Friday, February 26, 2021

Domesticity


It was foggy this morning when I got up but by the time I hung the second load of clothes on the line, the sun had burned it all off and was shining prettily. Not sure that we haven't just skipped spring here and are diving headfirst directly into summer.
Nah. That's not true. It didn't get over eighty here today. 

So remember that thing that Lon said about being satisfied with getting one thing accomplished in a day? Well I got two things accomplished today and I feel downright sassy about it. I finally got the hen house depooped and put fresh hay down for the girlies and their gentlemen friends and I attacked the front porch where the plants have been all grouped up against the wall so that I could cover them when we have freezes. It was a damn mess. And if we get another freeze I'm going to throw up my hands in despair and kick my own ass for rushing it. 
But it sure does feel good. 
I had to move things around and deciding which plant goes where is 95% of the battle. And none of these are small plants. I just slide them and even that isn't easy. I cut a lot of things back and did some trimming. I'd bought a farm-sized jug of Miracle Gro at the Costco a few weeks ago and I gave them all a good sprinkle with that and then I watered them. I moved my banyan tree out of the house and repotted it and got it situated. I'm not sure that some things are going to come back. A few begonias (which I have to keep up off the porch floor because the chickens love to eat them) and my ferns all look horrible. Mr. Moon moved my Norfolk Island Pine off the porch and into the yard. I'm going to plant it in the ground. I bought it when it was tiny to use as a Christmas tree and I did use it for that purpose for years but now it's too big and heavy to move around easily and I don't especially want a potted Norfolk Island Pine. If it grows, it grows, if it doesn't- oh well. I bought another tiny one last year and it's still alive. 

Here's what the porch looks like from the east end of it. 


Some of the pots that appear empty really aren't and I'm just going to wait and see if life springs forth from the dead-looking roots. 
Here's what the west end of the porch looks like with the sun lowering behind it. 


Can you see the azaleas coming out? 
I don't really have everything where I want it but some of those pots are too heavy to even drag from one end of the porch to another. Mr. Moon would move them for me but he doesn't really need to be lifting that sort of weight either. 

So I did all that, and tomorrow I might continue on with more work in the front yard, trimming and pruning and pulling weeds. The sago palms need a lot of attention. It's a literal pain to trim those because they're extremely stickery and their little needles contain a sort of toxin so that's a job that must be done carefully. It's always fun to watch their new yearly growth appear. The firespike needs trimming badly. The black sticks that were last year's beautiful leaves and blossoms have to go. And I should probably trim a little bit on the Canary Island date palms and if I do, I will surely complain here as I do every year about them and their horrible fronds made of needles even sharper and more toxic than the sagos. 

I have put my first loaf of sourdough in the new oven and I am, as I texted to a friend, inappropriately excited about this. 


It's a funky loaf and I'm not sure what I did to make it so. Each time I make sourdough, it turns out differently. I guess this one just got away from me on the rising. I'm sure that Paul Hollywood could tell me and he'd take a vicious pleasure in doing so but I would be so enchanted by those blue eyes of his that I wouldn't mind at all. 

The laundry has been folded and put away, the bed is made up with those nice line-dried sheets. I am tired but in a good way. My ribs ache a bit where I broke them but not very much. I imagine they will remind me of their presence for the rest of my life. I doubt I will ever forget that fall I took, the way I immediately knew that I'd done something rather serious to my body, the way the ribs felt...crunchy? I still don't understand how they knitted themselves back together and when they ache it's mostly that I think about- how in the world does the body heal itself from such a rude and sudden insult? 

A Friday night. My husband needs to come on into the house. He's been working on a car's brakes all day long. "I don't know why I get so tired," he told me earlier.
"Haha!" I said. "I do." 
But he needs to stop and make us martinis. It's that time again. And I will make him supper. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon


36 comments:

  1. Your porch is gorgeous! I love that the beauty of the Gulf Coast where I live is just a fraction of the REAL beauty of our state. Your porch represents old Florida and it’s breathtaking. Thank you!!

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  2. Soothing greens and azaleas already! It is all so pretty. As well as sheets on the line- we do not have a clothes line up here- too wet and cold. Your porch is amazing! Utterly charming.

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    1. Thank you, dear Linda Sue. There are some upsides to living down south.

