Thursday, April 9, 2026

These Things Keep Me Out Of The Pool Halls. Also, The Opium Dens (Sigh)


Those two bunches of blooming oxalis cheer me several times a day as they are on my route from house to garden and also the compost pile.


Close-up. 


Yet another cluster. 

Because Mr. Moon is somewhat occupied with other things at the moment, he's not getting around to mowing the lawn very much which mostly I don't mind at all because I love seeing the tiny flowers that spring up this time of year. So many! And let's tell the truth and admit we do not have a lawn, per se, but we do have a yard and it does occasionally need mowing. Right now the front "yard" needs mowing because the skinny bamboo you can't get rid of by kicking is getting higher by the day and there are other plants growing which someone else needs to deal with because I already have enough on my plate when it comes to that. I am trying to keep up with fallen branches in that area and there are quite few because the trees growing there are mostly water oaks which I've been told by someone who knows, are quite old for that particular variety of oak tree. 
They are showing their age by spitefully throwing off their branches with no regard to person or property. 

Here's the one on the east side of our front yard.


I don't know if you can tell but there's a big ass dead branch just waiting for the right moment to come crashing down. 


Now this one is right by the fence which means it's also right by the power line and Glen has tried to convince the guys who trim the trees around the lines that they should take this tree down because when it falls, which it inevitably will someday, it's going to take the lines with it. 
So far they haven't bought the undeniable fact that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 
Which, yeah, sort of applies to this situation. 

I'm tired again tonight and was wondering why. I even told Glen, who came home a few hours ago that I really hadn't done that much today and then I thought about it and I'm not sure what I define as not doing much but I did enough to create a little fatigue in this old, albeit fairly strong, body. One of the things I did which I am most excited about was to weed parts of the garden and plant a row of marigolds from seeds I collected from last year's plants and also, two of the grow bags are now sprinkled with arugula seeds so that we shall have some sort of fresh salad stuff this summer. My zinnias are coming up and my beans are starting to climb the fence with their mysteriously intelligent tendrils who somehow know just where and what to reach out to. The potatoes are looking very fine and the tomatoes I've planted in grow bags don't look too shabby either. 
My peppers? 
Eh. We never have much luck with peppers here and I do not know why. They just never get very big. Same with the eggplant. The squashes and cucumbers and the Seminole pumpkins seem to be fine. The sugar snap peas we planted way too late are finally starting to bloom so perhaps we'll get a few of those. 
And oh! The Thai basil seeds I planted about a month ago (!) are showing up with great vigor and another basil I planted last year and can't remember what country it represents, froze all to hell and not only are there tiny sproutlings of it coming up in the grow bag I planted it in, they are also coming up all around that area in the general dirt. 
Maybe I should just grow a basil jungle. 

Write what you know
Plant what will grow.

Something like that? 

And I did laundry and made a chicken and rice soup for Rachel and Hank and perhaps hardest of all- I made an appointment with our beloved Melissa to get something done with my hair. So next Thursday I'll be sitting in her chair asking for help. The one drawback of the weight loss is that I have lost a lot of hair. At least some of it is growing back and it's all such old granny hair which is fine. It's very soft, sort of springy, and very white. And how the hell do we incorporate that with what I have? I wear my hair up 99% of the time so it doesn't really matter but it does matter a little bit. 

And oh yeah- I did some ironing. Just a little teeny tiny bit. 
And I kicked bamboo. 

I have every right to be mildly fatigued. 

Mr. Moon has come and gone. He had a fishing association of some sort dinner and then tomorrow morning, off we'll go to Magnolia's lunch and then on to soup delivery. On Saturday we'll be picking up August and Levon from Aunt Lily's house Of Fun And Abundant Joy and bringing them back here to spend the night so that Jessie and Vergil can go out of town to celebrate their 10th anniversary. 
Chicken and dumplings and pancakes will be involved.

Now- let me ask this- just where is this mythical land of retired relaxation? 
Steve Reed- are you paying attention? 

Love...Ms. Moon



30 comments:

  1. That oxalis is so beautiful. I love pink flowers, and yellow flowers, and purple flowers, I guess most flowers really.
    It was Jack's birthday today and he never heard from his mom or his grandma. Sigh.
    I'm feeling human again and I am very thankful for that, because bitchy, tired me is not a nice person to live with.
    I can't wait to see what your new haircut looks like. Mine has grown long again and I'm not sure what I'll do with it. The nice thing about hair is that it grows back.
    Have a wonderful day tomorrow/today.

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    1. I guess Jack's mom and other grandmother figured they just saw him at Easter?
      Nah. Really- that's inexcusable.
      I have no idea what sort of haircut I'm going to get. Hopefully, Melissa will have some ideas.

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  2. Yesterday Gary gave me a container of -- chicken and dumplings. And I'd made pancakes for breakfast in the absence of toast. Channeling Mary moon!

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    1. That's so funny! Were they fluffy dumplings or flat?

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    2. Ah- the like ones I made in NC when I had no self-rising flour and was sick to boot. When August took his first bite he said, "These dumplings are hard as rocks!" I still laugh about that.

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  3. Your post title made me laugh. I always say that I misspent my youth in law school, but then I smartened up and started frequenting pool halls. I love playing pool. It's the only sport (if you can call it that) at which I'm any good. But I must say I've never been in an opium den. At least not yet.

