Saturday, February 18, 2023

Busy, Happy Day


That is what Maggie looked like last night after falling asleep. She is so beautiful in my eyes. Those eye-lashes and those eye-brows! A girl like Maggie needs good, strong eye-brows to announce to the world  her intent and strength. That rose of a mouth. Her darling little nose. She is, like so many children, complete angels when they sleep. 

She was pretty much an angel the entire time she was here. I asked her this morning when I was taking her to dance if she'd had a good time. 
"I was so happy that I kept smiling all the time I was at your house," she said. 
"And that makes ME so happy," I told her. 

She loved her dinner last night. We sat and ate and chatted and she found four fish bones which in this house translates to earning a dollar. Mr. Moon has long had a policy in which if anyone finds a fishbone they get a quarter. He prides himself on cleaning fish well but somehow this piece of Maggie's didn't quite get the attention the rest of the fish did. And of course she did not forget those bones and Mr. Moon gave her a crisp dollar bill this morning. She pointed out to me that our first president is on the one-dollar bill and she was under the impression that a two-dollar bill would have the second president on it and so forth. I said that this wasn't how it worked but it sounded like a good system to me. 

One of the things I truly love and admire about Maggie is her imaginary play. She can and will create an entire scenario just walking across the yard and when she plays with dolls it's an entire world. This morning she played with some of the dolls on my vanity and even asked for a chair so that she could sit down to play more comfortably. I asked if she'd like a pillow so that she could be taller. 
"Yes, please," she said. She has such good manners.


She got herself dressed for dance and when I told her how impressed I was she said, "Well, I'm seven. I'm a big girl now." 
I could only agree.

We had our pancakes this morning, of course. 


Precious girl. 

We made it to dance on time and since there's a Publix right next to the studio, I did a little shopping and then went back to the dance place and waited for Lily to get there to pick her up. Owen had had a friend over and she had to wait for his mother to pick him up before she could come. It was pleasant, really, to sit in a room with other parents and of course now they have video set up in the parent-area so that you can watch your darlings in class. Two grandchildren classes in one week! 

And then home where I caught up on little things. Laundry and plant watering and bed-making. I waited until today to wash the sheets and I did both beds so that took a while. 



I truly do want it to be noted in my obituary that I was an excellent laundry hanger. I think the way I pin things to the line is just truly a work of art. No messy haphazard mixing of items for me! 

Mr. Moon is going to go fishing early tomorrow morning so he's out getting the boat all ready to go and hitched to the truck. I'm writing this on the porch where I can see the birds at the feeder, getting in their last seeds before bed. The new finch feeder that Glen got me for Valentine's Day has been well and truly discovered by the little birds who flock to it and perch to peck away at the Nyjer. I feel so very rich in so very many ways as spring is rushing headlong towards us. The purple violets are blooming now, the mulberry and fig trees are becoming fully leaved. Flocks of robins on their way back north are stopping by to hop about the yard and get quick sips from the birdbath.  
And despite the fact that the pecan leaves are not showing the barest hint of appearing, Mr. Moon has already planted some tomatoes. He is the optimist of the family, the one who always says, "Why not try?" 

And really, why not? 

If he had not had that attitude about me when he met me, such a scarred and damaged woman whom he thought that he might just be able to love into a better place, there would be no Magnolia June with that mind, those eyes, that glory. 

And so it goes. 

Love...Ms. Moon




27 comments:

  1. Great sweeping post! I love how you talk about Maggie. Only seven? She looks so mature. Lovely girl. I like the idea of payment for fish bones.

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    1. The payment for fish bones encourages careful eating, I think. Maggie is indeed pretty mature in some ways.

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  2. I like the fishbone payment idea, will have to remember that. And yes, Magnolia is very angelic with beautiful hair and facial features.....very angelic. I agree that you have excellent laundry hanging skills. Orderly, neat, sometimes very color coordinated....... a true work of visual art! You might have skipped your Martinis last night? So perhaps a pre- fishing adventure Martini is in order tonight, just for good luck!
    Susan M

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    1. We did not skip martinis. Are you kidding? Maggie had her "fancy drink" which is sort of like a purple cow but with no sherbet. I even gave her crushed ice! In a beautiful glass, of course.

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  3. Here in NE Ohio it is Bird Count Day. The grands and I participated one day. We downloaded the form and registered and counted the birds. We has the earliest rose breasted grosbeak recorded in Ohio.

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    1. I think I have seen a rose breasted grosbeak here. I can remember marveling at it. I do not think they are especially common here. What a fine thing for you and your grands to participate in the bird count. My friend Kathleen used to do that.