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  3. Your porch looks so inviting! I could sit there all day!
    Debbie

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  4. your porches are beautiful! I am envious. You observed much, did much, and now will enjoy Thermador baked bread and martini's. What a day/evening! Much to be thankful for and enjoy!!!
    Susan M

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  5. That porch is beautiful...from both ends!

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    1. Thank you, Joanne. I loved seeing your shots of houses with and without porches.

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  6. Your porch is so lovely, big and welcoming.

    I made kind of trollies for my big plants because I can't lift them and don't want to drag them on the floors. Just pieces of scrap wood with self stick wheels. Stuck same kinds of wheels on furniture, too, to move it easily.

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    1. Huh. I'll have to look into that. I'll ask Mr. Moon about it. He'll know.

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  7. I agree with all the lovely comments about your porch. Enjoy the night and sweet dreams.

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    1. Well, the dreams were a little weird but what else is new?

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  8. Your porch looks like it might belong in Kew Gardens or The Chelsea Flower Show - "Oh darling, have you seen the North Florida display? Utterly charming and they even have real live chickens with sheets on the washing line!"

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    1. That's me! I've written so many times about going to the museum where they have an old house and farmyard set up and how much I love it because there is so much there like what I have here.

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  9. A great deal of porch envy going on here. So lovely.

    As one who grew some very large, heavy plants on her deck last summer, I highly recommend getting plant caddies on wheels for you heaviest/largest plants. I have at least 10 of them made of high resin material - 12" diameter ones were only $10, but available in 16" size, too for around $15. They made moving big plants around a breeze.

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    1. It would cost upwards of $150 for me to get all of my biggest pots on them but it might be worth it. For some, at least. Good idea.

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  10. I do love the porch. I cannot wait to have 80 degree temperature. I'm all wound up about the idea of having temperatures in the 40s all week. It's not the same, is it?

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  11. I am glad that my daffodils are starting to send up their shoots and that is all I've got as there is still a lot of snow to melt. I agree with the suggestion to put wheels under your large plants. Have a nice weekend!

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    1. Well, the daffodils are telling you that it won't be long.

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  12. Fortunately bodies are made to heal!

    I'm not sure your Norfolk Island pine will survive in the ground -- I think you're pretty far north for those -- but I totally get not wanting to keep it in a pot. It's kind of like the debate we're having about our avocado. Sometimes you just have to consign these big plants to nature and say "fend for yourself."

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    1. It's withstood being on the porch uncovered for a few years so I'm thinking it might be okay. And yes- sometimes it's just "root hog or die."

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  13. I wonder if the palm trees around here survived. they're all brown as are all the sagos. along with many other things. my sister planted a large potted norfolk pine in the ground at the beach house in Galveston when she and her husband were living there and it grew really tall until a cold freezing winter killed it.

    love your porch. have I mentioned I want to live at your house?

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    1. I hope so, Ellen. How sad it would be to lose your palms!

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  14. Oh my, what poetic images are part of this post. Your porch, especially from the west end, looks like a place I would happily lose myself in forever. Your kingdom always looks like such a storybook place to my eye, and those linens on the line are pure poetry. Hello, hello, dear Mary. Your two things done for the day were really more like everyone else's 10. Just thought I'd point that out.

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    1. Well, today I did zero things and it hasn't bothered me in the least. I'm glad you like my porch. If only you could sit on it with me!

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  15. Your porches are just beautiful - so lush - and I can easily imagine you sitting out there with your martinis. Just stunning. As for Paul Hollywood - nah, you can keep him. Threw away a gorgeous wife for a rodeo with a young wannabe half his age - and it wasn't his first rodeo either!

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    1. Oh, I wouldn't want Paul either but I wouldn't mind looking at those eyes of his for a few minutes. Yeah, he's not a real faithful man, is he?

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  16. What a lovely place your porch is. Good job getting it all put together. It must've felt good to sit back and admire your hard work.

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  17. Your porch is so beautiful and exotic! You have obviously done a wonderful job with all your plants during the years. Thanks for posting the photo.

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  18. Your Porch looks magnificently Tropical! I'm working on some Veggies and Herbs at this new Property, in pots and under the shade of one of the big Old Pine Trees beside the house. The Desert really fries things so you just never know what will be hardy enough to survive and thrive.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.