From My Heart

Can you see the buckeye blossoms? 

Here's a closer image.

Don't they just look like they were designed for hummingbirds? 

I have three little buckeye saplings that have sprung up. I need to find new homes for those. 

I didn't do much today. It was, shall we say, a leisurely day. I did a bit of leisurely work in the bed I want to plant herbs in. I used the big loppers to trim the damn sago that lives there and then I used them to prune the roses. I think there's probably a law against that. But it had already put out new stems, and the thorns on that plant are wicked sharp and unusually large so I had no desire to get up close and personal with my small hand pruner. I did what I did and you can bet the ranch I have not killed that rose. It will grow back with mighty power and meaty branches. Trust me. And it will probably bloom just as much as it usually does which is to say- not a whole lot. As to the sago- well, you know how I feel about those. Too bad the comet that killed the dinosaurs didn't destroy all of the sagos too which actually predated the dinosaurs. I imagine dinosaurs hated those things as much as I do, always cutting their tender dinosaur flesh, refusing to be a part of their diet, their frond needles getting stuck between their toes. 
Clearing that area in order to put in herbs is a task. The border grass, chenille plant, Virginia creeper and other ground-hugging species are almost impossible to tear out. I don't really care how far out the border grass and chenille plant grow. That battle is well and truly lost and Mr. Moon just mows it but they also grow into the gardening space itself which of course decreases the amount of growable area every year. I fear this is a fool's errand. 
Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
But the fact is, I did not plant even one sprig of rosemary. I did discover that the oregano I planted some years ago has made a comeback which is nice. 
La-di-da. La-di-da. 
I gently cut back the dead parts of the limequat tree and watered it. I was afraid it had been freeze-bit to the point of all-encompassing death but it appears to have new growth coming along. Bless its little baby heart! 

It was quite beautiful today, once again, although working outside was a sweaty proposition. Mr. Moon who was clearing vines and branches suffered far more than I did with my little bit of effort. It's supposed to rain tonight but not much. And as I said a few days ago, there is actually the possibility of a freeze early Wednesday morning. I am simply not going to worry about it. Right now the sky is darkening and the birds are quiet. We do very much need rain so I will welcome it if it comes. 

************

I have been having a lot of thoughts today about things concerning the Epstein files and the horrors being brought into the light. I've written about this before but it occurs to me that for those of us (and our numbers are legion) who were sexually abused as children, these reports are a constant trigger. So. Should we simply not read any of what's being discovered? Or refuse to watch survivors' videos? 
Is that even possible? 
And has there ever been a time in history where the actions of one group of men (and some women) have caused so much emotional turmoil and pain to one specific group of people in this way? 
What would happen if all of us banded together and sued Donald Trump and all the others in those files who perpetrated such violence and pain on children for emotional distress? 
Yeah. Not going to happen. 
At this point though, it would certainly be a start if at least some of these people had to go through the legal process of being arrested and tried and imprisoned for what they have done. Knowing that they walk free now, completely able to enjoy their massive wealth and their positions of power is untenable and incredibly agonizing. 
All of us who are affected by this and of course, especially those who were directly victimized are having a hard time right now. I don't even pretend to have any idea about what those survivors are going through.

It is starting to rain. Not much. Not nearly enough to clear the air of the pollen which is affecting so many or to nurture the new growth of which spring has presented us, but a start, a promise of a promise. 

Better than goddamned nothing. 

Love...Ms. Moon

So Many Pictures

Spirea, camellias, azaleas. 
Okay, Spring. You're just showing off now. 

Don't stop! Please don't stop!

Tung blossom. Now, according to everything I've read, one tung seed can kill a person if ingested and the entire tree is toxic if humans are exposed to the different parts. However, as I told Glen a little while ago, I have never once heard of anyone dying by tung seed, neither human nor animal. I used to worry a bit as my chickens pecked under that tree frequently but none of them ever keeled over. Or even got bad tummies as far as I know. 

