Sunday, April 13, 2014

Simple Goodness

I did some cleaning today. Like I told Lily though, if you could grade levels of cleaning from one to ten, ten being the deepest and best, I cleaned at about level 1.5. And that's just the areas I cleaned.
So. Don't be wearing your white gloves over here, okay?
But I glanced out the window when I was cleaning the library, Book of Thrones clasped to my ears, and I saw a guy in a white shirt and black jacket get out of a car.
"Oh Lord," I thought. Some church dude. Than I looked at the woman who got out of the car with him and she was so pretty and I knew her immediately.
It was Juancho and his bride, stopping by on their way back from an anniversary celebration in Monticello. I was just pleased as I could be to see them. Some people bring joy in the door with them and these two surely do. It's odd how some folks make me feel worried about how I'm dressed or how filthy my house is or how stinky my dogs are and some people- well, it's like they're family. The good kind.
I gave them the tour (Melissa looked around my kitchen and I could tell she wanted to ask me the very same thing Owen asked me the other day which was, "Where did you GET all this stuff?") and introduced them to the chickens and demonstrated how Elvis tid-bits for the ladies with grapes which is VERY hard for Elvis to do because he loves grapes more than anything on this earth. Tid-bitting, for those of you who may not know is what they call it when a rooster finds food and instead of eating it himself, he drops it to the ground and calls his hens with a deep, throaty call. The ladies love it.
I read in that article in Scientific American a few weeks ago about chickens that if there is an alpha rooster in the flock, other roosters, his "inferiors," shall we say, may tid-bit as well, but they do it on the sly. They do the food-dropping and the head toss that goes with it but they don't make the call which would alert the alpha rooster that someone is trying to make time with his hens. But that the hens remember and are more open to the beta males' advances.

What I have mostly learned from observing chickens is that they have far more in common with human beings than you would imagine.

Anyway, it was a sweet visit from sweet people and I've gotten a lot of stuff done, none of it important, and Mr. Moon has worked his ass off, mowing and now he's weed-whacking. God, that man. Where does he find the energy? I'm sitting here yawning myself and I slept with Owen and that child doesn't move all night whereas Gibson kicks and tosses all night and he slept with Mr. Moon so I know who did and did not get a good night's sleep.

I'm going to make something with leftover steak. Out of the four steaks the fellows grilled last night, the four of us didn't finish two of them. Oh well. If you're going to grill, you might as well grill, or as Mr. Moon says they say in Tennessee, "If you're gonna come on, then COME ON!"
I think that may refer more to fighting than to grilling but whatever. It's all manly.

And my heart is light and the house is a little tidier in a few select areas and some of the pine pollen has been swept and dusted away and the yard is pretty and I got some good hugs from some of the very best people and I repotted a rose bush and the cardinals are cracking seeds in their yellow beaks and it's just been a damn good day. I've washed and put away sweaters and now I'm doing the same with jackets. I feel certain that warm weather is here upon us surely and truly and the pecan leaves are coming out, bright green and feathery and I'm just one incredibly grateful lady, surprised and amazed to be at this place in my life.





10 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful day! We had 80 degrees and LOTS of sunshine yesterday, so did lots of outside stuff. The plan was to get some inside cleaning done today....then the storms came. So I sat on the deck and watched the storms roll through and got very little accomplished. I've been cleaning on the 1.5 level (or lower) for a while now, but I need to kick it up because I've got 20 people coming for Easter dinner. And two grands who insist they still believe and REALLY want to hung Easter eggs. Tell me, do you know of many 10 and 11-year olds who still believe? I'm such a pushover!

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  2. ...oh, and I forgot one teensy thing. The hippy-dippy weatherman tells us that we can expect sloppy wet, but trace amounts of sticking snow tomorrow afternoon. That ain't right!!!

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  3. I don't like homes that can pass the white glove test, they make me nervous. Give me a home where you can put your feet up in the coffee table and just commune.

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  4. Love that about COME ON! :) It is indeed all manly :)

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  5. I sooo wish I could just stop by your house for a visit whenever I wanted! Other than this home-spot, that is :) If you put on a bra for me, I'd be insulted.

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  6. Oh Elvis - he really is the best rooster, isn't he? Sounds like you had one of those days in a good way.

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  7. If I know someone is coming over, I'm s clean freak. Pop in on me, and you get what you get. I prefer it when people see me at my worst and still hang around, then I can relax.
    The cats' sitting on me, palette should be itchy in 5, 4, 3...

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  8. These chicken tid bits never fail to amaze me.

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  9. catrina- You ARE a pushover, but when it comes to our grandchilden, who the hell isn't?
    Watching the rain is a holy rite in my opinion.

    Birdie- You would be most comfortable in my house. I promise you.

    Jo- I love that you liked that. It is such a plain and honest thing. Well then, COME ON!

    SJ- I would never put on a bra for you. I promise you that.

    Jill- Elvis may be the world's best rooster. There has to be one somewhere, right?

    heartinhand- And you have cats...why?

    Ms. Vesuvius- Maybe someday you will have chickens. If you do, I am certain you will enjoy them.

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  10. I have dropped tidbits in front of ladies before. I think that the woman who became my wife appreciated them the most. LOL.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.