In Which I Discuss Invasive Plants Once Again. Skip This One If You've Heard Enough About That Shit

So attractive, right? I should be ashamed to even post this picture.
That's the view from the door leading out of the laundry room. The building you see there which needs massive wood replacement (as does the whole house) is the old kitchen, which was my writing room for quite awhile but is now Glen's office. And that ancient picket fence just needs to go. We discuss this often.
That unattractive strip of dirt and overgrown iron plants as well as overgrown border grass is part of the old kitchen garden which I bitch about all the time because I've let it go to hell and it, like all the rest of the yard, is filled with ALL the invasive plants and for the past few months, every time I looked out at that view, I felt terrible about all the glory bower and other plants that I haven't even identified, just running amok. And it drove me crazy and I vowed, every time I saw it (at least three times a day), that I would do something about it.

So today I waited until it got to the apex of the heat index (that's probably an incorrectly written sentence in every way but, whatever) and put my long overalls on and got the garden cart and a shovel and the trowel and the old canning kettle that I throw weeds in and I cleaned out as much of the area as I could before passing out. 
And that wasn't much.
But at least I got some of it. 
I am going to get some help with this yard. Perhaps that'll happen when we get back from North Carolina. I can't believe it but we're leaving on Wednesday, taking our time, and arriving on Thursday. I'm not feeling as anxious as I usually do about a pending trip because we've done this one so many times we practically know each and every turn in the road, as well as good places to stop and pee. 
I am very excited to see Jessie and Vergil and August and Levon. I am sure that August and Levon have both grown at least a foot. I wonder how soon it will be that every one of my grandchildren is taller than I am. Two down, three to go. 
Meanwhile, I am trying to get things done that need doing before we leave. Today I made up the bed with clean sheets in the guest room for Mark, house-sitter extraordinaire. I've made sure that I have plenty of all my medications and will get those organized. I need to go to the library and return books and get new books. I haven't yet figured out what book I'll be reading to Glen on our trip. This is tradition. So I need to do that.
Of course I have to pack and I am grateful that this year I will have a few more options in that department. Some months ago I ordered a brand new, not from e-bay, linen dress. When it arrived, it was a tad too small and I didn't feel comfortable in it but knowing that I was about to ask my doctor to prescribe one of the GLP-1's, I did not send it back and now it fits quite well, is a lovely shade of blue, has deep pockets, and could hardly be more comfortable. It was a little too long and I had hoped to get that taken care of today. I did not finish the task but I have it all ready to sew the hem now. 

Hopefully, I'll get that done tomorrow. I've got another dress that needs hemming and maybe I'll get that one done too. 

I got a text from Costco that my sunglasses are in so I'll be picking those up on Monday. I wonder what Glen's going to think about them. I haven't even shown him a picture. 

I just checked the weather for Black Mountain for next week and it would appear that it's going to rain every day. Oh well. La-di-dah. At least it's only going to be in the eighties and not the nineties. What a relief that will be. 

Glen got most of the stains out of the green velvet chair last night. After years and years of detailing the pre-owned cars he sold, he knows how to do it. He uses Windex and an old bit of terry cloth. I am sure there are other methods but he has tried this one and found it true. I bow to his experience. Cleaning upholstery is not something I've ever really worried about. I must sound like a slob. I don't think I am but perhaps I'm delusional. 

And as I so often say, that is enough of that. Why anyone comes here to read the ridiculously boring shit I write about is beyond me but I am so grateful that some do. 

More zinnias.

Love...Ms. Moon

A Very Fine Visit And A Little Time Travel

Supper last night made Maggie so happy. She loved the grouper and the macaroni and cheese and had plenty of cut-up vegetables to go with it all. She was sincerely a happy girl. And she kept telling me how glad she was to be here and how much she loves it here and she kissed me about one million times. I mean, she was just pure sweet. 

She didn't fight me at all when I told her it was time for her bath and she didn't get water all over the bathroom and she brushed her teeth without being asked. Twice. She brushed them and then she had ice cream and so she brushed them again. 
We got the light situation in the guest room all figured out along with the quilt and pillows. And she wanted me to read to her and I loved that with all of my little ol' meemaw heart. 
She slept fine and told me this morning that she'd loved having that whole big bed to herself to roll around in all she wanted. She was still in a fabulous mood when she got up and I made the pancakes and bacon and eggs. I put blueberries and pecans in Glen's pancakes but Magnolia didn't want anything to cover up the delicious flavor of the pancakes. That's what she said, anyway. And she didn't want butter or syrup on them for the same reason.

