Sunday Stuff

Life sustaining cookies for the hunter. 

 Today has been a day of mixed emotions mostly consisting of being a little sad that Mr. Moon is about to go off to hunt again mixed with a bit of apprehension about tomorrow's needle biopsy thing, even though I feel quite sure that it is not the sinister thing we were worried about. I an also apprehensive about the fact that the appointment is at 8:40 in the morning which is- well, too early in my opinion. But of course I must be there. He said I didn't but I do. 

So I've been very sweet to him all day. Actually, I'm generally pretty sweet to him to be honest and he is very sweet to me. I like that about us. I made him a swell breakfast with possibly the best biscuits I've ever made. Last night I decided to feed my sourdough starter and instead of dumping out a cup of it to replace with flour and water, I made up a biscuit dough with self-rising flour and milk, the un-fed starter, and butter and let that sit in the refrigerator all night. I had no real idea what I was doing but this morning I mixed up a little more flour and buttermilk and a tiny bit of baking soda and gently kneaded that into the dough with sourdough in it and rolled it all out, cut biscuits, set them in an iron skillet and let them rise for awhile before I baked them. 
Uh, yes please. They may have been better than angel biscuits and that is saying a lot. Easier to make too. I'll probably never be able to replicate the recipe in my whole life which is the problem with cooking and baking by touch, feel, and instinct. 

I did a little ironing for the man and I made those cookies, too, which many of you who have been visiting here for a long time know about. I use the Quaker oats recipe for "Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies," don't add the cinnamon, and put raisins and chocolate chips and pecans in them. Thus- life-sustaining. 
Levon and August came by their sweet tooths (teeth?) naturally. Their grandfather loves these things. 

Okay. Here is something that excites me and brings me great joy. 

I doubt that anyone has any idea what that is so I will tell you: When we were down in Roseland in October the sea grapes were full of fruit. Sea grapes are a protected plant in Florida as they grow by the coasts and protect the dunes and waterline. I grew up with them and have always loved them. When grown, they look like this. 

The fruit is not a true grape but it is edible either raw or made into jams. It is illegal to even pick them to eat, though, so I may or may not have broken the law by gathering a few of the dropped fruits when we visited a museum down near the Sebastian Inlet where they were growing. I wrapped them in a paper napkin, brought them home, and planted them in a plastic nursery pot. For two months I have kept them watered and have seen no signs of sprouting until today when I saw that tiny, tiny sea grape leaf with its jaunty hat of the seed hull. There is another one too, which has broken through. 
I can't even tell you how happy I am to see these brave little sprouts. I may not be able to actually cultivate the plants here- they probably need at least a modicum of salt in their diet and Lloyd is notably short on that. But, the fact that they have sprouted means a lot to me. 

And now I'm going to go make a grouper supper and go to bed early so that I can get up at some ungodly hour. Yes. I am a spoiled old woman. 

I will report in tomorrow. 

As always.

Love...Ms. Moon

Dumplings To Pancakes

I used my widest diameter pot in which to cook the chicken and dumplings so that I could fit in about a thousand dumplings. There's nothing sadder than a low dumpling-to-chicken stew ratio. 
That was not a problem last night. Dumplings for days! 

By the time we get around to eating supper here the boys were cranking it up to eleven when it comes to being wired. 
There were so many jokes told, many involving poop. 

 

I did not have the heart to suggest that this was not appropriate for the supper table. 

I did feel that it behooved us all, though, to point out the fact that a funny joke told once is great, twice- not so much, three times- forget it. August is really starting to get humor. He told us this morning that for April Fool's next year he wants to bring a box to school and tell everyone that it's filled with brownies. Inside will be many brown...E's. Get it? 

There were showers and stories and ice cream sodas and teeth brushing and then tuck-in's and they were both asleep before I could get the light turned out. Levon has become famous (infamous?) for getting up in the early, early hours. I mean, like getting up and staying awake until daytime. We did our best last night to try and convey the message that if he woke up and it wasn't yet light, to stay in his bed. 
Harumph. 
At five a.m. I woke up to find the little man standing by my bed saying, "MerMer, is it time to get up yet?"
"Lord no, child," I said, and welcomed him into bed and cuddled him up, hoping that he might just sink back into sleep but no, he did not. He tried so hard to be good but there was wiggling and sighing and "Mer, I am so bored," for an hour while Jack, who I suppose was jealous, was smashed up against me on the other side. At six, Brother August appeared and at that point, Boppy got up with them, Hallelujah, and I went back to sleep for a few hours. 