I had more insomnia last night. 
This will not stand. 
I didn't even have any itches to blame it on. I simply could not get back to sleep. Eventually, I did, but there was at least an hour of time where I just laid there playing alphabet games in my head. 
And I did not feel great when I woke up. I almost wondered if I was coming down with whatever Mr. Moon had. But when he asked if I wanted to go to town with him to shop at Oak Tree Treasures while he delved into a Moon Plaza situation involving trash pick-up and then have lunch, I said, "Yes. I think so."
And so I did. 
Hank and Rachel joined us at Oak Tree. They live less than a mile away. And it was SO fun, shopping about with them. Rachel and I had a very good time, holding up garments and commenting on them. Not always in flattering terms. 
Well, what would you expect? 
And hanging out with Hank and discussing different finds is also just a damn good time. 
I did not find any clothing I wanted or needed but I did find a rocking chair that yes, I do believe I wanted and needed. Rachel (I think) took this picture of me sitting in it. 

It was the sweetest little old granny rocking chair you can imagine. And that did come home with me. It is now in my bathroom because I love my bathroom and I love to put things I love in there. 

I believe it will probably end up on the porch at the cabin. 
Maybe. As for now, I may or I may not sit in it in the bathroom. I did try it out there, curious as to what I would be looking at when I did, and it was rather nice. 

I also bought these. 

They are plates of the salad or side-sized or luncheon-sized and I have been looking for more of those. I really like the way they are painted. 

All different and yet definitely of a set. I didn't Google Lens them until after I got home. They were priced so reasonably and I liked them so much that their value was obvious to me. When I did look them up, I discovered that they are vintage, collectible, and far more valuable than what I paid for them. I mean, not hundreds of dollars, but perhaps thirties of dollars. 

But the main thing is, I bought them because I liked them and that was that. I just won't be putting them in the dishwasher, knowing what I now know. 

So that was a very sweet shopping trip and being with Hank and Rachel was absolutely perfect. 

Glen and I had lunch after that. Once again, it was way late and once again, we ended up at the Cuban restaurant. My favorite server took care of us and I told Glen, sotto voce, "I love her."
"I know," he said. 
I never joke around with this server whose name is Jessi, as I am sure I have mentioned. She is too professional for that mess. She is friendly and polite and knows what she's doing and I have absolutely no illusions that she wants to be my friend. 

And then, back to my mission to find a Mexican basil, we returned to Native Nurseries where I was hoping they'd had some come in but they had not. 
Sigh. 
Oh well. Other things were bought. 

Just a few more herbs and vegetables and...

This kalanchoe commonly called Miracle Plant. 
I know nothing about miracles this plant can do but if you click on the link, you will find that it can CURE EVERYTHING.
Oh well. Sure. 
The reason I wanted it is that it used to grow in the woods in Roseland and I was fascinated by the blooms it made. I assume they were blooms. I'm not sure. They looked like this.

And you could pop them, which we did. We were not only entertained, we also recognized uniqueness when we saw it. 

It needs to go into a pot because it is not freeze hardy but it surely makes me happy to have it in a pot or in the ground, either one. I have been looking for one to dig up in Roseland but have not seen one. Perhaps all the popping of their blooms we did may have killed them all. They could still be there somewhere but I am not one to trespass on privately owned property to look for plants to dig up. 
Unless I'm sure I can't be caught. 

Dang. I have to go make supper. Air-fried catfish tonight. Caught in Lake Seminole by Mr. Moon. 
He will be so happy. 

Love...Ms. Moon

I Am Looking Up. I Am Paying Attention

Another just ridiculously beautiful day. And it was so cool when I woke up this morning. Burrowing-under-the-covers cool. Put on a sweater cool. Sweet, sweet, sweet. 

