"The Great Gatsby"

What a movie........... what a movie............ and to think that I didn't want to see this because I thought it would be another failure of a re-make, like the one with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow (my apologies to both, but they were mis-cast).

We saw "Gatsby" last night.... J, J, S, and myself.  As much as we all laughed during the car ride into town, we were as quiet as church-mice as soon as the art-deco screen came up that welcomed us into the Roaring 20s.  The movie consumed you from the very beginning.......... we were transported into another era, another time, this light-hearted bubble of Fitzgerald's story. And once you realized you were there, you didn't want to leave....... the fashions, the jewelry, the music, the story.... that unbelievable, incredible, fantastic, over-the-moon-and-back story......

I've always loved that book, but this film captured Fitzgerald's sense of the decade. I'd see the movie again tomorrow if I had the time to do it..... but I just don't have the time this week.  After getting home from the movie last night, I went upstairs to the library to get my copy of "Gatsby" from the shelves........... I started reading it this morning.   As I'm reading, I can hear the voice of the film's Nick Carraway character in my head as he narrates the story.

And Leonardo DiCaprio..... he was made to play Gatsby.  He captured the character, the feeling, the essence of Fitzgerald's work and words.  We've seen DiCaprio in other films, but this one is the best..... if he doesn't win an Oscar for this movie, then all faith in the Academy Awards will die a blessed death once and for all.

As a group, the husbands were not interested in seeing this movie.  It was a ladies-movie-night, the four of us in the car anticipating the film on the way into town, then discussing the movie during the ride back.......... and then this morning, as I met J on the road for our walk, I called out "Good morning, Old Sport!"  (Gatsby lives, even on this long and winding country road, in our Hill Country bubble.)

Final thought............. Go and see this movie!  And then see it again if you can!

Memorial Day weekend.

Miss C called us from Yellowstone this week...... I could just see her bouncing up and down on the other end of the phone. She's 'having a blast!'...... C absolutely loves it up there, and the job suits her----- animals, the outdoors, riding horses, and wherever you look, there's something beautiful to see.  My husband was right years ago.... when the two of us went to Yellowstone, he said that C would love it in that park.  She is already thinking about taking a winter job in Yellowstone.... snow-mobiles, cross-country skiing, and I'm wondering if they do the horse-riding tours during the winter..... probably not, because the snow must be awfully deep there.

We had to search for Mickey the other day...... couldn't find that cat anywhere....... turns out that he got himself up into the rafters of the barn.  My theory is that something must have scared him during the night, or maybe he chased a possum or armadillo into the barn.... but he ended up somehow in the rafters and couldn't get down. How he got up there is beyond me.... his front paws were de-clawed years ago (and no, I would never do that again to a cat). While I searched around the house and the cottage, my husband checked the barn.... and he heard him meowing from way up high.  My husband got Mickey by climbing up a ladder and literally carrying him down. Then I carried Mickey all the way to the house. Poor cat was exhausted, and hungry and thirsty.  So now, Mickey goes into the coop at night.  I think Mickey is finding out that his bad bathroom habits which got him demoted to an outside cat gave him some much-desired freedom that may not have been exactly what he wanted.

We're still  gardening.... more garden fabric in the flowerbeds between the cottage and the barn....... all those rose bushes....... then more mulch. There is never enough mulch, and we'll be spreading mulch from now till our last days, I think. Then there's trim-trimming to be done....... my husband borrowed a chain-saw thing on a long pole. He'll cut the branches and then we'll carry them off into the pasture and start a new brush-pile for the birds.  The smaller birds are nesting in the brush-piles that are already established. We can see them flying in and out of the piles..... and we can also see the hawks circling those piles, waiting for a careless bird that's not looking up.

Speaking of birds..... we're sharing the porch with the barn swallows again.  The swallows come back to their old nests, re-built them a little bit, lay their eggs and raise their baby birds.  The birds who've been here a while have come to recognize us, and they don't fly away when we go past their nests. The baby birds just look at us as we walk by..... they are just so darn cute.  The mama birds are still zooming past Mickey when he's on the porch.  The birds are used to Gatsby, but Mickey has to earn the birds' trust before they'll leave him alone.

We'll be trimming tree branches today... another day without nail polish. Oh well.