Of course Boppy let them watch TV while he snoozed in his chair and when I got up they'd been eating bananas and having juice- first breakfast. I had a cup of coffee and started in on the bacon and pancakes which they ate like little pancake monsters. I swear- August eats three or four times as much as I do at these breakfasts. 

We read some more books after we ate and then we did some "art". I have a fancy adult coloring book and we got that out with the giant box of crayons and colored pencils and got to it. 

We all had a good time and I wish I'd gotten a picture of what Levon colored. It was fabulous! Jessie and Vergil got here soon after we'd started and Vergil helped Mr. Moon with something to do with the Camaro again and Jessie joined us for coloring. It was sweet. 

Somewhere in there, August built another Lincoln Log house. Or as Levon says, "Leakin' Log House." 

Jessie and I laughed at Levon's face and he said, "That's one of my poses." 
Oh, those boys. 

Then Mr. Moon went to a basketball game and the Weatherfords took off to go find a Christmas tree with good-bye treats in hand and me? Well, I thought I'd probably go crash out in my bed as soon as they left but I got a second wind and in doing so, managed to accomplish a few things including sweeping and mopping the kitchen, pantry, and the adjoining bathroom which really could not wait one more day. So now my house smells like vinegar and Fabuloso which is one of my favorite smells and I feel like I've earned my salt today. The weather has been dull gray, moist (take that as you will) and not chilly but definitely cooler. I didn't think my floor would ever dry. Seriously- the humidity has hovered around 90%. 

When I went to the garden to pick greens to cook for our supper I realized that the mustard greens had a multitude of lady bugs on them. 

I was so thrilled! I also saw a lot of ants and I suppose that the ants are herding aphids and the ladybugs are eating those. So it's an entire little eco-system going on there. 

And now, after doing a google lens search, I see that this is not a ladybug at all but probably an Asian lady beetle which yes, eat aphids, but are also INVASIVE! Still, they seem to be beneficial to farmers and gardeners and I'm going to stick with that. 

Not like I don't have any other invasive species in this yard. 

Sigh. 

Well. Let's all sleep good tonight. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Bubble Wrap Party Time!

When Mr. Moon went to the Ducks Unlimited dinner a few nights ago, he bought door prize tickets and ended up winning both a small Yeti cooler and a Yeti waterproof carrier bag. Like a duffel, which was stuffed with yards of the good bubblewrap that has big bubbles. When I saw that I said, "And that stuff is the best prize of all."
So the guys had to test it out this afternoon. It was the loudest bubblewrap popping I ever heard. They had to take it out of the hallway to the back yard because it was so loud it was deafening me. 

What joy! 

This is going to be short because supposedly children need to eat supper early. What's up with that? They've all just eaten a large amount of popcorn so they won't starve but still, no one will benefit if they go to bed too late. 

They seem very happy to be here. Levon told his mother that they were going to watch SO MUCH TV! And the GRINCH!

So far this has proven to be true. Jessie told them on the way over that she, too, wanted a sleep-over at Mer and Bop's. Maybe she should spend the night too? She told me that Levon almost cried at the prospect. No way Mom would let them watch as much TV and enjoy as many treats as his grandparents would. She reassured them that she would go on home after dropping them off. What a relief! 

I've got the chicken stew ready to put dumplings in so that won't take long. I've been cooking it for most of the day. I also got to work on the camellia bed and cleared out some of the trash plants and fallen pecan limbs. It looks a lot better. I surely did not give those camellias enough room when I planted them. I am bad about crowding plants, whether camellias or carrots. I seem to think they all need companionship or something. 

I took some pictures of some of the things growing in the yard right now. 

Little paper white narcissus that seemingly opened overnight. 

They are so pretty but they do not smell good so they will not be coming inside. 

The Japanese maple that I planted when we moved in. The man who sold us this house gave it to us at the signing. 