I took that picture just a little while ago. Yes, you can see the generator but that is a thing of beauty to us so try not to regard it as something that looks out of place or inappropriate. I also cropped out the AC/heat pump but that is possibly even more beautiful than the generator. 
But oh, the lushness! These pink azaleas are on a bush that never did very well until I started throwing kitchen scraps around them when I had the chickens. Every day they would spend time scratching there in search of treats and as they scratched, they would poop and before I knew it- the azalea was a dazzler. 
OH MY GOD I MISS MY CHICKENS!
What you see framed between the magnolia tree and the cabbage palm is the spray of the sprinkler I turned on to water in what I planted in the garden today. 

Whoa. Mr. Moon just got home and made us a martini and I've completely lost my train of thought. However, since I rarely do have much of a train of thought, it hardly matters. We went out to the garden together and I showed him what was going on there. I planted some peppers, a tomato, and two eggplants, just then realizing I had inadvertently bought white eggplant plants and WTF? today after I took out the kale which hardly did a damn thing this year. I carefully saved every usable leaf though and I've been doing the same with the arugula I've pulled up although I have not saved every leaf. I'm leaving quite a bit of that as it is flowering now and the bees seem to enjoy it. I am going to plant more very soon. Since I discovered last summer that arugula can indeed tolerate the heat, I am not so panicked about running out of that delicious peppery green. 

Oh! I know something I wanted to talk about and that was more about the hookworms. I really don't want everyone to think I was the poster child for abject poverty in the south. I mean, we didn't have much money but I could have worn shoes if I'd wanted but I didn't want to. And if I did wear shoes, they were those rubber flipflops that cost about a buck a pair, if that. This is how all the kids ran about. The soles of our feet were tough as shoe leather although they were not impervious to sandspurs. And those are a whole different subject. 
So yes, most of us got ground itch at one point or another. We also got pinworms and if don't know what they are, just take my advice and don't google them although they are quite common, even now. I read once that one of the reasons southerners, especially those who lived in poverty which was a large percentage, had the reputation of being slow and lazy might well have been due to the vast numbers of people who had various intentional parasites and probably the dermatological ones too. They literally sapped people's energy and caused anemia and gastrointestinal and abdominal problems. And let us also remember that many poor southerners had a less than optimal diet. 

So there's your little inservice on parasites which can affect humans. Oh, I forgot to even mention tapeworms but let's leave that for another time. 
Probably never. 

Shall we move back to the garden?

My carrots have been incredibly slow growers this year but I finally pulled two today. I washed the dirt off of them and cleaned the kale in my outside sink today. What a beautiful sight! 
All of my bucket bag tomatoes are looking very nice. One of them has potatoes coming up in it too. Did I already mention this? And some of them have what is probably acorn squash making a nice healthy appearance too. I know I'm going to have to pull some of these things in order for the tomatoes to thrive but you know how hard that is for me. 
No, no! Do not kill them! 
Oh please, Mary. You know damn well that when the little black nymphs of the giant Georgia Thumper grasshoppers appear in swarms you will be smushing those things like you were getting paid to do it. Somehow I can rationalize that whereas pulling purely innocent plants that just want to live is much harder. 

A few more pictures of spring.

Wisteria, of course.

Mulberry leafing out and blooming. 

Lizard on porch screen, scratching his head. 

You may notice I have stopped discussing anything going on in the world at large. I guess I'm taking a break. 
I do not want my heart, soul, or consciousness to be filled with anything but the magnificence around me. Who knows how many more springs I will be able to enjoy to the degree I am enjoying this one? 
And that's what I have to say about that, even though I feel guilty as I say it. 

Anyway...

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Lots Of Cussing But Used Appropriately

 Spirea against blue sky.

