Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Local News And International Cuisine!

Tip for the day:
It is almost impossible to change into a swim suit in a parked car and preserve your modesty when there are people about and your body is hot and sweaty.
Trust me.
But it was worth it, even though we only got to be in the water for a few minutes before the sky went black and lightening started forking through it.

More on that later.

We had such a good time. We went to the Mexican restaurant in Monticello. They are known for having "The Best Mexican Food in Monticello."
The joke being that they are the ONLY Mexican restaurant in Monticello, but their food is really good. And they are prospering, it would appear, which makes me happy.


There's my beautiful daughter. ONE of my beautiful daughters. Her baby is getting big! She's due in two months.
No. I can't believe it. How can this be true?

After lunch we went to the local Humane Society thrift store. They have good stuff there. Jessie bought a copy of a Moosewood cookbook for a buck. Then we went to a antique place and had a fabulous time wandering around. The only thing we bought there was a big puzzle for Owen. I hope he lets me help him put it together. It looks really fun.


Oh! I forgot! Jessie bought two bags of composted horse shit for her blueberries! 
I love Monticello.

Then we drove the scenic route to the river and I swear to you- it took me at least fifteen minutes to do that bathing suit change. There's no restroom down there. I guess I could have walked into the woods but that would have been risking my life with the threat of Lyme Disease. Anyway, it made us laugh and then we went and got in the water and I was telling Jessie how much nicer it is now than it was thirty-five years ago with the new white sand and the sod they've laid and the dock. 
"Did you used to bring Hank and May here?" Jessie asked.
"Yeah. I did. But it could be a hassle. Lots of crazy people who liked to catch gators if they saw them. You know, not nearly as classy as the people here now."
We were standing about five feet away from a guy who, as Jessie described him, looked like he might be familiar with meth, who was wearing a Batman T-shirt. 
We giggled. 
Some kids spilled out of a canoe a little ways down the river and three guys immediately struck out towards them but everything was fine. For one thing, the water was pretty shallow. For another, the kids were wearing life jackets so no one drowned. But I thought it was pretty cool that the guys on shore just immediately jumped in and started swimming towards that canoe. They got the canoe set right and the kids back in it and all was well. 

Here are some pictures I took of people going off the rope swing.





When it started thundering and lightening, we got back in the car and headed to Lloyd. I gave Jessie some peas and some zinnias and some fig preserves. She helped me get the sheets off the line and then went on home. I came in, made the bed and laid down on it. I'd say all that swimming did me in but we didn't actually swim at all. It was the bathing suit wrestling.

What a beautiful afternoon.

In a completely unrelated matter, I was looking at Messy Nessy's site this morning and today's post is a good one, as so many of them are. This one featured photographs and papers of Ernest Hemingway's. I was scrolling through them when I saw this picture.



It was taken of Papa at his home in Cuba in 1953 and what struck me was that lamp. Do you see it? 
Somewhere in my thrift-store adventures I picked this up a while back.



It has no markings on it but it struck my eye and it's obviously of the same manufacture as the little bottle that Hemingway's lamp was made from. 

I just thought that was so interesting. Anybody have any information about these things?

So that was my day and I'm about to go and make some eggrolls. Mexican for lunch, Chinese for supper. 

Sophisticated!

Just like me.

Love...Ms. Moon



15 comments:

  1. That's why you wear your suit under your clothes! :)

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  2. I stop and change at the Race Trac when we go to Cocoa beach. I realize there my not be something like that where you where. Gail

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  3. The gas station not an actual race track. Gail

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  4. There's a magazine called Country Living that has a page devoted to finding out what things are worth. You should send in both pictures! OR...I have a very close friend who is an appraiser, and he might know. I will send him the link and see what he says! If it's worth thens of thousands of dollars, you can give me a cut.

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  5. Love the lamp/bottle. You sent me down the Hemmingway rabbit hole. I've never been entirely sure how I feel about him but I sure admire his freedom to roam and have adventures.

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  6. The only thing worse than getting into a swim suit in a car when you are sweaty is getting back out of the wet swim suit and into clothing in a car while you are still damp :) We used to wear our suits under our clothes to get to the swimming hole, then (still wet) under our clothes to get home. The first part was fine; the second was as bad as you'd imagine.

    Have you ever seen an alligator while you were in the water? That would give me nightmares, I think!

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  7. An early birthday gift sent to you from Keith Richards! A documentary on him tonight (at least in L.A.) called Bad Boys of Rock, on REELZ (never heard of that channel.) Thanks for everything you do! Suz

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  8. Gah, alligators! Not really, right? Though... how would anyone stop them?

    I think wearing your suit there is the way forward, though maybe it would be too uncomfortable in the heat?

    I hope your bottles are worth thousands :)

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  9. I once saw someone gracefully change into a red bikini under a towel while sitting on a bench in a populated picnic area. It was like a magic act.

    Jessie is sooooooo gorgeous. I am so excited for you. re the baby. Gosh.

    And those bottles. I know nothing, but what a great find. Italian? Provencal? Greek?

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  10. Congrats on your new grand baby! How exciting!
    PS. I love puzzles. I like to think of myself as a puzzle master. I hope Owen would let me help too. When were were in Portland this month, there wasn't a TV, but they had all these puzzles. It was a gift in disguise. Crazy how they force people to, like, talk to each other, eh?! ;-)

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  11. Stephanie- I usually would have but we were going to Monticello first and it's been too hot to wear nylon under a dress. But yes, that would have been the sensible thing to do.

    Gail- Why didn't I do that? Stop at a convenience store? There was one before we got there. Next time...
    And yes- I know what a Race Trac is. Ha!

    Elizabeth- You can be sure I will!

    Angella- That is exactly how I feel about Hemingway! What a life!

    jenny_o- Either prospect is daunting re: bathing suits.
    Never seen a gator in the direct surrounding area as I swam. That would freak me out too.

    Suz- I'll try to find it! Thanks!

    Jo- Yep. The heat. And no, can't do much about alligators. The rivers and springs are their house.

    Denise- I'm a pro at removing a bra anywhere under any conditions without removing my garments but putting on a suit is not easy. And I am not graceful!
    Elizabeth sent me some leads on that bottle. I'm going to spend some time on the internet and see what I can find.
    Yes! I can't believe I have TWO pregnant daughters. It's such a gorgeous thing, seeing them together and sharing this. I am so lucky.

    Rachel- TWO grandbabies coming! Lily and Jessie both!
    Puzzles are fun. I used to do them with my grandmother. Bless her old heart. She was deaf so we didn't talk much but we did those puzzles. She was a master. I'm about good enough to help Owen with his.

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  12. Yeah, I thought of that - that it might have been too hot. Pooh on the heat.

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  13. Two months? I can't believe she's due that soon. Seems like just yesterday we were hearing the news!

    I love those Moosewood cookbooks.

    I'm thinking those are Spanish wine or sangria bottles, but I'm not sure. They look like a style of pottery I've seen in Spain, but then, they could be Latin American too.

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  14. Just out of sheer nosiness, which Moosewood cookbook did she buy?

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  15. Lyme disease worries - my babies come back with ticks all the time from the forest. The other day my eldest had twelve in one go! They're going away to camp for eleven days, and I just have to believe they will be alright.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.