Another Day Of Peaceful Domesticity

Well, the sun showed up today! How glorious is that? The dark pink camellias against the blue sky almost hurt my eyes. And when the gloom dispersed from that sky it faded from my outlook, too. It did not hurt a bit knowing that I did not have to go anywhere today. 
And I did not go farther than the compost pile and the clothesline. My god, but I have become so strongly tied to my home and hearth. I remember when we moved in here, I was on the porch swing with a friend and I told her that I just had no real desire to leave the house or property. That I was finally home and this was where I wanted to be. 

Boy. Did I get that right. Twenty years later and I'm almost to the point where I CAN'T go anywhere else. Of course I can, but I so rarely want to and I am so happy right here doing the little domestic things I do. 
This is how bad it is: I ordered a new ironing board cover a few days ago and I am inappropriately excited about getting it and using it.
Here's the description of it:

• SUPERIOR MATERIALS: 4 Layers of protective materials make this cover an ideal ironing surface. A special Siliconised Silver coating on Cotton Fabric makes the surface smooth for ironing, reflects heat back into the garment, resulting in the fastest crease removal and savings in ironing time. The Heat Proof Metallised coating can withstand high ironing temperatures of above 250° C. Layers of Foam and Fiber Pad are attached to the fabric layers, to give a smooth ironing surface.

Four layers! The one I'm using now has one thin layer and the elastic that is supposed to hold it onto the ironing board is shot. Plus, this one has velcro straps!

Obviously, I am a little too excited about this. I don't even iron that much. Mostly when I do it's because, as many of you know, I have a great excuse to watch trash TV. I did some ironing today and watched "Jewish Matchmaker" and it was terrific! 

I told Mr. Moon what I was watching when he came in from spreading corn at one of his hunting spots for the wild hogs that have been showing up on his trail cam and I said, "You know I love this shit."
He said, "Well, I love watching guys jump into the rapids in Alaska to find gold." 
We both thought about it for a moment and said, "Same thing," and then we laughed. 

I hung sheets out on the line and I picked camellias. Here's today's gathering.

You cannot imagine how happy they make me. 

Jessie sent some pictures today of their visit to Homosassa Springs State Park where they're seeing the manatees.

When it gets cold in Florida, the manatees head for the headwaters of the river where it's warmest. They are amazingly large animals and the name I first heard them called by which was sea cows, is very descriptive. 
The kids also got to see a hippopotamus named Lu who is supposedly the world's oldest hippo. He is sixty-five. They used to have a lot of exotic animals back in the day at Homosassa but when it became a state park, they exported all of them to...somewhere. However, Lu was allowed to stay because the then-governor, Lawton Chiles, made him an official resident of the state of Florida which meant he was not exotic and could stay right where he was. 
God, I miss Lawton. 

Anyway, looks like they're having a great time and tomorrow they may even go to Weeki Wachee to see the mermaids and I hope with all of my heart they do. If there is magic in this world, it can be found in the underground glass-fronted theater at Weeki Wachee Springs where real, true, live mermaids perform daily for the delight and wonderment of all. 

Forget Disney World and Universal, go to Weeki Wachee- that's my advice to visitors to Florida. 

So here it is, Friday night, clean sheets on the bed, martini glasses in the freezer. I am in a very fine mood and it is chilly and getting colder. 

One last thing for the evening. Jessie also sent me this picture.

Yes, August lost another tooth. The funny thing is, he did not realize it was gone until after he ate his lunch. 

We are assuming the child swallowed it along with his hamburger. 

I guess the tooth fairy is just going to have to accept a note testifying to the validity of the lost tooth because I'm pretty sure that no one is going to want to look for it tomorrow. 

Happy Friday, y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon