Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Measuring Out Life With Coffee Spoons And Suppers On The Table


 I took this picture this morning when I went out to check for eggs. If you look carefully you can see the story here. There's a hen in both of those nests and the two gray girls are waiting on the roost for the nest they want to become available. Doesn't it look like they're discussing this? They remind me of two ladies in a public restroom waiting in line for a stall to open up. 
"Do you mind if I go first? I'm about to die. I just drank a forty-two ounce Big Gulp."
"Oh, sure, honey. I can wait."

And let me remind you that there are FOUR other nesting areas within three feet of them. They want what they want. 

I've been feeling treacherously low lately. Nothing specific and I even had to reassure my husband this morning that no, I am not upset with him. "I'm upset with the world," I said. I think all of us are probably completely on edge right now. At least I didn't have horrible dreams last night. The one I remembered this morning when I woke up had a lot of sweetness in it. I was back in my old elementary school where frankly, I experienced a great deal of unhappiness and bullying but that wasn't part of this dream. There was a reunion of my old classmates but the best part was that a woman I knew as Aunt Dot was there although she was combined with my favorite teacher- a sort of dream woman and when I looked into her face and realized who she was I was so very happy and hugged her hard and she hugged me back. 
At the time in my life when I was in elementary school, these two women gave me more than they ever knew, I'm sure. If I have any self-confidence at all or know how to show love, it's mostly because of them. 

So that was okay but I felt nostalgic when I woke up for Roseland and for people I'll never see again in this lifetime and sadness settled over me. But Jessie and the boys came out to play and that cheered me up considerably. It is so wonderful being able to hug and kiss them again. Jessie had brought their bikes and they helmeted up and we went to the post office. Levon has a little pedal-less bike that used to be August's. I'm not sure what you call it. But he propels it by pushing against the ground and it works spectacularly. I sort of want one. And August, when he got a real bike, hopped on and rode it like (as he says) a pro. But it's true. They're so dang cute. 


And look- my signs are still up! My firespike continues to bloom like crazy. It's so cheerful. 
When we got to the post office, I told the boys I had to take their pictures. 
"Why?" asked August. Of course.
"Because that's what I do," I said. 
So they let me. 



Besides bike-riding, there were also hot-wheels car racing in the hallway, puzzles, sandwiches and books. Both boys sat beside me on the love couch as we read and at one point, Levon even reached over and kissed me. I was thrilled. They do not mind cuddling while we read. 

So all of that was good and after they left I cut up the venison roast leftovers and the carrots and potatoes, added green beans and peas and made a gravy with the cooking juices and put all of that in a baking pan and made a pastry to go on the top. I feel like this is a dish that Robin Hood and his Merry Men would recognize. A pie of poached venison and root vegetables, perhaps made by Friar Tuck. Although, to be clear, our venison is not poached from the Sheriff of Nottingham or anyone else for that matter. 
I saved the bones and some of the meat to freeze and use for a future soup. Things like this make me feel like the most prudent of housewives. 
With the leftover pastry I made a tiny apple and raisin tart that will bake alongside the venison pie. Oh, if I only enjoyed housecleaning one bazillionth as much as I do cooking! 
But I do not. 

The forecast we had last week for cooler temperatures at the end of this week seems to have changed and it's still going to be up in the eighties every day except for possibly Saturday where the high is supposed to be 78. And no rain in sight. But no matter- I have got to get the rest of the garden in and this is going to require some weeding and mulching. I went out yesterday afternoon to check the coming-up greens and although they look happy and healthy, there are so many tiny weeds coming up alongside of them who also look happy and healthy that I was horrified. Just horrified. 
Thank god I like to weed, right? Although this is the most difficult sort of weeding. The kind that almost requires tweezers. Sure, we could hoe them but hoeing, in my experience, basically just rearranges the weeds and causes them to gather more of their powerful life force to re-establish themselves as they send their vital roots back down in the now-loosened soil. And beside the garden work I need to do, there is so much in the yard that needs to be done. The pulling of invasives, pruning, trimming, the picking up and hauling of branches and all of the things I need to trim and pull. 
Oh well. What else do I have to do?
Not much and yet, I always seem to be fairly busy and as always during these strange times, the hours and days pass with unprecedented and unexplainable swiftness as if the universe has suddenly taken on different laws of physics and time's meaning is oddly the same and yet not at all. 

Enough philosophizing. Time to get the Robin Hood pie into the oven. 

Oh, y'all. 
Let's hang in. 

