Blah, Blah, Blah, And Other Stuff!

Oh, how I do love our blogging community! Yesterday when I posted about the owl who was making a call that sounded almost as if it was being breathed in, instead of being breathed out, dear Jennifer at Sparrow Tree Journal, suggested that I do an online search for the call of the juvenile barred owl because they had one in their yard that was making what might be the same call. 
And so I did and she was right! 

It is the sound of a baby owl who wants mama or daddy to bring her food or come keep her company in a scary situation. And that is what is going on in my back yard. 

It's been a long day. I have finally copped to the fact that we are leaving for North Carolina in five days. FIVE DAYS! Mark, my darling almost-son and excellent house-sitter will be here for four of the eight days we'll be gone, Hank and Rachel will be here on two weekend days and for the other days I may ask a neighbor to come in and feed Maurice and Jack or, I may just leave them a ton of food and water. It would only be two nights. We are so invested in the mental health and happiness of our animals that the thought of my cats roaming the house and searching the yard for us is just awful but they wouldn't die. They might get extremely enraged at us for leaving them alone and poop and pee all over the house. That I could definitely see. I'll probably ask a neighbor. But I better get on it. 
When I washed our sheets today I washed the ones on the guest room bed too, and that's as far as I've gone in that direction except to stock up on toilet paper. And cat food. I have not begun to pack but today I reassured myself thinking that if all I took was some underwear, a bathing suit, two dresses, and two pairs of overalls and shirts to go with them, that would be enough. The house where we'll be staying has not only a washer and dryer but a dang crick out back that I could beat my clothes on the rocks in if I had to. 

It's all the other stuff, really, that gets a little weird. Do I take games for the children? Do I take books for them? I know I'll be taking my best knives and probably things like balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and self-rising flour for dumplings. I will be going to a grocery store. Probably far more than once. One never knows what supplies will be in these rental houses. There will be cookware but is it going to be the nasty kind with nonstick surfaces that are chipping off? Will there be parchment paper, aluminum foil, and all of those other things that we take for granted in our own kitchen? 

Whatever. The store will have everything. I do love a good Ingles which is the grocery store most prevalent in NC although Publix is there now too. 

We won't starve. 

But I might should take an iron skillet or two. 

So I was in a bit of a whirlwind this morning, mostly in my mind, about what I needed to do before we leave and getting the laundry done and so forth when Mr. Moon asked me if I'd like to go somewhere to eat lunch with him for a little date. He is fishing again tomorrow and just left a little while ago and I think he might have been feeling a tiny bit guilty, although I hope not. At first I felt like I was too bitchy and emotional today to ensure a good time if we did go off together but then I said, "Oh, let's go," and we did. We went to Monticello and had chicken salad salads and then we went to Wag The Dog and I think I did very well there today when it comes to locating treasures. 

I like to take pictures on that kitchen counter because it's black and the lighting isn't bad. Sorry about the coffee makers and food processor. That lamp cost me ten dollars. I do not like the shade but will find another eventually and I think the lamp itself is very sweet. The four martini glasses are nice and heavy and as Mr. Moon said, "Big!" and I said, "Well, that would be one reason not to buy them," but I couldn't pass them up. The little white bowl and its lid are also very heavy and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. Perhaps I should use them for Mr. Moon's turbinado sugar that he loves in his coffee. We've been using an old Tupperware container which works quite well but the old, white bowl would be more esthetically pleasing. And then we have the two old medicine bottles that will make lovely bud vases for $1.50 apiece. The bowl was a buck. 

God, I love Wag. 

So I felt as if the shopping gods had shined upon me and we even went into an antique store and although they had some very lovely and unique pieces, I was content with what I already had in the trunk of the car. 

In fact, I have a sudden and very real urge to start purging. I look around and I see clutter everywhere and I am OVER it! I know, I KNOW! I say that after I just bought more shit that I don't need. But I have already put some things in a box that I will probably be taking to Wag the Dog for them to resell. Their money goes to the animal shelter in Monticello which isn't the worst thing a thrift store could support. Not the best, but not the worst.

This will be an ongoing project. 

I never did get back to work on my pockets except to get the pocket I do not like unsewn from the dress and to pick out a piece of fabric that I already had to make another. I am thinking I will just make one pocket in the dress as I don't have much of that material and if it's a good pocket, I'll only need the one. Two pockets are better than one but one will do. That I will work on tomorrow. I am going to go slowly and carefully, and I am going to baste. 

I got a text from Jessie today wherein she reported a conversation that August had with one of his cousins. 
Cousin: "After I've cleaned up, can we get in your bed and draw?"

August: "Anything for my true love." 

Oh my god. Does that not sound like something Alfalfa would have said to Darla in the Little Rascals? 

I showed the message to Mr. Moon and we agreed that August will eventually figure out that it's best not to fall in love with a first cousin but he's young and at this point, Levon still doesn't understand why he can't marry his mother. 

Oh, the sweet innocence of a child's love. It's just so precious. 

And if I were in a different mood, I might go off on a rant about how the sexual abusers of children destroy that innocence along with their trust in others and in themselves which will affect them for the rest of their lives but I'm not there tonight. I do not have the energy. I have been emotional today. Not horribly so, but enough that thinking about yesterday when I took Magnolia home and both Gibson and Owen came to the kitchen and hugged me up and Gibson said, "You're strong, Mer!" and I said, "You're strong, Gibson!" and Owen is taller than me and so kind to me and they both hug me without being asked, but initiate it themselves that yes, it made me cry. 

Oh well. I am just a weepy woman and that's all there is to it. Before Maggie left yesterday she was playing with Lincoln Logs, creating her own universe as she does, and I told her that it makes me so happy to see her playing with them and that I have toys here that I am going to need to pass on to someone else because all of my grandchildren are getting too old to play with them. Not the Lincoln Logs, but other things. Things that I can remember baby Owen playing with. I teared up then and Maggie said, "It's okay, Mer. I'm still young. I can play with those things." 

All right! Time to quit being so soppy and make myself a martini. I am saving the new glasses for when Mr. Moon is home but the old glasses do very well. One of the main things I need to figure out before we leave is- what book am I going to read out loud on our journey? 
I have to tell you that even though I am having anxiety about leaving and being away from home, I am also a little thrilled at the prospect of a road trip with my sweetheart. He made our reservation for our first night on the road in Athens, Georgia at the Graduate Hotel where we have stayed many times. I'm sure he'd love to try a new place but as I told him, just walking into that lobby makes me feel like I'm home. Books and old typewriters everywhere. I can get my yearly supply of a small but adequate tube of Malin+Goetz vitamin b5 body moisture from their proffered toiletries. The same branded body wash, shampoo, and conditioner are pumped from containers in the shower and this may be the standard way to do things in hotels these days, but to this old country gal who don't get out much, these things are almost magical.

Here's a decorating feature in the Graduate's lobby. 

A card catalog! With orchids. Real orchids. 

Need I say more? 

I think not. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon