Great photo there, correct?
Well, at least I put up a new header picture. I hated to take the old one down but it's been up there for a long time and we'll be going back to Roseland where I can no doubt get more beautiful Florida pictures.
And dammit, I just love that camellia photo. We all need a camellia photo right about now, do we not?
The photo above is the burn pile where I dumped a bunch of sago palm fronds I'd pruned and some crocosmia I'd pulled and a few camellia branches and some wisteria vine that also came under attack of my big loppers. That's about the sum total of what I did today. I pretty much ruined my day by trying to create an account with the arts and rec center where I take pottery in order to sign up for summer classes. Today was registration day and I wanted and needed to get that taken care of.
Here's a shameful confession: Jessie has signed me up for every session since I started taking classes well over a year ago. She's also ordered all my clay. She makes things too easy for me sometimes.
But today she wasn't going to sign herself up because their family will be leaving for North Carolina here before you know it and so she won't be here until next fall's session begins. And besides that, she worked last night and so was asleep today when registration opened at 12:00.
She sent me the link to sign up and I tried like hell to create an account but due to several factors including the fact that I technically do not live in Leon County where the classes are held and also due to Old Lady Tech User Error I just could not get it done.
Finally, at noon, I simply called the office at the rec center and got it all done in approximately two minutes. I'm pretty sure the woman I talked to knew who I was.
Help me, Jesus.
Which brings to mind a great Ricky Gervais line which goes like this:
"What could be more arrogant than praying to the god who wouldn't stop the holocaust for help to find your car keys?"
If my (and Ricky Gervais's) blaspheme disturbs you, what in hell are you doing here?
And no, I am not in an especially good mood due to my failures on the internet. I swear, I was thinking I'd have to go get August out of school to help me.
So I feel like I haven't done a damn thing and I'm depressed thinking about how no matter what I do in this yard, it never seems like nearly enough, and to be honest, it isn't. But at least the sago palm outside the porch where I sit isn't made up of yellow fronds which are shouting NEGLECT to me anymore. Just a few green ones. I managed not to slit, slice, or puncture my skin today so that's good. Nor did I encounter any weird or dangerous insects. Maurice kept good watch over me at all times from a safe distance. I am sure that if I did something stupid like cut my finger off she would definitely do something like Lassie always did when Timmy got into trouble on the old farm there.
"Lassie, what's going on? Is Timmy in the well?"
Yes. I can just see Maurice strolling over, inspecting me and tasting a drop of blood to see what was coming out of my body and then meandering back into the house in hopes that the treat fairy had visited her bowl while she wasn't looking.
I also managed to clean out the ice bin on the in the door ice maker dispenser which had been clogged up by partially melted ice for weeks, thus making the dispenser part useless.
The hair dryer was involved. And I feel quite proud.
So, all in all, it wasn't a wasted day. I got some trimming and weeding done, I "fixed" the ice maker, and I managed to get signed up for pottery.
Mr. Moon is home from the coast after meeting up with Dee Anne's kids and one grandkid to scatter Dee's ashes in the Gulf. One of the children was actually Dee Ann's stepdaughter and she gave Glen a few pictures that Dee had from the olden days of our kids at beaches at various vacations. Here's one picture I took of a picture.
I have absolutely no memory of Lily and Jessie having matching outfits but there's proof they did. Perhaps that's when Dee Ann's stepdaughter got married and they were in the wedding. That event was at the beach. I believe that must have been it.
And I am happy to report that Kim is still married to the same fellow. He was there today too.
Mr. Moon's home and I better go make some supper. I have plenty of leftover snow peas and tofu but although he would eat that and even thank me for it, I think he'd rather have chili.
Off I go.
Love...Ms. Moon
Do not let your inability to master the online registration process diminish you. I swear to god (he of the lost car keys!) that the people that design these programs have absolutely no idea what they are doing or who their target audience is. They look for fancy code, nice looking screens (in their minds) with no thought of the functionality of the end product. Yes, this is a major bugbear of mine!! Himself used to work in a bank designing products for tellers and he would always go and talk to the end user to find out what THEY wanted and it was usually nothing like the original design. What a surprise.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Ms. Merlot! I think a lot of the people who design these programs are really satisfied with doing shit work. And of course if someone designs the program, it is completely clear to them how it works in all of its intricacies whereas to a first-time user it can be a big WTF?
DeleteWe surely do miss you. I hope you and yours are well and happy.
The new header picture is beautiful...but....but....I truly miss the old one. It always brought a sense of comfort and familiarity. I'm an old stick in the mud I know. I'll learn to accept the new one. We must move forward, so they say, and I've never done a very good job with that.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that saying, ""What could be more arrogant than praying to the god who wouldn't stop the holocaust for help to find your car keys?" in the Unitarian Church. Another saying there is...the only time you'll hear a minister say 'Jesus Christ' here is when he stubs his foot going up to the pulpit. You have an appreciative audience here, Mary!
Yes, you've nailed it with Maurice...The Cat Way. LOL!
