this morning i arrived back west. back to california. i've been in the great plains!
visiting mama & sister moss
it was well over 100 degrees all 5 days of my visit. except today. which is when i left and flew home. at the crack of dawn.
when we weren't traipsing around the steamy streets i sat in the cool a/c and read and read and read and read. one of my favorite summer reads so far. based on real women fossil hunters from jane austen's time. riveting. it was officially unputdownable.
then to round up my azheimer/memory loss trilogy i read this. excellent.
when i wasn't reading we drove through cool neighborhoods in kansas city.
in kansas there are lots of houses with screened in porches. i really wanted to knock on doors and ask if i could sit and read on their screened porch. but then i would have had to ask to be fanned at the same time. and spoon fed crushed ice. and had an icebath drawn for my red hot feet.
you can see where this is going.
Lovely! 🙂
Mama Moss is incredibly lovely. Has she thought about a ‘rent a mom’ business? You know, when you no longer have a Mom, but you need and want a mom for a week, Mama Moss could fly in, I could fuss over her and pamper her, she could cook a few home cooked meals and tuck me into bed at night. It could be a ‘mutual admiration society’ sort of business. Talk to her about it. I’m sure she’d be good! :o) :o) Donna
We’ve got lots of rain here – can send you a bit – cool weather too! 🙂
It is so fun to see other cities and towns. Thank you for sharing your photos of your travels to Kansas. I think I’ve said this before, but your mother is adorable!
Thanks for the book recommendations.
Your mom is beautiful.
I love your blog a lot, a lot, a lot.
Thanks, Janice
Your mum is so adorable….omg you look just like her. People used to tell me the same…and I think it’s true, we DO “turn into our mothers”….and that’s okay with me. My mum lived large and long and I can only hope to have half the admirers she did. (We lost her in 09.) You are so fortunate to still have her and enjoy her. I cherish every memory I have and always will. Hugs,
teri
Your mama is soo cute! I see where you get it!
Welcome back to the left coast…it’s got to be a relief from the sweltering heat of the plains. Seeing Sis & Momma Moss had to make the journey worth it though.
Love the photos of the homes with screened porches. Memories of my first 5 years of life in St. Louis, MO. I loved to stay with my mother’s sister who lived in an upstairs flat, above the Millinery, Hosiery, Glove store where she worked…yes, they had specialty stores for those items. The screened porch was at the back overlooking a tiny yard. I’d sleep on the daybed there, letting in all the sights and sounds of the Cherokee District filter in…lulling me to sleep on those warm summer nights.
Joan
You are like the MOST magical library a girl could wander into. I can still remember our little town’s very tiny library, and the librarian telling me I was in the wrong section. I wanted to read grown-up books, not the picture books for baby kids for goodness sake! Many thanks for taking the time to give us all the wonderful reading recommendations, and so much more.
Happy summer with ice chips and all.
Leslie
Good grief, woman….you should have come on down to the blast furnace we call Arkansas! If it were all the same we’d get bored….I think.
Serious silverware, I see, and Mama Moss looks ready for the feast. I’d love to know what she was thinking and what she said next. So dear!
The architecture of those houses are amazing! Must have been wonderful neighborhoods to stroll/drive through. 🙂
Seeing pictures of your Mom, reminded me of mine who is not here anymore. I think you look so much like her. She seems like such a wonderful happy person……..why not with daughters like you and Carol.
was 109 degrees here today so even a screened in porch couldn’t help but
the photo of your Mom cheered me up….too adorable and those hip earrings…love it!! Definately making my own ‘mental ward’ sign for my
front door!!!!!
missy from the bayou
Your Momma is so beautiful!
You have been inspiring me to read more, Mary Ann. I DO love the worlds that I could never visit, that can be found only in books. When I was little my very favorite books were the books about OZ. You didn’t by chance visit OZ while you were in Kansas did you?? I have always wanted to go there :-).
My other favorites were of course, Nancy Drew – exploring old dusty houses.
I lived in Chicago when I was little, in my Grandma’s house that was very much like the ones in your pictures. It was more like part of the family than I house. Oh how I loved that house! My brother and I spent many summer nights sleeping out on the screened porch that my Grandma had filled with beds and fresh sheets, watching the fireflies and hoping for a cool breeze.
Happy Summer, Mary Ann!
You were in our neck of the woods. My daughter made the screened in porch her bedroom this summer (until the heatwave). We strung lights up and inflated a mattress and she piled quilts and pillows on top of it. Sometimes you’ll see them on the second story of a house and I’ve heard them called “sleeping porches.”
MA, you look so much like your momma! (I’ll bet you hear that all the time.) Ah, the delight of a screened porch in summer. A babysitter used to take me with her when she went to visit someone with a screened porch when I was very young and I’ve been craving one every since. At the moment, I have a balcony with netting to keep the pigeons off and I like to pretend it’s the same thing! Hope you enjoyed your visit to the Midwest but I’m sure the cat posse will be glad to have you back home.
Drinking flowers, great old houses, summer reading, screened porch fantasy, smiley mommas…I love it here!
We have a screened in porch here in Phoenix. It’s canine territory, lol. My all time favorite spot growing up was our front porch in Monterey Park. Nothing feels like home without a porch. Thank you for sharing your pics. I absolutely love the front door of the “Mental Ward.”
Marissa
Mary Ann you never seize to make a smile come to my face !
I may see where you get it from.
I love that impish look on your Mama’s face !
Just what is it she is about to say ?
She seems to own the gift of laughter,
how delightful !
Oh, to have a screened-in porch. It’s the one thing this house is missing. My husband doesn’t get the appeal, but I’m plotting, oh yes, I am. It sounds like a wonderful trip – and do you ever look like your mama! Welcome home.
we have a screened in porch here in iowa and we are out on it all the time! the bugs are so bad here we’d have to be in the house all the time otherwise! and yes when it was super hot i’d leave the door the the house open and such the cool air out with fan!
I hope your sister fed you the ice box pie . . .
I live in Columbia, MO-(between KC and St Louis). The summer has been BRUTAL!! Sounds like you had a good trip other than that!
My mom makes that smile too. How many years is Mama Moss now?
Screened in porches. I had a great aunt I would visit for a week every summer in a tiny northwestern New Mexico village (Regina). She had a house on a hill with a view of the Continental Divide. It had two screened porches; the chickens lived in the back porch. How I wish!