Let Us Begin

After Jessie's cat died this summer, she had no need for a cat bed any longer and she offered it to me. Despite my doubts that Maurice would deign to set foot or ass in a cat bed, I said I'd take it and see what happened. 

And that happened. 

I'm pretty darn surprised but in a way, that's how she sleeps when she sleeps with me, curled up in the space formed by the way I sleep, on my side, one leg bent, one leg straight. 

So maybe she'll feel safe in that little cat bed. Jessie also gave me some catnip she had and I put some on a piece of cardboard for Maurice. She gave it a good sniff, another sniff, and then walked away. Damn. I was hoping to find something that might bring her a little joy. 

I went to the dentist today. I finally figured out what my sweet dental hygienist’s name is. It's Maddie. There was no detective work involved because she was wearing a cute little pin that said, "Maddie." 
I mean, you just can't ask someone you've sort of known for several years what their name is, right? Once again she was lovely and she praised my oral hygiene. She told me that some people come in to get their teeth cleaned not only having not flossed, but also not having even brushed. Just after their lunch! 
I said, "That's just rude." And it is. What's wrong with people? 

I met Lily and Lauren for lunch after my appointment and it was good to see them. Sometimes it's really a treat to see my kids and their sweethearts without the company of children, no matter how much I love them. You can concentrate more, for sure. 
And then we went to the same Goodwill I found my Fiesta Ware in last week and I may have used up all my thrifting luck in that one visit. I found nothing today that I wanted. Not even vaguely. 

But here's the big thing that happened today. I think we may have hired a carpenter/builder to come help us with our house. When Glen and I were talking about the prospect of hiring someone, I mentioned this man as a possible person to get an estimate from. I have literally known this guy since before he was born. His mama and I were good friends and I was pregnant with Hank and she was pregnant with Floyd (that's his name) at the same time. Hank and Floyd were born a month apart. Floyd's daddy was in a band at the time with my then-husband and it was a very sweet and very strong community. In fact, his daddy was literally the second person I met when I got to Tallahassee in 1974. 
I have written about all of these people at one time or another but I don't feel quite right about giving out a lot of details now. 
Early days in this project. You know? 

But Glen agreed that Floyd might be a good person to call. He'd talked to a contractor friend who told him that no, he didn't work on old houses like this and he really didn't know anybody else who did either. But it would appear that Floyd does. 

When he came to the door this evening to see what we had going on here, I opened it up to him and he said, "Hey, Ms. Mary!" So southern, yes, but just so sweet. I hugged him hard. He smiles a lot and I believe those smiles are genuine. He works with his son and of course, I love that too. 
In a way, I feel like things have come full circle. Or at least sort of. 

And so we begin, I hope. I love this old house more than words can say. It is the place where I not only live but where I helped raise two grandkids up to preschool age. A place where we've had a few weddings. A place where we've had birthday parties, Thanksgivings, Easters, and huge gatherings with music and food. A place where my acting buddies liked to come and I'd make pizza and we'd drink martinis. A place where we've grown a lot of food, where the camellias I planted as twigs are now trees, a place where I kept chickens and where I've made a million meals and read a million stories to my grandchildren. A place where I have danced by myself in the hallway to the Rolling Stones. A place where my niece, sitting at the kitchen island looked around at all my silly stuff, sighed, and said, "When I grow up, I want a house just like this." A place where we held the dancing, and yes- joyful- wake for my friend Lynn when she took off to a different plane. A place where I have gone from the age of fifty to the age of seventy-one. A place where I have loved my husband more than I ever knew I could, where we have figured out what love is and can be in our older years. A place that has offered me so many challenges when it comes to the things that grow in the yard and at the same time, has given me the huge and unearned honor of living in the shade of ancient oaks, and magnificently massive magnolia trees. It has protected us through hurricanes and floods. A place where I have felt safe and at peace and which has comforted and sustained me in my darkest, scariest times. It has given me peace and it has given me joy and never once has it given me despair of any sort. 
Except the despair I have felt at not taking care of it properly. 

I hope that Floyd can help us. And please don't make any jokes about the name "Floyd" in relation to the name of the village in which I live. Floyd got his name in a most deeply meaningful way and it had nothing to do with Lloyd, although I have come to love the place named that. 

This is the place where even Maurice feels safe. 
At least sometimes. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Muscle Memory And Other Kinds Of Memory

I have started getting a little craving for salads again, which is good because in one bowl I am getting lots of vitamins and fiber and protein in one form or another. If I make my favorite salad dressing with miso and olive oil and garlic and ginger, I'm also getting probiotics and other good stuff, or at least that's what the claims are. In reality, who knows? 
But Lord, making a salad can surely be a messy proposition. That's what my kitchen counter looked like after I'd made and eaten my lunch salad. It made me laugh. I'm usually a clean-as-I-go cook but sometimes you just want to get the food in a dish and eat it. Part of the problem is that I like to incorporate many different vegetables in the salads and so there is peeling and chopping and grating involved which can get messy with cabbage flying about as I cut it up fine and carrots going slightly astray as I grate them. 
And other things. 
And then making the dressing takes time and effort too, what with the garlic and fresh ginger. It's not just a matter of mixing a few liquids together. 
But it is worth it. 
And after I'd spent about ten minutes cleaning and tidying, all was restored to good order. 