Another camellia is opening up now. I want to say this is a Sea Foam but I'm pretty sure it's not. I don't have time to do the research right now. It is lovely in its simplicity, I think. Elegant, not fussy. 

Another bit of good news that I did not write about yesterday is that the person who read Mr. Moon's MRI from an actual radiology place feels quite certain that what we're looking at is a hematoma. Still, we will be going in on Monday morning to make sure. And then he will leave that appointment and head to Alabama, I think, to go hunt with his old friend Mike. They will also be hunting in Tennessee. Strangely enough, Glen has not gotten meat for the freezer yet this year and he is hoping to do that. 
And have a very good time while he's at it. 

Oh, that man. 
Note to self: Buy more LeSueur baby green peas. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Good Stuff

 I felt a lot better this morning but I still didn't feel quite up to a trip into town to wrangle boys even though they don't really require much wrangling. So I asked their grandfather if he would mind taking over for me and he was delighted to go. I believe the boys were pretty happy about it too. They called me a little while ago to discuss what they want for supper tomorrow night and breakfast on Saturday morning as they are coming for a sleep-over. Chicken and dumplings for sure tomorrow night, and Mickey Mouse pancakes with chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream for breakfast. 

Uh. No on that last part. 
We made a compromise in which for dessert after chicken and dumplings they will get root beer floats with a little bit of whipped cream and maybe a chocolate chip or two and breakfast the next morning will be plain old pancakes with syrup. 

They drive a hard bargain. 

Even though I didn't go to town I think I may have overdone it just a little bit here as the day progressed. I started out just leisurely weeding and doing a little mulching but it's so hot! I mean, not burning up hot but sweating hot. We are setting high temperature records for December here daily. It's ridiculous. I'm sure my greens are all going to bolt in this heat. And here's a thing- for almost fifty years I've been gardening in this area and I've always been sad that we can't grow lettuces and tomatoes simultaneously. 
And now we have. 

A few months ago we planted two cherry tomato plants hoping to get a few before it got cold and those plants are the healthiest cherry tomato plants I've ever grown and they are covered with ripening fruit. 

As I wrote a friend of mine today, I think I'd rather have winter. 

Anyway, I don't get to make that choice and might as well enjoy the salads while we have them. I turned the water on the garden after I'd finished weeding and picking those sweet little orbs of goodness because we haven't gotten rain in a long time and don't see any on the forecast either. 

I loved the rainbow the water from the sprinkler made and it made me feel as if even my garden was celebrating two very fine things that have happened today. 
One is that the House passed the marriage equality bill and it's on Biden's desk. You think he'll sign it?
Oh yes. I do. 
The other beautiful that happened was that Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison where she was being held on possession of marijuana charges. I absolutely loved the picture of Biden in the White House, hugging Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner and reassuring her that Brittney was on a plane, safe, and on her way home. 

I adore that man. I simply do. Yes, he is old but he knows how to get things done and I do honestly believe that his heart is in the very best place when it comes to this country and its people. The man has a whole lot of love in him and I'm not ashamed to say that. 

So let's hear it for my rainbow representing the good news that came to us today! 

After I finished in the garden I decided to make some bread and gumbo. I needed to use up the shrimp that Mr. Moon brought home from the coast. And so I stood there in the kitchen, stirring roux and sweating for a good twenty minutes after I'd chopped the celery, onions, garlic, peppers, and okra. Making roux is a sort of magical experience. It starts out like this.

Flour and olive oil. And then with heat and constant stirring, it becomes this.

Alchemy! 

And then in go all the vegetables and some sausage and the broth I'd made with shrimp shells and the celery ends, a can of tomatoes, and spices. The shrimp goes in at the last minute. 

Add rice, praise the Lord, and pass the hot sauce. 

Okay. A few more pictures. 

I went out to check the progression of the banana-ripening process (as one does) and look who I found snuggled up between two of them. 

Is that the cutest little critter you ever saw on a banana?

And also this. 

The first picked camellias of the year. 

Plenty more to come. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Marie Callender! I Am Talking To You!

 My life became even smaller today as I've felt quite poorly after my vaccine. I always react strongly to these things which I take as a sign that my immune system is absolutely hopping to do its job as soon as it recognizes the invader. 