Paranormal John
Change is usually very hard for me too.
DeleteIf I HAD to go to a church it would be the Unitarian but I went to a service once and despite all the differences it was still a church somehow. I'll never forget there was a huge window behind where whoever was talking and a sudden storm came up and I thought, "Shit. We should all just shut up and be amazed and astonished." It was so beautiful.
I may just be allergic to churches.
Personally, I do not want to have a dozen (or more) online accounts. Each with a log-in and password that must meet specific requirements. Plus, when you only order every 6+ months, there is the security checking which takes more time. God forbid should I forget my password, then another round of registering and security checking. Phoning in is easy and often quicker.
ReplyDeleteSago Frond cutting seems non-stop.
My burn pile got bigger today too. My outer garden is a white long needle pine tree woodland with native ferns growing among the trees as well as, various mushrooms, ferns and swarths of moss. Whatever grows here is natural. That said, I like to keep the woodlands walkable and when tree branches fall, they are added to the burn pile.
You are so right, there is always something to do in the garden.
The photo of Jessie and Lily is beautiful. I love their outfits too.
I simply do not understand why my online library account needs a password. Is someone going to try and get the dirt on me by seeing what books I read? What is it protecting?
DeleteOh well. In some instances with some businesses and government situations you simply cannot phone a human. And that is the most frustrating thing of all, I think.
Your yard sounds so beautiful. Pines and ferns.
Gorgeous.
it needs a password so the library can be sure it is you ordering books and not some hacker.
DeleteYour new header photo is just gorgeous! Clearly you've mastered the camera on your new phone!
ReplyDeleteI took that one with my old phone, actually.
DeleteI love that new header photo. Your new phone seems to take excellent photos.
ReplyDeleteI hate it when the internet gets the best of me, but it happens and I feel like an old fool when it does. That being said, my husband who is a tech expert also has problems sometimes, so maybe it's the internet:)
I'm glad there were no fire ants or disgustingly large grasshoppers for you, or us, today. I will be quiet about any and all bugs I come across in my yard, nothing compares to Florida.
That photo of your girls is beautiful and it reminds me of your grandchildren too.
I've never heard that quote from Ricky Gervais but I agree with it, and it also makes me wonder why. If there is a god, wouldn't she stop us from killing each other?
I took that particular picture with the old phone. It was excellent.
DeleteI think that a lot of programs are designed by people who just don't get how humans work or else they just do bad work.
Do you have mosquitos?
Owen is Lily's doppelgänger. At one point, her phone recognized him for her face ID.
If there is a god, they definitely have a lot to answer for.
Yes, we have mosquitos but for some reason I don't get bitten much, thank goodness.
DeleteYou should enter that photograph in a show. It’s stunning! You may need to open another account somewhere but it might be fun. I know, i know, fucking passwords! I go through the same thing. You are not the only one. Really, that’s a gorgeous picture and should be shared, (In my humble opinion.)
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm sharing the picture with you!
DeleteI thought I had coined the original phrase when saying I have an analog brain in a digital world, but the young man who cleaned my gutters last week said nearly the same thing. This week I completed.one of the ten thousand things I have on my list of things to do before I die so my children won't mutter vile things about me. That was to type up a list of all my usernames, passwords, and PINS so they will know what to cancel or notify. TWENTY=SEVEN of those little suckers. And this is for a woman who doesn't even shop online!
ReplyDeleteCase in point, I just accidentally locked myself out of the portal of my doctor's office so now I can't access any communications from there. When typing up the list, I found I have 3 websites for that office, because they have changed affiliations so many times. Grrrr!!
Since I live inside city limits, I can't burn lawn debris so my efforts to clean up my gardens has resulted in 6 big paper lawn bags to take to the curb next week. Pickup curbside is every other week, so I am way behind. Limit is 7 bags each time, so by July I will probably have filled up my parking space in my carport with aging lawn bags.
Yes, I've heard that statement too. We of a certain age are definitely on the 90th percentile of analog brain.
DeleteOh, gosh. I have no idea how many passwords I have. It would behoove us all to do the same thing you've done.
Jefferson County is quite lenient about burning debris. It's an extremely rural area.
Can you use any of the resulting raked leaves and grass for mulch?
None of those lawn bags contain leaves or grass. Itis all weeds, clipped a
Deletedead shrubs, or overgrown bushes which should have been cut back 3 or 4 years ago, before I screwed up my back. I have a lawn service who comes after May 1 and blows out all the dead leaves and takes them away and then repeats the same operation in the fall all for the princely price of $300 each time. They also mow my lawn, weed whip under shrubs, edge my sidewalks, shovel my walks, plow my driveway, and salt down the ice all winter long for a monthly charge. They really do a pretty good job for me, and I am too old and feeble to do those things myself.
DeleteGod … well … I think God, like any Momma, cherishes our smallest humble requests, even when God, also like a human Momma, can’t always protect us from the big things. When we have children we give away our hearts, and, I think, so does God. We’re no longer all-powerful or impervious. Here’s this small creation with the power to utterly undo us …. God can’t be all-powerful; total power is a macho human fantasy. It’s not real, and if it is real, it’s evil.
