As always, Jack was up before daylight to "feed the chores," as he called his barn work, but Ina and Shirley slept later than usual. While Ina made a light breakfast – no point to cook a big breakfast since they were making a late start – Shirley dashed out to feed the chickens and made quick work of the breakfast dishes. By noon, she had finished tacking curls on the baby doll’s head and pronounced her finished, and Ina secretly heaved a sigh of relief. After all, Ethel and Sadie were due to arrive day after tomorrow.
Shirley’s critique of her work was that her workmanship was very good but the doll didn’t look much like the picture and not at all like a baby doll. Maybe some baby-like clothes would help, so after lunch she took scraps of whatever textiles Ina would let her have from the box under the stairs to make diapers, gowns, and blankets.
It’s
an odd thing, thought Shirley to herself, that the drawing from which she copied
this doll made her look so babylike and appealing, while the reality was so
much less. What was the world coming to?
Meanwhile, Ina finished packing the box for Pearl – remember, Pearl lives in northern Alberta – and sent it to the mailbox along with a dollar to cover postage. The rural mail carrier would leave her change in the mailbox tomorrow. It meant that Jack had to make two trips to the mailbox today – one to deliver the package, the other to retrieve the mail. I don’t think he cared too much. He didn’t have much to do these short winter days. KW
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