Thursday, September 9, 2021

The Disgusting And The Domestic


August made our bed this morning and I have not touched it to straighten it out. It looks perfect to me. Jack thinks it's fine too. That's him up there, that dark gray lump. That cat sleeps all day. And night. I suppose most cats do even though they are supposedly nocturnal. If mine get up and hunt in the wee hours, I sure don't know about it. 

We had some weather last night. A "tropical disturbance" formed one minute in the Gulf and hit the coast here the next minute. I mean, I'd never heard of Mindy, which was the name of this disturbance. No one had. It was weird. "My" weatherman, Rob Nucatola, did a video telling people to calm down. It was basically just going to be a rainy night with a little wind. Which is what it was. I guess that's why we got rain all day yesterday. I think it rained most of the night too. I know we lost power at some point because my fan cut off but then...wait for it...THE GENERATOR KICKED IN and my fan came back on. 
Just crazy. I still don't believe this. 
But I laid awake for awhile, waiting to see if it was really going to work and also, to see if it was going to burn the house down. It did work and the house is still here so hurray! 
Mr. Moon slept through it. 

He had to get up early to get blood drawn so I had privacy in which to do my Cologuard thing. I have to give that company credit in that they definitely have their shit together. 
Get it?
Haha! I'm hysterical, right?
But no, seriously. That is one compact package of equipment and instructions and those instructions are detailed, complete, clear, and graphically illustrated. They do tend to go a little overboard with warnings like how you're not supposed to drink the preservative and so forth. 
But I'm sure they have their reasons.
Sigh.
They try to make it all as simple and easy as possible but there's nothing in the world they can do to make it less disgusting. I mean, it's impossible. But I did it and got it all packed up properly and then Jessie got in touch about coming out with the boys and when I said that they could hang out and play while she did her shopping, she offered to drop the box off for me at UPS which was about the sweetest thing ever. I gladly took her up on that offer. 

And out came the boys who are still snotty and a little cough-y but in good spirits. Bop had come back from town but was across the street where our neighbor was welding a part of the frame of the go-kart which is now running. The boys were pretty excited to hear both of those pieces of news and we read some books while we waited. When he got back they went outside to help him bolt the seats back into the go-kart although August soon tired of that and came in and built a house with Lincoln Logs and then he and I looked for more online because we only have enough to build one small cabin and we ordered them. He's pretty excited. I am always happy to buy things like Lincoln Logs that the kids can use to create things with their own brains and hands. And then we started the Noah's Ark puzzle that we love that we find new things in every time we do it. Mama came back about that time and ate her Publix sub, sharing it with August even though he'd already eaten about five different things. That kid doesn't have a tapeworm, he IS a tapeworm. 

And then it was time to ride the go-kart! 
Oh boy. So, so exciting. Jessie had brought their helmets just for this purpose. 



I think that Boppy was possibly more excited than the grands although they were pretty thrilled. They took turns going around the property and agreed it was even more fun than the four-wheeler because it goes faster. I'm not sure that's true but they did indeed look like they were all enjoying it. As they were riding around the yard I looked at Jessie and said, "How many vehicles can one man own?"
"I don't know," she said. 
A lot, it would appear. 
I am almost certain that Mr. Moon is living the dream as pertains to what he has always wanted to do in retirement- have time to fix up old cars and miscellaneous other wheeled vehicles and enjoy them with his grandchildren. Of course there's hunting and fishing and all of that other stuff too. He's feeling better today although he hit a wall after the go-Kart rides and had to go sit back in his chair and shell some field peas. 

I don't guess that there is such a thing as retirement for housewives. I mean- we just keep doing all the stuff we always did, which is fine with me. I never did clean that much anyway although I will say that I was better about it when I was younger. And I like to cook. And sometimes a grandchild will make the bed for us. 

Tonight we're having one of my favorite meals which is pinto beans cooked with pig. I found a ham bone in the freezer last week that I guess is the sacred remains of the Easter ham. I can't even remember Easter. Did we have a ham? We must have. So I took it out of the freezer and put it in the refrigerator last night to thaw and soaked my beans. I started the dough for a loaf of sourdough before I went to bed, which is just about ready to go in the oven. The beans are in their cooking-without-a-lid stage to make their gravy. I'll make us a nice little salad and that'll be about the best thing ever. 
See? Food. It's my life. 