I had the craziest experience last night. I turned out the light around 11:30 which is a little late for me but not unheard of. I woke up a little after two, which also is not unusual. I generally just come to conscious and fall back asleep but last night I couldn't because my right big toe was so itchy that I thought I would go insane. 
Now who in the world has a big toe so itchy they can't sleep? I can't recall my big toe ever being itchy at all except for the time when I had hookworms in my feet. I got those being a feral child in Roseland who mostly did not wear shoes and I doubt I've ever been more miserable in my life than when those fucking little fuckers were crawling around under the skin of my feet. 
Yes. It was as horrible as it sounds and yes, my mother did take me to the doctor more than once and yes, I did get treatment which consisted then and may still, of getting the area sprayed with liquid nitrogen which is -321º which in theory will freeze and kill the fucking fuckers. 
This is the same stuff your dermatologist uses to freeze off possibly precancerous dots and spots and places on your body. Generally, the doctor hits that spot with one spray but when I had the ground itch (which is what we called hookworm along with another term which was creeping eruption), the doctor showed us how to follow the little red tunnels where the worm larvae were dancing about with the spray and then really hit the end of the tunnel hard in hopes that's where the worm larvae actually was. Now when something that cold hits your skin, it feels like you're being burned, and in fact, if used too generously, blisters the skin and infection can occur.
Ask me how I know.
Okay, okay. I did not come here to tell that story once again. But trust me- it was horrible in all regards. 

So there I was last night, trying to get back to sleep by ignoring the itching in my toe and then being unable to stop myself, I would scratch the hell out of it and go through the whole process again. After about an hour of this I got up and took a Benadryl and about twenty minutes after that, I did go back to sleep. 
Even as it was all going on, I thought about how truly funny it was. It didn't feel funny at the time, but honestly- an itchy toe preventing sleep is ridiculous and I was quite aware of that. 

I might still be asleep had not Maurice come in a few minutes after nine and wake me up. She probably thought I was dead or was worried that I was dead and thus, would not be able to give her her morning treat.
Whatever. I got up.
And my toe has not itched a bit since then. 

I went to what is called "open studio" in pottery which is like an extra class where you don't really get taught, or not formally at least. There is an instructor there to sort of keep an eye on things and lend help if needed. I knew I wanted to get my fish dish and flower bowl which had been fired and also wanted to collect the fish spoon rest I'd made for Billy which had gone through its first firing before glazing. 

I found my fish and my flower but could not find my spoon rest. Finally, I looked on the shelf where they put the kids' work and low and behold- there it was! 
That cracked me up so much. And honestly, it pleased me. Yes! My pieces are childlike! And what the hell could be better than playing with your inner child at the age of 71? 
I've brought that one home to put the glaze on (Stroke and Coat!) in the next week or so before the next session begins. 
As to the pieces I got from the kiln that were glazed, I like one and am vastly disappointed in the other. 
Here's the disappointment: 

The colors were not what I was going for at all and have little resemblance to the colors I was seeing in my head. In fact, I find it rather hideous. Again, a learning experience. 

And for the one I do like:

Now that is far closer to what I wanted. It's too bad it didn't end up being bowl-shaped enough to be a bowl but a dish is okay too. 
The class was a bit odd. The instructor person was not the teacher we have but another one who could not, for the love of god or money, quit talking. She could not, she would not. AND, she had a loud voice. She covered so many random topics that my pottery friend and I kept looking at each other and rolling our eyes and my friend finally said, "I can't." And I said, "I can't either."
And we closed up shop and left. 

Pottery class is the time when we are allowed to work in peace. And that was not happening today. At all. 

Jessie is getting ready for the little adventure they're going to take in their new camper. Spring break starts next Monday and off they will go. She's been working nights and has had no chance to start organizing. She'll get it done but spending two hours at pottery wasn't what she felt like she needed to do. She did come by and we got to hug and do a very quick catch-up and I gave her some bean seeds and some jars of green beans I canned last summer (I have to clear these shelves!) and she gave me a tomato and a pepper plant that she had no room for. 
So that was very, very good. 

