Adoption Announcement. And, Other Things, Once Again

Mr. Moon brought my new child home with him just now and I am in love with her. She's a little rough. I mean, who wouldn't be after spending years in a dresser drawer? She shows signs of being loved and played with for sure. Her hair is a mess and she has several bald spots but she has a velvet hat so that is not a real problem. Her legs, arms, and neck are all very, very loosely attached to her body so one has to be gentle with her. I suppose I could send her to a doll hospital but isn't that sort of expensive? 

Her dress and hat are hand embroidered. And she truly has the sweetest face.

I cannot positively identify her. I haven't done the full undressing and searching for a name of any sort but I have looked on her back which appears to be unmarked. Linda Sue, who knows these things, thinks she's a Shirley Temple doll and that may be correct. Originally when Glen sent her picture, I thought she was a Toni doll but that is truly not the case. The same company made both of those dolls but the Shirley Temple one is more collectable and prettier too. 
I care not one whit if she's worth anything or not. I would never sell my child. Oh! And look at this.

Someone, at some time, pinned a perfect diaper on this child. This is the sort of detail on an old doll that links me to the child who loved and played with her. It is part of the doll's history and I like to ponder that. 
Someone truly did take care of this little sweetie. 
And by the way- her beautiful long-lashed blue eyes open and close perfectly. 
I hope Dorothy Anne does not become jealous. Her beauty has faded tremendously over her long years but she is beautiful to me. We love our children just as they are. 
I need to think of a name for this new child. 

I pulled up all the collards and mustard greens today and I trimmed and washed them right at my sink. 

I LOVE my sink. 

Maurice is enjoying it too. 

I pulled the plants, picked through them and de-stemmed them and put the leavings in the compost. I soaked the greens in batches in that enamel pan and then rinsed them well. I brought them into the house, gave them one more spraying off and let them drain and bagged them. I filled a gallon and a half baggie. 

I'll cook them all on Saturday and heat them up for our lunch on Sunday. What we don't eat or what doesn't get taken home with others will be frozen. 
I get great satisfaction from using that sink and also, these things.

You know how I love things that hold things and these are not decorative items. They have utilitarian purposes in my garden and my kitchen. I do believe I am finally the old granny I was meant to be. 

I gave the hydrangea bed a break and went to work on this area which is the little patch of garden right beside the kitchen porch. As you can probably see, the monkey grass, chenille plant, and Virginia creeper are trying their best to decrease the size of this already small garden. So I worked at trying to remove some of that shit from the border in order to create a little more space for my herbs. I have a new technique for removing the monkey grass which is that I use a shovel to get under it from the inside edge and then with my trowel, I stab! stab! stab! like a psychotic woman in an Alfred Hitchcock movie who has had entirely enough of her no-good philandering husband, and that sort of breaks up the roots a little more. Then I just pull with all my might. 
I'm getting stronger, y'all.  

Oh. I kicked bamboo again today. 

It is desperately trying to take hold of the camellia bed which, as you can see, already has its share of weeds and unwanted plants. 

Mr. Moon is home and I think he is tired. I'm going to go make some of what I call "cheat chili" because I use canned chili-spiced beans and canned tomatoes and canned green chilis. And other things. It tastes good and it's not that bad for us. 

Another good day. At least here in Lloyd for me. 
I have absolutely no complaints and the birds are singing their "I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive!" songs before they settle into a quiet night and I am alive too. 

Look at the blueberries!

Love...Ms. Moon