Everyone's been showing off their orchids so here's mine.
By all rights, that plant should be dead. I won't even go into how mistreated the poor thing is. However, Oh, life...it's bigger than you and you are not me, as Michael Stipe sings on one of my favorite songs ever and which REM made into what is definitely the best video ever.
I do love that little bitty orchid but I can't claim to have a thing to do with its purple beauty because all I do is water the insignificant vessel it's in about once a week. It likes its window, I think.
Good god, I did a lot today. Oh, speaking of gods, Happy Day They Crucified Our Lord. For those of you who have known me for a very long time, you may be either thrilled or disappointed that I have not written my annual Easter diatribe. I kind of want to because my animosity towards religion grows ever stronger, the longer I live. But not today, Satan. Perhaps tomorrow.
I just do not have the energy tonight.
I believe I may have become just the slightest bit obsessive about clearing areas of monkey grass and other unwanted plants. This reminds me of when I was probably about seven or eight years old and my friend Helen and I decided that we would rid Roseland of ALL the cactus because we hated it that much and were tired of getting stabbed by it, both the huge spike spines or the almost hairlike ones. The big ones were hell to pull out because...huge.
The little ones were worse because it took hours for someone with a pair of tweezers (us if they were in a place we could get to) to pull all those damnable things.
We'd get off the bus from school every day and jump right to our task. We probably only worked at it for a few days before we realized that we might as well be trying to pluck all the stars from the sky. I wish I could remember the technique we used.
So, I've always had this (I'll say it again) obsession with getting rid of plants I do not like.
Today I decided I wanted to get rid of a plant in the kitchen garden area which is a fine plant as plants go but I do not like it and I did not want it but felt guilty about killing it if indeed, that's what I did. It's a leopard plant and they have pretty cool leaves and an insignificant bloom stalk (at least mine did) of small, daisy like flowers at the end of the summer but nothing about them really appeals to me so I finally decided that hell, it's my yard, my dirt, my garden, my plant and so I dug it up and, okay, I didn't just throw it out, I transplanted it into a pot although NOT VERY CAREFULLY!
Die my darling. If you want to.
There's a lot more to the story which involves me planting it in the dirt in the area I've cleared by the hydrangeas first and then deciding that no, that's not what I wanted but before that decision, I cleared out more of that monkey grass and chenille plant and also, I figured I better get my silver palmetto in the ground and so I planted that in the same area and it is still there but I'm going to move it. I know I will.
So all of that, plus watering the porch plants, took at least an hour and then I got back to work in my supposed herb garden. I dug, I stabbed, I pulled. I made some progress but at some point, I was done for the day and knew it so I went ahead and planted my poor pathetic little herb plants in there. I wonder if any of them will do any good. The bananas have come up and at some point will probably shade some of them and the rose in there grows like a wild house on fire so I had to take all of that into consideration. I didn't bother with any of the bricks because I really don't have that many and did not have a vision of what I wanted to do with them. I've seen pictures of spiral herb gardens built of bricks and those look cool but that will not be happening in that little garden any time soon.
But it definitely is something to keep in mind.
So this is what it actually looks like as I was watering it just a little while ago.
Not that impressive, is it? Well, let's give it a month or so and see what happens.
Besides all that, I did laundry and there are clean sheets on the bed. I didn't hang them outside because the forecast was calling for rain which never materialized. Oh well.
I undressed my new child, whom I still have not named and I found no markings on her indicating who she might be, when and where she might have been made. But I did find that her little knees, the backs of her hands, and her elbows had been painted the same rosy glow as her cheeks.
Her clothes were filthy so I carefully washed them and while she is waiting for them to dry and be mended in a few places, I put her in a dress that I am sure Linda Sue sent me along with a bonnet whose origin is the same. I brought out Dorothy Anne and Emily from their bed under my vanity where they sleep in luxury under a homemade quilt and on a down pillow and made a new place for them to hang out together in my bathroom on the rocking chair I got a few weeks ago.
I gave them my special pillows. I hope they are happy there for now. It is the most colorful and cheerful and light-filled room in the house so they should be.
Mr. Moon took my car to get new tires before the sun was truly up and then he gave it another washing after the one he'd given it last week and vacuumed it and put new windshield wipers on it, and y'all- that is his love language and I believe he really does love me. As he said, I have a brand new car.
I may have mentioned recently, perhaps in a response to a comment, that I haven't seen any snakes this year. Well, today Mr. Moon saw one in the back yard and it is a beauty.
I do believe that is an oak snake or a gray rat snake, same-same, and they are very good at eating rodents as their name would suggest. Snakes, on first glance, will always give me a start but I very much appreciate them for their beauty and for their help in keeping down the rat population.
Unless, that is, I find one in a nest in a hen house, with an egg halfway down its gullet. And that hasn't happened for quite awhile. Overall though, I am living on snake property, not the other way around. We have killed one rattlesnake that was right up by the house when August and Levon were little. I do not feel bad about that.
Martini being sipped, clean sheets on the bed.
Why, it must be Friday.
Hope yours is a happy one.
And here it is. The reason the music video was invented.







I enjoyed R.E.M. It’s been awhile and i never remember the artists behind the songs. I have no love for snakes. When i was a child, my grandfather caught one in the garden, rattler, put it in a large glass jar, and brought it in the house to show us! My grandmother was fit to be tied. My heart is thumping just remembering. Hate them! Although, to be fair, that picture makes that particular snake look kind of cool.
ReplyDeleteWow. That's some snake! Had I seen that I'd be about to Santa Monica by now! LOL! I do appreciate what you said about snakes and the ecosystem. I understand your area is more conducive to snakes than here. Glad you're OK with them and they help you out.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of doll stringing, YouTube has detailed videos on doll stringing so that will help if you decide to tackle that. She does look in good condition. Being composition, they often got crazing d/t being stored in hot attics/garages and damp basement. The composition contracts and expands which causes the crazing. Yours looks to be in very good shape.
Mr. Moon indeed does love you! You basically got a new car today!
Paranormal John
You are accomplishing a lot in the garden. Weeding is tiring but clearing an area of weeds and unwanted plants shows a good result quickly. It is satisfying work.
ReplyDeleteYour new doll looks lovely in her pastel yellow dress. She was a lucky find.
It's pretty disappointing that the blogpost did not include a picture of you in your homemade Easter bonnet, carrying a basket of eggs while singing, "There is a green hill far away". Are you sure that is a snake and not a garden hose?
ReplyDeleteI strongly suspect your very skilled Mr Moon would make you a beautiful spiral herb garden just like the one in the photo if you wanted! And that REM song and video are faves of mine too.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely snake! Also the doll with her friends and a new dress. She may not give it back. The rosy knees tickled me! That was actually a make up idea in the twenties when short skirts came in. I think it was a daring touch -- see my knees!
ReplyDeleteI have bricks...and I love that spiral. You are a dangerous woman, Mary Moon!
ReplyDeleteReligion...I have lost my faith, but the one thing I know for sure is that everyone's beliefs are their own. I never want to be responsible for someone else's loss of faith. That's between them and their God.