed doing and put on a bathing suit bottom, a tight tank top and a loose tank top over that. I absolutely refuse to wear a bathing costume that has more bra in it that I wear to go out to eat. Forget it. No way. And I have looked all over the place (i.e., the internet and Target) for a bathing suit that doesn't have a fucking bra in it and I can't find one and at the Wacissa you'll see every sort of bathing suit and not-a-bathing-suit imaginable and no one gives a damn what you wear to swim in.
The water was cold and the sun was behind clouds and there was a good breeze so the yellow flies weren't out. It was, in short, heaven.
Maggie has realized that I am someone she can boss around and seems to be somewhat infatuated with me at the moment. She'll call me in a regular voice, "MerMer!" and if I don't respond immediately, she raises her voice higher and louder until she is absolutely shouting my granny name.
"MERMER!!!!"
Like that.
At one point today she came over to where I was sitting in my chair and pushed me out of it and then stole my water.

Well, yes, I am about ten times bigger than she is but size doesn't count for everything. 

Trust me. 

So we had a good time and Owen jumped off the rope swing for the first time which is a pretty big deal. Then I got hungry and came home and ate some field peas. 

And did other stuff but it's all boring to do and to talk about so...moving on...

Here's Dottie sitting on the nest. 

And NO! That is not boring. I found a little cache of eggs hidden in the baby coop this morning and I put three of them right up next to her and when I went back later, she had disappeared them underneath her. I have no idea if any of these eggs are fertile but it's always exciting to think we might get mama-raised babies. 

Here's a picture some of you might recognize.

The fally-down house. One of these days it's just going to collapse. I need to brave the poison ivy and get a shot from the right side of it where a tree is growing up through it and has become part of the wall. It's beautiful. I took that picture this morning after I dropped off the green beans and pickles at Miss Liola's. 

And one more thing- an interview with Hank. 

My son, the Trivia Lord!

You know what? Life is funny. "Trivia Lord" is probably the last thing in the universe I would have predicted that my precious little redheaded baby would grow up to be. And yet, it makes so much sense. 

All right, y'all. That's enough of that. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Why Does Anyone Live In Florida?

Dottie's for sure broody and I took Miss Liola some green beans and pickles but no one answered her door so I left them on the stoop and I had to backtrack on my usual route because a pack of dogs appeared, some of them pit bulls and you can say what you want about how sweet pitties are and I know because I used to have some but you can also say what you want about how they can tear you up and I know because I used to have some so I turned around and went another way and it's so fucking hot and so fucking humid and when I ducked into the woods to pee a million mosquitoes attacked me and well...
I'm miserable.

That is all.

Love...Ms. Moon

Safe And Home

Well, I am home.
And so glad to be although I have to say that for a trip which involved neurological appointments and three children in a small house containing half of the household decorating goods available from TJ Maxx along with plenty of antiques, it was a fun trip. One thing that I've acquired in old age is the ability to just let things flow as they will and to step back and let other people control what must be controlled.
For the most part, at least.
I think I do.
I guess we'd have to ask Lily and Jason about that. I have a terrible fear of being the sort of mother-in-law who is annoying and weird and bossy and who doesn't know her place in the scheme of things and when I say "scheme of things" I mean- their family unit.
Also, it's just easier to let someone else be the boss and it's taken me a lifetime to realize that.

We left Jacksonville after we took the kids to a little park to play in and hopefully burn off some energy before the drive. Here are some pictures.

Maggie loves ducks so she was in heaven. She sings a song to herself frequently and it's about ducks. I think. It could be about a doggie. Ducky or doggie. One of those animals. 

Anyway, we got to Lloyd and I went out and picked the garden which was the sweatiest, buggiest experience of my life. The mosquitoes are not to be believed. 

Thanks, rain! 

I got so many cucumbers that, well...this happened.

Yep. Here we go again. 

And I sat in front of the TV and shelled the peas I picked and we're having those and our squash and cherry tomatoes for supper. I shouldn't be eating ANY supper. You would not believe what I have eaten today. I can't believe what I've eaten today but I will say that Owen picked out our breakfast spot which is a place where they serve nothing but donuts and cinnamon rolls. Extremely HEALTHY donuts and cinnamon rolls, okay? No soy, no nuts, vegan, and some are gluten-free!

But let's not discuss the fat and sugar in them, okay? 

Or the size. 

And for lunch we ate...

Oh god. I can't even tell you. 

Krystal burgers.

I know. I know. I know. I haven't had one of those things in thirty years. And I hope I don't eat another for another thirty years. 

Lord, I've got to get back into some better eating habits. 

So it's good to be home and all of my chickens look fine and I swear I can tell a change in Dearie the Rooster from three days ago. His fancy feathers are growing in and he's just so pretty. I think Dottie may have gone broody but she sure isn't sitting on many eggs. As I know by now though, if she is broody, she'll commandeer everybody else's eggs and sit on those too. 

Chickens. 

It's so nice to be back in my world of poultry and pickles. 

And oh yeah- it's mighty sweet to see my sweetie too. 

But I'm sort of going to miss having two little boys cuddle with me before bedtime and having Owen read us a story. And having Miss Maggie June toddle into my room and want uppie for her own cuddles and kisses before bed. And supervising the bubble bath. And waking up in the morning and hugging my daughter who has made me a cup of coffee. And making jokes with Jason who is a very funny guy. 

