We are getting so much rain here that if Elsa does bring more this way, we might float away. I've been drenched again, this time going out to pick a few things in the garden, getting eggs, and then checking the fig tree. We are actually getting some figs! They are tiny but I love them and dammit, I'll be gone when most of them are ripe. I do so love to make fig and lemon preserves.
See them there, over to the left? There were probably more ripe ones but the rain was coming down in buckets so I made a run for it. It's been doing that on and off all day today and did yesterday too. I stepped out in the back yard earlier today to throw my kitchen peelings and shrimp shells out for the chickens and my foot sank down at least four inches. I have no idea why it's so soggy right there but it's a little worrisome.
The floor boards are doing their cupping thing and soon the doors will be sticking. Wood, as my friend Lon said, does mix with water, and as a result it swells with the moisture, it grows a bit softer. Luckily, the heart pine boards our floors are made of seem to be able to withstand the yearly swelling, going back to their regular svelte smoothness when autumn's relative dryness returns.
The floor boards are doing their cupping thing and soon the doors will be sticking. Wood, as my friend Lon said, does mix with water, and as a result it swells with the moisture, it grows a bit softer. Luckily, the heart pine boards our floors are made of seem to be able to withstand the yearly swelling, going back to their regular svelte smoothness when autumn's relative dryness returns.
If yesterday was one frustrating situation after another, today was pretty sweet and juicy. I got a text last night that my glasses were in so I went back to Costco. I waited in line for at least half an hour, just standing there but not unhappy or bored. I was there for a purpose and I waited my turn as the two people working helped the customers they were serving with attention and patience. I had absolutely no desire to start yelling, "Hurry up! Hurry up!" They had a job to do, they were doing it.
When it was my turn, the person helping me found my glasses and they fit pretty well from the get-go. Seeing through them was odd and I wondered if I was going to be able to adjust. Strangely, it took me all of the time it took for me to walk across the store, go to the restroom, wash my hands and walk out for everything to be fine. Feels like a small miracle. And when I was driving home, I didn't have to constantly try to resolve my eyesight between my two eyes. It just was. Resolved, that is.
I would show you a picture of these glasses but I am feeling most unattractive today. Let's face it- I honestly do not think that I look like what I DO look like and when faced with the proof either in a photo or the mirror, I am shocked and dismayed. I absolutely cannot take a selfie of myself that I can even bear to look at. The word "selfie" itself makes me want to retch.
Oh well.
Oh well.
I had posted a thing on FB the other day about wanting someone to house/chicken/cat/garden sit while we are gone and an old friend replied and he came out this afternoon to check out the situation. This is a man whom I've known for many, many years and we really do not know each other very well but somehow, we just...do. We are Facebook friends and keep up that way and I know he's been going through health problems for a long time now but we haven't really talked in awhile although he is the kind of person who will call out of the blue just to say, "Hey. I'm thinking of you. I love you."
So I was happy that he was coming to Lloyd, even if the visit didn't end up in him being able to house sit because I knew I would love to just see him. It turns out that no, he is not going to physically be able to get around here without threatening his health but I loved showing him my house and talking to him. I talked way too much and I have apologized. I know I don't see people very often and when I do I have a tendency to just go on and on which is so annoying. He loved all my madonnas. He was raised Catholic and no longer is, but religious art makes him feel at home. We talked about religion and we talked about health issues and we talked about a lot of things. When he left I sent him away with eggs and pickles and some beauty berry jelly. I hope he comes back to visit. I would love to make lunch for him one day.
After he left and I went out to pick and gather, I stopped in at the garage to check on my husband who has taken the engine out of one car to put into another. By himself.
The entire process reminds me of nothing so much as an organ transplant. Instead of veins and arteries, there are hoses and, uh, that other stuff. Mr. Moon is a car doctor. A car surgeon!
I can't believe we're heading out in three days to North Carolina. This is, of course, contingent on what Elsa does. Rob Nucatola still isn't making a final prediction on what this storm is going to do. I keep thinking about Steve Reed visiting from London to see family in Florida.
Welcome to Florida! I keep thinking. Or in Steve's case- welcome BACK to Florida. I seriously doubt that he is truly surprised at this development in the weather.
Anyway, I gotta go heat up the gumbo. It was so good that we're doing it again tonight.
Talk to you tomorrow, most likely.
Love...Ms. Moon
P.S.
Okay. Here are the glasses. The only thing interesting about them is that they are red. But I sure can see well out of them.
"Mary can see clearly now the rain has gone"
ReplyDeleteFor optical service second to none, try Costco for both style and value.
Costco - You know it makes sense.
Perfect! Yes!
DeleteYou, your glasses, that photo and those figs are all wonderful. So is your car surgeon.
ReplyDeleteMy surgeon is a keeper.
DeleteRecipe for fig and lemon preserves? Is there one on the web that is close to it? I know what you mean about not liking photos of yourself - but I do know that it is only ourselves that don't like it - other people don't see anything bad about how we look.