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    1. I've never played enough pool to have any idea if I'm any good or not. I remember a few good games but that was probably sort-of-beginner's luck.
      But hell yeah, I'd go to an opium den. Probably a good thing there's not too many around.

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  4. let me know when you find an opium den, please...

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  5. Retired relaxation? It's a myth.

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  6. Retired relaxation comes with a tiny one bedroom flat with a minuscule yard that grows very little so needs no constant care. I have heard that Wegovy and those other weight loss methods do cause hair loss which grows back when you stop taking it.
    I like the sound of Lily's House of Fun and Abundant Joy, but I bet it gets super noisy too and I don't think I could take much of that.

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    1. Any major weight loss is probably going to cause loss of hair. As I understand it, many people never do stop taking it because if you do, you're just going to gain all the weight back. I tend to think I'll be on it as long as I possibly can be. The freedom from food's hold on me is like a miracle.
      Lily's House of Fun and Abundant Joy probably will be a little noisy.

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  7. We don’t do half as much as you do in a day and we’ve become spoiled a bit in retirement. Like, if we have an appointment during the day (one appointment), ugh, we have so much to do! I’ll bet Steve ends up filling just about every minute.

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    1. Oh my god. I'd rather work outside in the heat for three hours than go to a thirty-minute appointment any day of the week. I DREAD upcoming ones for weeks. Okay, months. I'm not even kidding.
      I doubt Steve will be become slothful, to say the least.

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  8. I enjoy reading your posts, Mary, although I rarely comment on any blogs. Yours is particularly interesting to me as I grew up and lived just a couple of hours from Tallahassee in Dothan and you and I are the same age. Now we live in New England. I just wanted to say that as someone who enjoys gardening and “yard work” I would be a nervous wreck knowing that bamboo was insidiously growing and spreading in my yard. How do you mentally cope?

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    1. Dothan is a cool town! I'm glad you enjoy reading my posts and thanks for taking the time to comment.
      Honestly, worrying about the bamboo is not even in my top twenty list of things I obsessively worry about. As long as we take care of it in the sprout stage, we're good. Although we always miss some.

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  9. A friend lives under a similar tree. Dead 4-foot limbs come down and hit their roof, but the tree grows on neighbors yard. Both rentals. So they complain and wait till they have another boom over their heads. She’s a nervous wreck as she’s home caring for a granddaughter most days. Of course I’d also be exhausted with that day!

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    1. Yeah! Some of these limbs are as big as other trees!
      If I were your friend, I'd be worried too.

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  10. No wonder you are tired! You do a lot during your day. I actually got outside and did some gardening yesterday - surprise, surprise! I was inspired by you and Steve and the other Ellen. I'm hoping to do a better job this year but we shall see when it gets too hot around here... ;)

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    1. Yes. I'm wondering how I'll do working in the heat this summer.

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  11. Oh, Lord, what am I in for?! LOL

    I actually have no doubt that I will be busy as heck, at least initially. I already have a list of projects.

    My brother and his neighbors in Jacksonville all have water oaks on their properties, and apparently there is much discussion about how to preserve the trees while not allowing them to collapse on the houses.

    I didn't realize the weight-loss meds change hair?!

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    1. After a certain point, water oaks and turkey oaks just can't be preserved (usually 50 - 75 years). They rot from the inside and start dropping massive branches on everything. Great in a forest, where they provide shelter for a bunch of species. Not so great by your house.

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    2. The thing you're going to have to remember, Steve, is that you don't have to complete all your tasks and projects in a day. NO TIMELINE! And that's the cool thing but it can take some mind adjustment. Are you going to start sleeping later? I'll be curious to hear about that.
      And yes, Hank is right. Of course. He's Trivia Guy! Also, he just knows a lot of stuff.
      Hank- when we moved here 22 years ago (!) Scott Buchanan told us the same thing and that he thought the ones in this yard might even be as old as 100 then. He was an arborist at the time so I figure he knew what he was talking about. The pecans drop branches regularly too. And the Chinaberry too, to be honest. Trees are our friends until they try to kill us.

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  12. I had some of that oxylis and foolishly dug it up to put in a pot or move it, I forget which, and it all promptly died.

    I have three pecans and two oaks and all five continuously drop branches. Clear the yard one day and the next have to do it again. and god forbid there's a strong wind.

    What I want to know is who has time to relax? Life is work. All the time.

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    1. My kids and grandkids used to call it sour flower because you can indeed eat it and it is sour. I'm sorry yours died. We just treat it like a weed here but I certainly enjoy looking at it and I appreciate it too.
      My pecans drop branches too. They are old, I do believe. We talk about taking them out because they never give us any nuts but they do offer a great deal of shade in the summer.
      Ellen! You have to make yourself relax. I sincerely doubt that on my death bed I'll be crying about the fact that I never got all the crocosmia pulled up.

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  13. Your oxalis growing in a large expansive mass is lovely. The pink is gorgeous.
    It is tree branch clean-up on my property too. The winter snow and winds have removed weak tree branches, and I am picking them up and adding them to a burn pile.
    All your planting efforts sound so good. It is still too cold for planting here. I did get all my decorative pots for the patio and walkways in position.
    Let's acknowledge, there is no need for a gym membership when you have a big garden and a property with lots of trees.

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    1. Although I can't say I really enjoy picking up branches and hauling them to the burn pile, it is somehow satisfying, isn't it? It's like tidying the kitchen and putting things away where they belong.
      You do get a pretty good workout doing yard work and gardening but I definitely need more aerobic exercise.

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