It’s me again, Lady Dove, the soap historian, giving you an update on life here during the corona virus. I’ve been waiting to write until my creator “Mom” makes Lady Hope, which she’s been promising for weeks now. She even has two bars of Ivory Soap and a little charm that says “Hope” to use for a necklace. But she claims she’s lacking in motivation these days. Sometimes she can laugh about it, like when she tells people that her biggest accomplishment recently has been hand-picking 3,000 bagworms off the junipers. She says it’s rather satisfying to count as she picks. She also says it’s less satisfying to drown them in a bucket of water but what can she do? If one manages to crawl out of the water, she lets it go, as perseverance should mean something in this world. She added that survival of the fittest bagworms is not the best outcome for the junipers.

Mom is also getting a little tired of zooming and doesn’t worry about dressing up anymore. She much prefers her screened-in porch visits and has a circle seating arrangement with a place for everyone to set drinks and snacks next to them. Aside from the bagworms, she says her other accomplishment is finding ways to safely have real contact with people, and she thinks that is good for everyone. She does know a few friends who might think she’s being a little unwise, but she said mental health has to figure in too and we’re not meant to be alone. I can relate when I sit in the fairy garden and have tea on my own as that’s not the best way to have a tea party. I now have a mask to wear, just to show my support for everyone, because of course I don’t need it. I expect Mom will make one for Lady Hope, whenever that happens.

This morning daughter Rose found a butterfly that had just hatched on a fennel plant. Mom said it made the day better, seeing those beautiful wings drying in the breeze and thinking how it was magic for such a thing to happen. A lot of things are magic, she said, if we can just look at them in that way. She feels like that about her flowers and vegetables, growing from those little seeds. Every morning and evening she does her “garden tour” around the yard. She doesn’t know why the tomatoes aren’t ripening but there’s plenty of okra to batter and fry. She says anyone who doesn’t like okra hasn’t had them battered and fried. Her dad, I guess that would be my grandfather, came from Oklahoma and loved his okra. She also has made three batches of pesto. The last batch was bigger because she found a secondhand Cuisinart food processor that she’d forgotten she had. She started to read the directions but then just decided it wasn’t necessary. Even since she’s been using her Instant Pot she’s gotten more confident about trying new devices, in spite of all the crazy safety warnings.

Mom said watching TV shows can be strange as people are hugging each other and not wearing masks. She’s run out of scrap material for masks and needs to get some donations from her quilting friend Camille. She plans to make a special one to wear for daughter Helen’s wedding (now rescheduled), maybe out of off-white satin with some embroidery work. She wants to sew some little flowers in yellow and blue, as those are the wedding colors. She looked on Esty and says there’s a whole new mask industry but she just likes to give hers away.

Rose had her graduation ceremony cancelled for the second time but then Helen came up with an alternative. We were outside playing croquet (actually, I was just watching). Mom claimed she was once very good at croquet, just out of practice. I wouldn’t know about that, but she seemed to think it was okay to cheat a little. Then we heard a motor noise and good friend Wayne came around the corner of the yard and through the sunflower patch, driving the rider mower, with Rose in the trailer behind. She had on her cap and gown and even threw the cap in the air. The dogs barked and Mom yelled at Wayne not to run over the croquet wickets. Helen took a video on her phone and Mom posted it on Facebook. There were almost 100 likes and congratulations to Rose, and Mom read them all more than once. She said it was one of those pandemic memories that will be a special one.

I guess that’s it for this update. I’m really going to wait for Lady Hope to be created before I write another as that should give Mom some motivation. She says that me posting these blogs helps her feel better. And she likes to take the photos to go with them. I can hardly wait till there’s a photo with my soap sister beside me. It will be so good to have her company. After all, we could all use a little Hope right now.