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  4. I've never heard of fishbone payments but I'm glad you all had a good time.

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    1. Mr. Moon came up with the idea in order to encourage the kids to eat their fish carefully.

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  5. My dear Mama was the champion laundry hanger in our small little neighborhood. She was a purist…..white sheets and pillowcases, everyone wore white underwear and used white towels and washcloths. I learned to hang sheets on the outsides and ‘unmentionables’ on the inside. ‘Nobody needs to see your drawers blowin’ in the wind.’ Lo and behold, I hang laundry the same way and am the champ…mostly because nobody seems to hang out laundry these days.

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    1. White is good because you can bleach it! Bleach is probably horrible for the environment but I use it. No one can see our laundry line so I can hang the underwear wherever I want! What is it about a beautifully pinned line of laundry that is so satisfying?

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  6. That final paragraph. I thought almost exactly the same thought today. William is 12 today. And I looked at him and I quietly loved him so much I thought my heart would burst. All the heartbreak. All the broken pieces. All the rough times. And yet, if I skipped them, I would miss the joy of being his grandma. And I realized that I would do it all again.

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    1. I understand that completely. And yet, I wish we didn't have to go through all that we do in order to get to where we are. It's a moot point anyway, isn't it?

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  7. We are all glad Mr Moon has that attitude to life.
    I love the almost baby like mouth along side the grown up lashes and brows - well not along side but above. The memory of babyhood and the promise of adulthood. Such a lovely time of life.
    I bow to your amazing laundry skills.

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    1. You're right- she is woman and she is baby, all at once. She is fierce, this one.
      I am sort of joking about my laundry-hanging abilities and sort of not. How crazy is that?

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  8. Maggie really is so very beautiful which leads me to you and Mr Moon meeting up being the very best thing that ever happened to both of you.

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    1. Well, as I have often told my man, it may have been easily possible for someone else to have loved him as much as I do and have but I don't think that anyone could have loved him for exactly who he is as much as I do. I think he feels that way too.

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  9. I ache to hug that child!! I love her, our Magnolia June! Glad that Tilly/Milly got to meet her.
    Your line is the best in the county! You could make a calendar of laundry on the line - everyone would want one!
    I love your life! And I DO love you. Mushy comments, coming at you.

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    1. Magnolia would hug you so hard! She adores you from afar. As do I. In the mushiest way possible. I don't think I've told you how much I love those lemon/almond cookies. I still have two left. I have been so careful not to eat them all at once and...I sort of hid them from my husband. Isn't that horrible? I may have to order some online.
      A calendar of laundry. Hmmm....
      It would show the seasons in the way the trees around the clothesline change. Not sure it would be a big seller though.

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  10. And who could disagree with Maggie's logic (but wouldn't it be funny to see a $37 bill)!

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  11. I love your laundry hanging! I don't put drying on the line during the winter as even on a non rain day it doesn't really get dry and still has be hung indoors in the hot cupboard! I have coloured pegs, and try and match or contrast them to whatever I am hanging out.

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    1. Okay. You win! You color coordinate your pegs with your laundry? My pins are all just boring wood.
      Yes. You are the champion!

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  12. Maggie is seven, wow. She also takes after her mother. My little purple/blue violets haven't started blooming quite yet but I expect they will be everywhere soon. The wind has finally died down and today I'm going to dig out weeds and get the ground ready to plant.

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    1. Maggie favors her other grandmother a whole lot. She really does. But yes, I can see Lily in her too.
      I thought of you today as I weeded in my garden.

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  13. Sounds like another successful night at MerMer's house!
    My oldest grandson is 7 and it amazes me how fast he is growing up.
    I had 2 other grandsons over last night and we had a wonderful time - lots of drawing (vehicles and skeletons) and Lego building (long bridges for vehicles)! These 2 grandsons will be moving to my city in June so I am so happy about that!

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    1. The last time I tried to play Legos with Levon he finally said to me, "You really don't know anything about Legos, do you?"
      He was right. And I suck at drawing. Thank goodness I can read out loud quite well.
      They grow up too fast, don't they?
      I'm so glad your grandsons will be moving to your area. What a gift!

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  14. I read or heard once that "She hangs a good wash!" was a compliment in the olden times. I always think of it when I see your laundry posts and when I hang out my own wash, which I am lucky to be able to do most of the time in Northern CA. Your joy at your grands visits is heartwarming even from afar. I feel the same when one or both of my grand boys comes for what we call "Nana Camp," since the first one was in summer. Doesn't happen often enough for me. Sending love from Soréze. x0 N2

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.