It's been a stay-at-home day. I didn't take a walk because it was raining off and on all morning. I did do a little weight work and a few exercises and yes, a few yoga poses like I said I need to and here's the funny thing- I did this same routine for many years back when I was younger and sleeker and wanted to keep it that way. Now of course, I want to have strong bones and stronger muscles so that I can keep doing the things I do, so in a way, yes, my goals are about the same.
I restarted this routine awhile back and what struck me is how the second I grabbed my weights, my body told me to go away now, I know what I'm doing. And by golly it does. I am doing the exact same movements and exercises I did all those years ago as if I'd never skipped a day. I can't do as many reps and my weights are lighter but not by much. I am a firm believer in more reps, less weight.
I am not trying to injure myself here and I am not ever going to be ripped or buff or whatever they call that shit. I am just trying to maintain and perhaps improve a bit. 
And walking has to be part of this too. 
I just truly hope that my joints can take it. I have a bum knee and a wrist that doesn't always cooperate with my plans. Might be time to get out the old wrist brace.

So. I am trying. 

And in saying that, I think of the saying, "Don't try. Do."

I took the trash today. Nothing of any interest there. I stopped by the post office to mail a card and buy some stamps. Ms. Tee was there and she was not her usual ebullient self. I asked her if she was okay. 
"No," she said. "I fell last week." 
She had fallen at work and is in a lot of pain. She took some time off but obviously not enough. I could tell just by looking at how she was moving and the way her face was set that the pain is intense. I felt so awful for her and wished there was something I could do. But of course there wasn't except to tell her I hoped she'd feel better soon. 

I worked in the garden about an hour at which time I began to lose my bearings. I had just emptied a big bag of mulch and started to spread it but walked away instead. The mulch will dry out some and be easier to spread tomorrow and there are no time limits on mulching here. I picked more zipper peas and even more tomatoes. I pulled out more dead plants and slowly, we'll soon be ready for the fall garden although it won't be time to plant until at least late September. I so hope it is a little cooler by then. 

I realize I forgot to post back to school pictures yesterday so here they are. 

The Hartmanns at Jason's house. It was his year to do first day of school. That is not what Gibson wore to school but it is what he got his picture taken in. Also, I feel certain that Maggie put on shoes before she left the house. We are not heathens. 
Okay, well, yes we sort of are but we do wear shoes to school. 

Kate Sullivan kids. I hear they were excited. 

And one more, showing how tall Owen is. He's not just tall, he is BIG. 

Now look at that picture over there in my sidebar of Owen and Gibson when they were my little guys. 

I still don't believe how fast they've grown. Did I know when I was holding them on my lap for that photo that this was going to be one of the best times of my life? 
Sort of. 
Not really. 

Well, here we are, and I am telling you that the days when I could get two grandsons in my lap at the same time were precious gifts. 

That's all I have to say tonight. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Tales Of The City, Or, Village, Actually

This is what the swampy area on the west side of Highway 59 which is really the main route through Lloyd looks like right now. 59 is the road the semis take to get from Highway 27 to Interstate 10. I live a block away from 59 and this verdant, as yet untamed piece of land is probably a third of a mile from my house, if that. All the rain we've been getting has definitely encouraged all types of green growth. 

I took a walk today. I have got to start exercising. I need to walk, I need to do some weight work, and I need to do a few exercises and yoga poses to strengthen these old bones. 

I believe I may have said this before. 

Anyway, the walk I took wasn't very long. Two miles, more or less, first almost to Harvey's on the street I live on, turned around, came back, and walked through Lloyd and back home. 
Here are a few things I saw today. 

That chair sign has been in this yard since 2020, I think. It appeared after the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Today, however, it looked like it had been set up in such a way that it is easier to see. Say what you will about Lloyd, that sign still stands.
Of course everyone who walks down the sidewalk in front of the house and yard where it lives, is Black except me. Just about. Come to think about it, I don't know that I've ever seen another white person walking for exercise in Lloyd. When I first moved here 21 years ago and began walking the streets and roads, people would literally stop their cars or trucks and ask me if I needed a ride. 
By now everyone knows me, probably as the crazy white woman who walks. I get a lot of waves but that's probably mostly because we are a waving community. 

The fally down house. It's hard to tell but it is growing ever closer to being completely on the ground. The doorways that used to be tall enough for a person to walk through are now only a few feet high. It is a slow, slow process, but the end of the story is inevitable. I am a little surprised that it hasn't been completely overtaken by jungle. There's another old house nearby, empty and deserted, and you can't even see the house now unless you're really looking and can make out a small part of the roof. 

Looks like the house that was redone and put on the market has sold. I have no idea who bought it but I hope they're good people. I hope they are kind to Abraham who lives next door. I don't think he makes friends easy, though. I know it's taken me all these years to get to the point that he'll wave and talk to me if he sees me. I cherish those conversations. He has lived in Lloyd a long, long time, and he has seen some things. I actually saw him in his yard today but he was using a weed whacker and was very concentrated on his task and was wearing ear protection. I don't think he saw me. I did not interrupt his work. 

I stopped by the post office and gathered my mail, then walked on home. This is standing at the side of Highway 59 on the same plot of land as the P.O.

It's been there for a month or two. Perhaps longer. I have no idea as to what or who it memorializes or what symbology is going on there. Another mystery of Lloyd. 