I'm reading a book right now that I may or may not have read before. 

I think I did. But it is the sort of book that holds within it so many facts and figures that eventually, the aging brain must delete most of them. Or so I tell myself. Whatever, it is a book worth reading as many times as one wants. I think this is Vergil's copy of the book and I may have given it to him. Or lent it to him. Or something. 
I am quite vague about all of this, am I not?
Anyway, the part I was reading today concerned immunity and how there is more than one system in the body involved in immunity beyond the one we always think of which is that if we are exposed to certain diseases and get them and live, we will never get those specific diseases again. And of course this is how immunizations work- we are given a version of the bacteria or virus that will not make us very ill but will cause the same reaction in our bodies so that we will be...immune. 
Of course this was all involved in a chapter on the diseases that spread through the indigenous populations of the Americas when the European disease spreaders got here. But that is only one piece of the problem. I don't exactly understand it but the way our bodies's cells deal with everything they come across is part of the process of healing with the aid of our white blood cells. This is vastly simplified for my sake, not yours. 

And our genetics determine how many white blood cells are able to get to the bad boys that cause disease and the native American populations from south to north come from a relatively small gene pool which did not have the resources to identify a great number of diseases. 

So not only did the native people have no natural immunity due to never having been exposed to things like small pox and measles, they did not have the other defenses they needed to battle them. They did however, have defenses against things the Europeans did not. 
I never learned about any of this in nursing school (that I can recall!) and history certainly does not always (ever?) truthfully relate actual causes for events. Sometimes we just don't know. But we do know of course, that many native people died from being exposed to diseases that they had no immunity to and some of that was done purposefully. 

Which of course brings us back to the bivalent covid vaccine and the reactions we have to it. 

And I've had a sort-of shitty one. 

So I've not done much and not even been outside. I did decide to do a light dusting and sweeping of our bedroom because I could no longer tolerate the condition it was in. This led to me being down on my hands and knees, trying to remove eighteen years of dust from the gas log heater in the fireplace there. OH MY GOD, Y'ALL! That shit was as furry as a dog. Every one of the five fireplaces in this house have those heaters inserted in them and although we do use them occasionally, it's more for esthetic enjoyment than heat. And the one in our bedroom has certainly not been used in eons. 
But after that effort, I decided to let the the rest of the dust and dirt and the crumbs on floors and surfaces just carry on their merry way, undisturbed by me. 
One of these days I'll post pictures of all the different fireplaces. They are all different and all interesting. 

And probably all as dusty as the one in our bedroom was. 

Mr. Moon has gone off to some fund-raising event for something hunting-related like Ducks, Unlimited. Oh, who knows? But he won't be home for supper. A few weeks ago I bought two chicken pot pies and put them in the freezer for just such occasions as tonight when cooking is out of the question. I offered my husband the option of staying home and eating one of those pot pies and although he was tempted (or so he said), he decided that he would go on and have his steak dinner with an open bar. 
Harumph. 

Not really. I hope he has a good time. 

Here's a maidenhair fern. 

I have brought that little darlin' back from the brink of death caused by both chickens and improper care which mainly involved putting it where chickens could get to it. I do love a maidenhair fern. Not only because of its sweet delicacy with its stems as thin as strong thread, but because of its name. 
I mean- maidenhair! 

Guess I better go preheat the oven for my gourmet Marie Callender's chicken pot pie. I wish that Marie would note my product placement and send me a whole bunch of them for free. 

Probably not going to happen, right? 

Love...Ms. Moon

Small Life But That's Okay

Mr. Pudding asked me some time back to post a picture of the one traffic light in the county which is less than a block from our house and today, as I was walking back from the post office, I did. The funny thing is, you can't even see the light! It's sort of a "Where's Waldo" situation or in this case, "Look For The Light!" Can you see it? 

If you look directly beyond the stop sign, you might be able to see a sliver of the very blue My G-Word Soul Boutique. And that building across the street from it is in the process of being rebuilt from what used to be a pretty falling-down shed-like structure. I believe it is going to be an electrical company. What's the term for that? You know- a business that has electricians. But they are doing such a beautiful job on it that I'm not sure. The siding is lovely wood, the roof brand new metal. Much finer, in fact, than what many people around here live in. 
So that's the view from the traffic light, anyway, looking from west to east. I live a few hundred yards east of that spot. 

