Good Stuff

 I felt a lot better this morning but I still didn't feel quite up to a trip into town to wrangle boys even though they don't really require much wrangling. So I asked their grandfather if he would mind taking over for me and he was delighted to go. I believe the boys were pretty happy about it too. They called me a little while ago to discuss what they want for supper tomorrow night and breakfast on Saturday morning as they are coming for a sleep-over. Chicken and dumplings for sure tomorrow night, and Mickey Mouse pancakes with chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream for breakfast. 

Uh. No on that last part. 
We made a compromise in which for dessert after chicken and dumplings they will get root beer floats with a little bit of whipped cream and maybe a chocolate chip or two and breakfast the next morning will be plain old pancakes with syrup. 

They drive a hard bargain. 

Even though I didn't go to town I think I may have overdone it just a little bit here as the day progressed. I started out just leisurely weeding and doing a little mulching but it's so hot! I mean, not burning up hot but sweating hot. We are setting high temperature records for December here daily. It's ridiculous. I'm sure my greens are all going to bolt in this heat. And here's a thing- for almost fifty years I've been gardening in this area and I've always been sad that we can't grow lettuces and tomatoes simultaneously. 
And now we have. 

A few months ago we planted two cherry tomato plants hoping to get a few before it got cold and those plants are the healthiest cherry tomato plants I've ever grown and they are covered with ripening fruit. 

As I wrote a friend of mine today, I think I'd rather have winter. 

Anyway, I don't get to make that choice and might as well enjoy the salads while we have them. I turned the water on the garden after I'd finished weeding and picking those sweet little orbs of goodness because we haven't gotten rain in a long time and don't see any on the forecast either. 

I loved the rainbow the water from the sprinkler made and it made me feel as if even my garden was celebrating two very fine things that have happened today. 
One is that the House passed the marriage equality bill and it's on Biden's desk. You think he'll sign it?
Oh yes. I do. 
The other beautiful that happened was that Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison where she was being held on possession of marijuana charges. I absolutely loved the picture of Biden in the White House, hugging Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner and reassuring her that Brittney was on a plane, safe, and on her way home. 

I adore that man. I simply do. Yes, he is old but he knows how to get things done and I do honestly believe that his heart is in the very best place when it comes to this country and its people. The man has a whole lot of love in him and I'm not ashamed to say that. 

So let's hear it for my rainbow representing the good news that came to us today! 

After I finished in the garden I decided to make some bread and gumbo. I needed to use up the shrimp that Mr. Moon brought home from the coast. And so I stood there in the kitchen, stirring roux and sweating for a good twenty minutes after I'd chopped the celery, onions, garlic, peppers, and okra. Making roux is a sort of magical experience. It starts out like this.

Flour and olive oil. And then with heat and constant stirring, it becomes this.

Alchemy! 

And then in go all the vegetables and some sausage and the broth I'd made with shrimp shells and the celery ends, a can of tomatoes, and spices. The shrimp goes in at the last minute. 

Add rice, praise the Lord, and pass the hot sauce. 

Okay. A few more pictures. 

I went out to check the progression of the banana-ripening process (as one does) and look who I found snuggled up between two of them. 

Is that the cutest little critter you ever saw on a banana?

And also this. 

The first picked camellias of the year. 

Plenty more to come. 

Love...Ms. Moon