Love...Ms. Moon


36 comments:

  1. As we approach the election I am a bundle of nerves. 2016 is burned into my brain and probably always will be.

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    1. Mine too. I cried for days and when I wasn't crying, I was practically catatonic. May this never happen again!

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  2. I think my English grandmother would call that Shepherd's Pie. And my other coal mine engineer grandfather I never knew would call that Pasty.
    I went to lunch with my oldest daughter today. She is so sad and worried. She's fifty five. My oldest grandson is bicycling in Colorado. She just arranged to get his absentee ballot to him by General Delivery wherever he will be next. She told me it's the most expensive ballot she ever paid for.

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    1. Shepherd's Pie is generally a ground meat (traditionally lamb- thus the shepherd part) base with vegetables, covered with mashed potatoes and baked. At least that's how I know it! Remember Keith and his shepherd's pie backstage at concerts? Don't bust the crust!
      Your daughter is right to be sad and worried but I hope she is okay. There's only so much she can do and it sure sounds like she's doing it with sending that ballot to her son!

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  3. love the hens waiting in line LOL! And I agree, we are all pretty much upset with the world, fed up with it all.....and trying to remain hopeful? This dark cloud, as I refer to it, invades every portion of our daily lives....whether waking or sleeping. I think your dream teacher/ Aunt Dot came to give you a hug when you most needed it! And those boys, how quickly they are growing!
    A hug to you, from also/still hot Calif.
    Susan M

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    1. I surely did need that dream hug! And I appreciated it so much. How ironic that now when we need hugs the most, we aren't supposed to be giving or getting them. But virtual hugs are still okay. So thank you.
      Hope it cools off there soon!

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  4. I wonder if people have PTSD from 2016?

    I'm feeling down too. I'm so damned tired all the time and feeling like a sad, old lady. I'm off tomorrow so maybe some extra sleep will help.

    It snowed here today, not much and it melted as it landed but snow! Enjoy your garden and I'm so glad you got to see those boys.

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    1. I sure do have PTSD from 2016. Hell yes.
      I've been feeling like a sad, VERY old lady. I hear you.
      Snow! Amazing. Hard to fathom here.

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  5. Yay! Your Biden signs made it overnight! I sure understand how you've been feeling. Between all the insanity that circles around Trump, the confirmation hearings in which she answers NO questions, the coming election and this daily increase of covid I am about ready to lose it. I have to force myself to function because I would be fine if I sat in a chair in a vegetative state all the time. Sorry to complain but I know you understand and that helps.

    Your grandbabies are like a magical potion! I'm so glad they can come see you and you can read to them and love on them and be loved by them. Every time I see their pictures it takes me back to when I had two little boys of my own so very long ago.

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    1. I do understand. Completely. But we have to keep moving. On the days I force myself to do physical things I feel better. It's just the truth. But it ain't easy.
      Being able to hug and cuddle those boys is such a joy and a tonic. They give me reason to go on.

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  6. Those boys are so gorgeous....just look at their little legs!
    Over here we call the bikes with no pedals "balance bikes". Might be different with you?
    I have always thought that what we would call a "garden", in USA it is always referred to as a " yard". but you have mentioned both words in this post. Is the garden where you grow the veg?
    And, sorry, but another question....how do you pronounce "Levon". I know how I say it to myself when I read it, but realised that you might have a different way. Could be Le Von..as if it were french, or Leevon?

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    1. I love their skinny little legs!
      Yes! Balance bike- that's what that is.
      And yes, what we call "the garden" is where we grow vegetables and the rest of it is what we call "the yard." You got it right!
      Levon is pronounced Lee Von. By us, at least!

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  7. Ps....And do you use August's full name? I think I mentioned ages ago that my friend's grandson is called August and they always say Augie. ( he was born in New York, but they have been back here for about 5/6 years)
    PPS Love the chatting chicken photo. It could be used as one of those pictures where people are asked for a caption!

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    1. We do use August's full name although his brother calls him "Auga" so sometimes we do too.
      You're right about the chickens!

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  8. Hard not to be freaked in 2020. Good to focus on the photo of those smiling boys. Guaranteed soother.

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  9. Re. the weeds, Florida is just too darn fertile!

    Glad to see the boys and your yard signs look AWESOME! I'm so glad they've survived even a few days.

    The chickens are so funny. There must be something about those two nests that make them more appealing, like temperature or lack of a draft or something...?

    I understand the PTSD. I'm grumpy all the time these days.

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    1. Florida is crazy fertile. I swear. And the signs are still up!
      Not sure why the hens prefer certain nests but the favorite ones seem to change fairly regularly so...who knows?
      Chicken logic. Not to be understood by me.
      Does Dave call you Senior Grumpy Pants?

