I Talk Too Much

Here we have a cloudless sulphur butterfly. It may actually be of the angled cloudless sulphur butterfly variety. I love how the underside of the wings look like a pretty yellow leaf. 

There you can see the intense yellow of it. 

So. yes, instead of being in an emergency room, I was at home today, doing at-home things including taking pictures of butterflies on flowers. I slept so hard last night, and the few times I did wake up, I'd do a quick mental check to see if my side was hurting and every time the answer was blessedly "no." 

Phew. 

I think I figured out what made that stone begin to move. I believe that it was picking up those heavy branches the other day. The twinges started coming on just a little while after I did that. And things have been pretty quiet with it today although when I was weeding in the garden, kneeling, I could feel it. I suppose I could just lay still for the rest of my life and it might not ever move again but we all know that's not going to happen. 

So yes, I did some weeding but not a whole lot. It's simply too hot to stay out for long. But I got some of the ones that have been bugging me so badly. The field peas are coming along nicely and the okra is definitely not. The cucumbers appear to have been stricken by something- possibly the squash vine borer. The tomatoes- eh. 

Not what I would wish for. The little cherry tomatoes that I started from the seeds of the Sugar Bombs are actually making fruit but I'll be surprised if they come out the same as their parents. The peppers are still looking good and my poor, single eggplant is growing and putting out a few blossoms so there is hope there. Mr. Moon doesn't really love eggplant so I never plant very much of it. Maybe if I started calling it "aubergine" he would like it better. It's a prettier word, I think. 

The best looking things, the healthiest and hardiest, are of course the volunteer sweet potatoes and the volunteer zinnias. Anything that wants to grow so badly that it springs up of its own sturdy accord tends to do well, I've found. 

Mr. Moon texted me a little while ago to tell me that they are back on shore and he will be heading home as soon as they clean the boat, clean the fish, and pack the house up. I know he's exhausted. They were on the water since sunup. I'm not expecting him any time soon. That man works hard and he plays hard. Offshore fishing is a strenuous activity but one that he gladly does because he just loves it so much. 
I can't imagine loving anything that requires that much effort. I realize I am not all women. I know some women who love nothing more than running marathons and riding their bikes up and down mountains. 
God bless 'em. I ain't one of them. 

So I tried using the Bar Tender's Friend on my shower door that has hard water deposits on it which have not yielded to anything that I've tried. I made up the paste that I used to clean my oven door window with so successfully and smeared it on and left it overnight. Then I scrubbed it with a non-scratch scrubber. 
Guess what? 
It didn't work. 
I truly and really give up. At this point any effort in removal attempts are just to be viewed as amusing home science projects. 

And really- who cares? If you could see the mildew on the walls of my bathroom, you would faint. FAINT. Dead away. I'm not climbing a ladder to scrub walls with bleach water. I would have ten years ago but there was no mildew on them then. Guess those walls lost their chance, huh? I have a fantasy that Mr. Moon will finally agree to hiring painters who will do that sort of thing but once again- he hates beyond reason paying someone to do something that he can do himself. 

And he can do almost anything himself. 

Can and will are two entirely different things though and after thirty-eight years of marriage, instead of learning how to nudge him into projects that he does not really want to do, I've merely learned to accept that which I cannot change. 

And somehow, I love him more than ever. He is who he is, just as I am who I am. We are vastly different, vastly imperfect, and I could not have found a better person to be my partner. 

But guess what I've done for him today? I used his shower last night because mine had Bar Tender's Friend smeared all over the shower door and I noticed that his shower head was in dire need of a good vinegar soak. It, too, had hard water deposits on it and in it. So I got out the step ladder and the vinegar and a plastic bag and a rubber band and it is now soaking and won't he be surprised when he goes to take his shower? 

This is the sort of thing that thrills me these days. My god but I am old.

His birthday is in four days and I am thinking that I could tell him that a cleaned-out shower head is his present. What do you think? 
Maybe? 
No? 

Okay. Whatever. 

Here's a picture that Jessie sent today. 

The whole mountain family went on a river canoeing trip! I hear it was quite exciting in that there were capsizings and other small problems but everyone survived and it looks to me like those three really had a very good time. 

Golly, I miss them. 

Well, I'll be seeing them soon enough. 

Oh. Here's some zinnias. 

Aren't zinnias the happiest flowers? 
It's like the creator was being bothered by some naughty cherubs and as a distraction, gave them a box of crayons and some paper and said, "Here! Draw some flowers!" And they did and he looked at them and said, "Hmmmm...."

And he saw that they were good and he made them real. 

I guess that was the sermon from the Church of the Batshit Crazy for this Sunday.

Love...Ms. Moon