Summer And Heat And Bitchiness And Okra And A Really Good Book

Mr. Moon sent me that picture a few minutes ago. That's the new roof he and Owen and a worker or so just finished up. I think it looks very good. Now I have no idea whether or not he plans on doing the roofing of the HOUSE with just that same amount of help or not. We are not really discussing all these things too much. It is still a sensitive subject for me. I figure he's going to do what he wants to do and doesn't need my approval so what's the point? I mean, we are still discussing flooring and things like that. I'm supposed to figure out what the replacement bathroom downstairs is going to look like and I really haven't got a clue and I'm not good at envisioning things like that anyway. No matter what we do, it's still not going to have a window and therefore is never really going to please me. 
But I digress.

After he sent the picture he called to tell me that he's bringing Owen home tonight because they're done with the roof and Owen has something planned with a friend so he (Mr. Moon) will be spending the night here. This is a little disconcerting for me in that I'd already set my mind to being alone tonight and eating leftovers and all that sort of stuff and suddenly, it's oh- by the way, I'll be home soon!
Oh well. We're still going to eat leftovers. And he probably won't be bringing laundry because he's bought a new washer and dryer for the cabin and hooked them up and I believe he is rather enjoying being the first to use them. Then again, the novelty may have already worn off. 

I worked pretty hard today. Not for a long period of time but as long as I could tolerate being outside. First I took a walk to see how my knee felt about physical activity and it felt pretty okay. I wanted to haul a downed branch and the bamboo I removed from the porch ceiling so I dumped all the rain water out of the garden cart (many gallons) and pulled it around to the front yard but before I started in on the bamboo and the fallen branch, I started with cleaning out some other bamboo growing up by the fence and trying to choke a camellia bush and then next thing I knew I was pulling and/or cutting nandina which is yet ANOTHER invasive plant, now popping up in places it's never grown before here and y'all- I am so overwhelmed. I just can't keep up with it. I can't. I also cut back similax green brair vines which are wicked, wicked things, and then, because I am ridiculously stupid, I decided that now would be a great time to trim the sagos which I did not do last winter but I only got three of those done because I was dying. 

Here are two of the three I "trimmed" and when I say "trimmed," I mean removed every poisonous sharp-tipped frond from them. If they die, they die, and you can bet they won't. You'll note the proud male sago there, I'm sure. 

I hauled all the stuff to the burn pile and it took two cart loads to do it. The humidity today has been over 80% and that is not a joke. It's sort of like trying to work in the top of a double boiler at full steam. 

And of course the sad part is that no one in this world would even notice what I did today except for maybe the cutting back of the sagos but I doubt even that. Again I say- I cannot do this by myself. 
And yet, the day I try to hire someone to help me is a day I can't even envision. That's just not what I do. This is part of my type of crazy I don't really understand at all but that's the way it is. 
I'll think about it, though. 

Here are a few other pictures I took today, most from my walk. 

The crepe myrtle in a neighbor's yard. 

An old house I've no idea the history of but I'm sure it has many stories to tell. It was vacant for a very long time and then someone moved into it some years ago but recently they appear to have moved. The house is already getting that look of not being lived in. I doubt anyone plans on renovating it and so it may just go the way of all the other abandoned houses around here. Back to the ground. 

Or perhaps someone will take note of it and decide to make it a project and save it. I hope so. 

A new sign at the My Gypsy Soul Boutique. 
Yes. Somehow the place is still open. Various strategies have been put in place to try and save it, I guess. First came the posters in the windows advertising Tarot and palm readings, then the signs saying, "Smoke shop!" and now they're selling the lottery. 

Smoke shops in Florida are places where you can buy cannabis even if you don't have a license for the medical dispensaries where you can buy legal weed if you do have that medical needs card. There is some loophole that these smoke shops are able to slip through and honestly, if anything could save My Gypsy Soul Boutique it might be drugs. I have to say though, that I have not seen any evidence of cars with people clamoring for almost-legal weed or gummies or pipes or bongs or whatever else they have in there. 

Say what you will- one has to admire that woman's persistent determination that she can make that place work. 

I finished listening to Viola Davis's memoir (read by her, of course), "Finding Me." I could write an entire month's worth of blog posts on all the thoughts I have after listening to the book. All I'll say at this point though, is...wow.

I'm sure the book isn't for everybody, but for anyone who has struggled with past trauma, childhood sexual abuse, racial prejudice, domestic abuse in the family home, poverty like you can't believe- there is a lot here to ponder. Also for anyone who wants to have an idea about what it takes for a woman who has none of the perceived requirements to become a very noted and very awarded actor except for sheer talent, determination, endless work on craft, intelligence, and people who believed in her- this is your book. 

Never once does she do the "oh, poor pitiful me" thing which my god, she has every right to do, she just faces what has happened in her life honestly and head-on. She doesn't make light of them either. Unlike many celebrity memoirs I've read she does not self-praise constantly nor does she pretend to be humble when she was not. 
She knows her worth and that, I suppose is the essence of the book. 
Finding me, indeed.

Highly recommend. 

Here's at least one okra that has grown and matured. 

As I keep saying- I have no idea what's killing my okra plants but it's pretty efficient at what it does. 

Your almost daily shot of zinnias.

On we go.

Love...Ms. Moon