In the merry month of May....

Still gardening....... the flowers and plants are all doing nicely...... amazing what daily watering can do.... plus we've had some rainy days (wonder of all wonders) so that has helped as well.  My husband has brought more mulch home from the town's recycle plant (we call it "Mulch Monday")... so the flowerbeds are all thriving with the fresh layers of mulch.

We went to a somewhat-local peach farm this week with J & J...... we all picked more peaches than we really needed, but they all looked so delicious, and there were different varieties on the trees.... plus the peach farmer makes home-made peach ice cream every morning, so we had to sample that before we all left. Sitting on a wooden bench, eating fresh peach ice cream, surrounded by acres and acres of peach trees. Does it get any better during the month of May?

JS has become a bee-keeper...... her very own swarm of bees has taken up residence in her new hives............ thousands and thousands of very busy worker-bees and one celebrated and adored Queen Bee.  My husband got stung by a bee last week while we were out in the garden, and he told me to call up J and tell her that one of her bees was misbehaving in our yard.  J is now the Bee Mama of the community, and it won't be long till she'll be harvesting that fresh honey. If the bees allow her to get that close....

Mickey has now become an official outside cat, keeping Gatsby company 24 hours a day.  I've been leaving the gate of the coop open, so Mickey can come and go as he pleases... which he does, of course. (Give a cat a little bit of freedom, and there's no going back.) And Gatsby, who hated that coop with a passion, now loves it...... he must realize that the gate is always open and he's free to come and go, but Gatsby prefers to nap all day in the coop, coming to the back porch when his kitty-tummy says it's meal-time.  I never thought I'd see the day when too-small Mickey Kitty would be left outside all day and all night.  But his 'inside behavior' warranted a change, and that's just the way it goes.  I had some sleepless nights at the beginning of this, but now I guess I'm used to it, and I just hope for the best.  So far, Mickey has taken a lesson from Gatsby, and he stays near the house and the cottage, only going as far up the road as the barn..... plus a few little forays into the drainage pipes near the street.

Sweet Pea is now the only inside cat..... and he's more puppy-ish than cat-like.  Sweet Pea would crawl into our pockets if he could.... he prefers to be close at all times, watching everything we're doing unless he's sleeping or eating.  He's a very self-sufficient cat, and if he could open the container holding his cat food, he'd probably feed himself.  Sweet Pea's favorite spot...... in my arms, curled up and looking upside-down at me..... a Romeo-cat if ever there was one.

We have a new toy, as of yesterday....... a riding mower.  And before it was even delivered, my husband asked me not to 'bling or bedazzle' it.  Whoever comes up with these mower styles hasn't reached the top of the imagination totem-pole, that's for sure. You would think they'd give you more color choices.  Ours is orange and black........... I told my husband it looks like a Halloween decoration.  I've named it "The Pumpkin."

My husband was giving me riding-mower lessons yesterday, and I failed every test. I couldn't even turn it on........ I turned the key and nothing happened. We thought it was because I wasn't heavy enough to bypass the shut-off safety mechanism. (I thought The Powers That Be had sent me a gift from heaven............. "This city-girl is just not going to drive this mower.")   However....... turns out that we didn't realize the seat of the mower could be moved closer to the wheel and the pedals, which would allow me to press harder on the pedals........... if you don't press hard enough on the brake when you turn the key, the engine won't start...... so that was the problem yesterday.

But today was a brand new day....... we moved the seat closer to the wheel...... I was able to press down on the brake......... I turned the key, and voila!  The engine started without a problem, and off I went, around the gazebo and the pecan trees........ sans blades, since my husband cut the grass yesterday.  I have to admit that riding the mower is fun............... makes me think of the old pedal-cars at the Crossbay Blvd. kiddie-park that my dad used to take us to when I was a kid. Even then I loved to drive..... and the next time this grass needs to be cut, this city-girl will be riding The Pumpkin and mowing these lawns.  Can we hear a yeee-haaaaawwww for that?!

We had company here last week..... my husband's family came down from the northeast for a five-day visit........ after their days here, they drove to Galveston to see The Gulf and enjoy the fresh-caught seafood, and then they drove into Houston to see The Astros lose a baseball game in their billion-dollar stadium.  While they were here in the Hill Country, we showed them around the small towns near our own small town, brought them to the best restaurants we have up here, and introduced them to our four best friends.  Aside from the fact that my husband's family had to live without Starbucks and a morning paper, I think they enjoyed their visit just fine.