I went to town after I'd cooled down from my walk. I met Jessie at Costco and we did our shopping. She had to get home in order to pick up the boys after their first day of school, so I went on to Publix by myself. I got what I needed to get there, including some things for the cabin like a new toilet bowl brush, cling wrap, a dish scrubber, stainless steel cleaner, and cleaner for the stove top. I am realizing that I am going to need so many things like kitchen utensils. Have I already said this? But spatulas and knives and wooden spoons and a wire whisk, cheese grater, a zest and ginger root grater, a vegetable peeler, a garlic press, and definitely more pots and pans. I also need a vessel of some sort to put my cooking utensils in because of course I do. I suppose I'll need measuring cups and measuring spoons, serving spoons, and tongs. 
Oh god. It is so overwhelming. I do NOT want to just go to Target to get all of these things. Ideally, I can find a lot of them in thrift stores but of course I am picky, too, and do not want shoddy tools. I am exhausted thinking about this. 

Well. I don't have to do it right away. The house doesn't even have flooring yet. And the downstairs bathroom is waiting for a complete remodel. All that's in there now is a toilet and a sink and the sink is in a horrible cabinet which also must go. I'm pretty sure the toilet is absolutely fine though. 

Glen spent all day dealing with those damn grape vines which had fallen with the tree. This seems to be more of a job than the actual tree removal was. I told him again today that I wished he'd hired someone to do that for him. 
"Oh, I'd never hire someone to do a little job like that," he said. 
Exactly what he always says about these things. 

So of course he's very tired and worn-out and I better go make us some supper. Tonight we'll be having leftover garlicky chicken with lemons and anchovies and before you tell me how much you hate anchovies, let me just say that you've never had anchovies like this because if you had, you would not say that. 

Have you ever tried this stuff?

I never had until I cooked some Rachel had left when she and Hank were housesitting once. I love it. So I believe I'll make some of that, too. There will be vegetables. 

Oh. You know how I'm always going on about Georgia Thumpers? This one was posing on my car hood when I went outside to take my cloth bags to the car after I'd put away my groceries. 

As much as I detest these things because of their proclivity to eat everything in my garden, I can't help but admit they are quite interesting to look at and definitely have their own style. 
That guy is at least three inches long. 
They really do look like something out of a nightmare or a fever dream or an unexplored jungle. But no, they're just grasshoppers, doing their hoppy thing. Do you think that one is giving me a dirty look? I believe it may be. It needn't worry. I really could not bring myself to smash something that large. I just can not do it. 

And so it goes. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Pretty Normal Sunday For August, 2025

I took this picture a few days ago. It's part of the sacred and holy assembly on the mantelpiece of the library. I have taken two pictures today, both of them to be sent in texts to a friend. They were for purposes of demonstration, rather than to be amusing or artistic. Not that THIS picture is artistic but it is colorful! 

I seem to really be obsessed with colors right now, don't I? 

Can you make out anything from the photo on the left? I love that picture. It was of Glen and me many years ago, taken beside the Ocean Grill in Vero Beach which sits right on the Atlantic ocean. One of my very favorite places to eat in the entire world. 
Like I'm some epicure who has eaten in the finest places all over the entire world. Ha!
But you know what I mean. One of the last times I visited that totemic (for me) restaurant, I wrote about it HERE.
Please forgive me if you do click on the link. I had not learned to control my font size at that time, obviously. And if there is even more, more, more that you want to read about the Ocean Grill, just do a little search up there in the top left. There will be many posts. 

Okay. Before we leave this whole subject behind, let's go back to the picture. I was wearing one of my favorite dresses of all times in that picture. I believe I bought it after Lily was born. It was made of  corduroy- hardly a summer fabric- but so lightweight that it was plenty cool enough. Also, it had pockets. I suppose that if I ever had a perfect dress, that was it. I gave it to May years ago when it no longer fit my "mature" body. I hope she still has it. I hope it's still in good enough shape to wear. I am so glad I bought it and got to wear it for a good many years. I always felt beautiful in it. 

So, okay. What else do I have to talk about tonight? Not a whole lot. I made our Sunday breakfast brunch which was made most notable by the fact that I didn't break one egg yolk of the three I cooked. We like our eggs over-medium. How do you like yours? 

And then Mr. Moon went over to Tom's house to fix a flat Tom got on one of his vehicles. Tom is actually doing very well, all things considered, but fixing a flat tire is out of his range of abilities. So that job is taken care of. And then Glen came home, started up the chainsaw, and cut that dead tree up. And y'all- it is a little cooler here right now but it's still deadly hot and with humidity up in the billions of percents. 
Well, close. 
He cut it up, he loaded the chunks of it onto his truck and carried them to the burn pile where he unloaded them. He did not get all the grape vines cut but he'd had enough for one day. 
I did tell him I really wished he'd hire someone to do that job and he said exactly what I knew he'd say which was, "Oh, that's not much of a job."
And let me just say that the man got his second shingles vaccine on Friday. My second shingles vaccine had me swoon-whining for two days. He did say that his arm ached when he lifted it up so I guess he is human. 

We are having a lovely little rain. There was a short forewarning of thunder before the rain began to fall. The perfect Florida summer afternoon shower. The temperature has dropped, the frogs are talking about it, and I can still hear the tattoo of the rain coming down, even though it seems as if the most of it has moved on. I was out in the garden today for some weeding and the teeny-tiniest bit of mulching, and noticed how the Mexican basil was finally attracting a few bees and that it needed watering and now I don't have to. I pulled up a few more dying tomato plants and one pepper plant. It's not so hard to do that. When it's a plant's time to go, I don't mind being the one who helps it onto the compost pile. 
I say that, knowing full well there are at least ten tomato plants with a zero percent chance of putting out one more bloom, much less one more tomato, but they still have a modicum of green branches and so I let them be. 
Miracles can happen! 
Yeah. 