I went to town today to get my shopping done. I also had to pick up a prescription at the compounding pharmacy. Since Jessie only lives a few blocks from there, I stopped in to say hello very briefly, and then went to a local business called Care RX. I've driven by there at least a hundred times as it's on a major intersection but never been inside. I had heard that they would do the covid bivalent shots on a walk-in basis and trying to make an appointment at Publix pharmacy was not working out because I never think about it until I'm headed into town and you can't make a same-day appointment, usually. So I stopped at the Care RX and went in and it reminded me of a Mexican pharmacia a little bit. They have lots of products like splints and braces and compression socks and your usual drug store things like supplements and shampoo and toothbrushes and OTC remedies. So far rather normal. And behind the counter were shelves and shelves and shelves of drugs looking quite organized and professional but it was NOT like your usual chain store pharmacy. The main pharmacist was so jolly, talking to his customers, even singing, and the other people working there were just so...happy! And kind. And helpful. It turned out that one of them was best friends with one of Miss Martha's daughters. Miss Martha used to be our postmistress back when that was an actual position and her mother-in-law lives about a quarter of a mile from me and actually, so does Miss Martha but in a different direction. I filled out my form and gave them my driver's license and my Medicare card and they asked me to wait a moment so I did. I came across this on the wall. 

That was the article printed in the paper when they opened. From it I learned that Mr. Patel immigrated from India with his family and worked at the chain store pharmacies and then decided to open his own independent business. And I am so glad he did! One of the things I remember from nursing school is that pharmacists are one of our most underused medical experts. They are a font of knowledge about the medications we are prescribed and I love that Mr. Patel wanted to be able to spend time with his customers and to be able to really talk to them, to build a relationship. 
He gave me my shot and I swear, I could not feel the needle slipping in. I told him how much I admired him for opening his own business and he told me that he is so happy there. That the five years they've been open has gone by so fast. "You have to be happy!" he told me. And I think he is. 
So that was a very nice experience and when I was out the door and almost to my car, I heard, "Mrs. Moon!" and turned around to see him with a calendar for me. 
I thanked him and said, "Take care!" and then I laughed at myself because "Care" is part of their name. He was already back in the store, serving another customer. 

I love it! 

And then- because I was so hungry and because the lunch we had yesterday left me craving the Pitaria's vegetarian platter, I drove myself there and ordered one. It was every bit as good as I wanted it to be and I brought home enough for lunch tomorrow. 

Then on to Costco and to Publix where I ran into a friend and talked and talked and by the time I made it home, it was four o'clock in the afternoon. 
Another day sliding by like a leaf on a swift river. I swear. 

When I got back to Lloyd I took another picture of the stoplight coming in from the interstate. 

I took this one from the car and that is the north/south view. I was about to turn right where that car was waiting. 

At least you can see the traffic light in this one. 

And that's what life has been like today for me. 
It's funny how when you live a rather small life almost anything can be an adventure, an opportunity to have new things to learn, to think about, to enjoy. On a good day, at least. And today was one of those. 

And now I'm going to go make fish tacos which, believe it or not, I have never made before. See? New things. 

And guess what? I forgot to buy cilantro. 

Oh hell and oh well. We will live. 

Love...Ms. Moon

All Is Probably Well

It's been another what-a-day around here and that involved walking down the endless hallway you see there. 

I haven't talked about the results of Mr. Moon's MRI that he got a few weeks ago. It showed...something...in his calf. The ultrasound he'd gotten two weeks before had also shown something there. He originally got that scan because he had pain and tenderness in the back of his leg and wanted to make sure he didn't have a blood clot before he jumped on a plane to go back to Canada for Hunting Adventure Part II. 

While he was in Canada, his calf and ankle and foot swelled tremendously and he had some knee pain which he attributed to the knee injury he'd gotten while on Canadian Hunting Adventure I. And he did not send me any pictures and he did not tell me about the seriousness of the swelling until right before he came home because he knew I'd yell at him and TELL HIM TO GO TO A DOCTOR! Which I hear they do have in Canada.

