Colors

The soft, lightweight muslin blanket I ordered last week arrived yesterday evening and I was excited to get it. Unfortunately, as I had feared, the color is more of a sagey-olive color than what was pictured online.

I do, however, like the weight of it and the fact that it's big enough to act nicely as a bedspread and actually, I think it would look very good in the guest room which is painted almost the same color green but lighter. It was not that expensive and so I believe I'll order another one of a different color for our bedroom whose walls are a very soft blue with just the merest suggestion of a lavender. Maybe not even a suggestion. Maybe just a vague idea. But I'm going to sleep under this one before I make that for-sure decision.

In some ways, I got nothing done today. In another way, I accomplished a huge task. Well, what I consider a huge task. But before I get there, I'll tell you that Lily and Jessie and all the kids met up for lunch (of course!) at the Mexican restaurant in Tallahassee that we like because we can sit outside and not bother anyone. It was the first meet-up of the sisters and the cousins since Jessie got back and so there was much to catch up on. The kids took up their relationships right where they left them a few months ago and so did Lily and Jessie. I pretty much knew most of the news from both sides so I didn't have much to offer but after we'd finished eating but still talking, Owen came around the table and sat down next to me and we had one of our good chats. Today we discussed teachers. The really, really good ones that can change your life. He told me about a few he's had, notably one science teacher, and I told him about my favorite college professor, the dearly departed Dr. Jones who taught American political history. I have written about him in years past. Owen and I agreed a teacher who loves the subject they teach and who has good teaching skills, can make you love the subject too. We all know this is true. 
And we agreed that some teachers just really should not be in a classroom. We did not elaborate on that subject though. 

I got no pictures from lunch. I have no idea why. Everyone was so busy talking and eating, I guess. But it was really fun and Maggie went home with Jessie and August and Levon for a play date and Lily took her big boys home so she could take a nap. She had to get up at three this morning to get to work to do some sort of inventory or something. So yes, she needed a nap badly. The boys probably did too, having spent the night at their dad's where bedtimes are not really enforced. They're not strictly enforced at Lily's house either but all of this is about to change since school starts on Monday. There are going to be some difficult mornings for a while before brains and bodies adjust to the changes.

And then I decided to go to a Goodwill a few miles down the road. I specifically was looking for dishes and twin bed sheets. Goodwill has gotten so expensive lately that it's not nearly as exciting as it used to be but it's not a bad idea to check things out occasionally. 
So I drove there and went in the store, got a little cart in an optimistic moment, and before I got ten yards into the store I found these.

They hadn't been put on the shelf yet and I grabbed them up and put them in my cart in the space of a breath. 
Now here's the thing. When we were in North Carolina, staying at the perfect house on the creek, the kitchen had Fiesta Ware just like this, in all the colors. Glen and I talked about how having dishes like that would certainly add some color to the cabin's kitchen and they are sturdy, too. When we got home, I did a little online searching and found that a set of bowls, plates, and salad plates for four cost right around $160.00. But in some sort of Goodwill glitch, I got 12 dinner plates, ten salad plates, and ten bowls for $40.00. 

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? 

Come to mama, you shiny, colorful things, you. 

There are colors in this collection that I've never seen in Fiesta Ware before. 

In a way, they remind me of zinnias- happy colors. 

So that is the big thing I accomplished. I got the dishes for the cabin and they are the exact ones Mr. Moon really wanted. He is so pleased. I am too, really. I feel like that was the biggest gift I ever got from the gods of thrifting. 

And speaking of Mr. Moon, here's the picture he sent ME this evening. 

Stove is in. He sent me the basic instruction sheet via text and I was not thrilled to learn that I can't use copper or some types of stainless steel which rules out the Revere Ware I was trying to put together for that kitchen. Oh well. At least I can use cast iron. And of course Le Creuset is just FINE but I'm not going to find that in a thrift store. Even the knock-off, copy-cats you can sometimes, but hardly ever find, are dinged up. 

Sigh.

We shall persevere and I need to learn how to use an induction cook-top. 

For all of you who suggested that I hire someone to come and deal with this downed tree while Mr. Moon isn't here, I thank you but that's not how our marriage works. All marriages have unwritten and unspoken contracts, I believe, which are silently written and agreed to over the years and which we generally abide by. Say what you will- that is how it usually works. And in our marriage, Glen is the one who handles the things like dead trees laying in the driveway. Of course I would love for him to hire someone to do it but that's not up to me. It's not an inexpensive service to pay for and he may want to do it himself, more for the fact that he can rather than any other reason and and I will let him make the decision. 

I think I might make some sweet and sour tofu tonight to change things up. I'm pressing the tofu, I've found a recipe, and now I'm going to go chop up some vegetables. 

Glen chops up trees, I chop up onions and peppers. 

This is what works for us. Y'all do what works for you. 

Love...Ms. Moon