Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Lots Of Sweetness


Isn't that sort of gorgeous? I probably should have edited it somewhat to bring out the colors but I like it the way it is. It looks to me like a very old painting. That's the old barn at the east end of our property with the wisteria in the bamboo and trees to the side and the new green of the oaks coming on. Our leaves fall in the spring, believe it or not, as the new leaves push the old ones off with their verdant enthusiasm. 

I had no plans for today so it was nice when Jessie texted and asked if I wanted to go shopping with her and the boys. I texted back that I didn't really need much of anything but that she could bring those wild guys out here so that she could shop without their help. And that's what happened. I had such a good time with them! 
Here's how it goes when they get here- they pop out of their car seats and I meet them outside. They say, "Is Boppy here?" If I say yes they say, "Where is he?" and then race off to find him. If he's not here they  trudge into the house, heads down in vast disappointment. 
It's okay. I know they love me. They just have to get all the shine off their grandfather before they start remembering that I can be okay too. Plus- when Boppy's here they know there's more chance for TV watching. Why we have evolved things to be like this, I do not know but that's the way it is here at the Moon house. 

Today Boppy was working on what Levon is absolutely certain is his "race car" which is the car that is going to be built out of the engineless car and the wrecked car with the good engine. He is enamored beyond belief with this project. August is interested too. Today they helped him bag and label parts that...well, I don't know. Have some importance. Perhaps Mr. Moon plans on selling them as they are extras he doesn't need. I really don't pay much attention to these things. After awhile I made them come in for lunch and both boys were discussing things like horsepower, which is faster- race cars or monster trucks, and things like that. They were also racing around themselves, demonstrating how much turbo power and horsepower they have. 

We read books after lunch which you know is always my favorite. Not only do I get to read books out loud, but they smash their little bodies up against mine as I read to them. Today August needed to pat my arm repeatedly for some reason. It didn't bother me and it amused him so that was fine. He was quite gentle about it. I think he likes the way my old flesh feels when he pats it. 

After books there was a little TV and then there was a most exciting adventure- going to the dump with Boppy! They got to sit in the front seat of the truck sharing a seatbelt! The glory! The joy! The daring! (It's about a block to the dump place.)


They made it there and back, all in one piece. 
Sadly, there were no treasures to bring home. 

And then there was more dealings with vehicles and then there was a game of Battle and then Mama came to get them but they had to show her the race car and then August made Levon haul him back to their car in the garden cart. 


To tell you the truth, he did not make Levon do that. Levon wanted to. That kid would pull the cart to Georgia if given the chance. After he delivered his brother to the car, he pulled the cart back to where we keep it. And then before they left, there was a repeat of the whole scene. It's funny- they're not unhappy at all for their mother to get here to take them home. They're glad to see her and they don't whine or fuss but for whatever reason, it takes at least half an hour to get them loaded up into the car.
"I love you so," I told Levon when I gave him his M&M's. 
"I love you so too," he said as he happily put one of the candies in his mouth.
"Thank you for letting me read you books," I told August when he was all strapped in and ready to go.
"You're welcome," he said. 
Haha. 

After they left I got the clothes off the line. We are being inundated with tent caterpillars right now. I mean, they are EVERYWHERE. On the porches, on the ground, on the spigot handles, in the garden cart, on the plants, along the fences...everywhere. 
Even the clothespin bag. 


Luckily, they do not sting if touched and are not really harmful to plants. The chickens, however, will not eat them. They will become moths in a few weeks. Meanwhile, I feel quite certain that I will find a few in the clothes I hang on the line. 
Florida. Oh, Florida! How I love thee! 
Another day, another critter. 

Love...Ms. Moon

24 comments:

  1. Of all the little critters at your house, I think I love your grandchildren the most!

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  2. Levon looks so much bigger than August in the photo of them in the truck! I love seeing them and hearing about their antics.

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    1. That's just because he was closer to the camera and August was scrunched down. Levon is a bit stockier but August is taller.

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  3. Funny how you always use the term "clothes pins" when in England it's always "clothes pegs". It's interesting how Levon and August are drawn to what they see as "manly" things when I guess that Jessie and Virgil will not have consciously pushed them in that direction.