The zipper peas are coming in nicely and I picked a few of those, ready to shell. Look at those sweet fat pods.

So far those look healthy and happy. The aphids do not seem to have found them yet. But they will.

Still, it is heartening to have at least one thing coming in. And as you can see, we are still getting a few cherry tomatoes although they grow ever smaller. 

Sorry this is so scattered and unfocused but so am I. 

In politics, I would like to point out one thing and that is that DJ Trumperooni is spouting more and more conspiracy theories daily. If you've ever been around someone who has fairly advanced dementia, you know how the sufferer truly believes that someone is spying on them or someone is stealing from them or someone is controlling them in some impossible way. This is just part of it. There is no logic or statement of reality that can convince them otherwise. 

Advanced dementia. 

And why is no one but the creators of South Park willing to point out the obviously deeply flawed thinking of this person who holds the nuclear codes in his pocket, and what can be said about the panting sycophants who can't get enough of the taste of their naked emperor's ass? 

Too much? 

Yeah. I agree. Here's a picture which perfectly illustrates Glen's relationship with Maurice. 

Love...Ms. Moon

Baby Steps

When I woke up this morning my mind was in a very dark place. The idea of going to the cabin, spending time there- well, it wasn't good. I almost decided to tell Glen that I wasn't going but how could I? 
I laid there, not sleeping, for at least half an hour, trying to convince myself that I was making far more of this than I should have. 
And of course I was. 
But that's what I was feeling- that darkness, and it was not good.
I finally got up and had a moment of vertigo. The room spun around me but I took a minute, breathed, the room sorted itself out again and I was able to center myself in it. I'm still not sure what that was about but I think surely it had something to do with my dread. 

Things didn't change much before we left and I was fairly quiet on the drive over. We stopped at Walmart to exchange my dutch oven for a non-chipped one and I got the shelf liner I wanted. I also bought fruit for our lunch and tortilla chips too. 

When we got to the cabin, Vergil and the boys were playing basketball. First thing, Vergil told Glen he'd really gotten a lot done since the last time he saw it. I know that pleased my husband. The boys were in good moods and wanted to go fishing. We'd trailered the small bay boat with us and they were so ready to get out on the water, fishing poles in hand. 

But first, of course, lunch had to be made and eaten. I wandered around the kitchen, trying to center myself in that room, a room that has given me the creeps with its olde timey, "Early American" decor. The hideous island was gone and that helped. So much more space. The shelf liner that Gibson had put in looked great and when I told Mr. Moon that he hinted that he'd done a little "fixing" of it after Gibson was gone. I am not surprised. The man cannot stand a crooked line. 
I had the Fiesta Ware which the boys were surprisingly interested in. I asked them both to pick out the color plates they wanted for their lunch and I hand-washed those and loaded the dishwasher with the rest of the dishes. 

Those things can even cheer up a dishwasher! 

I made a stupid-easy lunch of hot dogs that Mr. Moon had in the freezer along with buns also stashed there. It was not a big deal lunch at all but it was a big deal for me to put a pot on the stove, turn it on, and cook those hot dogs. The Walmart in Quincy only had one Dutch oven and it was not blue, like the one I was returning, but cherry red and I put it on the stove top, turned on the...burner?... and I surely did boil those dogs. 
I have to tell you that the water heated so fast. And of course the pot was too big for the six hot dogs I was cooking but it was what I had and why not? 
So that went well. There was fruit and there were chips and everyone was happy. Oh, and an entire jar of dilly beans got eaten. 

Vergil was working on our internet and I won't even pretend that I had any idea at all what he was doing but I think he fixed the problem of calls dropping. 
Do not ask me. I'm just grateful for him. 

After lunch I read a little to August and Levon. I had pulled my old, old copy of Sterling North's Rascal, a book I had read so much that I'd loved the thing almost to pieces.

 

This was the cover my copy had a long, long time ago when it still had its cover. 
I'm not going to try and give a book report here. I'll just say that it's a story of another time but timeless all the same. A boy whose mother has died, whose father is sweet and loving but distant to the point of almost invisibility, finds a baby raccoon and this is their story. 
As I read, there were parts of the book that I could almost recite word for word in my head. 
Levon was okay with it. "It might be my favorite book," he said. But he said that right before he took off to the dock to see what his dad was doing. August, however, was listening. He knows the power of story, that one. The power of story from the page. 
I sent it home with him. 

And then the men went fishing, indeed, taking the boat to a ramp at the marina, and Glen got to be in a boat on his lake for the first time. They didn't fish too long or stay out too long because it began to rain and then storm. 

While they were gone I decided to get busy. I put all the dishes in the dishwasher, ran a load, cleaned the counters, put some more shelf liner in the cabinet under the bar after I wiped the shelves off. And then I tried to decide how to arrange things.

Plates and bowls go where? Which cabinet? Should the glasses stay where Glen has been keeping them? What about the pots and pans, of which there are, so far, very few. And the bowls? The two pyrex casserole dishes I've bought at thrift stores? The colanders?
And where will I be keeping the food? 
Such important decisions. 

But as I worked and frittered and tried this and tried that, I was allowing that kitchen to become familiar. As I sprayed Fabuloso and vinegar and wiped things down, I felt like I was a dog, marking my territory with my own scent, and I have used this metaphor before but it is what I felt like. I did a load of towels and cleaning rags while I was there and I like the washer and dryer but it is the kitchen which is the heart of wherever I may be and that is where I put my energy. 

This is not where the pots and pans are going to go but I put them there for a minute to see how it felt. It felt like I wanted to put the food on those shelves. 

