Thursday, February 16, 2023

A Much-Needed Day At Home


Today was the day I said I was looking forward to last week when it rained and rained. I took a good walk, I hung my clothes on the line. Such a very small thing- to pin one's laundry outside and watch it dance in the good strong breezes. 
That is something that really does spark joy in me. 

I walked a little over three and a half miles today. Not very fast, but a decent pace. I had to stop to pee, of course, and as happens so often, stopping in the woods allows me to see things I normally would not. Today I saw this.


I have looked it up and it is a lichen called Cryptothecia rubrocincta, commonly referred to as "Christmas Lichen."
The bit in the top photo was about as big as two quarters if you could mash them together and flatten them out. 


These patches were much bigger. 

I haven't talked about the ranch or farm or whatever it is about a mile and a half away from here recently, but it is still there, still getting new structures built on it, more critters. Cows, horses, sheep, donkeys and now- two Great Pyrenees. I think that's what they are.


On Monday, one of them ran the fence as I walked by, barking in a very serious manner. I did not take offense as I realized that it was a very professional dog with a very real job to do. I have read that the breed is known for its fierce protection of livestock. Today there were two of them who let me know in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to steal a donkey. Or to even get close to one. 
Darn! 
I suppose I will respect their authority. 

Here's my Ross picture from today's walk. 


I've always considered myself someone who needed no reminders to look up but I find myself doing just that way more often these days and I always think of Ross which I think is a form of prayer. 

I set Ralph to cleaning today after I gave him a new filter which had arrived in the mail. All was well until he stopped dead in the Glen Den. Mr. Moon noticed him and carried him back to his docking/charging station. Strange behavior. His battery level seemed quite adequate so I did what I do which is to make sure that all of his rollers and brushes are freed of hair or other random things and yet he would not start vacuuming again. 
Well, hell.
So I read about rebooting him and I did that successfully but he still refused to vacuum. I was starting to feel a little fuckity-fuckity about this but I once again set him upside down and did a closer examination and actually removed his rollers to find the problem which was that Ralph had vacuumed up a very small silver spoon that had fallen off the table where Mr. Moon and I eat. I had set it out a few nights ago to mix up condiments for our egg rolls. 
No wonder the poor little robot wouldn't vacuum. Silver spoons are fine for rich babies but not so good for Roombas. 
I removed it and put him all back together again and he still wouldn't start so I did the reboot thing once more and that worked and he's now diligently working his little lithium-battery-robot-heart out as if to make up for lost time.


Is it weird that I love hanging my laundry on a line so much while at the same time, I really do cherish my robot vacuum cleaner? 
Whatever.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Lily and Jessie for pedicures. The last one I got was in November before I went to the beach with my nursing school loves and my big toes actually still have a bit of mermaid green polish on them. That will be so fun. 
And then Magnolia June is coming to spend the night tomorrow. Our woman-baby grandchild! I am looking forward to that. She and I do not spend nearly enough time together. 

I just got a picture of that cat I mentioned awhile back whom I said looks like Jack, but a Jack who had had bleach poured on him. It's a terrible picture because this cat is so fast and so sneaky.


Poor, poor thing. It comes to the back porch where there's a cat door and cries piteously but Jack and Maurice are both on high alert and absolutely will not let him get near the little flap. The black cat still comes around quite regularly but does not meow. He just slinks, as  panthers should. I know that if I encouraged either one of these cats, we would have new pets but I see no way that the cats who officially live here will ever allow this to happen. 

Ralph's finished up with the kitchen. I guess I better get in there and cook our supper. 

Love...Ms. Moon




14 comments:

  1. It's great to see Great Pyrenees actually working! They're so often kept as pets and can be a handful, because they need to work.

    Sounds like a good day for you today. And thank you for the picture and id of the lichen. I love lichen, and don't always get to identify them.

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  2. your clothes on the line remind me of an Amish clothesline.......(and that is a huge compliment LOL).....hung according to color (intentionally or not)....... lovely! Yes, the Pyrennes will always take their protection work seriously! Glad Ralph got *de-spooned*.....and that you get to enjoy Princess/Queen woman child Maggie tomorrow. I'm sure she already has her dinner order in place!
    Susan M

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  3. Nice to have a picture of semi-Jack. No sympathy from me about his inability to use the cat flap.

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  4. So glad the de-spooning/re-booting did the trick. and yes. I look up a lot these days too. I hope you and Maggie and the girls enjoy each other.

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  5. So, Miss Moonpie, I have an answer for you. When we hang the laundry on a line like yours we are putting our clean clothes out to dry in the beautiful air and at the same time, we are getting some of our daily ration of sunshine. Those clothes smell fresh and clean and anyone passing by will know that, at least for this day, everything is allright in the Moon household. And, doing such as this is always a little risky, weather wise, don’t you know. And any kind of risk puts some excitement in the air and the pit of one’s stomach, don’t you know?
    Whereas one uses the robotic thingie just to vacuum. No personal connection whatsoever!

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  6. Poor Ralph. I am glad you were able to diagnose and fix him. He is a hardworking wee robot.
    Washing drying in the breeze is a wonderful thing. Nothing smells the same.
    That is a beautiful cat. I hope someone loves him and he is just visiting.
    No donkeys for you, Ms Moon, with those glorious dogs on patrol.
    Enjoy your feet pampering and your time with Princess Queen Magnolia. They grow up too fast.

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  7. I also love hanging washing on the line to get the breeze and sunshiny goodness blowing through things, it just doesn't happen here often enough since I share a line with four other flats and a fifth flat from the block behind because it is closer to her door than the other line which is supposed to be for her block of four flats, but one of the other women in that block seems to think it is exclusively hers. Anyway, those guard dogs are beautiful and I am glad you found what Ralph's problem was: indigestion, ha ha.

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  8. That is a very pretty cat! Funny about the spoon. I can see how a spoon would clog up poor Ralph's innards! I love the lichen, too.

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  9. Maybe you need a Great Pyrenees or two to guard the Moon property, and then you could keep chickens again! :)

    Poor Ralph and his silver spoon! I'm glad you got him working again.

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  10. For a couple of years before he died the farmer behind my house kept sheep and had three of those Pyrennéens. They are VERY protective (even though they look so cuddly) and would not let anyone near the sheep! They also used to howl like wolves in the night! It was actually watching the series Belle and Sebastien as a kid that made me want to move to France - so I could get a dog like Belle and live in the mountains!!!

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  11. A great pyrenees showed up on out street a while back, gentle laid back dog. Fortunately her collar had a tag with her owner's number. He came and collected her, said he could not keep her in the 12 acre fenced area where he keeps goats. She always finds a way out, that she traveled about 25 miles away once until someone took her to the local vet and they found out she was chipped. I guess that was before the tag with the number.
    I gave up on my cheap robot vacuum cleaner. The main roller would not turn and nothing I did fixed it.

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  12. We had snow here yesterday so no walking for me. I rode my Exercycle to the music by Imagine Dragons - there's a group you might check out if you have not heard of them. They have lots of great songs and I sing along loudly as I cycle.
    Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend, Mary!

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  13. Glad Ralph ditched the silver spoon and returned to his dutiful life of drudgery. I discovered that we had a pitiful looking cat making his home on the covered balcony. I made him a nice warm bed and feed him. There's no reason for Houdini to ever know about him. Tim either.

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  14. That's a beautiful sky. It's so often worth looking up - at buildings too. I've never seen lichen like that, it looks quite unwell!

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