After breakfast it was time for us to play some card games. Go Fish and Battle. I won Go Fish. She won Battle. At that point she was really ready to do something with her grandfather but Glen was on the phone and drowning in paperwork, trying to get insurance on Owen's car so that Lily can drive it and so can O. And I am not sure what else he was doing but it looked and sounded like a lot. He tried to explain this to our girl but she did not like it. 
She sulked a bit. I really don't blame her. I had some things I needed to do so she was on her own for a while and eventually, she got out the old toy tent and filled it with pillows and dolls, crawled in with them and had some sort of pretend thing going. I finally asked if she'd like me to show her how to crochet and she said she would so we tried that but she got frustrated. Then we did some other things which I cannot remember and finally Glen was done with what he was doing but by then it was early afternoon and he had things to do in town, of course, so he took her home. By then she was over her deep sorrow and there were more kisses and hugs and off she went with Boppy. 

So it was a very good visit. Of course I was fairly exhausted by the time it was over. I've been having a lot of what I am 99% sure is kidney stone related pain and that's wearying too. 

Fridays are my day to weigh and even stepping on that scale once a week stresses me out. I even had a dream about Weight Watchers this morning. I've been consistently and slowly losing, which is good and today it seemed like the scale caught up with the way my clothes have been fitting. I've lost an average of two pounds a week and I think that is great. 
I took my ninth dose of Zepbound this morning, up one more increment in dosage. I always respond to the injection so quickly and today is no different. I made a pot of red beans this morning after soaking the beans all night and I'll make some rice to go with them. I'll air fry some okra to round out the cajun theme. Or is it Creole? Don't ask me. At this moment though, I have absolutely no desire to eat beans and rice or okra either. Or anything else for that matter. However, I will eat some, of course. I am still absolutely amazed at how my relationship with food has changed. 
I heard two hosts on a podcast the other day talking about a friend of theirs who has lost three hundred pounds without the use of any medication and how much they admire him for that. So do I! I mean, that is fucking amazing and shows dedication like I'll never have. But the way they talked about people losing weight on the GLP-1's, made it sound like they believe you just take the medication and the weight magically melts off. 
This is so not true. 
The drugs allow someone to make the good choices for healthy weight loss without the feeling of deprivation, constant hunger, or the massive guilt that can occur with a "slip." And I say this as someone who has lost at least a hundred or more pounds over her lifetime, only to gain them back. 
In a way, it has felt like magic to me but a very biological and sensible magic that I had never imagined possible. 
So. There is that. 

Glen brought the chair home. Of course Mr. Eagle Eye had to ask me if I'd noticed all the stains on it and so on and so forth and I said, "Yeah. And they don't bother me."
They're not that bad at all. 
I helped him bring it in from his 4Runner and I can attest that it is a good, solid chair and after sitting in it again, I hereby designate it as a Comfy Chair. 

For the moment it is in the library where it looks very much at home. 

It's hard to see the true color there but Glen, too, thinks it will go well with the rug. 

It's funny how Glen and I have such different feelings about new things versus old. We agree on the fact that many older things are made better, look better, and are just more generally pleasing than new things. Unlike him, though, I do not mind the signs of use and wear whereas he likes to defunkify things. And I guess that's what he's doing with the lake house which in this case does not bother me a bit because the funk there is not the sort of funk I have the least bit of fondness for. 

I discovered today that the pinecone lilies are sending up their cones.

Those pale yellow things are what I think are the blooms of the plant. When I noticed the cones I couldn't believe it was already that time of year. And yet it is. And Maggie will be taller than me soon and how did that happen already? 

Here's a picture that my brother White sent me today which I had never seen before as far as I can remember.

That's Lily and me sometime around 1990? Lily would have been about five, I would have been about thirty-six. Hank? Do you know? I could be completely wrong but we were at a family reunion down in Vero Beach and it seems to me that Jessie was still very much a baby whom I carried in a sling most of the time. I do not remember those glasses, I do not remember that dress, nor do I really remember that woman who appears to be so incredibly sure of herself and her place in the world. 

But I do remember that little girl in the Seminole skirt and reunion T-shirt who grew up to be the mother of my granddaughter, Magnolia June, the one and only. 

Time. Phew. 

Happy Friday, y'all.

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. Just got this from Lily.

She says Maggie refuses to take it off. Oh well. Mermaids gonna mermaid. It does look pretty cool. And Mermaid Magnolia looks pretty happy. 

Adventures With My Granddaughter

I picked up Ms. Magnolia June around two-thirty and I asked her if she'd like to go to Oak Tree Treasures for a little shop-around. Oak Tree is the resale place whose proceeds go to Big Bend Hospice that rents in Moon Plaza. She said she'd like that very much and so off we went. I'm not sure about Maggie but I had a very nice time. She was so polite and so very sweet and patient and so very, well, mature. 