And then the men came back from fishing, a little wet and with no fish but happy and of course August and Levon were starving so more fruit came out and also boiled peanuts that Jessie had sent and some cookies that have been in my freezer since the last time I made cookies for my husband. 

And here's the thing that made me almost swoon. 

I opened the oven, expecting to find a regular black interior but no! It is blue. Blue, blue, blue. 
Sweet Baby Jeebus, I love it. 
I don't even want to bake anything in it because I do not want to mar its blue perfection in any way. 

I showed the boys. They were amazed. 

And by the way, August loves the shelf liner. 

And so I feel a little more aligned, a little more positive about the house. Not only did I arrange a few things, clean a few things, I also fed people in it. 
Perhaps not in the most healthy way but they were hungry and then they were not. 

Until they were hungry again. 
So it was a good day but I have to tell you- I am so tired I cannot believe it. That took more energy than working in the garden for three hours. 

Love...Ms. Moon 

P.S. I told the boys today that I am so old that I was there when the Big Bang happened. They laughed at that. August said, "Do you remember the dinosaurs?" 
"Of course!" I answered. 
"What kind of sounds did they make?" he asked.

"I don't know. Ears had not been invented yet," I said. 

I thought that was a pretty clever answer. They found it fairly amusing. I'm sure they think I'm crazy and I am fine with that. 

One Very Handsome Rooster. Two Very Beautiful Trees

Here we have a living specimen of Roosteria Walmartia. There are actually quite a few chickens living in and around the Walmart parking lot in Tallahassee. I hardly ever go to Walmart but I went today, looking for the shelf liner I like for the cabin. I am not a huge fan of the Pioneer Woman (probably jealousy but actually not) but I do love some of her shelf liner. 

This is the pattern I have in some of my own kitchen cabinets. It's a fine product. 
But Walmart is the only place it can be bought, as far as I know and since we are going up there tomorrow I was told by He Who Knows that we needed shelf liner so I went to buy some. When I parked and got out of my car I heard a young rooster crowing. I knew it was a young rooster because he had that learning-to-crow strangled gargle in his voice, unlike the full, rounded tones of the mature rooster's crow. So I went to find him and I did and I took his picture. 
Right there on Lane 5 at the Walmart parking lot right next to a palmetto. 

He had no flock with him, no females at all, so I imagine he is one of the young bachelors that are driven from the flock by the alpha rooster when the young'un gets old enough to know which end of a hen is the most interesting one. Eventually, there will be blood if the younger bird decides to challenge the older one. And most of them do. 
God I miss my chickens and watching how their society and culture work. 
But it can be disconcerting to hear a rooster crowing at Walmart and some people actually try to catch the chickens, thinking they'll take them home and adopt them, not realizing that chickens can fly, run faster than you'd think with those two skinny legs, and are pros at avoiding capture. Not to mention that these particular chickens are pretty darn happy living where they do. 
A couple got out of their car about the same time I did and they heard our handsome fellow too. They came over to see him and take a picture. They were amazed! I told them about the other chickens living in and around the parking lot and the woman asked, "But what do they eat?"
I imagine that besides the bugs and lizards and mice and plants and seeds that all chickens will eat, they often feast on whatever humans leave behind, both intended and unintended for them. They are probably extremely happy birds. And they must be nesting in the surrounding area where there are still grasses and trees. 

And that was the best part about Walmart today. 

They did not have the shelf liner. Check that off the list. I wandered up and down a few aisles, looking at things a house needs but that's so overwhelming. I did find a Lodge brand fake Le Creuset dutch oven which cost about a fifth of what a real one costs. I put it in my cart, not noticing until I was showing it to Glen that it already has a chip in the handle. And I didn't put it there.
Dammit. 

 

I had planned to get the few things on my grocery list at Publix but hell, I was already at Walmart and they do have a lot of groceries so I decided to make it a one-stop trip to town and got most of what I needed. Not everything. But they do carry some interesting items since they cater to people of different ethnicities. That's always cool. But it took me about as long as it would have taken me to drive to Publix and shop there because I don't know where anything is in the Walmart grocery section. 

I did not not go through self-check out, but instead chose "assisted" check-out which is fairly interesting choice of words if you ask me. 
"I don't need no damn assistance!" I can hear people saying as they scan their own items, bag them, and put them in their carts. My check-out lady and the woman bagging my groceries were having a deep conversation about whether or not it was worth it to drive all the way to Chik Fil A to get a lemonade. Not a word was spoken to me until I'd paid and was leaving at which point the checker said, "Have a great day!" 
"You too," I mumbled, and off I went. 

So yes, tomorrow Glen and I are going up to the cabin and Vergil and the boys are coming too. Jessie is working. Glen wants Vergil to check out the internet situation and try to figure out why calls from the house keep getting dropped. I think he really wants to show Vergil how much he's gotten done. I'm going to hang out with the fellas and boil the hotdogs, I guess. Also put in new shelf liner. There is a Walmart in Quincy, which is in Florida, about the same distance to the cabin as is Bainbridge where Glen got some of the Pioneer Woman shelf liner when he took Gibson up there and that was Gibson's job- to do some shelf lining. Glen has asked me to just please not say anything about it. I am sure Gibson did his best and his best will be good enough for that task. 
I haven't been to the cabin since before the Weatherfords left for North Carolina so it's been awhile. I, too, want to see what's been done. Glen says there are tools and stuff scattered around everywhere so I'm not expecting to get a sudden urge to move in. And there's still a lot to be done. 

