Tuesday, September 11, 2018

All Over The Place


A friend of mine is in Nashville and I don't know where he found that picture but he sent it on to me and I just had to post it here. It would almost appear to me that Dolly's sexual attraction(s) has overcome and overpowered even the magnificent Jagger, sending him seemingly back to an awkward place in his puberty.
Perhaps I'm reading too much into what might have just been a less-than-perfect photo of the Jagger.
I have searched but I don't seem to be able to find a photo of Keith Richards and Dolly Parton but part of me thinks that if there were, it would be an even cooler picture but you know me.
I am prejudiced.

So. Today has been a lot better. This morning I went out and walked a good four miles and it felt fine but DAMMIT TO HELL! I didn't apply any Body Glide and once again, my thighs are just this side of broasted. What is broasted? Like broiled and roasted? I would assume.
Nope. Just looked it up. It's a method of cooking using a pressure fryer.
So yeah, that works too. My thighs are almost broasted.
Y'all, it's still so hot.
But we do not have a hurricane headed our way at this second so I'm not complaining, I'm just reporting the facts.
Anyway, the fact is that I did feel and do still feel much better after I stretched my legs over the hills and under the oaks of White House road and I saw a hawk and a pileated woodpecker and lots of vultures who were ripping apart some sort of road kill and who, when I passed, rose up in the air with a sound like fifty umbrellas opening and closing, opening and closing.
"Hey, y'all!" I said. They waited until I'd gotten a little ways down the road and then drifted back down to their meal. I cannot bring myself to hate vultures. This planet would be one big old mess if they weren't around.
Well, Florida would be.
I don't want to pet them but I respect them.

I decided to make another "real" recipe today, attempting to change up the menu plans around here. I found a recipe in the Williams Sonoma slow-cooker cookbook that Mr. Moon bought me about ten years ago for chicken with shallots and balsamic vinegar. I don't know if you remember but I harvested a huge crop of shallots this year and still have millions of them. It took me at least half an hour, maybe more, to peel this many.


The recipe called for two pounds and I'm sorry, life is not long enough for that mess. And these may be small but they are potent. I cried and I cried and I cried. 
So I've got the chicken cooking with the shallots and the vinegar and wine and salt and pepper and that's all that's in the whole recipe. I hope it's decent. 

I also finished up Maggie's dress. I hemmed it according to the measurements Lily sent me and I also spent about four hours (I am not making this up) embroidering the outline of one of the pigs on the bodice. 


Of course all of that was nothing but an excuse to sit on my ass in the air conditioning while watching Parts Unknown.
I could be out feeding the homeless or holding babies in the NICU or helping out teens in crisis but no. I am sitting in my house outlining a pig with chain stitch on a dress I made for my granddaughter. 
It is pretty cute though, isn't it? 
I think this might be one of my favorite dresses I've made for Maggie and I am going to make August a pair of shorts from the material I have left over so that he and Maggie can be matching. The boy's been begging me to make him a dress as I have mentioned before and I do intend to although I have to admit that I have some reservations about that which means that I am far less gender-cool than I thought I was. In theory I have no problem with a little boy wearing a dress at all. But in reality I'm not quite sure about it. But dammit, the child wants a dress and I am going to make him one. I wonder if he really wants a dress or if he just wants me to make him something like I make Maggie? He loves for me to sew buttons on his shirts which I do frequently when he comes over. We have a lot of fun picking out just the right button and he shows me where to place it. 
I keep remembering a friend May had who was absolutely one of the most gorgeous young men I've ever met. He was stunning and seemed to have no idea that he was. At May's wedding to her first husband, this guy wore a skirt and I have to tell you that every woman from young to old at that wedding not only thought that was A-OK but sort of swooned and got the vapors when they (we) saw him. 
I'm not sure what the men thought but we women did not care in the least. We all knew what we thought and we thought that it was awesome. 
And no, it wasn't a kilt. It was a damn skirt. Like some sort of Balinese man skirt. So shut up!

And I keep thinking about that and how nice it is to wear a dress which is cooler and freer in many ways than a pair of shorts and also, that this is a good opportunity for me to practice what I preach. 
DRESSES FOR BOYS! If they want them, of course. And August does. 
One more thought on this subject: What does it mean that women feel free to wear pants but only the Scots and the truly bravest of men wear skirts?

And of course, there is always this.


I just sighed a deep sigh. I'm going to go cook the rest of the supper to go with the chicken and many shallots. I only got three eggs today and I am actually thinking of keeping the flock in the coop for a day or two so that I can determine how many hens really are laying. 
Want to lay bets on whether or not I actually have the disciplinary fortitude to do that? 
We shall see. 

Tip for today: Take your walks and don't forget to use your Body Glide! Appreciate the buzzards. 
And men in skirts. 

Love...Ms. Moon





29 comments:

  1. the embroidered pig is great and such a special touch. I can see August in a version of what we (in my youth- I'm dating myself LOL!) used to call a *shift*. Maybe? You and I are the same age so I know you know......... and I love the term *the vapors* which REALLY should be brought back into everyday use- it says SO much.
    and no, I don't think you can bring yourself to confine your hens/roo's for a day . ;-)
    Susan M

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    1. My friend Kathleen's mother told her that a woman should always carry a small bottle of gin in her purse in case of the vapors.
      And she was a good southern lady.
      So. Yes. I agree with you.
      Something like a shift, I think, but I want it to be nicely made.
      You're probably right about the chickens.
      Dammit.