About the first thing we saw when we walked in was a lovely older velvet armchair which looked to me as if it would go quite nicely with the rug Glen and I bought a few weeks ago for our bedroom in the cabin. Sort of an aquamarine on the greener side of things. I sat down in it to give it a try and by golly, that is one comfortable chair. It does show some signs of wear but so do I. And the price was right. I know I took a picture and I swear I sent it to Glen but I guess I didn't because it is just not on my phone anywhere. But I did text him about it and he said to get it if I wanted it and I thought about it while Maggie and I shopped. They have some pretty cool things there and I was happy to find a present for a friend. Maggie and I discussed things we saw and it really got interesting when we got to the jewelry section. They have a lot of old costume jewelry and Maggie found a ring that she fell in love with. It's an old cocktail ring with a huge stone and as we were looking at it, the woman behind the register came over and told us that she herself had donated those rings and that she would love to give one to Maggie!  
WHAT????
And so Maggie is now the proud owner of a stunning ruby ring. Well, we've both decided that it's probably not a real ruby. The lady who gave it to her claimed that it was a magic ring and would help Maggie do really well in school. 
Neither I nor my grandchild bought this, plus Maggie already does great in school. But we graciously accepted the claim along with the lovely ring. 
I decided to buy the chair and lo and behold! It was senior discount day! So that was another 20% off. Good shopping!

Then we went to Publix and then we came home where we are now. For no reason whatsoever I am rather tired but I need to rally. I've got things to do, including making the dinner which Maggie asked for which is fish, macaroni and cheese, cut up carrots and cucumbers with ranch dressing, and blueberries. Sounds good to me. 

Mr. Moon is on his way home from the lake house and although the sky is blue, there are great rumblings of thunder to the west of us. The weather widget shows no rain expected at all but I sure would love to get some. 

I do believe that Maggie is finally ready to sleep by herself in the guest room. I told her that Boppy would be so tired and would want to sleep in his own bed tonight. She got that. He spent the day installing the toilet in the upstairs bathroom at the lake house and waiting for the internet tech guy. He got a call at five telling him they were going to have to reschedule it for another day. 
Thanks a lot. 

Well, at least the upstairs bathroom has a functioning toilet.

I've now just tried to help Magnolia put on a mermaid tail with a monofin that I ordered her because I promised her about two years ago that I would indeed buy her these items. 
Have you ever tried to put a mermaid tail with a monofin on a child? 

I finally said, "Honey, you're going to have to take this home and let Mama help you."

I feel as if I have done my part in buying the tail and monofin and Lily can take it from here. "Thank goodness for grown-ups!" said Maggie as I was struggling to put her feet into the stretchy-but-not-stretchy-enough feet things on the monofin. Being a Moon child, at the age of nine she is already wearing shoes at least as big as mine. I have a very sad feeling that wearing the outfit into the water is not going to make her immediately feel like a mermaid nor is she going to be able to swim with the grace and fluidity of a Weeki Wachee mermaid but who knows? Maybe she will with a little practice. I hope so. Dreams can come true, you know. Especially where there is determination. 

I'm out. I'll try to get yesterday's comments answered but no guarantees. 

Here's our girl.

Love...Ms. Moon

I Seem To Be Thinking About Bathrooms

I went on another walk this morning. It was overcast so it wasn't quite as miserable as it is when the sun is beating down like someone left the broiler element on. It was still hot though and mighty humid and I've been sticky ever since. I probably should have taken a shower when I got home but knowing I wasn't going to see anyone today, I decided that I'd just wait for my before bed shower. I walked a little farther today and a little faster, too, which did feel good. I know I am moving more easily than I was two months ago. 

Those morning glories are growing in a neighbor's yard and I do admire them. However, it's easy to see that they're taking over her yard, bit by bit, and I definitely do not need to introduce one more invasive plant here. But they really are stunning and I will happily admire hers. 

Doesn't it look like the flower has a power source inside it, radiating light from the center? The colors are some of my favorites.

I truly do not have much to talk about today. The most productive thing I did was to iron, which I was inspired to do by Boud's post today. Also, I did not want to do anything outside after I finally cooled off from my walk. But I had not done any ironing in quite awhile so I got out the ironing board and hit the closet where I keep the ironed and the un-ironed, delineated from each other by my grandfather's cane which I hang from the rail with ironed things to the right and wrinkly things to the left. This works pretty well. There are far more things to the left of the cane than to the right and Glen probably needs to get rid of a lot of those shirts, which is mostly what's there. Many of them have outlived their use except as work shirts and I am not ironing a damn work shirt. No way. And he would never expect me to. 
I occasionally have something of mine to iron in that mess of clothes and have left dresses and shirts there so long that when I did find them, I'd forgotten I had them. Or, in the case of a dress I just recently found, I truly thought I'd left it in a hotel on our way home from NC last year. It had been hanging so long that it didn't need ironing so there's that. 

