Monday, January 24, 2022

Another Totally Productive Day


 And that is some of what was on my little shelf above my sink. That is not including all of the china shards and feathers. Honey, I had an entire bird's worth of feathers up there stuck in various vessels. Also sea shells. It was a dang mess. 
It took me all day to figure out what to keep and what to toss, and where to relocate some things and what I should do with the space created. I wanted the space for things I use. Not clutter. I put some bowls up there. 
Eh, okay, but not really. 
What I finally ended up doing was pulling some of the vases out of the pantry and putting them up there. They are pretty and I certainly do use them and what's the first thing you do when you're putting flowers in a vase? You run water into it and voila! There is the sink. 


Not a great picture but you get the idea. I am keeping a few small bottles that I love, some that we have found here in the yard on the shelf. 



And a favorite Virgin of Guadalupe. 
My little and very old Seminole Indian dolls had to stay up there because they are precious to me and I do not want them to get lost in other groupings somewhere else. 


And of course they need their seashell and also the little leaf baby which charms me so much. I do not know why. Maybe it's his bare bottom.

That took me about forty-eight hours. I also cleaned out the hen house and cut down the bananas and hauled their trunk/stems to the edge of the woods. My husband planted potatoes today, creating the most beautiful potato beds I've ever seen. He really is good at gardening. And he started building a railing by the kitchen steps. 
Railing? 
Not a bannister if it's outside, is it? 
I don't know. 
Something for us to hold on to when we go up and down those steps. And our other old-timer friends. I remember when we bought this house and the insurance guy came out to look it over and he said, "You'll probably want to build a railing here," pointing the to the space where Mr. Moon is building one now. 
"Right, right," I said, but hell, we were young and spry fifty-year olds then with the balance of yogi masters. Things change. And so do needs. I expect that one day we'll need a ramp but I hope it's no time soon. 

The sunset birds are twittering away and the chickens are up in their roost with clean straw in the nests. Except for Bella who still sleeps on the same branch above the hen house every night. I hate to think about her sleeping outside in this cold. I know it's not exactly warm in the hen house but it's got to be warmer than on a tree branch. 
Thank goodness that she has such nice warm down under her feathers. I wonder what it's like to wear your comforter all the time? Probably not too bad. 

Love...Ms. Moon

29 comments:

  1. S bird's worth of feathers! I had to stop reading till I finished laughing. Amazing how things tend to assemble themselves before you know it.

    I definitely agree with having things you love right where you can see them, not lost in the crowd.

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    1. Mr. Moon actually saw all the feathers I'd dumped outside and he was so shocked. "What is THAT?" He thought there'd been some sort of massacre.
      My shelf is making me very happy.

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  2. Railings are good. Modern houses do not have them on the front steps. At my bff's house once I went back for my cane. Long time ago. When I was up the steps she took the cane and said What's this about. And I said My Railing!
    Your kitchen shelf looks so nice.

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    1. There is no railing on our front porch or back porch steps either! But 999 times out of 1000, people come in through the kitchen so...
      Yes! I do love that kitchen shelf now.

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  3. The teal and pink pitchers and the pink and white basket are so very charming. Much better to have all your treasures on display instead of hiding in the cupboard.

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  4. what a great idea, I might even be inspired. I panicked a little viewing the top photo - the Seminole women .thinking that maybe you were going a little bit mad by not keeping them where they belong. Whew! Relief, and it all looks grand! Job well done

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    1. No, no, no. I love my Seminole ladies with all my heart. I had to give them a little gentle cleaning though. And their seashell got a nice cleaning in the dishwasher.

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  5. All of that on one tiny shelf? Wow. Your leaf-baby is a Gum-nut Baby, which makes him Australian. The leaf is a Gum tree leaf. There are books of stories about Gumnut Babies and children. I don't recall the author right now. Love the Seminole dolls.

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    1. Thank you so much for telling me about the Gum Nut babies! I had no idea! I just knew that this little baby was so very charming. I have now goggled them. And I love May Gibbs' name. I have a daughter named May and my middle name and a grandson's name is Gibson.

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  6. The author is May Gibbs, if you google you can see images of some of her Gumnut Baby books.

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  7. The best way to declutter is to wait a little while and then reclutter. After all, who wants to live in a laboratory?

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    1. Not me! Obviously! Don't worry. More clutter will collect.

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  8. I don't like clutter because I hate dusting and moving things. When my countertop, my island, gets loaded with stuff, as it does, I have to put things away. My husband loves leaving stuff on the island for weeks and probably would for months, if he could. I usually pick everything up and put it in his office on a regular basis. I like order and need it to feel relaxed. Just how I roll.

    But I like your shelf and your collections:)

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    1. Our island is loaded with stuff all the time and I can't complain because a lot of it is mine. It's just the catch-all place for when we walk into the house.
      I like order too, believe it or not!

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  9. I think you know that I covet that teal pitcher and pink vase. I have mentioned it before. That shelf looks nice!
    Your cleaning is making me feel guilty, tho.

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    1. Don't feel guilty! Once I got motivated it was pretty fun.
      And as you know- I got the teal pitcher at the dump and the pink vase came from the Methodist thrift store in Roseland, I do believe.

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  10. I used to pick up feathers and stick them in little jars. Eventually they all just disintegrated into dust from little mites I guess. It's strange as I used to find far more feathers on the ground when I lived in the city than I do out here. You're going to make me have to clean my own kitchen shelf if you keep this up.

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    1. Yeah, feathers do tend to lose their freshness after awhile, don't they? I had so many different types from hawks to guinea fowl to chickens. I have saved some of Elvis's tail feathers. As you know, he was precious to me.

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  11. All this cleaning and clearing is wearing me out Mary! It's looking SO good. I spy a matching doll to the one you gave me and I still have on my desk! I so love your house. And you.

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    1. And you have seen the house! Yes, your little Seminole girl is sister to my two. You know I love you if I gave you one of those! Which I do.

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  12. I guess Bella knows what she's doing. I guess?

    What are you doing with those old embossed bottles? Don't throw them out! Some bottle collector might like them. I'm sure you know what's worth giving to charity and what's not. :)

    I liked River's comment above about your Gum-Nut Baby. Who knew?!

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    1. Oh, I'm not throwing the bottles out. I'm going to offer some to Lily to use for rooting things and I'll use some myself for that very same purpose.
      I had never heard of a Gum Nut Baby in my life!

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  13. I applaud you for tackling that shelf and its contents. Dusting and cleaning and sorting....it looks so tidy and neat! And I agree......why not have those wonderful little vases and bottles right above the sink where they will be reachable to tuck your camellia blossoms into? Smart move!
    Susan M

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    1. Exactly! I spend a lot of time in front of that sink and that shelf.

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  14. The internet is a miraculous thing, innit? You would have lived your whole life without knowing you had a gumnut baby? I go through massive decluttering every now and again, but it seems to migrate back in a slow, sneaky way.

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    1. Clutter is very, very sneaky and sly, isn't it? I have so many other areas I need to attend to. I mean seriously.
      And you're right about the internet. Sometimes I wonder how in hell we managed to sleep at night with so many unanswered questions!

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