Saturday, February 1, 2025

Coffee Tawk


There's the latest camellia to open. No. I do not know this one's name. But if anyone ever needs a definition or explanation for the word "pink" I think this might do. This camellia is growing in my front yard, as opposed to most of the camellias in the yard which I've planted in the back. I wonder if anyone ever walks by it and is happy to see its flowers. Does Harvey appreciate them on his way to and from the convenience store or the GDDG? We don't get much foot traffic past our house. A few regulars, most of them like Harvey, on their way to buy what they need a few blocks from here. 

It's been a stay-at-home day today and the weather has been just about perfect. I'm glad because it was very hard for me to force myself out of bed and if it had been as gray as it was yesterday, I am not sure I would have even bothered. Maurice had come to sleep with me in the night and it seems like the mornings when I wake to find her curled up between my legs are the mornings it is hardest to get up. That's where she sleeps, down near the foot of the bed, between my knees and my feet and the miracle of it is that she doesn't even curse at me when I move in the bed. She readjusts her own position and that is that. Sort of like a normal cat.

I dreamed last night that I was taking care of my plants, repotting them and trimming them, one specifically. I do have a beautiful blue pot that Mr. Moon gave me for Christmas just waiting for something to go in it and I believe that will be my blushing philodendron's new home. That is the plant in my dream.


  


Not a good picture but it has overgrown the pretty Talavera pot that it lives in now. Jessie left this plant with me one summer when she was going to North Carolina. When she got back, she told me to keep it and I know it's because she is aware of my fondness for it. And then, of course, when I get the philodendron settled into the larger blue pot, I can move something else that is outgrowing its pot into the Talavera one and so it goes, like hermit crabs getting together for shell swap meets where they try on different shells that have been outgrown by other crabs. 
I find this to be incredibly charming and amazing. 


Oh, but the world is filled with wondrous and magical things! 

I can segue with the best of them, can't I?

I trimmed some of the porch plants again, being able to see more clearly the damage inflicted by the cold. And then I watered them all. I moved my nursery of Roseland mango and fan palm and sea grape plants from the dining room where I'd had them for safe keeping to different porches. They are not looking great but they are at least alive. 

I took the trash, I checked the post office for mail and unauthorized reading material. No Bibles but we did get some mail. I did laundry. I picked a very few greens to go with the tacos we will be having tonight. I cleaned toilets and bathroom sinks. I swept some. In other words, I was domestic and happy to be. 

As I did all of these things I had my AirPods in my ears, as usual. I am listening to a Stephen King book right now which I am enjoying, unlike the last five books of his (at least) that I have not particularly liked. This one is titled "Holly." The narrator makes it all the better and I do believe King cares a great deal for this character. The horror in it is pretty disgusting but it's so absurd and perhaps so unlike the real horror going on in the real world that it doesn't bother me at all. 
But this afternoon, as I pulled one of my air pods out of my ear, the little silicone part inside of the tip that fits into the ear, just sort of tore. I suppose I have worn that thing slap out. For some reason, we have quite a few unused tips around here but wouldn't you know that none of them were made for this particular model of AirPods. It would appear that the inner part of mine that tore is made of a soft silicone whereas the older ones are made of a harder material. I can't really bitch about this. I wear those things at least six hours a day and Lord knows that the ear canal is a moist and warm and probably rather nasty environment. And those things have dropped in dirt, forest undergrowth, AND the Wacissa river. 


I didn't exactly panic when I realized I didn't have another one to replace the one that tore, but my mind immediately went to getting some new ones as quickly as possible. And so of course I ordered some online (from Apple, not Amazon!) and they are very inexpensive, two sets of them for ten dollars, free shipping. And then a little while later I realized that it's quite possible I could have just gone to Best Buy or Target or someplace like that and gotten them there. 
Sigh. 

My mind is absolutely not what it used to be. One of the characters in "Holly" has early dementia and I have every damn symptom that he has. Oh well. At least, thanks to Stephen King, I've learned that the ingestion and topical use of human flesh, organs, and fat does not cure Alzheimers, arthritis, or sciatica which is good to know because honestly, I'd be very bad at processing anything except for that which grows from the ground for human consumption, much less another person.  

Guess that's all I need to discuss tonight. As I said, tacos are on the menu along with guacamole. They will be soft tacos although to be honest, we'd probably enjoy some good ol' traditional El Paso crunchy ones even more. 

Oh! Maggie is fine and all is well with her intestinal system. Thought you'd want to know. 

Love...Ms. Moon




33 comments:

  1. Good to know that Maggie is just fine! She is, too!!
    The crabbies are darling and for the most part cooperative. Sweetie pies.
    Your camellia smacks me in the feel goods every time. What a magnificent posie that is! They look so hearty but they are liars.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aren't those crabs just the coolest?
      Camellias are pretty sturdy when you consider that this bloom came in a little more than a week after four nights of well below freezing weather. AND snow, of course.