Anyway, today I ironed long enough to watch an entire movie and the movie I watched was "The Unexpected Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" which I had been wanting to see. So that made the ironing less of a chore and more of a pleasure. I thought they did a good job of following the book although there was an entire storyline that had been written out but it worked without it pretty well. If you hadn't read the book, you wouldn't ever know. The acting was, in my opinion, very fine, the writing well done, the scenery terrific. And in the time it took me watch it I ironed eight shirts and a dress. 
I remember my mother's "maid" ironing in front of the TV, watching her soaps. I believe this was a fairly common practice. The women hired to clean the house were also expected to do the laundry, strip the beds, remake them, and iron the clothes. 
And this was normal. Of course all the "maids" were Black women because that is how it was. And my mother depended on these women so much. We had one woman who worked for us who finally moved on for one reason or another and I can remember my mother saying she didn't even know where the broom was when she left. 
I believe it too. And we were far from rich. Not even in the slightest bit close to well to do. But when "The Help" came out, I didn't even have the desire to read it. I lived it, albeit from the privileged white side and I never felt comfortable with the arrangement, even as a small child, and I have no idea why. 
I have since read the book and it's a good one but there are problems with it, just as there are always problems when it comes to race and roles, history and societal mores, stereotypes and cruelties. 
And so forth.
One thing the book did make me realize was that the very plain and basic bathroom built out of raw pine, located in the back of the garage, was most likely built for the help to use. Although it seems unbelievable now, Black maids were surely fit to clean the white folks' bathrooms but not to use them. As my old friend David used to say, "I shit you not."
Which is not inappropriate in this case.
Ironically, that bathroom was the only place in the house I felt relatively safe as it had a sturdy hook and eye latch. We lived in that house during the apex of the stepfather's abuse and I spent a lot of time in there. Or at least as much as I could without being viewed suspiciously. 

What the HELL was I talking about? Oh yeah. Ironing while watching TV. I do believe that is a long-time tradition for almost anyone who has ever done a lot of ironing. 

I took the trash to the dump place today. No stories from there for me to relay. 

Mr. Moon sent a picture of the cabin's upstairs bathroom floor which he redid today. 

That's a vinyl laminate material which does indeed look like wood and Glen apologized for "more wood" but as he pointed out, it's better than the carpet which was in there and he also already had it, leftover from when he redid the floors in the duplex we own where Hank and Rachel live now. 

I think it looks very good. The rest of that bathroom can remain as it is. It ain't fancy but it'll do. 

I've been looking at bathrooms online to try and figure out what we should do with the bathroom downstairs which is off of our bedroom and it's not helping me. I have absolutely no ability to visualize things like that. I have a lot of ideas about things I do not want- hideous vanities, sinks, light fixtures and the color beige for example. 

I saved one picture and I don't even remember where it came from, but I do like the color of the tile in the shower.

Have I already posted this? Sorry, if I have. 

One more picture.

I took this on my walk too. I always think of these lilies as "ditch lilies" and my plant ID app tells me that is indeed their common name. Rather an unflattering name for such a beautiful blossom although they do grow in ditches. 

I think that Magnolia is going to spend the night tomorrow as her beloved Boppy is supposed to be home by then. There will be fun. There will be games. 
There will be a nine-year old girl sleeping with me. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Summertime

This morning started off with a bit of a shock because when I woke up I saw that I'd gotten a text message and two calls from the guy who was coming to do the AC maintenance check. I knew he was coming this morning sometime but before nine? 
Good Lord!
So I called him back and he said, "Well, actually, I'm here now."
All righty then! 
I was already dressed and so forth and went to the kitchen door which everyone uses and yes, there he was. I let him in to show him where the thermostat was and then took him to the back porch to show him where the unit was. 
The guy appeared to be about the same age as Owen and I feel sure he has not achieved his full growth yet. However, he had a lot of tattoos and seemed to be very, very shy. At one point he came onto the porch where I was and with his fingertips all touching in front of his chest, he said, "Would you mind if I used your bathroom?" I swear to you, I felt like that might have been the most difficult thing he'd ever done in his life. 
Well of course I said I wouldn't mind at all and I showed him where it was. 
He soon told me that everything looked good on the AC and I paid him and off he went. 

I took a little walk and it was hot enough to qualify as torture. I stopped by the Post Office and Ms. T, the post mistress, was wearing a "vintage" Rolling Stones T-shirt. I was so delighted. "I love your shirt!" I said.
She grinned and said "Thank you." I wonder if she's ever heard one Rolling Stone song in her entire life. 

