The sweet little Carolina wrens, whose repertoire of songs includes "You're sweet, you're sweet, you're sweet!" love to fly into the house to find nesting spots. They come in through the cat door which I think is so funny, and although they mostly fly around on the porch, they often find their way into the house, darting around and shopping for real estate. I have found their tiny poops on the bed, the folding table, and in Mr. Moon's bathroom today. I help them out when I see them. I don't mind them being in the house but the cats are way too interested. I have had them build a nest in a cabinet and on a bookshelf. It's so sad when I have to tell them that honestly, they cannot live in the house.
Wouldn't be prudent.
My favorite was when a couple built a nest between a mounted tarpon and the porch wall. Their babies actually hatched and it was a circus when they started flying. I'm still stressed out about that.
Slow day for me. I felt fine, I just didn't want to do anything. The shine of feeling well again wore off as quickly as not-feeling well lasted. But of course, it being Friday I stripped the bed and washed the sheets and that made me somewhat pissed off because I bought new sheets at the Costco about a month ago and they are already pilling.
I hate that.
Now I know that Costco sheets probably are not the finest you can buy. I am aware of that. I also know that I've bought expensive sheets that pilled so there's that too. Although I liked the price of the Costco sheets (cheap!) the thing I liked most about them was that they weren't made for mattresses that are obviously three feet thick. I've become sick and tired of "luxury" sheets bagging out all over the place and having to tuck them back in every morning to make them tight and smooth again which lasts about five minutes after you get in bed. And these Costco sheets had a good thread count which I know isn't the most important thing but they felt good and they were lovely when I first put them on the bed but now...
Damn.
One of the great things about Costco is that you can take anything back at any time. No receipt? No problem. And for some odd reason, I saved the plastic zip bag these sheets came in so that's even better. I don't want to though, because that means I have to find some other sheets somewhere to replace these and so the saga begins again.
Oh my god, the agony of a first world problem!
Well, look- my bed is my sanctuary. When I leave it in the morning I silently promise it I will be back soon. It is where I go at the end of the day to read and revel in the quiet and the comfort, generally cuddled up to a cat. And then of course, it is the place that my husband and I share. Where we spend most of our time more closely together than anywhere else.
And I want every part of it to be as comfortable and cozy as it can be.
Anyway, I washed the durn sheets and put them back on the bed and I'll take them back soon. I really do hate being whiny. Please, god, don't let me be thought of as a Karen. Please. Or, to be more specific, please god don't let me be a Karen.
I planted my beans today.
I have great hopes for them because every year that I have planted these beans, which are an heirloom variety called rattlesnake beans, they have done fabulously well. As many of you know, by the time bean season is finally over, I breathe a sigh of relief because those things just do not stop producing. But this year I plan to not only pickle them but also to can them. The thought of rows of canned green beans in my pantry we can eat over the winter just makes my heart so happy.
So bring it on, rattlesnake beans!
Mr. Moon already has some tomatoes in the ground. He is all about the garden this year. His potatoes are coming up in their growing bags and he is so proud. He should be! The seeds I started a few weeks ago that Jennifer sent me have finally sprouted. Well, most of them. But they are so tiny and Glen keeps shaking his head and saying things about how they're going to be so late to get into the ground and I'm just like, "Whatever."
He is right. I should have started them months ago.
Still, it does make me smile to see their hair-like stems and bug-wing-sized leaves. If I get even a few tomatoes off of them I'll be so happy.
So bring it on, rattlesnake beans!
Mr. Moon already has some tomatoes in the ground. He is all about the garden this year. His potatoes are coming up in their growing bags and he is so proud. He should be! The seeds I started a few weeks ago that Jennifer sent me have finally sprouted. Well, most of them. But they are so tiny and Glen keeps shaking his head and saying things about how they're going to be so late to get into the ground and I'm just like, "Whatever."
He is right. I should have started them months ago.
Still, it does make me smile to see their hair-like stems and bug-wing-sized leaves. If I get even a few tomatoes off of them I'll be so happy.
I picked some of the sugar snap peas today.
I'm making egg rolls tonight and some of those, slivered, will be in the mix.
Last night's pie was delicious but you want to know what was even better?
How many of y'all know what that is?
If you guessed baked left-over pastry with butter and cinnamon and sugar, you are right. As I told Rebecca yesterday I don't even know why we go to the trouble to make pies. Let's just use the crust for what it was obviously intended to be used for.
That was some damn good pastry.
If you guessed baked left-over pastry with butter and cinnamon and sugar, you are right. As I told Rebecca yesterday I don't even know why we go to the trouble to make pies. Let's just use the crust for what it was obviously intended to be used for.
That was some damn good pastry.
And a little more about Billy. He texted me today to ask if I'd liked what his T-shirt said in the beard picture. I said I couldn't read it so he told me what it said which was Matriarchal Dad. And then I enlarged the picture and of course I saw it and I just love that.
But I'm not sure even that compares with something he posted on FB today which made me laugh louder and longer than anything I've seen in a long time.
But I'm not sure even that compares with something he posted on FB today which made me laugh louder and longer than anything I've seen in a long time.
I loved that cartoon! I'm stealing it.
