Sweet And Busy

Another walk on yet another gloomy, doomy day. Muggy too. As in- where did winter go? It's so confusing. You just start to get acclimated to the cold and then the heat and mosquitoes show up again.

But yes, I did take another walk, and this time I walked down to Lloyd Creek Road and then walked a half mile on it, turned around and came home. I didn't feel like I was going to die but I didn't walk very fast, either. I saw a dead armadillo and a dead snake. Because I am kind, I did not take pictures of the poor creatures. 

Here's the railroad track.

Yep. Looks like a railroad track, doesn't it? They keep it pretty tidy. 

And here is a picture of the flags in front of the Trump lovers who live right across the street from the dump. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But hey- Dump rhymes with Trump. Coincidence? I think not.

They've been flying those fucking flags upside down since Biden came into office. 

It was a Candie day and for some reason, I end up doing some housework myself on those days. Today was mostly all about laundry and bed-making and sweeping the floor after Glen took the four ferns back outside because they were shedding a dry green leaf confetti. "What are you DOING?" he asked me when I was sweeping. "That's Candie's job."

"I know, I know," I said. "But, but, but..."

The man had to go to town to do some business and after I got back from my walk he called and said that if I hadn't eaten my lunch he'd love to meet me at a restaurant right off the interstate which I thought was pretty sweet. We had a date! The restaurant is one of those supposedly "farm to fork" places and they do have a lot of growing going on right there. Greenhouses and mushroom cultivation and citrus trees and vegetables, all right there on the property. Also chickens! 

An artist's rendition of the place. It's semi-accurate although I have no idea what those cloud/mountain things in the background are supposed to represent. This is not saying I don't like the picture. I very much do. 

Here's what the front garden looks like as a photograph. 

Even a tractor for the kids to play on. That bare tree in front on the right? It's a pear tree and it has a secret. 

Super scary! Some poor child probably left it behind one day. 

The food there is good but not always healthy. We decided to split a wild boar burger and a Cobb salad. The server said that if they plated the shared meals in the kitchen, there would be a charge of three dollars but that you got more food that way. Mr. Moon, who was in a most genial mood, said that would be great! 

And then she brought out our salads and I said, "Well, bring me a to-go box too because this is more than enough for lunch." And it was. As for it being a salad- well. Let's just say if you'd had a couple of tortillas, you could have made about five delicious quesadillas from those two salads. There was enough cheese for ten salads PLUS bacon. And some lettuce and tomatoes. 
Of course we had to try a bite of our boar burgers and they were tasty and there was no way we couldn't eat any of the french fries so that happened too and yet, there was still enough left to fill up the to-go container with no room to spare. 

We had a good time. We're in a sweet place right now, Mr. Moon and I. You know how tides come and go? Our tide is high and that is always a joy. We talk and find each other incredibly funny and laugh a lot. So we had a very fine time eating and looking at their garden and it really does look good with all the winter vegetables as green and sturdy as they can be. 

Of course neither one of us is hungry again yet, but I've made the beginnings of one of my favorite soups which is the creamy cashew butternut squash soup from the NYT's food app. I've got the squash and also a sweet potato because that's how I make it southern, the cashews, onions, garlic, broth, ginger, and curry spices all simmering away.

I've also got naan bread dough theoretically rising and in a little while I'll puree the soup and add the coconut milk and taste it for needed salt and pepper and a little more of this and a little more of that. 
Yet another fuck you, Jay Leno! dinner. 

After I'd gotten all of that together, I suddenly felt as if I'd hit a wall. Between the walk and the little bit of housework and going out and then chopping and steaming and peeling and mincing and so on and so forth, I was done. 
I think, however, after I finish this delicious martini I am sipping I'll be just fine. And oh, how good those clean sheets will feel! My floors, thanks to Candie, are spick and span and smelling of Fabuloso and vinegar, and the bathrooms are sparkling. 

So a very fine Friday indeed. 

I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Moon's good mood may be at least partially due to the fact that he is going to leave to go to Arkansas to hunt ducks on Sunday. He'll be going with his Nashville friends and he always loves hanging out with those guys. He's making plans to take oysters up there and will be gone for a few days. Whatever it is, making him so happy, I'm glad for it because I get the overspill. He told me to go ahead and eat all the cauliflower and definitely the cooked peas and carrots while he's gone. I told him I would. I will also bake him cookies tomorrow to take with him. 
Golly, I'm such a good wife. 

And I've got a good husband so it all works out. 

Happy Friday, you dear people.

Love...Ms. Moon