Came home, cooled off a little, went back outside to the garden and picked more beans and more tomatoes, one okra, one pepper and some arugula along with Mexican and Thai basil. Also zinnias.

Came in and cooled down again, ate lunch, thought about things and decided that I might as well can some more green beans and so I did. Three quarts, one pint.
I missed Lis. 

I have got to reorganize and clean my pantry because space for jars is getting scarce. I have realized though, that the shelves I have in the kitchen which I've never quite known what to do with, work perfectly for storing canned goods. 

And other things. 

This does NOT mean, however, that the pantry doesn't need organizing and cleaning. For example- I have one small bin which holds nothing but different sorts of packing and duct tape. One that holds batteries. One that holds extension cords. 
Are these things supposed to go in a pantry? I think not. Where else they'd go is a mystery, however, so for now, I'll probably just try and cull some of the tape, batteries, and extension cords. 

I picked more figs today and watered the porch plants. And the potted plants in the back yard, one of which is this giant begonia. 

One of my most favorite plants. That's a very young leaf. As they mature, they get greener and lose the red delineation of the veins but boy, they sure are beautiful in that stage of growth. 

Mr. Moon has had a very productive day. First I got this picture.

"Wallpaper coming down!" he said. 
I answered, "Thank god."

And then this.

He took out the nasty center island with the two burners and a griddle (how many pancakes does one need to make?) and also the cabinets where the new stove will sit. It opens up the space so much that I might be able to breathe in there now as well as being able to open the refrigerator. 

So that's all good. And please know- he did this all by himself. He said the hardest part was taking off the kitchen door so that he could get all that stuff out of the house.
That man. 

Jessie sent this picture.

Mama bear and a cub, strolling down the road, as one does. 

And Lily sent this one which is what she found on her bed when she got home from work. 

I love that Maggie still plays with her dolls, not unlike her Mermer. 

So that is my world for today. I am a bit grief-stricken to report that I have not seen Hawk in days. I feel an unexpected sadness that my sharp-eyed, sharp-taloned protector is not with me in the gloaming but a hawk has its own thoughts about territory and I have appreciated his presence for the time he spent here.

Tonight- salad with everything including seared tuna and of course...miso dressing. 

I better go start chopping, mincing, slicing, and searing. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Getting Stuff Done

When we were in Monticello a few weeks ago, we walked by a big planter in front of the recently closed flower shop which is sad as that shop has been there ever since I first lived in Jefferson County back in the mid-seventies. It was a great flower shop and they sold plants too and gifts. You know how that goes. But I guess the owners finally came to the place where they just couldn't or wouldn't keep it going. 
Which is all to say that the planter had a lot of flame lilies growing in it. Now I know that as with all lilies, they must be propagated via the bulbs or tubers but digging a bulb out of a planter, even one connected to a business that was, as we stood there, being dismantled, seems a little over the top. 
I do not normally thieve plants at all. I just don't. There are a lot of rules I do not mind breaking but when it comes to theft, I am almost unable to bring myself to do it. But in this case, I plucked a little shoot off the many that were growing and because it was beautiful, I put it in a bottle and set it in the sunny window in the little bathroom off the kitchen. And you know what? I think it's going to bloom! It's actually got two little buds on it. 

Now. Having said all of that, I did pinch a succulent from a planter in front of the store where we bought the rug but in my defense, I tried to ask the guy running the store if he minded if I did that but when I went back in to ask him, he was on the phone and it seemed as if he was going to be on the phone for a long, long time so I just did it. There were probably at least a hundred of the pretty little succulents growing in that planter so I figured it could spare one. 

This is its temporary home until I get around to figuring out which pot I want to put it in. 

I got so many things done today. Well, for me. Things I've been needing to do before we leave town next week. I texted our usual house-sitter who is a dream of a house sitter, and he can do five days. I'll find someone else to at least come in and visit with Maurice and make sure her feeder and waterer are working for the rest of the days. She is going to hate us being gone but life is hard. 
I rescheduled a cleaning at my dentist's office which was going to happen the week we'll be in North Carolina, and I called the pharmacy that makes my bio-identical hormones to see if my damn doctor (not my beloved Dr. Zorn!) had finally called in a refill on my prescription because I am down to my last half of a dose and things are not great when I don't get my hormones. I had called in to the pharmacy a week and a half ago and they had faxed the doctor's office twice with no response. This always happens. The pharmacy makes up the prescription to be ready as soon as the doctor signs off on it and then we wait. I called myself on Thursday and wasn't sure at all that the person I talked to was truly going to get the message across to whoever needed to hear it but that must have worked because the refill had been sent in and my precious hormones were ready for pick-up. I have got to find another provider who will prescribe those for me. Since so many celebrities are going through peri-menopause and menopause and speaking up and speaking out about those topics, I have a feeling that a whole lot more women are demanding some hormones to keep themselves from melting down or flaming out. 
I have to say this is a good thing. Women have spent way too many years without having the information we need when we reach these times in our lives which cause major changes in our bodies and in our minds and by god, that needs to stop right now. One of the things women are realizing is that peri-menopause and menopause itself have been sadly under researched and women have been getting the most ridiculous and absolutely non helpful advice from doctors since Eve told Adam to fuck off because she wasn't putting up with his shit one second more. 

So that was that. I went to town and got my hormones and now the world is safe from my ire and the possibility of my spontaneous combustion. For another month, at least. 

Another thing I needed to do was to go by my optometrist's office to get my prescription and then go to Costco to order a pair of sunglasses. 

Y'all. 

Here are the frames I picked out. 

They were about the cheapest frames there and without a doubt, the most glittery. They sparkle with such great intent! 
I am both shocked that I'd choose them, and hoping they get here quick, quick because I want to wear them! 

On to Publix where I did a small bit of shopping. Then finally home where I picked the garden. 

I know you're tired of looking at my produce. Oh well. That's the way it goes. In winter you get pictures of camellias and in summer you get pictures of green beans. 

Mr. Moon has headed back up to Lake Seminole to do whatever it is he is doing there this week. As he was sitting on the bed today, pulling out things from his drawer (the dresser is quite close to the bed) I came in and said, "I always feel like you're leaving me when you're packing up." I wasn't really serious but he threw himself back on the bed and said, "Oh god! If I were leaving you, I'd be packing better clothes than these!"

He had a point. Old, old t-shirts and raggedy shorts. 

He just sent me a few pictures and now I remember what he was doing. Mowing. Or at least that's what he did today. 

It all looks very good except for this.

Do you see what I see? 
CROCOSMIA! 

I'd rather have an infestation of alligators. 

I'm going to go make some tofu curry.

Love...Ms. Moon

The Best Of Friends

As we so often do when Lon and Lis come over, the guys split off and Lis and I do the same. We always chat together for awhile first and all of us enjoy each other's company tremendously but Lis and I need our alone-together time to discuss the things we need to discuss amongst ourselves and I think the men do too. And let's just face it- the things Lis and I discuss might make the men uncomfortable and the things they discuss would probably make us look at each other and roll our eyes. Sorry if I'm being sexist. I'm also being honest. 
So while Lis and I were on the back porch chatting away, the fellas decided to do a walk about the yard and while they were out there, they checked the fig tree which I haven't done in weeks because I never get any mature figs and lo and behold- they found and picked quite a few! I was flabbergasted! That's more figs than I've gotten in the past four years combined.

Happy me. And there are still some yet to ripen so that is tremendous. I have no idea why the critters have left the fruit alone this year. Could it have been the presence of Hawk? 
Who knows? 
Not me. 

So our supper turned out to be one of the most Florida of all possible Florida meals and I am not going to lie- it was damn good. I worked really hard at the tomato pie. Every year I have go through about twenty online recipes to remind myself of what I think works and what doesn't and what I should try and what I shouldn't. In other words, no two of my tomato pies have been alike. I did not grow up eating tomato pies. I'd never even heard of one until maybe fifteen or so years ago. And the first one I made was in Asheville when Lis and I went to Asheville to visit Jessie and Vergil when they were living there. We went to a farmer's market and got THE MOST BEAUTIFUL heirloom tomatoes you've ever seen, or at least I'd ever seen, and I have no idea where I'd heard about tomato pie but I decided to make one and we still haven't quit talking about that or the world's most beautiful and gigantic heirloom tomato which was the star of that show. I find it strange that people talk about how tomato pie is some big southern tradition and say that their recipe was passed down from their grandmother because I just don't think anyone used to make them. 
Maybe Paula Deen invented them. 

Over the years I have learned that it is of utmost importance to blind bake the pie crust and I've also come to realize that draining the sliced tomatoes on paper towels or dishtowels and then perhaps roasting them for a little while in a casual manner on a baking sheet on parchment paper adds up to a pie that is not soggy. 
And that's what I did yesterday. 
You make a goop of mayonnaise, grated cheese, and an egg to go between the layers of the tomatoes (or, some recipes just call for you to put that all on the top) and I added basil, chopped semi-roasted onions, and chopped green onions to that mixture. 
What kind of cheese? 
Whatever makes you happy. The pioneer woman uses blue cheese and although I am one of blue cheese's biggest fans I'm thinking that's not what I want in my tomato pie. I used a sharp cheddar and a little parmesan in yesterday's pie. 