ReplyDeleteI’m not trying to to make you believe anything (I’m not sure I believe anything myself) so much as to say … you are God. Mommas are God. If there’s another, bigger God, she’s just learning her job, slowly, imperfectly, from you.
Just my whimsey — I do love your blogs. —Jenn (Elf)
I just skip worrying about who or what god is because there is absolutely no evidence which points to the fact that there is one. Or many. But I do believe in real love and a mother's love is definitely the ultimate in that.
DeleteYou did get quite a lot done though it may not seem like much to you. Congratulations on managing the pottery sign up. I often skip the internet part and just phone whoever I need to, it's so much easier.
ReplyDeleteI recognised Lily but not Jessie. My daughters had matching clothes sometimes, but usually it was matching fabric, but different styles, way back before I gave up sewing. Back when I still had two tables and could leave the machine set up.
Sometimes you don't have the OPTION to call. That is the worst.
DeleteJessie's looks changed rather dramatically when she was about thirteen or so. But she's looked exactly the same to me since then, however.
I'm pretty sure their outfits were for a wedding.
Your new Header/Banner is beautiful and we do need more Beauty in this World, especially now. It is easy to get discouraged when any task seems to never be Enough or finished, it can overwhelm us at times. You do a lot, so just remember to be Kind to yourself, as Kind as you clearly are to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny. I don't feel like I'm overly kind at all. And no, some things are never done. "No rest for the wicked," as my mother used to say.
DeleteI love Ricky Gervais' humour too (did you ever watch After Life?). I remember him doing a sketch about how he was lying in the bath looking at his fat rolls and someone yelled out that he was fat phobic. He burst out laughing and said "but I'm talking about MEEEEE"! I love how he also made more than a few celebrities uncomfortable at the Oscars by hinting about their connections with Epstein!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved After Life.
DeleteI like Gervais very much but it seems to me that in his comedy he seems obsessed with a certain sex act all the while protesting and explaining that he has never, ever, personally experienced it nor will he ever. It's a little curious to me.
The new header photo is stunning! I love the photo of Lily and Jessie!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful girls, aren't they?
DeleteI can't stand not being able to make a purchase without creating an account. It complicates every single online task.
ReplyDelete*hisses* I haaaaaatesssssss it...
Amen, sister.
DeleteIs there not an option to "checkout as guest" so you don't have to set up an account? I do that all the time!
DeleteOwen sure looks a lot like Lily. I like all of the raindrops on the flowers in your header. I just happened to check out your profile info and do you know that under your "favorite music" you do not even mention the Rolling Stones?? I'm shocked. ;)
ReplyDeleteOwen is indeed his mama's doppelgänger, isn't he? He especially was before he started getting those manly changes to his face. You'll always be able to tell he's her son, though.
DeleteThe Rolling Stones was always a band I loved but it wasn't until I read Keith Richard's memoir, "Life" that I truly went over the deep end.
I have been in the same boat trying to register on websites. Try it when you don't have a zip code and have an international phone number! American web sites LOVE that. (Not!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm glad the tech gods, whoever they are, didn't dissuade you from signing up for pottery.
Technology could try the patience of Mother Teresa.
DeleteOh wait. I've heard she had a temper.
I'm really glad I got signed up too. You know I love pottery.
Oh Mary, I shrug off the constant state of my yard as my gardening style...barely restrained chaos. And I love that quote. It's like the sign on a barbecue restaurant here...Trust In God's Plan. You mean the plan that gives kids brain cancer or the plan where you are in a car wreck that breaks your body but doesn't kill you? Or any number of heinous things that happen to people. No thanks. I'd rather not
ReplyDeleteSome areas of my yard are NOT restrained. The bamboo jungle for one.
DeleteOne of my least favorite things that the ultra faithful say is, "There's a reason for everything."
No there is not. Period, the end. And no, suffering does not make us stronger. That's all bullshit.
Love the quote and your new header! Great picture of Jesse and Lily too. I have a literal jungle strip in my front yard that requires more maintenance than I have in me, especially in this heat. One of these days I may just let it take over.
ReplyDeleteXoxo
Barbara
That's what I keep thinking- let it take over. But I really don't want it too. I know I can't tame it all nor can I made everything look tidy and civilized and I would not want to anyway. But I wish I could control it better.
DeleteWe have competing companies running healthcare in our area...and my new one has a web page which is the slowest, disastrous, user-un-friendly thing to use. They obviously wanted it to be pretty. But it has led me to think it is telling one thing which ended up not being true...and so I've spent hours and hours trying to get them to fix a problem, which nobody thinks is their concern, but I should call someone else. Argh! (I'll rant tomorrow on my blog.) In the meantime, I am happy to now be able to receive my lab reports directly from the lab, rather than waiting for all the various nurses, schedulers, and who knows who else to maybe put the report up for me...the sad and mad customer.
ReplyDelete