After I left class, I decided to go to a nursery to look for a Mexican basil but they had none. I ended up getting pepper and eggplant starts, as well as some other herbs. I've decided to make a little herb garden sort of thing in the area beside the kitchen using bricks I've found while digging weeds. 
Let us put that on the list of things to do.

While I was at the nursery I was attracted to the colorful Mexican and Spanish ceramic pots they had and look what I found.

I just don't feel unique anymore. 
Interestingly enough, I was born in El Paso but my mother and father moved long before I was of an age to start noticing the pottery. 
Still, I've always wondered if that's why I feel so at home in Mexico. 
Yeah, probably not.

Before I leave, here's a picture of a bud opening on the native flame azalea, the one I planted years ago.

Hello, you tender little thing. Welcome to the sun. 

I believe I will put a Benadryl on my bedside table tonight. I am NOT going through that again. Better living through chemicals, better sleeping through chemicals. 
And needs must.

Love...Ms. Moon

Plant Life. Earth Life. This Life

Last night I cooked some of the biggest artichokes I've ever seen and I just thought the way this one looked with a few of its petals pulled was almost painterly. Just so perfect in its arrangement of leaves. So I took its picture. 
It was every bit as delightful to eat as it was to look at. 

Today has been so unusual in that I seem to have gotten a great deal accomplished while feeling rather lazy all day long. Like I just easily drifted from one task to another, put my hand to it, and all fell into place. 
I'm not sure I've ever experienced a day like that. 
Maybe it was my new magical cargo shorts. 
Speaking of magical- look at these beans.

I planted those little beauties last Friday. So five days ago. In that time, they've already busted out of the dirt and formed their first leaves. Once again, rattlesnake beans have proven their immodestly superior germination success and the swiftness with which that occurs. Don't even talk to me about your Kentucky Wonders or Blue Lake varieties. 
Get on with your bad self and plant some rattlesnake beans. The bugs don't seem to bother them much, the heat certainly doesn't, and if they were any more prolific you'd need stainless steel trellises to hold their weight and a team of helpers just to pick a darn row of them. 
And have I mentioned lately how delicious they are, whether picked young or more mature, pickled or steamed or boiled or canned? They seem to be suitable to every green bean need. 

I piddled around in the garden a little this afternoon. I planted a grow-bag with squash seeds and one with cucumber seeds. Glen reminded me that when we tried that last year it seemed that the bugs did not get to the vegetables quite as much as they usually do. So let's try it again. I replanted a few sweet peas to replace the ones that didn't come up at the first planting. Not sure why that happened. It really is too late for them but might as well give it a try. I planted the African basil I bought last week and also some Thai basil seeds. I still very much want to get a Mexican basil. I am seeing quite a few bees this year and I'll do anything I can to encourage that activity. They are already bumbling about the wisteria which is popping into purple with the speed of light. There is a noticeable difference in the number of blooms between morning and afternoon. 

I'll get a better picture tomorrow. The sun is lowering and that area of the yard is in shade now. But you can at least get an idea of how quickly those bushy tassels are somehow managing to turn into clusters of flower petals. 
More plant magic. Spring is just filled with it. 

I watered my new baby azalea and the spirea. Also a few things in the little severely under-tended garden area beside the kitchen door. I have planted some Genovese basil I got from Publix in a bucket I got at the dump in which I'd made some holes in with a nail and a hammer. The funny thing is that there was a volunteer celery plant growing in it which of course I left and it's beautiful! 

Now how in the world did that manage to get there? I do not have any idea but it makes me happy to see it coexisting with the basil. 
Speaking of volunteers, I have found these sprouting both in the dirt of the garden itself and in some of the grow-bags.

They are squashes of some sort and I'm betting acorn although I surely would love for them to be delicata. But the last squash seeds I threw in the compost were acorn and so that's what they probably are. Whatever they are, I'm going to leave them be and give them a chance to show me exactly who they are and what they can do. I bought some Seminole pumpkin seeds this year and I need and want to get those in the ground. This is an heirloom squash/pumpkin which grows especially well here but has only recently become widely known and their seeds made available. Here's a good article about them. 