You layer all of that into the mostly pre-baked pie crust and bake it at about 375 degrees until all the cheesy mayonnaisy stuff is not jiggly and then it's done. 

You can add garlic or oregano or whatever you want. And the best suggestion I can make is that you are going to need far more tomato slices than you think you will. 

So we had that and some pan-fried red snapper filets, courtesy of Glen, and I made stone-ground grits which resemble the grits you get in grocery stores or at restaurants about as much as homemade sourdough resembles Merita white bread, not to insult either more processed grits or Merita white bread (which makes excellent catfish bait when you squish some up to make a little dough ball to put on your hook) and I cut up some of our cucumbers and made a salad with those and sliced red onions and sesame seeds and vinegars and, oh, you know, some other stuff. 

I'll be honest- I was somewhat anxious about how I would deal with these foods. I've been eating pretty plain and down to the ground for the last two months and I wasn't sure how I'd react when something like tomato pie was set in front of me. But it was fine. I made a plate of everything on the table and ate until I felt satisfied and that was that. 
I am still finding this unbelievable. 

And of course, the main thing was being with Lis and Lon and being able to enjoy their company, laugh with them, be serious with them, to simply be so grateful for their presence in our house, their presence in our lives. 
And astoundingly, neither Lis nor I cried. 

Today has been a fine day. I decided to go out and see if there were any figs left for me to pick and I got a few. Maurice helped.

Then I came in and decided to make fig preserves. 

Here's the ancient recipe I've always used.

It's been years since I made any and as you may note, the instructions are clear enough except what, exactly, does it mean to cook rapidly until clear? How clear? Say what? 

So I did it by instinct and used a cup less sugar and I think I overcooked them which only means that the preserves are more like some brown sugar candy than preserves but I have a feeling they'll be fine on a biscuit. 

Fruit will cook DOWN, y'all. 

I feel certain the recipe I use is, in all actuality, someone's MeeMaw's recipe. 

And in what is the best news of today here in Lloyd, Mr. Moon has replaced the pump on the washing machine and we are back in business. 
Hoo-boy. 
That man. 

At one point I walked into the laundry room and he was working from the floor with his head UNDER the tilted back machine. I had a few things to say about that and he responded to them which did not completely reassure me but he is still alive so I guess he was right. 

What a man. 

I better go make him his supper. 

Love...Ms. Moon

The One And Only Annual Tomato Pie!

Although it seems like Lon and Lis just got here, they are leaving on Tuesday, I think, to go on home back to Gatorbone. 

Sigh.

They are coming over in just a little while to have martinis (two nights in a row for us!) and tomato pie and a few other little hopefully delicious things. So I'm going to make this very, very short, because I've still got a few things to do before they get here and once they get here, I'm giving my attention to them. 

Be back tomorrow.

Love...Ms. Moon

No Poetic Phrases, Just A Lot of Profanity. Or, Well, A Little

Walking stick on the screen. They are so cool. 

I'm going to keep it very short this evening for several reasons. One is that I am having a hard and hopeless-feeling day. I cried talking to Glen about the things going on. You know what things I'm talking about. He is very good at compartmentalizing and just refuses to let it interfere with his life which, of course, is easier for him as he is a white male whom ICE is highly unlikely to pick up, he's not going to need an abortion, and he's not worried about Medicaid at the moment because it's going to be two years until that shit starts. 
Of course it's a lot more complex than that but Glen has never been big on the "what-ifs?" He deals with what's in front of him and doesn't borrow trouble, as we say around here. 
I wish I was more like him. I have a doctorate in borrowing trouble from the University Of Make Yourself As Miserable As Possible. 

Also, it's the fourth of July. I do not intend to grill burgers, set off firecrackers, wave the flag, say the Pledge of Allegiance, or sing America the Beautiful.
We did go to the Wacissa, just on the off chance that it wasn't so packed with people that we couldn't bear it. 
Bizarrely, it was not. 

Most everyone there was part of a family group which was nice. The little children were well behaved. Only one person was playing music that they perhaps thought we'd all enjoy. HOWEVER there were so many boats coming and going making boat motor sounds and THEN the airboats started coming and going and if you've never heard an airboat then you have no idea how loud something can be. They are horrendous and should be outlawed, at least where other people are exposed to their deathly roar. 
As one of them pulled out to the river, I looked at Glen and asked, "Does he even HAVE a dick?" 
"No," he said. "He does not."

But the water was cold and clear and we saw a great white heron patiently stalking fishes or frogs in the lily pads and there is always a measure of some peace beneath the cypress trees. 