I'll put in some shelf liner and I'll wash the new Fiesta Ware in the new dishwasher and then put the dishes up in a cabinet. 
Oh dear god, how I wish the thought of this gave me more joy. 

I CAN DO THIS! 

I've had half a martini so I'm feeling more optimistic about the prospect of being there again. Perhaps it would help me enjoy the cabin more by staying a little buzzed all the time. 

No. No, no, no. Wouldn't be prudent!
I might see how I react to gummies though. Legal as a Walmart bakery apple pie. 

Here are a few pictures from around here today.

Japanese glory bower which I planted. Lest we forget- it's a different variety of glory bower than the one I hate and wish I could crop dust. I've had this planted for at least six or seven, maybe ten? years now and it has only shown up in one area and only a few of them, at that. Like two or three a year. It's a gorgeous plant and quite large. It stands over three feet tall, for sure. 
And that will give you some perspective on how big my beloved front-yard live oak is. 

Every time I look at this tree, or am in her presence, I feel humbled and awed. No, she is not a sequoia or a redwood but she is worthy of my adoration, I think. 

Here's another beautiful oak. This one not as old, probably, but with beautiful branches that reach out like the arms of an elder. The building it's behind is the church next door but due to the very oddly shaped lot we own, the tree is on our property. When the dead tree fell over this week, it left quite a gap in the boundary between us and the church and I noticed yesterday evening when the sun was going down that we were getting extra light in a very direct and bright way. And now we have a better view of the tree, too. 

Here we are.

Martinis, clean sheets...

Happy Friday.

Love...Ms. Moon

New News, New Beginnings

Lily had told me there was news going around about Publix opening a store in Bainbridge, Georgia by October and today, Lauren posted this picture on Facebook so I guess it's a real true thing. This is excellent news for anyone who may have just bought a log cabin on Lake Seminole on the Georgia side. Bainbridge is our address there, I think, but it's actually about eighteen miles away or something. Still, if I am staying at the house there for any extended period of time I won't have to depend on the Piggly Wiggly in Quincy or the Walmart that Bainbridge already has. Glen has been to that Walmart and he said it was pretty good for groceries including produce, and that shockingly, the employees were really friendly and helpful. I am sure this is because Bainbridge is a smallish town in Georgia which means that people often have decent manners and are inordinately friendly. I know this is a stereotype, but it is frequently true. 

I asked Glen the other day if there was any sort of convenience store near the house up there. He thought for a minute and said, "Not really." In a way this is like Dog Island where if you didn't bring it, you ain't gonna have it unless you hop in the boat and travel across the bay to the mainland. So very, very often when we've driven though rural areas with houses spread apart by miles, I always ask, "Where do these people get their groceries?" 
And I truly do wonder. Some of those houses have to be twenty miles from the next town. And now, here I am, wondering, where do I get my groceries? and knowing that it'll be a half hour drive to get them. Still, knowing that I can get them at Publix is heartening. 

I've spent a good part of the day in the garden, weeding. It hasn't been as hot today, below 90. And for a good part of the day it was overcast so I got a lot of weeding done. I pulled most of the zinnias because they're dying or dead. I haven't weeded the whole garden but I've got a good start on that. We need to mulch as quickly as possible because that will help to slow the growth of new weeds or at least that's the theory and the prayer. 
It does. It really does although the weeds do grow like...weeds...this time of year and nothing's going to prevent that entirely. 

I wanted to spend the day in the garden not just because the garden needs work but also because I have had an anxious day for no apparent reason. I do not have these days nearly as often as I used to before my doctor increased the dosage of one of my meds, so when I do, I am slightly baffled. Especially if I can't pin it on anything like an upcoming doctor's appointment or something happening with one of my loved ones. There is absolutely nothing going on that should cause me stress as far as I can figure but I suppose that is the nature of anxiety disorder- you don't need a reason for the brain to suddenly go off into a panic of unknown origins. Working in the garden did help and I am grateful for that. 

Mr. Moon just got home from his four days of work at the cabin. I know he's tired but he'll probably be back at it tomorrow, perhaps taking care of the dead, fallen tree. He told me he brought the chain saw home with him. I'm going to make us a shrimp salad tonight. He has been making salads for himself but I think his salads are mostly just an excuse to consume a large quantity of blue cheese dressing and I understand that. 
My sweet and sour tofu last night was OUTSTANDING! I did not fuck it up in the least. I really enjoyed it and will make it again soon.

Before I go, let me show you pictures that Jessie and Lily sent of their babies at their schools' orientations today. 

All of my children attended the same elementary school that Levon and August go to. As Hank pointed out today, we've had Kate Sullivan Crocodiles in our family for 43 years. 
Good god I am old. 

Maggie goes to a different school and here she is with the Bobcat, their mascot.

I think that's a bobcat. Maggie looks happy, doesn't she? 

She and August start fourth grade this year, Levon will be in second. I hope they all like their teachers and have good years. I love that these three all seem to feel some excitement about going back to school, to starting a whole new year. They're not too cool for school, I guess we could say. This attitude will not last forever as we all know. 

And this is life on a summer day in August in Florida. New beginnings for the kiddos, mamas and daddies stressed out at all they have to do to get everything ready for that first day of school, grandfather doing carpentry, grandmother in the garden, everyone going about their business as usual, dreaming dreams and facing realities, thinking of school days gone by, wondering what to make for supper, wondering what to make of this insane world we live in right now, living our lives much as we've always done in the midst of it all but knowing that everything we believe in seems to be in the process of being erased like a wrong answer on a math problem. 

