Saturday, May 29, 2021

Clever Peeps, Clever Boys, And A Theory About A Snake


 This morning Mr. Moon and I scooped the babies out of the baby coop and let them run about the big coop with their mother. The very first thing they did was race to the run between the hen house and the coop where there were some roaches who had been disturbed by the lowering of the slide door between them. The tiny chicks knew exactly what they were doing and quick as a lick, several of them had small roaches in their peep beaks and were running about, trying to eat them without being threatened by their siblings with roach theft. Amazing what a week-old chick can do, isn't it? 
And Darla watched proudly overall. 


These two fine young men are spending the night tonight. They will be leaving soon for North Carolina and so we're storing up the fun, I guess. They are helping Boppy work on the car model they're making. I'm making a big pot of chicken and dumplings for their supper. The broth has carrots and green beans and onion and celery and garlic bubbling away. I've used the biggest pot so that we'll have plenty of room for the best part which is the dumplings, of course. 
Levon has already asked if we're going to have "those cow things" later and I assured him that we would indeed have purple cows. He's excited. 
And tomorrow's breakfast is already planned and we won't be having pancakes! August saw the tomato we had ripening on the porch and he said that he wanted biscuits with tomatoes and bacon. 
"So you want me to make biscuits?" I asked. 
"Yes. First we'll have a savory one and then one with jam."
A savory one? 
Who is this child? 
August Glinden. That's who. 
Levon asked his grandfather if he remembered that snake he killed yesterday. His grandfather allowed as how he did remember. 
I had not mentioned that last week something happened to Maurice. She began to act really strange, even for her. She got on Mr. Moon's lap and just meow-yowled and meow-yowled. She was agitated and when I tried to pick her up to take her to bed, she went ballistic, scratched me and jumped to the floor. She walked strangely, and continued to complain and was jumpy as hell. She spent most of the next day in the old baby cradle in our room where I keep folded blankets and she left a few spots of blood on one but we could not find a wound of any kind. I wondered at that time if she'd been snake bit. 
She's fine now, back to her normal self, and even had a few days where she was almost pleasant, letting us pet her and love on her without attacking us. I think it's quite possible that the rattler may have struck her a glancing nick, barely deep enough to inject venom. We'll never know but it's a theory.

All right. Levon wants me to make their beds so I need to go pull their fold-up mats out of the closet and put clean sheets on them. I wonder how old they will be before they want to sleep in the bed in the guest room instead of on the floor in our room. I do not mind them in our room at all. They sleep soundly there, and I know they feel safe, right next to Boppy and Mer. It's nice to have them there, all of us feeling cozy and close. I know how quickly this time passes. It occurred to me the other day that I now have toys and books that my grandchildren have outgrown. I really do not know quite how to feel about this. 

But that's the news from Lloyd today. 

Love...Ms. Moon

23 comments:

  1. August Glinden is really something else, isn't he?! "First a savory one, then one with jam" just tickled me. That's a boy and a breakfast after my own heart! The tomatoes will be the best part. :)

    Have fun with those boys tonight! I know you will.

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    1. The boy can eat some biscuits, let me tell you.
      We did have fun.

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  2. Lily has a new name for her blog

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  3. His vocabulary is impressive! Both kids are, well all the grandchildren are impressive. I love pix of them visiting.

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    1. Thanks, Liz. I am quite impressed with how large both their vocabularies are. Levon seems very wordy to me for a three-year old.

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  4. I wonder about Maurice, too, because of course a cat would bound for and tentatively pat out to a wriggling toy like a snake.

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    1. Yeah. I can see that too. Or else she wanted to catch it. She is a hunter.

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  5. happy you will have the boys tonight....food and reading and lots of TLC! And Maurice......funny- I was just thinking about her yesterday and the fact that you have not mentioned her or photographed her in a week or more. Poor dear, thinking she might have gotten bitten...... but glad to hear she is on the mend.
    Susan M

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    1. She seems fine. And even when she was acting really strange, she was still eating and drinking so I wasn't TOO worried. But it was quite noticeable.

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  6. It sounds like Maurice may have been bitten, if not by a snake, maybe something else. Cats are weird when they're sick.

    It sounds like supper and breakfast have been covered and a good visit will be had by all:)

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    1. Cats ARE weird when they're sick. But then again, they're sort of weird when they're well, too.
      The meals were well-appreciated and enjoyed.

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  7. I can't imagine how you feel about it but I know that I am bummed that your grandchildren are growing up. Can't one of your girls or guy have/adopt another baby. It's the least they can do for your devoted blog followers

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    1. Oh, Elizabeth! Sometimes I want a new baby around so much that it's like wanting one of my own!

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  8. that August is pretty amazing. I remember when my three year old daughter used a 4 or 5 syllable word, don't remember the actual word anymore as it been 40 years but I just dropped my jaw and looked at her in amazement. and that would be my guess, that Maurice got snakebit and thank goodness it was just a glancing blow.

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    1. Kids can really come up with the oddest things, can't they? And you just have to wonder where in the world they learned it.
      I really think there's a good chance that snakebite was what happened. The thought occurred to me quite strongly before we saw the rattler.

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  9. Those boys are so cute and clever! You have to watch what you say around the little ones as they do pick up and remember and repeat everything, don't they?

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  10. But no one ever outgrows "The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza"! (Which is a good thing.)

    I'm so impressed that August knows the word "savory." I swear I didn't know that word until I was in my 30s!

    That's an interesting theory about Maurice, and sounds entirely possible. Then again, maybe she was just freaked out by the presence of the snake, even if it didn't bite her. Or maybe something else bit her. There's lots of biting stuff in your neck of the woods, right?!

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    1. We read The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza again last night! And enjoyed it!
      I don't think that Glen knew what "savory" was until August explained it to him.
      Something did bite Maurice because she was bleeding a tiny bit although we never could find a wound. So- yeah.

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  11. The news from Lloyd?...You mean, no bank robberies, no shootings, no car crashes, no bears running amok, no fires, no oil discoveries, no film crews? Jeez! What kind of a place is Lloyd? Just small boys eating biscuits for breakfast!

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    1. Yep. That's about it. Boys eating biscuits, chickens hatching eggs, great quantities of green beans being picked.

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  12. A savory one! August reminds me of my son, whose brains catches and holds just about everything flying by.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.