A Sweet Sunday With My Baby

Does anyone have any idea what you're looking at in that picture? 
Here's a hint- do not try to wash an ancient feather pillow. 
That's what I did yesterday and the fabric of the pillow completely dissolved in the washer from age. When I opened the machine to transfer my clean things to the dryer, for one horrified second I was afraid that somehow I had managed to run the decapitated head of an old woman through the normal cycle in my washing machine. 
Or was it a dog? 
But of course it was neither, just that old pillow but it was a good warning to me not to wash my oldest feather and down pillows. The feathers and down can take it but the pillow covers may not. I know I've talked about this before but I have pillows so old and so flattened out that the pillowcases I put on them weigh more and have more bulk than the pillows themselves. I have pillows that traveled with me to Mexico in the 1980's. I have fine, newer, fluffier ones too and I use them but for the life of me, I can't seem to get rid of the old, old ones.
And yes, I am aware that those flat pillows probably have more mites in them than they have down. 
I am at peace with that. 

Mr. Moon got home last night in very good spirits. He'd had a wonderful time and they caught fish. Lane snapper and grouper and, oh, hell. I don't know. I do know that twice sharks took their fishes from them as they were bringing them in. I also learned that Mr. Moon's fishing buddy was leaning out of the boat to cut the line of a fish that had a shark attached to it and he wanted to save the lead weight so he cut below it which meant that due to the strain that had been on the line with the shark pulling it, it sprang back and hit him right above the eye. He bled like crazy and got a knot there for sure. 
I guess that's why they call it sport fishing. 
Next weekend is the beginning of snapper season and they plan to go out again, but for two days in a row instead of just one. Oh, the joy! 
He is a very happy man today and will be grilling a piece of grouper for us tonight. Right now he's out in the garden, planting crowder peas. We didn't do much today. I picked more green beans of course and now have about a gallon of them. I'm going to cook some tonight with a few of our potatoes to go with the fish. I'd usually cook grits to go with fish but I made grits for our weekly Big Breakfast this morning. Grits, eggs, bacon, and biscuits. I have recently learned something which I wish I'd known for the previous almost seventy years of my life which is that when you use self-rising flour, you do not need to add a tiny bit of soda to the mix if you are using buttermilk. I had always been told that for some unknown to me chemical reason, that tiny bit of soda was necessary, but no, it is not. My biscuits this morning were lovely and when I cleaned up the pantry a few weeks ago, I found a forgotten jar of leftover peach preserves that I made in July of 2021 and I opened them up this morning. They were as fine as fine can be. Peach preserves are Mr. Moon's favorite and that's another reason he was so happy today. I remember when we bought the peaches that I used to make those preserves. We were on our way back from our annual North Carolina visit to see the Weatherfords and we saw signs for "Fresh Peach Ice Cream" which Glen could not, would not pass up. We stopped and there was a large farm stand sort of thing where many, many people were buying and eating that peach ice cream and buying peaches, too. Glen decided that we needed to buy a crate full of them. 
"Why?" I asked him.
"Because you can make peach jam!" 
"Oh yeah?" I muttered. 
But I did and we have been in search of another crate of peaches ever since. We don't even remember what state we were in. Georgia? South Carolina? Alabama? 

Our this-year's annual trek has been all planned out and the house has been reserved for us to stay in. It's the same house we stayed in last year which we all fell in love with. Absolutely the most perfect Air BnB or VRBO we ever rented. A beautiful old house on a little chuckling creek with every amenity known to exist. The sort of house that picky old me would move into exactly as it is and be very, very happy. And the woman who rented it to us is the sweetest and obviously most thoughtful landlady on the planet. 
So that's settled. 

Jessie and Vergil are leaving next Friday, I think, to go to Black Mountain, NC, for the summer as they always do. That's where Vergil grew up and where his family lives. It's a beautiful thing that they do this for themselves and for the boys. And this year will be even more special as August and Levon will be going to sleep-away camp at the camp that Vergil's stepfather used to be part owner and operator of. The whole family has put their hearts and souls into that camp. It's where Jessie and Vergil got married. And...Jessie is going to be the camp nurse for the week they're there! It's a trade! 
Oh, those little guys are going to love it. 

Having said all of this, most of you know how difficult it is for me to say good-bye to that little family every June. And this is why we go stay in N.C. for a week every summer. We always choose a week where Vergil's sister and her family will be gone on jaunts of their own so we're not taking time away from the cousins all being together. But even knowing that we'll be seeing them very, very soon, it's hard. 
Hell, going to lunch with Jessie is about 75% of my social life. And you know how much those little boys amuse me. And Vergil- well, he's such a good man and we love being around him. I think the boys might be coming over to spend the night and hang out this week so that Jessie can work and they can get some packing done without distraction. 

So that's what's going on here in Lloyd. It's not been a bad Sunday at all. Both Glen and I have taken it easy, both of us feeling somewhat guilty about that but at least in Glen's case- he surely deserves it. He just brought in the garlic he pulled and now my porch smells delicious. 

I actually did some eBay shopping today. I've bought two new Eeboo jigsaw puzzles and two (TWO!) dresses. Golly, I hope they fit and that I like them. Old Mer is about to turn seventy and needs something that will cheer and delight her. One dress is linen and, in fact, might be the same exact dress as the one I was wearing at Owen's graduation and if so- that is absolutely fine. The other one is a very, uh, Boho pretty dress made of silk. I was dithering on buying it but then I saw that it had pockets and that was that. A sign from god. 
I fear that one of the dresses will be too small and one will be too big. But sometimes you just have to throw caution to the winds, as it were.
And I know I will love the puzzles. 

Here's the last thing I will say- the New York Times review of the Rolling Stones concert at the Metlife stadium (The Rolling Stones Really Might Never Stop) was was incredibly positive. The way it ended was this:

"At a time when their few remaining peers are wrapping farewell tours and bands that have been together for half as long are running on fumes, the Stones are an anomaly. It’s not that their show is devoid of nostalgia, but it’s not coasting on it either. They don’t look like they did in the ’70s — who does? — but when their sound is gelling they are able to tap into some kind of eternal present. For better or worse, they seem intent to be the last band of their generation standing, to ride rock ’n’ roll all the way to its logical endpoint. Astoundingly, they don’t sound like they’ve reached it yet."

See- I'm not the only one who feels like this. 

Gold rings on ya.

Love...Ms. Moon