I'm thinking about buying myself a new notebook and a pack of pencils along with a brand new pencil sharpener. Remember the smell of pencil shavings? Remember raising your hand to get permission to walk over to the wall-mounted pencil sharpener in your classroom, taking as much time as possible to get just the right point without breaking it off? It was a skill, I tell you. 

Go buy yourself a new notebook if you'd like. Write something in it. Draw a picture. Color it in with crayons. Give yourself permission to remember. Don't forget to color outside the lines. Unless you are one of those people who likes coloring in the lines. That's okay. The color and the coloring are what's important. The world needs all kinds, especially now.

Love...Ms. Moon

Colors

The soft, lightweight muslin blanket I ordered last week arrived yesterday evening and I was excited to get it. Unfortunately, as I had feared, the color is more of a sagey-olive color than what was pictured online.

I do, however, like the weight of it and the fact that it's big enough to act nicely as a bedspread and actually, I think it would look very good in the guest room which is painted almost the same color green but lighter. It was not that expensive and so I believe I'll order another one of a different color for our bedroom whose walls are a very soft blue with just the merest suggestion of a lavender. Maybe not even a suggestion. Maybe just a vague idea. But I'm going to sleep under this one before I make that for-sure decision.

In some ways, I got nothing done today. In another way, I accomplished a huge task. Well, what I consider a huge task. But before I get there, I'll tell you that Lily and Jessie and all the kids met up for lunch (of course!) at the Mexican restaurant in Tallahassee that we like because we can sit outside and not bother anyone. It was the first meet-up of the sisters and the cousins since Jessie got back and so there was much to catch up on. The kids took up their relationships right where they left them a few months ago and so did Lily and Jessie. I pretty much knew most of the news from both sides so I didn't have much to offer but after we'd finished eating but still talking, Owen came around the table and sat down next to me and we had one of our good chats. Today we discussed teachers. The really, really good ones that can change your life. He told me about a few he's had, notably one science teacher, and I told him about my favorite college professor, the dearly departed Dr. Jones who taught American political history. I have written about him in years past. Owen and I agreed a teacher who loves the subject they teach and who has good teaching skills, can make you love the subject too. We all know this is true. 
And we agreed that some teachers just really should not be in a classroom. We did not elaborate on that subject though. 

I got no pictures from lunch. I have no idea why. Everyone was so busy talking and eating, I guess. But it was really fun and Maggie went home with Jessie and August and Levon for a play date and Lily took her big boys home so she could take a nap. She had to get up at three this morning to get to work to do some sort of inventory or something. So yes, she needed a nap badly. The boys probably did too, having spent the night at their dad's where bedtimes are not really enforced. They're not strictly enforced at Lily's house either but all of this is about to change since school starts on Monday. There are going to be some difficult mornings for a while before brains and bodies adjust to the changes.

And then I decided to go to a Goodwill a few miles down the road. I specifically was looking for dishes and twin bed sheets. Goodwill has gotten so expensive lately that it's not nearly as exciting as it used to be but it's not a bad idea to check things out occasionally. 
So I drove there and went in the store, got a little cart in an optimistic moment, and before I got ten yards into the store I found these.

They hadn't been put on the shelf yet and I grabbed them up and put them in my cart in the space of a breath. 
Now here's the thing. When we were in North Carolina, staying at the perfect house on the creek, the kitchen had Fiesta Ware just like this, in all the colors. Glen and I talked about how having dishes like that would certainly add some color to the cabin's kitchen and they are sturdy, too. When we got home, I did a little online searching and found that a set of bowls, plates, and salad plates for four cost right around $160.00. But in some sort of Goodwill glitch, I got 12 dinner plates, ten salad plates, and ten bowls for $40.00. 

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? 

Come to mama, you shiny, colorful things, you. 

There are colors in this collection that I've never seen in Fiesta Ware before. 

In a way, they remind me of zinnias- happy colors. 

So that is the big thing I accomplished. I got the dishes for the cabin and they are the exact ones Mr. Moon really wanted. He is so pleased. I am too, really. I feel like that was the biggest gift I ever got from the gods of thrifting. 

And speaking of Mr. Moon, here's the picture he sent ME this evening. 

Stove is in. He sent me the basic instruction sheet via text and I was not thrilled to learn that I can't use copper or some types of stainless steel which rules out the Revere Ware I was trying to put together for that kitchen. Oh well. At least I can use cast iron. And of course Le Creuset is just FINE but I'm not going to find that in a thrift store. Even the knock-off, copy-cats you can sometimes, but hardly ever find, are dinged up. 

Sigh.

We shall persevere and I need to learn how to use an induction cook-top. 

For all of you who suggested that I hire someone to come and deal with this downed tree while Mr. Moon isn't here, I thank you but that's not how our marriage works. All marriages have unwritten and unspoken contracts, I believe, which are silently written and agreed to over the years and which we generally abide by. Say what you will- that is how it usually works. And in our marriage, Glen is the one who handles the things like dead trees laying in the driveway. Of course I would love for him to hire someone to do it but that's not up to me. It's not an inexpensive service to pay for and he may want to do it himself, more for the fact that he can rather than any other reason and and I will let him make the decision. 

I think I might make some sweet and sour tofu tonight to change things up. I'm pressing the tofu, I've found a recipe, and now I'm going to go chop up some vegetables. 

Glen chops up trees, I chop up onions and peppers. 

This is what works for us. Y'all do what works for you. 