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    1. Yes! That is another difference in British English and American English. Like nappies and diapers and boot and trunk and all those other things.
      Neither set of my grandchildren's parents have tried to direct them toward traditional gender-related interests. Which makes it even more fun to see what interests them. Levon loves anything with wheels and August loves machinery and how it works. He tells us he's going to be an inventor. Right now he is intrigued by the idea of using diamonds as a building material due to their strength.

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  4. Levon looks like he's going to be brawnier than August soon. What adventures they have in your kingdom. A lovely post.

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    1. Yep. Levon, at this point, is a little bit chunkier. But we'll have to see how they grow as they grow. Neither one has so much as an ounce of fat on them.

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  5. I agree with you about the top photo -- it DOES look like an old painting, maybe by a Dutch master. It's funny how Levon is so enraptured by the garden cart! Anything with wheels, I guess...?

    My dad used to package up all sorts of little mystery car parts and save them in the nooks and crannies of his garage. I never knew what the heck he was doing. Cars were a language that I did not speak! (And still don't.)

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    1. Yes! Wheels! Yesterday when Mr. Moon was going to back the trailer up Levon stood there to watch and said, "I want to see the wheels on the trailer move." He really did.
      You'd think after living with the Car Guy for thirty-seven years I'd know more about cars than I do. But I don't.

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  6. Love your top photo. A old Master's painting, indeed.

    Although I've been virtual schooling with my 6 yr old GS since August, the first thing he will ask when he walks in the door is whether grandpa is here, especially if the pick up isn't in the driveway. I get the same shoulder drop from GS as you get from August and Levon when the answer is no. Of course, grandpa has three (four, if you count mine) vehicles he could drive to work, but the rest are in our garages so not in view when he comes here.

    Seems Boppy and my DH share the car passion. While I can't identify parts, my DH can pick up any tail light or piece of trim and tell you the year and model of car. As a friend of his once laughingly said to him, "You know a lot of useless f*cking information." We use that line a lot around here. And not just about cars.

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    1. I swear- it's wonderful and it's funny how much these little ones love their grandfathers.
      And yes- obviously a shared car passion. Mr. Moon's information is not useless though as he's built a career out of cars. He's had a shop to repair them, he's sold them, he works on them, he restores them...
      But I do indeed like the that phrase. I myself know a lot of useless fucking information. Just not about cars.

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  7. That first photo does indeed look like a lovely old painting.

    Glad you had a nice visit with your grandsons. Our grandson is the same with his poppa. I feed him, change him, bathe him, etc, but he loves his poppa which is wonderful because poppa is really the only man in his life right now.

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    1. And thank goodness his poppa is such a good man! What a blessing for that little man.

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  8. your spirea in the background looks like mine. I didn't know you had an old barn on your property too. what a magical place.

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    1. We think it was a barn but I'm really not sure what it was. It's a cool old building.

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  9. I agree, that photo of the old barn is just lovely. And what little boy wouldn't be happy helping Bobby to rebuild a car? Sounds like little boy heaven to me!

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  10. The look on Levon's face is funny! Like a he-man of a little lad, he is! Your day sounds perfect and yes, that top photo seems like an ancient masterpiece painted with the softest of brushes. Your tent caterpillars remind me of what we had in our yard as young children......we used to refer to them as wooly buggers! I haven't seen one in 40 years!
    Susan M

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    1. Wooly buggers is a great name for them! Wonder if they're the same?
      Yes. Even when Levon wears his dresses he still looks so much like a boy. How is that?

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  11. You have many enjoyable moments with those kids and I love how you share so many details of the visit with us! I can tell that you treasure them! and it is wonderful to read about it!

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    1. I do treasure them and I treasure the things we do together and talk about and I like to write about them because I know I'll forget them.
      Thank you for your sweet words!

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  12. "Not really harmful to plants"...well, not in small-to-moderate numbers, but get a major caterpillar invasion, and your trees will be defoliated. Get an invasion like that three years in a row, and your trees will not recover. Whole oak forests disappeared in New England a couple of decades back. It is possible to have so many that you can hear them chewing in the trees!

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    1. That sounds horrific! But here we don't see them in those numbers.

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