After I'd gotten everything I felt like doing in the garden done and had turned the sprinklers on, I strolled over to the tung tree to check on its progress. I write about the tung trees every year and every year I love them as passionately as I have in all the years before. They, too, are a sort of magic to me, having been imported to this country from China in the early 1900's for oil production and their flowers are indeed reminiscent of a Chinese watercolor painting of a blossom, their colors almost an indescribable peach/orange/yellow and almost crimson. 

But here's what they looked like today. 

They will burst out soon and once again, I will swoon. 
When I was on my tung tree expedition, I picked spirea, white and purple violets, and oxalis blooms. The camellias are still coming on although it seems almost as if they are trying to get it done, pushing out one flower after another in numbers I don't think I've ever seen although the blooms are smaller and some never really seem to quite mature. But. Many are still so beautiful. 

I made a tiny arrangement with the tiny flowers and here that is. 

I am not sure there is any place on earth I would rather have been today than outside in my own yard in Lloyd. Everywhere I turn, everywhere I look there is proof beyond doubting that life just wants to live. Joyfully and with grace and grit and grandeur. The sky has been so blue, and there has been a good, stiff breeze all day that has rattled the magnolia leaves and played the wind chimes and brought messages of life from far away places. That same wind is bringing in cooler temperatures and hopefully some rain tomorrow.

But being outside or even just on my back porch has peeled something inside me wide open, revealing some sort of core of me that I can neither describe or really understand. I have been overwhelmed at the power of it all. 

I just went out to turn off the garden sprinklers and had to take this picture. 

A live oak across the street, wrapped and bathed and awash in the setting sun's gold. 

I know there are places all over the world that are as beautiful and more magnificent than this little insignificant place where I live but some days I would not trade it for all those other places in the world. 

This has one of those days. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Mission Accomplished

I had really ridiculously frustrating and worrisome anxiety dreams this morning and it took me awhile to get out of them, even after I'd gotten up. I think I am getting so old that my brain doesn't always bring me new material but rather rewrites the basic scripts with different characters and locations. And then for fun it throws in a few more themes from different dreams, just to keep me on my toes. Recently one of the baby/children I am responsible for in my dreams needs to be potty trained and one small detail in a dream this morning was that I had no diapers in my house and this kiddo did NOT want to use a toilet. That was just one little problem going on in Mary's Dreamscape. 

So mostly for that reason and also for the reason that I suppose I was just being slow, it took me forever to get out of the house and on the road to town. I had a route figured out to cover the places I wanted and needed to go and that worked out pretty well. I stopped first at Target and okay- this is a big swear but the clothes there are fucking butt ugly. That's all there is to it. I couldn't even find one decent T-shirt. They're all ribbed this year and I do not wanted ribbed T-shirts. Is that asking too much? There was one skirt I liked but it had no pockets so screw that. The men's department did deliver though, in that they had cargo shorts because of course they did and I got two pairs of those. One in a sort of off-white and one in camo green. 
I just made that color up. You know what I'm talking about. Like, camping gear green. Doesn't matter. Cargo shorts are, in their very essence, also butt ugly but they have enough pockets to satisfy anyone and they are made better than any of the women's clothes and they make no effort to pander to fashion or style. I also got shampoo and a bin to put my sweaters in after I wash them, to tuck them away until next winter. 
On to Old Navy which is just so embarrassing but fuck it. They had T-shirts. I bought a black one, a white one, and a blue one. There. Done. I also found a quite nice very lightweight olive green (hey! maybe that's the color!) long-sleeved button up shirt that I can wear over things. I checked out their men's cargo shorts too but they weren't really any different than the Target ones so I passed. 
That was relatively painless but I'd already spent about an hour and a half just between these two places. Next stop was a fly-by. I had to pick up my compounded hormones. That was easy. By then it was three o'clock and I hadn't had any lunch so I stopped at the Cuban place and got a bowl of garbanzo bean soup that made the whole world a little better. I had planned to then go to Costco which was next up on the route but I looked at my list and decided there was nothing I needed there that would require any immediate shopping. 
On to Publix where I had a regular prescription ready and hey! The new pharmacy is complete and I don't really like it but no one consulted me about its design. I still like the refrigerator and freezer door handles so much that I'll forgive what I consider to be a major problem with the pharmacy. 
While I was at Publix I ran into an old friend but the kind of old friend that you really are happy to see and have a chat with so when he said, "What's going on in your life?" I told him. It was good to see him. Turns out he's a hermit now too. Funny how these things happen. 
He told me to give Mr. Moon a hug and a kiss from him and then he said, "That is a good man. You got lucky with him."
People tell me this all the time. I do love hearing it but I wonder if ANYONE ever tells Glen he got lucky. 
Probably not. I'm not nearly as nice as my husband is but I do try to be nice to him. 