While we were driving around the County, we had lunch one day at "Royer's" in Round Top.  I love that little town, mainly because it IS so little. Their population sign always stated: "Welcome to Round Top, Population 77."   However....... drum roll please...... Round Top has put up a new sign because the new one now says "Population 90."  A population explosion, if ever there was one.  They just might have to make Royer's Café a little bigger to accommodate the new citizens.

May days......

Didn't we just turn the calendar page over to April?  Now we're in May already..... How did that happen?

And in this merry month of May, I've learned never to say never.  As in cutting the grass. "I will not, will not, will not cut this grass."  Oh well. Famous last words. I indeed have cut the grass. Not only that, but we've been looking around for a riding mower. One that I can use as easily as my husband. So much for "I will not cut this grass."   Those riding mowers seem to come in green, black, or yellow and green.  They should offer more color choices.  Silver-blue would be very pretty...... and can you imagine a bright purple?  ("When I am an older woman, I shall drive a purple mower.....")

The flowerbeds continue to look beautiful...... the gardenia  bush is blooming, the petunias are multiplying, the purple and pink flowers (I forgot their names) are doing well and growing taller. The 'sweet broom' bush is blooming yellow and gorgeous, the roses continue to burst with new blooms, the azaleas are getting larger....... amazing what daily watering can do for plants. Not to mention that we don't have a flock of chickens scratching up everything all day long.

Mickey Kitty has been given his freedom.... he's out of his coop-turned-screen-porch during the day, and he spends his time walking around the yard and exploring every inch of the property around the house, the cottage and the barn.  He hasn't gone across the road or down near the pond......... he seems to be content right up here.  At night before dark, I call him and he comes up to the porch and I carry him to the coop for the night.  I don't want him roaming around after dark..... he doesn't have as much street-smarts as Gatsby and Mickey is no match for night-time critters, especially coyotes.

Speaking of Gatsby..... we nearly brought him to the shelter one day last week.  Gatsby decided he didn't want to be sharing his outside kingdom with Mickey, and he plowed himself into Mickey one afternoon, scratching and howling and carrying on something dreadful.  Gentleman Gatsby turned into a blasting bully, and we just couldn't believe it. The last thing we wanted here was a bully of a cat.  The next day, we decided that Gatsby would find a new home..... we would bring him to the shelter. (It seemed to be an easy decision: we've had Mickey since he was a tiny kitten; Gatsby was a stray that we found the year after moving here.)

I got the large cat-carrier from the garage, scooped Gatsby up from his sleeping spot in the flowerbed, and put him into the crate.  My husband carried the crate to the car, sat in the back with Gatsby, and I drove towards town and the shelter.  On the way, all we heard from Gatsby were questioning meows..... each meow seeming to end with a question mark.  I heard my husband talking to Gatsby, telling him everything would be fine.... he'd find a home where he was the only cat.......    And from Gatsby, one word:  "Meow?"   "Meow?"   (Translation:  "What did I do?"  or possibly "Have you people lost your minds?")

From the back seat, I heard my husband saying "This isn't right. This just is not right."  I pulled over to the side of the road...... I asked my husband if he wanted me to turn around.  "Yes. No one is going to want this old gray-haired cat if we bring him to the shelter."  I made a U-turn and headed back towards home.  All the way back to the house, Gatsby didn't make a sound. Not even one little "Meow?"

When we got to our driveway, my husband opened up the crate and let Gatsby outside.  Gatsby looked around the driveway, realized he was right back where he started from, and within half an hour, he was once again sleeping in the flowerbed on the new mulch.  Since then, Gatsby has made amends with Mickey.... no fighting, no howling, no territorial terrors. They are, as my soon-to-be 100-yr-old Aunt Dolly would say, "Playing nice."

If only the rest of the world could do the same.  I don't like listening to the news anymore, I swear. We are sharing this one planet, people. Play nice, damn it, play nice!  (My NY cousins tell me that we're living in a 1950s bubble up here in the Hill Country. Yes, we are. And we like it that way.)