      Delete
  2. Men in skirts. Yes please.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKIGystgThc

    And I'm glad you're feeling better.

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    1. NAMASTE, baby! And now I'm feeling even better. Thank you!

      Delete
  3. Glad you're feeling better. I wonder if maybe you can show August a selection of patterns/ pictures of clothes you could make for him, including skirts, pants, shirts, dresses, shorts all of it, and let him choose the one he wants. That might tell you whether he just wants you to sew for him like you do for maggie, or if he wants a dress like you make for maggie. I'm intrigued which it is.

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    1. Well, I figure I'll just make him some shorts and then a dress and if he likes the dress, fine. If he doesn't- well, I did my job.
      And we shall see how it all unfolds.
      But if he comes over soon, I will indeed show him patterns and also fabric to see if he has any particular choices.

      Delete
  4. I would to love to be able get shallots around here. But I must say the onions in Belize are amazing. You must let us know how dinner turns out. August would look adorable in a wrap dress with button fastenings. So would Maggie.

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    1. The chicken was delicious! Even though I probably used 1/8th of a pound of shallots rather than two pounds.
      I think you're right about the dress!

      Delete
  5. You could make a dress for every member of your family and everyone can be matching. #awesomefamilypicture

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    1. Birdie! You're a genius! Best idea yet. Thank you!

      Delete
  6. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/style/keith-richards-reveals-hes-a-cross-dresser-who-loves-to-wear-his/


    but of course, he can wear a rubber band and rock it!
    Your little piggy is adorable! pants and short hair seem to have taken over , everyone trying to be conservative, I guess. BUT I reckon men folk have lost their creative expressive spirit, hiding ...So boring.Being men folk I guess, they have to
    conform" due to getting poked in the eye at the pub

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    1. I love how Keith just totally gives credit to the women in his life for his style. Not unlike what he does with his guitar playing! Give credit where credit is due!
      Poor men. I have always loved men who do not follow the rules. I know a few and they are heroes in my eyes. Mostly gay, but not always.

      Delete
  7. That dress for Maggie is delightful! I think it’s wonderful that you see for her and will start with shorts for August. I like that you see buttons on his sorts. I imagine them in all crazy places and really cool. I’m glad to have read that Owen is doing okay and that you’re finding eggs. Can a chicken lay an egg without a rooster. I don’t know how that works. Your home is beautiful, your life is beautiful in so many ways and so are you. Joanne

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Chickens can definitely lay eggs without roosters. It's like a woman ovulating every month. It just happens. A rooster is only needed to fertilize the egg if a fertilized egg is required to make baby chicks. Don't feel bad for not knowing that. I'll bet that 99% of the people in the US don't know it either.
      Thank you for your eternal and loving sweetness, Joanne. You are loved.

      Delete
  8. I bought some of that Body Glide stuff you talked about, and it works pretty well! What did we all do before it? Get broasted, I guess. I'm swooning over that dress you made for Maggie -- it's just precious!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Broasted indeed.
      We all need dresses like the one I made Maggie. Cool and cool, in both senses of the words! Right? I mean- what could be cooler than a dress made of fabric with farm animals on it?

      Delete
  9. My son and his son all loved to wear a child size bathrobe. Of course they did not tie the belt around, just let is hang open and used it as a cape, or just flowy as they ran around being boys...

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  10. Maybe August will be satisfied if you make him those shorts and they're the same pattern as Maggie's dress? Maybe it's not a DRESS he wants, per se, but instead something you've made especially for him.

    Then again, maybe he wants a dress. I remember wanting to wear dresses when I was little. They always seemed a lot more comfortable than pants. (As you said!)

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    1. I think he really does want a dress. And hearing you say that you wanted one when you were little makes me want to make him one even more! And let me just tell you- dresses ARE way more comfortable than pants.

      Delete
  11. for most of history I think men wore skirts or robes. how and when, at least for western men, did men become so afraid of skirts as if wearing one would change or demean who you were. men are so stupid sometimes. there were years when the kids were growing up that I mostly wore long skirts in the summer...cooler and free-er. and two pounds of shallots? that's a lot.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Probably pants came about as a way to protect the legs of men when they were out hunting or doing whatever it is that men did. And it makes sense that a woman, wearing skirts but no underwear, could squat and pee way more easily than if she were wearing pants.
      Maybe?
      Who knows?
      But yeah, two pounds of shallots is ridiculous.

      Delete
  12. That chain stitched pig is adorable! Certainly worth the hours you spent, especially since nothing else would have allowed you to sit and watch non-taxing TV. And Mick's face, I see what you see, the wonder of a pubescent boy. It's sweet.

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    1. If I couldn't see both of Dolly's hands in that photo I would have suspected that one of them was on a part of Mick that made him smile like that.
      I wonder where HIS hand was.

      Delete
  13. I think an August sized kilt would be absolutely adorable. Or at least a skirt in a plaid pattern. :)

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    1. I'll think about that too, Jennifer. Thank you!

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  14. Skirts on men are the best. I wish they'd get over it already and start wearing them.

    I think August would love one of those toolbelt kilts for his tools? Maybe Vergil could have one too...

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    1. OH my god. You should see Vergil's tool belt that he has now. I doubt I could even lift the thing. It is SO manly!

      Delete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.