You know in the movie "Doc Hollywood," how Michael J. Fox gets paid with a pig? Well, in the summer church members pay us in produce. OK, we don't really work for veggies, but we sure do get a ton of fresh produce from the green thumbs in our congregation.
Some we freeze, some we can, others I try to sneak into bread and cake so that the Rev will eat it. He knew that squash was in these Yellow Squash Cheddar Biscuits so he wasn't having any of it, but they were really tasty. The squash is almost undetectable, but it makes the biscuits very moist. Elise hasn't figured out hidden veggies yet, so there is hope for at least one of them.....
Last week, the Rev comes bolting out of the backyard and interrupts Elise and I (we were enjoying popsicles and water play) to announce that we are not allowed to go in the backyard for any reason. OK, no problem, I never go back there....it backs up to woods and there are all kinds of non-domesticated animals that make noise back there.
When he came back, he was pretty upset. Apparently there is an old well in the backyard that must have previously been capped. The cap, we are guessing, finally eroded and fell in, leaving a gaping hole close to 2 feet wide. A hole that Elise could have fallen in and never been found. Certainly we don't let her play outside by herself, but just the knowledge that this hole was there and the realization of what could have been was alarming. We should have been told about the well 7 years ago when we bought the house, not left to discover it on our own.
The Rev started digging around the well, trying to get it clear for an accurate measurement so that we can have a cap made. That unearthed a yellow jacket's nest (the Rev is allergic) and meant that this city girl had to sneak out with the Rev under the cover of night and hold the flashlight so that he could pour gasoline on the nest....I am so not cut out for this country living thing....
A few weeks ago, the Rev put a bird feeder out on the back deck so that Elise could watch the birds. She sees them and runs over to yell, "Eat, eat!"
I think maybe they are tired of having their dinner interrupted because over the weekend they started dive bombing the dining room window and pecking. I've seen birds fly into glass accidentally, but that is not what is happening. This same bird is flying in and landing on the window framing or the storm door window and pecking like he wants in. It was cute at first, now its just creepy. Do you have any unwanted animal guests where you live?
If you know me well, you know these 2 things - I am a city girl through and through and I love a list like a fat kid loves cake. The only thing better than a list is a bulleted list (that's still not as good as a list on lined paper...I love order...). Anyway, today for your reading enjoyment, I bring you The Green Acres List, a list of all of the things that I was totally clueless about until we headed for the hills...I'll be adding new things to the list all the time, I am sure!