ReplyDeleteWe're having a cold snap here, so no thoughts of gardening. My mum used to make the same thing with the scraps of leftover pastry and it was my favorite. Billy looks like a lovely man.
Girl- I love you for loving that cartoon.
DeleteScrap pastry. The best.
And Billy really is a lovely man.
Bright sun, cold wind, not a walking combo for me.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the sheets that are too deep for my old mattress, even though I use those suspender things at the corners. You can't get them uncrinkly.
And it wouldn't be a problem except that sleeping on a wrinkled sheet is just not comfy.
DeleteWay too cold here for plants or seeds. In Ohio, I started my gardens first of June.
ReplyDeleteBy the first of June I hope we're eating tomatoes! And beans too.
DeleteYour garden is very productive and your growing season is long. Lucky you.
ReplyDeletePlanting outside in Massachusetts is at minimum May 15. Any time earlier and there is risk of frost at night. I love good sheets and have had good luck with quality sheets at TJMaxx and occasionally at Marshals.
Well, theoretically there is still a chance of frost or even freeze here but I just don't think it's going to happen.
DeleteI've bought sheets at those places too and sometimes I've hit it right and sometimes I haven't. Why is it so difficult?
Here's to Jeff and proper cursing..... pie *remnants*.....martini's........and fresh snap peas! Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteSusan M
Poor Jeff. You can tell he's trying so hard.
DeleteI remember the fluffing and pilling from childhood when Mum would switch the summer sheets to flannelette for the winter. I hated it then and would hate it now, so I just don't buy flannelette sheets or pillowcases. Plain cotton does me just fine even in winter with a hot water bottle to warm the bed a bit before I get in.
ReplyDeleteLeft over pastry here used to get spread with jam then rolled up and baked next to whatever pie I've made. I like your idea better. It's been years since I made pies.
Yes- flannel is bad to pill. I can't use flannel sheets anyway because Mr. Moon gets too hot, even in the dead of winter.
DeleteI have also put jam on pastry scraps but I have decided that cinnamon and sugar are what make me happiest.
I have found Threshold sheets from Target are really nice. I have the opposite problem of the sheets not fitting my deep mattress with added topper. They like to pop off. I found a gadget that has kept them nice and tight and where they belong. It’s called a bed scrunchie, sheet holder straps. It really works.
ReplyDeleteHuh! I'll have to check that out. My mattress isn't that thin and I have two mattress cover/pads on it to make it even larger. I'll look up the bed scrunchie too. Thanks!
DeleteThose scrunchies are the things I meant, couldn't remember the name. Great for my jersey sheets which shrank. Drum tight and comfortable.
DeleteI never heard of “baked left-over pastry with butter and cinnamon and sugar” and that might be a good thing. I’d be telling SG to not bother with the pies at all. When my brother was young — and he remained young for a long time — he got angry with me and said: “You know what you are?” I asked, “What?” He said: “You’re a real dammit!!!”
ReplyDeleteIs SG an excellent pie-maker? I bet he is. I couldn't make pastry to save my life until a few years ago when I tried the recipe that came with my food processor. Voila! Perfect every time. It's dangerous knowledge to have, I tell you.
DeleteI can just hear a younger brother saying that. I may adopt it myself.
SG is a great cook AND baker. The best pies and cakes I’ve had.
Deletethe last sheets we bought was at Target and I think they cost about $70. maybe less. we've had them for several years, no piling but yeah they only stay tight when you first put them on and I have to smooth them out and tuck them under every night because a wrinkle under my hip is like laying on a rock. if they're going to make sheets that accommodate thick mattresses then they should use elastic that holds them in place!
ReplyDeleteThese sheets I got at Costco didn't even cost that much but they have great elastic at the corners, cleverly designed to keep those sheets in place. I had such hope for those sheets.
DeleteMy sheets are old but it's only me in the bed and I don't care. I have sewed elastic straps on the corners to keep the sheets fitting smoothly.
ReplyDeleteI remember my Mom using the pie crust scraps to make us treats and they were delicious. Thanks for reminding me about that, Mary!
You are welcome, Ellen!
DeleteOld sheets are often the comfiest sheets.
I don't even know what "pilling" is in relation to sheets. I guess I have lived a sheltered life.
ReplyDeleteAlso...The title of this blogpost, "If You're Going To Curse, Do It Right" made me think that you were perhaps planning to open a summer school for people who have trouble cursing. Now repeat after me...
Delete"Pilling" is when the sheets get little, well, fabric pills on them, making them rough. I think it generally comes from sheets made with short fibers. Perhaps your English sheets are superior to our sheets. I would not be surprise.
DeleteI would love to have one-day cussing clinics. That would be so fun!
Definitely feels like you are sleeping in a bed of sand that you can't brush off.
DeleteAh, Carolina wrens. Cute, sweet, endearing. Until they crawl into your summer house (unoccupied for 9 months of the year) through a bathroom vent fan and nest atop a shower stall-- and spend their spare time, for weeks on end, winging through the house while streaking every wall and surface with droppings.
ReplyDeleteSo we now wire the vents shut off-season, and enjoy the sweet little devils outside in the yard.
We have the same mature and intellectual sense of humor, that Comic Strip cracked me up too.
ReplyDelete