Love...Ms. Moon

My Yard: The Invasive Plant Capital Of The World

I personally find that photos of people, animals, flowers, and things like parks and rivers are the most interesting photos of all. I do love a good picture of food. Pictures of buildings can be fascinating too, if done right, and several bloggers I know definitely do them right. (Steve and Mitchell, I am looking at you. Or rather, your photos.) But pictures like the one above? 
Nah. What the hell IS that? I'll tell you what it is- it's a dead tree that fell over into our driveway. It was on the edge of our property, abutting the church's property next door. That whole border is now a huge tangle of wild grape vines. I think they're wild grape vines. They could be something related to grape vines called porcelain berry. Whatever they are, they have taken over that portion of the yard, climbing trees and cutting off growth just like kudzu does and yes, IT IS ANOTHER INVASIVE PLANT! 
Fuck me. 
So those vines pulled that tree over and I heard something that sounded more like a gunshot than anything but I didn't go look to see what it was because there are occasionally gunshots heard around here. I have a neighbor who likes to target practice, for instance. But this was just one very loud POP! Also, we're so near the railroad track and things happen on the railroad track in the name of repair and rebuilding that make a hell of a lot of noise. And there's always the back-firing of a car which also happens. 
So. Yeah. Whatever. 
But when I went outside, the first thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a lot more sky in that border of overgrown vines and trees and it was only then that I realized what had happened. 

Quite possibly I am not the most observant person in the world. 
That was a big ass tree. It's going to take a lot of chain sawing to get it into pieces that can be dealt with. This, thankfully, is not my job. 
I sent Mr. Moon these two pictures and he replied, "Oh hell."

That represents a whole lot of work right there. Hot, heavy work. Not a fun job at all. 

Perhaps I can persuade Glen to call in some help. I surely hope so. 

After I'd checked the situation out, I proceeded to do what I had planned to do which was to deal with some of the crap going on by the fence in the front yard. I'd noticed that there was some giant weed-looking plant growing up out of the azaleas which was not an azalea. I've been meaning to check it out and I finally did today, realizing that there was more than one. And the one in the azaleas was too deeply rooted for me to dig up. So I cut it down to the ground with my big pruners but in order to do that, I had to clear out some crocosmia which was covering up the base of the plant with its thick overgrowth. This is what the bed of crocosmia looks like out there. 

Remember when I "cleared out" that entire area last winter?
So. What was the giant weed? A camphor tree. And here's what the University of Florida Gardening Solutions website says about camphors:

"Camphor tree is an invasive species in North and Central Florida. Native to China and Japan, Cinnamomum camphora is easily recognizable by the smell of camphor."

But of course! 

I pulled the rest of the camphors I found, along with some of the Japanese rice paper plant I have been fighting for years which, at one point, was the main invasive plant taking over that area. Then I pulled up some sort of nut-trees, I think, in a related section. I had to dig those up. I did this by jumping up on the shovel, holding on to the fence with one hand, the shovel handle with the other, and rocking side-to-side, all the while thinking how funny it would be if I suddenly just fell over, shovel still gripped in my hand. 
Not really that funny but anyone watching me would have laughed. It would have been impossible not to. 
I did not fall over. 

I then proceeded to cut back some of the horrible thorn vines which also grip and climb and trail all over the same space. Here's what AI says about them: 

"There is a native green vine with thorns that grows in the Florida panhandle known as  green briar (Smilax). It can be a horrible plant. Vines growing everywhere, thorns tearing at your skin and cutting your clothes."

I would call that an accurate description. It, too, is invasive. I am wearing band-aids as we speak. 

It rained when I'd been working for about an hour which I took to be a sign I needed a break and when it stopped raining, I went back outside for about another hour, pulling more of the nut trees, the crocosmia, the Japanese rice paper plant, the Smilax. What fun! 
Oh, you know me. I sort of love that shit. Although it really is too hot to enjoy it thoroughly. I had hoped the rain would cool things off but it only created more of a sauna atmosphere as the water evaporated due to the now-shining sun and resulting heat. 

I wonder if I could get a job with the state of Florida, working for the tourist bureau. I have a knack for making the state sound so inviting, don't I? 

Last night's supper was so perfect I'm going to do it again tonight. The salad I made with one of Vergil's mother's tomatoes and arugula and different basils from the garden along with some goat cheese because I have no mozzarella, was just about the best thing I've ever eaten. I've already been out to the garden to pick Thai basil, Mexican basil, African basil, and plain old Genovese basil which is actually not growing in the garden but in that bucket I found at the dump with holes already thoughtfully punched in the bottom for drainage. 

Also arugula and I have to plant more of that because it's time. At least by my accounting. 
The zipper peas are starting to ripen in the garden and I have picked a very few of those but there will be more. 

I intend to shell and cook the tiny amount I have and add those into the rest of the coconut rice with chicken. Heaven. 

I've also taken the trash today, speaking of the dump, and watered the porch plants. I've dug and I've pulled and I've balanced on a shovel. I've gotten rain-soaked and sweat-soaked. Hell, I even scrubbed toilets. 

Yes. I earned my salt today. 

I do so love that feeling. 
When I was in the garden surveying the zipper peas, plucking basils and arugula, picking a pepper here, a few cherry tomatoes there, and a a couple of tomatoes just showing color, I was overwhelmed with that feeling which only comes over me in my garden. A feeling I can barely understand, much less describe, but it feels a lot like contentment with some pure happiness thrown in for good measure.

Bed, too, will feel good tonight. 

Love...Ms. Moon