A friend of his has been working on his truck for days now, after he gets off his regular work. Things were going on there that baffled Glen and he just wanted to get the thing back on the road so he can get back up to the lake. He needs the truck to haul things. Don't ask me what things. Things that are big, I would assume. 
Anyway, the truck has just been pronounced "fixed" so I guess he'll be heading to Georgia tomorrow. I'll miss him. We've been having a pretty sweet time of it lately but I know he gets so frustrated when he can't get on with his project and I don't plan on going anywhere for a least another day or two and have plenty to keep me occupied right here. It was interesting to be in stores that are not thrift stores or food stores today but I have had my fill of that for now. I will admit that I got a little captured by the make-up sections (yes, there are more than one) in Target but I did not buy anything. I did not see one eye shadow palette that had any colors in it except for in the brown/tan/gold range and not even that gold and I'm sorry- what is the point of putting on eye shadow if it's going to be that boring? But it was funny, walking around looking at all of these beauty products and despite everything, still feeling a little like a woman can change her life if she just changes her face a bit. 
I suppose the question is- change her life to WHAT? I believe I may be well past the point of feeling the need to go down that path. 
But maybe, just maybe, a little bit of the perfect scent dabbed on my wrists might be the exact thing I need. 
Or maybe not. And I have no idea what the perfect scent would smell like. 

Do you want to see the cutest dog picture I may have ever seen?

Sophie had a play date today with her friend, Rey. I think they were both pretty happy about that. 

Sorry I didn't answer comments. By the time I got home, got everything unloaded and put away, took the compost out, and sat down here, it was late. I was WAY off my schedule and you know how I hate that. Perhaps if I have time later I'll go back and give those comments the attention they deserve. 
Pixie, your comment slayed me. Thanks for that good laugh. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Comments answered while the sauce was simmering. Just so you know. 

The Satisfaction Of Accomplishing Things

This is what my washing machine looks like from the top when the cover is removed. Somehow it's not quite as sleek and modern-looking as I had thought it would be. Tubes, wires, unidentified shit...and when it starts washing, the way the drum moves is slightly hysterical. Sort of like a robot trying to hula. 
I can't even remember what my original problem with the washer was last week but I think it was that it was a slight trickle of water coming from the bottom of the machine and Glen fixed that but then the machine started only using hot water to wash. Not any cold. Even if you chose a cold-water wash cycle. And it was HOT, hot water. Like, it was steam-cleaning that laundry. 
So Glen figured out that problem and I have no idea how but it had something to do with how he'd inadvertently switched hoses or...whatever. 
But then two days ago, I noticed that there was water coming out of the bottom of the machine and even (was I dreaming this?) a sort of spray happening. It was pretty serious. Like- soak a big towel serious. 
So today he took the lid off again and started it up so we could see where the water was coming from and by golly, it wasn't hard to find. One of the hoses had split and water was indeed spraying out of it. 
Turn it off! Turn it off! 
Okay. He fixed that. All seems to be well now. 

