A Quiet Day At Home For Me

The sasangua camellias are starting to bloom in my yard. They are always the first to open. They are much smaller versions of the camellia Japonicas which bloom a bit later on in the winter. I love these smaller ones. They are such bright bits of glory, so perfect in their way.

Can you believe it's camellia blooming time again? 

The purple oxalis is blooming too in little clumps throughout the yard. 

The children always called them "sour flowers" because the blooms are indeed edible and sour. They would pick and nibble them, and I think they especially enjoyed eating something that grew wild in the yard. 

And look who is following me around outside again.

She is doing quite well, I think. She is certainly eating like a champ. 

Mr. Moon went hunting today. He started out at 4:30 a.m. and was in the woods doing things with deer stands and other stuff until later on this evening but it's still so hot and the mosquitoes are bad so he came on home. No deer were caught. 
Mosquitoes have taken on a completely new level of threat and although the odds of getting a mosquito borne illness are low, it's hard to ignore the fact that there IS indeed a chance when your best friend is in hospice because of one lousy bite. 
And yes, Alan has been moved to hospice tonight. Finally. They will take good care of him and know how to best usher him with all dignity and peace out of this life. It truly is amazing he's still with us, breathing, his heart beating, his body acting all on its own with nothing but palliative care for days now. He is a strong man. In many ways. 
Glen will go and see him tomorrow morning. 

I spent the day mostly working on my latest clay effort and once again, I realize I truly have no ability to think ahead to things like how a piece will or will not work. I thought I had a good idea and honestly, it was NOT a bad idea. I wanted to hand build a small bowl and decorate the top edge with very small fishes, all different, all cheerful. 
Fine. And after I'd spent all day working on it, I realized that the bowl is too shallow for the fishes to really stand out and so of course I feel disappointed and frustrated too. But I will get it fired and then glaze paint it and see what I see. Right now, the work looks very rough and it is rough but perhaps I have learned from my mistakes and can make another one and do it better. 
Or, perhaps I should just concentrate on platters and other flatter objects. 
I was sadly disappointed yesterday to find that my bird had not been fired but I just set the leaves I'd remade next to it on the shelf where these things wait for their turn in the kiln and hopefully, eventually, they will be ready for me to take them to the next step. I do have hope for them. We won't have class this Wednesday because it's Veteran's Day but I can go in and see if they're done early next week so I can get started with the painting process which I do so very much enjoy and if not, I can start a new project, having my clay and tools here at home. 

And that's really all I have to talk about this evening. I want to get supper made at a reasonable hour and I'm already running late on that. I've spent too much time online, happy-scrolling. Is that what we'd call it? I still cannot believe what happened on Tuesday. I just can't but in my heart, I know that something has indeed changed and changed monumentally for the better. I simply do not have the ability to trust hope any more, even with all of the reasons I should. Not with that man still in the oval office, not with his puppet masters still in positions to pull his strings. 

Here's another picture of the orange girl cat that I just took.

She looks evil, doesn't she? And yes, she has obviously knocked the babies about a bit but I don't think I've ever seen her come to rest there which is the underneath part of the vanity right beside my bed. 
Oh, I love that damn cat. At least she never ceases to surprise me. Often with her teeth but that's just part of the package of living with Maurice. 

August and Levon are coming to spend the night tomorrow. I am excited. There will be chicken and dumplings. Oh, how I hope they let me read them some of the old favorite stories! 
They may. They are sweet like that to their old Mermer. 
But mostly they'll probably want to watch TV and have pancakes for breakfast. 
And that's okay too. 

Love...Ms. Moon