We cooled off and then came home. Glen's out in the garage, sitting in his new boat, reading about all the stuff on it and how to use it and of course, happy as he can be. I changed the sheets on the bed but couldn't wash the sheets I took off because of the busted washer. The clothes from yesterday that had not finished washing couldn't be put in the dryer because they were soaking wet and have already begun to sour, as Glen says, or mildew, as I say. I hung those haphazardly across the rails of the back deck.

While I was out there, I noticed TWO crocosmia which had actually bloomed. This is a rare occurrence and happens about as frequently as I win the lottery. So I picked them and put them in a bottle of water because goddam it, they are pretty and I deserve to get any molecule of enjoyment out of the fuckers that I can.

I'm going to go make a shrimp salad (thank you, Anne-Helene) and drink a martini. And then I will drink another one. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

He Is Home

I should really close my closet doors but no one sees our bedroom except for me and (sometimes, when he's home) Mr. Moon and Maurice. 
Oh, Dorothy Anne and she doesn't care. Neither do I or Maurice and if Mr. Moon does, he hasn't said anything. He keeps his closet doors shut. He's a fairly tidy person and I do appreciate that in a husband. 

I was pretty happy this morning when I got up and realized there was nothing I HAD to do. I spent a good deal of time this morning picking up packages that a certain poet sent me because it's our birthday month. Oh my god. She is so kind and so thoughtful. 

Thank you, darling woman. 

Then I decided it was the day to get those sagos trimmed so I did that. I probably worked about forty-five minutes doing one side of the line of them in front of the porch and by then I was soaked through and knew I needed to come in and cool off so I did and I ate my lunch and then I went out and finished up. 

I took off every frond that had any yellow on it, damage from last winter's freezes. As the sweat dripped off me I thought about the snow we got last winter and how long it stuck around and that just seemed like a dream. An impossible dream. But it happened. We had snow! 

Of course I hauled all the fronds to the burn pile along with a few crocosmia I pulled up. Futile damn effort. 
Remember last year when I spent days and days pulling the motherfuckers out of the bed by the driveway? Of course you don't. Why would you? I'm always bitching about crocosmia. 

Well, here's all the good that work did. 

Do you see why vinegar or cardboard or any other "natural" answer to this problem JUST WOULD NOT WORK? 
It really does need to just be dug out with a front-loader. And honey, that ain't the only part of the yard that's choked with it. Same-same behind the fence too. 

Anyway, lopping the sago fronds was pretty good exercise and as I always say, if sweating really did work as a detox for our bodies, I would have no toxins at all within me but it's not so I do. 
You understand. 

Just as I was walking in from the garden where I'd just spent a few minutes pulling up a few, I promise! weeds and got stabbed by a rose thorn that made me so mad I thought about lopping that whole thing to the ground, Mr. Moon pulled up with his new boat. 
Hurray! 
It is a very good looking boat and it looks brand new. I believe that right after the guy in Texas bought it, he and his wife had a baby and then another one and well...you know how that goes. The wife finally said, "Get this boat out of the garage. I want to park my car in here," and obviously being a good husband, the man did. 

Plenty of room in our garage where no cars have ever been parked except for project cars. 

So there I was, sweat-drenched, red as the wild hibiscus, dirty, and bleeding, to greet my husband. 
So romantic. And I was happy to see him although those were just tomatoes in my pocket. 

I showered and he got the boat put away and when he came in he needed a shower because he'd been working in the garage for half an hour and then he started a load of his clothes, which was thoughtful but when I went into the laundry room to fold a load in the dryer that I'd washed earlier, the washing machine was not running and had an error message on it. 

Ooh boy. 

Well, I won't bore you with the details but it looks like we might need a new pump and you that what I mean is, Glen spent at least an hour or more trying to figure out the cause of the machine not working and the grinding sound it was making and had to pull the washer out from the wall (man it was gross back there) and do all that stuff that you have to do (don't ask me) and watch a bunch of videos on what might be wrong with the washer and how to fix it. 

Welcome home, honey! 

And it's finally really happened. While he was gone I basically ate the same thing every night and didn't care but today I had to figure out what to thaw to make for our supper tonight and it was not easy. 
I still don't really have a menu set in stone. I have made some extremely fiber-rich focaccia to eat with salad (surprise!) and I thawed chicken thighs so those things will be part of the dining experience. 

Poor Glen. 

Hey- did you see that it rained on the concentration camp in the Everglades and the place flooded? Not like washed-away flooded but like, water all over the floors. And that was just summer rain. I hear they do have an evacuation plan but I seriously doubt it. This administration has no problem at all with lying out their lying asses and I'm not going to talk about what happened in the House today.

As Lis would say, I'm trying to find my lotus flower. 

Love...Ms. Moon