Saturday, March 9, 2019

The Shame And The Glory


I have been so industrious today and you know that always makes me happy, probably because I am shamed-based and anything I do that points to work and accomplishment helps a little to ease those feelings of guilt and shame and make me feel like a person who maybe does deserve the air she breathes. I think I fear being lazy as much as anything.
Well, not as much as I fear Republicans but a lot.
So. In that picture above you will see Dearie's eggs. She got off the nest this morning again to eat and take a nice little dirt bath and I took the opportunity to check out the clutch. There are actually eleven eggs there although you can only see ten. There's one hidden under that magnolia leaf.
Looking back I do believe that when Dearie was laying her eggs on the porch, first in a basket and then in the bag of shallots, she was trying to establish a nest in what she considered to be a safe place but of course the stupid human kept taking her eggs away from her hiding places and I feel bad about that now.


Vera/Viv also showed up for sustenance and I decided to try and follow her today to see where she's nesting. She headed towards the very northwest part of the yard, right next to the gate and the road. 


It's a place that I've let get completely out of control with briars and thorny dewberry and pyracantha and cherry laurel seedlings and poison ivy. (The guilt! The shame!)


I couldn't see her once she disappeared into the thicket but walked around the fence to the church's parking lot and from there I could see her, sitting on her eggs. She gave me the evil eye and I snapped her picture and left her alone. 
I suppose we can now add nest-sleuth to my resume. 
God, I hope I never have to apply for a real job. 

Besides stalking chickens I cleaned out the hen house and took the trash and recycle and did a little laundry and put the plants that were inside for winter back out on the porch and I swept some and I got a pot of black bean soup started. The recipe at the NYT's Cooking for "Best Black Bean Soup" is freaking amazing and I can't wait to eat that again tonight. I gave the recipe to Lis and she's used it twice already. I also have two loaves of bread rising and it was one of those miracle bread makings where I sort of guessed on the proportions of flour and salt and yeast and water and butter and dumped it all in the Kitchen Aid, put the dough hook to it and it made a dough that was absolutely just about almost incredibly perfect. And on top of all of that I finally got back in the garden and did some serious weeding and planted half a row of arugula to try and keep some fresh greens in our salads. The arugula I planted in the fall is already bolting but I read an article that said you can replant all summer and that it has a good chance of surviving the heat. 
We shall see. 
I also planted a fence row of green beans, half Blue Lake and half Kentucky Wonder. 
Very little feels better than getting something planted and turning the sprinkler on and sending your green hope wishes up to the garden gods and goddesses. 


My gardening magic familiar.

Okay. Here's something. 


Levon got his first haircut! 



Yes, yes, YES, it's darling but- oh my heart. As I told Jessie, "Honey, you have to warn me before you do these things."
The other day Maggie saw a picture of Jessie when she was a tiny girl and said, "Levon!" 
They do favor each other. And he is growing up and I love that but I also mourn him leaving babyhood as I have mourned each of my own children and now my grandchildren leaving their babyhoods, too. 
Oh a brighter note, Lily texted me today that Maggie wanted to go outside and Lily told her that she needed to put on her pants first and then, "With a defiant tilt of her head she yelled, 'I want to ride my cycle nake!'"
The Woman Baby Goddess makes her wishes known. 

And this is how the day has gone and I am not unhappy with it in the least. I AM unhappy with the fact that we have to set the clocks up an hour tonight. Oh, fuck that shit. This is ridiculous. Do you Brits do this time change thing or is it just us doody-head Americans? 

I will offer you one more observation, this one about aging. Or at least MY aging. 
I checked out three library books this past week and I came home to discover that one of them is absolutely horrible and beyond redemption and I cannot read it due to its ridiculousness and the other two I have already read. However, since I remember almost nothing about the two I've read I may just reread them. 

Well, I still know how to cook and I can track a broody hen so I'm not going to worry overmuch. 

Yet. 

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. 

So many roses! 








17 comments:

  1. So wonderful, this post. Eggs, fiercely motherly chickens (and MerMers, for that matter) First haircut, yes, that rite of passage.
    I wish you luck with the arugula, it's so nice to have. I just have resigned myself to no arugula in summer (tho our summer is much shorter in upstate NY. And I don't grow it, too many trees amd deer, no sun; lots of farmers at the farmer's market who need supporting.)
    Rereading books, I think soon I will require only one, finish it and start at the beginning again.

