The Honest Courtesan

Next autumn, I need to ask my neighbor to go around my property line with his bulldozer; it has become so overgrown that Chekhov and I had a devil of a time dragging this tree back to the house from where we found it.  My legs are covered in scratches from thorns that went right through my jeans (even though I intentionally wore the thick ones), and I was so exhausted I just didn’t feel like decorating it until the next day.  But here it is, and what you see under it are toys from the first shopping trip of this year’s toy drive!  I’ve only had one new donation so far this year, plus some good stuff from one of my gentlemen who prefers to buy the toys himself, but last year I got a donation just a couple of days after the drive closed and local pickup had finished, so I simply kept a record of the money and got a good start on this year’s purchases.  Some of my readers were concerned I might not be able to do the drive this year because of Grace’s illness, but fortunately the local Tractor Supply store became an official drop point last year, which means I needn’t drive all the way to Olympia to make my donation; in fact, the store is in the same shopping center as the two stores where I get most of my toys, so it’s easy-peasy!  I’m not about to let needy kids suffer when I can help, just because I’m busier this year than usual, and if you’d like to help me to help them, please send your donation via PayPal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net, and please put “Toys for Tots” in the subject line so I’ll know it’s not a regular blog donation.  I can also accept donations via Zelle if you prefer not to use PayPal; just contact me for the bank information.  Thank you!