ReplyDeleteNot sure. I'll dig mine out.
DeleteYou are very optimistic about what other people see when they look at pictures of us!
I have it on good authority. I think people see our personalities in our faces - we only look at ourselves with a critical eye. I still think that sooner or later they will see what I see but that is another thing.
DeleteMs. Mary, the glasses look just fine and so do you! Being able to see is the main goal and it would seem you scored big time!
ReplyDeleteYes. I can see. And for that I am grateful.
DeleteI don't see the red in the frames but the size and shape of them are perfect for your lovely face! A good selfie! May either Hank or Rachel (or both) be able to house sit for you while you are gone? And leftover gumbo....be still my heart
ReplyDeleteSusan M
Hank and Rachel are going to do some house sitting but I think mostly our neighbors from across the street are going to feed the critters.
DeleteRed and good glasses. I've worn glasses since fifth grade. They are important.
ReplyDeleteSo now I have read from Mary Moon through Mary Moon, and am all caught up!
I've been wearing glasses since the third grade. The Lions Club came around and tested all of us in school and I could not see the big E they were talking about, much less tell them which way it was pointing. My mother, who was my teacher, was a bit shocked!
DeleteLove the new specs ms moon ♥️
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear. I love you.
DeleteWhat a wonderful basket of produce - envy at the slim pickings here in wet Wales. But then my neighbour might bring mea lobster later!! I marvel at anyone who can do car mechanics like that - they are always so humble about it too. Makes my work with words seem so ephemeral in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI would trade many baskets of vegetables for a lobster!
DeleteMr. Moon never, ever brags about being able to fix cars (or take them apart and put them back together.) He just does it.
The specs suit you very well, but they don't look very red in the photo! (I shall take your word for it)
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about not looking like you think you do when faced with a photo or , in my case, when one of the sons facetimes me and I am suddenly large and old on the screen of my phone, until I click them on and my face becomes just small in the corner and I can ignore it!!
They are red, though. I promise.
DeleteI hate Facetiming for just that reason. Ugh!
That is one honking big engine Mr. Moon is working on.
ReplyDeleteI like your glasses and your lovely face.
That is a lot of rain, sinking four inches would worry me but you're a Floridian and have much more experience with rain and swamps and all things Florida.
I can't believe it's only 3 days until you leave. Have a wonderful trip!
Well, so far the chickens have not floated away so I guess we're okay. But yes- it is a bit swampy around here right now. And the mosquitoes are fierce!
Deletered? they don't look red. and that's a great picture of you. you know what I hate? that little picture of me in the corner when I facetime my grandkids. I always look horrible and know that's what the kids are seeing.
ReplyDeletewe're getting so much rain. after a decade, more, of drought summers it has rained nearly every day since mid May. sometimes a lot, like yesterday morning, sometimes just a little sprinkle like today.
you sure bagged you a good one when you got Mr Moon.
I am always astonished that my kids and grandkids and husband still seem to love me even though I am this old, old woman now. Weird, right?
DeleteWe've gotten about a year's worth of rain in the past week. I swear.
Yep. I was a lucky girl to catch the eye of Mr. Moon.
I like the glasses and am so glad they have improved your vision so well! Hope the rain lets up soon and you don't get any damage!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen. I think we are safe.
DeleteI like your glasses, although as others have said, they don't look very red in the photo. I'll take your word for it!
ReplyDeleteThat basket of goodness is like a painting. Just beautiful. I envy your figs, our little tree is still too young to make any figs. Fingers crossed for next year, and if not, then surely the year after that.
Enjoy your trip to North Carolina!
You'll get figs! Take my advice though, and fertilize that tree now and then. We never do which is why I think mine are so small.
DeleteYour glasses are lovely, but I know what you mean about taking selfies. I hate them - even when I was young my skin sagged a lot less!
ReplyDeleteI look at myself in the mirror and think, "Who IS that woman? Really. Who is she?"
DeleteThat is a genuinely cute picture.
ReplyDeleteHa! Yeah, I'm not at all surprised by this weather. Summer in Florida. It goes with the territory!
ReplyDeleteSeeing that engine, I can't believe anyone can make heads or tails of how to connect that thing to a car. It IS like a heart transplant.
I like your red glasses!
You look hipster cool in those red frames, with that little splash of metal on the side, good choice! And I love seeing your beautiful face, even if I do know what you mean about pictures. I have seen some full body pictures of myself recently that made me want to climb under the covers and never emerge in daylight again. No full body pictures please, and no profiles, another horror. I shudder to think what the world sees. But you, my love, though I understand it, trust me, you are beautiful, exactly as you are. I am trying to give myself a little grace, since after all, we earned our stripes!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I hope you get to cook lunch for your friend. People with whom we feel easy in our skin are to be cherished. And Mr. Moon is a car genius!
ReplyDelete