I believe I have already related some of this along with his appointment with his doctor's NP who said, "I have no idea what is causing this swelling and I want you to get an MRI."

Which he did. Which showed up the same...something...that the scan had showed two weeks before. 

So Mr. Moon's doctor wanted him to go see a surgeon he recommended for the possibility of exploratory surgery to see what was what and today was the day of that appointment. 
Our good friend Kelly, the surgical tech, had given this surgeon an A-1 rating and we trust her opinion. 
The surgeon's office is at the end of that hallway and we laughed about it a lot. Jessie came with us because she is the nurse and also because she wanted to and she could and of course we were very glad to have her there. 

The doctor was great, he actually "engaged" as Glen said. After hearing the history of this situation and looking at the leg, he seems prone to think that this is related to the knee injury and not something more sinister but he is arranging for an ultra-scan directed needle biopsy. We are hoping to find fluid or blood which would indicate that the injury theory is correct. But whatever, they are going to send off whatever they find to make sure. 

So we've been worrying about that, of course, but we felt better and more relieved when we walked back down that long, lonesome, shiny hallway to the elevators. And then of course we went to lunch! 

I had wanted to try out a new Mediterranean restaurant and Jessie had been there and liked it so off we went. I was not overly thrilled. The food was good and the flavors too but the way it worked involved too many choices for me. You could order various dishes that you then sort of "built" with two proteins here and a grain there and some sauces here and different vegetables and so on. At the end of it all, I decided that I would rather go to my old favorite, the Pitaria, order the vegetarian platter and get my hummus in one place, my grape leaves in another, my falafel and tabouli in two other places which allows for going from one delicious bite to a different one. 

I am old. 
It also made me feel terrible that the people who were serving had to explain and describe the process over and over and over again to everyone who came in. I would go insane in less than an hour. 

But it was fun because we were together and like I said, I found no fault in the food. 

Mr. Moon and I both were exhausted when we got home. No one wants to go to a doctor's appointment like that and even if it results in what is probably good news, it is still stressful. Lately my anxiety in stressful situations involves a lot of dissociation and brain fuzz. It's hard to focus on anything and I can feel parts of me shutting off and shutting down. It takes awhile to come back to myself and I'm not quite there yet. Mr. Moon sat in his chair and fell asleep for a quick nap and then went out to the garage to do something auto-related. I did laundry and a little mending.

So we are fine. 

Only slightly traumatized. 

Here's what the sky looked like last night before I went to bed. 

Almost as dramatic as I am. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Camellias, Cuties, Crabs, And Camaros

I have been keeping a close eye on the camellias so as not to miss the beginnings of their blooming. I only have one bush which has any flowers on it so far and they are higher up than I can reach to pick or to photograph but this morning I saw that one closer down to my level had opened. I thought to take its picture but the light was not good. It was gray and gloomy but I kept an eye on it and a few hours later, I saw that the sun, now out, was filtering through its delicate pink petals and so I went out with my phone and despite the fact that I could barely see what I was shooting due to the sunlight, the iPhone knew what to do and that's what happened. 
Camellias. 
Sigh. 

It's been an easy day. I made a breakfast for us, I did some laundry. Vergil came out to help Glen with something related to the tuning of his project car which involves a computer and he brought August and Levon as Mama was at work. They were quite jolly boys today and ready to jump into play. Well, actually, they wanted to watch TV and August even used signing alphabet to demonstrate a T and a V and then we went through the entire alphabet and I hope he was impressed with my knowledge of it. When I was a little girl I had a book about Helen Keller and in the back was an illustration of how to form all the letters and I memorized them and my hands still know how to do it but I do not read it at all well when someone spells something out to me. 
Which means I am useless at communication but do have a smart hand. 

We read the Christmas version of the Jolly Postman and then they wanted to play a game and we ended up playing kids' rummy with a deck of cards that I got somewhere. The cards have rather creepy pictures on them of children doing all sorts of sportsy things like skin diving and playing tennis and doing gymnastics. We also did a lot of joking and talking. Before they left I made them pose for pictures. I say "made" them because I told them that the only way they were getting their bye-bye treats was to do my bidding in the matter. 
I don't think they minded too much. 

