Feeling Better

Well, well. Look who's in this month's edition of Florida Sportsman magazine. Of course they spelled his name wrong. Almost everyone does. The point is, however, that he was so happy in that picture. It was the first triple-tail he ever caught. The family is proud of him. I would also be proud if he caught another triple-tail because those fish are incredibly delicious. 

I did not make it to pottery. When my phone woke me so gently and so melodically this morning at seven, I laid there for a moment and then thought, Oh hell no. Maurice, who was cuddled up next to me added her vocal disapproval of the idea and we both went back to sleep. I did text Jessie and tell her that I simply could not get out of bed at that hour but that if I felt better when I woke up, I'd meet her there. 
I did feel better when I woke up but the idea of getting dressed and going to town and being creative and productive seemed just about impossible so I gave up the idea. As the morning progressed, I felt better and better. My eyes, which had felt achy and flu-like since Monday began to feel like regular eyes again and I even felt like I could get out into the garden and do some more planting. Which I did. I planted collard greens and turnip greens, mixed kales, and arugula. I also did some weeding. It was only about an hour's work but it was hot. However, I felt up to the task and was so happy to get more things planted. 

Another thing I wanted to get done today was the making of the layers for Lily's birthday cake. I'd asked her last week if she wanted me to make her a cake and she said that a mama-made Mississippi Mud cake was always a good thing and so that's what I am making. 
The recipe I use is from this cookbook. 

The copyright date on that is 1987 so the recipes aren't that new but as we all know, a good recipe is a good recipe now and forever. 

This cake is the very definition of "moist". It's almost like a flourless cake. It has flour in it but the ratio of flour to liquid is quite different than in most other cakes. It calls for being baked in a bundt pan and then served with whipped cream or a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate chips melted and mixed with cream or coffee painted on. 
Now that is all well and good but I believe that a birthday cake needs frosting. Know what I mean? And there's a recipe in the same cookbook for a chocolate frosting and I'll be making that. I didn't make a bundt cake but layers instead because it's the spaces in-between layers where you can really up the frosting volume. Know what I mean? 
So I got the cake into three cake pans and I baked them and by golly, they did not come out of the pans very well and there are some, well, gappy places and sort of torn places although I tried with all my jig-saw talent (haha!) to get things back together where they should go. 
Sigh.
I've put all the layers on parchment paper in the freezer so that I'll be able to frost them without completely pulling them apart. Lily's birthday isn't until Saturday so maybe everything will somehow magically work out. I've always said (and my family will attest to the truth of this) that my cakes taste a hell of a lot better than they look. And it is true. I have no idea how many birthday cakes I've made in my life, considering the fact that I have four children and a husband. I think we could safely say there have been hundreds. And honestly- none of them have been gorgeous. But none of them have disappointed in taste. 

And look what I found when I opened the cookbook's cover to find the copyright date.

Neither Lily nor I remember her giving it to me and we think it is possible that I bought it at Goodwill and gave it to her to "give" to me. Mothers do these things sometimes. But that little message in Lily's handwriting is the best present she could have given me. 

I just had a call from August. Vergil has given them a phone to share. All they can do on it is to call and text and play a few games. It's an old phone of his which is about four inches in height. Height? Whatever. It is tiny. As I told August, "Don't swallow it by accident!" 
I've been getting texts from the boys and also calls. These delight me, of course. Sometimes I am not sure which boy sent me which text but sometimes they do identify themselves. That is helpful. 
However, it's not too hard to just pretend I know who's texting. The other day I got a text that said, "I love you soooooooooooo much"

We're not quite there on punctuation yet but their spelling is pretty good. 

I had no idea which of them sent it so I responded, "I love YOU sooooooooooooooo much and I am glad you are my grandson."

Now see? That works for both of them and is the truth whether we are talking about August or Levon. 
Later on in the day I got another text: "I love you this is levon"

I responded, "I love YOU! This is MerMer."
And then, "Love you even more."
To which I replied, "I bet you don't! I love you with all my MerMer heart."

And he said, "Ya I no."

Oh, my MerMer heart. 

So anyway, August and I had a good conversation. He asked me if I knew what Duolingo was. I told him that yes, I did, and he said that he is learning Russian on it and that Levon is learning Spanish. 
Now THIS is a good use of screens. 

Mr. Moon reported this morning that after a good night's sleep he had made a miraculous recovery and was GETTING THINGS DONE! 
Hoo-boy. Of course he was. He has sent me a few pictures this evening. 

And this a little while later.

He is such a very happy man. 

I just checked the news. I don't want to talk about it. Every day, another horror. Or...five or ten or fifty. 

I'm going to go heat up the tofu which I again boiled, air-fried, and made a sauce for. I'm obsessed. I'm not sure I've ever eaten one thing so repeatedly in such a short space of time. I will try and branch out tomorrow. 

Love...Ms. Moon