It's been a day of getting things done. I am not ashamed to admit that I'm pretty happy with myself. I plowed on through yard work and yard chores and I made my husband laugh. Not that it's really that hard to make my husband laugh but it's one of my favorite things to do. As we were standing in the laundry room, waiting to see where the water was coming from, I told him that when he fixed things it made me feel sort of affectionate towards him in a rather romantic way. 

"Well, I've fixed this washer four times now," he said. "How's that working?" 

The next project was taking the rest of the plants back outside. And of course these were the heavy plants. The huge plants in big old ceramic or terra cotta pots. But with the hand cart and our growing experience in this matter, we got them all back out. My Roseland mango is back in her happy place, along with my Sebastian sea grape. The split leaf philodendron which I've had for at least thirty years is back on the front porch but I've got her set in a place that will perhaps give her more sun. She needs something. 
Anyway, all of that was very satisfying and I gave all the plants a good watering. I also turned the sprinklers on the garden but that hardly took much effort. Still felt good though. I have got to get to the nursery for more tomato plants and some pepper plants and eggplant plants and I want to grow delicata squash again and get my squash seeds in the ground and cucumbers, too, although I haven't had a decent showing of them in forever. 
Hope springs eternal. 
And of course the zinnia seeds. Time's a wastin'! 
It was in the eighties here today. Well, actually, it still is. And I spent about an hour or so in direct sunlight clearing more of the area where I decided to plant the spirea I dug up yesterday. This mostly consisted of pulling up chenille plant which is taking over my entire yard. It is a ground cover and honey, it is doing its job. It spreads with runners that are pinkish in color and tough as nylon. It's not the hardest thing in the world to pull up but my hands do ache now. 
I dug a hole and put the spirea in it, packed the dirt around it and watered it in good. It got a little wilty this afternoon as I just had it with its roots all bare in the garden cart but it wasn't for that long and I think it'll spring back. I raked a few leaves and mulched all around it. 

I dug the hole for the native azalea and settled that in. I watered it and mulched it too. 

Poor little thing. It looks so vulnerable. I brought it the Buddha on a brick to keep it company. It will need plenty of water over the next few months. Or so I have read. 

And basically, I suppose that's about all I did but it took some time and physical effort and sweating was definitely involved. I have been wondering if the weight loss was going to help me deal with the heat better this summer and I think it may. It pretty much has to, right? I know I have more endurance and energy. That's just a fact. I'm not saying I'm not fairly exhausted now but it's a different sort of exhaustion. Also, I don't feel like I can barely walk due to sore joints. 

So there is all of that. 

When I went out to the garden to pick some arugula and kale and chard for salad, I took a few pictures.  

My poor little pathetic potatoes are coming along nicely. 

Now is that not just the prettiest little lettuce you ever saw? The label there says Black Cherry but that pertains to the tomato I planted in the same bag. The lettuce is just one of the random varieties in a packet of mixed lettuce seeds and I think it may be called a Freckles Lettuce. It's so darling I don't even want to pick it but I will because it'll just get bitter and go to seed if I don't. 

As promised, I took a picture of the wisteria buds and here it is. 

And then later on this afternoon, I realized there was already purple showing up.

There might be some more mature flowering on the vines growing on the bamboo on the east side of the property but I'm too tired to go look now. And can you believe I saw a big fat bumble bee already checking out that flower? I remember one spring when there were so many bees on the wisteria that the trellis was literally buzzing. 
Oh, how I would love to hear that again! 

And now. A final picture.

This is North Florida in spring. 

And this is why we live here, I guess. Even Ron DeSatan hasn't been able to fuck that up yet. I hope he never does.

Love...Ms. Moon