Today was Rock The School Day at Gibson and Maggie's school and Lily dressed them up appropriately. As you can plainly see, Ms. Magnolia is fine. Lily reports that after she picked her up yesterday and fed her lunch, she seemed completely recovered.
I love that Gibson is wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt although pairing it with heavy metal gear is a bit disconcerting. Oh well. It gets the point across and I think that as Hank said on the group text, they both look FIERCE!
Lily is so good at that costuming thing. So much better than I ever was. Frankly, I was terrible.
Although Maggie seems fine, August woke up with a little fever and headache so off to get covid-tested again for him. He will get results tomorrow. It could be a sinus infection as they all had a cold-like thing going last week and he is prone to sinus infections. Jessie gave him some kid's Tylenol this morning and he was fine all day but as the evening drew nearer, he started feeling puny again. Fever does tend to reoccur in the late afternoon as all parents know.
I've had a very quiet day. Again, Mr. Moon had to go to town. I had no need to leave Lloyd and so I did not. I took a pretty decent walk which wore me out but after lunch I went outside and trimmed a few palm fronds, hauled some branches and stuff to the burn pile. There is SO much work to be done in this yard. Mr. Moon pulled about a thousand of the horrible Chinese rice paper plants this spring and they have returned with a joyful abandoned glee. They have some sort of dust to them that may or may not be pollen and when you pull them, it gets in your mouth and nose and is a horrible irritant. I suppose we should wear masks when we pull them. And when I say "when we pull them" I mean we should be pulling them now before they once again reach the size of dinosaurs.
Beside that little project, I should be trimming up sago palms and pulling other invasives. As I do every year, I planned that we would dig up some of the camellias in the camellia bed because we planted them way too close together. When one buys a camellia to plant and it is basically the size of a yard stick, it is hard to imagine that one day in the far-off future, that plant will be big enough for children to climb. I suppose I planted these about fifteen years ago and some of them are, if not exactly gigantic, way too big for their beds, like college football players trying to sleep on twin beds in a dormitory room built for kindergartners. Not impossible, not lethal, but definitely not comfortable or good for health. Anyway, the time has passed once again when we could dig these up and move them. That must be done in the early spring when they have quit blooming. They are full of buds now and will start opening soon.
Beside that little project, I should be trimming up sago palms and pulling other invasives. As I do every year, I planned that we would dig up some of the camellias in the camellia bed because we planted them way too close together. When one buys a camellia to plant and it is basically the size of a yard stick, it is hard to imagine that one day in the far-off future, that plant will be big enough for children to climb. I suppose I planted these about fifteen years ago and some of them are, if not exactly gigantic, way too big for their beds, like college football players trying to sleep on twin beds in a dormitory room built for kindergartners. Not impossible, not lethal, but definitely not comfortable or good for health. Anyway, the time has passed once again when we could dig these up and move them. That must be done in the early spring when they have quit blooming. They are full of buds now and will start opening soon.
Put that on the list.
I also cleaned the hen house. I often wonder if the chickens notice or care. I like to think they do, enjoying the fresh clean hay like we enjoy clean sheets.
I finished listening to the book I've been listening to for the last few days which was "Simon the Fiddler" by Paulette Jiles who also wrote "News of the World" which I enjoyed very much. Simon was okay, a little slow in pace but it did keep my attention and I believe I will think about the characters in it for awhile. I returned the book and started a search for my next book and lucked out tremendously. For whatever reason, Elizabeth Strout's newest book, "Oh! William!" was available! This book has just come out and I've been hearing interviews with the author and reading reviews of the book and knew I wanted to read it one way or another and amazingly- there it was! Listening to it is such a pleasure. Good narrator for one thing, but also I love Strout's use of language which is the opposite of flowery or overdone. It is plain and pure and direct. It makes me wish I had never given up on the dream of being an author. You know- an author author. With real books.
And so forth.
But, I digress. I am very much enjoying this novel.
I started our supper early today. I made a soup of split peas and bacon, celery, onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes. As I made it, I thought about my first vegetarian Thanksgiving which involved a meat-free version of split pea soup. I've always been partial to it. And somehow, despite not really feeling sad or down, I craved and needed that chopping and slicing and the alchemy of watching those small legumes break down and turn creamy in their broth. Last night on the episode of The British Baking Show we watched, they made focaccia which I have been thinking about making recently and so I made up a dough for that. I've got cherry tomatoes drying on paper towels and onions caramelized to go on top and we'll eat that with goat cheese with our soup.
I see that Wes Anderson's new movie, "The French Dispatch" will be arriving in theaters tomorrow and by god, I am going to go see that IN the movie theater. Oh, how I have missed Bill Murray's face and Anderson's quirky, strange, and somehow deeply loving view of life.
There are things to look forward to. There is good in this life, even though so much seems upside-down and insane and difficult. There is soup, there is bread, there is cheese. There are growing things and the tending of them along with making things and pondering things.
There are grandchildren, there are books, there are the Rolling Stones.
There is love.
And so...
Love...Ms. Moon
I hope August tests negative.My son's family tested positive 3 weeks ago The twins got it first.They are almost 11.Then the parents,both vaccinated. Fortunately the cases were mild and all are slowly improving.
ReplyDeleteAugust is indeed negative but has some sort of bacterial infection.
DeleteI am so sorry to hear about your son's family. I'm glad they're getting better.
I know I need a booster. I just need to get there!
ReplyDeleteMe too, lady.
DeleteThat foccaccia and soup sound whoa!
ReplyDeleteOh, they were!
DeleteI went to a catholic grade school with Bill Murray and various kids in his family…he was funny then too. Mary in Colorado
ReplyDeleteHe comes from a huge family, doesn't he?
DeleteThose pics of Magnolia and Gibson are priceless!!! Gibson does look Fierce! Well done Lily!XOXO
ReplyDeleteLike I said- Lily is genius at that stuff.
DeleteWow, Gibson looks just fierce! And I do hope August is ok too. By the way, thanks for all these book recommendations. I downloaded so many samples to my kindle but then realized I could just as easily get most of them from my Prime account, so I reckon I have enough reading for the next decade!
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful! I've got a Prime account and have never downloaded a darn thing. I just use my library. I should check into that situation though.
DeleteThe kids are rockin' their rock n' roll gear! We just got "Oh, William!" in the library and one of these days I really need to read something of Strout's. I haven't read any of her books but everyone raves about them.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about so much needing to be done in the garden. Believe me, I'm with you.
Well, I like Strout. Maybe because I can relate to her characters. I don't know that you'd have the same reaction.
DeleteThe yard and gardens are never-endingly needy, aren't they?
I love when kids get excited about school events and join in the fun! They both look great! Hope August heals quickly! Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ellen.
DeleteMary~you may enjoy the books of Lorrie Moore. I love reading your blog right after reading Rebecca's. she was a poetry teacher to me and love her as well. so much to love in these crazy times.
ReplyDeleteI have read some of her books and enjoyed them. Thank you, margaret.
DeleteI so wish I could have taken one of Rebecca's classes. She is one of my favorite people on earth.
Most of all there is love, and that covers all the rest. The kids do look rock and roll fierce!
ReplyDelete