I have GOT to get that garden ready to plant soon. It's time for different food. And I can't wait. 

Love...Ms. Moon



 

29 comments:

  1. August makes a very *inviting* looking bed!
    Susan M

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  2. A lot of happy boys, and August with no seat belt! He's really feeling the rush!

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    1. Oh- he wore his seatbelt while riding. He'd just had one of his turns and had already taken his seatbelt off when I asked him to pose. We do follow the rules.

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  3. I love the pictures of the boys with their Boppy. They look so thrilled! Mr.Moon looks a bit pleased too!!

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    1. Honestly, I think he was as thrilled as those boys.

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  4. Given his passion for motor vehicles, problem solving and practical engineering, Mr Moon would get on very well with my brother Robin in southern France. In contrast, he would probably find me quite tiresome as I strut around reciting poetry, creating art and food and taking endless photos of the English landscape. How amazing that he built that go-kart!

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    1. He didn't build the go-kart! He bought it and helped bring it back to life. I'm sure he could build one, but in this case, he did not. He is not the sort of man who would disdain a poetry-reciting guy, especially if you made him one of your traditional Sunday dinners. He is aware that people come in all different ways and all have different gifts. That is one of the things I love about him.

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  5. Your Mr. Moon and my husband have something in common. He has lots of things with wheels. Even worse, he owns multiple garages at multiple places with more wheeled things in. We've got two trucks and two cars in our driveway, another car in the garage, a 'project car' he tells me. He's got two tractors and two four wheelers in the garage at the retirement property, and a project truck stashed in yet another garage. Yet every time that I turn around, he's eyeballing another tractor. Another truck. And he's got that same happy smile on his face that Mr. Moon has on his. Even without a grandson at his side.

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    1. Sigh...
      I know all too well exactly what you're talking about. And yet- we love them so.

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  6. Cats are not nocturnal-- they are crepuscular (isn't that a hideous-sounding word?), that is, active at dawn and dusk, which is the best hunting time for small rodents. So, cats sleep all day, dash around at dusk, sleep all night, dash around in the early morning, and go back to sleep for the day. And of course, the dash-around time may only last ten minutes or so...
    I think "catnap" is a misnomer-- rather, their long sleep sessions are punctuated by brief periods of being awake. "Catwakes"?

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    1. "Crepusular" IS a hideous-sounding name! And yet...yes. That is exactly what cats seem to be.
      You're right about "cat nap" being a misnomer. A cat can and does nap all day long, getting up only to go eat and drink and use the facilities now and then, or perhaps to change the place where they want to sleep. Mainly from one bed to another in Jack's case.

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    2. There was a New Yorker cartoon many decades ago:
      Two comfy chairs side by side. Panel 1: Cat comatose on left-most chair. Panel 2: No visible cat, blurr of motion between the chairs. Panel 3: Same cat comatose on right-most chair.
      (Jack doesn't sound like a blurr-of-motion cat.)

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  7. Thought about you when I heard meteoric Mindy was headed your way. Glad it was just a rain event.

    I think I retired from housework long before I retired from my paid career.

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    1. Heh-heh! You made me feel a little better about myself, Mary. Thanks.

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  8. Congrats on doing the poop test! It is good to check off those type of tasks!
    Glad the boys enjoyed their day (and Mr. Moon too)!
    Your home smells great with that soup cooking and bread baking, I bet!

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    1. My god- I feel SUCH relief that I have sent that test in. DONE and done.
      You should smell my kitchen tonight with gumbo simmering.

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  9. another day at the Moon's. and nothing better than a go cart for kids.

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  10. Those are three happy young men on that go-kart aren't they!

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  11. August made our bed this morning and I have not touched it to straighten it out. It looks perfect to me“

    That line is rather beautiful

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    1. Oh, thank you, John. And thank you for understanding.

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  12. I did the poop test. It creeped me out, but I got through it.

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    1. We do get through it but it is not easy and it is not pleasant.

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  13. Well, I'm glad Mindy turned out to be nothing much. I read that she was going to hit the panhandle and wondered about you! Great that the go-cart is running again and the kids got rides. And good for you re. the Cologuard test. Gross, but essential.

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  14. August's way of making a Bed looks Perfect to me too! Boppy looks as delighted as those Boys.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.