My mother's back yard

On the right is St. Francis. He looks rather pious, doesn't he? He's the one who took care of the animals, I think, and he is frequently shown with birds and creatures hovering near him, not unlike Dr. Doolittle when you think about it.

Next to him is, gosh, who is that little minx? Bo Peep? No sheep showing, so I doubt it. Little Red Riding Hood? No wolf. It could be Little Miss Muffet, and if she keeps lifting that skirt up, we could end up seeing more of her tuffet than she intends. Let's not go there. Lady of the Lake? Too young, I'd say. Mistress of the Stables? No horses. These two have stood together now for many years in the same place. I wonder if he tries to lecture her sometimes.

"Hey. Whatever your name is."

"Are you talking to me?"

"No, I'm talking to the bird feeder. Of course I'm talking to you."

"Well, funny thing, my name isn't 'hey.'"

"Whatever."

"And I thought you were the bird feeder. You have more stains on your head than I do."

"Your immodesty is giving me dreams at night, honey."

"What immodesty? I'm only eight."

"Yeah. And I'm the Queen of England. You're very big for your age, you know."

"I'm big boned. I can't help it."

"Please don't talk about big bones."

"Well, it's true."

"I think you're in puberty."

"Oh, you wish. Can you shut up for two minutes? People are sitting there on the patio and I have to look my best."

I'm sure it goes on and on. Life With the Bickeringtons. Anyway, I am working on my overall outline for the nun book. It will follow the course of a school year, so that is fairly easy to work with. I already know there will be Christmas vacation and the different breaks and holidays. I have always liked working with the calendar year.

I like rules in general. Rules are liberating. I can follow them.

Maybe St. Francis will have advice for me too.

Quite cold in New England today, dear reader. It feels really cold after Arkansas.
A bientot
love,
becky