Crazy boys. And they got their bye-bye treats. Five peanut M&M's, a few nuts and raisins apiece. 

And then off they drove with their daddy for more adventures. 

I actually got the garlic in the ground. Tom had brought me a paper bag with sprouting cloves of elephant garlic a few weeks ago and he would have been so disappointed in me if I hadn't planted it. I probably did it all wrong. You'd think after all my years of growing things I'd know what I was doing in the garden but I really don't. And we've only grown garlic a few years. I still have some massive weeding to do and I swear- THIS WEEK! 

Mr. Moon did not catch any fish yesterday but he did stop by the seafood market and brought home shrimp and STONE CRAB CLAWS which are worth their weight in gold both metaphorically and really. They are only harvestable for a few short weeks of the year and the crabs can regrow those claws so supposedly they are a very sustainable gourmet delight although I doubt the crabs themselves are too happy to find themselves back in the water with only one claw when just a few moments ago they had two. 

Trust me when I say that we shall honor and respect the crabs who gave up their claws for our extreme gustatory pleasure and we will be hoping that the creatures who grew them are fine and relatively happy, creeping along doing whatever stone crabs do, already putting out new claw cells that will grow into the fierce weapons and grabbers they are meant to be.

And oh! Here's Mr. Moon's Camero that he has put together with the body of one car and the engine from another. I call it the Frankenstein Project. 

You should hear it rumble when he starts it up. "I am alive!" it says, and so it is. 

Love...Ms. Moon

A Little Explanation

 Gosh. Yesterday was just such an emotional day. First thing was that when I went to get the clothespin bag from the pump house, I found that egg- Grace's last- in the wooden crate with hay in it that the hens sometimes laid in. 
So I began my day with a few tears. 

And then later on, at lunch with Jessie and Vergil, we began to talk about Cozumel and that started the tsunami that I spoke of last night. The idea that we may have had our last visit there overwhelmed me and I lost my ability to speak as I tried to convey my feelings about the island that I fell in love with in 1987 and how much it has meant to me in my life. The magic that I feel drenched and wrapped in, that I breathe in and walk in and swim in and take in while I am there is something I've never experienced anywhere else. 
When I am there I feel an essentialness of my soul as if everything else has been burned away in a cleansing flame and I am simply Mary. And I think that my husband undergoes a similar transformation although he would never say that. We are just...us, stripped of the titles that we use to define ourselves in "real" life. 
We are Mary and Glen and we love each other so very much. And I love that island so much. 

And we may well go back again but just as the island has changed radically in the thirty-five years we've been visiting, so have we. We are not young thirty-year olds. We are not even forty or fifty or young sixty. Age has changed us as surely as cruise ships and Americans have changed that sleepy little island that was known mostly to divers. There are physical challenges for us now. There are mental challenges for me now. 

Anyway, last night I just broke down, or the walls I'd been holding all these thoughts and memories within broke down and Glen was at the coast to go fishing and I was so glad to be alone because he would have felt so bad and tried to make me feel better and I did not need to feel better. 
I just needed to feel. 

He's home now and I'm tearing up again, writing this. I'll dry my eyes though. 

It's been a very good day. I was lazy this morning and then I made a sort-of frittata with greens from the garden and potatoes and onions and peppers and cheese and eggs, one of which was Grace's last. I did a float test on it and it passed beautifully. It's amazing how long eggs will stay fine and fit to eat outside of the refrigerator if they are not washed and processed. 

And then I went to Lily and Lauren's house as yesterday was Lauren's birthday and Lily wanted to have a little brunch for her. Hank and Rachel were there, Jessie, Vergil, their boys, Owen, Gibson, and darling Maggie who put her own lipstick on. 

She is already far more skillful than I am in lipstick application. 

There were all sorts of delicious foods including biscuits and a hash brown casserole and salad and fresh fruit and deviled eggs. As always, no one starved. 
We ate outside because the weather is perfect right now. It was a sweet time and the kids all played together until it was time for Jason to come and pick up the Hartmann kids to take to the Winter parade in Tallahassee. Before they left though, we all sang Happy Birthday and Lauren blew out the candles on the beautiful cake Lily made her. 