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    1. Fresh arugula is fresh arugula no matter who grew it. So hurray for the farmer's market.
      Your last sentence made me laugh. Not AT you, but with you. Trust me. I understand.

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  2. Hello from North Idaho and stop in from Mr Shife. I recall both of my son having there first hair cut.
    If you find the time stop in for a cup of coffee

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    1. Hello, peppylady Dora. Thanks for coming by!

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  3. Vera is so pretty! I love her colors.

    I don't like DST either. It's just beyond weird and stupid. I wish the powers that be would do away with it already.

    Your productivity puts me to shame. My biggest accomplishment today was a 2 hour nap. Talk about lazy!

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    1. Honey- you're so productive all week long that it would kill me to try and replicate what you do. I mean, I would seriously be dead. One day at your desk and I'd be calling in for a sick day. So do NOT try to convince me that you are lazy. You're just trying to catch your breath.

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  4. Yes, Lunar Lady, we "Brits" (I hate that term) do indeed change our clocks twice a year. On March 31st we will be putting our clocks forward by one hour. It is a ridiculous and tiresome pile of nonsense in my very humble opinion.

    Maurice looks like a prince sitting there on his blue throne...or perhaps a princess?

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    1. Maurice is indeed a ladycat.

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    2. Maurice is a female. She is also slightly insane. Or perhaps really insane. And Mr. P- I promise not to use the term "Brits" again if I can remember not to. I wouldn't take odds on that. But I do swear that if I use it it's because I did not remember and not because I wish to offend.
      I'm with you on the fucking with time concept.
      One more thing- I finally found HP sauce in my local grocery store and it is very, very good.

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  5. I'm battling another cold, two in less than a month. I am not pleased but I'm not as sick this time thank goodness. Yesterday I tried to get stuff done and had to keep sitting down and resting but I did managed to make a cheesecake and spaghetti sauce with meatballs that was very tasty.

    I've started knitting again. I can't read patterns worth shit and I'm trying to make my grandson a sweater but things are turning into Barbie clothes which I don't mind. I have a little girl that comes over here and loves playing with the Barbie.

    It will be nice to get outside again. I did walk the dog yesterday and she was beyond happy. Between the cold weather and the colds she hasn't had a walk in over a month. It's supposed to be above zero now for the next week so we'll get out more.

    Your grandkids are so sweet Mary. You are blessed.

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    1. I swear- I think the flu this year has a bonus round attached to it. We had the same thing going on that you do.
      It's miserable but yes, you can function. Sort of.
      I am VERY proud of you for cooking and walking the dog. That must have taken so much determination. Now...GET WELL!
      And yes. I am blessed and I know it.
      Enjoy your knitting. I love to knit and all I am capable of is scarves.

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  6. They're thinking of changing the clock change in Europe I'm for this, but it will mean dark evenings all winter still if they leave it at summertime to keep mornings bright. I don't know what to vote for tbh.i want longer days but fear dark mornings would mean more accidents for younger kids going to school.

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    1. Hard decision indeed. I don't know how I'd vote.

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  7. So what's that stuff all over your arm? Battle wounds, no doubt. I am envious of you on your feet most every hour of every day. That's what my mother and grandmother did, and it was just perfect. I get depressed; I get my pain under control, and break my effing leg. I can walk from one end of my little house to the other, but not outside. I hate that, It does me good to read about eggs and gardens and briar patches for broody hens. You go girl.

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    1. I have been breaking out in hives lately but I think that most of what you see on that arm is just a trick of the camera. It doesn't do pinks so well. I have no real wounds on it.
      If I could not move around the way I'm used to I think I would just lay down and die. Well, probably not but it would be hard. I admire you for getting on with what you can.

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  8. We have what's called British Summer Time. It's on a slightly different annual schedule than the USA's Daylight Saving Time. (Oh -- I see YP answered this already!)

    Your chicken adventures are always so interesting. I feel like I really get a sense of the personality of all the different birds. (Can birds have "person"-ality?)

    Please, please, please tell us the identity of the terrible book.

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  9. Of course the chickens all have their own personality. Linguistics be damned in this case.
    The book- Hippie by Paulo Coelho.
    Oh hell no.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.