Rain Blessings

This is where Maurice has spent most of this rainy day. And yes, the rain did finally show up and it has arrived in torrents and in sheets and in great toad-strangling downpours. The worst of it, I think, was when I was driving home from town after I picked up my HORMONES! 
It started just as I was leaving Tallahassee and I crawled all the way to Lloyd, slowly and carefully because I could barely see fifteen feet in front of me. Nobody was going very fast, not even the usual assholes who believe they have super powers of visual perception even in a blinding rain and who pass you, throwing up huge floods of water which temporarily and absolutely blind you for a few seconds.
And I made it, safe and sound. I did NOT take the interstate, believe me, but one of the back roads and that served me well.  

That was hours ago and it looks like it might rain all night and well into tomorrow. 
Drink up, you Ancient Oaks! The rain anoints your leaves and branches as your great spreading roots revel in the holy water soaking through the purifying leaf mulch and dirt so that you may drink it.
Okay. That was a bit overblown. 
I really do feel like that though.

Before it started to rain this morning I made my daily pass through the garden. That really is one of my favorite things to do. The field peas are blooming and soon we'll be picking and shelling those. The zinnias are really coming to full blooming life and the butterflies are noticing. The few tomato plants we have are looking pretty good and I'm not seeing any of the usual diseases that can take them over and so far we haven't seen any of the usual pests that bother them either. This could possibly be due to the recent drier conditions and if so, we can expect this good fortune to come to an end. 
I did see this pest on the bean vines though.

Yep. The Georgia Thumpers have reached full maturity and that's what they look like. See the green bean in the picture? Those bugs don't even look real, do they? 

Same critter. He's probably about two and a half inches long and I thought about swatting him to the ground and stomping him but I swear- I just could not. It's too big for me to murder. As you can see, they eat the leaves, not necessarily the beans which I suppose is good but if they eat all the leaves, there will be no beans so there is that too. 
It's a rather fascinating creature, isn't it? Actually beautiful in its way. 

Of course while I was in the garden I had to pick some beans and although I'd just picked yesterday, I got another good half basket full and that was just a casual picking. 

My white eggplant is coming along.

Looks like the Thumpers have visited them, too. 

I really need to give some support to the peppers. I doubt I'll do that tomorrow as I have pottery and as we all know, I can only really handle one activity a day. 

The Seminole pumpkins I planted are absolutely thriving. 

And I didn't plant that many of them. A few vines have escaped the garden fence and are snaking along the ground outside. I do love a good native heirloom. They seem so very happy to be given the chance at life. Glen asked the other day what we're going to do with these Seminole pumpkins. I said, "I have no idea. Pumpkin stuff, I guess." 
I'm thinking soups and pies. Possibly casseroles. So of course I just looked it up and there are many recipes featuring them including crumbles, pumpkin bread and other baked goods. 
And they'll last a year if stored in a cool dark place so...
I'm excited. 

My whole plan for today was to get to town to get the hormones and then zoom back home and get right to work on the hibiscus. 
Well. That didn't exactly happen. I got the hormones, and then I went by the Credit Union for a little bit of banking and then I ran into Publix because I forget to get eggs yesterday and also, I was starving so I wanted something to eat and somehow this all took forever, not to mention the fact that I didn't get out of Lloyd until much later than I'd planned (gotta pick those beans, y'all!) but I did finally sit down and slow down and had a very good time mixing glazes and using them to paint this thing that I've been working on since Jesus was a titty baby. 

And it's still not done. 

The glaze is still drying in some places there. I am SO curious to see how the colors turn out. 

Hopefully, and with any luck, I'll get it ready for the kiln tomorrow. Whatever happens, I'll be happy to see my pottery ladies. 

Mr. Moon has an annual with Dr. Zorn on Thursday morning so he'll be back tomorrow. I've enjoyed my quiet time although I don't feel as if I've done nearly as many things as I had hoped I would. This is how it always turns out though. I never have time to be lonely and I'm never bored. And Maurice has done a good job of taking care of me. She slept cuddled up and quiet all night last night and this morning, when I came out onto the porch I found a perfectly intact and absolutely dead little mousie. I know she left it right there on purpose, knowing that's exactly where I'd walk and would find it. I feel that when she brings me an entire critter that she has not even nibbled on, that it's definitely a gift. Now how she manages to kill a mouse without leaving a mark on it is beyond me. Mr. Moon and I have discussed this before. I suggested that she simply scares them to death. 
Whatever and however, it's somehow touching. And as Glen said, "She's like no other cat we've ever had." 
He is right. 

Suddenly I am inspired to post a Springsteen video. The song is "Mary's Place" and I know I've posted a video (or two) of this song before but I don't think I've even ever seen this video of him and the E-Street Band doing it in Barcelona. 
As always, I have no expectations of anyone actually watching this video but if you'd like to have just the tiniest, most molecular idea of what seeing Springsteen live is like, this is not a bad video to watch. Also, The Big Man, Clarence Clemons was still alive and still bringing his presence to the stage and I feel so fortunate that I got to see him play the two times I saw the E Street Band live. I've written a lot about him and what he's meant to me before but here's a post I always return to.  

Oh, Bruce. As I said in that post, music can put a healin' on ya. 

We need that now more than ever and Bruce has stepped up to do just that, powerfully expressing his feelings about Donald Trump and what he has done and is doing to our country. 

This video, however, is Bruce doing yet another song he's written about me, or at least someone named Mary and yes, he was raised Catholic so there you go but if I want to believe they are my songs, what's the harm? 

Mary's Place

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain. 

Love...Ms. Moon