I'm a lucky woman. 

And I'm home. 

Love...Ms. Moon

More Adventures In Jacksonville

Today has been fine and it started out out like this. 

 

Good Lord she's cute. 

We took Owen and Jason to the clinic and dropped them off and came back to the house-of-many-many decorative items and Lily tried to get Maggie back to sleep but that wasn't happening so we went to the funkiest place I think I've ever been. It was a hands-on play museum and yeah, seriously, that's what it was. There were climbing things and a ball pit and basketball you could play the regular way or in a wheelchair for educational purposes, I guess. There was a center set up to be a veterinarian office with real animal cages with stuffed animals in them and a real scale to weigh the animals on and giant hypodermic syringes (no needles, of course) to give your animal giant shots and it was wonderful and creepy.

 

There was a fire station, a pretend cafe, and a miniature Winn Dixie. Not to mention a bank and I don't even know what all. A toddler room. 

 

 

It was hot and sort of stinky as you can imagine and a germaphobe's nightmare. Child care groups were there with their little charges and the adults all had terrible worry lines on their faces and clipboards in their hands and kept saying things like, "Have you seen Jacob? Where's Jacob?"

Hell. All of the adults looked harried and worried because the children popped around like little kernels of popping corn and it was a special and strange sort of purgatory. 

But the kids loved it. 

Then lunch and then back to the house and then Lily picked up Jason and Owen and more naps were attempted and HAHAHAHAHAHAHA on that. 

Oh. Here's a picture of Gibson with a shark in a tank. Not at the hands-on museum but at the restaurant. 

 

Isn't he beautiful? 

Owen and I took a walk and now all of the Hartmanns have gone to have supper with Jason's uncle and I'm here alone. I just spent approximately 45 minutes trying to make a cup of coffee with fancy coffee-making things and finally managed to make a decent cup with a French press. 

I am so not a coffee gourmand. All I'm looking for is a caffeine delivery system. 

All right- here's something else I want to bitch about- if you go to a store and buy something, unless something goes wrong and you take it back, that transaction is done. 

However, if you purchase something online you can bet your boots there are going to be many emails asking you to rate your purchase, the shopping experience, the shipping experience, etc. 

Look- if something was unsatisfactory you would have heard from me! I'm not here to be your feedback on what your damn company is doing right or wrong. 

Okay. That's all I really need to bitch about now. 

We're going home tomorrow. I hear we're under a tropical storm warning. 

Hard to believe. I guess life does go on in Lloyd even if I'm not there. 

Weird. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Bubblepalooza

  

We are in Jacksonville. We're staying at an AirBnB place in a darling house in a darling neighborhood. It's the actual home of the owner although she goes down the road and stays at her parent's when her house is booked. We are doing our very best to try and keep three rambunctious youn'uns from destroying anything or, in fact, EVERY thing in it and so far, so good. 

Owen had one appointment today and will have another tomorrow. It's been raining and so we couldn't take the kids to an outdoor park. Instead we went to a mall that had an indoor play place which was a major shock to my system. I didn't know whether to get a manicure, something pierced, a giant pretzel, or my aura adjusted. I decided not to do any of that but did buy the boys tickets for the little train that an extremely unhappy looking female engineer wearing overalls and a kerchief drove slowly around the lower level, making wide circles in front of the anchor stores and clanging the bell when appropriate. We followed it around with Maggie in her stroller. 

Owen looked like he might die of embarrassment but Gibson seemed to be in a state of pure delight. 

And that's about as much as I want to type on my phone now. I'm lying on an extremely comfortable bed, the children have fallen silent and so I imagine they are asleep. Lily and Jason are watching something on Netflix and I'm about ready to take a shower and put on my nun nightgown, soon to fall asleep. 

Peace to all, wherever you may be. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Short One

I have packed a little bag with a few of my linen dresses and some deodorant and so forth and tomorrow Lily and Jason are picking me up at the ungodly hour of 8:00 a.m. and we are driving to Jacksonville where Owen will have his checkups at the neurology clinic. We shall be gone for two nights.

I am sure we will stop at the Busy Bee and there will be other adventures and I will report in.

This morning Owen was helping his Bop pick up trash on the road in front of the house and a man selling watermelons came by and gave one to Owen because he liked seeing a little guy working so hard.

Owen loves to pick up trash and I said to him, "You're just like David Sedaris."

"Is he a good guy?" Owen asked.

"Oh yes," I said.

And so is Owen.

Love...Ms. Moon

He's My Every Hero

There were Father's Day pancakes and bacon this morning. Jason had to work so Lily brought the children over here and we did it up good.

Father's Day can be difficult for me. A mishmash of resentment and memories of fear and much sadness. Throw in some anger and a little PTSD and child-heart-hopes dashed and trampled.

BUT. There were some good men in my life who showed me that not all men are bad or crazy or ill or pure downright evil. There really were. And because of that, because of them, I was able to know a very fine man when one came along in my life and I knew enough to accept his love and to love him back and thus, I gave my babies the best daddy they could have ever had.
And now that extends to giving my grandchildren the best granddaddy they could have.

No wonder they all ask for Boppy.  

And funny thing- he's not only an amazing father and grandfather, he's turned out to be the husband I never could have even imagined I would find on this earth in this lifetime.

Plus he's mighty cute.

Love...Ms. Moon