Rain, Contentment, Worries

 It rained all night and most of the day today. I did not mind in the least. I slept late and then spent a leisurely morning doing leisurely morning things and then started working on Maggie's doll. 

I had started making her a doll a month or so ago and didn't finish it and when I showed it to her in its unfinished and unimpressive form, she barely registered an interest at all and so I put it in a closet and forgot about it but when I was talking to her on the phone the other day, she asked if I had finished it yet.
What?
That girl. 

So I pulled it out of the closet today and sat down to work on it again. Y'all. It's a mess.

I know it's hard to tell but that's the head with most of the hair finished and that bang area? Good Lord. Obviously, I am learning as I go. I do like the George Clinton look of the colors of the hair. Perhaps I need to

just make the poor dolly a fancy hat and sew that on to cover the sins. Anyway, I've had a good time with it, listening to an audio book by the niece of the guy who runs Scientology. You know me and my cults.  What a story! 

This child was raised in the "church" from birth and at age seven was doing physical labor that a grown man would hardly be capable of and was indoctrinated in ways that can hardly be believed. She has left the "church" and this is her story. I put church in quotations because the only reason Scientology claims to be a religion is to get the tax-free religious exemption. I'm fascinated and horrified. Man, if I thought Mormonism was bad (and it sure can be), this is bad on a whole other level. 
So I was content to do things with yarn and a needle and scissors and happy to be at home doing homey things. 

I did read something disturbing in the local news today about a new bird flu that affects wild birds and domestic birds. It is advising people to keep their chickens inside a shelter and not to feed wild birds where the domestic birds can get to the seeds which may have been infected. Well hell. 
Our chickens are out all day, of course, and I can't see not letting them run. We should stop feeding the wild birds because our chickens love nothing more than pecking up the seeds the birds scatter as they eat. I hate to think about that but I suppose we really should. 
Right now I can see crows, cardinals, and wrens. I have seen red-headed woodpeckers today as well as finches and blue jays. The hawks have been calling for weeks now, soaring overhead. I hear one right now along with a mockingbird trilling. Although I rarely think of it in these terms, birds play a huge role in my life and that's not even considering what they do for the environment that I take totally for granted. 

One more thing to worry about in this crazy world of ours. One more thing to feel guilty about as I sit here, blithely enjoying the sight and songs of these feathered wonders who bless and enrich my life with their presence.

Meanwhile, another shot of a coming-along wisteria blossom.

I have already seen trees over twenty feet tall, covered in the purple-blooming vines. 

There will be more photos. Of course. 

Love...Ms. Moon