ghost of mirrors past...

I think it must have been about 1987 or so when I happened upon this mirror at a junk dealer's booth at Trader's Village in Grand Prairie, Texas. I remember it was delapidated, even then, and I simply had to have it. I thought it looked grand despite its flaked gesso and the mirror whose foil revealed the warps of the corrugated paper behind it for lo these many decades.



Exactly as it is, I love this mirror. I hung it up this week at the house, and it is the first thing I've actually given pride of place, hung on the first nail I've driven into a wall here. Funny to think about the furniture and decorations that have come and gone since then-- the things I so deliberately chose and set out to buy, and yet, this lowly mirror that looks like a saloon refugee from a hundred years ago, or so, is one of the few pieces I've had longer than 20 years. I rember looking at it and asking the dealer what they wanted for it, and I recall how my heart leapt when he said $5.00. Oh, yes, I'll definitely be having that, my dear.



...work continues apace. Being an old house, there's no end of regular maintenance to be done, but bit by bit I've got to get the yard and other things in order, as well. I've set about de-dandelion-ing the front yard, which is no small task. There's a hand weeding tool I've been using which has a little notched prong on the end which is great for plunging down alongside the root of the weed, then using it to *pop!* the whole plant up, root and all. Actually, I'm impressed at the progress I've made so far.



Knowing how to properly pull weeds is one of those things my mom taught me well: yank the top of the plant off, and you'll have weeds tenfold. Get the root out properly, and if anything remains behind, it will be small, weaker and much more easily routed out later.



I first went around uprooting the remains of spent dandelions, their bald caps petulantly waggling at me from around the yard. At one point, I nearly uprooted a bunch of what I realized was pincushion flowers, but in time, I didn't molest the plant. Pincushion flowers are native wildflowers in Texas, and they are most welcome in my yard. Then with the obvious dandelions removed came the task of seeking out the lettuce-like mounds of soon-to-be dandelions. I had been working at this task for an hour or so and the yard is nearly rid of the little buggers. Next mission in the yard will be for me to remove the sticky burrs, which are poky on tender be-sandaled piggies, not to mention little puppy paws.

Monday night I planted my first container of Iceland poppies, and a container of herbs, and one large flowerpot of mint. Going to be sooooo nice to be able to go out onto the porch and grab a handful of fresh herbs for the kitchen. :)

Last night I unpacked a box of crystal glasses. At a rate of one box a week or so, I may be unpacked in time for my next move!


Life is sweet.