Pepper and Chloe were all dressed up in their fancy dog hoodies. 

Lauren not only got the dogs matching hoodies, she also got one for everyone in their family. Christmas Card Photo, here we come!

As the card I gave Lauren said, she's a Badass. In the absolute best sort of way. 

And that was my day. 

Tears and laughter, kids and dogs, cake and casseroles. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Anxiety Was The Calm Before The Tsunami Of Emotion

Wow. 
I just spent two hours trying to write a post about how I am too emotional to write a post and then with the slip, the flick, the trip of a finger, all of it disappeared from the ether and the internet and I think that was me telling myself that I was correct in my assessment of my state of mind. 

All is truly well, I just seem to have had a lot of saltwater that needed to be leaked through my eyes and a whole lot of snot that needed to be leaked through my nose. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Questions. They Have Questions

I had a good day with my boys but besides that, it's been a hard day. Being with August and Levon was good. They require my attention and I gladly give it to them. But I'm sure they could tell I wasn't all there. But I kept them alive and hydrated and there were animal crackers and we did read the book about the Managing Hen and it was exciting and I think they enjoyed it although August told me that if there was a shorter version, he might enjoy it more. 

Levon started off asking me many questions, none of which I could answer. The first was, "Mer- how were planets built?"
Okay then. 
You know, you sort of think you know how things work. You go to school, you read some books, you go to college and take physics, and so forth. And then your five-year old grandson asks you how planets were built and you find yourself wondering how in hell they WERE built and trying to come up with a halfway accurate response and finally saying, "You know what, Levon? I have no idea." 
I babbled on about space rocks and the gravitational pull of the sun and then I said, "Ask your daddy."
This reminded me of when Maggie asked me during the Grandparent's Day lunch how human beings came to be. I actually had more of a clue about that but still...
I can't remember many of the other questions Levon asked me but I do remember that I basically did not know the answer to any of them. One of them was how does the car know when there's something or someone moving behind it and how does it know to make that beeping sound? This one I referred him to his grandfather on but I said something about motion sensors and lights that come on when something moves below them and so I suppose that they could hook up a beeper noise just as well as a light. 
Sigh. 
Oh yeah! He asked me, "How does Santa get his magic?" This question came after he told me that he wants to be Santa when he grows up. I did not feel too bad about not knowing the answer to that one. Plus, I'm too old to be making up shit about the Santa myth. Believe it or don't, kid, but don't worry overmuch. 

And then when I picked up August he asked me how much my car had cost. Again- ask Boppy. "Was it used?" "Yes, yes it was." So I was doing better there. 
But overall I've come away feeling as if I know nothing, nothing at all, and even if I do, none of it is anything that a child wants to know. 

But I do know that I have beautiful grandchildren and that they are exactly as smart and curious as they should be. I suppose that children want to know that their grandmother believes that about them and I think that my grandchildren do know that. 

The hard part of the day has been anxiety. It is "playing up again" as you Brits say or as I say, Fuck this shit I hate it with all my heart and soul and mind and blood and bones and it is not anxiety it is terror.

Well. I suppose I should just "sit with it" as they say and if I ever say that to anyone please shoot me. 
I actually heard an "expert" on a podcast talk about what a gift anxiety is because blah, blah, bullshit blah, and I thought to myself that that woman has never had real anxiety. That statement is right up there with god never gives you more than you can handle and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

In the meantime, I'm sure all will be well and this is just a fluke, a reaction to some stuff, a temporary state of affairs and I hope to plant some garlic this weekend and work on Maggie's blanket and right now I need to make a salad with greens I picked this morning and stir the spaghetti sauce I started before I picked up Levon and boil some pasta and oh! I hear that Oprah's Favorite Things List is out and I've just checked it and I probably should order some handwoven plates ($98 from Amazon) or perhaps the Musee Words of Encouragement Soap Set ($45 from Amazon) and for sure and without a doubt, Oprah's own The Life You Want Daily Inspiration Cards ($49.95 from Amazon). 

I'd rather just look at this picture. ($0 from my iPhone which yes, did cost money but it also has google where I can, theoretically find out all the answers that Oprah may not address.)

Love...Ms. Moon