It's a Long Story...

Ever want to recap recent events but by the time you revisit each one in conversation, it just boils down to "it's a long story..." ?

:)

Here are some of the long stories between this and my past post --  I shall bulletpoint, but there are numerous details...all the long stories...that are being skipped or this post won't get finished tonight:

1.  Happy Mother's Day to all!!  Especially to Lucretia, who is not actually a relative of mine, but who gets a Mother's Day card (late) every year from me.   Long story...

2.  Fresh mango cobbler.  The only thing that beats it for mango magnificence are mangos eaten out of hand freshly peeled by my handsome husband while we both nibble the part-that-sticks-to-those-weird-shaped-pits and the juice runs down our chins.  Makes for great kissing.  Nevermind :)

3.  Daughter dates new fellow.  Big improvement over last near-stalker.  Long story :)

4.  We're eating our weeds 'n herbs...dollarweed, gotu kola, plantain, false roselle, moringa.  Harvesting comfrey, too, but not sure about how to best use it.  Loving those fresh spinach/herb/berry smoothies every day.  Still trying to improve our health.  Health feels better, weight still needs to be lost...long story...

5.  I'm so crazy about my husband.  I love when he laughs.  It's a good thing because most of the time, he's laughing at me :)   We've begun reading a book aloud some nights when we're relaxing.  It's so nice!

6.  I've been reading a lot, and writing fairly regularly.  Recent topics have been a lot of books on Florida cracker history, since it involved a lot of living off of natural resources without much cash ...I love history, anyway, and have found some journals/writings of native or longterm floridians past that mention a lot of the local flora and fauna and given me a new appreciation for this beauty that's all around me daily.  This place just revels in sprouting lush vegetation and houses such natural wealth, none of which can be measured in mere dollars and development.  I love reading how folks a hundred years ago or more survived living in the scrub...what they ate, what their livelihoods were, what crops they grew, what regional foods they cooked.  LOVE finding original recipes from those times, even though I'll never eat coon, cooter, gator, or ground squirrel under normal kosher circumstances :)  Didja know there was a crop called chufa that was widely grown a hundred years ago as feed plots for hogs?  I didn't even know what chufa was.  Well, so much more to tell, but of course...long story!

7.  Really really enjoying discovering some of the writings of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  Written early in the 20th century there's a noticeable difference in things we now take more for granted, such as the societal shift in referring to minority groups especially, and how they're referred to in literature.  Anyone who's read much further back than the 1920s will notice that.  With that taken into consideration, as I'm not a book burner for the sake of political correctness (history was what it was, and I'd just as soon not see older writings redacted) I so enjoy much of her humor, but even moreso her lush description of backwoods "florida cracker" (a real term, not a slang epithet) life, right down to the exact plants, habitat, birds, insects, mammals and water life.  Also am reading other accounts by other authors along the same subject lines for no other reason than it's caught my interest for the moment.  It's sparked my interest in better knowing the names of the trees and plants I pass by every day.

8.  There's more but I'm tired and am headed to bed soon.  After some deliberation whether or not to shear the beautiful lush coat of our sweet Kaleb (Aussie dog), the decision was made to PERHAPS get some clippers and at least lighten his load a bit during this already HOT approaching summer.  Flashback to my childhood and the time I decided, without my sister's exact permission, to give her Betsy Wetsy doll a summer hair cut with a pair of our mom's pinking shears.  I did not make for smooth sisterly relations at least relating to dolls (Long story...I wasn't much into dolls anyway, much preferring caring for real animals or playing "school teacher" and getting to boss people around, ha)  Well, I can say Kaleb's back end is now devoid of his gorgeous Australian shepherd skirt...the hairs that flow from his hind quarters but that also collect sand spurs at an alarming rate and also random poo if he has the occasional outhouse blunder.  Anyway, he's got the full Betsy Wetsy treatment to his backside and is probably fully air conditioned back there.  I also trimmed up his legs in like fashion, removing the fringes all the way up.  When Jack gets home and sees the job a small pair of trimming scissors did when wielded by Moi, well it might hasten the arrival of a nicer electric jobbie.  Let's just say it's a good thing no photos can yet be loaded to my blog...

8 1/2.  Due to #8 having happened only an hour ago and resulting in clinging dog hair on every square inch of my clothing, I itch, therefore I bathe.  Shower, here I come.

9.  Computer still has its virus problems.  We are saving money and therefore it must wait.  I am waiting for a second grader to come into my life so my computer problems can be fixed by someone more competent than myself. Long story...nuff said!

10.  We're slowly making headway dismantling Bucketville.  Yes, the buckets have given way to putting the plants right smack into the ground.  I removed untold strata of old boxes we had been "saving" on the back porch (um...yeah, that's why they're there) while Jack has been planting out a lot of the bucketed plants (there were 200 to start with, so he has a ways to go), and the result means that sometime between now and the end of the year our back yard and side lot MIGHT start looking less like the white trash bed and breakfast and more like just a crazy untamed overgrown jungle...which most of Florida already is, so we'll go with that rationale ;-)

Goodnight to all...I miss being here and shall be back, but am fully engaged in the art of living, and with the company of Jack and a great dog and some pretty fantastic mangos, hey...no complaints!!

Be well!!