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  10. I mostly hear "strider bike", but sometimes "balance bike".
    They are the best-- the kid instinctively learns how a bike stays upright with forward motion. A bike with training wheels is like a tractor-- you sit securely on its stable wide rear and just steer, and then when the trainining wheels come off you have to unlearn your experience and start learning what the strider bike rider learned from the get-go.
    Here's a gift idea for those biker boys: rechargeable head and/or tail lights!

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    1. You're so right about the balance/strider bike- it definitely worked for August. He had no problem at all changing over to a real bike.
      They might like lights on their bikes! I need to teach them to clip cards to the spokes. We used to love doing that.

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  11. I do hope people, and by people I mean Democrats, continue to turn out in droves. yes the next three weeks we are all on tenterhooks. and when we get the result we want the next two months are going to be absolutely horrible while the republicans burn as much down as they can.

    those boys are just too cute. there's a battle of signs going on in my sister's old neighborhood which I will post about.

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    1. You are so right, Ellen. If the Dems do win, the Republicans are going to do whatever they can to destroy the government if for no other reason than to give Biden and Harris the worst chance possible to succeed. Oh god.
      I'd love to hear about the battle of the signs.

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  12. It's been interesting to see some yards in our small town Kansas town that while they have an outcropping of Rep. "weeds" in their yard (what I call political signs) in some of them the TRUMP sign is missing. We do have Trump signs displayed in others but Biden in some yards where I was pretty sure Republicans lived. Hopeful....

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  13. I'm glad to see your Biden/Harris signs are still up. I really thought they'd get pinched! And I particularly love the picture of the boys doing the "thumbs up"! They're gorgeous!

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    1. Maybe the signs will stay up! My Obama sign did.
      Thank you for calling my little boys gorgeous. I think they are but I am so prejudiced.

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  14. Great to see your grandsons enjoying themselves! Lifted my spirits seeing those happy faces (and that great My Little Pony t shirt!)
    I think we will all be tense until the election is finished. I am hoping so much that the country goes BLUE. Stay safe!

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    1. Yes. Blue, blue, BLUE!
      August and Levon don't care in the least whether a garment is "supposed" to be for a girl or a boy and I love that. I love that Jessie and Vergil don't care either.

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  15. I feel like I have PTSD from the 2016 election and the 4 years we've endured since. Just recently between Trump, my terror at what is going to happen during and after the election, the pandemic, and family problems (not to mention the death of my sweet Ginger) sometimes my anxiety is just off the damn charts. Hang in there, Ms. Moon. We're all in this together and I take some comfort from that.

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    1. Have you thought about asking your doctor about medication for anxiety? Honey, if it can help- take it. I don't know how I'd be functioning without mine. We're all going through a lot and you're going through more than most.
      I take comfort in all of us hanging in there together, too. Kisses and hugs.

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  16. I have not been able to tolerate the sham Barrett hearing. And I'm insisting that we not honor her with initials. She will never hold a candle to RBG. If ever she earns the initials, okay. But I'm not holding my breath.

    Love your chickens, feathered and human!

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    1. I'm not holding my breath either! And I feel the same way about her initials. Uh-huh. Nope.

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    2. There is so much going on right now. I think anybody with rational thought processes are doing battle with those random bouts of 'low'. Just the fact that we've got a "president" who is encouraging CA GOP to continue to put out fake ballot boxes is discouraging. He's not even hiding that he's cheating. And still people support him. I will never understand this. Never.

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  17. Ah, those sweet boy faces! I used to love the smell of little boy sweat on our grandsons....as I was running them a bath! We now have a 2 1/2 year-old great grandson and he’s all about playing in the dirt. I love it!

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  18. Everything does seem to be moving on a different measure of time. Those glorious little boys. I remember the photos of Owen and Gibson in front of that door. It was red then. Another pair of glorious boys, now with their glorious sister.

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  19. Oh yes, this is what I wanted to comment here but I was on my phone, and I can't deal with typing on it so much.
    I was walking while Dade was playing rugby the other day, and I saw lots of darling girls - first a sweet black girl about ten, riding her bike in a bright pink shirt, waiting for her handsome dad, all smiles in the sunshine, then a little teeny one on her balance bike paddling steadily round a corner with her mum behind her, leading the way so seriously and independently, and finally a blond 11 year old on a skateboard, on her own, just doing her thing all cool. It felt like Day of the Girl, it was lovely.
    And then I got a hug from a very handsome and beautiful staffie, so it was a very nice morning.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.