      Delete
  2. Your crab video is priceless. When I was very young, three to four, my other grandma died at our house and people came. A priest for instance. And then two magical people, nuns. One was my aunt, who became one of my favorite aunts. The other was her friend. They were very young then, and giggly, like girls. In my parent's bedroom they actually took off their habits and tried on each others habits!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my Lord! What a memory to have! Those two nun-girls must have really impressed you. I wonder what in the world motivated them to try on each other's habits.

      Delete
  3. The crabs are amazing. I never knew they cooperated in a house swap. It's like E F Benson's Riseholm in summer where all the friends swap houses for the summer, but each goes to a smaller one to save rent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never heard of that! Yes, exactly like the crabs only in reverse.

      Delete
  4. Domestic days are good days. I envy people who can wear ear pods all day. My ear canals are not up to that (I won't go into details - people might be eating!) so I use a portable speaker or old fashioned headphones. Maybe it's time I tried pods again - improved design and technology and all that.
    Tacos - yummmm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I always thought I couldn't wear pods either. But eventually, with this design, I can with no problem.
      The tacos were delicious.

      Delete
  5. I did not know that about those little crabs. Isn't Mother Nature wonderful? All those little critters know how to take care of themselves.
    Pity we humans can't do the same. I loved your post today. It was full of happy normal things. I am trying to do normal things, too. Just Old Englished all my antique bedroom furniture today. The furniture was purchased by the original owner in 1911 right after they married, and I am the second owner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not anonymous -I am Ana Dunk.

      Delete
    2. Oh, isn't it wonderful when your wood furniture is all freshly dusted and oiled? I bet your antiques are amazing.

      Delete
  6. Good to hear that Maggie's internal system is fine. I have never had a taco in my life! A couple of my kids like them and burritos too, but they're not for me. The hermit crab rehousing video was fun to watch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But, you might find you LOVE tacos if you took a bite of one. What is it about them that so strongly repels you?
      There are other videos of hermit crabs househunting.

      Delete
    2. It's the corn they are made of. I don't like cornbread either, the texture feels wrong to me. Then there's the fillings, beans I like, and other things, but dislike the flavour of the Mexican seasonings, something in that bothers me.

      Delete
    3. I made soft tacos with flour tortillas. But if you don't like way they taste, you should avoid them.

      Delete
  7. I have to confess that I don't know the difference between a Magnolia and a Camellia - how bad is that? I know that a rental I once lived in had a creamy whichever one of those has the really strong scent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That would be a magnolia. Was it a very large bloom? Magnolias are indeed creamy and smell like heaven. Camellias are much smaller and have no scent that I've ever been able to detect.

      Delete
  8. Good to know about Maggie. The camellia is beautiful. Grateful for the information about the ingestion and topical use of human flesh, organs, and fat. You saved me some time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to be of service! It was just a placebo effect thing. Can you imagine going through all that work just to discover it wasn't really helping at all? Not even the brain parfaits. I hate it when that happens.

      Delete
  9. We have "Holly" in our library but I haven't been very motivated to read Stephen King in many years. I don't think I ever went past "The Tommyknockers," and that must have been 35 years ago. I read all his early stuff, though, and loved it.

    We're having a beautiful clear day here, too. Cold, but I can live with that as long as there's sunshine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea why but I've really enjoyed this one. It's got some grossness in it for sure but it's not nearly as sickening as King can get.
      A cold, sunny day is a beautiful thing.

      Delete
  10. That pink flower looks like a dancer's skirt, how beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gosh, what a lovely pink flower! I'm so glad that Maggie is okay.
    It's gray here and I am feeling gray myself. Hope to get out for a walk later.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The weather can have so much effect on our emotions, can't it?

      Delete
  12. I love your camellias and I hope now that I've potted mine up and got rid of the white fly it will start growing and give me a few flowers next winter. Apparently it's is spring here now, at least according to the forecast. Still not bring all the plants out until the end of February. At least not this week or the next.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've seen it snow in March so I'm always wary. I've heard that you can't count on no more freezes until the pecans start to leaf out. I have no idea if that's true.
      I really hope you get some camellias.

      Delete
  13. The pink camellia is unusual and very beautiful.
    You grow camellias with ease and the plants are very rewarding. The flowers are perfect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really don't do anything to care for my camellias except to trim a few branches now and then.

      Delete
  14. Those camellias are so lovely. Glad to hear Maggie is ok.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love that the crabs line up by size to change house, although one did have buyer's remorse. The flowers are beautiful and it sounds like a lovely day.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.