More Pictures And So Forth

 I forgot to post this picture of the loveliest rose bower at the nursery yesterday. I need one of those. 
Badly.

The biggest news from Lloyd today is that we finally got some rain. I doubt it was a quarter of an inch but by golly, that was enough to hang our hats on hope. Of a sort. We even got some thunder rumbles and it was fantastic. The way the dirt smelled after the first little shower was almost enough to knock me out. The birds' songs seem to be more cheerful, the air is a little bit cooler, and already the small amount of grass we have in the back yard looks greener and less crunchy. There's not any more rain in the forecast for at least a week but at least we know the rain function is still capable of working. 

So the news on the floor of the cabin is not good. 
At all. 
The guy's definition of "great" was definitely not the same as Glen's definition of great. If anything, I think he believes it to look as bad or even worse than it did before. I finally saw picture and trust me when I say that it looks nothing like what Glen wanted or described or a tile sample he gave the guy to use as a color guide. 
But, there were no fisticuffs, Glen did pay him, although not as much as had originally been agreed on, and lawyers are not going to be involved.
Let it go...

Glen'll figure out some way to get the floor to a place he can live with but it's going to mean more money and more effort and more time. 
And that's that story. He's rather down but he'll figure things out. He always does. 

I did not do a whole lot today. On my garden stroll I took a few pictures. 

Cucumbers are blooming. So are the volunteer acorn squash. As I keep saying, I think they are acorn squash. 
Guess what else is blooming? 

The rattlesnake beans. Come on, baby! 

The vines are eager and energetic, trying already to reach up to outer space. 

While playing with my new camera I got this picture of a rose with an ant in it. 
And speaking of ants, fuck them very much, I got attacked twice today by fire ants but survived. Thank goodness I'm not allergic or I probably would have died, trying to dial 911 and not having the breath to report my emergency. This is not a joke. I have no idea how many bites I got. The first attack occurred when I was trying to remove some detritus from the compost pile that Mr. Moon had told me was not going to break down. He'd warned me there were many, many ants in the pile but I didn't remember. And I didn't realize I was being attacked until the fire in "fire ants" started flaming on my feet which is how it always happens. They're so tiny you can't feel them until they begin to inject their fiery poison into you at which point you're probably covered in them, which my feet and hands were, although the hands to a lesser degree. 
The second attack came when I was watering the porch plants and decided to rip a raggedy spider plant out of its pot so that I could use the pot for a different plant, only to discover the dirt in the pot was housing an entire colony of the little bastards. This attack may have been even worse. I finally gave up trying to dump the dirt out of the pot and just knocked it off the porch and onto the ground below. I really didn't want to break that particular pot because it's a good one, but at that point I could not have given a fuck. I just wanted Satan's emissaries off my porch. 
The pot did not break. 
And as far as I'm concerned, that spider plant can rot in hell. It's looked shitty for a long time and I guess I know why now. 
And as an update- that plant I put in a pot after digging it up in the kitchen porch bed? It's doing GREAT! 
Of course. 

This is a picture of a pineapple guava flower. The flowers, along with the resulting fruit, are edible. I did not eat this one though, I just took its picture. 

Glen planted a few of the fruit trees when he got home from Lake Seminole or perhaps only one. I'm not sure. He was tired. He got up way early to get there on time and nothing can be as fatiguing as huge disappointment. And of course the way he's planting these trees is THE RIGHT WAY which involves all sorts of hard work. Now me? I'd probably just dig a hole and stick the plant in it and sprinkle it with some fertilizer but he's doing all sorts of things to amend the soil with the composted horse shit and a little bit of organic fertilizer and he makes sure the dirt is all broken up and nice and crumbly to make a welcoming home for the root ball. And then he covers the whole area with pine straw after he gets the tree in the ground and this involves a shovel and post hole diggers and other implements of importance in the process. 

Here's some roses I picked today. 

And finally, Mr. Moon trailered his boat home from the lake because...
A week from Monday we are heading back down to Roseland for a week to stay in the cabana by the pool with the spitting lions and he wants to bring the boat so we can do a little river exploration and he can go fishing at the place he hired a guide to take him on our last trip down. 
Am I excited? 
You bet. 
I ordered a new bathing suit today. I hope it gets here in time. It fucking better. I paid seventeen extra dollars for express delivery. It's a simple black Speedo with no frills or fanciness. 

And one more thing. Today is my Lis's birthday. I called her and she sounds tired. I wonder why?
Well, as she said, someone has been overbooking them. And they've been doing festivals, not only playing but also selling Lis's artwork and having to camp at the festivals and they've been doing a lot of recording in their studio which means that Lis has been making meals for the people being recorded and hostessing them with every bit of southern hospitality in her soul which is a whole lot. 

Here's a picture from ten years ago when Lis was here for her birthday. 

That was August loving his fairy great-godmother and Jessie loving her fairy godmother. 
That was one second ago. 

Happy birthday, my darling Lis!

And I must post this picture of Levon which Jessie just sent.

Vergil had to go shopping today for some business clothes as he is going to DC this week to his company's headquarters and Levon somehow managed to get some new outfits of his own. As Jessie said, he is feeling himself. 

August? Well, he spent the entire time reading the new books they just got at the library. Here he is, doing, as Jessie said, what he does. 

Our boys. Every child different. Every child adored for exactly who they are. 

Love...Ms. Moon